Weekend Happenings

Good Friday morning!

The Gallery Pic is of Roxie... Basketball Player! Last night was the first scrimmage before the Tip-Off Tournament Monday and Tuesday nights. The team is pretty impressive. I can say that because I am totally objective.

NEWBIE ALERT - If you are a Newbie, please click on Newbie Information on my sidebar. It has all of the rules and regulations you will need to continue reading A Simple Life. Thank you.

The last three hints for the Special Guest are as follows...

18. She had a crush on Leif Garrett when she was a teenager.

19. When she was young, she wanted to be a police officer.

20. She was named after her Daddy.

Weekend Happenings

Finally... the weekend! Since the last high school football game was played Thursday night, Mikie and I will NOT have to sit on a bleacher Friday night. That sounds wonderful!

Josh and friends are going to a movie. Roxie is having a friend over. It is going to be an easy, breezy Friday night. We haven't had one of those in quite a while.

Saturday will be pretty similar, I think. Since it's supposed to rain all day, I hope we'll get to sleep late and be a little lazy.

For Halloween, Roxie is dressing up like Wilma Flintstone. Before you get impressed, please know someone donated the costume and even did alterations to make it fit just right. The word "costume" has always made me tremble with fear. I have the same reaction to the word "project." I want to spend $50 and just buy one, but I can't make myself do that, so Halloween has always been a source of major stress for me until everyone is happy with their costume choice.

Slightly Amusing Halloween Story - Whenever we go camping at Guntersville, we always stop at a place called Mike's Warehouse. This building has a little of anything and everything, and we enjoy browsing through the store before we head home. On this particular October Sunday, I noticed a rack of gold lame' Elvis jumpsuits with gigantic black belts and even bigger bell bottoms. There must have been 20 or 30 of these identical Elvis costumes... and they were only $10 apiece.

"Buy one. Buy one NOW," something inside me said.

"No. This is a stupid, stupid purchase... even for only $10," I replied to myself. And then we left Mike's and the rack of gold lame' Elvis jumpsuits on sale for $10 apiece.

Three days later, I was asking the kids what they wanted to be for Halloween. Josh wanted to be a Power Ranger (shocker), and Roxie wanted to be a princess (another shocker), and Austin... Well, Austin wanted to be Elvis.

"What do you mean you want to be Elvis?"

"I think it would be fun, and we already know where we can get a costume."

"Yeah. I'll just make a 2 1/2 hour round trip to pick up a $10 costume and everything will be just fine!" I thought to myself.

"Why didn't you say something three days ago while we were standing in front of the costumes?" I whined.

"I didn't want to be Elvis until today."

Of course. That made perfect sense. How many of us wake up one morning and suddenly want to be Elvis. It happens all the time.

I decided my best course of action would be to get on the phone and see how much it would cost for Mike's to ship me a costume. I spoke to a very nice young lady, and when I told her what I wanted and asked if there were any left on the rack, she started laughing. "Oh, there are plenty on the rack. We have to sell them as a set."

"What does that mean? You have to sell 20 identical gold lame' Elvis jumpsuits at the same time to the same person? What does that mean?" I repeated.

"I know. It doesn't make any sense, but that's what my boss told me."

I sat there quietly trying to figure out how to get her to work with me... and not get fired. Before I could come up with a solution to this ridiculous problem, she cleared her throat and whispered, "I'm going to send you one."

"What?" I couldn't believe my ears. I wasn't going to have to guilt her, or coerce her or bribe her.

"It's stupid to think someone is going to buy all 20 at the same time. Can you pay over the phone with your credit card?" she hissed.

"Yes, I can," I whispered back.

"I'm going to walk down the street to the Post Office at lunch and drop it in the mail for you. You should get it in a couple of days."

"But what about postage?" I asked.

"It's on me," she said. "The day after Halloween the other 19 Elvis jumpsuits are going to be marked down to $1.50 anyway."

Two days later, I held in my hands a beautiful gold lame' Elvis jumpsuit. We had gotten such a deal on the costume, I was able to spring for black hair paint AND an inflatable guitar.

It was one of Austin's finer Halloween memories. And mine, too. I love it when you run into an incredibly kind person. It doesn't happen often enough, does it?

Well, back to Weekend Happenings. Boy, did we (Code for I) get off track!

Austin will be in Atlanta all day Saturday for another Southerner Exhibition, but he'll be coming in Sunday for church and our traditional Hobo Lunch at Grandmother's with my sister and her family. It should be a lot of fun.

And I should have some really good pics for next week's Gallery.

Book List

The following are just some of my favorite Halloween books for children. You may already have all of them, but if not, I've read the following and love them all.

1. The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat by Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain

2. The Berenstain Bears and the Prize Pumpkin by Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain

3. Disney's Boo to You, Winnie the Pooh! by Bruce Talkington and Robbin Cuddy

4. The Boxcar Children Halloween Special (Boxcar Children Mysteries) by Gertrude Chandler Warner

5. It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown by Charles M. Schulz

6. The Best Halloween Ever by Barbara Robinson (This isn't as special as The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, but it is a good chapter book to read aloud the week before Halloween. It is very enjoyable.)

7. The Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs (This is my absolute favorite and should always be read before, during or after the carving of the pumpkin. It is wonderful.)

Have a Happy Halloween. Be safe, and enjoy your weekend with family and friends. Check in Monday for a Party, Event or Devotion, our Special Guest will be revealed and Monday Mayhem. Lots of stuff going on at A Simple Life.

Take care, and I'll talk to you Monday.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda