Lisa: Halloween Festivities

A year after I was inspired, I finally got around to making the cute Halloween lanterns from Laura Land. I cheated a bit by using the library's Sizzix machine to cut out the shapes, but I think they turned out pretty cute anyway. I used one strand to decorate our mantel, and a few more (Sarah helped!) as decorations for our Halloween party.

As always, the best part of a Halloween party is the costumes. Here are the girls:

Sarah, in the middle, is a mad scientist (obviously).

Here are Dave and Jess. She's a semi-sexy mummy, if you couldn't tell. I'm not sure what David represents. He borrowed our dad's Nigerian traditional, and then when we got to the party we added a fake mustache from the Target dollar-bin multipack. Somehow, I think the whole of his costume is greater than the sum of its parts.

Marci was a semi-sexy devil, and Mal was Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas. Awesome costume, eh?

Here I am with Blake. I'm wearing the Princess Buttercup costume I made for the library, and for him we improvised a Dread Pirate Roberts/Westley costume at the last minute.

It turned out pretty well, don't you think?

Anyway, the party was fun, but I think next year maybe I will opt for something a bit more low-key. Plus, if I go to another costume party involving strangers college-age and up, I am going to have to devise some kind of sexy faux-stume. I felt somewhat ridiculous dancing to R&B in a princess costume.

Sarah: And by "any time" I mean...

Armando has a fairly new job. He fills job positions with compatible employees. Or rather, that's what he tries to do. In real life, after speaking with a prospective employee, he sends me emails that say the following:

Typical work convo:

Guy: I need a job
Armando: When can you work?
Guy: Whenever
Armando: Can you work tonight?
Guy: No?
Armando: So when can you work?
Guy: mon-fri, anytime.
Armando: Anytime? So can you work tonight?
Guy: No
Armando: Any reason why?
Guy: Just can't.

Armando, although you may be frustrated, these experiences never cease to amuse me.

Lisa: and may a flock of angels sing thee to thy rest

For us, Girls' Night was built on the foundation of Alias Night. We have been faithful viewers, and have even been known to watch in costume once in a while.

Unfortunately, Alias has become less and less enjoyable for many reasons, not the least of which is the loss of Vaughn and Agent Sean. We ultimately agreed to forego Alias in favor of Girls' Night activities we might actually enjoy, but we couldn't just stop watching without ceremony. Naturally, we decided to hold one final Alias Night: a funeral. And who, I ask you, can hold a TV funeral without fancy hats? Sarah bought the material and me made the hats while we watched. Awesome!

Lisa: Save the date

I am going to run the Salt Lake City marathon on June 3rd, 2006. This book, which I found through Pamie and Laura, says one of the first steps is to tell people I'm planning to do it. I guess it's an accountability thing. ANYWAY, I am going to RUN a MARATHON. I know, it's blowing my mind too. Training starts December 6!

Sarah: Chip off the ol' block

A few weeks ago, I told my friend "I'm just going to finish this, because I know I'll be happy with how it gets done." I was told I sounded like my mother. A few years ago I would have taken offense (as most children would), but now I'm not so sure that being like my mom in some ways is a bad thing.

Unrelated: A Thanksgiving tradition: watching Basted in Blood (courtesy Defective Yeti).