Halloween 2026 Countdown!
- Thread starter SolidSnake84
- Start date
- Watchers 15
I am having Internet issues and have had a couple of busy weeks but I have been trying to keep up, today I received an email from Oriental Trading about celebrating Summerween and I felt seen!
DAYS TO JOL DAY: 20
DAYS TO FALL PRESEASON: 52
DAYS TO THE BERS: 83
DAYS TO SPOOKY SEASON: 104
DAYS TO OCTOBER: 113
DAYS TO HALLOWEEN: 143
Good Morning Mid-week Halloween Friends! Today is the very final day that we do not know what time we report for surgery on Friday. It's humid outside right now, but it rained almost all night. There's rain in the forecast 7 out of the next 10 days!
We're 2 days before a huge milestone day of 50 DAYS TO FALL PRESEASON! And depending on what time we leave on Friday, a guest countdowner (Escalation has stepped forward) will get to post on a milestone day.
I'm wishing and hoping to hold off horrible hot weather but I know that SweatFest is out there. The rains beat the temperature down a little, but as soon as we hit our dry period in late June / early July I know it's going to be brutal!
If anybody is playing on Xbox, I recently completely randomly found a game called "SnowRunner", which is a spinoff of the PC game "Spintires", where you drive aging Soviet-Era heavy trucks across a map and through mud and various terrains delivering cargo. You can absolutely get stuck and have to restart if you don't plan your route carefully, It is an amazing game with dozens of real-life vehicles, and the very first map you play on is in Michigan during the Fall. I just like driving around and looking at the scenery, it's gorgeous. There's a map in Alaska that is absolutely beautiful, I constantly have to stop and take pictures. It's been the best stress-reliever I've found so far, just driving around in the woods and trails or down the highway is so enjoyable.
Friends I hope everyone is well, and has a great day! Think those spooky Halloween Thoughts!
DAYS TO FALL PRESEASON: 52
DAYS TO THE BERS: 83
DAYS TO SPOOKY SEASON: 104
DAYS TO OCTOBER: 113
DAYS TO HALLOWEEN: 143
Good Morning Mid-week Halloween Friends! Today is the very final day that we do not know what time we report for surgery on Friday. It's humid outside right now, but it rained almost all night. There's rain in the forecast 7 out of the next 10 days!
We're 2 days before a huge milestone day of 50 DAYS TO FALL PRESEASON! And depending on what time we leave on Friday, a guest countdowner (Escalation has stepped forward) will get to post on a milestone day.
I'm wishing and hoping to hold off horrible hot weather but I know that SweatFest is out there. The rains beat the temperature down a little, but as soon as we hit our dry period in late June / early July I know it's going to be brutal!
If anybody is playing on Xbox, I recently completely randomly found a game called "SnowRunner", which is a spinoff of the PC game "Spintires", where you drive aging Soviet-Era heavy trucks across a map and through mud and various terrains delivering cargo. You can absolutely get stuck and have to restart if you don't plan your route carefully, It is an amazing game with dozens of real-life vehicles, and the very first map you play on is in Michigan during the Fall. I just like driving around and looking at the scenery, it's gorgeous. There's a map in Alaska that is absolutely beautiful, I constantly have to stop and take pictures. It's been the best stress-reliever I've found so far, just driving around in the woods and trails or down the highway is so enjoyable.
Friends I hope everyone is well, and has a great day! Think those spooky Halloween Thoughts!
Good morning Halloween Fans!
The nice coolish weather of yesterday has given way to hot and VERY humid today. Going to be about 90 today and remain humid; tomorrow will be the same. I just have to remember that in order to get to the Fall I have to put up with the heat.
The nice coolish weather of yesterday has given way to hot and VERY humid today. Going to be about 90 today and remain humid; tomorrow will be the same. I just have to remember that in order to get to the Fall I have to put up with the heat.
Hello Halloween Fans! I hope you are doing well. It's a very warm and humid day out there. Definitely feels like summer. Technically, it's still spring. But you know these calendars can be tricky. I've got a lot to do within the next week before Summer Vacation #1. Happy Halloween!
