A post in which it is a long day, but a great party

I was lazy this morning. I woke up at 7:30, but didn’t feel like getting up. But I knew I had a lot to do today. I messed around on the computer for a while without really getting anything much done, and eventually moseyed on in to the kitchen and made some breakfast. I didn’t have any coffee because I was planning on getting a nap in.

After breakfast I watched telly for a bit, and then decided I may as well get my costume started. I put the darks in so I could wash the black pillow cases I had bought to cut out spots and ears. I got out the whites to get out my sweatpants and shirt, and found brown mystery spots on my shirt. I’m having issues with the dryer, but I can’t find out what is making the spots. Anyway, the shirt had to be washed again.

I went ahead and made the pattern for the tail and cut it out. I got out the sewing machine and put it together. I cut out the band to hold my ears on. When the black pillow case came out I went ahead and cut my ears out and put that all together. I decided to just sew the band to fit my head rather than go out for Velcro. I cut the spots out, and started putting the tail together. That was a real pain. Because of the shape, the tail had to be almost entirely done by hand.

By the time I got finished with the costume, it was amazingly 4:15, and I was supposed to be at R&B’s at 5:30. I straightened up the house a tiny bit and then jumped in the shower. I had a fleeting thought that I might have someone back, but then dismissed it. That just doesn’t happen to me at parties anymore; particularly this one, which isn’t supposed to be a bear event.

There had been an interesting development though. I talked to a guy I know named Rodney today. He’s been telling me I need to meet a friend of his named Jason. I’ve seen pics of Jason on Robert’s Facebook page, and I’ve been bugging Rodney to introduce me. Turns out they are going to be at this party tonight. Great. And I’ll have on dog ears with matching eye-bags from no nap today, not to mention a hunched back from sewing all day. But still I was excited about meeting the guy, and trying not to get my hopes up.

I got to R&B’s only about five minutes late, so really on time in gay hours. I collapsed in the floor. Really at that point I didn’t care about the party so much as just sitting down for a while. I hadn’t put on my costume yet, because a) it was raining, and I knew if I went outside the dogs would get it filthy; b) we were supposed to go early to help out, and I didn’t relish the possibility of crawling through wet shrubbery to light candles or string lights in that outfit; and c) I wasn’t so sure about driving with a tail.

When we got there it turned out to be not so much of an issue. I got put on kitchen duty, pulling puffs and stuff in and out of the oven and putting them on the buffet. I was amazed at the volume of food. Tons. But the decorations left the food in the dust. It was a large house, I would estimate at least 3,000 square feet. Every inch was decorated. The light bulbs had all been changed out for black lights, or red bulbs, or orange. There were thousands of tiny orange lights draped over bushes and trees outside, between many large blow-up or full size animatronic figures. There were over a hundred candles. Each room had some kind of large horror tableau. Every surface was decorated. Every corner had some manner of bric-a-brac, or a jar of fake eyeballs, or something. They had spent three months decorating. I could well believe it.
I would have been completely insane after about a week, and would never have wanted to do it again, but I understand they do this every year. More power to them. It was a most impressive party.

Also, to their credit, most of the revelers were in costume. I was kind of glad I had spent all that time today on mine. It was cute. Although I had been pretty steamed when I showed up at R&B’s to find that basically they had bought polo shirts to personify their Peanuts characters. Kirkland was Woodstock, and he had painted Woodstock on a t-shirt to wear. Cute, but as a costume not that impressive.

We had been out on the porch to smoke and I was headed to the buffet (since it was past 8, and I was now officially a guest), when I passed Ben coming in the front door. “He’s here,” Ben said. “He’s just outside the front door.” I had checked with Rodney earlier to find out Jason’s costume (a tennis player, the better to show off his legs) and we had all been on the lookout for him. I fixed my Snoopy ears (which were surprisingly warm) and went on out. I saw Rodney first, and then Jason. He is cute, and very nice. It didn’t feel terribly awkward to meet him. After a few minutes, we were just chatting away. He does have great legs too.

It was a great party, and we had a good time. I spent a lot of the evening chatting with Jason. I really wanted to know him better. He sat back with us on the porch and talked. He got the general seal of approval from the group, which is good, since R&B have official veto power over boyfriends now.

When the party was winding down, Jason said exactly what I had been thinking. He wanted to see more of me, and he wanted to see me one on one for a bit. I couldn’t agree more. I had ridden with R&B, in part, so that I wouldn’t be tempted to take things too fast tonight, but sometimes you just have to jump in there. On the way home, David laid down the law. “OK, Steve. This guy’s a keeper. Don’t screw it up.”

I went to his apartment after I got my car. And I was very glad I did. He’s a really nice guy. He seems to be just as into me as I am into him. And I just keep finding things I like.

It was a very good evening, and the best Halloween I can remember in a long, long time.