Stumped on House History

After my interview this afternoon I realized I had some spare time to do some reasearch on the history of my house. Usually I get off way too late to make it into the city offices, so today was an exception. I first stopped by City Hall, where the snotty receptionist told me to go to the second floor, as if thats not vague enough.

After playing the guessing game, I went to the City Clerks office, and attempted to speak with one of the 2 receptionists who kindly directed me to a psychic. Thankfully the receptionist next to her was kind enough to give me a website to go to- and also directed me to the Property Appraiser across town. (The entire time the other receptionist is talking over her still continuing to make fun of me.) By this point I was totally irritated- I have never wanted to put someone in their place more than that woman. I am, always up for a little joke, but she didnt offer me any help other than to humiliate me for asking 'How I could get some history on who previously owned my house.'

So I drove over to the Property Appraisers office, and was retold the same information, but given a new website as well as sent to the Clerk of the Circuit Courts office down the hall. So down the hall I went, feeling very much like Alice in Wonderland, following some mysterious rabbit down a never ending hole.

The story sung here was much the same, but I was told this time that the documents only went so far back as 1965- any further documents I was in search of would most likley be somewhere in the Tampa City Hall, on a fiasco much like this. Totally depleted I decided to come home and try my luck at the websites I had been given.

So, after 3 hours of searching public records that a supposed to be 'user friendly' I have found some clues to who previously owned my home. The last owner I can trace, is totally un-traceable, so once again I have hit a dead end. Any suggestions?

Victoria & Jonathan - 2009-*UTD*
Allen & Lori Lefler – 2006-2009
Brian C. & Leslee A. Watts - 1998-2006
James Perry Riner & Jacqueline Ray Riner- 1994-1998
James R. Hodges- *1965 - 1994

Photo Restoration...

This is the original scanned copy....


This is the revised copy that I repaired...

First Touches of Fall

I stepped on to the back porch this morning and was totally delighted to find a brisk chill in the air, and I honestly couldn’t think of a better way to start my morning. Everything seemed so perfect I was practically bursting. I cant recall when or why I started to fall in love with Autumn- but it’s the one season I am completely at peace with everything around me.

I couldn’t help but smile the entire commute to work, and decided to treat myself to iced coffee at DD as well. When I pulled around to the drive through some guy actually had the courtesy to let me go before him in the drive through line. While it may seem ridiculous to some, the fact that there is another Florida driver out there who still has manners touched me, so I had the cashier ring his order to my card before I sped off to work.

I have my interview at 3pm today so I’m cutting out early at 1pm here. I cant imagine things being any better. Here’s some historic photos of my town from back in the day, hope you enjoy. Happy Wednesday everyone!

Photos courtesy of Debbie (Thank you!), Plant City Photo Archives & EPodunk.com

An AMAZING Find!

Thats right people. I found the first old photo of my house... I AM SO EXCITED!

The Dreaded Birthday Week

The dreaded birthday week is closing in, and I find myself scrambling to find appropriate gifts for everyone. Its almost a tradition with me at this point. The week which I am referring to consists of October 6^th, 7^th & 8^th, a week that entails my mother, father, brother and grandmothers birthdays all wrapped into one gigantic gift. A week of never ending balloons, cake and candles- that leaves you heavier on the scales and lighter in the wallet.

My sister surprised me this year by suggesting one large celebration for everyone, a surprise party that she and I could throw. So we decided to separate it into parts to make things fair- she and her girlfriend will be handling the Dinner Menu and the Games, and my husband and I will handle the Decorations, Drinks and Dessert. I decided to go for a theme my mother would love, since she hasn’t ever had a surprise birthday party.

So, I set to work and here’s my visual shopping list. Yes. I do plan on making a monster cake. Scary I know.

Silent No More.

Generally speaking this last week has been incredibly busy, and while I usually keep up with the news via NPR in the mornings on my way to work, I have been more content with just listening to music on my daily commute, which means I have been out of the ‘news’ loop for a little while now.

This morning as I was shuffling through my emails, I caught wind of a news headline from the past week about a beating that occurred in Chicago. I watched a small bit of the video footage, and I can’t help but be horrified by the things that I see happening- not just in this video but in situations like this all over the US. This story mimics one that happened just a few years ago in my state where a girl was beaten by eight of her classmates over something so trivial as a ‘boyfriend’.

Like any rational human being, I can’t help but find myself wondering why something like this could be acceptable to anyone involved? How could anyone just stand there and video-tape something so horrific and laugh while doing it? Has our society been so desensitized by movies and video games that even when we see something that’s happening- we still can’t accept that it is a reality- that peoples lives are a one time commodity, something that can’t be given back once its gone?

