Back from Disney World!

We're home :) *Sigh* I LOVE all of the parks of Disney World and wish I could spend 3 months there at a time! We're Disney addicts I guess!
We had a blast! My inlaws met us there for a few days to celebrate the January Birthdays and they LOVED it too! See? Disney isn't just for kids! ;)
My girls find the most joy meeting and getting pictures taken with the various Disney characters. Among the favorites are:
Minnie Mouse



Eyore is always a fun one to see!




Mackie especially loved Animal Kingdom and playing in the Dinosaur Play Area! They even had a small waterfall and all sorts of 'fossils' to climb and play on.



Ellie enjoyed ToonTown in Magic Kingdom and walking through Minnie Mouse's house. She tried out all the furniture and checked out every nook and cranny.




I have so many pictures that I can't possibly put them all up on here. Those above, are a just a few of my favorites! I LOVE LOVE LOVE Disney and am always up for a chat or email exchange about it!!

{Studio Friday} "Look who I found!"

This week's topic for Friday January 26th suggested by Janet: LOOK WHO I FOUND... !


"I love to discover new artists and often find them through other peoples mentions of them. So, introduce us, in words and/or pictures, to an artist, craftsperson, or writer you admire and that we might not have heard of before (i.e. not a famous one). What do you like about their work? How does it inspire your own work?"

~ Janet

This is a fun topic!
I have been out of the loop for a few months and I'm back in the groove!
A true art inspiration for me is Debbie Wachel.
Debbie's work is very unique and always brings a smile to my face. She has a certain command of the colour pallet and she really knows how to bring her art to life. I am especially fond of her whimsical sketches of her beautiful standard poodle, Penny and her beloved horses.
Here are a couple of my absolute favorites:
This is a sketch of her poodle, Penny, sound asleep. I love the soft tones and highlights. It's not just a sleeping dog, it gives the viewer a sense of peace.

I love this comical sketch of a Fashion-Zebra, able to change his stripe color at will!

My absolute favorite sketch is this one! It's her whimsical take on Raphael's "Cherubs", but done as pegasas'!!

Debbie's artistic abilities aren't limited to sketches! She's got a wide range of projects going on at any given time. She creates lovely art from flowers, fabric, paper, fibers, collages, and just SO MUCH!
Here's another piece that I LOVE!!! It's sooo funny yet SOOO TRUE!! I love her sense of humor and how she can bring it all to life in one of her artistic pieces!


This one, one of my favorites, makes me laugh the very hardest! I guess it's because I can truly relate! I have a water-phobic dog as well and Debbie captures the desperation perfectly!



Debbie's artwork and her writing inspires me to go further, take chances with color and themes and just to go for it and create! Thanks Debbie for being such an inspiration!!

The New Year's Eve Mosquito.....

Nice. New years eve. 7:30PM. Happy toddlers jumping on the bed during bedtime routine. Me sitting on the bed laughing hysterically at my 4 year old. She's a comedian already. She can make this vocal sound and it sounds exactly like a buzzing mosquito. It's funny as hell because she does this funny face and sticks her arms out....
Anyway.. well she was doing just that and I was cracking up because it's so friggin' hysterical. With my hysterical laughter and her 'buzzing' her head colided with MY face, breaking my friggin' nose.
yeah.. nice eh? I got my nose busted by a New Year's Eve Mosquito. *sigh*
Hubby was quick to grab an ice pack and I iced it IMMEDIATELY. There is minimal swelling but there are black circles under my eyes making me resemble a raccoon.(No I'm NOT posting a picture so shut the hell up. Don't even ask cuz I'll pummel you.)
My nose appears normal (aside from very slight swelling) It's not crooked and it's very slightly purple on the bridge. I have an appointment with a ENT Dr. tomorrow to assess the internal damage (if any).
Throw some happy vibes my way if ya can.

Happy Buzzin' New Year

Music Music Music!

