DECORATING?


Why do I do it because it causes me sooooooooo much grief when I do!




So why am I so obsessed with it?


Why do I keep on doing it?


It's not for the glory....cause I don't get a lot of it [at least not to my face]




I do it because I love a challenge!


It's something I do to myself to prove that I still got the brain power to pull it off! I know it sounds so egotistical but I don't feel it's that way with me at all! I love the fact that others love what I do, but it really IS just a testing of my abilities and whether I still got it or not!




Why do I LIKE to do it....?



I believe that everything we do outside of our comfort zones [home] should be an adventure of the senses!


We go to the department stores and they try to give you a different atmosphere with their seasonal decor. It gets you in the mood to buy that visual item. Every vendor's place is the same way. So why not everywhere else in your life!




I feel when atmosphere is added to special occasions, it helps to change the mood of the attendees and invites them to let go of the norm. Sort of gets them into the mood! This can happen from the largest event to the smallest house party.




I am always disappointed when I go into someone's home for one of these "rope-in-sales-things" and there is no atmosphere to get one in the mood....but kind of happy too because I am able to go home with minimal spendage! These women should try a more cozier touch if they want to rack in the sales. One doesn't have to go nutty with the decor...most household stuff can be made over with hardly any effort. Throw in mood lighting with delicious cooking smells lightly lingering would work wonders in my mind. Even the slightest effort is better than none...I want to be entertained visually when I go out!




Last years symposium did nothing to get me in the mood to buy or even want to visit a psychic/medium. It was just another sales venue in my mind. So I had suggested some changes. Cover the walls with something or at least get the vendors to spruce up their images and try to make everything more mystic looking.




They agreed and were willing to try!


Here's how it went...

This the large area we had to contend with....there was more room behind me too.


The place is rented with wedding decor always being present and it wasn't meant to be with this theme but we worked it in somehow and it didn't distract too much.


The first night they set up the tables to figure out the flow of the sales floor. I would have rather we had put up the stuff on the walls first but was too tired from the excitement of the drive there to be forceful with that idea. They learn t that the next day...;} It's not fun to work around tables and chairs in the way!

The organizer of the event had purchased 2 huge rolls of 10' high plastic that had stars on it. 1 blue and 1 black. They had planned to secure it with duct tape.

Firstly, all "duct tape" are NOT created equally!

Cheap stuff does not stick for very long....less when warm! 


It was cool enough outside that there wasn't going to be any use of the air conditioner inside, so they covered over the fresh air vents. We forgot about the fact of lots of bodies together in small space will create LOTS of heat build up!

But the overall effect was worth the stress of how it would do....

The above photo is the area that was behind me in the first photo. There was a stage that they had slated for the coffee and coloring area. We didn't cover the walls in that area...mostly because we ran out of stuff to cover it with...so we front dropped it instead with arches of light. There is a sign about the event but was too dark to read. The printing on those signs sucked big time and were rip offs to the customer. I wouldn't have sold them to them...but that's me.



We had our problems with the wind in the entrance way! With covering the vents it got really hot...so we had to open the doors once in awhile to give customers and the vendors a fresh air break! It was fresh alright! We are talking near gale force winds! It blew the hell out of our entrance way. It was a big orange pumpkin arch covered in ivy vines and mini lights. By mid day it was all apart...guess the cheap duct tape didn't like the cold either!

The walls did start to come down...

Nothing anyone could do about them until the next day


It wasn't all decorating...we did do some sight seeing! Last time we were here we couldn't find the beach area...we got lucky this time. We found it by accident!




But man was it windy! The pic below shows how much it affect the water and the dock...there was no way one could even stand on the dock, it was lifting up with the waves too much to be safe! Even the seagulls had trouble with the wind! They kept us entertained for quite awhile! We had some old sandwiches/junk food to get rid of and they were quite happily to fight the wind and each other for them.

They thanked us by poop bombing us while they did it...;{

We also came across this creepy thing too...

