Valentine's Day

they say this day is to share
with the one you love, it is
for lovers, a romantic day
to be spent with each other
for that special someone and you

it is on this day that i always
remember my very first love,
i was such a young girl just coming
out of my teens, the world in front
of me with no boundaries, and so
very much in love, or what i
thought love to be

you learn as you grow

i tend to think this day can be just
as special enjoying it with friends,
as who is to say if you want to give
a valentine it needs to be only for your love

i want to share my valentine's day
with all of you. i want to give my
valentines day wishes to each
and every one of you!

we can share this heart day
together, we can laugh, we can
tell stores, we can chat about
first loves, lost loves, our loves today

we can just be us!

so, with this day upon us,
it is ours to say

Happy Valentines day Night Owls!

as our hearts beat for all!

:O)

Ghosts and the Supernatural

barb_in_wa is today's
supernatural author of our
daily blog!

Ghosts and the Supernatural

by barb_in_wa

Do you believe?

I must say that growing up I was always afraid of the idea that there could be ghosties, and boogey men. My siblings used to take great joy in terrifying me whenever my parents went out at night. Doing things such as shutting me in my room and saying that the “Flooooating laaaady…..” was going to get me. Or the other classic was “Greeeeeeen finnnnnngers…..” Both used to just send me into screams and beating my fists on my bedroom door to get out. It’s hilarious now knowing that the terrifying floating lady is from a horrible B movie called “Beyond The Door” and green fingers are also from a B movie in which a dismembered hand is able to crawl around and wreck havoc! If you happen to know what that movie is, please tell me! Even though they would scare me, I watched many scary movies on late night TV on Friday nights, and I loved watching Night Gallery. I used to get so scared that even into my adult years I would hold my breath whenever I drove past a cemetery. I don’t do that anymore, but I still avoid walking into them!

So what then am I doing working in a Haunted House? And not only do I work here, but I LOVE working here! Maybe it’s because I’m here during the day. Maybe it’s because there are usually a lot of other people around while I am here. Or maybe it’s just that I have grown up and it just does not scare me anymore. Nah….I’m still a little scared, but that’s what makes being here so much fun!

Let me give you a little background. I work in a building that was built sometime during the 1860’s to 1890’s. There are different reports as to the actual date our building was constructed. It was built to house the officers who were stationed here at Fort Vancouver. One of the first officers to live here with his family had a nanny. The story is that the officer had an affair with the 16 year old nanny and she became pregnant. He denied her and the baby, and young Miss Mary became so distraught that she hung herself in her 3rd floor room. Mary has been here ever since. Am I afraid of her? Nope. OK….I lied. Like I said before, it’s a little scary! But oh so much fun! She likes to play tricks. She likes to take things from your desk, or in my case, from my purse. She took my cell phone for 3 days once causing me to have to cancel the phone and get a new one. Then she returned it the little stinker. Then there were the times where she kept turning the drawer pulls on my desk backwards. Most recently she tossed a pen at me late one night right before I was going to be leaving for the day. There were 3 other people in the building, but they were all upstairs.

So my question to all of you is this…..Have YOU ever had an experience with a ghost or anything supernatural? I would love to hear your stories!

Would you marry for money?

our daily blog is a question,
something for us to ponder
it is from Scirish

Would you marry for money

by Scirish

This was a topic for teens in the local paper.

I was amazed by some of the answers and thought maybe it would be interesting to see what we thought about it as adults.

Most of the teens said they would have to “like” someone to get married and money would be a bonus. Some said that they and the person they married would have to be equal money earners. The ones that broke my heart said that they didn’t care about what the other person did as long as they didn’t have to “live in a box on the street” or “dumpster dive” all their lives. Most of these kids didn’t know what love was. “Like” was ok for a marriage. One girl said she didn’t want to get married because she didn’t want anyone tying her down and she didn’t want to share any money she made. It is a subject that most of us were taught not to talk about, but we do think about it and apparently so do kids.

So, what do you think owls? Do we put too much emphasis on money? Not enough? How does money or the lack of, affect your life? Do you worry about your kids and money? How do love and money interact? Or do they?

