Weekend. Things. Stuff.

October is proving to be a hectic, crowded month. I am grateful indeed for my new housewifely status. It's always been the dream, the goal, the bar to be reached and while I may not have a routine down, or have a spiffing spotless house to prove it, I don't miss feeling like I'm worthless and wasting my life away forty hour weeks at a time.
Not to mention since being shooed out the door, I've gotten a wonderful, steady harp gig that I'm thoroughly enjoying; added gigs on top of that gig (seriously Taylor you may as well be my manager); and playing more piano in the accompanying world. Feels good and right.

In any case, yesterday Mark took work off and we packed up our truck to head up into the mountains with our crazy puppies and some good friends for a tiny baby camping trip. Mor'du still seems unsure of moving vehicles but he was pro-status after a quick nap on Mommy's lap. And Odin was just content to rest his head on Mommy's nice clean pillow laying on the console between Mom and Dad. Yummy.

We found a secluded and beautiful little campsite just off the beaten path and immediately set off for an unexpectedly adventurous hike up the mountain.
Due to the unexpected nature of the hike, my phone was not with me (nor were my sturdy hiking boots) so I did not get any pictures from the event. Although I might not have had much opportunity anyway considering after we reached the most accessible crest of the hill we were hiking on it started pouring rain. Mor'du was having the time of his life, bounding around and skidding through the damp leaves and debris, but Odin was less than amused. His abiding fear of thunder and disdain for being wet and his unfortunately high center of gravity was making this steep incline of earth NOT his favorite place to be. But he was such a trooper. He refused to be left behind and plowed on like the rest of us.
Considering the rain, we were beginning to worry for our chances of being able to get a fire going, but the resident Eagle Scouts did not disappoint!

The coals were white hot and the flames never faltered as we fed it more and more slightly soggy wood. Which was a blessing since it was our only plan for dinner and dessert.

However, the entire trip was saved by the fortuitous inclusion of a pop up canopy in the packing list of Allie and Alex. It might have been a right flop of an outing if we hadn't had that shelter. The rain, blessedly fine and misty for the most part, slogged on for the better part of the evening. Including a comforting rainbow hovering right over our corner of woods.

The scenery was, of course, a beauty to behold.

Odin and Mor'du spent the dwindling moments of sunlight scurrying around the general vicinity, always bounding right back to camp when we called. We have been so blessed with those well-mannered pups.

"Nope, sorry Mom. Can't stop for a picture, too many smells to smell."

We had dutch oven cornbread and chili for dinner, followed by a scrumptious dutch oven peach cobbler for dessert and by the end of the feasting I was the only one that could stomach even the idea of roasting a marshmallow. Perhaps because I had greedily bought the humongous sized marshmallows (90 calories a pop!) and even that I didn't finish.
But I did end up with a demon on a stick.

#nightmares

We toyed with the fire, sat around joking and laughing, and played about half a card game before it was finally declared bedtime. My phone had since died which was unfortunate because Mor'du and Odin's sleeping arrangements were mighty adorable.
The sky had cleared just in time for some glorious stargazing before the enthusiastically bright moon began peeking over the treetops and there was much butting of heads over whether a constellation was the big dipper or casseopeia (it was totes casseopeia, btw).

The morning was cold and dewy, but beautiful nonetheless. The dogs were happy to go on a sprightly walk down the trail (I myself was much more sluggish than sprightly) and they were kind enough to routinely sit and wait for me to catch up before bounding ahead of me again.

It was wonderful and I'm amazed with how well it went. Things worked out and nobody got hurt or lost and we all had fun. As I said to Mark, "if it had to rain, it was the perfect rain."

