I should probably say something, at some point, about our Halloween "party" here at the house last Saturday. If this is to be a "Journal" of my life (and as I've ranted before I've done a lousy job of that) the we should at least discuss it... very well.

I spent most of the day at a memorial service for Syd Purdue, who was my dad's cousin, and figured very prominently in the Whidbey Island family cabin structure. By the time I got home, I just wasn't in the mood for a party. Of course, people were due to start showing up about 8, so I had to get in the spirit for things.

In hindsight, I felt bad for not doing my part to help make things better. Rich was pretty disappointed in the turnout, and I admit the atmosphere seemed lackluster, and I definitely contributed to that. I could've put on more of a "game face" and worked at making a positive contribution to the party, but I didn't. It was an okay time, I suppose, but I felt like it woulda coulda shoulda been something bigger and better.

All the requisites were more or less there. We had done our usual bang-up job of creative pumpkin carving Friday night. Rich rented a full-on ape costume, Greg was wearing his new kilt in a "Braveheart" type get-up complete with blue facepaint, and I was "hapless jogger who got mauled by a badger or something." Tyler came as a "corporate whore,' highlighting the "costumes" of our guests. There was beer drinking, with the debut of the "barley wine" which is pretty strong stuff.

Greg, for the first time any of us know about, was quite sick the next morning. I'm thinking it was the "barley wine," as Greg really hadn't had that much to drink. Sometimes bad things just happen to good people I guess.

Also Sunday moring, as Rich was brushing his teeth, I discovered water dripping down from the ceiling in the corner of the kitchen. Assuming it was coming from the bathroom, I immediately considered the floor had flooded, and ran upstairs to see what was going on. Rich was merely brushing his teeth, and so the next assumption was broken pipe. Greg found the shutoff for the pipes running upstairs in the basement, and shortly thereafter, Greg's dad, Steve, came over to asses the issue. We pulled the panel off the wall along the stairs, exposing the pipes. No breaks. After some troubleshooting, we discovered the drain was backed up, and fortunately had manifested itself with "clean" sink water.

The plumber came Monday afternoon, and cleared things out. There was some minor inconvience around here for about a day, but things are flowing smoothly now.