Images from my own past always seem to float back to me with incidents like this. During my high school years, I attended a inner city school, half of which was a performing arts school and the other half consisted of inner city kids. The divide between the two halves was almost a palpable line between the students and tensions were always high for this reason in particular. On my first day, I can recall a fight breaking out in the cafeteria between two students who actually ended up fighting on top of my table with me standing shell shocked in the middle, it wasn’t until a friend physically pulled me out of the way that my brain slowly started to process what was happening. Over the years there, students learned to almost look the other way- fighting was just a part of daily life there.

That first year alone there were over 12 fights, 2 riots and one shooting resulting in a death. It wasn’t really until my senior year that the violence affected me directly that I decided standing silent wasn’t really an option anymore. A friend and I had been walking toward the parking garage after school when a large gang of rowdy boys approached us. I don’t even recall how exactly it all happened, but the two of us ended up pinned against the wall, encircled by 7-9 grown boys. I can still clearly recall however, my best friends horrified face as we both came to terms with what was most likely going to happen to us. As fate would have it, two of our male friends strolled by at that moment and broke everyone up, rescuing us from something I still shudder to think about, could have been. Graduating unscathed was considered an honor as far as I was concerned, but it was the turning point in my life when it came to being silent about violence.

My mind can’t help but flash back to that age old saying; if history goes un-learned it is doomed to repeat itself. Is this true? Or is it human nature to repeat the same mistakes for each generation- to learn things the hard way only to have to repeat them again? With the current war(s) going on, the troubled economy wreaking havoc on people and the general un-rest that is washing over the country I cant help but connect similar points in time to this current event.

As times get tougher, people seem to be turning inward- relying on themselves and adopting such a cutthroat way of survival that it’s frightening. It is with that mentality that as times get more desperate, people will too. Weather your putting up blinders to violence around you, video-taping the event, or just standing around watching the events unfold- isn’t it time people came together and stood up for what was right? To accept that violence is just a part of everyday life- makes you no better then the person who is doing the beating. The more we teach ourselves, our families, our friends, our children- that violence in any shape or form is not to be tolerated- the more this message will spread for future generations, and perhaps that means just a little less blood on our streets.

More Weekend Details

I just finished checking the weather for this week and tomorrow has a low of 66*. What a wonderful sign that fall is coming a bit sooner this year. This weekend we put the deposit down for our annual vacation to Gatlinburg, TN- this year it just so happens to fall right after my birthday. It will have been over a year since we took a vacation together just the two of us, and lately its all either one of us can think about. I am especially excited to go antique shopping in the mountains so I can fill my house! The last time we were in TN was in December of last year with some friends and we could only go to one antique shop. If anyone knows of any TN or surrounding states that have good antique shopping districts I’m open!

This past weekend we went out to dinner with my husband’s friend from work and his wife, who is pregnant with their first child. We decided to go to “The Front Porch” which is a 2 story house built in 1898 that has since been converted into a restaurant. The food there is … amazing to say the least. We had a wonderful evening visiting with them, and I couldn’t remember a time when I was more comfortable with another couple. It was a lovely evening.

This past weekend I discovered a small museum hidden in our down town district, that supposedly houses a decent variety of historic photo archives from our town. Unfortunately they are only open on Saturday’s from 1-4, so I will have to wait until next weekend. Imagine if I could find actual photos of my home from its hay-day. I don’t know how I could have over looked such a place, but I am thrilled at the prospect of spending a few hours looking through old photos – even if I don’t find anything, it will still be nice looking. This is the first place I have considered looking for anything regarding the history of my house. Has anyone else had luck anywhere online or perhaps in the city hall office? Where’s a good place to start?

As far as the job search goes, I have been applying like crazy. This morning alone I applied for 10 jobs. There really isn’t any thing out there- so I am already coming to terms with an inescapable pay cut. I am however really gunning for a local job with a print company- I have no real idea why I want this job so badly- but its been speaking to me all weekend, I really hope I get it. Plus I would save 60$ a week in gas not having to commute to Tampa! That in itself would be nice- plus I will be within five miles of home! What a dream. -V

She Hacked, She Sawed, She Conquered!

This is the first weekend in a long time where I actually feel like I accomplished something worth while on the house. While the house remains to be cleaned properly- I did manage to get several little projects around the house completed.

First and foremost, I spent the early part of today painting that ugly handrail I had to put in for our insurance company, as well as painting the door to match the trim on the front of the house.

