THEY'RE BACK...

It's been awhile since I've spoken about orbs.

Which must seem strange to some, seeing as my blog title is "Orbs 'r' Us" and I seldom talk about THEM?

Believe it or not, I do, think about other things...;0?

anyways...

Orbs are always in my pictures, but lately my pics, have been empty?

I can some times sense a presence [spooky kind] in a room. I believe everyone does sometimes...you know " like someone/thing is watching you...hair stands up on the back of your neck" feeling?...that kind!

Xmas morning, during present unwrapping at PoD's place, I experienced that kind of feeling!

It wasn't a feeling of dread or sadness, just something extra? It wasn't all of the time...just once in awhile.

There was lots of noise going on: 6 adults trying to talk above 4 rambunctious kids, 8 dogs moving around in the back bedrooms [wanting out] 3 cats ..."and a partridge in a pear tree'...her in-laws were there for the holidays.

I took pictures whenever that feeling came over me. It wasn't until I down loaded my pics, that I saw that, I finally had "Orbs" in some of them!

To the "dust mote people"...where are the rest of the dust motes?

My allergies ran ramped during that melee! The room should have been crowed with dust motes!

It wasn't until a couple of days later that PoD and I talked, that the topic of orbs on the pics came up. She too, had been feeling the eeriness of the corner where we had been sitting. I had never once, during gift opening, mention my feelings about the sensations that I was experiencing. I wrote it off to the overload noises and how my head was starting to hurt...made me feel out of sorts?

PoD said that she had experienced a few odd moments when her company was there. She would catch a glimpse of something that was just slightly out of her sight range. I think the spirits that live with her didn't like excessive noises either!

I like to think that others[?] enjoyed the spectacle also...it was a fun day!

Hope everyone else had their Xmas Spirit too....;0

Some Assembly Required

‘Twas the night before Xmas when all through the house

I searched for the tools to hand to my spouse.

Instructions were studied and we were inspired,

In hopes we could manage “Some Assembly Required.”

The children were quiet in their beds, while Dad and I faced the evening with dread:

In the kitchen, two bikes, Barbie’s Town house to boot!

And thanks to Grandpa, a train with a toot!

We opened the boxes; my heart skipped a beat…

Let no pieces be missing or parts incomplete!

Too late for last minute returns or replacement;

If we can’t get it right, it goes down in the basement!

When what to my worrying eyes should appear,

But 50 sheets of directions, concise, but not clear,

With each part numbered and every slot named,

So if there were failure, only we could be blamed.

More rapid than eagles the parts then fell out,

All over the floor they were scattered about.

“Now bolt it! Now twist it! Attach it right there!

Slide on the seats, where metal is bare!

Hammer the shelves, and nail to the stand.”

“Honey,” said hubby, “you just glued my hand.”

And then in a twinkling, I knew for a fact,

that all the toy dealers had indeed made a pact

to keep parents all Xmas Eve night, with “assembly required” till mornings first light.

We spoke not a word, but kept bent at our work,

till our eyes, they went bleary; our fingers hurt.

The coffee went cold and the night it wore thin before

We attached the last rod and last pin.

Then laying the tools away in the chest, we fell into bed for we-deserved rest.

But I said to my hubby just before I passed out,

This will be the best Xmas, without any doubt.

Tomorrow we’ll cheer, let the holiday ring, and not have

To run to the store for a thing!

“We did it! We did it! Toys are all set for

the perfect, most perfectest Xmas, I bet!”

Then off to dreamland, at last sweet repose I gratefully went,

Although I suppose there’s something to say for those self-deluded

I’d forgotten that BATTERIES are never included!

-stolen from another weekly "Bean"

Following instructions was never my problem but "BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED" was definitely one of them!

ALL I NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED FROM SANTA

1. Encourage people to believe in you.

2. Always remember who's naughty and who's nice.

3. Don't pout.

4. It's as much fun to give as it is to receive.

5. Some days it's OK to feel a little chubby.

6. Make your presents known.

7. Always ask for a bit more than what you really want.

8. Bright red can make anyone look good.

9. Wear a wide belt and no-one will notice how many pounds you've gained.

10. If you only show up once a year, everyone will think you're very important.

11. Whenever you're at a loss for words, say "HO, HO, HO!"

-stolen from those weekly "Beans" mag

Santa has always been a favorite of mine!

