Happy Halloween!

I LOVE Halloween! It is by far my favorite holiday. Yet this year with everything going on I just never got that into it.  Other years I would make costumes and even go with the girls. Now one granddaughter is too old for it and the other will be on a date that night.  I had so much fun with them in the past especially when they were on military bases. No candy stealing there and everyone went all out with decorations. 

I didn't even take out my special Halloween tee shirts not even the gorgeous one I bought at Disney's Halloween party which we did a few years ago. That was by far the best Halloween ever!  This is the Boo To You Disney parade in it's entirety.

I had wanted a Halloween party this year but again with everything I just couldn't get the gumption up to hold it. 

One of my friends stayed with us this weekend and that was fun and gave us all a boost of cheer.  She used to live near me and Jim and mom and dad when we all lived in the same mobile park.  Tried to think of fun things to do.  One place we heard about is the Olive grove an actual olive grove where they hold parties and festivals.  They were even throwing a huge Halloween party but eh, not in the mood.  They had olive oil testing and I bought a delicious bottle of Black Walnut olive oil but at $18 for about an 10 ounce bottle it will be used sparingly.

my dad, me and Mary

Next we did the Airport Flea Market.  We usually don't find too much there we want but dad and I both came away with interesting hard cover books.  Dad's was about Ted Williams and mine was about UFOs. 

They also had a horse rescue there and we had a great time petting the horses and talking with the woman who owns the rescue.  One very shy one let me pet his nose before he bolted away.  Another was a beautiful Paso Fino that had trouble walking and an Arabian that was over 40 years old. It was very interesting and heart warming to find people like that that want to help animals. 

The shy wild west mustang 

Mary and a rescue pony

October blew by, November is here tomorrow and that will bring my 64th birthday and Thanksgiving Day in that order and hopefully more fun things planned.  Till then....

Clan of the cave people

The girls came over as planned Friday which they had off and we started our cave art project.  Tara was worried that maybe this would be a hindrance to selling it in the future.  If a potential buyer ever says that I will tell them buy a quart of paint and have at it!

The first step was to lightly sand the areas to remove anything shiny.  Then wipe it down and tape it.  I had bought some cave drawing art from Etsy.  16 pieces for $15 which I thought was a great deal!  They were all copies of the actual drawings in the french caves!

Cracks and my "tribal hand". We later added Tara and the girl's print

Kaity starting her painting. Gee, most folks get mad if kids paint on the walls.

Bri starting her wall

Big sister helping

I did the first paint step which was to paint in wall cracks.  Then we arranged our templates into interesting scenes. Once they were applied we painted around them, stippling 4 different colors of paint to try and get the cave wall effect.   My favorite figure is the mammoth!

Wall so far with mammoth, it will be carried down to the floor

Left wall so far, still need to add tribal hands

Our last step was to put up our "tribal hands" print.  I would like to include all family members eventually on our "tribe" wall.   The ones the ancient peoples did were fabulous and I wonder how they got theirs so perfect!  Maybe when that scene is done it will look nearly as good, hope so.

Cave art from the original masters

Tribal hands

In order to keep the cave theme I REALLY want the T-Rex they have for sale at Home Depot!  It was love at first sight.  I may have to wait for a used one though as Tara informed me all the Halloween stuff is put away! What's up with that? It's not even Halloween yet!  But anyway I could use him year round. After all nothing says Christmas like a 9 foot T-Rex wearing a Santa Hat.

I'm Chester, I work for Mr. Dillon

On October 14th I woke up in severe pain. My left knee wouldn't move and when I tried to move it the pain was excruciating.   I did NOTHING to cause it, didn't trip, didn't fall, didn't twist it, nothing.   Hmmm, very strange.  Went to an orthopedic doctor who thought it was a burst Baker's Cyst. I hadn't felt anything behind my knee and when it "bursts" the pain is supposed to radiate down. Mine was radiating up. Plus that pain is supposed to last 2 days. By the time I saw the doctor a week had gone by. 

I tried to make light of it so dad and Jim wouldn't worry as much. I told them I was Chester and I worked for Mr. Dillon. Anyone who grew up with "Gunsmoke" knows that reference.  Chester had a gimpy leg caused by an injury during the Civil War and he walked with a pronounced limp. In the mornings when I would hobble out of the bedroom I was greeted with "Good morning Chester" from dad and Jim.   Dad and I always watched "Gunsmoke" when I was growing up. My cat was even named Miss Kitty after Amanda Blake who played Miss Kitty the gruff saloon girl with a heart of gold.  It was a great show and held and I think still holds the record for the longest running drama on TV.

