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chochiyo_samaAnother fairly non-productive day. This has to stop.
Again it was about 4 am before I could get to sleep. At about 3 am, I sorted through a Walmart bag of stuff I had hauled down here and put most of it away. Finally by 4 am, I was feeling sleepy enough to doze off.
I was up before 11 am today because Mom told me that Lily and Rhonda (my cousin, Lily's daughter) and Rhonda's daughter Rachelle were coming over today. So, I got up and got dressed. Mom had commented that the litterboxes were really stinky--which was to be expected since I had run out of litterbox deodorizer AND I needed to pour in some fresh litter. After I brushed my teeth, I cleaned the litterboxes thoroughly and even put some deodorizer into the pail where I put the nasty clumps. I need to buy some more of those baking soda refridgerator deodorizer to set in the furnace room as they absorb odors that are in the air.
The worst thing about the Lair of Despair is that there is no way to get fresh air to circulate through here. Everything is closed up tight to prevent the cats from escaping into the rest of the house. I keep the ceiling fan going all the time, but that just keeps the same old air moving. There is no screen on the window, so I cannot open it--bugs would get in and cats would get out.
I got my laundry folded but not put away before they arrived. I brought up my sewing box and we talked for quite a while. I finished the small pair of pajama shorts that I had started yesterday and then worked on the second "patriotic" shorts outfit. I am excited to see how this one turns out as I have altered the pattern significantly.
One of the things we talked about was the house we had lived in until I was in the third grade. That sucker was as haunted as it gets. We talked about the round globs of purplish light that drifted up the stairway (which was open at the top), making a strange noise that sounded like a combination of rubbing tissue paper between your fingers and the very faint sound of glass wind chimes tinkling. I remember lying in my bed at night and watching them drift slowly up the stairs, kind of undulating as the rose. It seemed like they sort of glimmered also. They'd turn at the landing, drift up just slightly and then disappear with a faint *pop* noise--like the sound you make when you press your lips together and then push them out.
We also talked about the attic there. When you would stand outside that door, you just got the creepiest feeling--like some big, ugly EVIL thing was crouching on the stairway behind the door, just waiting for you to open the door--waiting....and drooling. Sometimes that door would move forwards and backwards just slightly as if it were breathing. Scary stuff.
Then Rhonda told us something I had not heard about before. Several years ago, my cousin Lee died after bypass surgery on his heart. The surgery itself was successful--his body began healing at once, but somehow his brain was deprived of oxygen and he was declared brain dead. It was horrible as he was only 45 and he had five young daughters--the oldest was his stepdaughter, but she had been with him since she was a little girl. I think the youngest one was only 9 or 10. He was a great guy. He and my brother were very close.
Anyhow, Lee had been friends with some guy who had moved out to North or South Dakota--I don't remember what they said for sure. This guy had a daughter who is 11 now. She was probably 5 when Lee died. She remembers Lee, but not very well. Apparently Lee's spirit appeared to her recently and gave her messages for each of his daughters and his wife. The girl wrote everything down and then ran to her dad, white and shaking, to tell him what had happened. Rhonda thinks it is pretty legit because the girl was so young when Lee died and she had only rare and casual contact with him prior to his death that there was no way she would have remembered the pet names Lee had for each of his daughters. And the pet names were used in the messages.
The dad of this girl had not even thought of Lee in ages and ages, and there is really no reason that I can think of for them to make this up out of the blue. I believe things like this can happen--but I also believe that they do not happen very often. Rhonda said she couldn't understand why Lee would go to this girl rather than someone closer to the family. I said that not everyone can see and hear spirits. They have to be sensitive to them. Also, I think children have purer spirits that are not contaminated with all the worries and responsibilities that crowd the minds of adults. At any rate, the messages seemed to speak directly to the needs and personalities of his girls.
It's certainly something to think about.
Mom and I had tomatoes on toast and musk melon that Rhonda brought us from her garden for lunch after they left around 2 pm. Then we sat in the recliners in the living room for a while. Both of us fell asleep--and I woke up practically stifling in the heat. Those chairs are sort of a thick plushy fabric and it's sort of like being stuffed inside a giant teddy bear. Great in the winter, but not so great in the summer.
