Hippo Halloween

I don't think there is any feeling greater, more triumphant, than waking up in the morning the day after having a party.

Maybe successfully pushing out a baby--but then, you have to factor in hormones and maybe drugs. So OK, I felt like Tondelaya of the jungle after I pushed out my daughter ... but that was long, long ago, in a galaxy far away, before she could get dressed up as a glamorous witch




so I think it's pretty safe to say that I don't quite remember how triumphant I felt. And I do know that this morning I feel pretty triumphant.

And this is not even factoring in for an extra hour's sleep. Let's face it--to feel this good, I'd have had to have had a baby the day daylight savings ended. Is there anything better than waking up in the morning, secure in the knowledge that it's actually an hour earlier than you think it is?



Now let me just brag a bit about my cheapo Costco flowers, people. Two bunches for $14.99 a bunch. A little fiddling around with the shears and the recycled florist vases and voila:












And here's another bouquet, in the smaller vase, next to the candy.







For thirty bucks I think they look pretty good. BTW, that recycled goldfish bowl was full at the start of the evening. So in the goody bags I included some gruesome looking fake teeth. Got to remind the little guys to BRUSH.










Of course my efforts are totally put to shame by the florist extravaganzae on the mantelpiece:




The only bad news is that I have ALL KINDS of party food left over. Last year I sent people home with leftovers, but this year I got too busy, and people were gone before I could load them up with leftover pulled pork, chili, slices of cake, and cookies.

So, confession being good for the soul, allow me to confess that for breakfast this morning I had two cups of tea, two M&M cookies, and a snack sized KitKat bar. And I'm sure things will go downhill from there.


Oh--and speaking of babies--check out the youngest guest:


--P.