Believe it or not, I forgot that today was Halloween.

When I went to the credit union they were passing out popcorn and cookies and it was then that I remembered. Good thing I had already bought candy a few weeks ago when I was in a "plan ahead" mode.

Weird, this is the first year that I can remember that I haven't carved a pumpkin. Not that we're mad Halloween-ers (ok, that was funny ... ) but it's been a tradition to carve pumpkins, toast the seeds, make some cocoa, pass out candy, walk the neighborhood ...

Of course, this is the first year Cassie hasn't been home.

It's weird how life has changed now that she's gone.

And that's as far as I want to reminisce on that topic tonight.

I went to speak at my alma mater on Thursday, at the Magazine Writing Class I attended, still taught by one of my favorite professors, Mary Loprocaro.

OK, that was weird!

I felt like I was walking into a time warp. Mary looked exactly the same - honest! - and the students could have been the same students in the class ... (cough) ... 19 years ago ... (cough, cough).

In my mind, I am still in my 20s. But it's obvious that I'm aging - physically and mentally.

After leaving the classroom, I looked for the elevator which brought me to the second floor of Basil (I was pulling a case on wheels with lots of books and 'show and tell' items that I didn't want to carry down the big open staircase). Due to the recent renovations (OK, the building now barely resembles anything it looked like when I attended there - and the infamous fountain in front of Basil is gone, along with the site where the historic car chase renactment was filmed for the cult classic film directed by Mr. Matt Giglio), I lost my bearings for a moment and asked a student where the elevator was. Seeing me for the senile, middle-aged woman I am, he replied, "You're standing right in front of it."