I decided to make a quick trip to the consignment shop as I had a check waiting for me there. It wasn't much, only $32.25, but that's at least enough to go to a movie or get a pizza or something. Or resupply my chocolate stash. I haven't had any chocolate for days. This is inhumane! When I got home, Mom and I went to the basement. She played on the computer and I sat in my recliner and sewed. We watched Hitch with Will Smith. I saw that movie in the theater and thought it was cute. I told her she should buy it back then, but she didn't want to because it had Will Smith in it and Jack for some reason was pissy about Will Smith...I think Will Smith is a cutie patootie--and I enjoy his acting also. I think she grudgingly enjoyed the movie. We had popcorn for supper. I love popcorn! And that was about it for the day. I thought I would write my journal entry now--maybe if I don't save it for the last thing I do at night, I will be able to get to sleep better. Though tonight, if I can't fall asleep in a reasonable amount of time, I am going to take some Nyquil. Tomorrow, I hope to make that chicken salad and also bake another batch of sugar cookies.
Again it was about 4 am before I could get to sleep. At about 3 am, I sorted through a Walmart bag of stuff I had hauled down here and put most of it away. Finally by 4 am, I was feeling sleepy enough to doze off.
I was up before 11 am today because Mom told me that Lily and Rhonda (my cousin, Lily's daughter) and Rhonda's daughter Rachelle were coming over today. So, I got up and got dressed. Mom had commented that the litterboxes were really stinky--which was to be expected since I had run out of litterbox deodorizer AND I needed to pour in some fresh litter. After I brushed my teeth, I cleaned the litterboxes thoroughly and even put some deodorizer into the pail where I put the nasty clumps. I need to buy some more of those baking soda refridgerator deodorizer to set in the furnace room as they absorb odors that are in the air.
The worst thing about the Lair of Despair is that there is no way to get fresh air to circulate through here. Everything is closed up tight to prevent the cats from escaping into the rest of the house. I keep the ceiling fan going all the time, but that just keeps the same old air moving. There is no screen on the window, so I cannot open it--bugs would get in and cats would get out.
I got my laundry folded but not put away before they arrived. I brought up my sewing box and we talked for quite a while. I finished the small pair of pajama shorts that I had started yesterday and then worked on the second "patriotic" shorts outfit. I am excited to see how this one turns out as I have altered the pattern significantly.
One of the things we talked about was the house we had lived in until I was in the third grade. That sucker was as haunted as it gets. We talked about the round globs of purplish light that drifted up the stairway (which was open at the top), making a strange noise that sounded like a combination of rubbing tissue paper between your fingers and the very faint sound of glass wind chimes tinkling. I remember lying in my bed at night and watching them drift slowly up the stairs, kind of undulating as the rose. It seemed like they sort of glimmered also. They'd turn at the landing, drift up just slightly and then disappear with a faint *pop* noise--like the sound you make when you press your lips together and then push them out.
We also talked about the attic there. When you would stand outside that door, you just got the creepiest feeling--like some big, ugly EVIL thing was crouching on the stairway behind the door, just waiting for you to open the door--waiting....and drooling. Sometimes that door would move forwards and backwards just slightly as if it were breathing. Scary stuff.
Then Rhonda told us something I had not heard about before. Several years ago, my cousin Lee died after bypass surgery on his heart. The surgery itself was successful--his body began healing at once, but somehow his brain was deprived of oxygen and he was declared brain dead. It was horrible as he was only 45 and he had five young daughters--the oldest was his stepdaughter, but she had been with him since she was a little girl. I think the youngest one was only 9 or 10. He was a great guy. He and my brother were very close.
Anyhow, Lee had been friends with some guy who had moved out to North or South Dakota--I don't remember what they said for sure. This guy had a daughter who is 11 now. She was probably 5 when Lee died. She remembers Lee, but not very well. Apparently Lee's spirit appeared to her recently and gave her messages for each of his daughters and his wife. The girl wrote everything down and then ran to her dad, white and shaking, to tell him what had happened. Rhonda thinks it is pretty legit because the girl was so young when Lee died and she had only rare and casual contact with him prior to his death that there was no way she would have remembered the pet names Lee had for each of his daughters. And the pet names were used in the messages.
The dad of this girl had not even thought of Lee in ages and ages, and there is really no reason that I can think of for them to make this up out of the blue. I believe things like this can happen--but I also believe that they do not happen very often. Rhonda said she couldn't understand why Lee would go to this girl rather than someone closer to the family. I said that not everyone can see and hear spirits. They have to be sensitive to them. Also, I think children have purer spirits that are not contaminated with all the worries and responsibilities that crowd the minds of adults. At any rate, the messages seemed to speak directly to the needs and personalities of his girls.
It's certainly something to think about.
Mom and I had tomatoes on toast and musk melon that Rhonda brought us from her garden for lunch after they left around 2 pm. Then we sat in the recliners in the living room for a while. Both of us fell asleep--and I woke up practically stifling in the heat. Those chairs are sort of a thick plushy fabric and it's sort of like being stuffed inside a giant teddy bear. Great in the winter, but not so great in the summer.