Blogging!

as the months past into years
i wonder to myself, how did i start
to blog, what brought me to this
cyberworld of blogging?

i remember it started with rosie
just lurking at her blog, and then
one day i posted a comment
(when comments were allowed)
and from that day forward i would
visit each day and comment away

next came the torino blog with
ross, again i lurked, and again
posted a comment, it just seemed to fit me
so i stuck around and commented as
i pleased, it was a pleasure to comment
to all the wonders of the ross blog

and here i am today, at night owls
a very warm, humbling abode
that brings me sunshine daily!

i often think was i missing something in
my life to reach out to this cyberworld?
as all knows i have enough family to fill
a music hall, and yet this blogging thing
came natural, corresponding with one
thru the internet, it filled me up!

it is known that i am single, no children
i have always longed for children
it was just not meant to be, so i think
i feel a void, a empty space within

did i turn to blogging to fill this void?

i absolutely think so, i needed to reach
out to the unknown to see where it would
take me, and wonders never cease, i have
found blogging to be my friend and thru
blogging have found a whole new world
of wonders, a pyramid of laughter, a large
steeple of friends

blogging can be quite shaky, the same
with life, but as i move forward in life
i shall do the same with blogging!

its all about baby steps
small but brave baby steps!

Body Wisdom

nowmercy is the
author of this daily blog!

a peak into her life~~

Body Wisdom

by nowmercy

(For BonSis)

The other day BonO asked how I found massage as a profession after being a Parole Officer and then a Project/Asset Portfolio Manager.

Well, in my childhood I would visit my Great Gramma..a “jack” Mormon who had left the church because the local bishop would not let her leave her second and abusive husband. She moved back to her farm in a little town east of Salt Lake (Henefer). Lillian was the local herbalist and midwife. The Mormon women kept coming to her every Sunday and she would dole out advice, herbs and concoctions. Funny, but each lady always needed a small glass of “medicinal tincture” aka dandelion wine. Anyway, she would set me on her kitchen counter and put a stool in front of me. The next woman waiting to see her would sit there and I would be instructed to rub her shoulders. Graygramma (my name for her) would tell me “ Listen to your fingers, they know where to go” or “Follow the lights in your fingers dear”. So, from age 4 to 7 she guided me and I listened to her.

Many years and careers later I began receiving massage from a masterful therapist. She was truly a healer and helped me re-enter my body with mercy and knowledge. I will never forget our sessions and her example of extreme regard for the body.

During that time I met a gal who had sold her share of big massage school because of carpal tunnel. She taught me a lot, and I began apprenticing with her. Later I trained as a restorative breath worker. I just loved putting my hands on people. I loved being where I belonged. Where I longed to be. I did subsequent apprenticing with a master Rolfer and others and trained formally and took great anatomy classes. I also trained in mind/body psychotherapy in a non violent client centered approach. It blew my mind to get this approach of gentle listening to body, mind and the unconscious.

All of this (19 years) has led me to believe that the body has wisdom and no pain is an expression of anything but that wisdom. Pain is a signal of something immediately wrong or of something that has been compensated for, for too long. I have learned that respecting the wisdom of the bodies I see, and appreciating the people in those bodies can bring about the space for healing to occur. I love this “work”.

Childhood

on this saturday
Maureen
would like to share~~

CHILDHOOD - - FEARLESS OR INSANE???

by Maureen

When reading the blogs, I couldn’t help but thinking back to my childhood. The talks of comfort foods made me think of what a terrible cook my mom was!! And how my father could have been a professional chef.

I thought back about the tree/bicycle experience I had posted a few days ago! And I started to recall some of the stupid stuff I did as a kid. Now mind you, my brother is 8 years older then I am, so it was part of his entertainment to encourage his baby sister to do a lot of those stupid things! And hey, if it killed me, then he could be an only child again!!

When I was 4 or 8 or 12 or 16, it was fearlessness - - not reckless abandon or stupidity! It was something to do, and if I achieved my stunt, then it was not stupid. If I didn’t, oh well, I suppose even I would have to think it was pretty dumb! If mom knew, I’m sure I would have been locked in my room for my own safety, but, by the time she found out it was either a moot point or we were on the way to the emergency room!

When we lived in Milwaukee, we had a pool in our backyard. Before I was allowed in, I had to have swimming lessons. I mastered that just fine. Our pool wasn’t that big, and I think maybe 4 feet deep. We also had telephone lines that were above the pool. And the pool was adjacent to the garage. Since I was now a pre-Olympic swimmer (yeah, in my dreams along with Olympic Ice Skater AND Olympic Gymnast!) I “needed” to be an expert diver, too. Now, if I saw someone attempt to dive into 4 feet of water headfirst, I would kill them to keep them safe!! But, thankfully I survived that feat. After all, if my “older and wiser” brother and his friends jumped off the garage into the pool - what’s a dive from the ladder!!! Oh yeah, the phone lines...I was the pool toy that my brother and his friends attempted to throw me over!! And I let them!! INSANE!