The size of it alone is what caught my attention the most and the wonderment of what it might be? I knew it had to do with spiders so I didn't get too close but even at this distance was too close for me...

Never really did get close enough to see clearly what it was that the spider [s?] did wrap up but I figured it to be a bunch of wasps nests? Creeped out I stepped back quickly and as I did I looked down to see this right beside my foot...

I believe this is a tunnel spider nest!






Happily no spider came out of it....






But I did think of where it might be......?








See, it's decorating suck me into coming closer......










The decorating of the symposium turned out to be quite a hit with the vendor's sales and how many that visited the psychics/mediums. They made money this year!




So I guess I was right after all!





This part is the ego talking....;}

WEIRD OR WHAT?

As I mentioned yesterday, things still do get weird in my life and you tell me if this story doesn't strike you as odd/weird too!




As you know my daughter and I are interested in the unknown...the psychic world. The paranormal group from Ft. Quapple hosted their 3rd Paranormal Symposium on the Sept 11th weekend. I had opened my big mouth last year and suggested that "Theme Decorating" might help sales and attendances, so now had to prove it by showing them how. Plus, this was our "mother/daughter time" together and our only holiday away from this area. I have a weird way of spending holidays too ;}This wasn't a paid trip as we offered to volunteer to help in return for lodgings at their place.




As usual the trip there had to be eventful!




We left Thursday morning at 6:00 am in the pouring rain...no surprises there! Although the rain wasn't forecasted to be as bad as it turned out to be! Last year it was heavy fog to contend with and the weird fog thoughts [twilight zone time] but not this time!

Driving wasn't too bad until we hit the usual "Saskatchewan Road Construction Zones" which are a nightmare when they are dry! For about 10 miles there were mountains of dirt holding back trenches of water [on our side of the road] and were very challenging when met with approaching traffic!

Did I mention it was pouring rain!

Very white knuckle driving, in which I must commend PoD with handling very well! This is a girl who is afraid of driving in any bad conditions what so ever! So proud of her I am, because I don't believe I would have managed it at all! One reason I wasn't driving, is the fact that I can't feel my feet [diabetic feet] and can't do long distance driving any more...;(


If that wasn't challenging enough then throw in rain soaked "gouged roads" [pavement broken up] for another 10 miles...in the rain! So it was happy faces when we got to the "good" highways...only to find more excitement with rain, higher speeds and treacherous shoulders!


Let's just say...our "driving spirit" [or angel] was with us on this trip for sure!


Another fear of PoD's is "City" driving! We had planned a side trip into Regina to pick up some "step-stakes" for the signs we had made for the symposium and they were needed to help keep them in place.


Did I mention it was raining?


PoD and I have nothing but BAD things to say about road signs in that city! We spent 2 HOURS trying to find 1 sign shop! Did give up only to find one on our way OUT of that nightmare! I had suggested that we quit and go to our destination, saying if fate had intend us to find a shop then we will. Then we did!


First weird thing!


PoD and I now have a new name for Regina....Vagina! [fill in your own jokes here...we did!]




We did get there and spent more time trying to find their house....we were still batting 0! Everywhere we went we went the wrong way first!


But we managed to keep our humour!


Skip ahead to the decor time. This is where I run into all my problems with low sugars. I have stress that my ideas aren't going to work and I will have caused needless expense for them.  I can't show anyone this part as I am supposted to have faith in myself. So I wear myself to a frazzle! Food gets forgotten, medicines taken at bad times, etc! I know this, yet can't change it!


2nd night there I awake at 4:00 am with very low blood sugars to the point of being shaky and feeling quite ill. I do what I normally do to get sugar into me fast so I don't crash worse. PoD and I were sharing the same room so I didn't want to wake her [which I should have done] with this problem. I have run into this before, at home and things are okay [I am alone normally] usually. Our hosts had a mediation room next to the room we were sleeping in and I decided to stay in there, as I had to stay awake to make sure I got enough sugar in me. Thing was I shut the door...nobody knew I was in there and its something one shouldn't do when they might need help. Before the sugar started to work, my body suddenly got really cold! But, I was now in a state where I couldn't and didn't want to move to get my blanket from our room so I could get warm.




