Travel Log 10-4: The First Installment

This year I've decided to  throw an idea I've had for a while out there. I had such fun writing the serial I posted up here last Halloween that I wanted to do another story, but make it a little more interactive.
     When I was growing up I really loved the "choose your own adventure" books. I really enjoyed the idea of a story that would change every time I read it. It was like having 10 books in one, and I was all about that. So I thought I would bring that same idea to my Halloween story this year. So we will be trying out my first "choose your own haunting" Halloween tale together!
     So here we go, the first installment of-


                                                              "MOCKINGBIRD LANE"

     "What was that?"
     Linda glanced around the car uneasily as the thunder died away. Samantha was reclined in the passenger seat snoring softly. The swish swish of the wiper blades on the windshield created a soothing rhythm and Linda began to relax a little bit. The headlights of her compact blue sedan bounced off of tree trunks and bushes as she navigated their way along the deserted road, keeping a sharp eye out for woodland creatures making kamikaze dashes across the road.
      What had started as a light rain earlier in that day had become a down pour after the sun had set. Under regular circumstances she loved a nice rainy afternoon curled up with a book and a cup of tea on her comfortable couch at home. Driving down a deserted road, in the middle of nowhere, at night, with the only person for miles asleep next to her was not her idea of a fun evening.
     The thunder boomed.
      Oh yeah, and now there's thunder and lightning she thought. I am so not doing this alone. It was her idea anyway.
     She reached out and shook Samantha's leg until the red head opened her eyes and sat up.
     "We're there already?" She said as she stretched in the passenger seat.
      How did I let myself get talked into this? Linda thought.

Three days earlier.....
     "C'mon it will be fun, and you need to have some fun. Get out of this apartment." Samantha's blue eyes pleaded with Linda to give in to her oldest friend one more time. Ever since they were kids Samantha had been dreaming up adventures and somehow finding a way to get Linda to join in. Ever since Linda's husband had died the year before she had been trying to get Linda to go on a trip. Her newest installment of the let's get out of town argument was a trip to a country bed and breakfast that she had found an advertisement about. The pamphlet she had brought promised a weekend to remember.
     Linda shook her head, making her light brown bob swing. She didn't want a weekend to remember, she just wanted to stay in her comfortable little apartment. It was safer there, and comfortable. Why couldn't Samantha get that?
     " Uh-uh. It's too late in the year to make a trip out that way, and besides I have too much to do here." She fussed around the coffee table that Samantha was resting her feet on.
     "Look you've locked yourself up here ever since Allen died. It's time to get out, see the sunshine, hear the birds, smell some freakin' roses already. We're not victorian ladies. There is no forced mourning period. It's not like he was really worth all this devotion anyway. And you know I'll just keep bugging you until you go with me."
     Linda scowled at her. "That was a low blow. " She sighed. "Fine, if I agree to go on this ridiculous trip of yours will you quit hounding me?"
     Samantha jumped up with a cheer and hugged her.....