The other day I was feeling almost normal so I swam a little until I felt a pop and the pain was as bad as day one.  I know it isn't due to a bum knee or hip joint I have dad's hockey bones, yes diagnosed by a bone scan. They will never disintegrate.  So this is all very strange.  What is really frustrating😖 is that I can't do more around the house especially now that the weather is breaking and we are in for the beginning of "real" cold fronts. This is the time of year I love and love to be out doing things. I feel like a slug. 🐌 Hopefully this will all go away and I will be back to my hyper self.  The girls and I are doing an art project Friday here at the dome and I'm really looking forward too it. More on that later...

Christie Jane's Addiction

That is my call name on Candy Crush.  I have a gaming addiction. Or as Raj from "Big Bang" would say an online multiplayer monkey on my back. 🙈   I had the lap top for a while before I even went into it.  It seemed to be calling me.  I finally relented and have been playing ever since.  Sometimes for hours on end.  I am playing against people that I have no idea who they are with names like Agoz, Dadsthedad and Max the Dog.  Max the dog always asks me for lives and I always give him one.  I have grown fond of him and always check to see how he does in the rankings. He is usually in the top 5.  I have been there a few times and would get so excited. My dad would ask "what do you get for doing so well"? Ah, good question dad. Personal satisfaction?   There is no prize although sometimes you are rewarded with candy bombs or extra lives.  "They" want you to keep playing, who ever "they" are. 

I have noticed that when I have a string of bad luck and have been struggling with the same game a while "all of a sudden" I would get a game where everything goes in my favor. Hmm, coincidence? 
I have also noticed that many times I am left with only finding one more soda bottle or bear.  And a little figure would come on "so close only one bear" don't you "want" to continue? Of course I do! But it will cost you.  I started out NEVER buying extra lives or weapons. Then it started, oh one time won't hurt me. Then another time, then another till I would buy lives every time I got stuck.  So far this month I have spent $50 on lives or weapons!  I couldn't believe that total! Not like it is a huge amount or that we can't afford it but it is for something silly.  My new vow is to not do that again!  No matter how tempting. 

I was talking with a woman one day about Candy Crush and told her (at that time) I was on level 130. She said she was on level 700! So it goes on "forever".  There is no end, there is no spiking the ball doing the touch down dance, ever.  A little scary when you think about it.  I will still play every day but am now limiting it to 10 games a day.  I just played my 10th game and the figure asked me to continue. You don't want to quit do you?  No I don't.  But I will never again be tempted by you -evil candy troll!  There are other things more important than Candy Crush.  You will be relinquished to times of ultimate boredom-right where you belong.

The Last Detail

Yesterday was mom's interment ceremony. We were all nervous as we had never had a funeral at a Military Cemetery before.  This was something new for all of us. Mom wasn't military but since dad was she could be buried at Bushnell Military Cemetery with dad eventually placed next to her in the same vault.   We arrived early which we thought was a "good" thing. Turns out not, and the guard told us to go wait somewhere till it was our appointment time.  A little gruff but since this place handles several dozen burials every day they had to do it in an orderly fashion.  There would be no pushing to the front of the line.

When it was our turn the very nice director took us to a little covered area where we could all do personal stories or reflections.  At that point we were supposed to hand off her remains to the director and then part ways. But he made a phone call and got special permission to have us watch her interred.  He placed her in the vault, and sealed the door shut. There was a vase we could use and water for our cut flowers and Kaity placed them in front.  I'm so glad he made that phone call as it was a special moment of closure for all of us especially dad.   I don't know why he did this for us, maybe because dad is a World War II veteran and there are hardly any left. Or maybe dad crying when he spoke about his bride of 70 years. I don't know what the trigger was but we were all so thankful!

Then we all went to eat together and back to my home. It's funny but when my tile disaster was going on I felt so much pressure to finish it! I didn't know why, although I am not the most patient person in the world but this was extra.  I knew it had to get done, no tripping over unfinished tile or climbing over furniture stuck where it should not be, who knew that just a few weeks later I would be having my dad live with us.

He has been here over a week now and as long as he has three meals a day and his big TV in his room to watch all the sports he's happy.  He is very low maintenance. 

We have been getting little signs and symbols every day now that mom is with us. Today while at Publix we stopped a man with a World War II hat on. The man said he was in the Navy, dad said he was too!. Then he said he was in the amphibious forces, dad was too. On an LST, so was dad!  With hundreds of WWII vets dying every day what are the chances at that exact moment he would meet someone who was not only a WWII vet but on an LST just like him.  Jim thought that was a very strange coincidence and I did too.

We saw a promising yard sale sign and thought we would stop there on the way home. I saw ladybug champagne glasses.  I showed dad and the woman asked who we knew that liked ladybugs. We told her about mom. The woman said that's a sign.  We know...