Today in the third part of my emotion series, we will talk about sadness . . .sorry.   So, let's get started.

1. I'm so sad today after watching the news.
2. I'm really feeling depressed these days.
3. I'm feeling down about the world today.
4. What happened?  You seem to be feeling blue.
5. I'm down in the dumps.
6. My heart is breaking for you, what can I do?
7. I really cried my eyes out last night.
8. The news about Trump reduced me to tears.
9. My heart sank when I read the Dear John letter.
10. I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders today.

This coming Thursday is Thanksgiving Day (感謝祭) in America.   In Japan, it is Labor Thanksgiving Day (勤労感謝の日).  What better time to learn how to express gratitude in English.

10 phrases about gratitude:

1. Thank you so much for everything you've done.
2. I really appreciate you coming tonight.
3. How can I ever express my thanks?
4. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
5. Thanks a million.
6. I can't thank you enough.
7. What a nice surprise!  Thank you!
8. What you've done means so much to me.
9. How can I ever repay you?
10. I am thankful for . . .

I want to start a series about emotions for the next few weeks, (until Christmas?), I will give some simple phrases for talking about different emotions.  Today is anger.   10 phrases about anger.

1. I'm sorry I'm too angry to talk right now, give me a minute.
2. You make me so angry
3. I'm at my breaking point!
4. Give her some room, she's really pissed right now.
5. Watch out, he's going to blow his top.
6. I'm furious about President Trump's tweet last night!
7. My wife really hit the ceiling last night when I came home drunk.
8. Rude drivers really make my blood boil, I have to be careful I don't get road rage.
9. Sooorry!  I guess you got up on the wrong side of the bed today!
10. What's wrong with our teacher today?  I was just a little late and he really bit my head off!

I finally finished all of my Halloween parties last week, my grandson left for Tokyo last night, and I took a day off today (Halloween). So, this will be my last post about Halloween.  Thank you for your endurance. Mainly I want to post a few pictures of my Halloween.  First, here are my jack o'lanterns this year.  To see how they are made, check out this post from last year. And here is my costume, as promised last week. The parties were a great success, but as I get older, they become harder and harder to organize.  In English, we say "I'm getting too old for this!". The hardest part of Halloween this year, was saying good-bye to my grandson, Joe, who I've played with everyday for the last 6 months.  I'm really going to miss him.   My last scary story.  Maybe the scariest one yet. Once upon a time there was an old man with orange-colored skin and hair like corn silk.  He used his business and money to get whatever he wanted.  He didn't care who he hurt or what he said as he clawed his way to the top of the mountain. One day, he became president of America, and the world will never be the same! Aaaaaaiiiiiiiiiieeeee!     Finally, to end on a better note, here are they lyrics to the BGM of this post.  It's a song I thought about when my own children first left home, and I've been thinking about it this week as my grandson leaves. Never Grow Up, Taylor Swift

Your little hand's wrapped around my finger And it's so quiet in the world tonight Your little eyelids flutter cause you're dreaming So I tuck you in, turn on your favorite night light To you everything's funny, you got nothing to regret I'd give all I have, honey If you could stay like that

Oh darling, don't you ever grow up Don't you ever grow up, just stay this little Oh darling, don't you ever grow up Don't you ever grow up, it could stay this simple I won't let nobody hurt you, won't let no one break your heart And no one will desert you Just try to never grow up, never grow up

You're in the car on the way to the movies And you're mortified your mom's dropping you off At 14 there's just so much you can't do And you can't wait to move out someday and call your own shots But don't make her drop you off around the block Remember that she's getting older too And don't lose the way that you dance around in your pj's getting ready for school

Oh darling, don't you ever grow up Don't you ever grow up, just stay this little Oh darling, don't you ever grow up Don't you ever grow up, it could stay this simple No one's ever burned you, nothing's ever left you scarred And even though you want to, just try to never grow up

Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room Memorize what it sounded like when your dad gets home Remember the footsteps, remember the words said And all your little brother's favorite songs I just realized everything I have is someday gonna be gone

So here I am in my new apartment In a big city, they just dropped me off It's so much colder than I thought it would be So I tuck myself in and turn my night light on

Wish I'd never grown up I wish I'd never grown up

Oh I don't wanna grow up, wish I'd never grown up I could still be little Oh I don't wanna grow up, wish I'd never grown up It could still be simple Oh darling, don't you ever grow up Don't you ever grow up, just stay this little Oh darling, don't you ever grow up Don't you ever grow up, it could stay this simple Won't let nobody hurt you Won't let no one break your heart And even though you want to, please try to never grow up Oh, don't you ever grow up Oh, never grow up, just never grow up