I have a huge variety in my collection and I'm always eager to hear something new. Right now I'm listening to Jonny Blu "In Just That Kind Of a Mood..." If you like crooners like Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby or Dean Martin, you'll love this CD.
Jonny Blu has another musical side as well and he's on the top of the Pop charts in China. I LOVE LOVE LOVE his Chinese CD as well. It's awesome, upbeat and great dance music. You can listen to all the songs on his site. http://www.jonnyblu.com
I dunno why I felt compelled to blog this but I guess I'm just excited about his music and wanted to share!

What is your music of choice?

Bedtime Woes!

Almost 9PM. My 4 year old is STILL UP. If you know me, you know I am a NO-B/S mom when it comes to bedtime yet she's still up. Why is she still up? She's up because she's WIRED and physically CANNOT settle down.
She's not particularly a good eater but today she ate VERY WELL. I think I like it better when she DOESN'T eat a good dinner because she's TIRED at BEDTIME and not WIRED. It's almost 9PM and she's up, playing busily with her toys. She's quiet, so it's not a bother but what WILL be a bother is when 6AM rolls around and she is up regardless of the time she goes to BED. I tried to put her in bed a couple times and she's very sweet about it and tells me, "Mommy I just can't stay still"
We had an early dinner, around 5PM. WHEN will this energy wear off? I'm exhausted just watching her play!! Her sister went to bed at 7 without a peep. She's the queen of the bedtime routine. She goes down with no fuss at all. I say, "bedtime girls!" and she's the 1st one up the stairs to the bathroom to wash her hands and face and brush her teeth. She runs to her room, climbs in her bed and is down. 99.8%of the time.
It looks like I'll have relatively no free time to myself this evening. I hate that because then I don't get much done and feel that my time wasn't used wisely.
I am going to attempt to put her to bed again now that it's 9PM and see what happens. Wish me luck!!!
~8:59 PM

Have a Cool Yule!

Did you know that a lot of the Christian Holidays have bits and pieces from the Pagan holidays mixed in? If you ever wondered what "YULE" is, check this passage out!

The ancient peoples of what are now Denmark, Scandinavia, Finland and Norway had good reason to celebrate. While most cultures celebrated the turn of the season in one way or another, to the icebound dwellers at the top of the world the return of the sun meant life itself. No more would their lives descend into frozen darkness. The worst was over—though the winter had hardly begun. With every day a little longer hope could survive and grow.

The personification of this frosty threat was the Yule Cat, who gave warm woolen presents to the industrious and ate the lazy—much as would the harsh elements.

The word itself, “Yule,” is sometimes attributed to a similar Scandinavian word that means “wheel”. However, this seems unlikely, as the word Yule predates the introduction of the wheel by more than a thousand years. Still, the association to the wheel of the year is apt.

To the Celts, arriving late to the northern latitudes, the Winter Solstice was called Alban Arthuan, after the Arthurian legend that placed the birth of King Arthur on the Solstice. The term means, literally, “Light of Arthur”.

To celebrate this longest night and the return of the sun, the Celts lit huge fires, as on Beltane and Samhain. Burning the Yule log comes from this custom. The ceremony starts by lighting the new log with the remains of last year’s fire—thus confirming the unbroken cycle of the seasons. If the log burnt for twelve hours it was said to be a good omen for the coming year.

To the Celts we also owe the custom of decorating the home with evergreen plants, especially the magycal mistletoe, which was another custom derived from the Norse tradition where it was the “plant of peace”.

Kissing under the mistletoe, though often attributed to the English, comes from the Norse legend of the much loved god Balder and his loving mother Frigga, the goddess of love and beauty. Frigga worried about the safety of her son and so extracted promises from all the elementals never to harm him. The one exception was the mistletoe. Loki, the evil trickster, fashioned an arrow from its wood and tricked Balder’s brother Hoder into using it to kill Balder. Frigga’s tears then became the white berries of the mistletoe.

