WISDOM: Always keep people around you who charge your battery . . not drain it!
WISHES: May peace break into your house and may thieves come to steal your debts! May your pockets become magnets for $100 bills! May love stick to your face like honey and may laughter assault your lips! May your clothes smell of success . . like, um, smoking tires?! LOL! May happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be tears of joy! May the problems that you have or had forget your home address! In short . . . may 2009 be THE BEST YEAR OF YOUR LIFE!! WOOOT!!! 
So I feel inspired to write about how beautiful the night time is. The day has it's beauty, yes, but not like the night! It's a full moon tonight and it's bright. There are clouds but I can still see stars. The moon and stars together look like jewels to me. I always, always see shooting stars here where I live and I wasn't disappointed tonight. I realize that in spite of life's troubles, I always find peace and calm when I sit outside by myself in my hot tub, with a beer (and no, I'm not sauced!) on a full moon watching the clouds slowly flow past it, making it and the stars appear to peek in and out; seeing the halo that appears around the moon and reflects on the clouds when they stay over it for a time, seeing the moonlight on the leaves of the trees that are near me and on the water, and seeing glimpses of my fish in my pond in the moonlight; hearing and feeling the wind - how I love the wind. I feel such energy in this setting and am so at awe of the beauty that it makes my heart feel as if it will burst. This feeds my soul and energizes me in a way I'll never be able to express and I'm thankful and happy to be alive.
FIRST ONE- When I was 17, my sister and I wound up with a Ouija Board and I don't remember where we got it. I think from a friend who lived close to us. We lived in a duplex at that time. My mom wasn't home one night so we sat in the hallway and began putting questions to the board. We ended up getting answers from something that was telling us it was a male around my age and that he had died in a car accident not far from my house! I should mention that we also had a little puppy that we were potty training then. At night, we were putting him in a corner in the garage with newspaper spread around. Several days after we had questioned the Ouija Board I got a visit from something. One night, we had all been asleep. I don't know what time it was but I know it was very late (or early). I suddenly woke up. From my bed, I could see into my mother's room and see her in her bed asleep. I was laying there when I heard the sound of something coming down the hall. It sounded like something running down the hall. The first thought that came to mind was that it was our puppy because it sounded like it did when he rab on the carpeted floor so, at first, I blew it off and thought nothing of what I was hearing when I realized the sound came right into my room and before I knew it, I began to have this tingling sensation and sense of being overcome and then I realized I couldn't move. I was paralyzed in my bed, and on top of that, I began to hear whisperings in my ears! I couldn't make out what was being said. I got really scared. I could still see my mom asleep in her bed in the room across the hall but even my vision was weird. Hard to explain how I was seeing but it was all static looking looking- like watching a show on TV with a lot of static but I could still see her. Since I couldn't move, I tried to call her but no sound came from my mouth even though I could feel my vocal cords straining because I was trying to yell "Mom!" I really became afraid when I realized I was helpless, so I begin praying with all the energy I had for help to make whatever it was go away. I don't remember how long this experience lasted but eventually the whispering stopped and the sensation that I was feeling over my body seemed to lift away and it was gone. My sister and I took the Ouija Board and threw it away in a dumpster miles away from our house. I've never had that type of experience again. My mother thought I had a nightmare when I told her what happened (PFFFFT!) but I know that I was fully awake and aware of what was happening! I was NOT dreaming! It was real.
SECOND ONE- One of my favorite uncles was killed in a car accident in 1968 when he was 16 - I was 7. I was close to this uncle but don't recall great sadness when he died. I think I was too young to understand what happened to him. Then, in 1984, my grandfather died suddenly from a blood clot that passed through his lung while he was in recovery after surgery. I was close to my grandfather and took his death really hard. At that time, I lived in Vallejo, California so I flew to Austin for this funeral. When I went to bed the night I returned back to Vallejo, I dreamed of my uncle and my grandfather. In my dream, I was back at my grandmother's house at the kitchen sink washing dishes while family members were at the table playing dominoes (our family is big on dominoes and my grandfather loved that game!). The kitchen screen door opened and in walked my grandfather and my uncle! They were both dressed in white clothing and were so bright I could barely look at them! I was so shocked to see them standing there and at their brightness I thought my eyes were going to fall out of my head! I got excited and ran over to the table saying to my family, "look who's here!" I was going around the table pointing over to the doorway and trying to get them to look over to where my uncle and grandfather were standing but no one at the table looked at me or even acknowledged that I was there. They just kept on playing dominoes as if I wasn't there at all and they didn't hear what I was saying! I got real frustrated and looked over at my grandfather and my uncle feeling helpless! They just looked at me with a calm smile and then turned and walked back out the door. I felt I should follow them so I did. I followed them into the backyard where I found them sitting on this huge tree log in the backyard. No words were ever exchanged between us but I got this overwhelming feeling that they had come to comfort me and tell me they are okay and are happy and that I need to not feel sad anymore. I got such a warm feeling of love and comfort from them that I'll never forget. Then they walked away out of the backyard and disappeared and I woke up right after that. I sat up in my bed with a start and the dream was with me for many days but I didn't feel sad about my grandfather's death anymore. I felt at peace. I've heard that we can be visited in our dreams. I wonder if this is what happened because it was so real!