DAYS TO JOL DAY: 19
DAYS TO FALL PRESEASON: 51
DAYS TO THE BERS: 82
DAYS TO SPOOKY SEASON: 103
DAYS TO OCTOBER: 112
DAYS TO HALLOWEEN: 142
Good Morning Halloween Friends! Happy Milestone Eve!
We're indeed standing on the doorstep now to a MAJOR milestone, that being 50 DAYS TO FALL PRESEASON, that @Escalation might get to ring in for us, depending on what time we have to report to the hospital tomorrow.
Then be sure to save some energy because on SUNDAY, we will reach 100 DAYS TO SPOOKY SEASON. It's really going to be something to start next week with ONLY TWO counts remaining in the 100's! And there will be only ONE count left in the 100's before this month is over!!
Friends, most of my thoughts are now with Holly and our surgery tomorrow. Thinking of our MMC Special Days, and the coming Autumn Season will be some of the things I think about tomorrow. When it's over, I think a "victory lap" through Hobby Lobby is in order.
Have a great day, folks!
DAYS TO FALL PRESEASON: 51
DAYS TO THE BERS: 82
DAYS TO SPOOKY SEASON: 103
DAYS TO OCTOBER: 112
DAYS TO HALLOWEEN: 142
Good Morning Halloween Friends! Happy Milestone Eve!
We're indeed standing on the doorstep now to a MAJOR milestone, that being 50 DAYS TO FALL PRESEASON, that @Escalation might get to ring in for us, depending on what time we have to report to the hospital tomorrow.
Then be sure to save some energy because on SUNDAY, we will reach 100 DAYS TO SPOOKY SEASON. It's really going to be something to start next week with ONLY TWO counts remaining in the 100's! And there will be only ONE count left in the 100's before this month is over!!
Friends, most of my thoughts are now with Holly and our surgery tomorrow. Thinking of our MMC Special Days, and the coming Autumn Season will be some of the things I think about tomorrow. When it's over, I think a "victory lap" through Hobby Lobby is in order.
Have a great day, folks!
I’m saying a prayer for you guys and for the surgery tomorrow. Go put an end to your trilogy and “finish the fight.”
Good morning Halloween Fans!
Not quite as hot this morning. Bright and sunny with a nice breeze.
Looking at that countdown; can't believe how close the Fall Preseason is! Looking forward to it.
Not quite as hot this morning. Bright and sunny with a nice breeze.
Looking at that countdown; can't believe how close the Fall Preseason is! Looking forward to it.
The surgery center called today, they were actually ahead of time!
We report at 6:00 AM SHARP! The Dr has operated on Holly two times before with the C-sections, and I had a feeling that she does her surgeries early in the AM. My hope is that with having it that early, we are out of there by lunch time, God forbid if we have to stay overnight it gives us the best chance of being out Saturday morning.
But they believe it will be laparoscopic, and I actually work with a woman who had the exact same procedure and she was out after a couple of hours.
So keep me in your thoughts and prayers! @Escalation is going to handle the count duties tomorrow, and I will post back on here if I need a volunteer for Saturday, but I really pray that isn't the case.
I love you guys!
We report at 6:00 AM SHARP! The Dr has operated on Holly two times before with the C-sections, and I had a feeling that she does her surgeries early in the AM. My hope is that with having it that early, we are out of there by lunch time, God forbid if we have to stay overnight it gives us the best chance of being out Saturday morning.
But they believe it will be laparoscopic, and I actually work with a woman who had the exact same procedure and she was out after a couple of hours.
So keep me in your thoughts and prayers! @Escalation is going to handle the count duties tomorrow, and I will post back on here if I need a volunteer for Saturday, but I really pray that isn't the case.
I love you guys!
DAYS TO JOL DAY: 18
DAYS TO FALL PRESEASON: 50
DAYS TO THE BERS: 81
DAYS TO SPOOKY SEASON: 102
DAYS TO OCTOBER: 111
DAYS TO HALLOWEEN: 141
Good morning, fellow spooks!
Our fearless leader Snake is in battle today againstMetal Gear his third (and hopefully final) hospital visit. Let’s keep him and Holly in our prayers as they fight the good fight.