The story has a happy ending when Balder is returned to life. As a reward, Frigga elevates the mistletoe to be the symbol of love and promises to give a kiss to anyone who passes beneath it.

And while the English may not have originated the custom of kissing under the mistletoe they may have perfected it.

Here is a passage from Charles Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers:
"From the centre of the ceiling of this kitchen, old Wardle had just suspended with his own hands a huge branch of mistletoe, and this same branch of mistletoe instantaneously gave rise to a scene of general and most delightful struggling and confusion; in the midst of which, Mr. Pickwick, with a gallantry that would have done honor to a descendant of Lady Tollimglower herself, took the old lady by the hand, led her beneath the mystic branch, and saluted her in all courtesy and decorum."
Besides the loving virtues of the mistletoe (also called “allheal”) it is considered a strong herb for healing and protection—though its berries are poisonous and must be kept away from children and pets.

To this end, the Druids performed a mistletoe ceremony on the fifth day after the new moon following the Winter Solstice.

We have this from the Roman historian, Pliny:
“They prepare a ritual sacrifice and feast under the tree and lead up two white bulls whose horns are bound for the first time on the occasion.

A Druid attired in a white vestment ascends the tree and with a golden pruning hook cuts the mistletoe which is caught in a white cloth.”
Pieces of the mistletoe were then cut and given to the people to place in their homes as a safeguard against thunder, lightning and other evils.

In addition to the ceremonial uses of the mistletoe, the indoor greenery was thought to be a winter home for the fairies.

When the missionaries arrived on the backs of the Roman invaders they usurped the Pagan holidays and gave them Christian themes. The winter solstice became the birth of Christ—Christmas—though Christ was most likely born in a warm month since the Romans never called for a census in the winter.

Later Martin Luther adapted a Pagan custom when he wrote of a silent night when stars shone through the boughs of a fir tree giving him the idea for the Christmas tree. The practice was already in use thousands of years before in the Celtic custom of placing small torches in the branches of trees on the night of the solstice.

Today Christmas, primarily commercial, hangs on by a thread to its spiritual roots. In celebrating Yule we regain our connection with the seasons of the year and the Wheel of Life. The shortest day is also the longest night. Balance and harmony prevail in the realm of our Pagan Gods and Goddesses.

What's new?!

Well what's new is this:

Got this om Nov 30th. Isn't she a beauty? *sigh* Aye... a beauty she is!!
as I've stated before, we have a traveling WW2 museum and now we have a nice, vintage WW2 Dodge Amubulance to bring to events. It's been a dream of ours to have one of these for about 5 years. What a great piece this is to add to our WW2 collection!
Now all we need to do is find an appropriately sized building to house the collection so we can open our WW2 Museum. We're taking it one day at a time.

I've been M.I.A. for a few weeks due to overwhelming BUSYNESS! It's been NON-STOP around here for the past month or so and it's only going to continue like this. I need to schedule in time for my BLOG! I MISS hanging out here and checking out everyone's blogs!

BLACK FRIDAY!!!!

Ok, today's Black Friday. To some it is considered 'THE' shopping day of the year. To other's it's a day to stay home and OFF the roads.The crowds are un-friggin'-real and the traffic is even worse. I drove 11 miles to visit my cousin who is visiting from San Diego for a few days. The 11 miles to her hotel took me over an HOUR. The roads are congested with giddy-shoppers on their cell phones, eating fast food, who are pumped with sale-provoked adrenaline.
Stay home if you're sane. If you're insane.... I hope you atleast get a good deal or 2!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving weekend.
I am having a very small Thanksgiving here. I have never hosted Thanksgiving before so it's all new to me. Of course I'm FREAKING OUT right now. I just had a mini-spaz attack freaking out because I have NO clue WTF I am doing and why I even decided to do this (granted.... it's REALLY small...just us and the inlaws~!

