Do You Believe in Ghosts?

Halloween.  What scares you?  Do you believe in the Big Bad Wolf? Do you believe in Ghosts?  What does Halloween mean to you?


Halloween to me is more than Trick or Treating.  It's All Hallows Eve, the night that spirits both good and evil are allowed through to our world.  Kids wear costumes today because the evil spirits disguised themselves.  Watching scary movies and being scared makes Halloween fun!  I would love to go to a real live haunted house.  Not the make-believe haunted houses that kids go to, but one really possessed by ghosts or spirits.  I have a friend who is a member of a paranormal team.  I would love to go with her an investigate a house! 


I have lived in houses where I heard noises.  When I grew up my room had the attic door located within it.  I always heard strange noises up there.  I always believed that another family lived up there, hiding.  Even in the house we live in now I've heard things and seen things.  I've heard huge crashing noises when there was nothing that crashed or broke.  I've seen a towel swing back and forth on the shower curtain pole without there being any wind.  I've seen a huge paw print on the bathroom window.  Someone actually died of a heart attack in our bathroom, so I believe there are spirits here.  One day I was down our basement and saw our dog come down the stairs.  When I was going back up stairs I called for him, and he was already upstairs!  That really freaked the hell out of me!  Lately, for a while now, there hasn't been anything that has happened.  The last thing that happened was about a year ago when I was dusting in our living room.  I picked up a water glass and there underneath it was a perfect smiley face!  I took a photo, so I have proof!




Perfect smiley face in water found under a water glass.  No joke!

I swear I did not create this watermark.  I don't think anyone could.  I don't know if it was a sign from God saying "Have a great day!" Or maybe, it was a sign from a spirit, a friendly spirit.  Either way, I guess I was meant to find it.  I wish I could have kept it!


There was another photo I wish I knew where it was, and I may have it somewhere.  It was a photo of my daughter Elle.   She was named after me, Dawn Ellen, and my great grandmother, Ella.  In the photo of Elle, it turned out sort of double exposed.  You see, there was also a photo of my great grandma in the photo with her.  Weird, because my grandma Ella died when I was 11 years old.  I'm going to look for this photo and if I find it, I will post it.


I hope you all don't think I'm a freak!  I'm just unique!  Growing up I've also participated in seances.  My friend Deanna, who lived above a funeral home, had a slumber party in the funeral parlour, where they hold the funerals.  We played "As light as a feather, as stiff as a board" and tried to levitate someone.  My friend's family had their washer and dryer in the basement by the embalming room.  When the dryer went off it played "How Dry I Am"!  How weird is that!  When I was in college there was an ice storm and my friends and I played with a Ouija Board that night.  It spelled the name of a child from Alexandria, Minnesota who had died.  That was quite freaky!


No matter what you believe, have a great Halloween everyone!  Don't let the ghosts or goblins get you!

Changing It Up A Bit

Tisdale Wines California

Every weekend I buy a bottle of wine.  I have been buying either Merlot, Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon.  I bought red rose recently and really loved it.  Then I tried to go back to Merlot, but it didn't taste so good anymore.  Today I bought White Zinfandel that has watermelon and strawberry flavors in it.  It is also a great change.  I feel guilty spending only $3.46 for a bottle of wine, but that is what Tinsdale wine from California costs in Iowa.  I find that really hard to believe.  It's like the price of a box of crackers.  I really don't think that the higher the price, the better the wine.  I've had the more expensive wine.  The one that really stood out was called Cupcake wine.  It was very strong in flavor and color.  It was supposed to have chocolate flavoring in it.  I never tasted the chocolate, but the more I drank, the better it tasted!  lol!

I dream of traveling to California and touring the wineries.  Hopefully someday soon my husband and I will make it out there.  He actually has a sister who lives in Napa.  How ironic is that?  She has brought us bottles of wine from there when she has visited us.  I love all the California wines.  Maybe I should open a wine shop.  Good idea, I'd probably drink all the wine!

We actually have a winery in Carroll, Iowa.  It's called Santa Maria.  The grapes are grown in Wiley, Iowa, a teeny tiny town about 15 minutes away.  They have very good wine.  The winery is beautiful.  It has two large ballroom where people have work parties and wedding receptions.  They also have a restaurant that has very good food.  It is a very good asset to the town.

I have started a wine glass collection.  My newest one is very large and tall.  The cup part is clear glass and the stem is painted with gold.  I bought it for 50 cents at a local thrift store.  I actually own real Waterford crystal champagne flutes.  They were a Christmas gift at a company where I worked one year.  They are beautiful.  Each one was $50.  I am afraid to touch them because I don't want to break them.  I used to drink martinis and my friend gave me a very unique martini glass for my birthday one year.  It is painted with a tiger print and has a martini recipe on the bottom.  Maybe someday I'll drink wine out of it.