I’ve got the privilege of filling in on countdown duty, and what a privilege it is to be able to welcome in a MAJOR milestone today: 50 Days until the Fall Preseason! It won’t be too much longer before we start seeing some early Halloween items on store shelves. Will CVS break their street date again this year on Halloween candy? We can only hope!
Our next milestone will arrive on Sunday, and it’s equally as huge: 100 Days to Spooky Season! Things are really heating up around here, and I don’t mean just because of the summer weather.
Take care, spooky friends, and have a frightful Friday!
DAYS TO FALL PRESEASON: 50
DAYS TO THE BERS: 81
DAYS TO SPOOKY SEASON: 102
DAYS TO OCTOBER: 111
DAYS TO HALLOWEEN: 141
Good morning, fellow spooks!
Our fearless leader Snake is in battle today against
I’ve got the privilege of filling in on countdown duty, and what a privilege it is to be able to welcome in a MAJOR milestone today: 50 Days until the Fall Preseason! It won’t be too much longer before we start seeing some early Halloween items on store shelves. Will CVS break their street date again this year on Halloween candy? We can only hope!
Our next milestone will arrive on Sunday, and it’s equally as huge: 100 Days to Spooky Season! Things are really heating up around here, and I don’t mean just because of the summer weather.
Take care, spooky friends, and have a frightful Friday!
THE TRILOGY IS OVER. I will have a longer update tomorrow, but I can promise you that I left absolutely everything out in that hall / waiting room.
Holly is home and resting in the recliner. Have a great Friday, y'all!
Holly is home and resting in the recliner. Have a great Friday, y'all!
Glad to hear she is home and resting. Hoping for a speedy recovery.
Well done, soldier.
DAYS TO JOL DAY: 17
DAYS TO FALL PRESEASON: 49
DAYS TO THE BERS: 80
DAYS TO SPOOKY SEASON: 101
DAYS TO OCTOBER: 110
DAYS TO HALLOWEEN: 140
Good Morning Halloween Friends!! I am SO HAPPY to be back here to be able to do the counts with you today and visit all of the threads that I missed yesterday.
First things First, HUGE SHOUTOUT to @Escalation for handling count duties yesterday. I saw that he was even able to give us an AWESOME graphic on a milestone day, which is one of my favorite thread activities to do. THANK YOU, my friend.
I'm glad to be back here on a MILESTONE EVE! Tomorrow we will welcome 100 DAYS TO SPOOKY SEASON! And then starting on Monday, we will have only TWO COUNTS that still are north of 100 digits! Folks, that's truly amazing when you think back to Day 1 of this thread this year, we had SEVEN full counts, three of those counts well north of 300 days.
I hope you all are well, and at some point today, I'm going to visit Hobby Lobby after I get done mowing the front yard, and check to see if there is ANY Christmas on the shelves! It's almost mid June, come on people!
Have a great day!
DAYS TO FALL PRESEASON: 49
DAYS TO THE BERS: 80
DAYS TO SPOOKY SEASON: 101
DAYS TO OCTOBER: 110
DAYS TO HALLOWEEN: 140
Good Morning Halloween Friends!! I am SO HAPPY to be back here to be able to do the counts with you today and visit all of the threads that I missed yesterday.
First things First, HUGE SHOUTOUT to @Escalation for handling count duties yesterday. I saw that he was even able to give us an AWESOME graphic on a milestone day, which is one of my favorite thread activities to do. THANK YOU, my friend.
I'm glad to be back here on a MILESTONE EVE! Tomorrow we will welcome 100 DAYS TO SPOOKY SEASON! And then starting on Monday, we will have only TWO COUNTS that still are north of 100 digits! Folks, that's truly amazing when you think back to Day 1 of this thread this year, we had SEVEN full counts, three of those counts well north of 300 days.
I hope you all are well, and at some point today, I'm going to visit Hobby Lobby after I get done mowing the front yard, and check to see if there is ANY Christmas on the shelves! It's almost mid June, come on people!
Have a great day!
My Hospital Experience - June 12th, 2026. "The Trilogy" Conclusion
**WARNING, LONG READ**
Believe it or not, both of us slept pretty good on Thursday night. We woke up at 4:00 AM and both showered, and had the kids dropped off to their Grandma's by 5:15 AM! We were supposed to arrive at the surgery center at 6AM.