After words we decided to make a run to the Toy store aka: HomeDepot. Where I was totally delighted to find gables for the house for about 15 bucks a piece. We also picked up a ton of lumber and lattice and with all of our necessary supplies we set off to build the picket fence for the Halloween grave yard we are making in lieu of our upcoming Halloween party! I cut and built all of the fencing, and painted it all black. Tomorrow will be installation in the front yard! I am so psyched!

By the time I had finished that, my husband had finished re-wiring the new coach lights for the front porch! It is so strange having a lighted front porch after being in the dark for so long! We also put in some solar lighting along the back drive way that really made everything pop.

We both decided we couldn't stand looking at the make shift A/C cover the previous owner built- I mean... just one look at this little jem and you will know why I used to cringe when I came in through the backdoor.

So I gleefully ripped out the old one and did some much needed weeding around the unit. And we built a new framed out lattice A/C cover. We didn't have time to paint the second coat, so it likely wont be installed until Wednesday- but by then it was dusk and the day had been well spent.

Hoping everyone had a lovely weekend!

Superstitions aside- Its going to be a great weekend

I just want to start this post with: I am not a superstitious person, I do not believe in all that Friday the 13^th, Black Cat, Broom falling over stuff. This morning I was driving into work and had 2 black cats cross my path on the way out of town. I kind of laughed to myself wondering if that meant the two bad lucks canceled each other out, or if that meant double bad luck. Either way I completely forgot about it and went on my merry way.

After I got into work I got started on my filing wanting to get it done and out of the way. I was so startled when two of the top drawers flew open causing the entire file cabinet to become top heavy and fall over. I managed to get out of the way in just enough time to not be crushed, but my arm got pretty crapped up. It didn’t really occur to me how much I could have gotten hurt until I saw that it took 3 full grown men to lift it back up. It makes me nervous to see what the rest of my day is going to be like! So far so good though.

This weekend is going to be super busy, and chaotic. I can feel it. A friend of mine at work brought me a Halloween Magazine and was showing me some ideas they had in there for their masquerade themed party. Oooh. It was exciting- I can’t help but love a good party! Lots to do- and I know I won’t get it all done, but I’m hoping to get a decent chunk knocked out.

Last night was an adventure in itself, we have these geckos that like to climb on the window screens at night, which in turn makes my cats absolutely nuts. Despite the fact that they can’t reach them through the glass they will knock everything over in their attempts to get them. Last night I lost 2 of my potted plants to the chaos- which sent me on a kitchen cleaning spree, which turned into a Kitchen, dining room, living room and theater room cleaning spree.

I herd someone say once that if you tell a man to clean the bathroom, he will the bathroom cleaned in an hour. If you tell a woman to clean the bathroom, she will have the whole house cleaned in two. That really is true with me, Because I like to take and put things back where they came from then I stop in that room and fix something on the way and then get sidetracked about 50 times cleaning something in another room. Until, viola the whole house is cleaned.

I herd on the radio this morning that next week will be our first ‘cool’ font! Eek. Fall is most certainly here, each morning gets a little darker, and the fog gets a little thicker. Foggy mornings are my absolute favorite!

So, needless to say I still have half the house to clean, I want to finish some projects up, do some party planning, do some shopping, some reading, and probably start a new project. When its put that way it sounds simple, but its more running around then I’m looking forward to. Oh well. And I do apologize for this being such an unorganized post. Here goes nothing…

Finished Halloween Jars

Halloween Post

I know its been a while since my last Halloween post- apart from the picture updates last week. As usual I had some spare time at work, when I stumbled across a few really neat websites for DIY Halloween décor. While I know what your thinking- sheesh- even I’m thinking it- I have decided to adopt a new project. In all fairness the projects I currently have going on are several step processes that take a lot of time in between steps.

I love this project, its cheap, simple and looks really neat. So for all of you Halloween décor freaks that like to do things yourself- this first link is for you.

http://aranamuerta.com/2008/01/29/witches-kitchen
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/9018
http://www.fun-with-pictures.com/printable-silhouettes.html

Currently I am creating the labels for this project- which takes time. Here are some of the labels I have created- If you want the actual size labels just shoot me a comment and I will post them for you. More updates later tonight…

Relaxing Reading Room

For weeks now I have been trying to figure out what exactly to do with the Solarium downstairs. For those of you who are wagging your eyebrows wondering exactly what a solarium is I posted the exact definition above for reference. I don’t think I could have made up a better word to sum up this room in the house. After yanking up the carpet in this room I discovered that the floor boards were an original part of the house- most likely a porch at one point that they enclosed.

