It Happened to Me

I’m embarrassed to share that I was scammed.

Apparently there is a scam going around called “party invite;” it was written up in Wired magazine back in September. 

I received (what I thought) was an invitation from a friend to a party on Oct. 31. Of course, that’s Halloween and I “responded” by saying I couldn’t go.

She had never sent an invite. In fact, she’s busy on Halloween night.

But by opening the invitation, I released something that delved into my contact list and sent subsequent “invitations” to those people. 

I’m grateful to those people in my contact list who contacted me to ask whether or not I was having a party on Oct. 31 (which I’m not!). 

It is Halloween, after all.

________________________________________

I was talking to one of our sons the other day and he asked me how it felt “getting old(er).” 

Rather than getting upset with the question, I actually pondered it: What is it like getting older?

I’m reminded when I was (much) younger I swore I would never color my hair. Then it turned mousy brown – not a look I particularly liked, especially because I used to have (key comment – “used to have”) natural reddish highlights in my hair.

So I started having highlights put in my hair but that was expensive so I turned to “the box.” I started coloring my hair (or as I tell my husband, “deep conditioning it”) to keep it a color more to my liking. Now I see white creeping in, which makes me feel really old.

But I keep pulling out the box.

I will look for wrinkles on my face and, to me, I don’t see any – but I wonder if they’re there. Of course, I can always take off my glasses and they’d disappear.

 ________________________________________

Pumpkins. Great outdoor decorations, but did you know they’re not only attractive to other people but to bears?

True! I was given this bit of news by a friend of mine and was I surprised! Bears will smell pumpkins from far away and come to eat them. And bears are not the only animals who will eat pumpkins.

Squirrels, rats, mice and who knows what else might eat decorative pumpkins, too! Even by putting out fake pumpkins, bears will inspect them which draws unnecessary attention to property.

Let’s face it: bears can be an ongoing nuisance; we see them all over the place. Just a couple of years ago a mama bear and two baby bears made their home in a neighbor’s tree. And I tell my delivery people to keep their eyes open in case there are bears roaming the neighborhood. 

I’ll be putting away my pumpkins; I don’t need any uninvited guests at my house.