Thursday, October 3, 2013

October Secret Subject Swap, 1st Swapaversary! - "Hello, my name is Hypocrite."

So pretty much everyone that's ever heard the word 'blog' knows about the Secret Subject Swap. If you don't, allow me to school ya: It's when several bloggers pick a secret subject for someone else and are assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Then we all simultaneously divulge our topics and submit our posts. It was started one year ago this month by Karen from Baking In A Tornado. She is an amazing, fantastical blogger and person, and I want to wish her the happiest of Swap Anniversaries! 

This time around 12 bloggers participated and I highly suggest you check out each of the posts (after you read mine of course!). I'll put everyone's links at the end.

My topic is:  "Halloween: Worst/Best costume ever."  It was submitted by The Insomniacs Dream. Definitely check out her writing after reading the swaps.
Here goes: 
*****

Sit back and get ready for a tale of deceit and deception. Of hiding and sneaking. Of a mom breaking the rules.

Yes, that mom was me. For reasons I will decline to get into here, I made the decision 15 years ago not to have our family celebrate Halloween. We ignored it every year. We didn't do trick or treating or parties or dressing up. Nothing.

Well, except for that one year. That I did. 

It was in my post-divorce, swingin single, losing my mind  exploring my freedom period.  That also, is a whole other story  *wink* .  A friend of mine who was also a single mom exploring this "time for yourself" theory we had heard so much about, invited me to a Halloween party at this great night club not far from where we lived. That in and of itself is a small miracle, that there was anyplace worth going to in our small, out of the way area. Anywho, this place apparently had pretty epic Halloween parties. Two dance floors, two bars, the best DJ in the area, and oh the costumes!

But wait, how could I go to a Halloween party? I didn't allow Halloween in our family. How hypocritical of me to even think about it. Dress up in a costume, go to a place packed with people and amazing dance music, alcohol flowing.....  Screw it, I'm going.

Thus began my quest to get to this fabulous Halloween party, without my kids knowing.

At work I searched online for a costume. I mean during my breaks I did. Not during work hours, psshh, that would be wrong. Psshh.  Can I just say that trying to find a woman's costume that is not off the Playboy bunny runway is tantamount to nailing jello to a tree? So I did the best I could and settled for a 'sexy' costume, instead of straight up slutty. It was a referee. Not very original I guess, but I didn't know that because I hadn't dressed up for Halloween in two decades. It had a minidress, black and white stripes with a black skirt, and tall white socks with stripes at the top. I had a pair of black high heeled mary-janes that looked similar to the girl's in the catalog picture so I wore those. And it had a whistle.

But how was I going to explain to my kids what I was wearing? Well, I did what any stressed-out-needs-a-night-away-just-let-me-go mother would do:  I shoved my costume in a bag, and went to my friend's house to dress there, and drove to the party with her. I told you, sneaky.

Now comes the part where I tell you that I got to the party and just couldn't have fun, because I felt guilty. That I sat in the corner by myself because I felt foolish in my costume, hated the music, and didn't know anybody. Well, I can't tell you that; because I had FUN!! I danced, and had a few drinks, and hung out with people I knew, and danced some more. The stress of being a single working mom had slimmed me down and I felt confident in that costume. Confidence was not something I was particularly used to, and you know what? It felt good. And the music was awesome and guys were asking me to dance. And asking "Hey can I 'blow your whistle'? Duh huh huh".  *eye roll*




So was this my worst Halloween costume? Or best?

I'm not proud of doing something that involved me sneaking around like a teenager in lust. But - I really had an amazing time, making memories that help me to not feel like such an old fuddy-duddy when it's 9pm on a Saturday night and I'm in my pj's with my Nook. I can say "I was cool once, not too long ago, and kind of a bad-ass, and the world didn't end! It was great!"

So I'm leaning toward Best.

