I *LOVE* My Job

So it turns out that Halloween is a BIG deal at Ellis. And that is . . . pretty awesome. Everything pretty much comes to a halt and the whole day is more or less one big party. And people like me? We get paid to wear costumes and participate in said party. I know, I have a really tough job. :-)

So I only found out about this whole Big Freaking Deal thing last week when I took my first trip down to the basement to see the beginning of the spook alley that is set up every year. And I hear about how it's all but required for the adults to dress up too. Which was pretty sweet, because I'd been wondering about whether we were allowed to dress up or not and how all that sort of thing goes and stuff, and it always good to have a question you've been wondering about for ages but a little hesitant to ask finally get answered. Yay! On the down side, that meant I had exactly seven days to come up with a costume. Good thing my idea was totally doable at the last minute . . . because I'd put in some majorly advanced planning.

Okay, back story - whilst in Florida, I bought a Hannah Montana wig. Random? Yes. Weird? Yes. But that's kind of just the sort of thing you do when you're a twenty-something working at Disney World . . . you buy random crap with your cast member discount that's intended for little kids with the intention of wearing/using it jokingly/ironically. I actually intended to buy all the princess wigs eventually too, but that didn't happen.

So anyway - I've got this perfectly good Hannah Montana wig sitting in a corner gathering dust, so for the last month I've been toying with the idea of building a costume around it, but never actually asking if we can dress up for fear the answer would be no and people would be all "what's wrong with you, this is a place of learning, blah, blah, blah," and think I'm some sort of . . . I don't know. Insert something negative here. Because I am that pathetically paranoid about people not thinking highly of me. Yeah, it's sad. Moving on.

Now, conveniently enough whilst on my recent modestly splurge-y shopping spree I picked up an awesome necklace and some really great earring, that as I'm forming this outfit in my head I'm realizing would totally work perfectly. And of course I have jeans in spades and some super cute boots . . . of course, a top of some sort is also slightly necessary when one is working at an elementary school. Ultimately I found myself at DI Wednesday purchasing a bright pink halter top and a be-glittered denim jacket.

And can I just say . . . TA DA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



'Kay, so this was taken at the end of a long day, and by this point the wig just would not stay on my head without slipping back immediately, so I'm sure you noticed that peak at my real hair . . . but you'll just have to trust me that I looked AWESOME at the start of the day! Sadly, too awesome for it to occur to me to take my camera to work with me so I could get someone to take a picture while the outfit was at its peak . . . and of course Luke wasn't an option since he doesn't wake up until hours after I leave for work. Blargh. I promise, I looked great. (and anyone who saw me first thing in the morning - feel free to back me up, lol)

So the day starts off pretty normally . . . except, you know, for the fact that everyone is dressed a little bizarrely for a normal day . . . and as soon as I walked into the 4th grade class I start out in I knew it was going to be a good day. Because I was pretty much an instant hit. After a few gasps and some stares it kinda went like this:

"Hannah Montana!"
"It's Hannah Montana!"
"Who is it?"
"It's Miss Lacey!!"
"Miss Lacey is Hannah Montana!!"
"AWESOME!!"

Yeah, I felt pretty good. I did a few twirls, and everyone was eager for me to check out their costumes too Woot. It was fun. It was great fun. Ahh, who am I kidding, it was pretty fabulous. Dare I say fantabulous? Yeah, I dare. :-) Especially since I continued to be recognized all day. My third graders especially thought it was the coolest costume ever for a grown-up. Yay!

(note: when I say recognized, I mean as Hannah Montana. Bunches of people didn't recognize me. Which was kind of awesome. I mean, I knew my costume was good, but I never imagined it was that good!)

So it was more or less business as usual for that first hour, but after that all . . . something . . . broke loose. I spent the rest of the day escorting small groups of kids at a time through the spook alley. (and being immensely jealous that the rest of the kids, whilst waiting for their turns, were watching Ichabod and Mr. Toad and Garfield's Halloween special . . . talk about of two of my all time favorites!!!!!) It was . . . interesting. I'm not much of a person for haunted houses and such myself, so the first time through was a little unpleasant, but after I knew what was coming I could enjoy watching the kids scream - or laugh, depending on just how tough they were. (also - I'm pretty sure Aunt Sharon won't be able to talk for, like, a week. She pulled off a crazy intense wail as chief mourner in the funeral scene. It was pretty awesome.)

Since I had a decidedly non-scary costume I pretty much stuck to the back of the group as the official hand-to-clutch/keep everyone moving person while various decidedly scarier looking adults lead the group and narrated our journey from funeral to morgue to graveyard to inside a crypt and out. Good times. It was really interesting to see who was too scared to go through, who chickened out, who wanted to go through with the lights on and the like. And I gotta say, I was rather amused to go through with some of the "tough" boys I work with . . . who backed out the door after merely seeing how dark it was, insisted on holding (read: squeezing intensely) my hand the whole way through, and were quite audibly whimpering by the time we got to the end. The last two times through were with groups of 5th grade girls, of whom I knew a few from last year . . . slightly unfortunately for me, as they insisted on placing me in the middle of their hand-holding chain. I think my ears are still ringing from the stereophonic shrieking. Also - it's amazing how tough small kids can be. As in, how tightly they can squeeze your hands . . . how thoroughly they can wrap themselves around your waist or arm . . . how easily they can render you immobile because they've been literally scared stiff. Quite eye-opening, I must say. One time I went through with two holding my hands and two with arms wrapped around my waist . . . it was kinda hard to walk that time. I think that was also the time I nearly killed myself (and probably the kids too) because the heel of my boot got caught on the sheet hanging from the ceiling to separate the "rooms" but they wouldn't stop walking so I'm kind of hopping along trying to disentangle myself and my foot is kind of getting farther and farther away from me until I finally pull myself free and I probably tore something (sheet-wise, not me-wise) but everybody made it through.

Speaking of breaking things, I'm rather pleased with myself for not breaking both ankles. The aforementioned super cute boots have a three or four-inch heel (honestly no idea), and I don't generally wear heels except for to church. So while I love wearing heels, my feet are only up for wearing them for about three hours. Which wouldn't have been much of a problem, as I on;y work 3.75 hours a day . . . but I was having so much fun I volunteered to stay and help out the rest of the day. Plus the stairs down into the basement are pretty steep - and I didn't usually get to use a handrail because even there at the beginning there were kids clinging to me. Talk about a potentially deadly combination! Anyway, the boots have been off for about four hours now. And my feet still hurt. Blargh. Tomorrow I am walking to the stadium for the marching band competition, and when I get there I am putting my feet up on the seat in front of me (because I will specifically choose an empty seat) and I am soooo not moving until I go home. Oy.

Anyway, moral of the story: I like playing dress up. And I have the absolute best, most perfect job for me out there - as if we hadn't already figured that one out. And I'm totally going to start planning my costume for next year, like, Sunday. And I totally can't wait!! Especially since I've started out by setting the bar so high . . . I mean, I've gotta top this next year, right? :-)

P. ost S. cript
It's time for another cute kitty video! Sadly this, one is not Garfield and therefore I am not reffering to Nermal. (one of the most epic days of my life was the day I found out Abu Dhabi is a real place, btw.) But these are some big, cute, awesome kitties. Happy Halloween everybody!!