AE CS5 - Working with Type Masks

Hi, I'm having a really rough time with Type masks. I had a layer of type which I converted into a mask using Layer > Create Masks from Text.
Now two things are baffling me:
1. I would like to be able to temporarily hide the mask OUTLINES so I can see the effect of the mask without the distracting yellow border. CTRL+SHFT+H does not work. View > Show Layer Controls does not have any effect on my mask outlines.
2. I would like to be able to animate this mask getting larger. But when I change the SCALE property of this new layer, nothing happens. I suppose because it's a  SOLID LAYER that is created when you create masks from text. How to scale just the mask? Or do you have to do an extra step of transferring the mask to a shape layer or something?
I'm dying here.
thanks!
T

Thanks to both of you for participating in this question! I really appreciate the quick feedback.
Todd, you can be sure that I HAD read that section of the Adobe After Effects Online Help prior to making that post. I would ask that you read through it and point me to the section that deals with transferring a mask created from type to a shape layer. I was unable to find that information in that section, nor in the section that deals specifically with Type and creating masks from type.
Mylenium, oddly, pressing CTRL+SHIFT+H now (and also pressing Toggle Mask and Shape Path Visibility button) both work as expected. I wish I could say what has changed, but that seems to be a non-issue - surely something stupid I did.
As for scaling the mask, the process is still massively unclear to me. Creating a mask from type transfers the mask to a Solid layer. Scaling the solid layer does nothing. The mask itself is ungrouped and uncompounded, meaning that each individual letter, including internal shapes, end up getting their own properties, but those properties do not include Scale. So I can see no way to scale this mask over time. I'd love to learn from the community their best practices around animating masks created from type.
Tom
PS: the issue has less urgency now, since I worked around the type mask issue entirely, electing to use a Track Matte instead. But I'd still very much like to learn how it's supposed to be done. How do you get your mask off of a solid layer and into a shape layer?

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