When we got there, THESE little guys had been placed on the waiting benches outside by someone. I really hoped that this was truly a good sign for what was getting ready to happen!
The doors on the surgery center were locked, and it didn't take long for a heck of a line to start forming. I thought to myself "Jesus, what a business", as in no time flat there was a pretty good line going down the hall. All of these people in line with us were supposed to have outpatient procedures, just like us. The doors finally opened and we went in and signed in.
At 6:30, they called Holly and she came up to the desk and filled out a bunch of stuff, they took insurance information, and she was all checked in and ready to go. We were in the waiting room for a little bit, and around 7:20, they called Holly back to begin getting ready for the procedure. We were separated at this point, but I was still staying strong, and Holly was texting me telling me various different things.
Around 7:15 / 7:20, the nurse came out and got me, and I was able to go back and sit beside Holly's bed while we waited for the Anesthesiologist and the Doctor to come in. Seeing her in the gown and with the IV's and stuff hooked up, it started getting to me and I couldn't help but start to cry a little bit, I was starting to get nervous because I knew it wasn't going to be long. The Doctor finally came in and she talked with both of us, explained what her intention was for the procedure, but also told us worst case scenario she had to do a mini-laparotomy, at which she would keep her overnight and we would go home in the morning. I thanked her and told her that we both felt so lucky that she got to do the surgery because she delivered both of our children, and always takes such good care of Holly. For those who don't realize in my story, this is the doctor who saved Holly's life in 2022.
At 7:40, they wheeled Holly off in her gurney towards the OR. It was at this point that I headed back to waiting room, alone.
I noticed THESE PHOTOS on the wall! One is of Skyline Drive, which is a local place I try and visit every Fall to watch the sun come up, and right beside it was a gorgeous autumn leaf. Again, I try to not get ahead of myself and try and not take it lightly, but considering finding the tiny Jesus 1st thing in the morning, and then these two pictures, I felt like it was almost as close as I could get to hearing / seeing God in action. The waiting was going to be long and hard, and I knew that this was now going to be the hardest part of this whole thing. The waiting room had this TV on the back wall that shows all that shows the status of all of the patients, each patient is given a number, so that your family/caregivers etc can track them through the entire procedure.
At 8:40 AM - I got a text that Holly's procedure had started, this was about a full HOUR after they first took her back. I left the waiting room and walked down to the food court to buy a coffee and begin my long waiting.
I knew it was going to be at least 2 hours, maybe more if they had to switch gears and switch from a laparoscopy to a mini laparotomy(regular surgery), so I knew at this point, there was nothing I could do except wait.
The hours ticked by. At around 10:30, I had to force myself to try and not let bad thoughts take over. I felt the hard pull of negative thoughts, and I started thinking of what it would be like having to stay overnight there again, and missing the kids, I mentally switched gears as one of my co-workers started texting me asking how things were going. FINALLY at around 11:00 AM, the surgeon called me on the phone and told me HOLLY WAS OK, that they were able to do it laparoscopy, and that we would be going home! I went out in the hall bathroom and got on my knees and thanked Jesus. But we weren't out of the woods yet.
With Holly moved into recovery, it shouldn't be very much longer until I would be with her and we could go home! Again, I never underestimated this day and I knew that it couldn't be that easy. And it wasn't. One of the nurses called me at 11:15 and told me that Holly woke up, but she had fallen back asleep again. I knew we were going to have to wait longer. At the ONE HOUR MARK of post-surgery, I walked up to the reception desk and asked the lady if I could please go back and see my wife, I promised I wouldn't interfere with the doctors or anything, I just wanted to see her. She called back there to get an update. I was not prepared for what I heard back:
She told me Holly had woke up again, but was in excruciating pain and had drifted off again as they had to give her pain medicine. This was around 12:00 noon. At this point, I was close to having a full breakdown in the lobby there, I had no family by my side. I made the decision that I had to get out of the hospital and just go home for a little bit, let my Dog out and try and decompress / calm down as I planned next steps. I was going to call Holly's mother to come down and sit with me, as she is a true expert in dealing with Hospitals. I got about a mile down the road and got a text from the hospital that they were coming out to get me. I was afraid, were they going to tell me Holly had to get admitted? I pulled over and called the nurse phone number and asked what was going on. HOLLY WAS OK AND READY TO GO HOME! Somehow, I guess the message relayed to the front desk was like playing Chinese telephone.
