We've Been Ghosted

In case you have never experienced this somewhat-new suburban phenomenon, let me share. You come home from work/school/errands to find a bucket/bag/box on your front doorstep. It's filled with goodies and two pieces of paper. The first is a sign that says "We've Been Ghosted" which you have to hang in a window or front door so that other potential ghosters don't hit you twice. The second piece of paper is a letter explaining that you've been ghosted. Your job now is to ghost two more unsuspecting members of your neighborhood, by leaving them the same letter, sign, and their own containers of goodies.

Now it gets to be a hassle, first of all because I'm one of the last people in our neighborhood to get ghosted. That means traveling to friends' houses, friends who I know are as busy as I am and who can barely get the candy in the house for trick-or-treat and figure out costumes for whomever isn't old enough this year to go out. Oh, I didn't include decorating the house for Halloween. Or carving the pumpkins the night before until 2:00 a.m. because if you do it any earlier they'll rot or serve as sustenance for the damned squirrels living in the big tree in the yard, or even better, the deer that have overpopulated suburbia.

In addition, this game is all about the element of surprise. That means that when you ghost someone, you're supposed to run up to their front door, put the goodies down, ring the bell, and run. Little tough to make a clean getaway when you're the strange car in the neighborhood and your 6 yo would just as soon say "hi" to whomever you're ghosting.

I know who ghosted our house. I truly adore this girl and her family. I've known them all my life. She even sits in my driveway on Halloween night for trick-or-treating. I have a bunch of moms who come over, hang in my driveway while we drink wine and eat cheese and crackers, and hand out all our treats, sort of a one-stop trick-or-treating stop, and she's one of those moms. So I am sucking it up, and trying to find the fun in this. I'm just not having any luck doing that right now. It's just one more thing to do on my overloaded "to do" list.

A Day Off

I am horrible at this blog thing! I think if I were more organized at home, I’d have (be able to make) the time for daily blogging.

On that note, I’m taking tomorrow off from work to clean my house. Actually, over this four-day (soccer-FREE!!!!/CCD-free!!!!) weekend, besides going to the local county fair with the DH and boys, the only thing I intend to do is bring some semblance of order to my home, or enough so that I can hire a cleaning woman to come in twice a month. I’ve had it. I can’t do it all. No one can. You cannot work a 40-hour week away from the house, be on the committees I’m on, have DH working 40+ hours a week and be on the committees he’s on, have two active kids with the activities they’re in, and be able to keep a clean house. Even my perfectionist mother couldn’t do it; she had one day off a week to clean, and she and Dad weren’t involved in all the stuff my DH and I are.

I want to meet the asshole who thinks women should be able to do it all. I want to meet the Super Mom that does it all with no help. No nanny, no housekeeper, no one doing for you. Not even the hubby lifting a finger. I see all these reports and magazine articles, and you know the one thing they all have in common? They're all about women in upper management, who can tell their employees when they'll be in, or who have someone picking the kids up and doing the laundry and making the dinners! They're never about a woman who works as an administrative assistant in some office, who has her kids in an after-school program, who rushes from work to get the kids to rush home and figure out what the hell she's making for dinner (trying to make it as nutritious and healthy, but fast) as the kids tell her what they WON'T eat. They're not about the middle class mom, who doesn't have a choice about getting off the Working-Mommy track, because DH has never had a job with affordable health benefits and you can't afford to live in your hometown nowadays unless you both work (or one of you is making six figures). End of tirade. So, my plan for tomorrow:

* Drop kids off at school
* Go shopping (a necessity, as, when I put the winter clothes away last spring, I got rid of the pilled sweaters and worn-out clothes. The saying “I have nothing to wear” is ringing loud and clear at my house!)
* Get my hair cut
* Buy more hangers for the kids’ clothes (because the 6 yo keeps breaking them pulling his clothes off the closet rod)
* CLEAN THE HOUSE!!!

My plan for the rest of the weekend:
* CLEAN THE HOUSE!!!
* Get control of the paper monster that is taking over
* Get the paperwork for the shredder together for Staples (because, once again I have burned out another shredder! Shredders only last six months in my house… so I’m thankful/happy/really pushing the replacement policy purchase that I get with each shredder)
* Go to the fair Sunday morning, see the barn displays, eat my caramel apple (a MUST purchase!), and go home before the crowds arrive
* Get the boys to decide what they want to be for Halloween
* Get the boys' costumes for Halloween

Enjoy your Columbus Day weekend!