Halloween

I'll admit it.  I usually suck at Halloween.  I leave my costume to the last minute, and end up being something lame (i.e. a witch) OR just borrowing something from the drama department at my school since I'm really good friends with the drama teacher.  Last year I was a giant crab.  It was all right but very noticeable since there was a giant crab in the previous year's school play.

The other irony of this suckage of Halloween is that in my role as a student council co-moderator, I help organize my school's Halloween activities, so people associate me with Halloween, and I feel kind of weird never pulling off an amazing costume.

Well, this year I finally pulled it all together.

As you guys all know, some of my favourite things in the world include science, cats, and jokes.  This summer I was introduced to an internet meme called Chemistry Cat, and unsurprisingly, I really like it.  Here's an example:

I have chemistry cat jokes posted all around my classroom, on powerpoints, on assignments, and on tests.  Chemistry Cat has become part of my classroom's culture.  This fall, I entertained the thought of being chemistry cat for Halloween.

Last Friday (last minute of course) I headed to Wal-Mart and picked up my necessary supplies: a cheap white hoodie and mittens, red ribbon, sewing supplies, and white face makeup.  I couldn't find white fur in their fabric department and really didn't want to/especially have time to go to a fabric store.  Luckily, I saw some fuzzy coloured pillows in their home decor department.  I wandered over hoping they'd have one in white.  They didn't, but I found a white fur rug.  Perfect.

The only thing I was missing was glasses.  I looked all over the mall but no luck.  However, there's a dollar store in my neighbourhood that advertising a good assortment of Halloween supplies.  I found $1.99 Nerd Specs.  Perfect.

I started assembling the costume on Monday night.  After 2.5 hours I was covered in fur, but I managed to attach fur to the hood of my hoodie, make ears using an old headband, and craft my bowtie.  On Tuesday night, I made my paws and my tail. 

Tuesday after school I stayed and decorated my classroom as close as possible to the backdrop in Chemistry Cat's cartoon.  I was disappointed that the chemical formulas made no sense, but copied them anyway.  I got all of the glassware I needed to mimic Chemistry Cat's desk and used food colouring to make my solutions.  I noticed that Chemistry Cat has some mice on his desk so I borrowed some of Rilo's from home.

This morning, I got to school early, got into costume and made it into my classroom without any of my students seeing me.  I covered the windows on the doors so they couldn't peek in.  Normally, I have my door open as soon as I get there, but I left it closed.  They knocked to get it, and I yelled "go away!" and had my student teacher let them in at the last minute so they could walk in and see this:

I think my project worked out pretty well, huh?  They LOVED it.  I had my picture taken about a million times today, even by random kids who didn't know me.  It was so much fun.

Earlier in the week, when we were planning to decorate our homeroom pumpkin, I asked my class what they wanted to do, and they said "Chemistry Cat!" not knowing at all that was what I was going to be.  Little did they know that I'd bring in my leftover supplies.

I finally did not fail at Halloween.  Good job me.  It was nerdy, but nerdy awesome.  :)