I HAVE taken the "Christ" out of Christmas! I've replaced his name with an "X" and that's how I can answer "why I call it XMAS"!

For me, the poem above states it better, with it's humour intended.

I even collect Santas.

Over the years I have amassed quite a few and manage to keep adding to it.

Santa runs a close second to my Halloween decor. My kids always know what they can buy me.

I have tons of other Xmas decor [mostly snowmen] and with there being no room since moving to this new location, I had to part with them. My grand kids got the excess! If I want to change up decor I can always borrow it back ;)

My most favorite Santa is the one I got shafted on. It's home made [no, not by me...I was too lazy] and the woman charged WAY too much. Lesson learned...always ask the price first! We were exchanging services and she OBVIOUSLY charged much more than I did! The only good thing was, she did not too bad of a job...

My addition this year was 2 fibre optic ones. They were a two-for one deal.

I've even put some of them to work! The Coffee Mug Santas, hold my pens/markers. Some are used as toilet tissue holders [you know...constantly blowing the nose gets expensive]! I've even have Santa lights.

I got my new mascot into the joy of the season. I've watched many a vehicle slow down and take a gander. Their smile was my reward!

I wanted to put a stuffed Santa on my bench this year, but I couldn't figure a way to secure it, without it looking like I kidnapped him?

I've had to "nail down" the outside decor lately. Vandals have been having "fun" at mine and other's expense. This summer, it was the appearance of 3 flamingos, 2 cows and 1 gnome. The flamingos & cows found their way back home, but Mr. Gnome, is still here!

I started decorating early this year [right after Halloween]. My grand kids decorated the artificial Xmas tree. Their dad had secured it into the ground [stakes and all] right in the middle of my front yard. We even secured the plastic balls on the tree, so they wouldn't blow off by the terrific wind that we get here! The nice touch to it, was the foot high pink ribbon for breast cancer sign. It was staked into the ground in front of it. All looked good, the kids were proud of their work!

A month later I awoke to find it gone! Along with it, the pink ribbon sign! All that was left was the extension cord [it was secured to the house] and 1 ball, lying in the street!

PoD and I spent a half an hour driving around town looking for it, thinking that it was decorating someone else's yard? It was gone!

I guess someone needed it more than I did?

I still didn't let that wreck my spirit!

My "new decorated tree" is secured to my place with 3 metal brackets with 2 inch screws! I even have some nice "presents" [sitting beside the tree] for them to swipe... if they desperately need to swipe something! They are brightly wrapped presents full of cat litter crap [I needed weight to keep them from flying away]! Hope they have a Merry Crapmas!

I got to go now and hang my stocking for "Santa Is Coming To Town"....

Merry Xmas To ALL and to ALL a goodnight...

This little bit of info was sent to me by my sister-in-law SewLady and my new update will be about my health...but you can enjoy this first, as I'm still waiting for my results...

The Alphabet
A is for apple, and B is for boat,
That used to be right, but now it won't float!
Age before beauty is what we once said,
But let's be a bit more realistic instead.

Now The NEW Alphabet
A is for arthritis;
B is the bad back,
C is the chest pains, Perhaps car-d-iac?
D is for dental decay and decline,
E is for eyesight, can't read that top line!
F is for fissures and fluid retention,
G is for gas which I'd rather not mention.
H is for High blood pressure--I'd rather it low;
I is for incisions with scars you can't show.
J is for joints, out of socket, won't mend,
K is for knees that crack when they bend.
L is for libido, what happened to sex?
M is for memory, I forget what comes next.
N is neuralgia, in nerves way down low;
O is for osteo, bones that don't grow!
P for prescriptions, I have quite a few, just give me a pill and I'll be good as new!
Q is for queasy, is it fatal or flu?
R is for reflux, one meal turns to two.
S is for sleepless nights, counting my fears,
T is for Tinnitus; bells in my ears!
U is for urinary; troubles with flow;
V for vertigo, that's 'dizzy,' you know.
W for worry, NOW what's going 'round?
X is for X ray, and what might be found.
Y for another year I'm left here behind,
Z is for zest I still have-- in my mind.