The First Eulogy

Puppies should never die. And when they do die, it should be of old age and in their sleep. Let's just make that statement for animals in general. Humans. Everyone!
I'm having a hard time picking an emotion.
One minute I'm solemn and straightforward and glad that Misha, my parent's old Yorkshire Terrier, is off in heaven with fully restored eyesight, hearing, and a nice shiny coat of hair. The next I'm making inappropriate jokes about how I'm sad that he didn't get a chance to meet Odin or Mor'du but the shock of that meeting really might've killed him anyway.
Though I guess that would be better than drowning.
And then I'm stuck in tears thinking about my poor parents having to find him that way. My dad sent out an email Sunday morning to close friends and family, those who knew Misha and his effect on our family. He'd been with us for over 14 years and during those 14 years was never very far from my Mom's side. If she was at home, he was attached to her. I immediately called my mom's cell and my heart broke when her shaky voice answered. She put me on with my dad and he started out with much bravado and claims of how much trouble and time and effort Misha was and how they didn't want another dog but it wasn't long before he broke down as well.
It's been a long time since I heard my father cry like that.
My mom kept repeating that really, they were okay, and she's just so grateful for the example of pure love that Misha was and how much he taught her. He was a very special dog to our family. The one and only dog we've ever had.
I can easily remember the adorable way he used to pick up his plastic food plate (nicked from a toy tea set I had because he was that small as a pup) and bring it to the dinner table when we as a family sat down to eat a meal.
The bizarre and crazed look he had when he came inside from a strenuous gallop through the snow banks in our frozen backyard in Utah, with weird packed balls of snow caked into his fur.
His never ending testosterone war with the neighbor's huge, black lab. Talk about a Napoleon Complex.
His woobie.
His tuft of Elvis hair that swooped over his eyes in different shapes as we played tug of war when he tossed his head back and forth.
The hilarious way his tiny feet would scramble furiously, and ineffectively, over the wooden floor as he tried to chase the cats through the house.
And of course, the funny way he waddled with his diaper on, bald leathery skin sagging, and graying hair sticking out in crazy angles as he suddenly became so old in his last days. It's strange how love really does overcome appearances.
He deserved a wonderful, peaceful death and it honestly just breaks my heart and brings me to tears that he had to leave suffering.
Dogs are special. Pets are special. They're just genuinely special creatures and it's terrible when they have to go, regardless of how they go. I'm grateful I have my own furbabes to hold extra tight to for this transition period.
I'm not sure how to finish this post. I don't think I want to.
How do you end something that is an end itself?
Puppies should never die.

The Rainiest Day

Guess what it rained yesterday whaaaaaat??!

Yeah you already know. It was...kind of a big deal.
But being a bit of a pluviophile myself, I'm gonna go over how the day went down at the Douglass'.

Around 6:45am I awoke to the screech of our bedroom window being opened as Mark investigated the curious rumbling sound. Turns out it was just thunder and rain. Our sleepy minds had come up with rather idiotic reasonings for the noise given that it is monsoon season. Mark thought the entire neighborhood had coordinated a single "take your trash bins to the road" flashmob, and I was just wondering what the planes were doing up so early.

But it was just raining. Hard. Raining really hard and raining a lot. Since I had no idea how long Mark had been up I inquired about how the puppies were doing since they sleep outside and he just said, "oh. yeah."

Odin and Mor'du have benefited greatly from spending time together outside. Odin has blossomed into such a tender "big brother" it's quite adorable. Their favorite spot is on the north side of the house under the olianders where there's never any direct sunlight. They just lay in the cool dirt for most of the day and Mor'du goes exploring every so often. I usually let them in during the hottest part of the afternoon and we play with some toys until Mor'du decides he'd like to nap on the tile, his preferred sleeping spot. Won't relax on the carpet for anything.

But this particular morning, the Monday of downpour, we came downstairs and discovered Odin sprawled on the loveseat couch under the porch with Mor'du sleeping peacefully up on the back cushions, nestled against the wall. We giggled at the pseudo doggy-bunkbed.

Thoroughly awake, I wandered around to take some pictures of the beautiful storm.

(this is too cool to pass up, my phone made a little gif-ish movie

of the shots it took to make that panoramic photo)

I instagrammed the former picture but didn't include any description. The window next to our piano (in fact, it's the window that looks out to the north and directly onto the spot I described earlier where Odin and Mor'du hang out) had constant streams of water running down it and created that lovely warped effect. I thought it made our backyard look very dreamy and jungle-y.

Being only just before 7 in the morning I didn't want to wake the dogs up just yet so I refrained from stepping out onto the back porch for another few minutes. About the same time that Mark left for Jury Duty around 7:30, the thunder started back up in earnest and poor Odin was rudely awakened. The poor guy hates the thunder. He kept knocking his head into the glass of the back door, shoving his nose into the hinges, trying to force his way inside. Since they both were awake anyway, I joined them on the porch and took some more pictures.

