Note to Self:

Don't leave buying pumpkings and carving kits until the day of Halloween. Why? Because the stores will all be out of the carving kits (safer for kids to use than a knife, and easier to use, too) AND the grocery store, which hitherto had huge boxes FULL of pumpkins, will not have a single one anymore.

All the Xmas gew-gaws will be out, and only remainder Halloween stuff will be out on two or three shelves.

Yeah. Don't wait until the "last minute".

(I was able to pick up four medium sized hollow foam pumpkins at Michaels, but that was it)