Holly HAD woken up, and told the nurse that she was having some pain, so they gave her Toradol through an IV, which quickly settled down her pain. When I got back to the surgery center parking lot, The nurse was by the door waiting for me, and led me inside to see Holly. She was awake and sitting up in a chair, fully dressed, and eating chips and talking to everyone. She looked like nothing had even happened to her! I thanked them all so much, we went through the post op / discharge instructions, which were surprisingly simple since they were able to do laparoscopy / keyhole surgery, and then we were on our way!
Driving home with her was the best feeling in the world. I think it even felt better than driving home when we had the babies, I hate to say that, but when I look back in hindsight, I think Surgery #1 with Abby was the most scary, this was #2 because of the lack of updates / miscommunications, and #3 was having Jason because that was honestly like a walk in the park.
We got home at 12:46 and went back to our lives. I went and picked up Holly's medicine and went and got the kids, and that evening we all had pizza. It was a normal night. And it was the outcome, in the end, that I prayed about since January when we knew this was going to happen.
So here I am, on the heels of ANOTHER milestone day, and just happy and humble that I have been so blessed in my life. And folks, I saw another amazing thing that has been on my heart when I was in that waiting room for those long hours. I saw no display of politics, no disagreements on anything, just PEOPLE being PEOPLE, worrying in there together, putting their hopes with the doctors together. I had random strangers speak to me, be kind to me, and share their experiences as well, we were all scared and hopeful together. And it was honestly kind of amazing, and I wondered why the world couldn't be like this all the time.
Thanks for reading my long story, and all of the members who are here with me and have been following my life. I'm proud to belong to such a great online community.
**WARNING, LONG READ**
Believe it or not, both of us slept pretty good on Thursday night. We woke up at 4:00 AM and both showered, and had the kids dropped off to their Grandma's by 5:15 AM! We were supposed to arrive at the surgery center at 6AM.
When we got there, THESE little guys had been placed on the waiting benches outside by someone. I really hoped that this was truly a good sign for what was getting ready to happen!
The doors on the surgery center were locked, and it didn't take long for a heck of a line to start forming. I thought to myself "Jesus, what a business", as in no time flat there was a pretty good line going down the hall. All of these people in line with us were supposed to have outpatient procedures, just like us. The doors finally opened and we went in and signed in.
At 6:30, they called Holly and she came up to the desk and filled out a bunch of stuff, they took insurance information, and she was all checked in and ready to go. We were in the waiting room for a little bit, and around 7:20, they called Holly back to begin getting ready for the procedure. We were separated at this point, but I was still staying strong, and Holly was texting me telling me various different things.
Around 7:15 / 7:20, the nurse came out and got me, and I was able to go back and sit beside Holly's bed while we waited for the Anesthesiologist and the Doctor to come in. Seeing her in the gown and with the IV's and stuff hooked up, it started getting to me and I couldn't help but start to cry a little bit, I was starting to get nervous because I knew it wasn't going to be long. The Doctor finally came in and she talked with both of us, explained what her intention was for the procedure, but also told us worst case scenario she had to do a mini-laparotomy, at which she would keep her overnight and we would go home in the morning. I thanked her and told her that we both felt so lucky that she got to do the surgery because she delivered both of our children, and always takes such good care of Holly. For those who don't realize in my story, this is the doctor who saved Holly's life in 2022.
At 7:40, they wheeled Holly off in her gurney towards the OR. It was at this point that I headed back to waiting room, alone.
I noticed THESE PHOTOS on the wall! One is of Skyline Drive, which is a local place I try and visit every Fall to watch the sun come up, and right beside it was a gorgeous autumn leaf. Again, I try to not get ahead of myself and try and not take it lightly, but considering finding the tiny Jesus 1st thing in the morning, and then these two pictures, I felt like it was almost as close as I could get to hearing / seeing God in action. The waiting was going to be long and hard, and I knew that this was now going to be the hardest part of this whole thing. The waiting room had this TV on the back wall that shows all that shows the status of all of the patients, each patient is given a number, so that your family/caregivers etc can track them through the entire procedure.
