Post-party....

As I type, it is after one o'clock in the morning........ our Halloween party was a blast. I know I've said this before, and I'll say it again...... these Charades parties just keep on getting better and better. And as each party ends, my husband looks at me and says This was the best one yet!

More of our friends came in costume tonight than ever before....... and the others wore Halloween colors of orange and purple and black. We had ribbons and prizes for costumes this year--- Best Costume went to our friend C, who came dressed up as The Bride of Frankenstein.... she was all in black and white, with long strips cut into the hem of her gown, and strips of black and white cut into her veil. The Funniest Costume ribbon was given to our friend S, who came dressed up in the "mod" fashion of the 1970s........ S had gold-glitter eyeglasses, a black wig with pink streaks, tight-black stretch pants with a multi-colored blouse and a long vest..... she had on lots of bracelets and necklaces, and fringed boots.... everyone burst out laughing when she walked in the door, and she kept up her "mod" character all night long.

The ribbon and prize for The Cutest Costume went to our young Miss C, who came dressed up as a Halloween teapot. She used her hula-hoop as the bottom of the teapot, and stretched a colorful Halloween fabric up to her shoulders. For the lid of her teapot, she wore an Oriental bamboo hat. Miss C couldn't figure out how to make the spout for her teapot, so she just kept her arm curled up into a spout-shape as much as she could during the night. C's friend M dressed up like Jim Irwin (the Crocodile Hunter).... he had on brown shirt and brown shorts, brown boots, and he brought along a large green crocodile (the kind that fills up with air and floats in a pool)--- it was the perfect outfit for M because his family moved here from Australia a few years ago and he still has most of his Australian accent.

The food tonight was a riot also.... our friends C and L always bring something outrageous for Halloween. Last year, C made dinner rolls in the shapes of fingers, and little chocolate mice. Tonight, C and L brought a talking skull that was wrapped up in slices of fresh ham, with large green olives for the eyes. Around the skull were all the bones--- thin slices of tortillias rolled up with ham and cheese inside. When someone touched the skull to remove one of the "bones" or take a slice of ham, the skull's mouth started to move and it would talk to you.

We ended up with too many desserts, but that's what happens with a potluck dinner. There were hot casseroles on the table, and sandwiches, and a big bowl of chili, homemade potato salad, the tortellini/vegetable casserole, a bowl of barbequed chicken legs, "moldy rolls" (small croissants dotted with pesto sauce).... and taco chips made in Halloween shapes (ghosts, cats, pumpkins). We had more than enough food, way too many cakes.... my husband will bring two whole cakes into work with him on Monday so we don't have all of those calories in the house.

Before we played Charades, we gave out the prizes for the guessing games.... it's always so funny to see the numbers..... I had this tiny little jar filled with 212 pumpkin seeds, and the largest number guessed was 600-something. The person coming closest to the right number wins a prize, and the one whose guess is the farthest away wins the little jar of pumpkin seeds. We did the same thing with the bag of chocolate pumpkins..... with that game, the "loser's" prize of the bag filled with chocolate pumpkins was as much fun as winning the real prize.

As always, the Charades game was just so much fun, and we all get so loud that it's a wonder the neighbors all over the street don't hear us all. The men won this time, by just a few points, so they were happy about that--- the women usually win. The men's team had to guess the movie "The Godfather," and one of the teenage boys got to act that out. Within just a few seconds, he made the sign for a movie, then made the sign for two words, and then he put his fingers underneath his chin and flicked them towards the group of men. In just those few seconds, my husband called out "The Godfather!" and that's when the men's team got ahead of the women's team. It happened so fast, and it was just so funny, that we were flicking our fingers underneath our chins for the rest of the night.

My husband and I predict that for next year's Halloween party, we'll be seeing even more costumes on our friends. This year, we had two witches, two gypsies (me and our friend V), Zorro, The Crocodile Hunter, the little teapot, the 1970's mod girl, an Olympic athlete, a hippie, the Bride of Frankenstein, The Phantom of The Opera (my husband), a Hawaiian tourist, and a cereal killer (a box of Grape Nuts with a plastic knife through it-- worn around the neck of our neighbor B). Our friend K dressed all in black and made herself a beautiful cape with a sheer black fabric embellished with glittering purple spider webs.... not exactly a costume, but very Halloween-y.

I had orange and black Mardi Gras beads to give to everyone as they came in..... and mostly everyone not in costume was wearing either black, orange, purple, or a shirt or sweater with either pumpkins or black cats on it. But wait till next year.... especially now that we've started giving out ribbons and prizes for the costumes, I just know everyone is going to get more creative. (Which means I'll have to get more creative and think of more prizes to give out.)

As for me....... I'm tired.......... mostly everything has been put away, except for the extra tables that I set up in the living room. Tomorrow is another day, Scarlett. (Now that could be a costume for next year....) The Phantom is already sound asleep, and has been since I started typing this.