And the last, if I had my druthers. One son got me a Jamba Juice card for my birthday, the other just ran down to get me a giant Coldbuster, which I am testing immediately. I’ve been told that the Farscape two-parter I began watching last week is not a good idea for someone who is prone to nightmares during colds.

I’ll never forget the last flu I had when I picked up a Harry Potter for some light reading. That night, a host of dementors appeared in the bedroom while I cowered against the wall trying to hide from them.

By the end of the evening, we had upwards of 20 kids, which we didn’t expect, it being a school night. By 8:30, there was some concern that we might run out of candy, especially since our kids no longer have stashes of unopened gum and other such in their rooms.

The Halloween enthusiast down the street had great success with his maniacal laughter recordings and mechanical wonders, because every few minutes we’d hear kids screaming.

I didn’t get to play the Das Parfum soundtrack and other music as planned. For the full effect, doors must be kept open, and it was cold. At some point after dinner, I realized I was coming down with something awful, and was dealing with chills of my own. But next year.