Who needs an alarm?

     Picture the scene: 5:00 AM the morning I start back to school. All 5 of us ( the girls and Mom who is close to moving in) are sound asleep in our beds.  Well, I am not really sleeping I am running through a list of things I have to do at school but you get the idea.  The fire alarm goes off.  Seriously LOUD!  Bill and I jump up. I freak out! Run up the stairs.  The alarm stops.  Just stops.  Bill is looking downstairs for the fire. I run upstairs and into mom who is up stairs already looking.  I am thinking two things.  1. I need to find the fire (why I don't know) and 2.  Why haven't we practice a fire drill.  The teacher in me never dies I guess. Where is my list of names and our disgnated meeting place.  Why haven't we done a drill in the new house.  On and on.
       I go to check on both girls because I think we are on fire and I need them to be heading to the door.    Now here is the telling part of my children.  Vic didn't hear it or heard it and decided it wasn't real.  After I told her get out if that happens again she immeditly fell back asleep.   Val heard it but decide to roll over and watch Netflix! Really. We informed her next time act like it is real blah blah blah.
       Bill declares it a false alarm and went back to bed.  Mom goes back to her room.  I am stuck wide awake waiting on 6:30 so I can get dressed for work.
      Ten minutes later it goes off again and then immeditly stops.  This time Val is up and coming down the stairs (good girl).  Vic who is still sleeping will need some more work. I an never sleeping again.

Until next time.
CC

Let's just call this Act 2 or Skeleton Creek!

I am back!!! Back by popular demand!! And all that good stuff,  I will try to make a commitment to write more often. Who knew people were even reading it.  (Maybe it is just Beth and my sister Michelle!) now onto the good stuff.

Skeleton Creek:
 Victoria is now in middle school, can you believe it! Any way she is a bit of a reluctant reader and I thought a good way to encourage her would be to read with her.  Meagan, who teaches middle school, (can you believe it!) suggested this book called Skeleton Creek. It is a different kind of book. It is half journal and half video diary.  We read the parts together and then watch the movies so we stay together.  I should preface this whole story with the fact that I hate being scared.  I hate it. Hate hate hate.  I don't like roller coasters, haunted houses, even suspense is not my favorite. The music alone freaks me out. I especially don't like scary movies like Blair Witch Project!

So me being me thought that this is a kids book and could be that bad. HA!

Let me set the scene for you. We read the first part and then the first video was scary.  It was filmed like the Blair Witch movie and was a bit freaky because this ghost man thing shows up in a window. I was ok, Vic was ok then we moved on to the second chapter. Now the book is odd because something has happened but we as the reader don't know what yet. So we get to the next video.

The video called the Raven. Whew... I am going to need a moment.  Ok.
So we as the viewer know something weird is going to happen and I know something scary is going to happen because is saw a website that talked about the book before I started reading it and it said this video was scary.  It is 6:15 in the morning, Val is eating breakfast, Bill is in the study and Vic and I are watching it on the iPad.

We start it going and the music alone is scary. The girl comes on and tells us to watch all the way to the end because we won't believe what is on the end. Victoria and I are holding hands and watching.  The girls is again taping and she is filming so we can't see her.  The boy falls, and then this thing makes some weird noise and a little plastic bag or something floats by.  I think oh this is the "scary" thing and turn to tell Vic oh that isn't so bad. The music is still scary but I have made it. As I turn back to the screen, this thing (ghost or otherwise) jumps into the screen.
Several things happen at once:
         -I scream at the top of my lungs
         -Victoria screams at the top of her lungs
         - We both turn to each other and scream again in each other's faces.
         - We both clutch each other in a giant hug because we are still alive.
        - I turn and fall over the couch laughing at how crazy Victoria looked
        - she turns and falls onto the couch holding her chest and kind of laughing

(I can act this all out for you next time we are together of course! )

This is where Bill strolls out of the study because he has been living with us long enough to know this is not a real issue but  just a normal Friday morning.

I was very freaked out  to say the least.  I even made Vallerie walk out to the car in front of me.  I thought well at least she won't want to watch or read anymore... Nope! She is ready to go on to the next section.
 We just finished it and had to watch the next video. Good news we think is that nothing popped up   I say we think because neither of us watched the whole thing. We were alternately holding hands, looking away, or covering our eyes.  Vic at one point covered her ears!