My brand new, just purchased, delivered and installed, DISHWASHER is DEAD. The tech ran it once and it cycled and was perfect. I loaded it, with CLEAN dishes (hand wiped) and added dishwasher liquid, turned it on and it ran 1/2 cycle and DIED. COMPLETELY DEAD. *sigh* so now I have to friggin' HAND WASH all the Thanksgiving dishes and platters, cups, glasses and silverware. I am less than happy.

It's NOT my day.

Hecate Night

Something interesting about an obscure Pagan holiday that not so many know about. I don't celebrate Hecate Night but have some friends who do, so I decided to take a prompt by a friend and post a bit about it. I did a little research since I know so very little about the holiday and posted a couple blurbs.
If you celebrate Hecate, I wish you a joyful celebration!

November 16th is Hecate Night

In Greece, the festival begins at sunset. Hecate Suppers and animal sacrifices are performed on this night and those who follow her are often initiated into her Mysteries. It is said that on this night Hecate wanders the earth with the hounds of the Styx and the hosts of the dead, blessing those followers who leave her supper. Appropriate food for these feasts include red mullet, (a scavenging fish that was taboo in other cults), sprat, bread stuffs, raw eggs, cheese, garlic, mushrooms, cake and honey. Ideally the offerings are placed at a crossroads and should be left without looking back.

The night of November 16/17 is called 'Hecate's Night'. It is the night that Hecate, Queen of Fates would roam the earth with her familiars. This is the night of initiation for witches who follow Hecate. If you leave an offering outside your home...Hecate is said to bless those who reside within.

My Space

Ok so I've entered the world of MySpace.com

http://www.myspace.com/goingforgreatness

I just started it so it's WAY boring still but hey.... it has potential to be fun!
Anyone else on MySpace? Add me to your friend's list!

This, though, will always be my BLOG!

*UGH!!!*

Ok, I dunno if it's only MY 4 year old or if it's the general rule of ALL 4 year olds but lately all mine has been doing is NAGGING, WHINING and being 100% IMPATIENT. She absolutely FLIPS OUT if you even take a breath before answering her nagging requests. It's not asking, it's NAGGING. The tantrums are the worst EVER. If she doesn't get the answer she wants or if she doesn't get IMMEDIATE attention she has a complete meltdown. I mean the kind that lasts over 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.
I am really exhausted today because of the meltdowns. She had 3 already and is gearing up, as I type, for a 4th. This time it's because she wants an ice-pop and I told her she'd have to wait until 6:30. It seems that even the slightest of things sets her off.
Ok now for the 2 year old. She is the most difficult child I have EVER had to take care of, EVER. I was a nanny for many years and this one takes the cake. She plays in KITTY LITTER, she pokes the dog in the butt, she puts her fingers in the dog's mouth, she colors on my walls and furniture and HERSELF, she tells me, when I tell her to STOP, "I'm just going to do it when you leave and I'm NOT going to cry!"
I am having a rough day over here and just needed to vent! Am I the ONLY ONE?!!!!!!

The week in Review.... Halloween and other stuff

I haven't had even 2 seconds to post for the past 2 weeks. We've been quite busy enjoying the Fall weather!

Halloween
We had a fun Halloween! We always decorate a lot and have, pretty much, the best decorated house in the neighborhood. The girls had a blast trick or treating this year and Mackie was so exuberant about it that she was walking about 20 feet in front of us the whole time.
Mackie was a Lion and Ellie was a "Bat-Bunny" which was her own creation. She's 2 and knew exactly what she wanted!
Of course, our yard wouldn't be complete without our very own graveyard.

Ellie and Mackie had such a blast trick-or-treating. Here's a better shot at Ellie's Bat-Bunny wings. LOL!
Our house is always the coolest and best decorated for Halloween. We have so much FUN stuff!
Here's a shot of part of our graveyard:

I wish I had a better photo of our Jack-O-Lantern but this was the best I could do....

