H.P. 2009

Every year we have a Halloween party at my place. Its usually a pretty big event with games, prizes, food, contests, and a haunted house. This year it was a little different.

Actually, I'm quite disappointed in it this year. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing my family and friends and I love seeing all the costumes. There just wasn't much excitement this year.

It got cold and dark way too soon. The haunted trail we had made got blown down the day before in all the wind and rain and there wasn't time to fix it back. People were sick, which is always a worry. (Hope ya'll get to feeling better soon!)

On the plus side, we had good food (as usual), some fun games, there was music and karaoke, the Costume Contest went well, and the pinata was a hit (no pun intended). I got to see a purdy butterfly (before her Grandpa stole her away for the night), hang out with some cowboys and Indians, and even discovered some long lost Star Trek brother and sisters.

It was a good party, just could have been better. But I guess that's what next year is for. :-)

Transplanted Gypsy

I want to move to Louisiana.

I've always wanted to live somewhere besides Jackson County, even if only for a short time. I just could never decide where to go. Over the course of three years though I've managed to fall a little bit in love with the state of Louisiana.

The first year I just passed through...spending one night in Madisonville, one day in New Orleans, and another night in Lafayette. The second year I stayed in Slidell and spend a day or so in New Orleans. This year I managed a room right in the French Quarter about a block from party central (aka Bourbon Street).

New Orleans fascinates me. I love the architecture, the people are friendly, the food is AMAZING, the music is incredible...the list goes on and on. It would be a great place for a single gal or guy to live and have fun, but not a place I would want to raise my children. Nothing wrong with New Orleans in that aspect of things really, just that I'm a country girl born and raised on her family's farm and I'd kinda like to raise my children the same way.

This year we stopped in Verachie, Louisiana on our way home. It was a detour but well worth the time and effort. We toured the Oak Alley Plantation. Its beautiful. Everyone should go see it at least once. I really do suggest it. During our time there it actually stopped raining and the sun came out (so did the heat but oh well, beggars can't be choosers). I've always wanted to work at a museum or as a tour guide for a place like Oak Alley, hence the whole B.A. in History. It just never worked out that way. But I fell in love with Oak Alley (and in lust with a certain waiter, but that's a different story *ahem*) and now I want to go back. Soon. I'd like to see it all decked out for Christmas. I may go back later this year. You just never know with me. I'm a bit of a gypsy at times.

Anyway, other than Maine or Alaska (two places I've yet to go), Louisiana is a state that calls to me a great deal. Texas is pretty much tied with Louisiana at this point. So I figure that one day, I'll end up living in one of those two places. Probably not anytime in the near future...but one day.

Pre-Trip

So I'm headin' out to New Orleans (or Nawlins, as the locals call it) in the morning. I want to post blogs and photos on here of the trip, but after about ten-ish tomorrow morning, I won't have access to my computer for a few days (I know, I know...how will I ever make it???). So until we meet again, here is my pre-trip blog, with all the stuff I have done and still need to do before I ever make it to Louisiana.

Today I:
1. Stopped at Wal-Mart on my way home from work at 1 a.m. The store was deserted, but the aisles were not. Every dang aisle seemed to be closed so they could mop the floors. Maybe not EVERY aisle, but it certainly seemed like it was every aisle that I wanted to go down was blocked off. I had to get last minute supplies for the road trip (you know, necessities like Twizzlers and Sun Chips) as well as enough food to feed our army of dogs, cats, and chickens for the week. I had to pick up a few things for gifts for family and friends and their little bundles of joys as well. I didn't get home until 3:30 in the morning, thanks mostly to a) the sales-lady at Wal-Mart that chatted with me for fifteen minutes about her puppy and b) the fact that I live a hundred million miles away from civilization (or at least, a Wal-Mart). I didn't get in bed until five a.m. however, because my Mom decided it would be nice to chat for an hour and a half over what to expect on the trip.

2. I got up at 11 this morning and started in on all the trip stuff...but not before doing my regular, daily chores. I fed dogs, cats, chickens, and a brother. I hung out towels, only to run out ten minutes later in the pouring rain to get them and throw them in the dryer. I sorted through a few hundred photos I had recently gotten developed (and no, I'm not joking, there were that many), so that my various family members could have their copies of the most sought after ones. I packed. I hunted down things to pack. I showered. Then I headed to Richmond to work. Somehow I managed to have the time to stop at the bank on the way and withdraw some money for the trip.