Last night as I was debating on weather I wanted to clear the book shelves upstairs and see if I could unlatch the book shelf from the wall (not my idea believe me). I knew that I wanted to keep my books and display them, but really didn’t like the idea of leaving them upstairs in the loft or in my office to be. It was now that I realized what a wonderful idea it would be to convert the solarium into a sitting room / library. The largest wall that is braced to the house has a big wall-mount radiator that is no longer in service, but apart from that remains clear and serviceable.

This is an older picture of the room from the fourth of July.

This is the picture I was using as inspiration- slowly I have been collecting wicker furniture for this room. Really the only change I’m adding would be a wall of books.

Which is part of the delimma; I cant decide if I want to build myself- a nice pair of floor to ceiling form fitting shelves. Or if I want to buy the pre-made six foot tall shelves and add trim and shelf liner to the backs of them. What do you guys think will look better? I will post some pictures of this room tonight so I can see what you think. –V

A mess of a day

Generally speaking I typically try to keep my posts on the lighter side; however some days are more trying then others. And it just so happens today was one of those days. I can honestly say that today was an absolute waste of time and energy from the get go.

I won’t give every crappy little detail but work was horrific. The entire day I kept going- the only thought being my little old house waiting for me to come home to it. I was home all of 45 minutes before my mom came over looking totally rattled.

It’s always a totally bizarre feeling to me when the tables have suddenly changed and now I’m the one who consoles my parents when they are upset. It’s happened so much over the last three years that I probably shouldn’t be surprised by it anymore, but for some reason I always am.

My father, over the course of those three years has had numerous health issues- by numerous I mean just about every part of him has something wrong or broken on it. More recently he has had several strokes that have altered his personality so much he’s hardly 1/10th of the person I remember from my childhood.

It has been incredibly hard on everyone to watch his health slowly deteriorate over the last three years to the point where we aren’t even sure if he’s healthy enough to drive himself anywhere, (especially when taking into account the fact he has eye problems and has had seizures in the past.) But it has been even harder to watch as he blames everyone around him outright for his poor health and consequently lack of ability in doing the things he deems ‘necessary to his freedom’.

It hasn’t been until this year that he’s really taken to throwing tantrums about his driving privileges- to the point of throwing things and breaking them in the house, taking vehicles with out permission, drinking and generally being verbally abusive. I quickly found out that in the state of Florida you cant have someone Baker acted unless they have harmed themselves or another- both of which require documentation. Despite my parents 25 years of marriage, it wasn’t until these recent developments that I urged my mother to seek out a divorce attorney to see what her options were, which I knew would be grim.

I cant even begin to explain how disappointed I am in the entire system for failing so epically when it comes to my father. I personally put in a request to have his license revoked, even received the paperwork saying it was- only to find out it is still in fact instated. His doctors have cleared him- mind you he has over 8 specialist doctors that he sees. None of them seeing a problem with a semi-blind seizure prone, irate person driving the streets in an SUV.
So I spent the remainder of my night trying to calm him down, to explain to him that we weren’t trying to keep him from driving because we liked to see him sitting at home doing nothing- but that we were generally concerned for his health- as well as everyone around him. I am fairly certain none of it sunk in, as usual- but I have to try for my moms sake.

It didn’t occur to me until tonight how much I have changed since hes gotten sick. Where as I used to totally scream and match him tone for tone which was most often a bad choice. Now I keep my tone calm, I rationalize and try to keep things in perspective before speaking. Such a strange feeling realizing you’re a totally different person then you last remember.
I think I somewhat diffused the situation- at least until tomorrow when I’m certain this will all resurface again. I guess some of you are wondering why I would put this random bit of information out there for the world. It’s not so much that I am looking for sympathy when it comes to all this, just more so along the lines of anyone having been in a similar situation. I can’t help but feel entirely helpless in this mess of a situation.

Lazy Sunday

This has been the laziest Sunday I have taken in a long while. Despite my late night out, I still manged to get my lazy butt out of bed at 9am and did some cleaning around the house, before I decided to work on some of the Halloween projects I have lying around the house. It was just a lazy sunday, since it rained most of the day we couldnt mow the yard. Its getting a little embarrasing since we havent mowed it in about 2 weeks!

Anyways, heres some pictures of the projects that are mostly still on going. Halloween plans are now in full swing with the first day of fall just 2 days away!