Until next time, hopefully it won't be too long!

Xo
Cc

Back by popular demand....

• Sorry friends! It has been a long time! I am now back on a regiment of writing everyday! Also something is all wonky (new British lingo) with the spacing on the blog so I am using bullets instead of paragraphs!


• The gang is changing, Bill is traveling A LOT! I did get the new job and LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Everyone is older (note the markee up top) With the big 21 for Meagan, she wanted to go to where else... London. What no Vegas? Booze it up... she was determined to booze it up and go to London anyway. Bill thought this would be a more cost effective way but of course in the normal Charles fashion...we couldn't let that happen.


• It all started when he asked Meagan to go and he would time it with one of his trips. So she was talking about it and then it just so happen that I kept saying all the fun stuff "WE" could do... oh wait I wasn't invited! lol I didn't know that! And really Meagan would have much much more fun with me. So add me to the list as well.... Then about a month before we are ready to go Meagan happens to mention that maybe Will should go because he normally goes with us on the vacations and really it wouldn't be as much fun without him... and oh by the way I think he is a little sad that he doesn't get to go too. Long story short Bill feels guilty and invites him BEFORE booking his ticket. Well this throws a HUGE wrench into the plan because you can't just change the name on the ticket (thanks a lot Bin Laden) So the only way we can go is to change Bill and Will's ticket to going on a separate plane and Meagan and I going on another one.


• Bad news is that Meagan and I had to go to the airport WAY early (had to stay in that presidents lounge) Meagan and I had good seats and were of course drinking, me more than her! Mimosas' anyone? Meagan almost spilled her drink on several people but it was all okay! She didn't get the least bit tipsy she is just clumsy. Most of the "big drinking" trip was Meagan ordering things and Will finishing them. He was lit for a lot of the time and we had to cut him off when he began an inappropriate discussion in the cab! Meagan and I were mouthing at him to stop, to which he said... "What, I can't here you!" He also gave us the rules to beer pong,(Mom and Donna seem to know this game too) and told us not to worry about him at Texas A&M because he is usually the DD. Anyone pick up the usually ?!?....


• Starting in Windsor and continuing onto every tourist site we went to, we seem to be on a tour with school groups.. kindergartners at Windsor, and bigger at every location from the Tower of London to St. Paul's Cathedral. They were all in matching uniforms all dressed in suit jackets, so it felt like you were being attack by an entire troop everywhere you went. Every day we would say, oh today must be field trip day! Then the next day, Oh today must be field trip day! We all know Bill likes neither high pitch kids voices nor crowds! The kids and I thought they were cute! All dressed in suit jackets talking all British! They seems to be drawn to Bill. He and I would walk to a spot and it would be all quite then...."OHHHH look there is a cannon, a baby cannon". It sounded like being in Hogwarts with Harry Potter.


• Speaking of Harry Potter, we did indeed get Bill to platform 9 3/4. He was going to send us alone but no I dragged him. We go all the way on the "tube" to King's cross, walk right up to platform 9. When we see the big gates. You need to have a ticket to get onto the platform! A ticket... hmmm now what. Meagan and I hem and haw about what to do for a while, when I decide the only thing to do is to walk up to the ticket person. The big discussion was that we didn't want to look like tourist! If you can imagine... I kid you not I didn't even get a word out when he said in the British accident "Platform 9 3/4 is around the corner down the platform to the left." Ohhhh thank you, what would possibly make you think I would like Harry Potter!!! Could it be... I don't know the fact that none of us have bag, we have 2 huge cameras between 4 people. We scream American with Will in his Texas A&M water polo shirt! Yes, I guess so. So here we go, all excited. Laughing hysterically in the train station. Bill was completely over it by now, he just wanted to go eat. We go down and of course run into all the other Americans abroad! Everyone was in a line for....wait for it....a poster of a brick wall. This poster did have a trolley halfway through the wall but it looked really really fake. So we (and all the others) are in line waiting on our turn. We run up and act like we are pushing it and looking at Bill shot a pic of all of us but refused to take his picture (Sorry Gracie!). Unfortunately Meagan will have to photo shop the white background wall out and try to make it look more realistic but I thought it was so much fun. Check one off the bucket list!


• Tomorrow I will tell you about how I nearly DIED at St. Paul's Cathedral. Or how I like to think about it Notre Dame take 2!

