I’ve never really liked Halloween. It’s not because I don’t like being spooked. I have watched my share of horror films and have been to haunted houses. They are fine.

I’m just not into it.

You probably think I’m crazy. I mean who doesn’t like dressing up in costume?

I don’t.

Why?

For me, it’s stressful. I’ve never been creative. I’ve never been crafty. I can’t sew a cool costume together or paint my face with clever make-up. And those pre-made costumes you buy in the store? As an overweight person, it’s frustrating to learn that it’s even harder to find a costume that fits than it does to find regular clothes. That can rule out any sexy nurse or sexy cat costumes, too.

One year, in college, I was so frustrated that I just decided to go à la Adam Sandler with a protractor I’d pull out of the back of my pocket: “I’m Crazy Protractor Man! Give me some candy!”

As a kid, our costumes were ones that my mom would usually pick up at K-mart. You know, those ones made of smelly plastic that had warning labels of being highly flammable. The ones with the plastic masks with string around the back that would pull at your hair. The ones that were made for whatever characters were fashionable that year: Smurfs, He-Man & She-Ra, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. She wasn’t a crafty costume creator either.

And I couldn’t care less about how stores, restaurants and houses are all decked out with cobwebs, witches, spiders and tombstones. To me, it’s just a waste of money. I know some people love that stuff. But I don’t.

We don’t even carve pumpkins at our house. {Although I do love roasted pumpkin seeds!}

Just call me the Halloween Scrooge:

And who doesn’t love Halloween candy?

Of course I did as a child. But as a shy kid, going up to a stranger’s or even a neighbor’s door yelling “Trick or Treat!” made me nervous.

As an adult, having Halloween candy around the house to give to the kids trick-or-treating just meant having leftover candy to overeat. And feel guilty about.

It’s the weather, too.

It’s this time of year that the overcast skies, wind, cold and rain start to depress me. In the Midwest, kids often end up having to wear winter jackets over their costumes when trick-or-treating. So what’s the point in dressing up anyway!? I hated that as a kid.

Maybe it’d be different if…

…I lived closer to my nephew. Maybe I’d take him trick-or-treating or to a Halloween party. Maybe I’d take pictures of him in his costume every year. Because Halloween really is about the kids, right?

In recent years, I’ve combated my depression of the weather this time of year and my disdain for Halloween by traveling:

• In 2006, we took our trip to Paris at the end of October/beginning of November.
• In 2010, we went on our Honeymoon at the end of October/beginning of November.
• Last year, over the weekend just before Halloween, we visited my friend Penny and her husband Jeff in Iowa and celebrated a wine weekend with other Wineaux friends.

But there have been times that I’ve really tried to embrace it.

I’ve gone to parties with my husband: once as Static Cling with some dryer sheets pinned to me {he thought it was stupid}, another time as Shaggy {an itchy polyester costume that didn’t fit very well, made me feel self-conscious and that I couldn’t wait to take off} to go along with Rob’s Scooby costume.

My best costume however, was probably that of Mary Katherine Gallagher from the SNL skit. Although it should have been an easy costume, it was stressful for me to find and gather each of the pieces. But it ended up turning out great. I wore it out on State Street when visiting my friend Stacey in Madison, Wisconsin. Madison is one of the best places to celebrate Halloween as an adult, especially if you want to check out some fun creative costumes. That was my favorite part!

So, as usual, hate is a strong word. I guess I don’t hate Halloween, I just don’t enjoy it as much as others. I need to find ways that I can enjoy it myself.

This year, I’m running a 5k:

The Spooky Tails 5k Run and 1 Mile Walk. We were invited by our friends Terri and Steve. All proceeds raised by this event will go to Wags & Whiskers Animal Rescue! You know that I’m all about that.

And while I sometimes think it’s cute that people dress up their dogs for Halloween, I also sometimes think the costumes are way too cruel. That being said, we’re giving Sophie a go at it this year. I wanted to get her a costume that was warm in case it is cold and rainy the morning of the race. She’ll be outside for a few hours, the poor thing. But I couldn’t really find anything like that in a short mount of time.

You’ll just have to come back on Monday to find out what she’s dressed as!

What do you love about Halloween?

Cheers~
Carrie