I was beyond overjoyed a couple weeks ago when Ryan came inside carrying a small pumpkin bag. His words, "I found this on the front porch, I think you are going to enjoy this more than me." Of course! I love surprises, and gifts. Someone left us something on our front porch?!?! I start removing the contents of the bag, and I come across a paper that says, You've been Booed! What?!?! I had never heard of such a thing. The paper contained instructions:
You've Been Booed
Hope you enjoy your special treats!
To keep the fun going:
*Place your "We've Been Booed" sign on your front door or window.
*Within two days, make two copies of these instructions
and the "We've Been Booed" sign and gather two special treats.
*Deliver the treats and papers to two other houses in your neighborhood who haven't been booed yet. Don't let them see you! Guessing who booed you is part of the fun!
The next day, I was off to hunt for Boo treats. I went to my most reliable place, Target. I figured it would not take long to gather an array of treats, but surprise, surprise, the teacher and planner came out in me. I developed a plan, a theme, and made some cute little treat buckets. I came up with these:
I did not want to do strictly candy, but a variety of items. I had some pumpkin garland in the bottom with a layer of candy, the ghostly greetings sign, some window clings, a glow in the dark pumpkin (which would come in handy when it came time for us to Boo others), and of course the signs. I also added some Halloween themed pencils to one of the buckets when we decided on a house that had a little girl. We all know the cool kids have holiday themed pencils (sorry teachers, I know how much we love children arguing over special pencils).
The pumpkins were ready, now we just had to Boo people. I thought the buying and creating was fun, I had NO IDEA the amount of fun that would take place handing out the treats. Our treat had been left sometime in the afternoon, after I got home from the gym, and before Ryan got home from work. I decided, in order to involve Ryan, we would hand out the treats in the dark, after dinner, but before it got too late. I creepily drove through the neighborhood as I went to the gym and spied on front doors, seeing which houses had not been Booed yet. The houses were chosen. We would take one pumpkin to another Chevron house (Ryan knows the guy from work), and since we are such awesome people, not wanting to show favoritism, we would take the other pumpkin to a Shell house. Yes, I just referred to houses in reference to which oil company the household works for. Our first day in the neighborhood, a kind neighbor took the time to tell us which houses Shell people lived in and which houses Chevron people lived in. If they didn't work for either Shell or Chevron, I do not know what their profession is. Welcome to Southern Oil Country. :)
I would be the driver, Ryan would be the runner. We had Macy jump in the back of my car so she could join in the fun, I guess you could say she was the lookout. Let me say this now, I would be the worst get away driver, or home invader/burglar in the world! I failed miserably at my job. We drove to the first house, I turned on the glowing pumpkin, and sent Ryan off. Ryan's asking, what do I do? I told him, just take the pumpkin up the front door, don't sit it too close to the door, so they can see it when they look out, ring the doorbell, then run! Picture it, Ryan running up to a house with a glowing pumpkin, pajama pants on. I, the failing driver, drive down the road, turn around, turn off my lights, and sit in the road. Ryan is hiding behind a vehicle, I am snorting my head off laughing at the scene. We wait a minute, I drive up to pick up Ryan, and fail, the pumpkin is still there. Ryan mentioned he heard people in the garage as he was running away. Ok, well we will go to the next house, then come back to check on this one. I really wanted to make sure people got their pumpkins.
The second house, closer to our own house, we knew what to do this time. Ryan gave me instructions on how to be a better "sneaky driver" (don't just sit in the middle of the road like a creeper, people can see you) which I listened to, but failed to put into action. Pumpkin was lit, Ryan takes off running, I pull away. I got to our driveway to turn around. I see Ryan running away from the front door and hiding behind a vehicle. Commence the laughing and snorting again. Macy, our lookout is helpless in the back, she can't figure out what's wrong with me. I wish I had video of these events. Ryan gives me the sign to come pick him up, I drive up, he jumps in, we look, and the pumpkin is gone! Yay, success they got their pumpkin! Now it was back to the first house.
The pumpkin was still there. Since Ryan knows the guy, I told him just to text him. I know that's cheating since you are not suppose to reveal who you are, but who cares, they are guys. Ryan thought it was a bad idea, he thought it would be better to put the pumpkin in front of the garage door, knock on the garage door, and run. I look at Ryan, "Really? Are you serious? Who in their right mind, is going to hear a knock on their garage door, at night, and decide, hmmm, let me just open the garage door and see who is there?" Personally, you would find me pushing every panic button connected to our security system if that happened it me. Ryan's response, "Have you seen this guy, he's 6'4", and huge, who does he have to be afraid of?" Ryan had a point. This time I did not drive away, I was going to stay there, Ryan was going to move the pumpkin, knock on the garage door, and jump back in the car. Ready, set go. Move pumpkin, knock, jump in, drive off. I did a lap around the neighborhood, and we drove by the house. I almost ran off the road as we drove by the house (Ryan coaching me to drive straight and not look at the house). The garage door is open, and the guy is standing there holding the pumpkin!!! Seriously!?! Who opens their garage door to a random knocking in the dark?!?! At least it worked, both pumpkins were now in their recipients possession.
We made our way back to our house. I cannot believe the knocking on the garage door worked. Ryan keeps telling me what a horrible getaway driver I am. Macy is wagging her tail in excitement, but thankful to be home. My stomach was a bit sore from all the laughing. All in all, it was a successful first Booing on our part.
Happy Halloween everyone!
P.S. Has anyone else ever heard of this? Do you do this in your neighborhood? If not, I recommend it, I look forward to next year.
Yes, my neighborhood in Houston "Booed" each other. It was a good way to get to know the neighbors. We had a piece of "yard art" Halloween themed sign (metal or wooden) that we stuck in the ground near the doosr and hung the treat bag/container on the sign or put it near the front door. We taped the "You've been Booed" Paper to the Garage Door/ Front door so the people would see it when they got up in the morning. We did not employ the getaway driver plan as we could easily walk to the houses and it was easier to stay in the stealth mode. Sounds like you did a great job and had fun with it.
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