Trick or Treat!

I hope everyone had a fun Halloween this past weekend. Here's the low-down on mine:

My dear friend Ginny was able to escape Dallas, her husband and two precious boys to spend the weekend with me. It was so great to see her! We've been friends since grad school way back when, and I always enjoy our visits, though they are not often enough. This weekend she introduced me to the glorious bargains of Tuesday Morning and the Dollar Store. I had no idea that you could get awesome stuff so cheaply. I know that sounds snobby, but I just never thought to look in these stores for stuff. They are awesome for gifts, gift wrap, cards, toys, kids clothes, you name it. I think I'm going to be saving a bundle in the future...

Anyway, later on Saturday afternoon, we began to get ready for Coach Ruthie's Annual Halloween Bash. The theme was "movie characters." As I mentioned in a post quite a while ago, I was going to be Elle Woods from Legally Blonde. I was a little disappointed that when I put on my wig, dress and makeup, I didn't look as much like Elle as I thought I would. Darn Reese Witherspoon's perkiness, big smile and huge blue eyes. Ginny went as Alex from Flashdance...welder by day, dancer by night! She looked fabulous! We listened to "Maniac" to get in character, and I practiced my Bend and Snap, which was performed often at the party. More on that later. Ginny and I played it smart and took a cab to Ruthie's. Knowing that Ruthie and her husband Todd throw awesome, and sometimes pretty wild parties, we certainly made the right choice not to be driving (Hi Mom and Dad! That was for you!).

As expected, the party was rockin' awesome. I should have known it was going to be a crazy night when someone kidnapped Bruiser, my dog, and threw him in the pool early in the party. There were some fabulous costumes! I thought I went to alot of effort with mine, but some just left me in awe. There were a ton of people, and of course, the majority were watching the Texas/Texas Tech game, which was just an unbelievable and very exciting game. I had a great time mingling, seeing friends who I haven't seen in a while, performing my Bend and Snap for anyone and everyone, whether they wanted to see it or not... Great food, great guests, and the decorations were insanely awesome!

Ruthie had several "best costume" categories, and through bribing, flirting, begging and probably ballot-box stuffing, I managed to win "Best Female." I was so excited! I love winning things, even if there may or may not have been some cheating involved (hey, cheating even happens with the Presidential elections. ACORN anyone?) I was jumping up and down with joy, and then the next thing I knew, "Sponge Bob" threw me in the pool. Now, I have ended up in the pool at Ruthie's parties before, but usually its when things are winding down and there are a few people left, not in the middle of the festivities. I put alot of work into styling my wig, just to see the darn thing floating next to me like a huge nasty hair ball. I'm sure some people were stunned to see that I was not a true blonde since I was acting like one all evening. Ginny and Joe helped get me cleaned up and presentable, with a freshly blow-dried wig. We ended up leaving not too much later, around midnight I think, but I know that party lasted well into the early morning hours. A huge thanks to Joe for driving me and Ginny back to my house. You are awesome!

Sponge Bob, who is a good friend of mine (most of the time), did call to apologize and I told him I would stop being mad in about 180 days. Until then, he better be looking over his shoulder...

All in all, it was a fabulous party, and I'm already looking forward to next year's, where I will go as a synchronized swimmer or something since I know I'll end up in the pool again. That is apparently now a given for every party at Ruthie's. And to the mystery person who commented to my friend that all I ever bring to any party are my famous olive cheeseballs, that is because they are specifically requested by the host or other party goers, and they are usually one of the first food items to be finished off, so people obviously like them. And they are the only thing I can make that's really good, so, yes, I will continue to bring my olive cheeseballs to every party. I'm a creature of habit...

Here are some pics and a video of my Bend and Snap. Alaina took some awesome pics too. I hope to be able to add those soon.

"Elle Woods" in all her glory:

Ginny as "Alex"...She's a maniac, maniac on the floor...

"Elle" and "Alex" at the party:

"Elle" was scared to death of this thing:

Fabulous hosts Todd and Ruthie!

Bend and Snap video:


Running update: I am now tapering for the San Antonio Marathon on November 16. We ran an easy 11 miles on Saturday morning, including 2 trips to the parking garage. Average pace: 8:57 or so. Not too shabby. And, the early forecasts for race morning look promising. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. If we start in the 40s, I will be one happy runner! Today, I started my morning with 50 minutes on the elliptical and will go for an easy loop or two around Memorial tonight, since its the only place that has lights. I really hate the whole getting-darker-earlier thing. It really limits where I can do my after work runs. Thanks inventor of the daylight savings time fall-back, spring-forward thing. I still don't understand the purpose...

Aggie football: OMG! We won another game. I have now said twice that we would not win anymore games, and we have both times. This time I really mean it...we will not win another game.

Random College Football Question: Can anyone explain to me why the Big Ten conference has eleven teams? Seriously, I didn't even know there was a Big Ten conference because I thought that is what converted to the Big Twelve, but I saw the conference rankings in the paper yesterday, which is how I discovered there is a Big Ten conference with eleven teams. WTH?