     And that's how she gets me every time. She just couldn't hold out against Samantha's sheer determination to help her 'get a life'.
    What is wrong with my life as it is. I like it.
     The subject of Linda's mental ire finished stretching and shook out her long hair.
     "That didn't take long. I told you it would be an easy trip"
      Thunder crashed louder than ever and the lightening threw the trees into stark relief.
      "No we're not there, but I can barely see two feet in front of the car. And that thunder is creeping me right out. This was your brain storm so now you can keep me company while I try to find that 'quant and picturesque lane' that's supposed to lead to this fantastic hideaway you found. Why you needed to do this during storm season I have no idea. I should be comfy at home right now." Patience had flown away with that last thunderclap.
      Samantha grabbed the map off of the dash and flicked on the overhead light.
     "The map says that we should be coming up to Bluebird Drive on the left in about 2 miles. So just make the next left and then it's a short two miles to the front door of the Valley View Inn. Simple." She tossed the map in the back seat and started to fiddle with the radio, looking for a station that would play in the storm.
     Linda made her turn at the next road she came to and began creeping down the narrow gravel road crowded by the trunks of trees, standing like dark sentinels in the storm. A flash of lightning illuminated the streetsign the girls had driven by without noticing. It read Mockingbird Lane.
     "See? Nothing to get worked up about. We'll be there in two more easy miles." Samantha grinned and poked Linda in the arm. "Scared of a little rain, huh? Think about how great you'll feel in that comfortable room you booked. A long, steaming bath will make you feel like a million bucks."
     Linda stewed a little bit in her annoyance as they bumped along. Her mood began to lift when she saw the glimmer of lights ahead as they rounded a bend. The gravel road abruptly turned into a smoother paved road as they left the trees.
     "How big was that bed and breakfast supposed to be?" Linda asked, a sudden sense of unease beginning in her stomach and she shot furtive glances at the buildings and houses lining the lane. They passed several quaint, multi-storied farmhouses, a general store, and what looked like an old livery stable.
    "Not this big. I think we may have taken a wrong turn."
     The road was lined with dark houses.  The girls looked around them and saw no house numbers or markers to show what road they were on. Linda pulled to a stop at the end of the road, in front of the only two houses that had any lights on at all. They sat on the crest of a slight hill, giving the impression that they floated above the other buildings.
      "This just about caps the night. It's raining, and we're lost in a strange little town, in the middle of nowhere, and there doesn't appear to be  anywhere still open to ask for directions. What are we going to do now?"
      "Oh lighten up a little. These two houses have their lights on, so lets go knock on a door and ask someone for directions." Samantha unbuckled her safety belt and jumped out of the car into the rain.
     "Hell." Linda unbuckled herself and followed Samantha. "Well ok miss adventure-which house is it going to be?"

  Do Samantha and Linda go to the three story Victorian house with the wrap around porch and antique rose garden and porch light glowing on the left?

OR

   Do Samantha and Linda go to the two story colonial house with the trimmed hedge walkway and lit front window on the right?

YOU CHOOSE!
    Just leave a comment with which one you vote for!
(you can find the second part of the story here)

Travel Log 10-1: IT'S HERE IT'S HERE IT'S FINALLY HERE!!!!!

As you can tell I'm excited that it's the first day of October, lol. SO many things  this month and I love it.It's even starting off on the right foot with thunder and lightning storms all day!
      With the merchandising frrenzies going the rest of the year, this is the one month that is really dedicated to fall. I love all the Halloween stuff that is out in the stores. I love the anticipation of Halloween and all the fun that comes in that with that. To quote the Pumpkin Song -"life's no fun without a good scare". That's what this month allows us to do. It allows us to revel in the dark. To let our dark sides free to revel, whether your dark side is a vampire or a fairy princess (hey- that much pink in one place is pretty scary). The monsters come out and broomstick rides aren't just fun they are mandatory.
     Considering how candy coated most of the year is this one month for horror and magik to reign is extra sweet to me. This is the time of year when I feel like a kid let loose in a candy emporium and no adults to supervise *insert manic grin*. When I was growing up my parents were not big on social interaction. I hardly ever got to hang out with kids my age, and pretty much lived inside my own head with my imagination. Halloween was the one time of year I got to let my imagination out of my head and play with it in real life without anyone looking at me like I was even weirder than they thought.
     So it's no wonder that this time of year imparts a sense of absolute childlike wonder in me. I feel comfortable and free and love every minute of it. So now the count down begins to the big day, but I'm going to have fun all month long and enjoy the journey that is October!
     And in that spirit I'll be starting my month long project tomorrow! Last year I did a serial writing project here on the blog and this year I'm going to do the same with a little twist! I'll be posting a choose your own adventure story for the first time this month and all of you will get to choose how the story is going to go! That will be interspersed with some how-to's on my favorite Halloween type crafts(with pics finally if everything goes right=). So it shall be a busy month for me and hopefully an entertaining one for you!

Travel Log 9-26: Of Lemon's and Things

 I have discovered the nectar of the gods. It is not up on Mt. Olympus as once believed, nor is it hidden in some fairy raft. It was, in fact, hiding in plain sight in a recipe listed by the wonderful, genius woman who runs the Down To Earth Blog. I made some this afternoon and had to immediately make toast just to have something to eat it on. If you get the chance try this. It is really not a lot of work for the 2 pint jars of sunshine yellow heaven that it produces. If you can't tell I like it, lol.
     Also on a more personal note I had an interesting experience last night in the spiritual realm that was, well, a first for me. i was doing a meditation session with my hubby and I let my mind drift into the directions that my life has taken lately. For once I had what I would call a full blown subconscious visualization, with list of complaints and demands for promises to do better. I'll probably give you all a detailed account later, but for now I was just wondering if things like that were common with other's practices?