Our porch stretches out into the yard with those brown bricks that you see and then drops a couple inches to the dirt and the water was already seeping over the bricks. The chaos of the storm was evident in the overabundantly energetic furballs so we took an early morning stroll to the park. I didn't get any photos there because I didn't want to bother waterproofing my phone. Mor'du consistently found the deepest puddles to scamper through as we ran around the grassy enclosure and Odin galloped along obediently. I will be one happy mama if Mor'du can inherit Odin's penchant for sticking close to his masters and not tearing off the minute he's off leash. I legitimately cannot run fast enough for Odin to really get going the way he wants to, so usually I'll take him off his three foot leash and just keep Mor'du on his extendable leash and harness. It was cute to see that whenever Odin shook off the water, Mor'du would watch and then proceed to do the same. He wants to be just like his big brother ;)

We went home sopping wet and were promptly shooed to the back porch again for drying off. Since the thunder had abated, the dogs enjoyed dashing about the yard in great splashes and playing with each other. It was good to see them both reacting so well to the water.

The rain didn't hardly dissipate till about 10am. I went outside and curiously tried pulling up some of the tall weeds that have been sprouting up ("they popped outta the snow! like daisies!!") recently. It came loose so easily and within minutes I had handfuls of the stuff to throw away. And so my laundry day turned into a yardwork day.

Mark came home just a little before 11 (obviously, considering he took those shots above) and when he came out onto the porch and saw me ankle deep in muddy water, bent over picking weeds he asked if I was "enjoying working in the rice paddys". I won't say I wasn't having at least a slightly good time. We trimmed a palo verde tree that's been desperately trying to become a bush as well as some oliander branches that were quickly closing off the pathway to the south side of the house and raked/shoveled up some windblown excess littering the yard. It hardly looks any better out there but I sure feel better about it.

After having a good sweat outside I finally took a shower and finished the laundry (although by "finish" I merely mean at least started all the loads I had planned for that day...). Then, for impromptu cookies, I headed down to San Tan to clock in some snuggles with miss Jade and baby Izzy and Rory.

Don't mind me, just bein' a boss is all. Izzy is the perfect size to cradle that way so holding and feeding Jade was no problem. Plus both babes had just been napping so they were perfectly content and not fussy at all. So I was lucky they are so easy. It was nice to just hop in my car in the middle of the day and go hang out with some friends for a couple hours. Although I was greeted by this monstrosity on my way out of our neighborhood...

What a lovely little sinkhole. Yipes.

On my way home I picked up in-n-out animal style burger and fries and had them for the first time in my life and as amazingly delicious as it was I really need a good sugary soda to counterbalance all that salty goodness. So next time, diabetes fo' sho.

We ended the day watching Band of Brothers episodes and it was just an all-around fabulous day of rainy storminess, good friends, and fun times.

I love monsoon season.

Peace an' Blessin's

Dearest, tiniest, infuriating Mor'du:

My sweet puppy, you nigh on gave me a heart attack this morning. But I know it's not your fault, we needed to keep a better eye on you and do a better job of puppy-proofing that opening under the side gate. You're a lot skinnier than we gave you credit for. It won't happen again ;)
     I'm so grateful for the sweet woman that just happened to be walking her kids to school right as you made your grand escape. It's too bad you couldn't wait the two days until you get your microchip in but I understand, the world is a big fun place you just gotta explore!
     As emotional and stressful as those five hours were, as I reflect on the morning I find my heart warmed by the handful of moments I experienced with the people of our neighborhood. One woman outside working in her garage was kind enough to spare a moment and tell me about her own love of dogs. She asked your name and how long we'd had you, and she alerted me to the punny condition of your name; "Mor'du" aka "More doo" cuz already you been plopping a nice smattering of "doo-doo's" in our yard. That made me smile at a time when I really just wanted to cry.
     There were some landscapers milling about the neighborhood and most all of them gave me encouraging smiles as they watched me taping up fliers and one even asked to see the picture of you we'd printed on it. He was very kind and promised they would all keep an eye out and we even found him wandering around the irrigation ditch looking and whistling for you.
     Another man who was trimming his bushes made sure to ask where you belonged if he happened upon you (this was before we'd made the fliers) and gave the hopeful suggestion that, you'd "probably come running once I bring my own dogs out for a walk." It felt nice to know that a complete stranger would care that much about you finding your way back home.
     I was so scared for you, Mor'du. You're so small and so young and it's so hot outside. There's so many places you could have gone. Immediately my mind was whirling and going all over the place. We passed the large storm drains and tears spilled from my eyes imagining what could've happened to you.
Heaven help me as a Mother.

