Ah. Back home. I can't tell you how relaxing it is just to be back home. Whoever says vacations don't wear you out really has to rethink their notions. Anyway, I'm back, and happier than ever. Spending time with my sister and her family is something I've been wanting to do for ages. We only see each other, maybe, a grand total of five times a year. If that. Mainly for the main holidays and some of their birthdays.
So, there was a myriad of things going on during my stay with my half-sister, her husband and her kids. I'll try to only include the important things.
Barb and I managed to get a lot down with both of our novels. I managed to edit over a hundred pages of her six hundred page book. Now, keep in mind that with our publishing company that six hundred pages typed up on the computer results in around a hundred or two hundred when printed in the book. Yeah. Weird, I know. I'm looking at mine and I'm in huge trouble! Judging by the word count, my novel, so far, will be less than a hundred and fifty pages. That makes it, well... let's put it this way: I need to write some MORE. Man. Work on this thing is never done!
Kalan, my nephew, had his friend down, so I really didn't get to spend much time with him. It's a shame, really... I wanted to hang out with him! Then again, I'm glad he's doing what his heart wants him to do. I'm not going to push him into spending time with his "Aunt Mandy" unless he wants to. He's a fantastic kid- he really is. I love him to death!
To be honest, yes... most of my time was spent either writing my book, formatting it, editing my sister's novel or trying to survive the "dogs of doom" (wow. Sounded like a corny Indiana Jones title for a movie!). There's two of them, both puppies. One is a twinge older than the other, so it has the advantage of being bulkier in might and he uses the upper hand to pester the younger one. They're adorable! They're just hyper.
When I mean hyper, I mean INSANELY hyper.
Oh man, I'm laughing about this... I actually had my first ever cup of coffee! Oh man... I always swore that I would stay away from Energy Drinks, coffee, caffeine of ANY sort... To be honest, when I'm hyper, that's just my persona feeding off of other's personalities. I'm really low keyed, almost lazy. I bet my friends would never believe me.
I digress. Anyway, Barb introduced me to coffee. Caffeinated "Highlander Grog"! Man, that stuff tasted fantastic! With that and a Heath bar, ooooh, yes, it was truly a good night for us! A truly wondrous affair that not even our guilty, nagging thoughts for up keeping good and pristine health could deny us our little comfort splurge. Now.. Coffee isn't something I'll drink everyday. I'm happy I tried it. I'll stick with herbal teas in the morning.
Speaking of "Highlander"-- okay, first of all, no, I didn't watch the movies. However, I got to finally see The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I've been wanting to see that for ages, and my sis is a HUGE fan of Sean Connery. Man! GREAT movie! For being made four years back, the CGI for that film was very impressive. I got a kick out of most of the characters. I know a lot of people trash this film, complaining about the plot or the actors- whatever the case, I personally loved it.
Barb's trying to introduce me to a lot of Sean Connery films. Gotta respect him for all he's done so far!
On the last night I was there, we had a massive thunderstorm come by the area. Now, I'm three hours living away from my home, so my parents never got the storm. If they did, it had died off by then. Anyhow, I was petrified. No, not because of thunderstorms. The lights had gone out. Now I'm fine with darkness. No problem there. I can sleep right through stuff like that.
What scares the living crap out of me is when it's absolute darkness. This comes in the form of no light at all, and no matter how much you wait for your eyes to adjust, they don't. Plunge into the merciless abyss, you stand there in the living room, heart clenched tightly in your throat as you hesitate to even move (considering the fact you can't even see a single blasted object in said room).
I managed to find one of my small flashlights I keep on me in case the lighting goes out at work. Thank God I had it! Anyway, my step-nephew, Walter, and I sat up for most of that ordeal, and he was talking about his new girlfriend and I talked about random nonsensical stuff. I was just blabbering, I admit. I was half asleep- what more can you expect?
The electricity went on and off a total of twelve times. I was so board I counted the events. Well, that's what was going on- everything normal- until we mentioned George.
Now, warning, the next part is Paranormal. If you don't believe in any of that sort of stuff, then please, don't comment and post flames everywhere. If you do believe, that's fine! If you have had a event yourself, I'd love to hear it!
Now, my half-sister's house is haunted by one single spirit. He used to live there and his name was George (last name unknown). Quite the hermit, he was a tinkerer that designed stuff. He mainly lived down in the basement and only emerged up on the higher levels or even outside when he was searching trashcans for odds and ends to create his wondrous creations. He died a long time ago.
He was a nice guy and is even friendlier as a spirit. He loves to prank on the family.
There are events where, randomly, the flip-top trashcan lid will move with a loud SMACK! No one's around. That's him, trying to snoop around. I actually witnessed it twice during my stay. It's just so neat to hear a little scuffling and you look towards the can only to see the lid move from nothing slapping down on it.
That night, however, with the lighting off, Walter somehow got on the subject of talking about the house. He knew it was haunted. Kalan and a few others deny it. So it seems my sis, her husband and Walter are the only ones that believe. Well, we were chatting, and that's when I finally told Walter that I'm a sensitive. I told him that I had been witnessing stuff throughout the week, and it sort of surprised him- he though his step mom, my sister, was the only sensitive in the family.
I started to talk about George, and I was sitting on the couch with Walter flanking me in a lean back sofa chair. I was just mentioning the feelings I had been getting (a nice, welcomed feeling resides in that house, especially strong down in George's past work area), when I felt something. Bolting off of the couch I turned around, staring at my seat.
Walter, raising an eyebrow, said, "Feeling a bit paranoid, aren't we, Mandy?"
"Oh, no," I said with a grin, sitting back down. Turning to him, I look him right in the eye. "Your friend was just saying hi."
When I had been sitting there, the thing that shocked me was three clear, distant tugs on my shirt. Evenly spaced in time, they were just three simple tugs. I could actually feel the material gather slightly as if fingers were scrunching up the fabric.
I thanked him later on when I went down int he basement alone. That's where he lived.
He did one final little send-off for me. George has been known to hide things and prank the family with it. If he likes someone, he'll do it. Well, yes, I had my sketchbook on the table. What do you think happens? It's gone.
Barb and I were trying to talk to George, making him show us where he hid it. I eventually found it stashed in the weirdest spot. Yeah. Seems like he didn't want me to leave.
Overall, my vacation was fantastic. There's more to write, but I may just save that for tomorrow-- I wrote too much as it is!
heart Peace out, ya'll! heart
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