Shop till you Drop Kinda Day

Its nearly three AM and Im pretty sure this isn’t going to be one of my most coherent posts but I’m still excited about what a lovely Saturday today was. But, before I get to that some of you might be wondering why I broke out of my usual 11pm Saturday night routine. My husband talked me into seeing Inglorious Bastards starring Brad Pitt, and I felt like I should just warn people about seeing this movie in general. As a rule of thumb I like to start with the bad and end off on a good note so here’s my review (with out ‘spoiling’ it).

On the down side, the film was exhaustingly long, had way too many subtitles, Entirely too much gore, atrocious filming shots that made me nauseous , an obnoxious plot line, and a horrible ending.

On the upside, Brad Pitt was in it.

So there you have it. If you don’t mind watching people get scalped, machine gunned, carved, stabbed, beaten and choked then this movie is for you. I think I would rather watch paint peel off of a wall before having to sit through that ‘film’ again.

(I’m having trouble forming coherent sentences at the moment, so I cant really give too many details about today other then it was non-stop shopping all day. Antique shopping, rummage shopping, junk shopping- you name it. I know that buying things shouldn’t make me happy- but I seriously love it. It’s a sort of shopaholic condition. Where as most people like to spend hoards of money on new name brand items, I totally get off on spending as little as possible for amazing old stuff. Today was amazing, and most definitely a day for spoiling myself.

Since words are failing me right now I will just upload some pictures of what I got!

http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff24/vnorm1616/?action=view&current=e8646f3a.pbw

When Starting Over isnt an Option

At this point I’m not even sure what I can classify today as. A few choice words come to mind, but I am fairly certain they would, to coin a phrase 'make a sailor blush'. I spent the good part of this morning- about four hours- trying to clear my friend’s computer of a virus. When I finally used up my well of computer knowledge on it, I resigned myself back to my own office totally frustrated. Only to find out that it was not a virus at all, it was a ‘worm’ that had managed to infect our entire network and out of all 15 computers here, it chose to infect mine as well. After another 2 hours of anti-malware and scans and quarantines my computer was back to normal, and I was ready for a low-grade beaver tranquilizer.

As a result, I was so wound up that I couldn’t put my finger on what exactly was wrong anymore- what was bothering me. I felt entirely weighed down by some unknown source of discontent. The best way to describe it is like a feeling of being hungry but not knowing what to eat.

My boss would choose this moment to sit down and have a talk with me. I can’t honestly say I’m surprised- I knew it was coming, the work load lately had been narrowing for everyone and things were just quieting down. So it looks like my last day here will be on the 16^th of October. *big sigh*

So here I am. Just counting the seconds until the weekend, because I know once I’m in my happy little house, surrounded by everything I love so much- I know things will fall into perspective and start looking better already.

The Return of Great TV!

Okay, So while I dont have anything of value on the house at the moment- apart from the fact that I did some planting this evening before I nearly got carried off by Florida's State Bird (The Mosquito). I can however admit that I indulged myself this evening by sitting for nearly two hours! Tonight marked the return of my two favorite TV shows!

Both of which did not disappoint- in fact I'm thinking those were both my two new favorite episodes! If you dont watch either one of these shows... you dont know what your missing!

Happy Friday Eve!

-V

Victory!

Today is a two post kind of day. Really I’m just excited that I actually managed to get things finished before the rains came! That’s right people, that OSHA compliant handrail is finally up and ready for inspection!

I was so proud of myself for getting it done that I treated myself to a new fall flower assortment for my front porch- and even managed to dig out my fall wreath for the front door. For those of you who look forward to Autumn as much as I do- we are officially less than a week away!

In other news, I came home to find our back porch/laundry room area to be covered in water from the washing machine hose. I don’t know if it disconnected or broke or what- something else to look in to I suppose. All I know is the carpeting is so soaked it sounds like I’m wearing water shoes!

You know your husband loves you when he runs out to buy you ice cream and flowers to cheer you up. So for tonight I will leave you with one of my favorite sayings- er.. at least one that always puts a smile on my face.

“Inside me, there is a skinny girl dying to come out- but I can usually shut the b*tch up with cookies.”

Visions

Well, the handrail was started yesterday- which is better then I expected with the weather being so poor. There’s a 40% chance of rain this afternoon- I’m hoping we can fend it off long enough to dig the darn holes for the posts. I truly don’t recall the rainy season lasting this long last year.

Apart from my resolution to make good on the handrail- which had failed miserably I had also made a vow to try one new recipe a day- last night’s meal was going to be Ratatouille. A bit disgruntled about that wretched handrail, I set out to the market to grab what I needed for dinner.

