Plastic Ghosts

Taking a break here, before I get started on the last-minute things to do before tonight's Halloween party.

Young Miss C rode her bicycle over here early this morning, to give me a bag of white plastic ghosts. She made them last night while watching Charlie Brown and the Peanuts Gang on TV--- I think "The Great Pumpkin" was on. C's little ghosts are made of white plastic bags.... you fill the bottom of the bag with balled-up paper napkins, tie string around the ball to make the head of the ghost, paint a face on one side of the round head, and the long part of the plastic bag hangs down for the body of the ghost. C used a needle and thread to make a loop at the top of each ghost's head, to make them easy to hang.

So there I was this morning, after C went back home, using fishing line to hang the plastic ghosts from the crape myrtle trees on the front lawn. C couldn't tie them in the trees for me because she's quite petite and I didn't want her standing on a ladder out there on the lawn. There are 19 little ghosts out there, and my husband thought that could be another guessing game for the party. We've got two guessing games for the adults, and one for the teenagers, so the ghost-guessing will be the second game for the kids. I called C and told her not to tell her friends how many ghosts she made, and she liked the idea of her ghost project becoming one of the games. I made up a ghost-shaped sign, and after the party begins, I'll have C's friends write down their guesses for the number of ghosts.

C also came by here with a tape measure this morning.... to measure the width around the dining room table, and the width around the two tables that are set up in the living room, and also the table in the breakfast room. Apparently, she is using a hula-hoop for part of her costume, and she wanted to make sure she had enough room to get around the house. A hula-hoop is pretty wide, and there will be 27 people here tonight.... it would be a tight squeeze in some parts of the rooms for C and her hula-hoop costume. She went back home and decided to use a smaller hoop, because she wanted to be able to get around more easily, and be able to sit in the chairs comfortably. I have no idea what her costume is, so it will be a surprise when she walks in the door tonight.

Everything else is just about done now.... or at least everything that can be done till about two hours before the party. I have to make the tortellini casserole, so I think I'll do that now, before I get dressed. Then I'll do my hair, put on my gypsy clothes, then do my nails. Then I'll have about an hour to just relax, let my nails dry, then plug in the coffee urn. I also have to make those pimento cheese pumpkin-shaped sandwiches, but I'll do that during the last pre-party hour, so the bread stays fresh and the filling doesn't get mushy.

Every time we have a party, we think of our friend Frankie. She always, always got here before anyone else, so she could get a parking spot right in front of our house so she wouldn't have to walk down the block, and she always liked to sit and chat with us before everyone else got here. Miss Frankie... we miss you still.... but I'll bet you're still here on party nights.