NJM 25 in NoJoMo 2018

7:54 am

Slept really well last night. Macy’s has king size pillows on sale with good reviews. Pam got two and said that I had to get them. Oh yeah, big difference. I usually toss and turn fluffing pillows (my head must be really heavy because I make the pillows flat as a pancake lol) trying to get comfortable. I always wake up with a stiff neck, but not today :) Huzzah! You know how expensive pillows can be (which is stupid). These only cost about 30 bucks for two of them. Super good deal :)

A sent me a text at midnight. I’m really glad I didn’t hear my phone chirp because he would have gotten an ear full. They had a last minute booking (I told him that would happen) so I have the four rooms to get ready. Like I said, easy money for me. Unless someone brought dogs again lol And I’m really glad that he is willing to call me in when he needs a hand, because, again, money.

I need coffee. Back later.

3:47 pm

Well, no dogs at the Alpenhorn, but one of the sheep somehow got out. They’re old, so I doubt it jumped the fence. Good thing they’re tame. A bit on the dumb side though. When I opened the gate he wouldn’t go around the gate. He just stood behind the open gate like “hey! I still can’t get through!” When I opened the gate all the way, making move out of the way, he bolted. I called out “No no no! Come back! This way. This way.” He must speak a little English because he listened to me.

4:43 pm

Literally left in the middle of writing. Anyhoo, work wasn’t bad at all. Someone even left a tip! That is a rare thing. lol I pocket the money so fast you would think someone is behind me. How sad am I?

I actually had a bit of energy when I got home, so I made the black bean brownies that I’ve been wanting to make for weeks. They are now cooling on the counter. I know they sound really gross, but they are nommy as hell. And they’re half ass healthy for you.

Ok, on to the prompt.

Prompt: What is your fondest childhood memory?

Been thinking about this all day, and I can’t pick just one. I had a pretty decent childhood. Yeah, my family is dysfunctional as hell in some areas, but in others, we’re awesome.

Because I can’t pick just one, I’m going to say every Halloween while we lived in Salem.

My dad… well, all of us, really would get the porch ready for Halloween. Plywood painted black with some florescent spray paint saying “Get out!” or eyes or whatever. Fake webs would go up, and he had a couple of animatronic things, too. This was back in the 80s/early 90s so the animatronics weren’t a big thing yet. Black lights would hang from the ceiling, and a strobe light was focused at the end of the porch, where the witch sat giving out candy.

It was a huge party. My dad would always make American Chop Suey (It’s a New England thing) to feed everyone that came by. All of us would dress in scary costumes and head out to the front porch.

We had a casket my dad made where Dracula would be (or a mummy depending on whatever my dad fancied that year), a cage he made that my mom picked every year. We had zombies, ghouls, devils, mauled people, a werewolf and, of course, the witch.

The kids had to walk up the steps, go by all the monsters, and make it to the witch to get their candy. Then they had to walk back. A lot of kids wouldn’t come up, so it was usually my job to bring the candy down. The hard part was to not make the kid that I was coming after them.

One year, a news crew came by. I guess while they were downtown filming haunted happenings someone mentioned our house. They interviewed my dad, and they asked how much he charges for the haunted house. My dad looked at him like he had five heads lol Said “We don’t charge anything! This is our way of handing out candy to kids.”

Hundreds of people would show up. There would be a line at the door waiting for us to open it up at 6 pm. We would usually roll it up at 10. All of us exhausted and slightly tipsy (we would take breaks to have a highball and a smoke), my dad asking if we made any kids cry. lol it was a good year if someone cried. lol we’re horrible lol

Sooo many memories of Halloween with the family.

So I can’t pick just one. I pick every year I was with my parents, family and friends on Halloween.