Before I Leave, I:

1. Have to make a list of things to do and what to feed for Dad and Dillon. They aren't capable of figuring out such simple tasks on their own, so I have to leave them lists. To be fair, Dillon is only 13. I don't know what Dad's excuse is.

2. Have to feed/water the cats and chickens enough to last a couple of days. No reason putting too much on Dillon or Dad while I'm away. I mean, they have to feed the cats and chickens once a year usually, I sure would hate for them to have to do it too much more often than that.

3. Have to leave money for Dad and Dillon to get some pizza while we're gone. I don't have to do this, but I know the boys, and if I don't, they may starve (or resort to cooking...either one could be bad) while their women folk are on the road.

4. Have to shave. Yuck. I hate that part the most.

5. Have to finish packing. I'm only bringing one small duffle bag and then my makeup bag, but it takes two days to pack all this up. I'll never understand it. Not in a million years.

6. Finish my homework. (Yeah right!)

7. Find Ruby. (Ruby being my GPS.)

8. Sleep...somewhere in there I've got to find time to sleep.

Girls Night Out!!!

Tonight was a Girl's Night.

I picked up my younger cousin, Samantha (she's just a wee one at the tender age of 18) and we headed North to Richmond, KY. Making a quick pit stop in Berea so I could get some cash (it is payday Friday after all).

I had promised Sam that when the new Olive Garden opened in Richmond that I would take her there to eat. I've never ate at Olive Garden and she loves it (most everyone I know loves it in fact), so we have been keeping track all summer long as to when the doors would open. Next weekend is my much anticipated trip to New Orleans, so we decided to get a little Italian food this week. It was a twenty minute wait, but it all worked out perfectly because we also were expecting Sam's good friend, Maggie to stop by and join us. The wait gave her plenty of time to get there. The food was amazing. I took Kayla's advice and ordered the Ravioli di Portobello. It was delicious!!! I think I'll order it every time from here on out.

(Maggie & Sam)

After the Olive Garden we said goodbye to Maggie and headed to Lucky Lady's for a tattoo. I tried my hardest to corrupt Sam and get her to get one as well, but she wasn't very interested. I'm sure after watching them ink me (what with the blood droplets and all), she was even LESS interested.

This time I got a peacock on my left shoulder. I have a flower on my wrist (in honor of my Mother and she also designed it and got one similar to mine put on her chest) and a feminist symbol on the back of my neck. So my peacock was tattoo numero tres. A peacock wasn't exactly what I wanted. I wanted a phoenix. You know the fictional, fiery bird that rises from the ashes after its been burnt up? Well, I wanted that...and I wanted its tail to sort of circle its body and have "what goes around comes around" written within the circle. It didn't work out that way. Instead I got a peacock that is actually the combination of two different peacock designs. Its okay though. I love it all the same. It turned out really well. Its very pretty. Or at least I think so. And I like peafowl. I've always wanted a pet peacock but I have nowhere to put one, so I guess this is my way of getting one.

(My peacock tattoo.)

Anyway, after an hour in the tattoo shop, we headed over to the cinema to fill our bellies with ginormous cups of soda and a huge tub of popcorn (with some m&ms and Reese's pieces for desert) and watch "Whip It". I loved, loved, loved that movie. Even Sam liked it and I was a little worried that she wouldn't. I want to be a roller derby chick. I have since I was about 12. So this movie was awesome because of that alone, but it also had a great storyline and strong female characters. I liked it. Two thumbs up. And the soundtrack is just as awesome as the film.

Anyway, the night had to end eventually, so we got back in good ole JC around 11:30 or so and after some chatting in the driveway and petting some of Sam's cats, we ended the night with a hug and a promise to do it all again soon.

Tomorrow is reserved as a family day to watch "Zombieland" and try to get myself a car. Wish me luck. :-)

Love Your Mother

I love my Mom.

We don't always get along. In fact we have had some pretty bad arguments in our day, but what Mother/Daughter duo hasn't?

For those of you that don't know her, let me tell you a bit about my Mom.

My Mother's ancestry is a nice little mixture of Cherokee and Irish. She was born and raised in Tyner, Kentucky and is the eldest of five children. She practically raised her brothers and sisters from the time she was nine years old. I'll not go into details here as to why that is, but just know that its the truth. She grew up poor, but it made her strong and determined to have a better life one day.

