Halloween Time

A few weeks ago I dragged the containers of Halloween decorations out of my garage to get the house festive for the holidays. I had some costumes mixed in with the decor. I admired the felt poncho I had made for my oldest daughter's preschool Thanksgiving celebration. I ran my fingers over the ribbon trim that looked like beading. It still has the bright colored feathers that I had sewn into the collar. I remember putting in many hours to make it perfect. I was only 24 then. Twenty four with a four year old and a two year old. It seems almost impossible now. That I was ever 24, that the children were ever really that small, how we survived that time.

I pulled out the matching mermaid costumes I had made the first Halloween we spent in South Carolina. We scavenged for shells on the beach and I had sewed them along the waist. There were so many costumes that I had spent so much time on. Why? Why didn't I just get my kids $15 costumes from KMART? Because they never just want something simple. They always want something crazy and specific. "I want to be Link from Zelda but in blue and not green...."

This year I don't want to do it. I want to just buy costumes, carve pumpkins and enjoy life. I was hoping the kids would want to be easy. A witch or a cat, perhaps. NO. For months my youngest wanted to be a zombie Alice and Wonderland WITH a chainsaw. The chainsaw was very important. A few weeks ago she changed her mind and decided to be a Sugar Skull.

My oldest went back and forth but decided to be Dr. Who's assistant since the neighbor boy is being Dr. Who.

The other night I went online to buy the costumes. We sat down and went through our options. My nine year old looked through all the Sugar Skull costumes. She didn't like any of them them. "What I want is a dress that looks like ruffle-y but floral." We looked through floral dresses online. None of them fit her vision. After 40 minutes of going through website after website I said, "Pick a damn sugar skull costume or I'm going to make you wear a sheet over your head for Halloween."

She reluctantly picked one out. Then she insisted on a SPECIFIC type of head band and glow in the dark make up. Not regular- it had to be glow in the dark. It was $56. What the hell. For a costume she's going to wear for like 3 hours.

My oldest NEEDED a specific red shirt and specific tardis earrings. That was another $30. I already got the skirt and she still needs stockings. Unreal. By the end of this costume shopping ordeal I was already pissed off. Then it only got worse.

I pulled out my debit card and went to pay. YOUR PAYMENT CANNOT BE PROCESSED. What? I tried again and got the same message. I figured it was the website. I went to Target.com to complete my order and got the same error. What was going on?

I logged into my bank account. My checking account balance was $0.00.
                        
I clicked on my my transactions. F*cking someone stole our bank card info and spent $1,300 at Sams Club. Drained our checking account. I called the bank and had to file a report.

I was so angry. I want to find that person and key their car, pour sugar in their gas tank, punch them in the face, call their mom a whore, and throw eggs at their house.
              
Who does that? Like, how horrible of a person do you need to be to steal money out of people's bank accounts? That person needs Jesus.

I spent so much time costume shopping and dealing with the bank that I was too tired to fold my laundry. Just over here living the dream.