From Nothing to Ultimate Glory!

Our school, Galileo High, is a great place to be on Hallowe'en. Most of the teachers dress up to celebrate and many of the students are also brave enough to don masks, cloaks, or ingenious home-made costumes. And, lunchtime is the time to visit the school as teachers and students alike battle it out for the title of 'Best Costume'!
Knowing all this, Rai, you DID make a visit to Galileo at lunchtime last Friday, the day the school celebrated Hallowe'en. Somehow, you made it all the way from the Outer Richmond to the Marina, and even managed to find your Mom's classroom in a 4-storey high school with dozens upon dozens of different rooms. When the lunch bell rang, you were to be not an observer but a participant in the costume competition.
This year, your Mom and I decided to go with a family costume theme. It all began on Craigslist (as most things do) months ago when your Mom found a father/baby costume combo on sale. The adult costume was the Jolly Green Giant and the baby, a peapod. Our costumes were set but what about your Mom? She went with the 'green' theme, buying a vintage gown in green (Goodwill's finest!). To that, she added a fruit hat, necklace and bracelet. Who was she? The 'Fruit Princess', of course!
Together, we were to be called: 'The Vegetable Family' and we entered the school courtyard that lunch period confident, even a bit cavalier, certain we couldn't lose.
To assure the victory, we were carrying small baggies with healthy 'veggie' chips including Nutritional Fact comparisons between these and standard unhealthy snacks. These, we tossed into the crowd as we made our walk across the courtyard and past the judges' table. Snacks or no snacks, how could we lose with you in our arms? Just to remind the judges that our loss really meant YOU losing this competition, I danced you the length of the judges' table as we made our pass.
Still, despite all our arrogance, your Mom and I had a touch of uncertainty and fear. Is there a chance we could lose this thing? History says: yes. For the past two years, our Hallowe'en costumes have gone blatantly unrecognized at Galileo High. Both years, we had some decent costumes. Both years, we entered the costume competition. And, both years, we didn't make the Hallowe'en video that aired on G-House TV the following week. Like all other participants in the costume competition, we had paraded in front of the video cameras but, somehow, mysteriously, our footage had been completely edited out of the final product. It was a travesty!
Sure, I had been a lame Elvis two years ago but, last year, I had shaved my head, dyed my hair green and styled it into a true mohawk. Your Mom was a great, glow-in-the-dark skeleton two years ago and last year had been the best looking geisha outside of Japan. Still, there was no place for us in the video last year.
With thoughts of those past two years of disappointments on our minds, we wondered if, this year, we would three-peat our Hallowe'en failure. We didn't. You were the difference. The announcements came on at the end of the school day and the results were music to our ears: "The costume winners for the Teacher Category are our very own 'Vegetable Family'..."
First place, little Rai! You (we) did it!
Still, the video is being edited as I write this and we're left wondering: is it possible that even the first prize costume winners may not make the video? We will see. In the meantime, we'll enjoy our prize -- a fancy (vegetarian, of course!) lunch out with the Principal!