*I've survived all the symptoms, my body's deployed, and I'm keeping twenty-six doctors fully employed!!!

THE HEALTH UPDATE:

October 3rd, I landed back into the hospital with angina pain! It seems it was enough to have to send me for STRESS testing again. It also turns out that my cholesterol levels are too high, not to mention, my blood pressure!

That damn word!

STRESS!

Like it isn't bad enough that my life/work isn't stressful enough, that one has to go through all of that testing AGAIN! They have appropriately called it STRESS!

The added STRESS being...I had to travel out of province in order to get it done soon enough? It's either: We have TOO many people that are having these problems or not enough machines to keep up?

Well, I had mine done on the 16th and 17th this month...in Edmonchuk. Thankfully I have family living there or the cost would have been a lot higher! Money STRESS!

The thought of traveling there was STRESSful!
Not having done much driving lately, I didn't feel confident enough to drive myself [would have to borrow someones car]. Weather conditions [snow] not to mention having to drive in the city... made it even more STRESSful! Do I take a bus/train? Someone would still have to drive me to their depots and pick me up!

Luckily my Ex wanted to do some Xmas shopping [plus needed my help doing it] and offered the use of his car, plus do the driving. All I had to do was foot the bill. The most STRESSful part was whether I could be around him long enough without being TOO STRESSed out? It turned out to be not to bad after all, but it did still have some STRESSful moments!

I did receive good news that the physical end [walking on the treadmill] was great and not to worry about that part. The picture taking of my heart, has yet to come back. The word was that my doctor will have that info in a couple of days. Hopefully that it will tell him why my blood pressure/cholesterol won't go down?

The only thing to do now is STRESS about waiting...!

I AM trying to think positive?

HAUNT NIGHT PICTURES

This was the staging area. SewLady entertained the waiting victims here and tell them all about the museum addition and what the equipment was. When she heard the air cannon go off she would yell out to us waiting "victims entering" usually giving us the heads up on how many. We also were warned about the scare level by the age of the group. They were met with the view area of the "grocery store". This was a visual area before the long dark walk.

This started the scary part. Victims had to walk down a long dark hallway and all they could see was a blinking red light at the end. Most hate the dark and lots didn't want to walk down it but they had no choice! As they got closer to the end of it they could see that there was someone standing there. This was the devilish creature in red and most times they realized it was only a dummy. Then they had to go right and saw that there was another one at the other end of the dark hallway with a blinking red light also. I would sometimes take the place of the first dummy and hold the blinking light against my chest. I would hold still and let them go by or move just as they got up close to me. This was a tight spot and I managed to get wacked once! But it was worth it! Lots were faraid to continue after that. Many a guy forced their female partners to go first after that!

These shots are of the school room. You can see the only two clear orbs that I captured from the whole haunt. They are shown in the photo with the chalk board. I classify them as "orbs" and for those of you into "dust motes" why aren't there more? It got to be pretty dusty in there so I should have had lots show up as you can see the pics are pretty clear. If you bigify them you will see that they aren't quite round? Anyways, this was the area that the family of scarers haunted. They would sit on the desk or stand beside it and hold a book open...then they would slam it shut! That always got a got scream.

As you left the school room area you had to go down another dark aisle with a guy sitting in a chair. Sometimes there was someone hiding beside/behind him and they made sure that they kept the victims moving. This led to the "laundry" area. The old wringer washer as dimly lit inside and a face peeked out at you. this was the distraction for the ones hiding behind crates or under the table. In the dark and wearing all black made sure that they didn't see and if they did the person doing the scaring would remain still and it made on not too sure if they would "come to life" or not. This too got lots of scares!

As you went around the corner you were confronted with this creepy dude. His eyes glowed red and the mannequin underneath the mask made him look real. He was only a half body and sat on a desk which mad him fairly tall. This was a distraction for the ones sitting around the table. The table was dimly lit with purple lights and had a singing candelabra as it's focal point. The bad boys occupied this area the most. The last night we had a very tall woman dressed in black and she held the huge creepy hands. These hands [no photo] were about a foot & half wide with the bony fingers outstretched and were painted white. She would stand still holding them down at her sides and when the victim would get close enough to see her she would lift them up high and growl. This usually insured that they would exit quickly, if not, she would follow them!