At 8:40 AM - I got a text that Holly's procedure had started, this was about a full HOUR after they first took her back. I left the waiting room and walked down to the food court to buy a coffee and begin my long waiting.
I knew it was going to be at least 2 hours, maybe more if they had to switch gears and switch from a laparoscopy to a mini laparotomy(regular surgery), so I knew at this point, there was nothing I could do except wait.
The hours ticked by. At around 10:30, I had to force myself to try and not let bad thoughts take over. I felt the hard pull of negative thoughts, and I started thinking of what it would be like having to stay overnight there again, and missing the kids, I mentally switched gears as one of my co-workers started texting me asking how things were going. FINALLY at around 11:00 AM, the surgeon called me on the phone and told me HOLLY WAS OK, that they were able to do it laparoscopy, and that we would be going home! I went out in the hall bathroom and got on my knees and thanked Jesus. But we weren't out of the woods yet.
With Holly moved into recovery, it shouldn't be very much longer until I would be with her and we could go home! Again, I never underestimated this day and I knew that it couldn't be that easy. And it wasn't. One of the nurses called me at 11:15 and told me that Holly woke up, but she had fallen back asleep again. I knew we were going to have to wait longer. At the ONE HOUR MARK of post-surgery, I walked up to the reception desk and asked the lady if I could please go back and see my wife, I promised I wouldn't interfere with the doctors or anything, I just wanted to see her. She called back there to get an update. I was not prepared for what I heard back:
She told me Holly had woke up again, but was in excruciating pain and had drifted off again as they had to give her pain medicine. This was around 12:00 noon. At this point, I was close to having a full breakdown in the lobby there, I had no family by my side. I made the decision that I had to get out of the hospital and just go home for a little bit, let my Dog out and try and decompress / calm down as I planned next steps. I was going to call Holly's mother to come down and sit with me, as she is a true expert in dealing with Hospitals. I got about a mile down the road and got a text from the hospital that they were coming out to get me. I was afraid, were they going to tell me Holly had to get admitted? I pulled over and called the nurse phone number and asked what was going on. HOLLY WAS OK AND READY TO GO HOME! Somehow, I guess the message relayed to the front desk was like playing Chinese telephone.
Holly HAD woken up, and told the nurse that she was having some pain, so they gave her Toradol through an IV, which quickly settled down her pain. When I got back to the surgery center parking lot, The nurse was by the door waiting for me, and led me inside to see Holly. She was awake and sitting up in a chair, fully dressed, and eating chips and talking to everyone. She looked like nothing had even happened to her! I thanked them all so much, we went through the post op / discharge instructions, which were surprisingly simple since they were able to do laparoscopy / keyhole surgery, and then we were on our way!
Driving home with her was the best feeling in the world. I think it even felt better than driving home when we had the babies, I hate to say that, but when I look back in hindsight, I think Surgery #1 with Abby was the most scary, this was #2 because of the lack of updates / miscommunications, and #3 was having Jason because that was honestly like a walk in the park.
We got home at 12:46 and went back to our lives. I went and picked up Holly's medicine and went and got the kids, and that evening we all had pizza. It was a normal night. And it was the outcome, in the end, that I prayed about since January when we knew this was going to happen.
So here I am, on the heels of ANOTHER milestone day, and just happy and humble that I have been so blessed in my life. And folks, I saw another amazing thing that has been on my heart when I was in that waiting room for those long hours. I saw no display of politics, no disagreements on anything, just PEOPLE being PEOPLE, worrying in there together, putting their hopes with the doctors together. I had random strangers speak to me, be kind to me, and share their experiences as well, we were all scared and hopeful together. And it was honestly kind of amazing, and I wondered why the world couldn't be like this all the time.
Thanks for reading my long story, and all of the members who are here with me and have been following my life. I'm proud to belong to such a great online community.
Christmas Activities
Sponsors
