November 2, 2007
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Halloween for the Logistically Challenged
I am not an organized person in the best of times, and holidays stress my abilities
Final costume decisions:
Daughter1 – zombie
Daughter2 – Luna Lovegood (from Harry Potter. I had to warn her that if people hadn’t read Harry Potter, or seen the movie, they would not know what she was. Luckily, she was ok with that.)
Daughter3 – cute cowgirlWe had a homeschool party, so Daughters2 and 3 got to do a trial run on their costumes. One of the older boys helped Daughter2 with her tie – I had printed out instructions (you can actually purchase a “how-to-tie-a-tie” video for $13.95) but I couldn’t really figure it out.
I was running late, so I threw some chips and salsa into a paper bag, along with my quarterly 941 payroll taxes. I didn’t have a stamp, so I planned to stop by the post office later.
The hosts of the party have a huge pole barn – they own a tree-trimming business, so its big enough to hold lots of equipment.
Years ago, a friend of theirs made dozens of chain-saw sculptures from trees that they had cut down. The sculpture range from cute (animals) to kind of creepy (skulls).
The kids had a great time jumping on the trampoline, playing foosball and pool, and just running around. I had a good time talking to the other parents, and suddenly I realized that I had only 20 minutes to get to my oldest daughter’s school, and it would take me 30 minutes to get there. I couldn’t find the paper bag I had brought, so I just grabbed the costumes and other stuff I had brought, rounded up the kids, and took off.Once we got on the road, I called Daughter1′s school to let them know that I was running late. When I was about half-way there, I realized that I had left my taxes in the paper bag. I called the hostess, and left a message with her son to please look for the bag. After I picked up Daughter1, I realized that I would not be able to make it back to the party to look for my taxes, so I called the accountant and asked them to print out another copy for me.
I stopped at the accountants at around 4:30. I had the tax form and an addressed envelope in my hand by 4:35. It took me about 15 minutes to get to the post office. I got the taxes mailed off (certified to prove that they were actually sent on the 31st,) at around 4:50.
Then I had to get home, feed the kids, and put the last minute touches on costumes. My sister and mom came over, we ate dinner, and went out trick-or-treating around 7:00.
Comments (3)
You’ve got no pulse! For Haloween you could have been a zombie or Vampire!
OMG, I was imagining a paper bag of cash! Glad the loss didn’t turn out to be as dire as that!
I am going to print out the tie-tying instructions for my husband. He’s got exactly one tie, that we maintain in a tied state, as neither of us ever learned to knot one properly. (I grew up in a household of girls; not sure what his deal is, lol.)
The pole-barn party sounds like so much fun … and bucolic … makes me miss living in the Midwest.
We also had a person of the “cow-” variety … skeleton-cowboy eclectic, middle-child, self-assembled combo … and we, too, had a Potter person … goggle-eyed would-be quidditch player. Oldest child, in homage to our now-Southern home, dressed as a NASCAR fan and served as escort to the younger two (extracting his share of their candy-bounty in return).
I would hate to have the tax hassle more than once a year … and to coincide with the schizophrenia of multiple holiday events would be even more crazy-making. Guess the dust must be settling by now. Hoping you and your family have a great weekend.