As I was walking past the various shelves of pasta, I couldn’t help but notice that recently my life has really morphed into the Marley and Me storyline. Despite my recent chagrin with my dog for some of his less desirable traits, I came to the stark realization that I prefer my misbehaved dog over my friend’s emotionless one. He’s nearly full grown now- which is hard to believe! He has really settled in nicely to our new home- and I must admit my favorite part the day is watching as Copper gathers a few sticks and waits on the top step for my husband to come home and play. The goofy picture the two of them make running around all willy-nilly together in the yard always puts a big smile on my face.

After checking out I hurried home to get started on dinner.

It was now that I was hit with another thought as I watched them play from the kitchen window- this was the exact vision I had created when we first saw our home. The fact that it had come to full fruition before my eyes was a bit startling, and for the first time in a long time I realized that I was really truly happy with everything that life has given me.

I love those warm fuzzy feelings.

Apart from that, it was a peaceful evening. I did stumble across some pictures I took a few weeks ago whilst cleaning my computer. Enjoy.

Nothing Good Happens After Midnight

As predicted it rained yesterday afternoon, well into the night, and through out this morning during my commute to work. While its not raining at the moment, the skies don’t look much better for the rest of the afternoon- or the rest of this week and well on into, well next week. The chance of rain doesn’t really dip below 50% until Monday. I tried to take a picture of ‘Lake Victoria’ which used to be my back yard, but it didn’t load on my flash for… some bizarre reason.

We really need to get that handrail up, I’ve considered pre-building it indoors and then just running out in the middle of rain to install it. Which I’m sure sounds like a good idea in theory, but the steps are cast cement and I have a really bad feeling that it’s going to be a bugger to install. Well that and the whole ‘lightning’ thing.

So that’s my goal. The handrail will be installed before the end of the day. Sometimes, these things really just need to be written down- so you’re forced to do them.

Since it looks like it’s going to be raining all this weekend- I’m trying to plan some indoor projects that will keep me busy. I think I’m going to go with the plant shelves I’ve wanted to install in my kitchen for sometime now. The added space will allow me to put some herbs in small pots so I don’t have to run out to the garden every time I need something. Not to mention it solves my problem of curtains- I hate kitchen curtains. I don’t know what it is about them, I just loath curtains in the kitchen.

Anyways, Here’s what I will be going for. Who else is already planning away their weekend- I probably have a mild form of OCD considering how much I plan things out.

In other news, - or really a lack there of- I got up last night to get a glass of water and prodded down stairs sleepy eyed and wanting nothing more to go back to the comfort of my own bed. If it hadn't been for that age old habit of a midnight glass of water I likely would have. So as I’m rounding the corner I notice my two twin orange cats had their faces firmly pressed to the glass of the front door, their tails swishing in that impatient way cats have when they see something beyond their reach. Of course my initial thought is someone is wandering through my yard, which gets my blood pumping and I am immediately awake with adrenaline.

So there I am standing there in my PJ’s half ready to run back upstairs trying to peer into our pitch black porch (were in the process of rewiring the new coach lights I bought!). When I finally notice the outline of a small orange cat just on the other side of the door, of course when he saw me he took off running. I couldn't help but feel like I stepped into a bizarre cat world Romeo & Juliet or something. I ended up just going back upstairs and collapsing back into sleep- wondering if I had dreamed the entire thing. The only resounding answer that came to mind was a line my mother had said to me when I was caught sneaking out as a kid, ‘nothing good happens after midnight’.

Un-Welcomed but Not Un-Wanted

I was reviewing my last entry and I realized how entirely whiney it sounded which truly was not my intent; I was more so indifferent when I initially wrote it. In lieu of wanting to improve the tempo I figured I should finally get around to telling my story of our resident ghost.

Generally speaking, I truly didn’t used to believe in ghosts until my husband and I went on a vacation 2 years ago to St. Augustine which just so happens to be the oldest city in the US. Needless to say we ended up having our own personal experience that made me the believer you see before you today. And I really can’t lie; this was another selling point for me when we found our home. I truly can’t help but be excited at the prospect of being another person wound into the intricate history of our little 1900’s home.

So, I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed during the first month of us occupying our new/old home that there was no activity what so ever. A friend of mine came over one evening for a tour of our home and insisted to me that ‘they’ were waiting for me to get settled in before they made an appearance. I can recall shrugging it off highly disregarding the comment since nothing had happened thus far.

As things would go, that was the first night the guestroom door started opening on its own. Okay, Now I will be the first to admit that I occasionally watch Ghost Hunters on SCIFI so I didn’t start freaking out just yet. I had noted some small settlement cracks in the room below- and since this wing of the house was the only addition I figured the house had settled somewhat heavier on one side causing the door to come ajar on its own, especially if someone had opened a door downstairs.

