I Went to the Pumpkin House

If I could I would make my house look like this. I love to carve pumpkins. When I was a kid my mom did all the work getting the house ready for the holidays. One of the few things my dad did was to carve a pumpkin for us. My brother taught his kids how to do it too. I will carve one this year. I prefer the traditional evil smiley faced pumpkin. I did a fancy carving one year and it turned out well but I just like the pumpkins from my childhood best. I went to the Pumpkin House last year. It is over an hour from my house but it was worth the trip. The house is only a couple of blocks from the main road but it took over 2 hours for me to drive those last couple blocks. Once I got there it was like a carnival was going on. There were at least a couple thousand people there and there were more pumpkins than there were people. There was crazy halloween music playing and a whole section of lighted pumpkins lit up with the beat of the music. There was a wild pumpkin man riding a bicycle and a host of carved pumpkins in every shape and size imaginable. I was fortunate because right when I got in front of the house traffic stopped so that the van in front of me could load a woman in a wheelchair. So I got to sit there and take everything in instead of just driving around and leaving like I would have to do if traffic were flowing. Every halloween season, the house at 748 Beech Street in Kenova, West Virginia is transformed into the Great Pumpkin House. The owner, Ric Griffith and hundreds of other volunteers carve thousands of pumpkins for display at his home every halloween. This year (2006) they plan on having 3,030 pumpkins on display. Yahoo map to the house Directions: Interstate I-64 to the Kenova Exit (#1). Go North on Rt. 75. at 4th traffic light, make a right (East) on Rt 60. Go 7 blocks. Make a left onto 7th Street. Go 1 block, turn left again

If I could I would make my house look like this. I love to carve pumpkins. When I was a kid my mom did all the work getting the house ready for the holidays. One of the few things my dad did was to carve a pumpkin for us. My brother taught his kids how to do it too. I will carve one this year. I prefer the traditional evil smiley faced pumpkin. I did a fancy carving one year and it turned out well but I just like the pumpkins from my childhood best.

She had a chastity belt

Eddie told me that the first girl he ever dated wore a chastity belt. Can you imagine?!

He said they were both 14 and he would go visit her with his parents (requirement). They were allowed to sit on the front porch in the swing but she had to wear a chastity belt. He described it as being slung low on her hips and covering her "private parts). She wore it over her pants.

I thought those days were over in the middle ages. This was in West Virginia in the early 60's.

Halloween Hijinks

This is my Halloween story that was published in the Charleston Gazette.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- My family and friends have always enjoyed Halloween. From dressing up when we were kids to taking my niece and nephew out trick-or-treating, it's always been a good time.I remember when I was in the second grade, my friend Suzanne and I were having a ball at our school carnival at Justice Grade School. They had a haunted house in the clinic that year, complete with a dead body and bowls of eyeballs and brains and all that delicious scary stuff.

Suzanne and I went in several times, and each time we would get a little braver and more sassy. It wasn't until our last trip into the haunted house that we happened to look over at the werewolf in the corner. It had been standing there every time we'd been through, but we hadn't paid much attention to it. This time, though, that werewolf screamed and came at us with its arms outstretched, trying to grab us! It scared us silly, and we ran screaming out of the clinic.

Years later, when I was about 15, my parents went out after my brother and I had gone to bed. I was lying in bed, just starting to doze off, when my closet door was flung open so hard that it slammed against the wall, then my brother jumped out, screaming.

I let out what had to be the most terrified scream of my life, a deep, guttural scream that came from the depths of my soul. Since my brother was about 6 feet tall, I sincerely thought Frankenstein was coming to get me. He doubled over with laughter. He told me he'd spent nearly an hour quietly crawling into my bedroom so I wouldn't hear him.

He traumatized me for life - since then, I've never slept with my bedroom door open again.

I have generally made it my policy to avoid graveyards, especially at night. But one time, I was out walking along a trail with two friends when we got caught out after dark. We had to pass through a very old cemetery on our way out of the woods.

I was leading the way, and we were walking single file because the trail was narrow. All of a sudden, I heard a crashing noise coming down through the brush on the hill, right at me. I screamed and took off running, absolutely terrified out of my mind.

That's when I heard my friends Oscar and James laughing, and I knew they'd played a joke on me. James had taken a large rock and thrown it up the hill so that it would roll down right at me. His aim was perfect. I couldn't have been more scared if someone had risen from the dead at my feet.

Another year, I agreed to meet my sister-in-law, niece and nephew for a walk along Cato Park's haunted trail. The trail was filled with your standard Halloween monsters and gore, which my obnoxious niece (who was 13 at the time) pretty much ruined with her teenage sarcasm. The absolute biggest scare - and the only surprise - came at the very end of the trail.

At the end was an accident scene, complete with wrecked cars and mangled bodies strewn everywhere. As we were standing there staring at the carnage, all of those dead bodies leapt to their feet at the exact same time, then starting running toward us, chasing after anybody who ran. Even my sarcastic niece was afraid.

