There's a big membership sale soiree going on Monday the 8thfrom 5-9pm at Colosseum Gym on Irvington Avenue. They're hosting an open house event filled with fabulous freebies and incentives to join.  (As if my post-Halloween scale isn't incentive enough!)

They invite you to stop in to see why they've been voted #1 gym in Essex County- one of the most affordable ones, too with offers starting at just $19.99 a month.

Halloween Candy Continuously Stalks and Leaves Won't Leave, Either.

Piles of candy and leaves torment townsfolk…

I don't know which is more persistent, my children's relentless whining for access to their Halloween loot of my own urge to raid their stash the moment they leave the room...I mean, how many times can a grown woman scour the same two bowls looking for the last Almond Joy which she knows full well she ate on Sunday at 11pm?!

(At least I'm not alone, one friend was actually caught, mid-Snickers mouthful, by her six-year-old, who admonished, "NO candy before breakfast, Mommy- YOU said!" Brutal.)

I vant you to Leaf me alone... please!

I was among the many Maplewoodians optimistically raking their leaves into lovely heaping piles this weekend only to find them blown back onto the lawn within hours. Ah, the futility of trying to fight Fall's fallen foliage… why bother?!

Especially since, for a donation, Seton Hall University's Habitat for Humanity will rake your lawn:

They'll be raking Saturday & Sunday, November 6th, 7th, 13th & 14th. Just e-mail Habitat with your date preference at: habitat@shu.edu or call: 908-477-9178 or 609-458-8642. 

(All proceeds go to the Alternative Spring Break house building trip in March 2011)