So for the next few days I ignored the door, closing it each time I found it opened. After a week or so, I came home after a particularly rough day wanting nothing more then to sit down with a good book and a cat in my lap and read until my husband came home. As I scrounged the house shimmying under every piece of furniture in search of one of the three cats we own, only to come up empty handed. I don’t recall why I thought to check the upstairs guestroom, but sure enough all three of the cats were passed out on the bed despite the door being closed tightly shut.

It was at this point I started to get curious. For the following three days before leaving for work I would check the room before wedging a sock in the door to insure that without a shoulder thrust into the doorjamb those cats weren’t getting in unassisted. Sure enough every afternoon when I came home the sock would be placed delicately over the door handle, the door shut and all three cats some how inside the room.

For a short time things quieted down and retained there somewhat normal pace. A friend of ours came for a visit one evening and before leaving ran upstairs to use the facilities before coming down stairs to be walked out. I decided to head upstairs myself to get ready for bed and was a little startled to see the door to the guest room was wide open, the sock which had been wedged in the door had been flung across the room, the closet door was wide open and the wicker chest at the foot of the bed had been moved askew about a foot from its original place.

I typically don’t make a habit of talking to people or things that aren’t there, but that night I made an exception. I just asked that who ever stop locking the cats up and making a mess of things, and in return they could stay so long as they didn’t make a nuisance of them selves. It felt entirely ridiculous talking to nothing, but I felt a lot better with it all being said- out in the open so to speak.

Since then, the pets haven’t been locked up, the room has stayed in its original state- apart from the door occasionally opening. Everything seems as it should be and I truly don’t mind who ever it is being there. I am however dying to know exactly who it is- I was given no information about past owners whatsoever. If- and I know it’s a stretch, if anyone has gotten any history on my house- even knows how I could go about searching for this information it would be greatly appreciated.

In the meantime I will try to keep you updated on how she- I’m pretty sure it’s a she- is doing. Although I think we have come to an understanding with each other.

Self-medication implication – Say that ten times fast

I don’t really have any extraordinary updates today. This weekend passed with about as much excitement as a Matlock marathon. Averagely I try to stray away from self medicating but with the implication my back added to the equation I had a nice cocktail of Perkaset and Gapapentin that looped me through my weekend. Having slept the day away I couldn’t help but feel entirely jazzed about life so I cleaned my entire house before passing out again in the wee hours of the morning.

The whole weekend was a waste- but someone upstairs decided to humor me with rain all weekend so even if I had full use of my back I still wouldn’t have been able to do anything outside. So, I did what I always do when it’s raining- went shopping. I bought all fall colored items, and fall scented candles and then I went home and decorated some. I am the most restless person I know, it absolutely kills me to sit still and just let a perfectly good weekend pass by. I visited with family, read some, worked on a little bit of my Halloween décor some more but that’s pretty much it.

In other news I’m dog-sitting my friends Schnauzer while she’s out of town for the week. Her dog is so well behaved that it’s almost painful to watch my dog play beside her- while he’s all of 6 months old and nearly full grown he is now in his awkward- clumsy stage so he’s constantly falling over himself. My friend’s dog won’t even acknowledge him- poor guy.

One thing that has to be completed this week is the handrail my insurance company is requiring for the 4 steps behind my house. The whole thing is asinine- since I have used those four steps less then a half dozen times since we bought the house. Hopefully the rain won’t keep me from meeting my deadline of Tuesday, with my luck it will be pouring buckets.

Wasted Weekend

I have with out a doubt worst luck ever. Either that or I am the most oblivious klutz the world has ever known. I have absolutely no idea how I managed to pull my back out yesterday, but I must have really put all of my effort into it because this has to be the most excruciating pain I can remember being in. The extremely sad thing is I was doing absolutely nothing to strain my back! I was just sitting down on the floor getting ready to work on one of my projects when all of a sudden it was like no position I sat in would alleviate the pain my back was in, and it just kept increasing until I was almost crying in pain.

After four Advil, a lathering of Icy-Hot, and a heating pad all night wouldn’t you think I would be, some what okay in the morning? The resounding answer is no, if you were wondering. I woke up this morning shuffling around like an 80 year old woman, and getting dressed was almost comical- so I will spare you the description. I couldn’t really think of a valid excuse to call out of work so I just resigned myself to going.

So here I sit in my ergonomic chair that feels more like a torture chamber then a chair. And I’m totally irritated because I know now that absolutely nothing is going to get done this weekend.

