A Christmas Elf

Over a month ago, after posting about my thrilling Halloween, I came down with a terrible sore throat.

It was so terrible, I was positive I had strep. But I didn't. Still, I had tonsillitis, and a very bad case of it. A week later, I felt a little better and had deadlines fast approaching. Not one to "call in sick" for any reason, I forged ahead and met my deadlines in the nick of time. But until this week, I've still been busy, busy busy.

A month and a half later, I've finally caught up. Well... kind of.

As many local friends probably know, I also began working part time as a waitress in the nearby Applebee's. I only mention this because the time I've spent making extra Christmas money, has been time spent away from my computer. Another reason why I haven't blogged for a while.

Earlier this week, I planned to blog. I had free time and it was even raining outside (a perfect backdrop for any writer). But then, I heard a crack and a snap. I looked out my kitchen window to see the water inside the pool cover splashing back and forth. Slipping on my sneakers, I ran outside to investigate.

I couldn't believe it.

My pool had buckled under the weight of the water in the pool cover.

I tried siphoning the water out through a hose. The rain came down harder. I grabbed a kitchen knife and began cutting the pool cover (over a hundred bucks - down the drain). This was when I realized the pool was dry.

There must have been a leak in the liner.

So, my husband (the biggest lover of this pool) came home in a very, very sour mood the other night. He went outside to check the damage. When he came in, he didn't speak for over an hour.

I still don't know if we'll try and salvage it or tear it down. Plan B might entail a brick patio and a hot tub (eventually).

Nevertheless, I decided to try and cheer my hubby up a little with Christmas lights.

Every year, he wants to hang them and every year I get busy and he ends up doing it himself.

So, I took my oldest outside to help me AFTER he went to work today. Two hours later we were done. My eleven year-old daughter was a huge help. And while I'm still resting with aching arms, she's upstairs right now making Christmas cookies. I think she'll even do the dishes when she's done. She's been doing that a lot lately too. Can you believe it?

This holiday season, I've finally found my very own, honest-to-goodness, Christmas Elf.

I don't know where she came from. Mine just appeared out of nowhere. But, you should get one. Really.

I think she'll supervise Christmas cards next...

Happy Halloween!!!

Friendly pumpkins met...

the Bride of Frankenstein and a very, very dead princess

this Halloween.

And then we went trick-or-treating. I even forced my son, the Halloween-Scrooge, out for the night. I don't have his picture, but he threw on a black cap and called himself a thug. Spiderman just wouldn't do it for him this year.

*sigh*

They grow up so fast.

We did head out to a local haunted house called Listening Hill Horror. This haunted house boasts over 800 visitors every October and all the money raised goes to help a local church and the American Cancer Society. So, it's a win-win.

I wasn't sure if this local attraction would be scary enough for my three brave children. You should know that at the end of the night, my youngest almost peed her pants (for real) and my son (a little mister know it all) spilled his hot cocoa all over a couple boys sitting nearby on the hayride. I laughed so hard, I almost peed my pants too.

What a night.

That TV Blog

Not my TV (a picture from my clickart gallery)

For folks tuning in with a "huh?" and a "what?" - no, I did not change the format of this blog to the shows on TV (not that this would be a bad way to go).

Remote in hand, I've watched a lot of TV in my day. A lot of that TV has included the reality show, Survivor. Many of you might have caught on when I met one of my favorite and television's most-hated cast member, Jonny Fairplay. He married the beautiful Michelle from Top Model (another reality show) at the Water's Edge Country Club at Smith Mountain Lake.

As you might expect, reality TV stars DO flock together. Among the attendees were my favorites, Big Tom and Ethan (swoon), from past seasons.

For those non-survivor fans out there, the show just began its new season last month. Not only have I been sticking my butt to the couch every Thursday night at 8 pm, I've been tuning in online to see what my favorite blogger, Heather has to say about the show.

Friday mornings, Heather posts her views. And there are many that chime in, leaving their comments behind. I'm one of them.

So, go here to read the TV Blog and tell me I'm wrong when I say that Randy is a self-centered jerk. And tell me how an Olympic champion like Crystal could be losing all of those challenges.

After all, inquiring minds need to know.

Blog-cation and Politics

We all take vacations.

And thanks to the rising gas prices, most of us take stay-cations.

Well, I guess I took a much-needed blog-cation.

I didn't plan it. I didn't let anyone know, I just kind of took a break from the blogs. I hope you missed me, because I really did miss this blog, and all of you.

My friend and fellow blogger Debi alerted me that I had dropped off the virtual face of the earth with her comment, "Where are you Amy?"

I've been here. And even commenting on most other blogs. I just got busy and dropped a few balls from the air. To tell you the truth, you'd wonder why I'm even blogging today, if you saw the state of my house. Clean laundry, waiting to be folded and dirty floors. I'm on a cleaning binge today. I assured my husband just before he walked out the door to work.

"Your chef jackets will be ironed and the house will be clean tonight," I said.

For anyone that doesn't really know me personally, this is what I've been up to.

• Freelance writing


• Writing my ghost book (slowly, but surely)


• Substitute teaching (almost daily)


• Attending my son's football practices and games


• Volunteering with my kids' elementary school's PTO

Now, please don't misunderstand. I'm not complaining about my to-do list. I value everything on it. And believe it or not, I gain much more from what I do, then with what I don't do (if you get my drift).

I have been glued to the latest political debates lately too.

I don't wish to stand on my soapbox now and tell people what to think. I do think this election will change a lot of lives either way. With gas prices on the high end, Wall Street's troubles seem only a neighborhood away. It won't be long before Main Street, USA is feeling the effects of big business.

All we an hope for is a united America, not afraid to take the chances necessary to save itself.

Vacuuming sucks... well, now it does.

Now that the kids are in school, I've been busier than ever. I've been running around eating out with my regular lunch date (my husband) and even a few friends.

Writing has kept me going the last two weeks too. In fact, one day last week, I actually locked my keys in my car while investigating a story in Roanoke.

The bad news - I had to walk an extra half a mile that day so I could beg to use a phone. The good news - I found someone to interview while waiting for the AAA locksmith.

The last few days, my schedule slowed down a little and I took the opportunity to clean my house. I even bought a handy, dandy carpet cleaner for those really tough kid-sized stains (you know what I mean). There was just one glitch in my plan. I couldn't get my vacuum to work. There just wasn't much suction. After taking the vacuum apart, piece by piece, I found the filter was really, really dirty. I would have to replace it. After much hunting, I came up empty - even on the internet the filters were out of stock. Ugh!!

I pulled my most hated vacuum, the canister, out of the closet.

For those of you that like canister-style vacuums, I don't get it. I mean, why pull along this big machine, when we've reached the 21st century. Hel-lo.

Anyhoo, I went looking for a new vacuum bag and again... came up empty. I finally found one in Wal-mart (where I should have BEGAN).

Yesterday afternoon, after a week of looking and tweaking and trying to fix things, I vacuumed my carpets. And as much as I've hated those canister vacuums, that big ugly machine saved my pocketbook. I was so happy, I could have kissed it's silver, metal body. No kidding.

I was over the moon happy though, when I used my new carpet cleaner and said goodbye, adios, and sayonara to those yucky, red clay stains.

I think my I could even hear my carpet cheering a little.