A Ghost Story

In honor of Halloween, here is a spine tingling tale for your reading pleasure. This story is NOT for children.

The Drive

As he climbed into his car after pulling a 12 hour stretch, all Chase could think was how much he hated this shift. The clock in his car said 2:55 AM and Chase just wanted to go home and collapse into his bed. Ten more minutes and he would be able to do just that. Given the hour the roads were deserted which was just fine with Chase. Part of his route included a lonely quarter mile stretch with only empty fields and one abandoned house. Of course, there was a story about this house as there usually is. Chase didn't know the details having only lived in the area for six months. Rumors were that a gruesome murder had taken place inside, thus leaving the house haunted and uninhabitable. Chase thought it was a crap story invented to keep trespassers away from the crumbling structure. He was wrong.

As he approached the house, the clock tripped over to 3:00 AM. Chase rubbed the back of his neck and wished again for his warm bed. The temperature seemed to be falling and Chase shivered as he reached out to turn up the heat. A moment later he slammed on his brakes as a deer darted across the road. He sat for a moment, making sure the deer hadn't brought along any friends. A movement in the rear view mirror had him glancing up. At first his mind couldn't comprehend what he saw. But it only took a split second for his blood to freeze.

There was a girl sitting in his backseat. His mind registered the long brown hair, the big eyes, the pale skin, even the pink shirt. He saw it all, couldn't tear his eyes away, but even as he stared she changed. Her eyes darkened. Her skin, already impossibly pale became whiter until it almost seemed to glow. She lifted one pale hand, pressing it to her chest. As she pulled it away, red began to spread across the pink of her shirt. As Chase stared helplessly, unable to move or speak, she lifted the hand to her throat. Blood began pouring through her fingers. Her mouth gaped as more blood dribbled through her lips. Her other hand reached up, reached toward Chase's reflection in the mirror. Her fingers curled and the dashboard lights glinted on a silver ring on her thumb. Her eyes met Chase's for the briefest of seconds, then she was gone. Just gone.

Chase's heart pounded, his palms sweated. He was scared to turn around. He was more scared not to. Very slowly he shifted, turning carefully. He swallowed hard then made himself look. There was nothing there of course. No girl. No blood. Chase swiveled back to the wheel and stomped on the gas. He didn't know what he had just seen and he didn't want to wait around to find out. But he no longer doubted the rumors.



Carving pumpkins as a family tradition

Guest post written by Kelly Herman

One of our family's fall traditions is to make a whole Saturday out of picking pumpkins to carve, carving them and then baking the pumpkin seeds to eat afterwards. I used to do it with my family when I was growing up and always looked forward to it. So I decided to start doing this tradition with my family too. It's quite a hit and the kids always start asking when we're going to do it once I start making them wear jackets to school again. I guess they know that it's about that time then!
Even after all of those pupmkins that I've carved, I'm still not very good at making the designs myself, so I always make templates from pictures that I fidn on the computer. I looked up some different themes with our wireless internet Nashville this year to carve on the pumpkins. I found all kinds of stuff, even a transformer for my son.
As soon as I started traciing the transformer on the pumpkin, I knew that it was going to be quite a task to actually carve out so I left that to my husband.

Dog makes 6?

Our dog snapped her leash and ran away nearly a month ago and we haven't been able to find her. The kids still occasionally ask where she is and when/if she's coming back. My 3 year old keeps telling me he needs a doggie to play with. My 4 year old recently pleaded for a Spitz puppy. My husband, however, claims he is enjoying not having the responsibilities of a dog. But I'll give you 2 guesses who was recently checking out available dogs... Yep.

So, where do we go from here? After a month, realistically I don't believe we'll ever find Bella. So do we start looking for a new dog? And if so, what kind and where? There are a lot of things to think about when you consider adopting a dog. The only thing I know for certain is that it darn sure won't be a chiuahuah or any other rat sized dog. A, it would never survive with 3 very enthusiastic kids. And B, I just don't like them. Jeff Dunham once said something like if it bounces when it barks, it's not a dog. I agree.

On the other hand, I've got a baby crawling around. I love big dogs, but some of them don't realize how big they are, especially when compared to a baby. I know some are gentle giants though. My fur-niece Maggie is a perfect example. She's a Golden Retriever and one of the most awesome, gentlest creatures I have ever met. But not all big dogs are as wonderful as Maggie.

So, maybe a medium sized dog.
But what kind? And from where? In theory, adopting a rescue dog is wonderful. But how do you know if it's a good rescue? How do you know if you can trust them when they say the dog is good with kids? But we want to avoid puppy mills and bad breeders. As for what kind, I'm pretty open. I have no problem with mixed breeds, mutts are awesome. I do have an issue with a mixed breed  being given a cutesy name and a huge price tag though. 

So, as I said there's a lot to think about. But that's ok, this isn't a decision to make hastily and with little thought. When the right dog for us comes along, we'll know.

Up All Night

No, not the show. Although, it does make me chuckle. Anyway, I meant me. The baby has been restless all night and of course when baby doesn't sleep, Mommy doesn't sleep. And when baby finally does get some rest, you would think Mommy would be passed out too. But, no. I'm not sleep blogging.

So, it's 4:15 am, the house is quiet, everyone else is sleeping and I keep thinking that I should get up and do something. I could tackle a portion of Mt. Laundry, which I really need to do.  But the sound of the washer might wake up my light sleeper. Vacuuming is out for obvious reasons. I could clean the kids' bathroom, but it just seems wrong to scrub a toilet at this hour.  I could...ah who am I kidding? I'm not going to waste quiet time on cleaning.

Maybe I'll go take an uninterrupted shower, a true rarity. I could bury my nose in the newest J.D. Robb book. Which I'm loving by the way. I could go make my daughter's newest tutu or finish my oldest sons' hat. I could do any of those things. If I could open my eyes fully. 

Instead I think I'm going to lay down and hope the baby stays asleep so I can get some rest. I'm going to... *sigh* I'm going to go try to get the baby back to sleep. Does anyone know if they make remote controlled coffee pots yet?

An Update On my Son

A while back I mentioned that we were going through some struggles with my three year old and he had to see a neurologist and have an EEG. Well, he did that. The good news is that his EEG was normal, he's not having seizures. Once we had those results, he began seeing a counselor. Here's where the bad news comes in. The counselor also had us fill out assessments for Autism Spectrum Disorders. We got the results this week and unfortunately the results were that it is very likely he is on the Autism Spectrum. He is also showing signs of hyper activity, but that's hard to pin down in a three year old. He has also been diagnosed with severe separation anxiety. He has also been referred to a speech therapist. That's a lot to process.

So, what that means right now is that he needs further evaluation for the Autism. So we'll be doing that. He is also starting a social group therapy session next week. Hopefully that goes well. Some of his biggest difficulties are with social skills. He will begin seeing a speech therapist as soon as we can get him in. And his counselor is working with him/us on his separation anxiety. We've got a long bumpy road ahead of us. But, at least we are getting answers, even if they aren't the ones we want to hear. Answers mean that we can start helping him now that we know which direction to take. Answers mean that we can figure out how to make all of this as easy as possible for him. We can make life as good as possible for him. And isn't that what every parent wants?

MIA again

Sorry I disappeared for a while. I have had a lot going on. Our dog ran away 2 weeks ago and we haven't  been able to find her. We've had one family member in the hospital for mini strokes, another family member was in a bad car accident. My three year old had three dr appointments in one week, the baby is teething  and once you add in every day life...well it's been kinda crazy around these parts.