A Successful, If Unconventional, Halloween

I think this year's Halloween was actually a success.

The last two years haven't gone well (and that's an understatement). So, this year I thought I'd try and make it go a bit better. First I wanted to have a party. I have no idea where this impulse comes from because I don't actually like parties that much. But come it does, usually multiple times per year. The main problem was where to hold it. And that ended up being a big enough problem that it didn't happen. Then I thought that maybe I'd just dress up for school and hang out at my house and hand out candy with the boyfriend (he lives in the middle of nowhere so he's never given out candy. And it's also vaguely amusing to tally up how many trick-or-treaters we get).

Nanny Ogg

I'm six-years-old at heart though and I watched people buy their costumes and decorations and candy, it made me want to go trick-or-treating too. My dad made me stop when I was in seventh grade. Which was fine at that point because my peers were just starting to hold Halloween parties and I was actually invited. This year, without a ceili to go to or even a party to look in on, was the first time in a long time that I had nothing to do (including a speech tournament to prepare for/compete in 'cause I've done that on Halloween too). And so I came up with a way to go trick-or-treating that is a little more socially acceptable. Maybe. Kind of. A couple of my friends and I would dress up (because it's Halloween and costumes are fun and practically a necessity unless you're lame) and go "visit," aka get candy from, people we don't get to see very often, like friendly neighbors or old teachers.

Arthur Dent is the one on the right. 

More problems arose. Said friends did not have costumes, time, or money. Fortunately, I actually had costume ideas this year instead of my usual blank and vaguely panicked mind. Charlotte was supposed to be Nanny Ogg (from Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels), Griff was supposed to be Arthur Dent (from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) and Kate was maybe going to be Goldilocks. I was going to be Pikachu because I also did not have time or money and I had already put the costume together for a birthday party over the summer.

Pikachu, who I was originally supposed to be

Well, Charlotte put together a witch costume just fine, but in order to mark her out as Nanny Ogg, she needed a stuffed gray cat to be Greebo. Kate needed a few more bears and possible some stockings. And having come up with these literary costumes for my friends, I now wanted a different costume too. We piled in Kate's van and headed out to Goodwill. Kate got two more stuffed bears to complete her bear family, but didn't find knee highs or white stockings. Charlotte found a creepy clown doll but not a single stuffed cat, gray or otherwise.

Obviously, we are super cool.

We headed to Fred Meyers. Kate got socks because white stockings are no in this year and obviously we should have known that (*headdesk*). Still no gray cat stuffed animals. I finally heard from Griff who had been at work. He was late getting done and had forgotten my Pikachu shirt at his house. He'd taken it earlier in the day to see if he could fix the tail and make it stand up better because it bothered him that it was floppy. Now, normally this would simply be annoying. BUT! Griff does not live in town. Griff lives 15 minutes outside of town. And he needed to get gas. Which meant that all told it would be another hour before he caught up with us and it was already 8pm. In a bigger town and not on a Monday night, trick-or-treating at 9pm wouldn't be a problem. But this is Bend where we don't know the meaning of this "nightlife" thing you speak of and aren't you all supposed to be in bed because it is already dark outside?

I got upset. An hour later would ruin my plans and make the time spent getting us all in costumes a waste. (I love my friends, but sometimes planning stuff with them is like herding cats. I didn't want all my herding to be for nothing.) Fortunately, Kate and Charlotte did not let me stay upset. They let me mutter about killing Griff and hiding his body for a few minutes and then began brainstorming for new costume ideas.

Kiki (just in case you don't know what the character looks like)

We eventually settled on Kiki (from Miyazaki's Kiki's Delivery Service) as being possible both cheaply and quickly. The main obstacle was shoes. Kiki wears red shoes. I have red high heels. But I can't really walk in them. Of course, there weren't any at Fred Meyers that would work (too expensive and didn't fit) so we ran back to Goodwill. No luck on red. I swear there were better red shoes there an hour before. None of them fit right now though. I ended up with brown shoes, which, while not strictly accurate, I would in fact wear again. Kate lent me a navy blue dress and a red sash to tie on my head. We grabbed a broom and called it good. (A black cat would have been nice, but no one seems to sell stuffed cats anymore so no luck there.) Griff showed up partway through assembling everything and so as soon as we finished, we all got in the car and set off for the people we wanted to visit. Not one

Charlotte wanted to bother her mom, whether her lights were on or not, we got back out of the van and giggled while Charlotte pounded on the door. Charlotte's mom did answer eventually and she gave us pumpkin bread (which was fantastic, by the way). Afters standing about awkwardly trying to decide whether or not to drive to California for In-N-Out Burger, we got back in the car. Kate wondered aloud how much pie at Shari's cost and our next destination was set.

Griff, Kate and Charlotte

The Stormtrooper from the group
across the aisle offered to take a picture of all  us. 

We were seated across from a fairly large party, one of whom, at least, Griff, Charlotte and I went to high school with. He recognized Griff too (though it was probably because of his hair, not because he was in band like this person thought). Even though we went in for pie, we all went for real food instead (I guess we were hungry. This always seems to happen though. Someone wants pie, so we go to Shari's. Once there, do we actually get pie? Nope. Almost never). We ate and talked and laughed and generally had a good time.

Back in the van, Kate decided to take Charlotte home first and we all laughed until our stomachs ached and our eyes teared up at an unintentionally hilarious story Griff told about being in Boy Scouts. We also discovered that it is possible Kate and Charlotte were in the same Girl Scout troop once upon a time.

After dropping off Charlotte, Griff and I rode with Kate to her house and our respective cars. So, even though things didn't go according to plan and it wasn't a spectacularly eventful or traditional Halloween (I'm carving my pumpkin sometime in the next couple of days), it was still fun and a lot better than the last couple. : )

Goldilocks (and her bears), Kiki and Arthur Dent