When my poor nephew, who was 8, started running, he turned and ran straight into me. He was so afraid that he wasn't even aware what he'd done. I could feel his little arms and knees pumping as he continued trying to run, not realizing he wasn't going anywhere. It was a good thing he hit me because if I had been a tree, he probably would've knocked himself out. He was in a state of pure terror, and I had to pick him up and carry him a little way down the trail.

Although his almost cartoonish fear was a bit funny, I comforted him as best as I could. I knew exactly how he felt, having been well acquainted myself with the feeling of being scared half out of your mind.

Are You a Vampire or a Werewolf?

Well, I don't think anybody is surprised by this result!

Are You a Vampire or a Werewolf?

I am a Werewolf. You are a werewolf. You are in tune with your animal instincts, sometimes to a fault as you can often lose control of your emotions. You are passionate and wild, and very rarely can you be controlled. You are loyal and feel most comfortable with your group of friends or family--and you would literally die for any one of them. You are very protective and territorial about those you love.

Movie Quizzes | Frankenstein, Werewolves, ction Sci-Fi & Rent Van Helsing from

Pumpkin Pirates Jump Ship!

Last night Pumpkin Pirates waylayed a vessel bound for Pompano Beach, Florida. They tried to hijack a shipment of Halloween candy bound for Kendall Descalzi in Orlando, Florida.

Happily their plans were foiled by the mighty penguinator. After receiving a tip from a school of herring he flew over the ocean. Just as the Pumpkin Pirates began their attack he bombed them with playdough!

Luckily Pumpkin Pirates are scaredy cats and they quickly ran away from Kendall's candy.

It looks like Kendalroo will get plenty of candy for Halloween!

Yeah, Kendalroo!

Things I go out of my way to buy at Dollar Tree

1. 36 count benadryl (generic)

2. 24 oz. spaghetti

3. disposable metal baking pans (turkey sized - I use them for cat litter boxes and throw them away)

4. shower curtain liners (then my shower curtain stays nice and I throw it away about 4 times a year and buy a new one. It keeps the shower maintenance free)

5. chicken broth/beef broth

6. hair accessories

7. toothbrushes (I change toothbrushes alot. you can get 5 or 6 for a dollar)

8. brand name cleaning supplies

9. storage containers

10. brooms and mops (I throw mine away every couple of months because fatty catty is a nasty catty - she's very old)

11. reading glasses and sunglasses (they come from the same company that we use at Fruth and they are only $1 instead of $20)

12. phone cards (35 minutes for $1 and they don't charge outrageous connection fees)

13. certs (3 for $1)

14. bandaids, toothpaste, antibiotic ointment, Q-tips, powder

I generally get everything I need for what 2 of the items would cost me at most other places.

My Favorite Halloween

I went to the nursing home and picked up daddy and took him to dinner at the Waffle House. He had biscuits and gravy and all the things he wasn't supposed to have. It was one of his favorite restaurants. It was a holiday and I wasn't going to say anything about his choice of food and he knew it.

I took him home and set him up with a giant bowl of candy on the front porch so he could dole out the candy to the trick or treaters. I dressed up his little yorkie, Katie, in her Halloween costume. It was a little devil hood, complete with horns, and a t-shirt that said "killer". I put Nikita, the Chinese Crested, in the pen beside the porch because I figured that all the excitement would be too much for her. That way she could hide in the dog house if she wanted but she was still outside so she could be with us if she felt like it.

Daddy had a ball doling out the candy. For every piece he gave each kid he probably ate two himself. Everytime someone in a mask came to the porch the dogs would freak out and he would have a ball keeping his "killer" under control. (she was prone to ankle biting afterall) We laughed and had a high old time until trick or treat was over and then I took him back to the nursing home.

He died 4 days later.

I've been meddling - again

My friend, Lillian, the 88 year old woman, has been sick for about 3 weeks. I have gone to the store for her but she hasn't been eating. She usually takes off on long walks everyday but she has grown so weak that she is complaining that her knees are wobbly everytime I see her. She refused my offers to take her to the doctor.

I went to her doctor's office on Monday and told them that she had been really sick and I was worried about her. I asked them to call her to come in. (they have done that in the past when she hasn't gone in for awhile.) They called her and asked her to come in Tuesday.

I went and bought her a bag of her favorite popcorn and dropped it off to her. She told me her doctor had called and she was going to see him so I offered to take her. Usually she would just walk but I knew she was too week to walk that far. (about 4 blocks)

On the way over to the doctor's office I noticed I could hear her wheezing with every breath. The doctor gave her some antibiotics and hopefully that will do the trick.

She is wondering who called and told him she was sick. I have no intention of telling her it was me.

You Know You're Old When...

I was spending the night at a friends house. It was the kind of house where there were always people coming and going and nobody thought anything about it.

