Then, I waited. I waited for the RSVPs, the phone calls, the yeses and the nos. Each time I heard someone confirm his or her attendance, my heart would leap. Days went by after that, and the decorating began.
Because of the popularity of this holiday in my house, it is safe to say that our collection of Halloween décor could have dominated the Christmas decorations present in my family’s home. Pumpkins, streamers, spider webs, and strings of black lights all found their place throughout thehouse. But remember, this was he time to go big, so big is what I found.
While driving through town one evening, my mom and I heard an advertisement for “oversized balloon creatures” on sale at a local party shop. Curious, we stopped in to see what we could find. The term “oversized” was a severe understatement for what we encountered. Then, we found it. Four feet in diameter, it was the largest, most horrifying, most inflated spider I have ever seen in my life! I was eleven. It was my birthday. I had to have it.
Days went buy and more plans were made, but there was still just one thing missing: my costume. Unlike most of my friends at the time, I was determined to come up with a fun and original idea for my costume (which was probably reinforced by my mother, who wanted to save money by making a costume). So, with some hot glue, an old dance leotard, and some brightly colored red, green, and purple pieces of felt cut into diamonds, I became the party jester. My mom even found some fantastic metallic gold curly-toed slippers, and a grand, multicolored hat adorned with jingling bells at the end of each point to top it all off. I painted my face every color of the rainbow, and giddily hopped around my home, doing whatever it was I thought jesters did.
Finally, with my hat on my head, the gargantuan spider delivered and in place, and all of my planning complete, the day arrived. Time after time the doorbell would ring, and I would answer with a squeal as my friends entered the house, dressed to the nines in over-the-top costumes. Mummies, vampires, Spice Girls, even hippies and Cinderellas all flowed into my house. The excited chatter over all the costumes could have kept us busy for hours, but of course my mother in all of her wisdom had other plans.
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