Today was the annual Santa Claus parade in downtown Grand Rapids. Never have been to it. Not sure why. Turns out this is one ginormous parade - almost 2 hours long! So why did I decide to go this year? Gilda's Club was asking for staff and volunteers so that we could have an entry in the parade. This would be to promote the club, of course, and our upcoming LaughFest, which is what all the smiley faces around Grand Rapids this week were all about. So why not?
Got downtown shortly after 8 a.m., hoping to snag some parking before the roads were closed off. Nope. So turned north a few blocks on Monroe and found free parking in one of the lots we like to use anyway since it's always free on the weekends. Took the short walk back to Michigan and Monroe and found the Gilda's van, with two of my colleagues already inside. I got in as well, and in our conversation, they asked if I would be willing to wear a costume. "Sure," I answered. After all, I thought, I did do a stint as a Hostess Twinkie way back when.
Well, I ended up putting on a Scooby Doo costume (apparently the costume closer to Sparkle (Gilda's dog) was already rented. It definitely kept me warm. But as I put the "head" on, I remember thinking, "What's a claustrophobic like me doing putting this head on?" It wasn't too horrible though I didn't keep the head on all the time before we started. With the head on, I could only see through a mesh hole in the mouth, about 8" round. Once we got started, two people walked near me to let me know of any hazards close by, and when to turn toward the TV cameras. As far as kids, I could definitely hear lots of yells for "Scooby!" So lots of turning my head and waving, giving high fives to kids and hugs too. Just had to remember that Scooby doesn't talk so also did lots of "ruh-roh's" and barking. Had no idea where exactly I was - since I couldn't see much. But I knew when we turned onto Fulton, though, as a nice welcome breeze started blowing into my "snout."
Once we reached the end of the route, I quickly shed the costume and anonymously watched the rest of the parade. This was a big 'un - floats, bands, even a few balloons like the Macy's parade (though maybe a tad smaller but you get the idea.) Kids along the route made out better than Halloween as far as candy went, even at the end like where I was. The parade (which we started at 9 a.m.) was over about 10:45 a.m., then I had a nice long walk back to the car. I was glad that I'd brought some diet hot chocolate in a thermos which was waiting for me in the car - that sure tasted good!
Went to Meijer after the parade to try on jeans as my current ones are getting big...I bought size 10, that's right, t-e-n. I even fit into the size -8- jeans but the muffin topped out a bit over the top of those, even though they fastened easily. So gotta tighten the leftovers at some point. I've been flirting with the 130's - have been as low as 140.5, up and down a few pounds. Feelin' good!
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