It Was A Dark And Stormy Night

I wanted the image of a black cat to add an element of spookiness to this post, but alas I have no black kitties. However, my darling, sweet, lovely, I mean spooky, frightful baby, 'Marley' will have to do. I will dedicate this Halloween post to a true ghost story, and so it begins:

It was a dark and stormy night, well it could have been. Actually, I don't know exactly when it began. All I remember is that at some point a ghost moved into the house that I share with my husband. We bought our dream home in the country, nestled in pine trees, we couldn't be happier. We had lived in this home about 2 years. One morning, very early (around 6 am), my hubby, Tom, was getting ready to leave for work. He came into our bedroom and woke me. Looking quite shaken, which is unheard of for this man, he said he had seen the reflection of an old man in the glass of our book case. This man was sitting in a chair in the living room. So Tom turned to look away from the glass to the chair, and the man was not there. Just to let you know, Tom does not believe in ghosts. But for that 10 minutes before he convinced himself it wasn't real, he did.
Other things began to happen, I would walk through a room and could feel something, almost like a pressure change. The hairs on the back of my neck would stand up for no reason. The main way this presence communicated with us was through light. It turned them on, all the time. My husband worked 24 hours at a time, we had no kids yet, so I was completely alone. I would turn out all the lights and stand at my bedroom door making sure, yes all the lights are out. Then at 2 or 3 am I would wake up to the house blazing with light. They would all be on!
It went on for months. I had some girlfriends over and was telling them about our ghost. One of the women was very spiritual and said the light was significant, she explained how I need to talk to my ghost and help it move to the next world by going into the light. She spoke for about 15 minutes explaining how I need to encourage this ghost to go into the light to continue on its journey.
Well, I thought about doing just that. But, it seems that my ghost was lurking about while my girlfriends were over. It must have taken heed and moved on, because I never again felt its presence and never again had a light turn on during the night. Dark and stormy or otherwise!

Smile For The Camera!

My darling son always would smile so nicely for the camera, always say yes mommy, always try to do exactly what was expected of him. Then this summer he turned 7. Now this is typical of how he mugs for the camera, he rarely says yes mommy and although still a 'pleaser', he has developed a wicked sense of humor and fiestiness! I couldn't be prouder!!

My hubby has been gone for a week, nothing new. I always become a hunting widow for at least one week each October. He was due to come home today, the last day of buck season, but as it would be sans a buck, he called to say he would be gone till tomorrow in the hope of a last minute kill, so to speak. I haven't told the kids yet...they miss their daddy. My daughter won't mind though, she loves venison!!

My friends from high school got together last night and I misssed it....due to the above mentioned widow thing and a preplanned kids halloween party. I wish I could have been there! We live far apart and it is rare to get us all together... but when we do, we have loads of fun. I promise I won't go into a hormonal rant! I hope you gals had a great time and I hope you all figure out how to comment on my blog!! You are each very brilliant, first leave some comments, next start your own blogs!!!

Getting Zen In The Bad Lands

Why is it that people think Californians are a few cards shy of a full deck, is it because we house most of the self absorbed celebrities, or perhaps because we elect the afore mentioned into political office (Ronald Reagan, Sonny Bono, Clint Eastwood, Arnold the terminator). No? Maybe it is because when we leave the confines of our 'anything goes state', we behave in unquestionably odd ways!

In the photo I am on my first journey to the Badlands of South Dakota. It was beautiful and I couldn't just stand for the photo. My sister who took the picture thought it was an amusing pose, but the tourists behind her were sure to keep their children far from us!

I am thrilled to actually have a photo on this blog. It took about 15 minutes to load and I'm not sure why. It is a work in progress for sure, but it is a step in the right direction. If I knew that it was going to actually work, I may have selected a different pic. Then again, maybe not!

What's Your Sign?

I just returned from a wonderful get away ... just my hubby and I. We were celebrating our 20th wedding anniv. one month early. It was a great trip and so nice that after all this time we can still have fun together!!

I got to thinking, thank God I don't have to date! I would hate to be there at the age of 41! I began to remember some of my horror dating experiences! In high school I went to a concert 20 miles away with a very goofy guy, we only had music in common. It began to snow, very unexpectedly, on our drive home. We had to drive over a deserted mountail pass and the car started sliding toward the edge of the road. He had no clue how to drive in the snow. I kept telling him we need to put chains on and he insisted he could manage.

Well, it was slow motion, us slipping toward the edge, slow enough that I actually jumped out, in my little leather soled flats (it was the early 80's). I just remember following behind the car with soaking feet thinking "I don't even like this guy". Well it only got worse, he finally agreed we needed to chain up. The problem being he didn't know how to put them on. So, in my white flowing dress and ballet slippers, I put chains on his #*$$$#%** car!!! As we drove towards home he laughed and said we will always remember our FIRST date! You got it, there would only be one date. I, before anyone, knew men were from Mars and women from Venus!

This knowledge came to me once again, years later. I was working on an ambulance and got a call for an attempted suicide. I got to the home, police were already there and explained that a man had shot himself in the head with a rifle. I went into his garage and pronounced him dead, an easy call as there was pooling in his garage and I was standing in about two inches of blood. It was at this time that a handsome young police officer decides to chat me up and ask me out to dinner...I was still standing in two inches of blood! Sometimes I think I was the background research for the Mars Venus book!

Thank God for my hubby! He is good and ours is a happy life... and I know that the grass isn't any greener on the other side of the fence!

Are You A Sloth Then?

If I had the creative brilliance of a child.... Oh, the possibilities!

I just finished tucking my lovely darlings into their beds for the night. My son, 7, asks for one last hug and kiss goodnight. Although I have hugged and kissed and tucked for the last 15 minutes, with the images of the tragedy at the Amish school fresh in my mind, I am so grateful that I have my babies to hug, kiss and tuck... So I oblige with one last kiss. Now, for those who do not know me, my hair is quite long and, well, wild. As my son tries to find a cheek to kiss, said hair is in the way. He complains and I explain that I am just very hairy! He shoots back oh so quickly, "So are you a sloth then"? I never knew I could so completely enjoy being compared to a sloth!

My knitting passion is growing by the minute and hour! I actually drove 60 miles to go to an alpaca ranch and buy some very soft and loverly alpaca yarn. It is soft like cashmere, all natural not even dyed, just a beautiful chestnut brown. I even saw the sweet alpaca it came from! I would love to have an alpaca ranch. They are almost like pets, not like most ranch animals. They are domesticated like horses, but lack their purpose of will and strength. They have more of a need for nurturing. Very cool animals! I hope to start my sweater this week.

It all makes me wonder, could I knit a sweater from sloth?