My friend Tracey just walked into my office in a rush wanting to know if I was okay. He dreamt that he was at my funeral. His voice cracked when he told me.
Have you ever wondered what your funeral would be like? I have. I wonder who would come? What would they say about me? What would I be wearing...mostly I think about who would come? Have I lead a life that has touched others in a positive way? Have a made a difference/impact on anyones life for the better? Are there people out there who sometimes wonder how I am?
He said there were a lot of people there to mourn me. I know it was only a dream but that makes me feel nice. When I'm gone I want to be missed.
Monday, October 31, 2005
The yellow brick road
I headed to Ricky's right after work on Friday to get my costume. I was nervous that I'd waited too long. I waited because I wanted to make sure that the night was actually going to happen. Sometimes plans with certain friends of mine, who shall remain nameless sometimes...fall through. I went to the store on 64th and 1st, it was packed. I was approached by a cute salesman who asked if he could help me. He then lead me down a narrow aisle stocked floor to ceiling with costumes in plastic bags and customers on each side. After many utterances of "Excuse me" we reached the end of the aisle and came face to face with the last Dorothy costume. As he reached for the costume he turned to me and said, "Did you want sexy Dorothy, because we're out?. "I'm good with the old fashion one, thanks".
I kind of did want sexy Dorothy but it's too short. I didn't want to hurt the baby. My legs are not sexy, my legs in the sexy Dorothy costume would only be scary Dorothy. I didn't want that. I just wanted to be cute, at the very least. I think I achieved that.
When I got home I immediately stripped and put on the costume. I looked like an oversized doll. This costume was going to need some alterations. I laid the dress on my bed and stared at it. Where could I being? What could I change to give it a boost of "cute"? I called Irene. She hadn't seen the dress but from my description she too believed it needed some alteration. We talked about somehow adding a V-neck or scoop neck or something to show I HAD a neck. The sleeves were killing me, big, poofy elastic sleeves. One shower and about forty-five minutes later my dress was sleeveless. The next afternoon I would channel more of my seamstress wisdom and create a V-neck. I completed my costume with white bobby socks, red pumps, two pig-tails with white ribbons, blue eyeshadow and red lipstick.
Irene picked me up around nine-thirty-ish. We had to head back to her house though to get Toto and Patrice. Irene was the cowardly lion with signature Irene flair. Patrice was our tin-woman, her aluminum eyelashes were a nice touch. Our new friend Marita was wicked witch of the west with New York style. Nikia our scarecrow was a no show due to undisclosed personal stuff.
After finding overpriced parking we proceeded to Opal, we were forty-five minutes late to the two hour open bar. We enter and head straight to the bar to "get our moneys worth". I think I have two drinks in twenty minutes, then I took it alittle more slowly. My logic was that if I could get 3 drinks down, I'd gotten my money's worth (Hey, I work hard and this is NYC!). None of my invitees confirmed but I was determined to have a nice night out. I mean it was my first Halloween in costume!
We danced, we laughed, we took lots of pictures. None of which I have now. At some point the jello shot girl was offering and I was purchasing. I ordered three shots, picking out the prettiest colors. I remember her saying one was Tequila, I nodded and passed the shot. Irene, Patrice and I eye balled "Cheers" and down the hatch they went. After that, we all had another drink and that is about when Irene excused herself to go to the bathroom.
She was gone awhile, so long that the rest of us upstairs started to lean in and whisper to each other, "Where's Irene?". Maybe she had been gone a while? I nominated myself to go check on her. Irene disappearing is really not something I'm unfamiliar with. I expected to find her somewhere talking to someone. I found her somewhere and she was talking to God. Well, not God exactly, more like the porcelain god. This was a first. I'd never seen her like this before. Compared to me she's a heavy-weight when it comes to drinking. She doesn't do drunk, well at least not where you can actually notice.
