Monday, November 5, 2007 ;
10:14 AM
Nov 3
Sat
Church Mystery Dinner
This is something they started a couple of years ago, in line with Halloween, I think. It's adults only and our neighbors the Hoovers offered to babysit for us. I thought, why not? It's been quite some time since dh and I went out together. Should be lots of fun.
The theme was Pirates this year. It's called a Mystery Dinner because they'll act out a murder mystery in between the meal courses, and then the audience will guess who was the murderer. In the end, the answer would be known. The script is usually written and directed by one of the church members, and the murderer is always a surprise. Oh yes, when we guess the murderer, we need to write down the motive too, and it is hilarious when they read out all the guesses. :-)
Another thing is, the people here are so sporting about dressing up. It is so nice to see all the church members that are usually in their Sunday best now all acting as pirates. The Elders, deacons and their wives too.
Some of them buy costumes and some of them make their costumes. No matter what, they all wear something related. Not like our annual staff dinners, when the theme is only adhered to by the organisers and a few teachers only. If we try and dress up, then people say "Ah, you so on! Wah... Super on huh?"
I don't usually spend money getting extra clothes but I'll always try to use what I have to dress up for the occasion. :-) Wish I had those corset thingy, then I can be a true pirate. Haha.
So that night, we packed the kids up and bundled them over to the Hoovers. Surprisingly, even though it is the first time I've ever let someone babysit them over here, ds2 did not have separation anxiety. Perhaps it was because he knew them well, and he trusts them. He could probably sense we trusted them too, so he felt secure.
When we reached the church building basement, we were totally taken aback by the transformation and by the fact that there were even some church regulars that I need time to figure out who they were. They were so cleverly disguised!
Above was the map given to everyone, which was actually of Utah, but they creatively changed the names of the cities and made them very funny. They kept making fun of the city that the Elders live in too. On the other side of the map was the menu, and the play's synopsis and cast.
We were served with appetizers of biscuits (by Beth), dinner rolls, soup and fruits. The drink was a fruit punch that had so much foam that it looked like beer that pirates drink.
Candles were dressed up in glass bottles. Main course was Cajun Chicken with rice. Mexican. Very delicious and smelt really good, prepared by Donna, who came from the South. They always say Southern food taste very good. Dessert was banana pudding that had crabs on it. haha.
Below: dh and I tried to dress the part, but the others won hands down with all their accessories.
Below: we were served by church friends who dressed and acted their part. Like Randal here, who would swagger and drawl as he spoke, and he'd fake clearing his throat of phelgm and spitting into the fruit punch before serving us.
The play was set on the pirate ship, and a pirate got murdered, but there wewre many characters and each character seemingly had a motive to kill him. I had to think for a long time before I wrote my answer but still got it wrong. haha. Dh got the correct answer, but wrong motive. They'd present an act in between each course of the meal.
Above left: one of the Elders and his wife. She actually tore some cheap jeans and white shirts and sewed them up to make their matching costumes.
Above right: the other Elder's wife and me.
Above: she's one of the most sporting. Most people dress up but still want to look good. She's actually a very good looking lady with beautiful features and handsome kids too. But she painted some teeth black to make them look missing, pasted on huge moles on her face and so on to act her part. Very funny.
Above: The actors, after the play.
Dh and I had a great time! For once, we laughed so hard together and had time to talk and think about the mystery, without kids disturbing us. And we got to chat with friends uninterrupted, and could enjoy the food in peace. We love our kids, but this type of arrangement once in a while is definitely beneficial.
All in all, I think we left them at the Hoovers for almost 2 hrs. I did call in between to ask if they were ok and if I should go get them earlier, but they were fine. Then I hurried over after the dinner to get them, but it turned out there was no need for the rush. When I arrived, ds1 was watching a DVD with some of them, and ds2 was watching the eldest boy play a computer game. He didn't even rush to me when I arrived, and wasn't exactly eager to leave with me too. :-)
I think we can do this much more often! :-)
When we reached home, we took some family pics, since all of us were in high spirits.
rainbows every day, do not worry for the morrow
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The play was set on the pirate ship, and a pirate got murdered, but there wewre many characters and each character seemingly had a motive to kill him. I had to think for a long time before I wrote my answer but still got it wrong. haha. Dh got the correct answer, but wrong motive. They'd present an act in between each course of the meal.
Above left: one of the Elders and his wife. She actually tore some cheap jeans and white shirts and sewed them up to make their matching costumes.
