Too tired not to number points.
1. Halloween should be a lot of fun. And yet, for the parents, it's beyond exhausting. For a recap from the perspective of the person who showed up after all the costumes were already on and most of the tears had been shed, go here. He has a photo of the second version of El P's costume. (And also my jeaned legs and sneakers, just in case the internets care what footwear I choose for escorting my kids through candyrama.) Bear in mind that I'd suffered through hours and hours of mounting excitement, and helped defend the bike decorations from the grabby hands of what seemed like thousands of children, and made a new costume for El P that day.
Is it possible for the general public to buy those tiny bottles of liquor that they serve on airplanes? If so, I will be handing those out to the parents that bring their kids trick-or-treating in future years.
2. You'll notice that in that photo I was standing up. It was around 6 pm at that point, and I'd been running around all day, and the effects of the T-Tapp clinic were creeping up on me. When I finally got home I collapsed and almost couldn't move.
Summer blogged about the T-Tapp clinic she went to last weekend. I went to one just outside of Manhattan with Kirsten Tucker, and it was enlightening and excruciating all at the same time. We spent an hour and a half breaking down Basic Workout Plus. There were a lot of things I'd been doing from the DVD that were misunderstandings of the form hand position on the behind-the-back pumps during Primary Back Stretch, for one), and Kirsten was able to phrase things and give explanations that help me get past some of my blocks in form. The upshot is that I think those 15 minutes are going to be far more productive and challenging from now on. She also taught us the new Ladybugs move, which, just whoa. I was wondering if I'd feel the emotional release some women are reporting from working out the hip joints, but I didn't. Instead I just felt extremely challenged and then fatigued by working out these areas I never ever pay attention to. They're just joints, right? I wonder if doing the ladybugs consistently will help balance my hormones. Then we did organs in place and half-frogs, diva derriere (my request, and I think the other women in the room were hating me at that point), and lawn mowers.
And then Kirsten told us that there's a woman working on getting certified to train T-Tapp in Manhattan! I can't wait to be able to get someone to break down my form in the Beginner/Rehab routine.
What kind of sickness is this, incidentally? Going to fitness classes and looking forward to working hard at something physical? It's kind of nauseating.
3. El P does not have the huge vocabulary at 18 months that El C did at this age. He has about 12 words that we can consistently understand. But now one of them is "chocolate." Shoh-lah! That's my boy.
4. After collapsing last night I finally watched Lost (and the ER with Forrest Whitaker, which killed me because my dad was given tPA after he had a stroke and went from being completely paralyzed on one side of his body to having full range of movement in one hour of tPA treatment). So I'm going back to that thread to read the comments and add my own.
5. How can these kids have been so excited all day, eaten so much candy, worn their parents out, and now have so! much! freaking! energy! this morning? I hate the time change. I really do.
Yes, you can buy the small bottles of alcohol. At the liquor store. Usually behind the counter.
Cute costumes!
Posted by: Annavsxs | November 01, 2006 at 09:54 AM
I need help with T-Tapp Twist. I think I'm just not doing the bend and tuck part correctly. I've studied the video and just can't seem to correct it.
Yes, anticipation, tears, sugar highs, sugar lows, sheer joy, and then collapse (of that parents that is). That's Halloween.
Posted by: Bethany | November 01, 2006 at 10:05 AM
Hee hee, Moxie, you can move to my utopia. Last night, as my best "home friend" and I shepherded our kids from house to house, paper cups in hand, she suggested that in a perfect world, one house on each block would be designated to offer wine refills to the parents.
Ooh, you got to train with Kirsten! Cool. She and Michelle B are coming to DC sometime in the new year, so I'm going to have to go and let them torture me. I think one of the things that keeps me hooked on this workout is that it's mentally challenging, and that the more you focus your mind the more challenging it becomes physically. Going to a clinic just heightened that experience.
Posted by: Summer | November 01, 2006 at 10:16 AM
Yes you can get the small bottles of alcohol as Annavsxs suggested. I sent some Jack Daniels to a friend in place of holiday cookies and he was thrilled. Good idea for Halloween treats. Our street is not that busy but I love the idea.
I must get back on the TTapp wagon.
Posted by: Katie | November 01, 2006 at 10:27 AM
I want to try TTapp. I've been totally inactive for several months, what with the full-time work and night school. It sounds great - I see that you've really stuck with it!
Posted by: Francie | November 01, 2006 at 10:41 AM
Your shoes in that pic are really cute. Sorry for the Halloween drama.
Posted by: merseydotes | November 01, 2006 at 02:21 PM
Time change messed with us too. We were doing so nicely with the later bedtime; sleeping until 6:30, sometimes going back to sleep until 7 or later. Now at 5:55 it is all over. Every day. ARGH!
Somehow I'm not sorry that we don't do Halloween. Although Purim is pretty much the same (costumes and candy, plus time-crunched religious obligations for the adults!).
Posted by: Kate | November 01, 2006 at 06:05 PM
i need a T-Tapp clinic so badly! I've plateaued big time with the 15 minute workout but can't seem to do even half of the longer one per day... it's just too much for me time-wise. However, my motiviation to do the 15 minute one is nil right now. I bet a clinic would straighten me up. Why oh why didn't I go to the one that was in Plano back in June? Oh yeah... I had to work. Stupid work.
Posted by: Lisa C. | November 01, 2006 at 06:39 PM
There is a store in Ann Arbor that sells tiny bottles of every brand of single liquor I've ever heard of. My friend once spent several hundred dollars setting up flights of vodka and bourbon. I think handing them out is a great idea.
And even better one is having a glass of wine with dinner before you head out to do battle with the forces of candy ... I mean darkness... I mean candy...
Posted by: Sara | November 01, 2006 at 09:58 PM
a couple halloweens ago the people in the neighborhood offered glass of wine to the parents as the went ToT with the kids.
Given how steep our hill is here, I declined. But it seemed like a great idea.
Posted by: rachel | November 02, 2006 at 08:51 AM
When I was growing up, there were always a few houses that gave away cups of hot buttered rum or toddy to the grown-ups.
I always figured that's why Dad insisted on being the one to take us around the neighborhood.
This was a tradition that should have gone national!
Posted by: Elizabeth | November 02, 2006 at 10:17 AM