You had to pass by the "Grim Reaper" before entering the cemetery. I would stand by the guy and most had a hard time passing by us. Just as you thought you were safe [sometimes I wouldn't move] a huge white spider[on a skateboard] would come rolling out at them. Many did the "scary dance" as they thought it would get their legs. If that didn't work then I would "come to life" and follow behind them...that always got them good!

This last pic is of the entrance way to the cemetery. We had someone donation the use of his coffin/skeleton and air blaster. We had a security person at the exit operate this prop scare and when the victims would get close to the coffin, the skeleton would sit up. Most people from town would recognize this prop [he used it yearly in his halloween set-up] but still ended up getting scare because they would walk by a treasure chest which contained an air cannon. This was quite loud and made one deaf after awhile but scared the hell out of one anyways! You can't see the prop because the guy had already removed it before I had a chance to get a pic of it. We even had gravestones!

Sorry about the big spaces! I don't find this blogging stuff very user friendly.

The end of Halloween 2008!

MORE UPDATES...?

It's Halloween time!

WARNING....long story.....could be lots of grammar/punctuation errors...:)

I did a pay forward thing, with my brother Tank and SewLady this year. They had mentioned, when helping me with my haunt of our courthouse, that they would like to stop decorating [hugely] at their house and get their town's museum to host a haunt instead, using their stuff. I said that I would help them out with the layout and such if they had ever managed to accomplish this.

Well this year they did!

Knowing me, I couldn't just let them off with just designing their layout, I had to involve myself too. So I decided that my holiday this year would be in Devon, Alberta, doing a Haunted Museum! It also gave me an opportunity to spend some time with my brother and sister-in-law, whom I've neglected over the years.

My ex [yes we still get along] had a doctor's appointment in Edmonchuk during that time frame and willingly let me cram as much of my haunt stuff into his small car. There wasn't an inch left to spare! We even managed to do some shopping along the way while we were trying to get there. It seems that we did have a few inches left for purchases. After getting lost a few times we did finally manage to find their place...the ex has a problem with listening to directions and everyone knows men do not like to be told where to go?

We managed to unload my stuff into her vehicle and got to visit awhile before Tank got home. My sister-in-law, SewLady, works out of her home doing accounting and sewing [thus her name]. She also teaches sewing and I managed to learn something about it from her while I was there. I found that this old dog can learn new tricks [sewing, that is]! My nephew was also getting married the day after halloween and she has been busy doing alterations on the bride's gown and a bride's maid's dress.

So we had a haunt to build and a wedding to decorate...we had our work cut out for us!

First, SewLady took us for a tour on where the haunt was going to be held. I must make a note to you all that it is a MUST place to see. The town Devon was built for the oil patch workers so they could live close to where they could work. The main museum was built on the original well site, showing the public just what goes on in the oilfields. It even had classrooms to help one understand just what they have to do to get that stuff out of the ground and even if you aren't into the oil industry, the history/displays in that place is amazing! I wished I had taken photos of the place to show you but I'm sure they have a site on the net somewhere. I also got to meet the volunteers that run the place and you couldn't meet a nicer bunch of people! Some even helped run the haunt.

The haunt was being held in the "Braun Hall", an old community center, that had been moved out to the site and was in the process of being set up as an additional museum to the new one. It held some of the hospital equipment taken from the demolition of their old hospital. It was kind of neat to see just what they used way back then. Anyways, this haunt was been held to help raise monies to help keep the lights on in this place.

I had thought that things with the haunt would be ready for me when I got there and there would be LOTS of helpers....all I'd have to do was fine tuning/directing? As things turned out, this haunt was no different than our haunt...all think that its a great idea to host one, just as long as someone else does the work!

The ex made sure he wasn't around to help...he had done his share by getting me there! He couldn't leave fast enough the next day...I guess giving me a lift was help enough.Some things never do change!

