Dirt Cake

Happy Halloween! I am dressed as a chubby princess, in a lovely burgundy velour gown festooned with bright gold trim and white sateen insets. Perched in my coiffure is my 30th birthday tiara, which is barely the size of half an orange. It looks like it got caught in my hair some time last week and I didn't realize it was in there. I got several looks this morning, and it's funny the way people will look away, as if embarrassed for you. Hellloooo, I'm aware that I'm dressed in polyester and rhinestones. It's okay to stare.

At noon was our annual Halloween potluck lunch for the medical students. I made pasta with pesto and chicken and my world-famous dirt cake. I put it in the traditional flower pot, with a few flowers sticking out of it. I placed it on the coffee table, away from the buffet, and sat back to see how long it would take for it to get noticed. My boss was getting the most laughs with her costume. She was an airplane crash victim, complete with bloody scars and an exposed tibia jutting out from a rip in her pantyhose. She was positively oozing blood in her flight attendant uniform and the kids couldn't get enough of it. Overall, the food was good. I felt a little bad for the lettuce and sesame dressed salad, but it didn't stand a chance with the fried rice and lasagna taking up prime real estate on the buffet table. Once desserts were sliced and passed around, I noticed the fourth year students furtively sticking their spoons in the dirt cake. The third years, at their first potluck, had no clue what they were doing. I could tell no one wanted to say anything, until my chairman glanced down and asked, "What the hell is that?"

It's time to go home now, and put away the tiara. First though, I'm off to Sue's house to hand out candy and see if I can find any frogs to kiss. Wish me luck.

PS: The Navy guy never emailed. I don't like squid that much anyway.