After around three hours of searching and very few light poles left without a sign, I was desperate for another way of actively looking for you. I realized that Mark and I didn't have to be the only ones praying for your safe return. I posted a facebook status and kind comments quickly rolled in. We were searching the dirt field behind our house and just about to wearily head back home when my phone started ringing and my heart started thumping.
     It was the sweet woman who had picked you up that morning. She lived not even a block away from us and she had fed you, given you water, and had made up signs for you when she saw our own signs. We were walking back home when we happened to meet her on the way, holding you, and you wriggled right out of her arms when you saw us. According to you, it had been a fun, exciting morning and you made some new friends.
     She didn't even ask about the reward we put on the sign and was all smiles as we thanked her again and again.

You're a wee little rascal and my heart will be very much lightened when I can just stay home with you all day and keep a wary eye on you. So glad you're okay, buddy. You're not getting away that easy!

Very much love,
Mama and Papa

This may be overdramatic and superfluous and I can just imagine you readers snickering at how silly this 'letter' is but for Mark and me, our puppies are our children. We don't have any human offspring yet and we are very attached to our pets. Dogs will be dogs and we'll certainly look back on this and laugh (we already have) but in the moment it was very real and very emotional. It's a tough blow when you're thinking about starting a family (with real human children at that) and you can't even seem to keep track of a two month old puppy for more than 48 hours.
Again, thank you to all those who saw our message and sent good thoughts, well wishes, and prayers our way. I promise it made a difference.
Now pray that he learns to not pee on the carpet soon! Or that he'll figure out that we bought those toys so he would chew on them and not Mark's socks and shoes, or the carpet, or the couch. Or that we can somehow find a way to teach him that small, quick kisses are okay but slathering people's faces with his tongue and biting noses is nope-not-okay. Yeah, those prayers next plz.

Wee Douglass Babby

He's a furry baby.

This is Mor'du. Yes, like the evil villain bear from Brave, that's correct. But we brought him home last night and we have a small beany baby type bear toy that he just took to immediately. The name sprung to my mind and we looked up its meaning in google, which gave us "Big Black".
Well he's not so big right now, but he most likely will be soon.
He's an abandoned rescue pup so we're not too sure on lineage, but judging by looks he's probably got some rottweiler and some lab.

We took Odin down to the temp family's house for a "meet and greet" last night (thanks Jenn!), to make sure they could be compatible. Odin has had very little opportunity for socializing during his lifetime (he's around four or five years old, we've only had him since Fall of 2013) and he usually gets pretty stiff around other dogs. He's not mean or aggressive, just on edge.
When we arrived, Odin was immediately intrigued, even from outside the front door. So many smells!
He handled it very well, many genital sniffs were had, and there was only the faintest hint of a growl just once. The puppy in question was completely content to park himself underneath the table or chairs and just watch the fun. Very submissive and chill. Odin ambled around and hardly paid any attention to the little pups. Our worries were quickly quashed.

On our way to Mark's mom's house (we had missed a spur-of-the-moment get together earlier that evening but could still make it for cake!) all the fur blob wanted to do was snuggle up close to me and nuzzle my neck. So much cuddles! He wasn't content to just lay in my lap, he continually tried to climb up my front and perch on my shoulder. But we worked out a nice system where he got to bury his fuzzy face into my neck and my arms supported the rest of his body. Within minutes my heart was completely melted. His tiny dreaming twitches were like a hot skillet to butter.
At the party, he was a trooper. He got passed around like a hot potato but never whined or peed on anybody! He was particularly fond of wedging himself deep into the chiropractic table.

As of this point in the evening, the [yet nameless] pup was still a little wary of Odin. A hopeful family had taken him home the previous night but their other dog did not take so kindly to the little fella and there was biting. But we picked up some dinner, got home and took both dogs outside to sniff around and get used to the new surroundings. He piddled and pooped in his new yard and we praised him and he chewed on weeds and sticks. His personality quickly seeped through the shyness and soon he was bounding around, exploring and pouncing on crinkly leaves. I brought out the bear toy I mentioned earlier and he hauled it off under the grape vines, chillin' in the cool dirt and gnawing on his new friend.
Which is when we named him Mor'du.

We played until about 10:30, let him relieve himself one more time outside, and then it was into the makeshift kennel of the guest bathroom downstairs for the night. We made up a little bed for him and stuck in a nightlight so it wouldn't be pitch dark (do dogs even care about that? /shrug #firsttimepuppyparents)
As far as I can tell, he did really well for the first night. No signs of bathroom breaks and he was incredibly energetic and happy to see us in the morning. After taking him out for the morning bidness, I took him upstairs (carried him most of the way, stairs are gonna be a challenge for a while) and let the quivering, wiggling bundle of licks wake Mark up. It was quite precious to behold.
We spent a little time sitting on the floor playing with both doggies, giving Odin some extra vigorous rubs to let him know he's okay and we still love him. He's just gonna be a bit of a grump for a few weeks.