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Upgrading the House

We're in the process of upgrading the house to ready it for selling. We've chosen a new washing machine, dryer and dishwasher to start off with and all of that will be delivered and installed this week. I am VERY happy to see the onset of the upgrading. Next we'll choose new counter tops, kitchen flooring and hardwood in the family room. We're going to get rid of the rug in there and go hardwood thru-out.
Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the upgrading YET... but as soon as it all starts, I will!
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Veteran's Day 2006

This past Saturday we set up our WW2 Battalion Aid Station in Media, PA with 2 other friends. It was a large event which even the Governor of PA attended. There was a huge parade and the Mayor of Media, PA honoured the Medics of the military.
Photos coming soon!

Studio Friday - {COLLECTIONS}

Studio Friday topic for October 27th:
This week's topic for Friday October 27th suggested by Silvia:
"MY COLLECTION(S)!"

"Most people collect something, it would be fun to see what others have in their collections."
~ Silvia

Oh boy... are you sure you're ready for ME? Just kiddin'!!
Well this is a topic that's really, really fun and easy for me! My husband and I collect WW2 memorabilia. We own a WW2 museum that houses our personal collection. What we focus most on is USA Army Air Corps and Paratrooper Memorbelia but we have a LOT of stuff from all branches of the US services and also Allied and Axis troops.
Here's part of our reenactment group. My husband is on the far right.

We own a traveling museum. Though we have a complete field hospital, we generally take the smaller, field hospital with us to events. We set up (takes about an hour and 1/2) at out door as well as indoor events. My husband does an excellent Field Surgeon impression and since he is a physician by trade, he is able to answer questions about the equipment and medical supplies. Our display really is very impressive. I wish the photographs did it justice! This particular collection, obviously, focuses on the medical aspect of WW2.

Here are a few photos that just show a small fraction of what our museum has.
Below are 2 photos of our field aid station. A field aid station was the 2nd medical contact that the wounded had. The 1st being the medic. About 90% of wounded men who made it to the field aid station, survived.
The 1st photo is the triage area and often the ONLY area they had.

This next photo is of their aid station. Under the tent would be supplies, a few stretchers (called 'litters') and possibly room for emergency surgery; often done outdoors due to lack of space and light.

Our passion is to display parts of our collection at various events. One of our favourite displays is our Veteran's Day display. We bring a lot of smaller memorabilia such as war time magazines, housewares, uniforms, paper items and general WW2 militaria. We love to set up for WW2 veterans!! The next few photos I took last year at Stonebrige Assisted Living Center. We put up a nice Veteran's Day display for the residents. We LOVE it when Veteran's are present and start telling
us about their war time experiences. They love it when we visit and we love visiting them!

Below is a litter (stretcher) with a bunch of Field hospital memorabilia. Of course you recognise the Medic Helmet. The other various instruments and gadgets would be found in the field hospital. IV pole and Plasma bottle, ether mask,gauze/bandages, syringes, wash basin, medic bag stocked full of bandages and morphine.

On this stretcher are various medical instruments used in the field hospitals of WW2. Some of the instruments are downright scary lookin'!


Here you will see a small display of wooden cases. Inside these are some of my favourite things. Soldiers rations, various insignia, sweetheart jewelry, matchbooks from different bases with various sayings on them. Spotter cards of enemy tanks and planes and lots of other small wartime trinkets. Most of these things we had found at various flea markets, garage sales and of course, ebay!


We not only focus on WW2 Medicine. We also have a pretty intense collection of G.I. memorabilia. Below is a photo of the basic contents of a regular G.I.'s backpack.
Helmet, gas mask, mess kit, shaving kit, 1 morphine syrette, canteen, cigarettes, toilet paper, lighter. K-Rations, comb, flashlight and a few miscellaneous things.


The photo below is a small portion of the collection also. Some of these items belong to some of the members of our WW2 Reenactment group. We had set up a small display at a WW2 Veteran's Conference at Brookdale Community College in NJ.

So here we have it, the collection that I most cherish! We plan to continually add to the collection indefinitely!

Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere!!

