Saturday 1 November 2008

Halloween hangover

No I haven't been drinking too much. Well, when I say too much,..oh, never mind. No, I'm just a little Halloween'd out. These bloody Americans go hell for leather, especially this year as it fell on a Friday and it was unseasonably warm.I have seen us some years, dash out with the kids for half an hour, dodging hailstones the size of golf balls, or too wrapped up in parkas for anyone to see the costumes. No this one was perfect.

Of course, we had the usual lack of decision-making in the costume department. Little one changed his mind every day, until I told him that he HAD to be a wizard as there was no time to make another costume. (Yes, I'm one of those sad mothers who makes costumes.) He wouldn't wear a wig, so I ended up affixing long strands of white wool to some tape, then stitching the tape in the rim of his hat. (I know, I know. I told you I was a saddo.) It looked quite cute. His cape was made when his 15 year old sister was three, and had a foot of fabric added when she was eight. It's a rather fabulous affair with gold moons, stars and black sequins sewn on. (OK, that's enough.)



The older two never mentioned dressing up - till the night before. The look on my face must have indicated that I wasn't lifting a finger this late in the day so they asked permission to walk to the costume shop. As a precaution, I had suggested that my 13 year old shouldn't be a soldier as it might be taken as disrespectful (you never know here), and a robber in a hoodie was an even worse idea. There'd be enough of them about as it is. I am fairly certain we agreed on a traditional robber and if he couldn't find an eye mask I could be persuaded to rig something up.

Naturally, he came back with two fake cigarettes that actually smoke, and a plastic M 16 gun.

Naturally, I hit the roof!

He went as a robber carrying a big black bag with SWAG painted on it. Nobody knew what it meant and I think it actually means something not nice. Will have to find out.

Queenager meanwhile, decided she wanted to be Tinkerbell (?!?) but could only afford the wings when she got to the shop. She wore them to school and had to go through all the doors sideways! She also wore a pink sparkly t-shirt, a white parka, white cut offs and white flip flops. It was warm but not that warm.




And we all had a great evening. Our street was hopping with everyone sitting out on their front stoops, laughing and visiting. I am glad to take all the decorations down though. And this girl has also disappeared:



Now we can start the build up to Christmas, pointing out every toy in every commercial ad infinitum. Oh wait, the little one's been doing that since his birthday in June.

.

15 comments:

  1. I would have to agree with you that more people I know got into Halloween this year than anytime I can remember. We have a "Party City" in town and customers were just streaming out of the store yesterday. I've never seen anything like it.
    I think the fact that it fell on a Friday was a factor along with the weather but also people we're ready to let their hair down after all the doom and gloom of the last two months. It's also election eve and there is a lot of excitement in the air.
    Fabulous job on the costume by the way!

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  2. Great costume, but I'm with you on the hangover part!

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  3. They should spread Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas out a little more. Perhaps one of them could go into February or March, which is a bit thin on holidays. It all feels a bit crowded this end of the year.

    Love the cape.

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  4. Great pics and costume!!
    Yes the Americans sure do love their Halloween don't they?! I say "their" because us Brits never really got excited about that holiday and they seemed to have cornered the market in dressing up in witches costumes...
    Although here in Brasil they also make a big thing out of it, not as much as the North Americans but we still have lots of parties here in nightclubs, e.t.c...
    One year the Director and her female staff at the English school where I worked here were seriously trying to get me dressed up in some ridiculous costume but my words were: "Don't be silly darlings, I'm British and we don't do those things where I come from!" hahaha!

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  5. OH my your comments on my nblog made me howl! Thanks!

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  6. OH my your comments on my nblog made me howl! Thanks!

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  7. I just loved Halloween when we visited Chicago- it is such a damp squib over here.
    Remember when we had carved out TURNIPS when we were kids in Newcastle?? That was the hi-light of Halloween...

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  8. I must admit, I love all the song & dance. We get wrapped up in Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and even July 4th - hey, when in Rome! I wish sometimes that we were a bit more "showy" in England but that would make most Englishmen run for the hills wouldn't it.

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  9. Oh this was hilarious! I would have loved to have held your candy bags for you...! Fabulous costumes too....!
    And yes, now the start up to Christmas begins....heaven help me.
    Bella :)

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  10. We had a drought on trick or treaters this year inexplicably! Looks like y'all had fun, but I agree it's wearing!

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  11. The weather was good for Halloween here in Sussex, as well. We had our Autumn Festival going on so it gave the youngsters a reason to dress up and pretend the Brits actually celebrate Halloween. My wife and I had a wander around the fun fair, trying to guess which of the teenages were actually in costumes and which were just coming out in their usual attire.

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  12. Good for you for making a costume!
    Halloween is picking up pace here in England now, it used to be impossible to buy so much as a pair of fake fangs in the 'old days' now you're tripping over fake blood, costumes and glow in the dark skeletons
    (and I knew what swag meant and no I'm not aware of any 'alternative' meaning.

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  13. I'm looking forward to being in the US for Halloween next year...round where I live, you feel a bit uneasy trick or treating as not many people do it. I think it's the kind of thing that either needs to be embraced wholeheartedly or not at all!

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  14. Fabulous costume making skills EP!
    We had a wonderful halloween and it was great to see how much the kids enjoyed it even more than last year, being a tiny bit older. have noticed the credit crunch affecting the candy though - they did three big streets in our neighbourhood and still their little plastic pumpkins weren't full. Last year, they just did our street and came back twice to empty their pumpkins...
    But like you say, am ready to pack away the ghosts and skeletons and dust off the Christmas lights!

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  15. Well it looks fun, and I bet the alcohol, erm, helped. ;D

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