We're super excited about this big change to our lives. Thankfully I'll soon be home full time to really train the little dude and oversee him and Odin getting some good bonding time.
I'm also looking forward to a reason for getting me up out of bed in the morning to go on nice, invigorating walks before the sun chars the ground into lava.
Huzzah for puppies!!!

The Perils of Wearing Earbuds at Work

It's a known and begrudged fact that the post-lunch hours of desk work servitude are long and oft smothered in a repressive haze of exhaustion. 

Basically, we're all tired and our bellies are full and we want a nap. Because we're grown-up adulty human beings. And filing seemingly meaningless paperwork is just not harnessing the attentions like it should. So sometimes (read: most times, like every day times) I'll pull out my phone and listen to pandora. Like, a really upbeat station. Like Shakira or something to get my toes tappin' and the blood flowin'. 

And today, I was engaging in such activities BUT I'm a smart human and I know that I already have selective hearing problems so I only ever put one earbud in at a time so I can still hear if somebody screams says my name. But I tend to kind of, y'know, tune out the conversations, some of the time, occasionally.

And every great once in awhile, hilarity ensues.

Today, I forgot that I had uncovered a hidden green apple laffy taffy that had fallen under my desk and had been saving it for after lunch. So when I finally remembered I excitedly pulled it out of my purse (by the way, it's a big deal because there are only like, four icky cherry laffy taffy's left in the whole office so like, SCORE, amiright?) and proceeded to check the jokes in hopes that one would perchance incite a rueful chuckle. 

One was completely dumb and not worth the time to type it out. The other said this:

     "Why did the little mouse run away from home?"

[pause for effect]

     "Because his father was a rat."

Now, I don't know about you but I'm not too sure about like, domestic abuse insinuations as jokes on candy wrappers so my jaw dropped and I laughed nervously and turned to share the joke with my coworkers. We all had a community "wtf" moment and the day should've continued as normal but one coworker commented,

"I'm a Rat."

I, totally missing his meaning, just turned around with a chuckle and left it alone.

Moments later, I realized my other coworker was asking me something.

I turned back around, "what?"

"Are you a Dragon?"

I assumed I misheard, "sorry, what?"

"Are you a Dragon??"

I literally had no idea how to respond. I just said no and hoped that I was in the realm of appropriate responses to whatever was happening. But a multitude of eyes were staring at me as if this was a normal conversation and my panic quickly escalated. And so I addressed the situation myself,

"I have no clue what's happening right now, why...what?"

And I finally pulled my headphone out.

"I feel like I ate that laffy taffy and it was laced with acid or something, what is even going on? What are we talking about?? I found it hiding under my desk so who even knows what happened to it..."

In the interim between when I recited the punchline of the joke and after my coworker initially revealed that he was, in fact, "a Rat" the others went on to reveal their CHINESE ANIMAL YEAR DESIGNATIONS and my coworker was actually just asking if I was a Dragon, or in other words, born in a preset sequence of years.

That is all. Thankfully I'm still clean and my laffy taffy was not tainted. Whew!

And for the record, I'm a frickin' Horse and it's awesome. 

Max! Fetch Me My Dictionary!

I think the worst thing about getting together with people lately is the initial small-talk and inevitable, "so how's it going? What are you up to?" because literally people. My life doesn't change. It's so routine lately it's abysmal. And like, I'm not even being evasive or obtuse when I say, "oh just working," because that's all I do.

Which would be admirable if I was "working" in a career that I'd been striving for and working hard to get into, and doing, I dunno, important things but all I'm doing is answering the phone, getting the mail, and counting down the days.

And I don't even have an ice cream(ish?) treat to console me.

So posting traffic on the blog has significantly dwindled. And if you noticed and are miffed, I apologize. Forcing myself to come up with content just produces stuff like that abomination I posted last about the childhood crushes. I would take it down but now I'm quite attached to going back and looking at it m'self.

And honestly this tidbit isn't going to be much better. I'm just reading Jane Eyre again because recently I watched the 2011 film version and was left wanting. I knew there was much more substance to the tale than the film offered and felt the need to refresh my memory. Plus it's one of my all-time favorites.
My point! Is here now I give you a diminutive sampling of the vocabulary words I've begun listing in a composition notebook and looking up the definitions because #omg

• interlocutrice: one who takes part of a conversation. (Specifically female. The male counterpart of the word is interlocutore.)
• worsted: fine, smooth spun yarn from combed long-staple wool.
• salubrious: healthgiving; pleasant, not run-down
• ribald(ry): referring to sexual matters in an amusing or irreverant manner (so basically like victorian "that's what she said")
• welkin: sky or heaven
• anathematised: curse or condemn

and I may just adopt this into my cache of insults because it's pure poetry

• prating prig: a self-righteously moralistic person who acts superior to those around them that talks foolishly or tediously.