If there's one thing I never tire of, it's pumpkin picking. This is a good thing because I never feel the need to hurry the girls along. We take our sweet, sweet time looking over each and every pumpkin, looking for that 'perfect' one.

I actually didn't plan these outfits to coordinate with the pumpkin patch trip, it just sort of worked out that way. My inlaws came up for lunch and we all decided, while at the restaurant, that we'd hit the patch on our way back to the house. It was a splendid idea! The girls looked ever so cute in their matching dresses and it made for such a nice photo shoot
M'Kayla feels the need to hug and touch every single pumpkin, often kissing them and telling them how much she loves them. I love her sensitive, sweet heart. She's a very affectionate child towards people, animals and even, as you see here, vegetation!The moment we parked the car, before she even got out, Ellie had her eye on one specific pumpkin. The moment she was unclipped from her car seat she ran straight for it and picked it up, proclaiming loudly, "I want THIS one!" She walked around the patch, carrying this one pumpkin until her daddy relieved her of it. Even then, she kept an eye on it to be sure it was the SAME one she had originally chosen. It's displayed, proudly, in our foyer and will NOT be carved because it's hers and just too precious to her!
I got a great big pumpkin to carve and can't wait to proudly display it!

(Studio Friday} Autumn Inspiration

This week's Studio Friday topic for October 20th suggested by Kerri: AUTUMN INSPIRATION!

"Autumn inspiration - According to my calendar, (Sept 22) is the "Autumnal Equinox," and it's my favorite season, so show me what you love about the fall - the colors?... the leaves?...etc."
~ Kerri


Autumn is also MY favourite season; precisely October. Not only is it the month of renewal for me, but also Halloween (Samhain) which is my absolute favourite day of the year.
Autumn is my recharging season. I am most creative on a crisp, cool, overcast autumn day. The weather, colours and festive feelings in the air spark my creativity unlike any other season. I think it's because the colours of nature in Fall are the colours that I tend to use the most anyway.

{Scrapbrats Blogring Week 6} "Super Powers"

{SUPER POWERS!}

Scrapbrats Blogring week 6 is as follows:

If I could have one super power to use for one day, it
would be ...

This one really takes no thought whatsoever for me. If I could have ONE superpower for only ONE day, I'd definitely choose the Power to Heal.
The world is full of so much disease and so much heartache that I think it could use a little super power healing, don't you?

Speaking of healing.... I know of a man who has super powers. His name is Andrew Bascue and he's cycling across the USA to raise money for the American Cancer Society. He has an ankle/achilles injury and could sure use some positive thoughts, prayers, whatever you call them, sent his way. Check out his blog and leave a comment. He's in Chicago right now consulting with physicians about the injury and to see what his next step in this journey will be. Keep him in your thoughts please and send him a little encouragement if you have a moment.... Andrew's Blog

The Magickal Cat

There's nothing more fulfilling than to fulfill one of your child's dreams.
My 4 year old has been walking around for a year proclaiming the fact that when she is a teenager, she's getting a kitty. There hasn't been a person that she's met that she hasn't said it to. She wastes no time stating it to check-out clerks, post office employees and cashiers at the grocery store, her teachers, family and anyone who'll listen! "When I'm a teenager, I'm getting a kitty"
Yesterday, delivered to our doorstep was a parcel from South Carolina. This wasn't just your run of the mill parcel. This was a HUGE deal. A life changing ordeal.
My best friend on Earth ( Not to be confused with my best friend on Mars, Venus or Saturn)Beth is moving. Her new landlord is a 'no cats' kinda guy. She automatically wanted to panic! Her cat, 'Rabbi' (pronounced Rabb-eye) is her BABY. She loves him with every stitch of her being and giving him to a shelter or to a stranger was just NOT an option. After we chatted on the phone and talked about it, we realized that the only solution was to have him shipped up here to us. I watched this kitty on the web cam since he was born and I am almos as attached to him as she is.
So, delivered to us was a carry-kennel with one large white cat named, 'Rabbi' inside.
My 2 little girls weren't within ear shot when he was brought into the house and they had NO idea about this so called, Parcel. It was great! My husband had the idea to place a small white resin cat figurine on the carpet in the mudroom. He then took the girls out and had them find 'magickal pinecones' One small, one medium and one large. (This gave me time to set things up and have him have a few minutes to get used to the mud room and being OUT of that freakin' carrier that he had been shipped in!) After about 20 minutes he called my cell to see if I was all set up. I was ready!!
He brought the girls in and they were thinking up magic words. It was very cute. My 4 year old walked in and said 'let's get started. I want to see the surprise already!" She had figured it out already that there was some funky magick going on in the mudroom and that there'd be a cat in there. She's too freakin' smart for her own good is what she is!!!
She made up some magick words "abra-cadabra abra-kazee do your magick, magick key" and we opened the door to the mudroom and LO! and Behold look what we found!