Saturday, Oct. 25 th, turned out to be a VERY WINDY [102 mph] day for unloading our stuff at the old hall. On the final load, Tank and I were the last ones through the door. The wind had made unloading very interesting not to mention challenging! Tank had kindly held the door for me and I managed to enter safely but paid no attention to what he might have to go through to keep that door open. Tank is not a small man! A gust of wind was able to hit with such a force that it slammed into the door, driving him off the steps! He was able to twist his body just in time to avoid hitting some huge rocks, landing himself on the ground beside them, but still ended up injuring himself by hitting his vehicle with his knee. Of course no one saw this happen and thus no one came to his aid! The fall managed to knock the wind out of him so he spent some time lying on the ground. The next I saw of him, was him limping through the doorway!

He could have been seriously injured or killed!

Sadly, someone in Edmonchuk, did die in that wind storm! A tree breaking off in that wind, landed on the guy's car killing him instantly!

Thankfully that is all that happened to Tank!

Tank, the trooper that he is, struggled through the pain that he was in and continued to help set up the walls for the haunt! There was only five of us [their son, DJ & future daughter-in-law, MT] to get that place operational for the grand opening on Monday night...only two days away!

First thing that had to be done was move the existing stuff, in there, out of the way and hopefully move it not too far away from where they had been positioned for the museum set-up. One of the big drawback was that one of the volunteers, for the museum, had decided that the floors had to be freshly varnished BEFORE we held the haunt? It was a challenge to move everything without scratching the floor and thoughts of, "what if it snowed or got muddy during the haunt nights...do we tell the victims to take their shoes/boots off?" This guy was pretty negative about the haunt happening anyways and did manage to cause us some grief while we set-up/ran it.

Our haunt walls was the biggest problem that we faced for the set-up. This meant having a grid system of wires that had to be installed before the plastic could be hung. Thankfully DJ had already pre-made long rods with clip end loops to stabilize the grid and between him and Tank, they got it hung up. One of the cleaning staff's teenage son came in a little later and helped us tape the plastic walls on it...plus volunteered later to help out with manning the haunt. SewLady got to do all of the running around getting stuff that was needed and helped put together/dress her mannequins for haunt placement. We worked hard!

There was LOTS to be done and we were all getting pretty exhausted, so they decided to call it a day. I, as usual, lost it and said that there was more to be done... we couldn't quit! The shocked look on their faces told me all that needed to be said! So calming myself down and apologized later to SewLady, forewarning her that tiredness and lack of sugar makes me crazy! Thankfully that was my only hissy fit in the haunt set-up!

Setting up scares takes longer than writing about it but we managed to get it all done!

All that was left was finding helpers to man it!

SewLady is very good at making people want[?] to help out...short of twisting arms :).

We even had some boys call and offer their help. When I first set eyes on them, the night of the haunt, something warned me that it was going to be a bad mistake...I hate it when I'm right!

Monday...opening night!

Something I must relate first...during all of this set-up stuff/daily running around, SewLady and I spent a lot of time trying to find misplaced stuff! Her glasses, cameras, cell phone, my blood sugar tester, purses, etc!

So it was no surprise to us that we had misplaced the keys to unlock the door that night. So while we waited for Tank to go get the keys, we got to watch 3 very excited boys arrive with their father. All were slurping on big cups of slushies [tons of sugar] and couldn't stand still for one minute. Daddy dropped them and fled, leaving these bundles of energy with us. We couldn't even send them back as the haunt site was too far out of town for them to walk back. Being desperate for workers, I warned them as best as I could about fooling around in the haunt!

We now had a mad panic to get everyone dressed and placed for the best scare. I had a short time to teach all about how to scare properly...I like to call it "Haunt 101"!. Most want to jump out and grab the victim [customer] or yell Boo! The main rule, when I do a haunt, is "Touch nothing and nothing will touch you"! I can't stress this enough to the scare-er or scare-ee! Even if you know who the person is, they don't know that its you in the dark! MANY times I had to repeat this to the kids! The hardest part is making them realize that small movements in dimly lit areas can be much more scarier. Thankfully by then end of the evening they finally understood.

In our courthouse haunt we provided some food and water to the workers. Well we had water, cookies and some pop. The water was a good idea but the sugar only added to the kid's already high energy level!

Adding dead boys to my haunt ran through my brain a lot that night! The sane person residing in me made me resist the idea! That was my second pissy fit!

Our victim list that night was disappointing...25 people!

A lot was against us for this haunt:

- Too far out of town for anyone to walk to it. A shuttle service would have helped.