I was laying crosswise in this big soft chair, when something hit my side and tumbled end over end to the floor. It was a "sausage style" throw pillow! I looked back to see where it had come from and saw that it had sat on a quilt. The odd thing was that it had been laying length wise on the quilt and should have rolled down and hit my side lengthwise not end to end like it did?


Not thinking much of that, at that time, my only thought was "it's a blanket...I can be warm" so I dragged it down, covered myself up and passed out!

Next thing I knew, PoD was standing over me calling my name! It was 9:00am!


Seem our host had even opened the door and was surprized to see me sleeping in the chair but didn't awake me. In the confusion I was nearly left there alone because everyone thought I was somewhere else. Happily my sugar had come back to normal. All had ended well!


Add another whole day of excitement and more stressed due to decorating problems and the heat in the place!

Did I mention the rain finally quit...when we got there!


But the wind took it's place instead!


Like I said it was another day of stress related stuff [to me] and again food/medicines got delayed!


Night #3


We were awaken in the wee hours [3:00am or so] by PoD's cell phone going off! By the time she was able to reach it, it had stopped ringing! At that hour one doesn't expect good news and seeing that there was 3 missed calls...we were concerned!  This was also not her phone as she had borrowed her father's!

Also, I was not feeling well! Checked the sugars to find myself low again and if I had stayed asleep I would be in bad trouble...again!


She called her father to make sure the kids were okay, as they were stay with him [their dad was away working]. All was okay there and even he couldn't figure out who might be calling his cell phone?


It was a weekend and we did think that it might be a wrong number but also wondered why they didn't keep calling...drunk or wrong number...why quit calling? The display showed "unknown caller"?


The phone never did ring again!


I was also able to check and deal with the sugar problem again...this time with help!


Everytime my sugar goes low...I feel like my body is crashing [like a car hitting a wall] and coming back from that feeling is hard! Do that twice in a row and you can imagine how I am feeling about then!


Neither one of us heard the phone until the 3rd ring? PoD said she sort of heard the second one, but I know I didn't until the last one? I am normally a light sleeper!






When we had arrived, we had asked whether their house was haunted or not and was told, no! Seems our hosts had not told us the truth because they wanted us to find out for ourselves whether it was or not. Their psyhic's have reported that an elderly couple that used to own the place still reside their after their death. They didn't die there...just were very attached to the place. They say the old woman looks after anyone who is sick in there. Some have reported being covered up when cold?




So........

Did we travel with a "helping spirit" [angel] and it stayed with us to help me out?
Our trip home was sun shine with NO RAIN. We did take a different way back as there was no way we were going back through that nightmare water soaked construction again. We could have run into more troubles with new-to-us roads but didn't? We were batting O!
I did ask "Buttons" to join us in our venture because I know she would have jumped at the chance to go, had she lived. I still feel she has not moved on, so did she help?


Or...


Was I being protected by something from the paranormal in that house?

Did the old woman look after me?

In my condition that 2nd night, my mind did not register that a blanket was behind me to cover up with! I'm sure I was cold enough [we were in the basement] to become hypothermic because of my low sugar level, if I hadn't of covered up.

Would I have felt the cushion hit my side, sideways, instead of the poke I felt when it did hit? I was starting to fade at that time...


What turned it sideways? I was shivering and that could have made it roll but not end to end! This cushion was also on a very flat surface because the chair was sooooo soft and wide. Great for sleeping on I might add! I never noticed the blanket because the colors blended together and it didn;t look like there was a blanket there.








So YOU tell me....could it have been something paranormal?






After all it was a paranoral symposium that we were attending and all sorts of psyhic, mediums, etc did show up....