I decided to make a quick trip to the consignment shop as I had a check waiting for me there. It wasn't much, only $32.25, but that's at least enough to go to a movie or get a pizza or something. Or resupply my chocolate stash. I haven't had any chocolate for days. This is inhumane! When I got home, Mom and I went to the basement. She played on the computer and I sat in my recliner and sewed. We watched Hitch with Will Smith. I saw that movie in the theater and thought it was cute. I told her she should buy it back then, but she didn't want to because it had Will Smith in it and Jack for some reason was pissy about Will Smith...I think Will Smith is a cutie patootie--and I enjoy his acting also. I think she grudgingly enjoyed the movie. We had popcorn for supper. I love popcorn! And that was about it for the day. I thought I would write my journal entry now--maybe if I don't save it for the last thing I do at night, I will be able to get to sleep better. Though tonight, if I can't fall asleep in a reasonable amount of time, I am going to take some Nyquil. Tomorrow, I hope to make that chicken salad and also bake another batch of sugar cookies.
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no subject
Date: 2011-09-10 06:41 am (UTC)When I was in the Navy, there was this one part of the ship that always gave me the creeps. It just felt evilwrongbad. And I had to go down there a lot of times, in the middle of the night, to take readings.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-10 11:58 pm (UTC)It's always worse at night.
In that house, the worst thing in the world was to wake up in the middle of the night having to pee. The bathroom was downstairs, right across from the stairway and to the left and right were huge cavernous black holes...one being the kitchen and the other being the dining room.
I would stand at the top of the stairs and stare down there trying to get up the courage to go down. I would see "things" at the edges of the darkness...nothing specific, usually, but movement.
Once I saw my sister standing at the foot of the stairs and I whispered down to her, "Will you wait while I go?" I had to whisper because if I woke up my dad he would have been super pissed.
She looked washed out and pale down there--but I figured that was from lack of light. She just smiled up at me and said nothing.
"Will you wait for me?" I said again. I really had to GO.
She smiled bigger, then her head just dropped to the side and rolled off her body onto the floor and her body winked out of existence. It was NOT my sister, obviously. My sister was sound asleep in her bed.
I don't know what it was, but I am sure glad I did NOT go downstairs.
I was pretty young at that time--maybe 6 or 7. I lifted up the throw rug in my bedroom, peed on the floor, and put the rug back over the pee and prayed that it would be dry by morning. It wasn't and my mom whipped my arse for me the next day. "What were you thinking?"
Well, I was thinking I ain't gonna go down there where there's things that let their heads drop off!
I wonder what it was that made that area feel that way. Did you ever hear any scuttlebutt about something bad happening down there?
One acre.
Date: 2011-09-10 08:52 am (UTC)I was happy to hear Lily's prognosis was better than first thought. I've no doubt she will have to undergo chemo and radiation, but all of the tumors being operable and removable is a huge plus for her.
I've been sloughing off too. But I need to do some major cooking Sunday to last me through the week. I also need to work on my room.
Re: One acre.
Date: 2011-09-10 11:50 pm (UTC)Cancer is such a sneaky, ugly disease.
I'd love to have my mom and dad's old farm house, just the 5 acres with the buildings and horse pastures on it--not the haunted one but the other one. It had such wonderful rich soil. My mom's garden was sinfully wanton in its produce.
I would think a person would be able to sell enough of their produce to buy staples like flour and spices and such. I'd hate to give up baking--though I'd love to learn how to bake on a cookstove. My grandparents used to have one in their old garage, and I always dreamed of having it--but they donated it to the historical society in Albert Lea.
Re: One acre.
Date: 2011-09-11 06:15 pm (UTC)And what about the house your Mom has now? It sounds like its got plenty of yard for a good garden. You can make good soil with worm compost. Even better if you keep chickens, if you know what I mean.
My Dad is trading his stuff. Barter is the traditional method when you grow more than you need but not what someone else has.
If I ever get to the point where I grow more than I can eat, I'm going to freeze and can.
The Old Farmhouse
Date: 2011-09-12 02:07 am (UTC)It is a shame as it is a beautiful big old farm house. It had the first indoor bathroom in Steele County and was built by my great grandfather. In its day, it was the best house in Steele County. Now, it is pretty much a shambles. I am sure it could be brought back, but who will do it? If I won the lottery I would buy it immediately and begin work on it at once.
Oh, that is a shame.
Date: 2011-09-12 02:54 am (UTC)I would love to buy a property like that and bring it back as long as it hasn't been bastardized. Neglected can be renovated. But once they cut it up and such, you have almost no way of knowing what was there, what it looked like or how to restore it.
At least if you won the lottery you'd probably be able to get it for a song for the condition it's in. Sounds like that couple will be losing it to foreclosure soon.