In which Kiwi returns.

Well, aren't I just a terrible blogger?  It's been quite some time, hasn't it?

But now, I have a big stock pot of water, white beans, garlic, and sage simmering on the stove for a few hours.  The sun is out.  No work today.  I am totally content to do a little blogging!

The last time I wrote, I was preparing to leave for Catholic Kids' Camp, which, by the way, was wonderful!

The kids had fun, the 'adults' had fun; it was fun all 'round, really.  We had a medieval theme, which was really entertaining!  At the end of each camp, we had a big tournament with archery, pool-noodle jousting, swordplay, et cetera.  And then, we paraded a boar's head and had a huge feast at which we were not allowed to use any utensils.  As you can imagine, good times ensued.

Above is a photo I snapped of some of the counselors performing our skit, which I wrote [she said humbly], entitled "The Magnificent Adventures of Chester the Jester."  It was a five-part skit, actually, and each part introduced the theme for that part of the camp.  In the end, Chester even fought a dragon.  I think this was post-dragon battle, as he has his armor on.

Summing it up would be difficult, but it was absolutely wonderful!  I can't wait for camp next year.

From now on, it's my goal not to forget this poor little blog, and I hope to write at least once a week.  So, watch for that!  :)

Dress Up

So, tomorrow is Halloween.  I get into Halloween.  It's the one day of the year that I am allowed to dress up as whatever I want.  (Plus it's the day before All Saints day, and I like All Saints day.)  I love to dress up, so I'm not going to miss the opportunity to do so.

Last year on Halloween, I was recovering from an accident and having skin grafted back onto my foot, so I didn't get to enjoy it much.  Granted, I still dressed up as Alice in Wonderland and hobbled around trick-or-treating for half an hour or so, until it started to snow and my foot started to ache way too much to continue.  Suffice it to say, I didn't get that many miles out of dress up for Halloween last year.

ON A QUICK SIDE NOTE: Check out my sweet Alice in Wonderland costume.  This is me in it four years ago for a Disney party (you can see John from Peter Pan in his pajamas and top hat at the bottom of the photo, I think).  It isn't a great photo, but it's the only one I could find of me in the costume right off.  Aunt Becky made it; she's so darn talented!

Okay, maybe you can only see his top hat, haha.  Anyway, my hair looks weirdly dark and I'm not looking at the camera, but the costume looks great, yes?  End of side note.

This year, Halloween really snuck up on me.  I wanted to be a Swiss girl, you know, with a skirt and girdle and braided hair and everything, but I just didn't have any time to put it all together.  Plus, I couldn't find a costume, because they were all 'sexy.'  I wanted something like this, but not sexy:

So I just literally couldn't find anything and I just sort of ran out of time.  Now I have NO idea what I am going to be for Halloween, which... did I mention that was tomorrow?

My second choice for a costume was Jane from Tarzan, but that is also shockingly hard to find.  What is wrong with the world?  Many, many things.  And, in case it wasn't clear, I really hate the whole 'sexy insert-anything-you-want-here' revolution that is sweeping through a perfectly good holiday.  I mean, nowadays there's such a thing as a 'sexy m&m' costume.  I just do not see the appeal; it's way more fun to actually dress up.

Plus, in Alaska, if you did that you would freeze your butt off.  Just sayin'.

Hopefully I can throw something together before tomorrow, but I just don't know if it's going to happen.  Sad.  I'm going to have to have some kind of dress-up party to make up for all the missed dress-up Holiday opportunities.