Friday
Susan and I took the girls to the Armory for the Dickinson Parks and Recreation annual Halloween party for littluns (third grade and younger). Suzanna dressed as a farm girl (what we called her scarecrow outfit minus the straw coming out the sleeves and neck of her shirt, because we couldn't find that raffia in time), Abigail as a bride, and Hillary as a princess (in her witch costume with a tiara instead of the witch's hat). They got bags of candy when we entered, and then we wound our way through a haunted house set-up (well decorated with someone hiding in costume who popped up occasionally to startle people) until we made our way to a large room filled with games: bowling, tic-tac-toe beanbag toss, etc. It was fun to see the scads of other little kids in their costumes, and the girls enjoyed playing the games and seeing/talking to their friends from school. Each child received free bottled water on the way out, courtesy of Pepsi.
Saturday
Our new entertainment center was delivered on Friday, so we spent part of Saturday setting it up with all the electronic media equipment. We also unpacked and organized all our CDs, cassettes, videotapes, and DVDs. Susan's aunt Kathy spent the evening with the girls so that Susan and I could go out for supper and then to a musical at DSU. We ate at El Sombrero and had a great meal: we shared the Fajitas El Sombrero for two, featuring a sizzling platter of shrimp, chicken, chorizo, and steak to stuff as we pleased into flour tortillas. We each got a plate of deee-licious refried beans and cheese, Spanish rice, guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, and lettuce, too. Susan had a strawberry margarita, and I enjoyed some cerveza. It was so much food that what we took home made a meal for the five of us tonight!
Afterward we saw Urinetown: The Musical at DSU. It's a funny, satirical musical, and we both enjoyed the script. It was our first theatre experience in Dickinson, and we were pleased with the production, too. There were no klunky voices, no awful actors, no disastrous directing choices--the detractions (and distractions) of which there are usually at least one per production. A student employee from the Academic Success Center (where I work) was in the cast, so it was fun to see him on stage. And it was a full crowd in the auditorium, including a very funny and friendly woman who sat next to me and visited easily between acts . . . and even during Act II. When a certain character came on at a certain time, she guessed the secret that the character was about to reveal, and she leaned over and told me, "I'll bet she's her mother. I just had a feeling all along." When the character revealed this parenthood secret, the woman next to me punched me in the shoulder as though to say, "I told you so." Afterward, Susan asked me who the woman was, figuring it was a coworker of mine whom she hadn't met yet. Nope, I have no idea who she was!
Sunday
Today was the day for sorting through the stacks of pictures, photographs, and knick knacks that we've been forming in the living room as we've been unpacking boxes. We figured we should assemble all our decor items in one place before we started putting up pictures on the wall; better to see it all laid out so that we could remember our options and reimagine old things hanging up in new combinations in this new place. We got out the hammer and nails, the level, the tape measure, the stud finder, the pencil, and the step stool and got to work, room by room. We're not done nailing and hanging yet, but we have assigned every hanging item to a room now. We'll place tchotchkes, candles, framed photos, etc., on the horizontal surfaces after everything is up that belongs on a vertical surface.
We want the home decorated and everything in its place by Thanksgiving when my family will be in Dickinson to spend the holiday with us! My sisters from Oregon and Nebraska and my dad and stepmom from McGregor, ND will all be here, and we're very much looking forward to it. We want the home in order to "show it off" to them (and to maximize the space available for setting down suitcases without feeling claustrophobic among stacks of boxes).
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