The problem with wearing a mask on Halloween…

It happens to me every year.

Every year, I wait until the last minute, and then at about 8 PM on October 30th, I decide I want to dress up for Halloween.

And with that decision, I head to my mom’s basement and rummage through her “Halloween Bag”.  It’s mostly filled with really old little kid costumes that hold the musty stench of years in a garbage bag in the basement – clown wigs and witch hats and capes and devil horns – but I always end up coming up with something.

And this year, this is it.  I call it “50 Shades of Orange”:

(Please note: That orange-and-black-Cat-in-the-Hat-Halloween-style chapeau?  I think I’ve worn it every year for the past 15 years.  And it always makes me think of the year I wore it to Gavan’s for the big Halloween bash, and I think every person in the bar wore it at some point during the night.  That hat holds memories, my friends! And possibly some germs, too. ;) )

Anyways.  Not bad, for a last-minute costume, right?  And there are perks with this costume.  For one thing, it took all of 5 minutes to pull it together (including the time spent rummaging through Mom’s “Halloween Bag”).  I spent more time painting my nails alternating black & orange than anything else.  Another great part is that the rest of the outfit basically consists of black tights and a warm sweater, so I get to be super-comfy all day sitting at my desk.

I swear, in real life that “coral” coloured sweater looks more like orange…

Oh, but there are woes.  As anyone who has ever worn a mask before will relate to.  Such as…

• Trying to drink coffee/water… There is no mouth hole in this mask.  I have to keep lifting it up to take a drink.
• I keep reaching up to scratch my nose, and instead I scratch hard plastic.
• Remember that sore throat I told you about yesterday?  Well, today it’s turned into a cough.  Every time I feel a cough coming on, I panic.  I feel like if I don’t lift the mask up in time, I’ll blow it right off my face.
• I have nose holes, so breathing shouldn’t be a big problem.  But somehow, it is.
• It’s kind of hot and sweaty in here.
• When I talk, I think I sound perfectly normal, but they tell me I sound more like Charlie Brown’s teacher.

• I have to lift the mask to talk on the phone, because otherwise the person on the other end wouldn’t be able to understand me.
• I keep smiling for pictures.  There is no point.
• My breathing sounds amplified, and I keep thinking everyone can hear it and that they’re annoyed by my loud mouth breathing.
• The coffee breath inside this thing?  It’s naaaaaaaasty.
• It might be a little too scary for little people – although, I tried to scare Faith this morning, and she handled it like a champ! ;)

I arrived at work this morning to find out that I wasn’t the only one who dressed up for the occasion.  I thought Lindsay’s costume was pretty clever…and pretty cute, too!

Our little Mountainview baby!

I hope you are all having a fantastic Halloween!  It’s looking pretty rainy and dreary around these parts, which might put a little damper on the fun for kids tonight – but I know a little rain never held me back as a kid!

Looking forward to seeing all the trick-or-treaters tonight! :)

Have a SPOOKTACULAR day!!