Day 58-Was that a UFO? Or did someone just toss several yards of fabric out her window?

Well, I have to make a costume today. I suppose I don't really have to finish it today, since Halloween isn't until next Wednesday, but I know that if I don't finish it now when I'm thinking about it, it will turn into a panic project on Tuesday night. And I certainly don't want that. So, I am now formulating my plan of attack on this costume.

Joshua is being Harry Potter. His costume was purchased last year at the after-Halloween clearance sale at Target. Actually, it has already seen some use, as he wore it to the book seven release party at Barnes and Nobles. You can't beat getting a costume on clearance and then seeing it used twice in one year.

Julia has a costume, too, although I can't quite remember what it is at the moment. I bought hers last year too, and I know it's something cute and girly, like a fairy or something. I'll have to get it out of the back of her closet later and have a look.

So, it is Jacob that is my pain in the butt this year. He just couldn't find a costume he liked at the sale last year, so we put off making any sort of decision until this year. He has finally decided what he wants to be: an alien. Not a scary alien, though. Besides the fact that I don't allow them to be scary things, there are strict rules about not frightening the kindergarteners at his school's halloween parade. So I have purchased green scaley fabric, blue shimmery fabric, and green foam (for a mask) to make him a one of a kind friendly alien-type costume a nine-year-old can be proud of. Now I just have to figure out exactly how to do it.

I do not sew. Not really, anyway. I mean, I have sewn some small things in the past, all by hand, which takes a small eternity. I don't have a small eternity, and I don't really have the motivation, so I am thinking of using a combination of stitch witchery (iron on adhesive for fabrics) and safety pins. I do have one of those little sewing machines for small jobs, but I can't figure the darn thing out, so it sits in my closet meditating on the meaning of its thus-far useless existence. And no, I do not have any desire for a big sewing machine, because those things frighten me. I vaguely recall attempting to work with one back in my high school home economics class, but it could not have gone too well, since that turned into my first hand-sewn masterpiece. I think it was a fuzzy animal of some sort. Maybe a snake? Whatever it was, I distinctly recall finding bits of stuffing in my car for months afterwards as it slowly migrated through the poor animal's less-than-tight seams. And did I mention I can't figure out the small sewing machine? Yeah, the bigs ones would be even worse, I just know it. So, I stick to hand sewing or, um, safety pinning. Or, preferably, buying something somebody else sewed. The point of all of this is that I am hoping for some sort of miracle here because I have to make this costume, somehow, today. Prayers would be appreciated.

On an up note (for me anyway), my mom is returning today from her trip down south. She went to visit my sister for the week, which is really really great for all of them and really really sucky for me. I know, I know, I really can't complain since I get to see her all the time and my sisters, who live in Timbuktu, hardly ever see her. But, you see, that was their choice. I chose to stay in the frozen tundra of the north for the sheer sake of being near my parents. Anyway, I have been missing her terribly and can't wait to have her nearby again. Sorry Beck.

Survivor has finally gotten interesting! Suddenly the season of the idiots has taken a turn, and we have discovered some almost clever folks stepping up. Well, ok, one almost clever person: Pei Gei. The other apparently clever folks on the other team turned out to be idiots afterall as they 1. stupidly went after the hidden immunity idol in broad daylight in front of everyone and were subsequently caught, forcing them to include more people in their plot, and 2. pompously concocted a plan which went seriously awry, leaving then down a person and an idol, which James now happily owns. Still, it was fun seeing them all at least attempting to do some thinking for a while. Next week there is a merge, so more interesting developments will hopefully follow. This season may be salvageable, yet.

And that's all I really have to talk about today. If I am suddenly hit with an amazing and inspirational observation about the world, I will be sure to blog more later. But I wouldn't hold my breath. I imagine it's hard to be inspired when struggling to detach scaley green fabric that has somehow sewn itself to my pants...



****UPDATE******

It is now later in the day, and I thought you might like to see the mask portion of said costume, which I have just completed.
Well, what do you think? Alien enough? friendly enough? Impressive, right? Yeah, I thought so, too.