Language is a beautiful thing, is it not? And yes, I am indeed journaling the big words I don't know or aren't sure on the exact meaning (as well as recording and translating the french because the copy I have gives no aid whatsoever in understanding the foreign bits) just for fun because...it's really fun.

Also, she legitimately uses "lugubrious" and I haven't stopped giggling basically.

"Coming your most lugubriousness!"

Animation messed me up

Every now and again I think back on all my "celebrity crushes" from childhood and it gets real weird, real fast.

Secret of NIMH Justin, the rat

The Great Mouse Detective Basil, the mouse

The Lion King Simba, a-durr

The Rescuer's Down Under Jake, the kangaroo mousey thing? 

(and I guess I have a thing for rodents??)

The Fox and the Hound Todd, the foxy fox

Robin Hood effing Robin Hood I mean come on

(I promise there are humans, too!)

Anastasia Dimitri

Pocahontas John Smith

Ferngully Zac (John Smith, jr.) (srsly)

The Swan Princess Derek (but like...dat haircut tho, ew)

Treasure Planet Jim (specifically in that military suit at the end)

Like, maybe I have a problem.

Halloween Pitch

I'm seriously gonna keep pushing this guys. This is srsbsns.

I had such a good time last year utilizing Mickey's Halloween Party, I really cannot emphasize it enough. But I'm sure gonna try. So here's a general idea of what to expect from the event:

Relative to a one-day, one-park ticket (around $98 now) the tickets to Mickey's Halloween Party (here on out signified by MHP) are in the range of $55-70 depending on the day of the week and the particular weekend. You can get $14 off with annual passes. The actual event goes from, most days, 7pm to midnight but you're allowed in about three hours prior and they start herding out the rest of the park around 4pm.
It's advertised as an event for kids, but that shouldn't be surprising I mean it's freaking Disneyland. Obviously. The trick-or-treating is rather silly, I grant you. But it's dang good candy and they also throw in healthy items such as dried fruit packs and some granola bars (which were [singsong] awwwesooome to save for the next day in the park as sustaining snacks, btdubs).

(pic stolen from Allora) ;)

BUT! The main attraction of MHP is the fact that because you have to have the special ticket to be admitted and they close the park for the event, the volume of people is drastically lower than it would be normally. There are special parades and shows (that are fan-freaking-tabulous) that distract the families with youngsters so that the lines for the big ticket rides are so. short. Seriously, I feel like I'm letting you in on a big secret here (which is totally counter-productive, I know, so sshhhh), we basically walked onto Space Mountain and Indiana Jones and Splash Mountain.

(if you're viewing this on your cellular device,

I apologize for the size of these videos)

You are allowed to dress up and I gotta say, it is an absolute riot to be in costume in one of the most intricately detailed theme parks in the world. People are so creative and appreciative of good outfits so it's a general feel-good atmosphere.

Pay no heed to my churro (and turkey leg, and corn dog) food baby.

Also, if you're into this sort of thing, the character costuuuuumes omg they're so cool. Characters like the Fab Five (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, etc) have special outfits that they wear specifically for MHP. No other times of the year. So getting photos with them in their fancy garb is a really cool feature. And for general characters that don't look any different, it's the first time I've ever waited in line to meet a character and it basically made my life. See how excited I am? It looks like I'm about to pee my space leggings...

In conclusion, when we went last year, we were heading back to our hotel room at the end of the night and just marveling at how perfectly it allowed us to enjoy the park, get to everything we wanted to experience, but didn't feel like we had crammed or rushed around.
It really is such a special way to experience the park and I cannot wait to do it again. Originally, when Ali let me in on the plan she and her family had for this year, my mom and sister and I were just planning on doing three normal days in the parks but when I told Mark (who didn't even go with us last year and won't be joining us again this year because he's made of stone and just kinda "eh" about Disney theme parks) about it he asked,
"So you're doing the Halloween party again, right?"
Flummoxed I said, "Well no not really..." but he countered,
"Well it's such an awesome deal there's really no reason not to, right?"
So if my unenthused husband is arguing for it, it's got to be amazing!

Please come with me.