There are things I still don't understand about my Mother. Things she does and says that drive me batty. We definitely don't always see eye to eye, but I still love her.

She has her faults but we all do and its taken me some time to come to terms with the fact that neither of my parents are perfect. They just are who they are and we all try to get along.

Which I have to say, getting along with my Mother has been a lot easier since I started my new job. I'm not home when she's at home. We get along perfect that way. :-) See my shift is from 4:30 p.m. until 1:00 a.m. She leaves for work at 6:30 in the morning and doesn't get home until 4:30 or so. We don't really see each other until my days off and on Sundays. This makes for a lot more pleasant quality time together.

And we've been spending a lot more quality time together as well. She was my concert buddy last weekend in Lexington. Nothing quite as fun as seeing your prim and proper (because trust me, she is a lot more prim and proper than me) Mother getting soaked in a downpour at a country music concert. Well...maybe the fact that I also got her a wee bit drunk and tried to get her to dance and sing along with me added to the fun quotient. My Mom just doesn't do that sort of thing and I've decided I'm a bad influence on her because I always try to get her to do stuff like that. :-) I paid for the concert of course. It was my treat. She's 46 and has never been to an actual concert and I felt like it was time that she had that experience. She had a blast. Next time she wants to try a rock concert, but I'm not sure she's ready for that just yet. ;-)

Next week we are high-tailing South over my break from school. We're going to the Big Easy. One of my favorite places in the world. This will make our third trip to New Orleans. I love that city. This year we are getting a place right in the French Quarter and Mom's best friend Louise, and one of my good chums, Hattie, are going with us. I'm doing all the driving and planning, like I always do, but in return Mom has promised to make sure that I make it back to the hotel if I get too tipsy to know where I'm going. :-) She's good about stuff like that.

I could go on and on about what a groovy chick my Mom is, but I'll not bore you to tears with that. I'll not make you sad with any stories about the bad times either. But since Halloween will soon be here, I think I need to tell you this much about my Mom. She is the reason I'm the way I am when it concerns Halloween and anything science fiction or horror. I owe a great deal of gratitude to her for that.

From as far back as I can remember, Mom has always watched shows like Star Trek, The Addams Family, The Munsters, Tales from the Crypt (on the rare occasion we could actually afford HBO), and all manner of anything sci-fi or horror. I've been watching scary movies since I came out of the womb. Mom loves Star Wars too, so I grew up on those movies as well. Some of my favorite movies are the cheesy B-movies with clay-mation monsters and names like "Food of the Gods" because they all make me think of my Mom. I was never allowed to stay up late unless a movie like that was coming on, then she would make special allowances (even on school nights) and set up and watch them with me.

My bedtime stories were ghost stories that she had heard or had experienced herself. Mom is famous for such stories. She can scare most people with the tales she tales. I learned that from her too. That's part of the reason why I love to write so much. I have a binder full of my short stories from the time I was old enough to write on up through high school. Most of them horror stories. I have my Mother to thank for that.

Mom only really reads two types of books. Romance novels (YUCK!!!) and horror novels (YAY!!!). I wasn't much interested in the romance junk as a kid, but I used to beg and beg for the horror novels. She never let me read them. I had to make due with Goosebumps and Fear Street from the school library. I was in high school before she turned over her horror collection to me. It was a small collection, but I've added to it immensely through the years. She borrows horror books from me now. Both of our favorite kinds are zombie stories. I get my love of all things zombie from her too. (Note: This weekend "Zombieland" opens. Mom, Dad, and my brother, Dillon, and I are going Saturday to watch it as a "family movie night." Is it strange that "family movie night" revolves around horror movies? Or that "family TV night" happens to revolve around a show like "Supernatural"? I hope not.) One of our favorite activities when we travel together is to plan for zombie attacks. As in, "If a zombie attack happened right now, what would you do?" Its a great way to keep yourself entertained and keep your imagination going while you are stuck in traffic, believe me.

