The day before...

This is always the day when I ask myself "Why are we having this party and why did we invite so many people?"

But that doesn't last too long.... as soon as the first few people get here, those pity-party feelings go away. This particular party has been a lot of work, but the house has never looked more Halloween-y. Orange and black crape paper swirls are in the living room, dining room, breakfast room and kitchen. And if I hadn't run out of crape paper, I probably would have hung up more.

I found a black and orange tablecloth on eBay.... orange silky background with black spiders and spider webs all over it. Magical on the dining room table, and the punch bowl sitting in the middle of it will be filled with an orange/pineapple punch tomorrow night.

We have a huge pumpkin for people to guess the weight of, plus a crystal vase filled with Hershey kisses (to guess the number of), and a tiny glass bottle filled with chocolate-covered sunflower seeds (also to guess the number of). Prizes for all three of those, plus ribbons and prizes for best costumes (one for a man, one for a woman), and a prize for the funniest costume, and most original costumes (both first and second place for that one).

There will also be a game with little plastic yellow ducks "dressed" in Halloween costumes. Each duck has a number on it, with its corresponding number in a pumpkin bowl. The first number picked gets to pick a gift out of a large basket. The second number called gets to chose either the first gift or pick a new gift from the basket. There are eight gifts in the basket, so that should make the trading/taking of the gifts interesting and fun. We will also play Charades after all of that, with all of the categories being connected to Halloween.

The living room looks like a restaurant, with three tables set up; the breakfast room is also set up with tables. Between sofas, tables and chairs in both rooms, we have seating for 28. The dining room table will be set up as the buffet, which is all decked out in black and orange as well. The whole house is decorated in black and orange, starting with the front porch, and ending in the guest bathroom.

As for me, I've been on my feet since breakfast. Lots of last minute things to do tomorrow morning, then I plan to be in my costume by the early afternoon. Last thing to do will be to polish my nails. Haven't had nail polish on since we got back from evacuating for Hurricane Ike. I'll relax tomorrow while my nails are drying, and sit down and put my feet up, before I put on my heels.

Between the hurricane and the elections, the conversations tomorrow night should be interesting, to say the least. Speaking of elections.... there is now a sign outside our house that says "Vote for Gracie for President." There is another that says "Vote for Dracula for Count," and yet another that says "Vote Green... Vote for Frankenstein." The Dracula and Frankenstein signs have great photos on them. My husband has also been very busy these last couple of days.

It's going to be a great party.........