Travel Log 9-22: Merry Mabon!!!!

I hope everyone is having a falltastic day!
   This is my absolute favorite time of year and as soon as I find a country that has fall all year round, that's where I'm moving, lol. But that aside we didn't do much today, as it was a school day, but we had a great dinner filled with foods we picked or made from scratch when we would normally have bought it. We put some of our home made apple butter on rolls we made, and made salsbury steak from scratch (a recipe I stole from Jazz at Octoberfarm =) and then finished it with home made pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie.
    This year we are giving a lot of thanks for the upswings our fortunes have taken, as well as all of the challenges we have faced and will face. Without challenges we can't grow, and if we can't grow what's the point?
     The past two days have been grey from most of the day, and there has definitely been a bite in the air. I almost thought the weather being so mild most of the year was an ominous sign of summer ravaging through autumn and winter, but instead it seems that at least this year we here in the desert of southern California are going to get all 4 seasons this year! That is something to definitely give thanks for!

Travel Log 9-20: A Very Squishie Day

Not only was today my tiny little squishie man's 2cd birthday, but today was also the day he decided to take his biggest stride into potty training yet- he peed in the big potty!
     Little man has been doing it for quite some time, but so far Squishie has been content to sit on the "little" potty and  try to go. But not today! Today he decided to earn his big boy training pants!
     It was kinda funny actually. He is not tall enough to go in the large potty so he started off doing some pretty impressive flat lifts of his body with his little hands on the rim of the bowl( which was horrifying from a mommy standpoint!) and lifting his entire body in an effort to get the weapon to its assigned target. This did not work very well, and once mommy had caught her breath from laughing the little potty was disassembled and turned into a step stool. He then proceeded to step proudly up and, now that he was tall enough, to begin to scream at me because he couldn't get it going right away. Then when he did and it was right on target we did  a lot of screaming and dancing in the bathroom!
     Which totally rocked because one of his presents was his first set of big boy pull ups (which of course got upstaged by the bizillion hot wheels his dad picked out for him, lol).
     The little guy went off to sleep like an angel, and tonight mommy and daddy shall go to sleep with visions of a diaper free future dancing in our heads!

Travel Log 9-15: Burnt Sauce, Picked Apples, and Pumpkin bread

 So this weekend my dear hubby and I went out to the apple orchards and took the munchkin hoard with us. Fortunately the buildings are still standing and only minor amounts of mayhem wreaked upon the unsuspecting populace. However a whole bunch of apples were sacrificed in a gratuitous and horrifying manner to allow us to bring home, along with our 10 lbs of child labor provided apples, 2 gallons of apple cider!
     So far the plans are to make a bunch of apple butter, but the apples are disappearing qucikly! We also baked a passle (what the heck is a passle anyway??) of pumpkin bread which has been devoured (I swear someone other than me ate some- a little). I was actually so filled with domesticated confidence and power I decided to make this weeks batch of spaghetti sauce all by myself, right after the older kids got home from school. Foolish you say? Bah!  I laugh at distractions and 3 year old trips to the potty!
      Which is probably how the sauce got burned, lol.

Travel Log 9-8: And the New Winner is......

Rue!!!! So shoot me a line and I'll get them shipped out to you!
     In other news it's been a really good week. My best friend is coming to visit for halloween, the weather has been awesome and overcast/rainy, Hubby is doing great at his new job, and the munchkins are starting to get used to me being home with them. Despite that fact that only about an eighth of my brain functions before 10am I've hammered out a routine for getting the older kids to school and the younger ones up and fed, so I feel like a domestic champion!
    On top of that, this weekend I used the mad money I had saved up and bought myself some books I have been dying to have off of Amazon. And they got here today!!!
    I know a lot of people look down on llewellyn's, but I got their witch's calendar for this year and next year, as well as their spell-a-day almanac and can say that so far I really like them. The almanacs are an interesting blend of multiple personalities, paths, and insight and I like the variety. The calendar's, while not heavy on my preferred style of artwork, do have all the high points that I always forget to mark on mundane calendars already filled in for me.
      So yeah, things are on a definite upswing and I am thoroughly basking in it!