I kind of woke up to see one of her husband's cousins standing at the foot of the couch where I was sleeping. I went back to sleep. A short time later I felt a hand on my shoulder shaking me to wake me up.

I looked up to see the cousin standing over me. He was around 18 years old.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Let's me and you go upstairs," he said.

"And do what?!?" I demanded.

"Anything you want," he smiled down at me.

"I'm already doing what I want!" I said as I flopped over on the couch and promptly went back to sleep.

Now that I look back on it, I wonder if I missed a good opportunity...probably not.

My First Charleyhorse

I was around 13 years old and I woke up in the middle of the night to a tremendous pain in my calf. Then I realized I couldn't move my foot. The pain was excruciating and I was crying with it and tried unsucessfully to shake my foot but it was locked in place. I was terrified!

I hopped down the hallway on my good leg, crying for my mommy the whole way. I hopped into my parents bedroom and flopped on top my mom in tears and screaming, "Mommy! Mommy!, I'm crippled! I'm crippled!"

Of course my mom woke up trying to figure out what in the world was wrong with me. Fortunately she was used to getting up in the middle of the night with me because I had nightmares almost every single night. She asked me what was wrong and through my tears and my writhing pain I told her what was wrong.

She laughed with relief. "You have a leg cramp," she told me as she set out to massage the cramp from my leg. As she massaged the pain away she explained what caused the cramp and explained to me what I needed to do to keep it from happening again. She also reasurred me that I was not crippled in anyway and it was not something I needed to worry about ever.

The Ghost in the Guard Shack

When I first started to work in the dog business I was working with a man named, Larry. I did the racing kennel and he did the puppy farm and came in to help on schooling days or whenever we were really busy in the kennel. One day my boss came in and told me that Larry was in the hospital, he had a heart attack.

For the next couple of days when my boss came in I would ask him how Larry was. On the third day he told me Larry had died. I went about my life as usual. I worked for a couple more years at Tri-State and then I worked for 5 years at the Palm Beach Kennel Club. Then I moved back to West Virginia and started to work at Tri-State again.

One day I walked into the guard shack and there stood Larry - plain as day! I turned about 63 shades of white as my mouth started to pop open over and over like a guppy sucking in water. Larry stood there, pale as could be with silvery white hair and a big, beaming smile came over his face when he saw me. I stood there staring and trying to regain my composure after my heart had fallen to my knees.

"Larry, how are you?" I managed to sputter out.

"Great. It's good to see you," he said.

Even though I momentarily thought I had seen a ghost, obviously I did not. Larry had been pale with silvery, white hair when I had known him 10 years before that. We talked pleasantly for a few minutes. I was afraid to tell him that I thought he was dead all that time. I didn't know what kind of shape his heart was in and I didn't want to upset him.

Later, after I had seen him a few more times, I told him that Sal had told me he had died and how bad it scared me when I ran into him in the guard shack that day. Larry just laughed.

"That sounds like something Sal would do," he chuckled.

Jay rammed the knife into his thigh and continued to work unconcernedly...

...with the fuel pump he had been messing with for the better part of an hour. I jumped back in my chair, my eyes popping out of my head and gasping for air at the sight of the knife protruding from his thigh!

Jay looked over and me and grinned. He looked down at his leg and reached down to pull the knife out which was embedded almost to the hilt. He jerked it out and with a laugh, said, " wooden leg," by way of explanation.

He started to howl with laughter as I slumped back in my chair with relief. I had forgotten he had a fake leg.

My Halloween Film Festival

1408 - the best scary movie I have watched yet. It is not full of blood and gore, just good, old fashioned scary stuff.

Shutter Island (my dream about the movie was better)

The Descent (very believable)

The Getaway (made for tv fare)

The Da Vinci Code (not my cup of tea)

The Fly (1958 version) (that poor, little man in the web in the end made it all worthwhile - "help me")

Trick or Treat (decent little scary movie)

Snuff (I turned this movie off in 1983 because it was too realistic. I was glad to see it again and see the obvious fake effects)

House of 1000 Corpses (my, my how my tastes have changed. a few years ago I gave this movie 4 stars)

Angels & Demons (I only watched it because I had seen the first movie. I could have lived without this one as well)

The Hunger (interesting little experiment)

Journey to Mars (something to kill time)

Final Destination III (I like these movies)

Atonement (I should have known better)

Carol Burnett Season 6 (hahahahahahahhaha)

Whip It (in another life I could have been a roller derby queen)

Astronaut Farmer (good movie)

Angel and the Badman (I love anything with Lou Diamond Phillips)

Rest Stop (stupid highway slasher movie - the heroine deserved to die for being stupid)

Vampire's Assistant (an adequate attempt at vampire humor)

Rise of the Lycans (bored to tears)

Final Destination II (actually I am watching it tonight)

Paranormal Entity ('sall right)

Life of Brian (Monty Python can't go wrong)

Lake House (surprised me - I am not usually into love stories)