*******


http://BakingInATornado.com                              Baking In A Tornado
http://themomisodes.com/                                  The Momisodes
http://www.justalittlenutty.com/                          Just A Little Nutty
http://mooreorganizedmayhem.blogspot.com/       Moore Organized Mayhem
http://crazyasnormal.com                                     Crazy As Normal
http://singlemumplusone.blogspot.com                   Searching for Sanity
http://www.homeonderanged.com                         Home on Deranged
http://dawnsdisaster.blogspot.com                        Dawn’s Disaster
http://www.theinsomniacsdream.com/                 The Insomniac’s Dream
http://www.outsmartedmommy.com                    Outsmarted Mommy
http://www.bethteliho.wordpress.com/                  Writer B is Me

Make sure to come back after 8pm EST tonight thru Sunday to vote for your favorite SSS post and to join in The Blog Strut linky party!

~*~*~*~*HAPPY SWAPAVERSARY KAREN, MY FRIEND! YOU ARE THE BEST!~*~*~*~*
 



24 comments:

  1. Definitely the best. Sneaky or not. And I tell my kids all the time "I was cool once, not too long ago, and kind of a bad-ass", but they just roll their eyes and say "right, Mom".

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    1. Oh if only they knew half of what we keep from them!! We're cool chicks :)

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  2. I'd go with best. For sure! You look like you rocked that costume too, lady!

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    1. Thanks Sarah! I've gotta say, the self confidence thing was pretty cool :)

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  3. We don;t get enough time as parents to cut loose and have fun without having to be someone's example.
    I'm glad you had so much fun.
    That costume looked fabulous on you.
    I feel the same way on a Saturday night now too.

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    1. Exactly Meg! It's exhausting being little people's examples all the time. Well, it's exhausting being a GOOD example anyway ;) Thank you for the compliment, I was very self conscious putting the pics up lol.

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  4. *sneaking around like a teenager in lust* Oh, that's a bad thing? Juuust kidding. Maybe. :)
    Such a fun tale! Glad you have a best Halloween story, even if it's banished in your home. Sounds like a fun night with the gals, and well deserved!

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    1. It was such a fun night! And acting like a teenager in lust IS pretty fun too ;)

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  5. Yes the BEST! I was laughing so hard at "nailing jello to a tree". Great post. I'm glad you had a great night out. All moms deserve one. After all we work our butts off.

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    1. We do, don't we? Here's to more moms' nights out!

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  6. I love mums who refuse to let the fact that they are parents stop them from having fun by themselves. I'm glad you had an awesome night, and that costume looked HAWT!!!

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    1. Thanks! *blushing* We do need to have our own identities outside of 'Mom'; it makes us better parents :)

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  7. You have a wonderful blog!! I'm your newest GFC follower from the “Blog Strut“ blog hop - this is my blog if you wanted to follow back: godsgrowinggarden.com
    Thanks
    Angie
    PS – I would also like to invite you to a blog hop called: “The Great Blog Train” currently live on my blog –we are also having a Giveaway this month! Thank you! Great Blog Train

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    1. Thank you for stopping by! I'll be sure to check out your blog and your hop!

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  8. Great story. As all the others agree, BEST!
    Visiting from The Blog Strut. Nice to meet you. Liked your facebook page.
    Barbara @ www.allmylivesnow.com

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    1. Thank you very much! I'm glad you stopped by to read :) I'll make sure to check out your blog as well :)

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  9. Now let's hope your kids are not reading this post. Can you imagine how it could be used in evidence against you with photos? Especially when they want to do something that you don't approve of, ha ha ha.

    I must admit, I laughed when you explained how you went round your friends house to get dressed. It reminds me of how some of my mates use to tell me how they wore one dress to leave the house for school and snuck another shorter dress in their bags, then got changed in the school loos so that their parents wouldn't find out what they did wear, ha ha ha ha.

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    1. I did hesitate before writing this, knowing I was essentially busting myself! Lol. And I've heard of girls doing that at school too, it's pretty funny, as long as it's not my kids doing it ;)

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  10. I am so glad you went out--you deserved it. And you looked absolutely adorable in that costume!

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  11. Total bad-ass. Just like me - I have a king-sized KitKat in my glove box that my kids *know nothing about*.

    As a coach, I have a natural aversion to referees. However ...

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