In schools all around America, children are asking their friends, "What are you going as this year?".  It's a very important decision every child must make at this time of the year. When I was a child, I was a clown, a hobo, a mummy, a vampire, a werewolf, and many more that I can't remember anymore.  It was always a little stressful to choose a costume that would be popular but not stupid. I have three Halloween parties this week starting Wednesday.  I'm excited to see the costumes of my students.  They are very creative every year.  This year, I plan on going as a mad scientist.   I'll post some pictures next week.  In the meantime, here are some of my costumes from past years.  Unfortunately, I can't find any from my childhood. [caption id="attachment_1220" align="alignnone" width="1024"] 1989 I went as Pumpkin, the rest of my costume was too big, so I took it off before this picture.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1221" align="alignnone" width="1024"] 2007 I went as a warlock (witch).[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1224" align="alignnone" width="1024"] 2009 I went as a crazy doctor.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1222" align="alignnone" width="1024"] 2011 I went as a traffic accident victim.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1223" align="alignnone" width="1024"] 2015 I went as a zombie.[/caption] So, what are you going as this year? Finally, as promised, here is your scary story for the week.  Good luck! The Vanishing (disappearing) Hitchhiker. A dozen miles outside of Baltimore, the main road from New York  is crossed by another highway. It is a dangerous intersection. Dr. Brown was driving home from a dance late one Saturday night. He slowed up for the intersection, and was surprised to see a lovely girl, dressed in only an evening gown, asking him for a lift. He hit  his brakes, and told her to climb into the back seat of his car. “The front is full of golf clubs and bags,” he explained. “But what  is a girl like you doing out here all alone at this time of night?” “It’s too long a story to tell you now,” said the girl. Her voice was sweet and high — like the tinkling of sleigh bells. “Please, please take me home. I’ll explain everything there. The address is ___ North Charles Street. I do hope it’s not too far out of your way.” The doctor began driving. He drove quickly to the address she had given him, and as he pulled up before the dark house, he said, “Here we are.” Then he turned around. The back seat was empty! “What the devil?” the doctor said to himself. The girl couldn’t possibly have fallen from the car. Nor could she simply have vanished. He rang the house doorbell, more confused than he had ever been in his life. At  last the door opened. A gray-haired, very tired-looking woman looked out at him. “I can’t tell you what an amazing thing has happened,” began the doctor. “A young girl gave me this address a while back. I drove her here and . . .” “Yes, yes, I know,” said the woman wearily. “This has happened several other Saturday evenings in the past month. That girl, sir, was my daughter. She was killed in an automobile accident at that intersection where you saw her almost two years ago . . .”  

As promised last week, here are three, short, simple (?), scary stories to get you in the mood for Halloween.  I hope you enjoy them. DON'T TURN OUT THE LIGHTS!

There's Someone Under the Bed

Mommy’s home

A father is laying in bed after waking up, he grabs the baby monitor and walks to his desk in his home office , he has his baby on the baby monitor and hears his wife singing to her, he smiles as he hears his wife “Go to sleep… go to sleep…” When suddenly the front door opens up and his wife comes in with groceries.

"Yeeeeeeeees?"

"BOOOOO!!!!"

  Last week I talked about fear.  Most of us are afraid of something, but it differs greatly from person to person.  Personally I'm afraid of wasps.   Rational fear is fear that has a solid reason behind it, for instance, fear of fire, or drowning.  Irrational fear is fear that doesn't have any real reason for the feelings.  For instance fear of butterflies, or frogs . .  .or ghosts. When fear gets too strong and begins to take over our lives, we call it a phobia (恐怖症）.   Most people have heard of the well known phobias, such as: Claustrophobia- Fear of confined spaces. Acrophobia- Fear of heights. But there are so many more phobias that some people suffer from that we've never heard of.  Of course there is a word for everything in English, so I'm going to give you a selection from the long list of phobias that I've found.  I'll give you one for every letter of the alphabet, 26 phobias.  This is from a list of HUNDREDS!!!.  Click here if you want to see more.  So here we go, phobias from A to Z. Arachnophobia- Fear of spiders Bibliophobia- Fear of books. Chionophobia- Fear of snow. Dentophobia- Fear of dentists. Enetophobia- Fear of pins. Felinophobia- Fear of cats. Genuphobia- Fear of knees. Hominophobia- Fear of men. Ichthyophobia- Fear of fish. Japanophobia- Fear of Japanese. Katsaridaphobia- Fear of cockroaches. Lachanophobia- Fear of vegetables. Mageirocophobia- Fear of cooking. Nudophobia- Fear of nudity. Obesophobia- Fear of gaining weight. Pyrophobia- Fear of fire. Quintaphobia- fear of the number five. Ranidaphobia- Fear of frogs. Stigiophobia- Fear of hell. Triskaidekaphobia- Fear of the number 13. Uranophobia - Fear of heaven. Verbophobia- Fear of words. Wiccaphobia: Fear of witches. Xenoglossophobia- Fear of foreign languages. Y- Sorry, I can't find a phobia for Y.  If I do, I'll add it here later. Zoophobia- Fear of animals. Next week, SCARY STORIES!