On Halloween night, Ozzie and Thorny make plans to attend a non-costume party as Satan and a Scotsman. Meanwhile Ricky and David attend a Halloween Party at school and the Nelson household is besieged by children demanding candy - or else.
Having come home the previous day from Aunt Ellen's without any Thanksgiving leftovers, Ozzie and the boys become obsessed with a craving for more turkey.
Ozzie and Thorny's discussion about basketball escalates until they challenge each other to a game. They include their sons in the grudge match but then begin having second thoughts.
While discussing The Rover Boys' books with Thorny, Ozzie takes off to check out a book at the library, hoping to prove Thorny wrong. But when he's caught with a big book, one of his boys' teachers is convinced he knows a lot about the Peloponnesian War and asks him to lead a book discussion. Thorny is just too proud to admit the truth and decides to learn everything he can before the PTA meeting.
Andy Beesley gives Ozzie a new outlook on life: Enjoy life, while you can. Ozzie takes this philosophy to heart and sends the family on a spending spree down at The Emporium - a spending spree he soon regrets.
Fearing that Ozzie is coming down with a cold, Harriet orders her husband to spend the evening convalescing and then goes shopping with a friend. Ozzie manages a rapid recovery when Thorny reminds him of a date they made to go bowling.
It's spring, and love is in the air, so Ozzie wants to surprise Harriet by having a bunch of violets delivered to her. When orchids show up, instead, Ozzie suspects they're from an old rich boy friend of Harriet's.
To prove a point, Ozzie starts a rumor in the neighborhood by tricking his best friend Thorny into believing that the fish are biting like crazy in Mud Basin.
Ozzie finds out from Thorny that he is taking adult education courses at the local high school in the evenings. So Ozzie decides to take some classes and Harriet signs up too.
David and Ricky would like an increase in their allowances so Ozzie develops a point system regarding household chores. He includes every family member but regrets it as it points out that one person is doing very little of the tasks.
Harriet encounters an older man who worked at an amusement park she and Ozzie frequented when they dated. She invites him to dinner where he thinks Ozzie is named Walter, then spends the evening telling stories about Harriet and Walter.