Then there was the hill. It was wicked steep. And oh so much fun to pedal as fast as we could on the flat part...then take off down the hill...cross the street and crash into the lawn!!!! Did I mention this was pre-helmet laws!! I got away with that a number of times, until I used my brother’s 5 speed bike! I think it only had one speed by the time I got in trouble for that and I had a variety of scratches, cuts and bruises!! Would I ever try that now????? Are YOU insane??!!

Speaking of bikes, when I was about 13, I just had to perfect my bike riding skills. Ya never knew when they were going to add bike stunts to the Olympics!! :D I was able to ride standing up. I was able to ride with no hands. But could I ride standing up with no hands? YES I COULD - –for about 15 feet when I found a pot-hole! And the pavement found me! That was a fun trip to the emergency room!! NOT!! The pain of them resetting my finger and digging street outta my hip was as insane as the stunt! Oh, my bike fared much better then I did!

Have I told you about the Olympic cheerleading dream? I had to be a cheerleader. I was a fat kid and fat teen and now a fat old lady!!. There really was no way that I was going to stand up in front of other junior high students in that short skirt with my fat thighs exposed. Kids could be cruel. But, I had to try anyhow. I could do the splits, back walk overs, flips and all the other gymnastics required. And I had to be the best at split jumps of ANYONE. Did ya know that you can get really good air if you do the jumps OFF THE PORCH?! It was no problem...until I landed in the bushes!! Maybe I wasn’t fearless or insane...just not too bright!

Then there were the flips and dives off the high dive at the community pool! Would I try that now? NO WAY! NOT EVER! But at 13 and the lifeguard was gorgeous, it was necessary! I didn’t suffer any bodily harm, but I did get kicked out of the pool because it was to dangerous and not allowed!! (p.s - 34 years later I dated that handsome lifeguard!)

Oh those days were fun. Never a chance to be bored. No sitting in the house playing video games. No being sensible. Not ever having fear and trying everything. And I have lived to be an old lady!!

What did you do then that you would never do now? Do or did your kids think they are invincible? Share your stories...please...so I don’t think I was the only insane kid!!!!

Confessions of an Addict

our dear MEK
confesses her addictions
on our daily blog

Confessions of an Addict

By MEK in AZ

NO, NO, not drugs!! It’s another kind of addiction. Obsession might be a better word. I feel the need to “collect” any kind of scrapbook, card making or stamping product out there. I have been attempting to reorganize my craft area and am not having much success. I purchased several storage cubes to make a user friendly area in our loft. I collected TONS of coupons over the weeks/months from family and neighbors, in order to get them all at a discount. It took awhile to convince Mr. MEK to FINALLY put them together for me (golf course was always calling his name, and I don’t blame him). We spent two days working together to assemble them and get them into the perfect configuration. SO, I started filling the drawers, labeling, etc. and I discovered, I HAVE TOO MUCH STUFF!!!!!!!! Good grief!! I am ADDICTED!!! I AM OBSESSED!!!!

I must own EVERY tool known to a scrap booker (heck, some I own twice – LOL) Some I forgot that I owned!! …….. die cutting systems, adhesives, punches, stamp sets, ink pads, pens, pencils, chalk, ribbons, OH MY, (yes, even found another bag filled with holiday ribbon!!), brads and eyelets to last a life time, tons of embellishments, and PAPER coming out, well, you know, …… patterned paper, cardstock, card stacks, kits from QVC - you name it – I own it.

I have filled all of the cubes and drawers and still have TONS of stuff left in the other room. I spent so much time “collecting” things that I don’t actually “make” anything. To feed the addiction, I just bought several rubber stamps and a new circle punch on my way home today, just because. AND, to make matters worse, I have two Michael’s coupons that are burning a hole in my pocket – trouble is, I own the WHOLE store and it’s getting harder and harder to find anything to buy!! So, I need to get over the obsession of buying and collecting and actually MAKE something!! But, you see if I make something, then I might have to buy more stuff! Therefore, the addiction and the obsession!!!!! (Okay, I am also obsessed with using too many exclamation points!!!!)

So, I was just wondering – does anyone else have any addictions or obsessions? Do you buy stuff that you never use? Do you collect something you have no idea why you do?

OH – and to feed my addiction/obsession, QVC will have having scrap booking day Sunday night and Monday – Mr. MEK said he was going to have the channel blocked in our hotel room!! LOL what’s a girl to do?

I hope everyone has an excellent day!!