THIRD ONE- In 1996, I was living in an apartment in McAllen, Texas. My kids were asleep in their bedroom and I was in bed asleep in my room. Sometime around 3ish in the morning, I was startled awake by a very loud sound that sounded like what an aluminum cookie sheet would sound like if it crashed to the hard floor! When I awoke, my eyes opened looking at my bedroom doorway, at the instant they opened I saw, for a very brief second, a black figure standing there but it was gone in a flash! My room was dark but the figure was even darker than the dark. It was there and gone so fast that I still am not completely sure that I saw what I saw. As for the sound, I got up and walked to the kitchen to see what the sound was. I thought it was something (like a cookie sheet) that maybe had fallen from the dishwrack . . . the dishwrack was empty . . . and upon further checking around, I found nothing anywhere in the house that I could account for what caused the noise that woke me up. To this day, I still wonder about this experience. Whatever it was, I don't think it was a good thing.
FOURTH ONE - Happened during a cemetery investigation this past May where a spirit messed with the door locks to my car while we all were getting ready to leave and were standing nearby sharing stories. My car doors were unlocked but whatever it was locked the doors from the inside! We tried to debunk it but couldn't find an explanation for it . . . something was curious about how they worked . . . and luckily, I had my keys in my pocket!!!
FIFTH ONE- Happened at the same cemetery. It's an old cemetery by the way with a historical marker. Lots of very old graves. It was around 12:45 am and we were all sitting in the oldest section that's surrouned by trees and separated from the rest of the cemetery by a limestone wall with an iron gate. We were talking quietly when right in front of me, several feet away, a mist appeared, hovered for a few seconds and then floated up and over us. I blinked a few times because I couldn't believe what I was seeing! But others reacted and commented so that confirmed it was there! It disappeared but then very soon reappeared again to my left and floated back up over our heads and disappeared again . . we all saw it that time too! I have to say that shortly before it appeared the first time, I felt something lightly touch my nose but I didn't think anything of it as I thought it might have been a bug. In hindsight, it felt a little more like something other than a bug had touched my nose! The mist was grayish and wispy. A very cool thing to see even though it was a bit spooky too!!!
. . . so I posted certain pics from our latest investigation at the IOOF* (*Independent Order of Odd Fellows - - google it for more info) Cemetery in Georgetown, Texas. This is a very old cemetery with graves dated from early 1800s to present and known to be very active with paranormal activity. These are Orb pics. I know, I know! I try not to put much stock in orbs but I want some input about these . . some of these are bright . . one is even an orange/red color (it appears over a pile of burnt stuff we came across while walking on a dirt path near the cemetery Pic#12). Pic#13 was taken before we came across burnt pile in pic #12 - see the orb above the fence post? Also, while walking down that same road (shortly after I took Pic#12) we all heard, at the same time, this weird, whirly, buzzy sound but it also sounded like someone said something in fast forward! We all thought one of us had started to wind a camera - that's the closest way to describe what we all heard. . but none of us had that type with us! None of us picked it up on our recorders either! Can't describe it but it was really weird! I took pics right then and I included one (Pic#11). It shows some faint orbs appearing on along the dirt road. Another pic (#5) has my friend in it. She was telling me she sensed a presence there but we didn't see anything. I took a pic and see the orb in front of her. I took a 2nd pic right after (#6) and there's no orb anymore! I posted comments about each pic so you can tell but the comments aren't showing up (RATS- have to figure out how to do that!). Notice one pic that I posted (not numbered) only to show difference between matter appearing on the camera lense that can be mistaken for orbs . . not because I think they're orbs. I tried to be sure and get 2 pics of the same thing taken back-to-back. So, you'll see a pic of something with an orb appearing in it and then another pic of the same thing and the orb isn't there. Let me know your thoughts - are they or are they not orbs? And, there will be no hard feelings on my part. I'm learning and I know there are a lot of you who can help me become skilled at analyzing the difference! It's either a job well done or . . .I've got a long way to go in learning! Can't wait to get some feedback! MUCHAS GRACIAS!