Somebody's watching me....

Picture the scene..Bill left early for work, I am sleeping alone at our house. I had just had a really bad dream (happens a lot!) and then the house alarm alerted for a brief minute then turned back green. FREAK OUT!!! I jump up and call Bill who was working and told him that it alerted upstairs then turned back green. He said well it could have been like where the rain caused the sensor to lose contact and once the contact was reattached it would be fine. I said like if someone came in the window and then closed it!

Now here is where I was expecting him to say oh don't worry no one is in the house. Or you are being silly or something but no he said, " go ask Donna or Rhonda to come check it out or you can go get the gun and look around yourself!!!!!!

WHAT!?! What the heck? Why say that? Was there a need for making me panic! I just needed someone to say oh no problem, not go check it out with a GUN!!!

So then I really freaked out....
I picked up my little dog Scooter and walked outside to get Rhonda, and her lights were all out her hubby wasn't home yet and so I was out of luck there.

On a side note Scooter went nuts out side and ran up to Rhonda's door. He loves her almost as much as me so he was thinking he could go play. All this time I am on the phone with Bill and he kept says Why did you bring the dog!
To which I say because I didn't want something to happen to him either!

I am sure to the outsiders I looked like a freak in my pjs out front going back and forth between Donna's and Rhonda's house following the dog and talking to Bill on the phone.

Thankfully Donna's husband Ken came and checked it out for me. Walked all of the upstairs and didn't' see anything. He had with him a trusty belt which he kept snapping. That made me laugh! Anyway he leaves and then I think he didn't look downstairs...what if when I was outside the intruder walked down stairs and is now in one of the closets!

See how easily I can freak myself out! Have you ever been freaked out in the house and then you start to hear weird noises???

Then I think well if I go outside then maybe come back in it might feel like every other time I come home to a empty house. I get in the car and that makes a weird beep so is someone now in my car! I look in the back seat (nope) and I go get donuts (any excuse right...) all the while looking in my rear view mirror for someone to jump up! I come back but it didn't really work.

That leads me to now, where I am just down to listing why there is not an intruder in my house/ waiting for me.

Number 1: It is raining... can't rightly steal things in the rain might ruin all of it.
Number 2: Wouldn't there have been a weird car or something outside.
Number 3: The dog would have barked or something.
Number 4: When I drove away then the person would have time to get out!
and finally Number 5: It has been too long now and so it must be okay :)

PS. I don't watch scary movies as you can see from above I don't really need much to get me all scared and frazzled! If you find fault with any of my reasons please don't tell me as I will get freaked out again and who wants that!

XOXO
CC

Two short stories...

One is from my sister Michele, She came into work and noticed that her yellow flower had now turned purple. WOW... it was a miracle. I mean come on that seems to be very very cool... She asks the cleaning lady How that could possible happen and wasn't that cool??? Wasn't that neat! She was so excited! The cleaning lady said well, yes it is quite common when I change the whole plant. The other one was dead.... Seriously you couldn't tell that it was dead???


Two.... we were at at the Toy Story 3 and in case you haven't seen it I won't give away the plot. Anyway at one point in the movie the gang pushes Buzz to reset him and he starts to speak in Spanish. They put subtitles down and I was asking Vic who was sitting next to me eating Twizzlers non stop, if she could read them fast enough. Nope but she told me not to worry she knows a little Mexican. I whisper, "No, Vic it is Spanish. Vic responds (never looking away from the screen), "I think it is Mexican. " I whisper again, "it is CALLED Spanish" Vic responds, "Hmm... sounds like Mexican to me"

I give up... We discussed it later but really.... really

CC

Family Videos

So I have tried OVER and OVER to get this loaded up on YouTube but something is wonky with it. They are now going to be here and I will update periodically. Thanks to Maria Amaya for turning me on to Animoto! I Love love love it! Hope you do too!

Here is the one for Dad! Yes that is me as a little girl! :)

How early can someone develope a shoe obsession???

We went shoe shopping today. I was going to get a purse then Victoria decided that she HAD to have these shoes. Well they had my size there too (I know I am a freak with a super small foot!) I bought 4 pairs of shoes

that were super cute!

Any way Vic declared that she must have THESES... to wear to church of course....

These red ones are for school....

Really she is going to be trouble when her foot gets bigger!!!

CC