Wendi {at random}

     The neighbors had a Halloween party tonight. Now, we're not big on trick or treat. We haven't dug this holiday (no pun intended, really) since we were kids. When Eaglescout and I were first married, we would hide in the back of the house on Halloween just to avoid the cretins who rang our doorbell. Then we realized we could actually go out to Barnes and Noble and avoid them altogether. Life was good.
     Then we had kids. Now our own cretins spend all summer long planning their costumes. Of course they change their minds as often as I wash my hands, so we don't even consider making a permanent decision till Oct. 24. This year we set our minds to making our own costumes instead of paying outrageous prices at Target for Chinese-made frocks of icky fabric and questionable authenticity. Hmph. Take that.

     I sat with my Singer and stitched and cut and stitched some more until I had reasonable facsimiles of Yoda's underpants and cape and Anakin's cape when he turned Dark and bad and all that jazz. These weren't perfect, and I'm certain they weren't flame retardant, but they were good enough for the boys. They were reasonable facsimiles. The cretins wore them around the house for a bit before letting me hang them up on hangers to wait for Halloween. 

     And so Halloween came and Eaglescout, being the good dad that he is, took the kids around the circle for trick or treat. I tried to convince Benjy that he should say, "Hmmmm, treat or trick. Hmmmmmmm" in his sweet, gravely Yoda voice. I think he couldn't see past all the sugar.

     

     After visiting those families who bothered to stay home and greet the throngs of treat-or-trickers tonight, we moseyed across the street for the neighborhood party. It was a pirate themed shindig, and most everybody was dressed up as some form of a pirate or bar wench or eye-patched pretender. We, on the other hand, were not. Oh, don't get me wrong. We did dress up. Eaglescout actually pulled this one out of his hat, giving in to the right side of his brain, which isn't easy when one's brain is composed 99.999% of the left side. Eaglescout spent a good portion of this afternoon with a hot glue gun and plastic gems and coins constructing a treasure chest. Then I came home and asked for my glue gun back and stuck coins to a black scarf I had buried in my dresser. 

     Then we donned our costumes. It was a bit exciting. Sort of like when I dressed up as a gypsy when I was 10 and wore a red taffeta prom dress I bought from Natisha LaForce at a yard sale for 50 cents. Only Mom wouldn't let me wear her red heels so it was a bit of a downer tromping around in my Pic-N-Pay tennies and this glam dress and make-up to boot. 

      I didn't even want to wear heels tonight. My foot was hurting, after all. It was more like throbbing. I put on my black clogs and wrapped my scarf around my neck. Eaglescout put on his box complete with a blinking heart pendant. And we were ready. 

      Announcing Treasure Chest and Booty.

All in all, for a Halloween that we just really don't care about, it was a good night. All the cheap Dollar Tree candy we put out was gone when we got home at a startling hour of 8:50. And the candy that the boys raked in will be traded for a toy by the Halloween Fairy tomorrow. The treasure chest split when Eaglescout sat down. My coined-bedecked scarf is trying to decide what to do with itself. And Yoda and Anakin are sound asleep, visions of SUGAR dancing in their dreams. 

And now, for something new. I found this site somehow this week and thought it would be an easy way to blog on Fridays. Every Friday they provide a new fill-in-the-blank thing. Here's today's.


1. My favorite food seasoning is salt.
2. Silence is music to my ears.
3. Lucky is finding money in my coat pockets.
4. Jimmy is something I take very seriously.
5. Many people think too much.
6. Meatballs was the last thing I bought at the store.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to sleeping. Tomorrow my plans include taekwondo and Sunday, I want to prop my foot up and rest!