This year, Halloween came with the downpour of rain, a bit too late for the rash of fires in the southland, though it did help flush it out a bit.

I couldn't believe it. Rain. It started just a few hours before we were to all run out in our costumes to celebrate being something other than what we normally are.

I was at the end of running around, shopping for my costume when the first sprinkle hit the tip of my nose. It started with a chilly gust of wind and a darkness from above. How appropriate for Halloween...minus the rain.

I had already purchased a costume an hour earlier, but when I got it home and tried it on, found it to be a tad bit too small! I also felt a bit silly in it, all bright pink. The costume itself is called Ursa Major. I'm not sure what that is, but let's just say it looks like an outfit the Jetsons wear. Some sort of ladies' retro space ouftit.

Let me just say that I had started my Halloween costume shopping at 9:30 a.m. It last until about 6:30 p.m. During that timespan, I had visited 5 costume shops and debated on a nurse outfit, a kitty outfit, and a greek goddess outfit, none of which I ended up with. Driving in traffic took about 1/3 of the day.

So my last stop was the Party America at The Grove. There, I found barely any desireable costumes left, just like all the other places I visited prior. I ended up settling for Runaway Teen Witch costume. It looks like a gothic dress with a pointy hat. Cute, but not as sexy as the Jetsons outfit. What with the cold weather, I figured this one would keep me warmer.

But, once I got home and tried both costumes on, I decided to wear the Jetsons one. I wasted my money and time going out to purchse the 2nd costume.

Oso mentioned he was going to be a pirate but when he got to my place, he was something else. I don't know what. All I know was I opened the door and I screamed. He was wearing a long, black wig, dark eyeliner, and this long black cloak. He looked scary.

We made our way to the Skirball Cultural Center where the big party was taking place. It was interesting. Lots of folks. Just about everyone was dressed up. The best costumes this year that cracked me up were: 1) Vons Strikers (saw 3 or 4 of these), 2) Roy & tiger (saw about 10 of these), 3) Winona Ryder as shop lifter (1), 4) men dressed as women (quite a few of these)

I wish I had prepared earlier, spending time being creative to make my own costume. I saw a girl dressed in the same thing as me and we kinda stood out because it was hot pink. It's almost like when you go to the prom and someone else is wearing the same dress as you. I mean, even though there was a bunch of girls wearing those nurse outfits, it wasn't as obvious cuz it didn't stand out as much and everyone kinda looked a bit different in them due to accessorizing, but for some reason, my costume didn't give that sort of liberty. The other girl and I just sorta kept our distance from each other, which wasn't hard too do considering there were probably about a 1000 people there in 5 different rooms, all well-spaced out.