Garden Plans

Believe it or not, I actually took a break yesterday from all of the Halloween projects to do some much needed yard work. We haven’t gotten rain in a few days, so my half burned stick pile was finally finished off and torched. After having lit the fire I actually panicked for a few minutes trying to remember if we were in a drought restricted neighborhood and if I could burn things in my yard. There was a lot of smoke. Needless to say I quit worrying since there really wasn’t much I could do in the way of stopping it.

Of course as Murphy’s Law would have it, a snake would appear the day that I’m doing yard work, we stayed cautiously away from each other, and while I am … 90% sure he wasn’t poisonous… I was still totally paranoid the entire time. So with the yard mowed, and my sticks burned I decided to clean up the messy back porch. I really should have taken some before and after pictures. It was so loaded down with crap.

We actually went through 3 lawn mowers in the last… 3 months before I got a used one that has yet to… dare I say it? I don’t think I will tempt fate. So, I trashed and moved and re-organized the back porch, and it looks a lot better. My fingers are still itching to tear down the crappy lattice that’s on half of the carport, the other half of me is scared to see what’s under it.

So as I was finishing dragging all of this crap into the carriage house, I was totally horrified when I noticed a softball sized hornets nest forming on the garage door. Serves me right for not using the place as often as I should. So I scooted out of there in search of my car keys so I could buy some bug spray.

Driving to the store I was day dreaming about installing some direly needed shrubs and hedges in the front yard this weekend- simultaneously my husband called me to let me know he thought we should do some landscaping this weekend out front, so it was settled.

Yes, another project to add to the list.

So, I drew up a plan for the front yard. Super easy installation, just tedious and lots of running around to get everything we need. Everything will be mulched in, weed blocked and trimmed… I might even mulch in around my front walkway since I’m getting tired of edging that beast every weekend. My herb garden is already planted and has been doing really well- I'm even considering buying some invasive vine like jasmine or something to help cover up the ugly chain link fence. The only thing I’m debating about is what I should edge with? I like this brick edging, and it would likley only be around the herb garden.

Anyways. Less talk more plans.

Weekend Recap & More Halloween Stuff

You know those rare instances that present themselves in life- The ones that you really just dread the entire time you foresee it coming, and when the day finally comes you think ‘hey this isn’t so bad.’

This weekend was not one of those times.

I had been dreading that camping trip for weeks. There is a reason why I am known as the ‘planner’ of our family. The details of this trip (ie. Location, time, what to bring) weren’t disclosed to me until the day before- and even then they were wrong.

It was as the sun beat down on me (beat is a good word), that I started chanting to myself ‘they did it with the best intentions’. There really couldn’t be any other excuse for hosting a camping trip in 101 degrees. I don’t think I could have been anymore miserable. We left a day early- my husband and I with heat exhaustion and of course me with a new colored complexion, nearing that to Rudolph’s nose.

I spent all day Sunday recovering and having my poor husband lather Aloe Vera on me. I will say one good thing did come out of our camping trip. I discovered that my dog can be a semi obedient canine. He probably had more fun then my husband and I put together. (which isn’t saying much.) But it was funny to see him dominating the A/C flow in the car on the way home- the heat was too much even for a hound dog.

Florida is not a camping state- even in the winter here your going to wake up just covered in dew. My idea of camping is a cabin in the mountains. I swear I never want to see a tent again.

Here’s some pictures I took in spite of myself.

Back to my Halloween obsession…

Monday morning I woke up early and went to Lowes to pick up some foam insulation.

I have been dying to get this Halloween project started since I first saw it online. Of course it would be like a 4 step process, so my house is in utter shambles but I am so excited to see these done that it really doesn’t matter at the moment.

I bought 2 huge sheets of this foam stuff, and got to work. After I had created two regular sized tombstones, I decided to get a little crazy and make a huge sign which I will hang above my front porch to greet people when they are coming up the drive for our party. Heres the process and finished product of my huge banner sign- the entire thing took me four hours and if I had to do it again I probably wouldn’t. But it is my favorite, for now anyways.

Additionally I finished my Cemetery sign as well.

And a few of the other ones I’m working on. I figured I would do as many of them as I could finish before the state of my house takes its toll on me.

My Save the dates (Pictured Right) came in last week so I sent them all out. And I finished designing my invitations (Pictured Left) for the party which will come in a black envelope and stamped with a red wax seal. All of the lettering on the invitations matches the Welcome Banner I made. I’m so over the top when it comes to details that it’s ridiculous.

Im sure I will post more. Last week I was a total slacker. Happy Writing.