10-29 Ten tips from last week

Part 1: Special pre-Halloween edition (from Sunday's Halloween party with the kids):

1. Kids don't really want to wear the masks on their spiderman costumes.

2. Costumes should be worn more than once - you either paid too much for them or someone spent a lot of time making them.

3. Having the same colored shoes really does help the costume.

4. Orange peppers can take the place of pumpkins - they're easier for the kids to carve and not anywhere near as messy.

5. When wrapped up in toilet paper like a mummy you can scare the living bejeezes out of a 3-year-old. (Sorry Isabel)

Part 2: Sports and toys

6. Staying up past midnight watching the Red Sox win the World Series leaves one both sleep-deprived and elated at the same time.

7. When a 4-year-old gets distracted from watching a NASCAR race, you can switch the channel over to the football game and tell him the race was over - he won't know the difference.

8. The boys continue to get more enjoyment out of cheaper gifts. The more expensive toys tend to get a lot of immediate attention but really don't get used too often after that.

9. Multi-tasking during a baseball game is much easier than during a football game. For instance, you can do a lot in Myspace between pitches - you don't have to wait until the end of an inning. But while the football game is on there's so much going on during each drive that if you start writing a Myspace comment to someone you might miss a touchdown. (Especially if the Patriots score 52 points!)

10. Did I mention the Red Sox won the World Series? So here's a tip for all you Red Sox fans - there never was a curse!