- Most didn't didn't even know there was a museum out there? The one good thing was, we made the ones who did show, aware of what was available for them to see. We had time between customers to do a bit of history on the place.

- A lot of people do not read their local paper! The haunt was well advertised in it and even had a write-up about me coming and lending a hand [which was kind of nice]. Our haunted courthouse and town even got a mention it.

- The entrance to the facility had no lighting, so it was near to impossible to see where to turn off. We even missed it one time and SewLady knew where it was! The museum has been fighting with the highway department and government bull crap, trying to rectify that situation. It's always been their problem!

- Poster advertising got put up too late. Sadly, Sewlady had been stuck with everything about this haunt and the overworking of one person ensured that something had to fail. Advertising has to be a priority to success. One person can do it, just as long as they don't have to do everything else! We did manage to put up three sandwich board signs advertising the night's event but most never even saw them.

A few more showed up for the second night [for the life of me I can't remember how many...28?]

The horrible boys showed up again, even though I told them that they wouldn't be needed! This time I told their father how bad they were, right in front of them and if they wanted to stay they had to change! It worked! They were very behaved and it might have helped that there was NO sugar available.

I did have lots of fun scaring people again! I sure miss that part of the haunt. Who knows maybe I host one in my old building [if it isn't sold by then] in 2009.

The third night, word of mouth must have worked it's charm because we had a whole 76 people!

I must add that we also had other adults helping too. The family that lived across the street from SewLady & Tank came out to help man the haunt. She fosters children and they got to have fun also. She controlled them so they were no problem at all. They manned the same area for three nights and knew just what to do to scare...I heard lots of screams from their area!

SewLady controlled the front staging area and would let us know how many were coming through. Tank controlled the outside areas and talked with the guests as they exited. There were many a histerical moments and he also got to hear their veiws on the haunt. Were had a rating of 12 out of the 1-10 many times and some even wanted to go back through again because they were sure the had missed alot from screaming/closed eyes.

This was my payment! Every scream made me smile lots! There might have been a poor turn out but what results from those who did.

The final night gave us over 100!

All in all I had fun...pictures of the final set-up will come next...blogger is complaining!

WISH I HAD THIS MUCH TALENT!

Can't stand the song [love the version of it], but man oh man what a display....enjoy!

MY PERFECT MAN?

MORE UPDATES.....?

Grad Decorating June, 2008: "Mardi Gras"

I managed to get through this years decorating and it was NOT without it's problems!

The big "S" on my forehead insured that the grad committee was able to pull off this year's theme! With comments like..."I'm soooo busy right now with ALL of the stuff I still have to do to pull this off, could you please do these LITTLE things for us", "I'm not sure how you want these things put together [table centerpieces] can you do it","here's the balloons, I don't have time to blow them up" and oh, by the way, our title for this grad is "Small Town, Big Dreams"?

What did that title have to do with Mardi Gras and how was I going to put that into the decor? Not to mention that I only found out about it at the last moment when it dawned on me that I hadn't inquired about it! Needless to say I was able to squeeze it in...Pod and I finished putting on the last touches of paint before it was due to be picked up for the day of set-up!

You never saw two happier people than us, when the stuff got there safely and found that we had LOTS of help in setting it up! Many hands made the load lighter and the only bad thing was having to direct all of them...but I wasn't complaining?

I must admit that the place looked wonderful when it was all done but with wonderful comes praises from others, especially from those who would like you to help out next year? I couldn't say NO loudly enough!

Needless to say, that fazed no one...I was approached again a little while ago and the sucker in me said a weak MAYBE..with strong conditions attached. Which I was again reassured that they would comply with it? Time will only tell!

Tell me how does one decorate for a "Ballroom" atmosphere?

What's the big thrill about pillars?

And yes, they are starting now!

I don't know what I'd do without the help from PoD! She has helped me get through many a stressful moment and I think of her as my magic wand! With her...presto...my work is done! I can't say THANK YOU enough!!! I done brung her up right! I also have to mention my wonderful son-in-law, Trebor, he's the dude who can't help out enough...he helped me bring back the stuff safely...THANKS lots!

Do you think I've buttered them up enough to help me again....?

More updates to follow?