Mom used to dress up as a witch and chase me around the house too. It didn't matter what time of year it was or what time of day either. If I asked nicely enough (i.e. if I begged and whined), then she would lock herself in the bathroom until she was ready. I would wait eagerly outside the door. When she opened it up I would take off in terror. She would chase me through the house and through the yard, doing her evil witch laugh and I would scream and shriek like a banshee. I was serious too. The game always ended with me crying and begging her to take the outfit back off and never put it on again (only, of course, to do the same thing a week later).
(Mom, Halloween last year)

Mom doesn't brag on me often, she doesn't want me to "get the big head" but when she does, she means it. I've done a lot of things that she didn't get to do and I'm a completely different person from her. I graduated high school, graduated college, I have a "career" rather than a "job", I still live in JC, but its not something permanent. I pay for my own way in life. I don't ask anyone for anything and I don't take crap off of anyone. I'm not afraid to go after whatever it is that I want. I travel. I speak my mind. I'm not afraid to look stupid or make a mistake. Mom is some of those things and some of them she's not. But I've learned how to do those things from watching her. Good or bad, I've learned who I want to be and who I don't want to be, partially from my Mother. And I can't help but to love her for that.


(Mom and Me, back in the day)

This Is Halloween

I love, love, love Halloween!!!

Its not my favorite holiday (that honor goes to Christmas) but it is a very close second.

I've always celebrated Halloween. I was born in May 1982 and my very first Halloween costume came in October 1982. I don't remember it obviously, but I'm told that I made a very cute Raggedy Ann. I dress up for school and for work. If I don't have either, then I dress up and hit the town. I've dressed up every year except for Halloween 2000.

Just a few days before Halloween that year, my older cousin Bridgette passed away. She was 24. I was 18. I just didn't have it in me to dress up that year. It seemed too soon after her death to celebrate anything...let alone something as joyous as Halloween. In all honesty though, Bridgette's death taught me to celebrate Halloween even more. It took me a few years, but shortly after Bridgette passed, I started having a Halloween party of my own for family and friends.

(Bridgette & Me, 1983) (Bridgette's Senior Picture)

It started out simple enough. Our first year it was primarily just family, I paid for most of it, there were a few games and prizes, a Costume Contest, some karaoke, and a "haunted hay maze." As the years went on though, the party grew and grew. These days I can no longer afford to pay for it all because there are just too many people. Its still focused mainly on children but now the children include both family and friends and the occasional neighbor that happens to wander down Nunn Road. Everyone brings candy and food or drinks. Most people dress up (including the adults) and participate in the Costume Contest.


There's always a lot going on at the party, and I usually run myself ragged (I usually have blisters on my feet by the time the night is over...no joke), but I love it. Its worth it every time a kid asks me, "When are we doing this again?!" They are always a little disappointed when I tell them they have to wait until next year.

This year will be the fifth year for the party. I hope to make it bigger and better than before. Costume Contest, karaoke, Lip Syncing Contest, pinata, dancing, games, prizes, haunted house, so on and so forth. Maybe even some after dark scary movies set up outside to get us all in the spooky Halloween mood. Who knows? I like to plan a little...and then play a little by ear. That's just how I am.

Each year I send out invitations to those that are regulars to the party. I call it "April's Annual Halloween Bash" and our motto is "The party don't stop, until somebody cries!" (Because I have successfully made either an adult or a child, and sometimes both, cry from fear before the night is over.) I'm thinking of changing the name though...in honor of Bridgette. After her passing I learned a great deal about the importance and value of life and the people you have in it, especially your family and those you consider to be family. Since I started the party as a way to bring us all closer after her death, I'm thinking of changing the name to reflect that. I'm just not sure what to change it to as of yet.

Anyway, October 24th is the date of the party this year. I hope to see you there. I'll be the man in blue with the pointy ears. ;-)

(My costume this year.)

Mommies, mommies, everywhere!

It occurs to me that most of my "friends" on here are mothers. Most...not all...but most. Originally I started this as a way to chronicle my road to becoming a single Mom (by choice) by becoming artificially inseminated. My intentions haven't changed in the least, but my blog has.


Just as there is more to every Mother than just the fact that she is someone's mother, there is more to me than being the crazy, weird chick that will get knocked up by a test tube. Since I'm not currently planning on implanting any spermies until January 2010, then I wanted to use this blog to post random, and sometimes a bit out there, thoughts and feelings and memories and all that stuff, that run through my head from time to time.


I'm not sure anything I say is worthy of a nomination like Kayla gave me, but I do intend to use this to voice whatever opinions I may have about artificial inseminiation, motherhood, friendship, feminism, and life in general. You are welcome to read it or to not. Hopefully sometime in 2010 I'll be able to join the ranks of the Mommy bloggers on here and give you updates on the procedure, the pregnancy, and ultimatly on being my own version of a happy single mother. Until then, just bare with me and welcome to my crazy life.