Newest addition to wine glass collection with Cupcake in the background

Waterford Crystal Champagne Flutes with one of my favoriate wines - Blackstone Merlot

Leopard print martini glass



Leopartotini recepie



Two more favorite wine glasses

I lucked out this weekend.  My local grocery store was having a Fire Sale on their wines.  I got pinot grigio for $3.00 and merlot for $5.00.   I am hoping they have some left for me to buy this weekend!  Love, love, love bargains!  I just signed up to be in a wine club so I can find out when their wine tastings are.  I'm excited about it!

Good Days

I'm not sure what has changed, but I'm not so stressed out these days.  I think it has to do with having the weekend off and having yesterday off.  A day off really helps you make it through the week less stressed out!  I just worked from 9:30 am to about 10:00 pm, and I was ok with it.  In the past I have actually broken down and cried before I had to go to work.  Especially at night or on a weekend when my family is home and I couldn't be with them.  I would just have an anxiety attack.

I have changed my thinking.  I'm not going to let work rule me, I'm going to rule it.  I am asking for days off.  I'm not going to be a freaking slave to the job.  I need a life outside of having 3 jobs.  I know, it's about time I figured this out!  Working a 41 1/2 hour work week just at Hy-Vee really did it for me.  With that and 10 hours at my other two jobs, that was 61 hours!  OMG!  No wonder I made so much money, but at what cost?  We all love to bitch until we see the paycheck, huh?

Life is Suffering

I went to the movie "Eat, Pray, Love" and I think it impacted me much more than I had thought.  Right after I saw it I decided to try meditating.  I love it so much.  For 15 to 20 minutes, or however long you want to, you can clear your mind, free your mind.  You don't have to think about anything.  It's almost like you're sleeping, so peaceful.

After this, I got some books on Zen, Meditation and Buddhism at the library.  It is a very peaceful, simple way of living.  The three main points of Buddhism are: 1. Lead a moral life; 2. Be mindful and aware of thoughts and actions; and 3. Develop wisdom and understanding.

Buddha believes that life is suffering.  Suffering is caused by craving and aversion.  We need to give up craving and live each day.  Don't dwell on the past or imagine the future.  Live in the moment.  The goal is to be in nirvana, the state of being free from suffering.  They don't believe in taking the life of anything living.  Not taking anything that is not freely given.  Abstaining from sexual misconduct and refraining from untrue speech.  Pretty simple when you think about it.  Don't kill, don't steal, don't cheat and don't lie.  We cannot lose our mindfulness.  We are responsible for our past and present actions.  If we don't do anything wrong, then we don't have any ill actions or regrets.  They believe that wisdom is being compassionate, sharing, giving comfort, sympathy and concern.  I really want to live by these simple rules.

I plan to continue learning about being Zen and Buddhism.

Self-Control is a Dirty Word!

So I'm watching TV and see a commercial for something called a "Treadclimber".  It's a treadmill, stair stepper and elliptical machine all in one.  I think I need to order one ASAP!  But, then, when would I have time to get on it?  I'm lucky I have time to shower and pee!  No joke!  I have let my work take over my life.  I am going to start requesting more time off.  This week I will have worked about 51+ hours by Sunday.  I'll have nice paychecks, but what am I sacrificing?  My health and sanity.

I really need to start exercising religiously.  I have tried taking every kind of weight loss product know to man, but I know that without exercise, I'm never going to lose weight.  It's very frustrating.  When I got married I was a size 5 and weighed about 120 lbs.  Then the weight just kept coming on and on.  I lost weight about 8 years ago, but it came right back on.  It's so easy when you think about it, you just have to eat right and exercise.  But, why can't I do it?  Why is it so difficult?  I have no self control!  I keep thinking that as soon as my life settles down again I will do it.  Hopefully that is soon!  Once I start exercising it can be addictive.  One time I was exercising like 3 times a day.  I was addicted.  I had it in my brain that if I stopped I would gain it the weight back.  I wish that the addiction would have continued!

I look at skinny women and think "Were they born like that or were they once fat?"  Most of them I know where born like that and stayed like that.  They were blessed with a super high metabolism!  I wish I had one of those!  Some people stop eating or get poor appetites when they are stressed.  I eat everything in site!  I am a very emotional eater and boy do I have some emotions!  Food makes me happy in times of trouble!  There a reason why they call it "comfort food"!  Just saying that I am craving potatoes and gravy!  lol!

I really want to do it and hope that someday I will.  Hopefully it will be before my daughter is a senior, which is next year.  I don't want to be the super fat mom walking my daughter on the basketball court for Parent's Night.  Why do we always care what others think?  The last time I lost all the weight was for one of my high school class reunions.  I really didn't want to be the fat girl there.  As soon as it was over, I went back to my bad habits and within 6 months, the weight was back on.

I work at a health supplement store where we sell diet pills.  I hate to say this, but diet pills are a waste of money.  All they are is high levels of caffeine.  I've tried them all and I only lost weight on one.  But, after time, that one didn't even work.  My body adjusted to it. I guess my advice is don't waste your money.  There is only one way to lose weight and that is through food control and exercise.  I still want that treadclimber! :)