But this year, after having finally turned 20 and saying adios to any semblance of "teenagerism" that I may have still been clinging onto, I have once again become a mostly fun person to be with.
At least in matters of creativity and Halloween.
As a result my mom recently approached me with a need for me to help her with my youngest brothers, aged 11 and 9 respectively, find "cool" costumes this year instead of having them go as soldiers as they have gone for the past hundred years or so.
While resistant to the idea at first, I quickly embraced it as a chance to show of my skills of ten thousand men in the realm of creation and create something truly extraordinary.
Partly my change of heart came from a desire to have someone dress up with me.
You see, as a teenager I frequently pulled the "too cool for school" card around Halloween. The last time I remember actually dressing up was when I was 12 and dressed up for school in seventh grade. I dressed as a witch and all I remember about that day was feeling overwhelmingly uncomfortable and after an encounter with a boy who possessed absolutely NO social graces and who told me that I needed to be burned at the stake, I vowed never to do it again. The following years contained a lot of costumes such as "myself", an "undercover secret agent" and my all time favorite, "a starving college student".
But this year things have changed. I now teach seven different four year olds who I swore I'd dress up for. The most amazing thing (and the easiest too. Baby steps.) I could come up with was Hermione Granger from the well beloved Harry Potter series. I already had the white button up shirt, and a few other accessories including the naturally poofy/ curly hair. All I needed was a wand and of course a time turner and I was set.
But I wanted someone to dress up Harry Potter theme with me.
And that, my good people leads us back to the beginning of this story.
My 11 year old brother has been a big fan of Harry Potter since he started reading them late last year. It seemed like a perfect fit. For a while we toyed with the idea of him being Harry Potter himself, but that was too run of the mill for me. And he didn't want to spray paint his hair.
For awhile we were stuck.
And then the gears in my head began turning and a genius was born.
Instead of Harry Potter he could go as the beloved and zany character Mad Eye Moody.
It was brilliant!
And after consulting him and finding him game, I started the search for the most amazing costume in the history of costumes from me and I now present you with the final product.
I know. Pure Creative Genius.
And of course, just so you know how amazing I am, here is the real Mad Eye Moody to compare it too.
You have my permission to bask in my genius.
