Halloween

We were invited to a halloween party by one of Matt's classmates, who is French. We were told that costumes were optional. Problem: do we dress up and look like fools for being too festive? or do we not dress up and look like party poopers if everyone else went all out? We weren't sure whether we wanted to go: would it be awkward or not? Who else will be there? Who does Rebekah know?

Well, you guessed it, Matt wanted some candy. So we went.

First, we needed a costume. I suggested that Matt go as 'Men in Black' since he already has his suit and sunglasses. We bought him a toy nerf gun. He thought it would be funnier to be a retired Men in Black guy, so he stuffed a pillow up his shirt. I wanted to be an alien, but we couldn't find appropriate clothing and accessories (and time was running out!). Matt wanted to paint my face green. I thought again! The cheap paint probably wouldn't come off well and I'd have to go to work the next day looking eerie and sickly. Not happening, honey. So I got a big "Happy Birthday" gift bag, cut out the bottom and stepped into it, fixed the handles to strap the other way, and put a bow on my head! I was a present.

We were all decked out and fashionably late for the party. It was a nice time, meeting the people Matt works with and talks to almost daily. They seemed to like my costume, and they thought Matt was pregnant. Yep.

We had signed up for the Ghost Tour for 10pm, so we had an escape plan in case the party was getting too awkward. This was the highlight of our night, including the gas lanterns we held as we walked through the town. We had a really good story teller as a guide and we learned so many creepy stories.

Antoine Leblanc, the Frenchman turned homicidal maniac whose skin was then taken to the tannery to be made into wallets... Or Roger Stockton the unhappy signer of the Declaration of Independence whose farm was taken by the British. People say he haunts his home, "you can see him staring out from the windows," and that the rocking chairs on the porch rock by themselves... The mailbox with the anthrax contaminated letters is right on main street... When Abraham Lincoln died and his coffin was paraded on a train, it came through this campus when there used to be train tracks. People say that at 5:45 am on April 24th, you can still see the smoke stacks and hear the train coming...

It was scary. We didn't see any ghosts.