the ghost whisperer

Next time I decide it's a good idea to have an online chat with an Australian psychic in the middle of the night, please stop me. Not that he isn't lovely...he really is (I think my mother might adore him and she's never even texted with him.) And the conversation was fascinating beyond words. But it's a windy night, I have mice in the walls, and now I'm laying in my bed with the covers up to my chin trying not to see shapes in the shadows as I jump at every single sound.

Just call me Miss Scaredy Cat. I'll freely admit to being somewhat terrified. Ok...a lot terrified. But did I mention I was talking to someone half a world away who could see things inside my house I'd never mentioned before?

Yeah...scary.

All I wanted to do was help our resident ghost. The sweet little girl who, for whatever reason, hasn't left the confines of my house since who knows when. I just wish I'd tackled the job in the light of day.  Everything looks brighter in the light of day, right?

It's my own fault...decades of scary movie watching...and scary book reading...and all the other scare inducing things I indulged in back when I was young and stupid...have turned me into a great big chicken.

Bok!

Ok, so nothing bad happened. Other than a tornado warning that shook me out of bed at the crack of dawn. And speaking of tornado warnings, I never thought I'd find myself in the position of deciding what I was more afraid of...being ripped from the ground by a giant vacuum cloud, or trudging down the stairs into my scary basement.

The basement won out, and I rode out the storm in the comfort of my living room. Hey, I'm still alive, aren't I?

As far as the ghost? I've been told her name is Charity, and she's likes me. I mean, what's not to like, right?

Until the next time...I'll be talking to my ghost on sunny days only.

who ya gonna call?

I think I may have stumbled across the one thing that will undoubtedly distract me from the bugs. Sooo, ummm, anyone know the number for the Ghost Hunters? Or the Ghostbusters? Even that tiny woman from Poltergiest…Tangina (although, she’s only one step up on the scary meter) I’m not going to get all picky here. I just need a good ghost exterminator.

Why is it things only seem to go bump in the night? I’ve never once heard a scary noise in the bright light of day. Could it be my hearing is just that much better after the sun goes down? Or do scary things really stay up waiting for us to drift off to sleep…sort of like cats.

Are scary things nocturnal, or am I just afraid of the dark?

Maybe a little of both, if my dogs are any indication. At eleven o’clock at night, they congregated around an open grate in one of the front rooms of the house, barking into the opening until the sound echoed throughout the ducts. My husband shined a flashlight into the grate but saw nothing but dust. The dogs weren’t convinced.

Neither was I.

An hour later, I still hear creaking sounds…and snoring. My husband and the dogs are all sound asleep as I hunker down under the blankets, listening for things that go bump in the night.

I want to go investigate, but I’ve seen far too many movies to even consider that.

Until the next time…I’ll be under the covers until the sun comes up!

what the world could learn from Dickens

The Ghost of Christmas Present “There are some upon this earth of yours,” returned the Spirit, “who lay claim to know us, and who do their deeds of passion, pride, ill-will, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name, who are as strange to us and all our kith and kin, as if they had never lived. Remember that, and charge their doings on themselves, not us.” 

- Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

One of the odd benefits of having OCD is enjoying the same thing over and over again without getting bored.  It comes in handy from time to time. Although, it can be known to drive others crazy…my husband for one. My current fixation is A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens.

I have watched A Christmas Carol several times this week, much to my husband’s dismay. I hear him grumble every time the opening music plays. 

It’s the new Disney version with Jim Carrey playing Ebenezer Scrooge, as well as each of the three spirits. And as far as adaptations go, I think it does an excellent job interpreting Dickens’ vision.  I’ve also been to the theater recently to see the play, so I would definitely say this constitutes a full blown obsession on my part.  But I’m not worried. It will play itself out sooner or later.  Hopefully before the end of December, if not sooner.

The thing about obsessing over something…you tend to pick up things you might have missed with only a cursory glance.  I’m suddenly picking up things I didn’t fully comprehend before.  I’ve even pulled the book out to better grasp the meaning behind every word, and my takeaway is this…the world could learn a few things from Mr. Dickens and his wonderful Mr. Scrooge.

I say wonderful not because of Scrooge’s miserly ways, but rather because of how he eventually saw the light and realized the spirit of Christmas is bringing joy, love, and compassion to those who need it the very most. Friends and family should be cherished. And charity begins at home.  He discovered that it’s never too late to change for the better.  Never too late to start fresh.

Mr. Dickens had a wonderful idea.  And it’s been more than 250 years since he wrote that most beloved story. And the story has been told and retold for over 250 years without losing a drop of that message. It’s about time we tried to live by the message brought to us by those spirits…

And so in the immortal words of Scrooge, himself, “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”

Until the next time…I’ll be baking cookies with my kids!