Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween and T.G.I.F! Every year at school we have a storybook character parade. Teachers and students dress up as their favorite character from a book and parade around the front circle of the school. Last year, I was Little Miss Muffet. This year, I was Stephanie from Stephanie's Ponytail, a  children's book by Robert Munsch about being independent and wanting to be different. It was a great excuse to wear jeans, a t-shirt and my absolute favorite Chuck Taylors to work. The kids appreciated my character choice because they love the book and didn't seem to mind that I wasn't Pete the Cat or Little Red Riding Hood (both of which were taken by other teachers.)

 

Converse Chuck Taylor

I understand that most of my friends cannot wait to spend a week's worth of grocery money on a ridiculous costume to celebrate a night that most of them won't remember.  In college, we wore the skimpiest of outfits, simply because, let's face it: we could. As one gentlemen put it, "It's the only night of the year where dressing up as a complete skank is acceptable." Well put, if you ask me.

Up North, the weather in October is nothing short of freezing after sunset. Two years ago, Halloween was canceled three weeks in row because of snow. Not flurries, or a few inches but mounds, heaps, and feet of snow. It was beautiful while it was falling, fun to play in for the first day, and then, it became treacherous, annoying and a total road block in life...not the proverbial kind.We were stuck inside for three days. My father and I spent three hours shoveling just around the garage to get all the cars out. That night, I the plowman called my father and told him that the weight of the snow broke his plow, ten feet up our nine hundred foot driveway. The next morning, my father and I trekked down to the bottom of the driveway. With the weight and depth of the snow, it took us thirty minutes just to get to the bottom and another six hours to make any sort of dent.

I was so desperate to get out of the house that I put an all-call on Facebook for anyone who could help. One of my ex-boyfriends from high school, who happens to still live down the street from my parents, contacted me after seeing the post. Second plow fail of the day. He barely got two feet past the first plowman's attempt. The next day, a neighbor showed up with his backhoe. Yes...a backhoe. He was my snow savior.

 View from my parents' front porch.

After my freshman year in college, I never really got excited about Halloween but went along with whatever theme my roommates came up with every year. We pre-gamed until 10:30pm and then, made our way, fake IDs in hand, to the bar. After graduate school, I stopped dressing up altogether. Last year, I went out with someone who wanted more than anything to be Clark Kent and Superman. I agreed to be Lois Lane only because I could wear a cute outfit and a cheeseburger was promised to me. The weather was relatively warm in Charleston, which also helped to persuade me.
 

Last year at Red's.

This year, even though Halloween is on a Friday and I have a skimpy skeleton dress/costume hanging in my closet for "just-in-case," I still plan on taking Finn to the dog park, working out, then curling up and watching Netflix for the remainder of the night. There aren't enough children around my apartment complex for me to worry about trick-or-treaters, even though I'm sure Finn would enjoy be frequented by small humans dressed in funny costumes. 

I hope everyone  has a happy and safe Halloween full of expensive booze and skanky costumes!