Over an hour later, and much vomitting we found a cab and made our way downtown. I didn't want to leave her car in the garage for fear of the tab she would rack up but we had no choice. She was feeling better and I thought we could better decide who was going where over burger, fries and coffee. At Around-the-Clock, Marita and I made a plan, Irene slept and Patrice held back nausea. I would take Irene with me, Marita would take Patrice. Tomorrow we would worry about the car.
We all shared a cab to Brooklyn with a very friendly driver. They usually aren't thrilled to leave the borough at that time of night so, having him was a God send. We pulled up in front of my apartment at about six am. Without words, the lion and I made our way upstairs and into bed without any mishaps. It felt nice to be back in Kansas.
I kind of did want sexy Dorothy but it's too short. I didn't want to hurt the baby. My legs are not sexy, my legs in the sexy Dorothy costume would only be scary Dorothy. I didn't want that. I just wanted to be cute, at the very least. I think I achieved that.
When I got home I immediately stripped and put on the costume. I looked like an oversized doll. This costume was going to need some alterations. I laid the dress on my bed and stared at it. Where could I being? What could I change to give it a boost of "cute"? I called Irene. She hadn't seen the dress but from my description she too believed it needed some alteration. We talked about somehow adding a V-neck or scoop neck or something to show I HAD a neck. The sleeves were killing me, big, poofy elastic sleeves. One shower and about forty-five minutes later my dress was sleeveless. The next afternoon I would channel more of my seamstress wisdom and create a V-neck. I completed my costume with white bobby socks, red pumps, two pig-tails with white ribbons, blue eyeshadow and red lipstick.
Irene picked me up around nine-thirty-ish. We had to head back to her house though to get Toto and Patrice. Irene was the cowardly lion with signature Irene flair. Patrice was our tin-woman, her aluminum eyelashes were a nice touch. Our new friend Marita was wicked witch of the west with New York style. Nikia our scarecrow was a no show due to undisclosed personal stuff.
After finding overpriced parking we proceeded to Opal, we were forty-five minutes late to the two hour open bar. We enter and head straight to the bar to "get our moneys worth". I think I have two drinks in twenty minutes, then I took it alittle more slowly. My logic was that if I could get 3 drinks down, I'd gotten my money's worth (Hey, I work hard and this is NYC!). None of my invitees confirmed but I was determined to have a nice night out. I mean it was my first Halloween in costume!
We danced, we laughed, we took lots of pictures. None of which I have now. At some point the jello shot girl was offering and I was purchasing. I ordered three shots, picking out the prettiest colors. I remember her saying one was Tequila, I nodded and passed the shot. Irene, Patrice and I eye balled "Cheers" and down the hatch they went. After that, we all had another drink and that is about when Irene excused herself to go to the bathroom.
She was gone awhile, so long that the rest of us upstairs started to lean in and whisper to each other, "Where's Irene?". Maybe she had been gone a while? I nominated myself to go check on her. Irene disappearing is really not something I'm unfamiliar with. I expected to find her somewhere talking to someone. I found her somewhere and she was talking to God. Well, not God exactly, more like the porcelain god. This was a first. I'd never seen her like this before. Compared to me she's a heavy-weight when it comes to drinking. She doesn't do drunk, well at least not where you can actually notice.
Over an hour later, and much vomitting we found a cab and made our way downtown. I didn't want to leave her car in the garage for fear of the tab she would rack up but we had no choice. She was feeling better and I thought we could better decide who was going where over burger, fries and coffee. At Around-the-Clock, Marita and I made a plan, Irene slept and Patrice held back nausea. I would take Irene with me, Marita would take Patrice. Tomorrow we would worry about the car.
We all shared a cab to Brooklyn with a very friendly driver. They usually aren't thrilled to leave the borough at that time of night so, having him was a God send. We pulled up in front of my apartment at about six am. Without words, the lion and I made our way upstairs and into bed without any mishaps. It felt nice to be back in Kansas.
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