Sunday, October 31, 2010

Weekend Update

Where to commence the onslaught of randomness that will be this post?

Well, I'll start by saying one MUST NOT go to the Costume Store the day before Halloween. Not that most people with half a brain would consider such lunacy, but still. If you attempt it, you could get mauled by hundreds of desperate shoppers eager to find the last remaining child-sized Mad Hatter costume in the tri-state area.

You'll probably leave empty-handed and frustrated when you realize all that's left is one sorry looking Hannah Montana costume that is "soooo 3 years ago" and a few "teen" costumes that would make any child look like a streetwalker.

Also, please note that while having your husband out of town Thurs-Sun of Halloween weekend --and therefore not able to help with baseball, church, soccer, parties, etc-- is difficult, being home alone with a 9 and 11 year old is NOTHING like being home alone with toddlers. For those of you in the trenches of baby-hood and toddlerhood-- I send big admiring hugs to you.

Oh, and I'll guarantee that if you had decided to creep into your adolescent kids' rooms next week to purge their closets of unwanted, useless, dusty stuffed animals that haven't been played with or visible in about 4 years, you'll hear contented laughter and walk into THIS scene on Saturday morning:

CRAP.

How do they sense these things?

Oh, and if you buy a cute pair of brown boots ($7.50 at the thrift store, yo!) you might decide to pair them with a skirt and some brown tights. Since your tights and "panty-ho" supply probably succumbed to dry-rot when you traded work-wear for sweats a decade back, you might need to buy new ones.

Try not to flip when (two pairs!) of $15.oo tights rip upon first wearing. Yes, I realize they cost twice as much as the BOOTS. Kind of left me feeling, in a way, like a Panty-Ho.

And if your husband is out of town for four days, you could get conscripted into playing in the end of season "Kids against Parents" baseball game. You may already have decided to keep your cute outfit on, ripped tights and all, and forgo participation.

You're not athletic, you've just had Shingles, and this really isn't your cup of tea. You may, however, eventually give in when your son looks at you with his enormous brown doe eyes and says, "Mom, I really want you to play."

Try to soldier on when, after you strike out and take four baseballs to the gut at 3rd base, you discover he wanted you to play just so the Parents' Team would lose. Nice.

By the end of the weekend, when your kids are begging for an apple or "something fresh," you might decide that the grocery store would have been a better choice than the costume shop. Give them a Twizzler and hope for the best.

Hold your breath and utter silent prayers as you try, with one hour until trick or treating, to assemble a gypsy costume out of things around the house that will please the president of both the "Store Bought Costume Movement" and the "Fashion Police."

Breathe a sigh of relief when the costume comes out THIS STINKING CUTE and she likes it!


Well, that's it for now. The dog costume, the fact that I left the laundry in the washer for 3 days (pee-yewwww!) and tales of my bowling prowess with have to wait until another day.

Dear friends, I hope YOUR weekend was great!

And pumpkin carving? I've decided there's always next year.

11 comments:

Ellen aka Ellie said...

So not random.

We had our party at school on Thursday, so all weekend Halloween seemed like it should be over now. Glad to live it vicariously and past-tensely with you!

(And we had some wanna be avenue walkers at school...one "volleyball girl" was caught hiking her shorts up even hire--thong?--by me. What was HER mom thinking?)

Sandra said...

such a healthy person you are! The pumpkin looks pretty without those creepy eye holes anyway.
Your daughter is adorable and yes, she does seem very pleased with her costume, which, I bet she could wear to school tomorrow. Bandanas are so in right now (are they? I'm just saying that, I have no idea...)
Very funny post, I really enjoyed myself.

Shana said...

Your gypsy looks cute. I paid $30 for a Target fortune teller costume which turned out to be too itchy. And then I cancelled Halloween forevermore. True story.

Pamela said...

Tights that rip...grrrr!

such a bummer.

I'm so glad H-day is over!

purejoy said...

hahaha panty ho!!! i feel like one when i wear them too!

nice find on the boots. i'm hoping i get lucky one of these days!

so loved the costume. she was rocking it.

i got a tweet i thought was very telling:
a lot of girls rocking the "My Father Didn't Love Me Enough" costume this halloween eve."
right on the money, dontchathink?
for some reason, halloween is this time when all of a sudden it's okay to be anything as long as it looks like a ho. what is up with that?

Ali said...

SO CUTE and OMG about the stuffed animals... I have lived that my friend.

And for the record, I adore your randomness :)

Anonymous said...

Loved this. So glad this Halloween is over. I almost lost it when I learned that the school Halloween parade was on Friday. And I had thought that I had the weekend to get costumes together...Halloween wasn't until Sunday night. Whatwasithinking.

jbhat

Ashley Antkowiak said...

Ok so you totally made me feel better about myself with this one. I've had laundry in the washer for 3 days, too.

Earl Grey - a little blog full of big inspiration.

K A B L O O E Y said...

HA! Lots of agreement from me. And I also have two giant pumpkins that are doing their minimalist best on the front lawn. I had every intention of carving them, but, um... they look nice this way, don't they? Kind of non-conformist and all?

Kate Coveny Hood said...

I don't carve. I'm kind of attached to my fingers (no pun intended). And I love that you put together a costume. I have huge guilt about not doing creative sewn or pulled together costumes for my children.

Trista said...

I found your blog through YoungHouseLove's link love.

This cracked me up. It was a little like reading Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.