Of course the girls are ELATED and thankfully he's a very personable kitty! He loves us as much as we love him! He's even dog-tolerant! Such a sweet boy he is!
Ok.. yeah, you're thiking.. "ok cool.. now what's with the NAME?!" right?
Rabbi ( pronounced Rabb-eye) was born with a grey spot on the top of his head that looked like a yarmulke (pronounced yommukkah to most) so he reminded Beth's daughter of a Rabbi. Even though the grey spot grew out within a few months after he was born, the name stuck! So that's the story of how Rabbi came to live at our house!

{Studio Friday} ~ FEARS ~

Studio Friday topic for October 13th:
This week's topic for Friday October 13th suggested by Casey: "FEAR!"


"I have been away from Studio Friday for a while, and I really struggled
with the toot your own horn topic. It actually made me do some free-writing
and I thought of another topic that might be helpful for some of the Studio Friday artists: Fear.
~Casey

I have been 'chewing' on this topic for a few days. "FEAR" isn't something that I often think about. Of course I have the normal fears... losing family members, falling behind schedule, disappointing someone and so forth and so on. But those fears aren't something that I wrestle with on a daily basis. I don't have any quirky fears or superstitions such as Triskaidekaphobia or Arachnaphobia or Acrophobia. I don't think I really have any deep-rooted fears at all. I have things that bother me. For instance, I CANNOT STAND anticipation of being scared. Suspense movies are ok but a haunted house walk through at Halloween is just out of the question for me. KNOWING that I am going to be startled is something I can't STAND. If you read my blog entry on October 11th, you'll see that when I get startled or 'scared' if you will, I have a weird defense mechanism where I instantly burst into tears. It's not crying as in "Waaaaa! BOO HOO" Type crying, it's just that my eyes react in such a way that it's an instant waterfall. I HATE it. So I guess you can say I have a fear of being startled!
You can read other people's take on this topic here.

Tag! You're it! {Something light and fun for today}

Tag! You're it!!
List 5 weird things about yourself.
Tag 5 friends and list them.
Then, those people need to write on their blogs about 5 weird things, and state the rules, and tag 5 more people.
Once you blog, lemme know so I can check it out and leave you a comment!!


1. The eyelashes on the ends of my top eyelids grow STRAIGHT down. I have NO curl to them at all and have to use one of those eyelash curler thingies.

2. I MUST rinse my mouth three times after brusing my teeth at night. If I don't, I'll lay in bed and think about it until it drives me nuts.

3. I can't watch anyone working on a bridge, on a telephone pole or on a trapeze at the circus or on a roof. It gives me an instant panic attack and I hold my breath until I almost pass out. I am scared to death that they're going to plummet to their untimely demise.

4. If someone/thing startles me, I burst into tears. Not crying... it just makes my eyes instantly well up. Is that weirdness or what?

5. When we drive over rainroad tracks, I always lift up my feet off the floorboards in the vehicle.

I am tagging.....
Tracie, Paula, Mary Ann, Beth & Samhains....