It was a dark and stormy night?

On our way back from Ohio, my friend and I were talking about writing. "It was a dark and stormy night" was said, to which she said "except it wasn't dark or stormy." I thought that could be the fun start of a story, so here we go.

He wished it was a dark and stormy night, or at least dark and night, but it was the middle of the afternoon, and the sun shone brightly in the cloudless blue sky. He sighed and looked at the clothes that lay on his bed, longing to change into them, but knowing he had to wait.

"When will it be time?" he asked his mother as he walked into the kitchen.

"Soon. You just need to find something to do to make the time go by faster." She told him with a knowing smile.

"If I had a time manipulation gun I could make it be time." He said, tipping his head to the side as he considered his options.

He returned to his room and pulled out his Lego's, quickly snapping the blocks together to create a gun shaped object. He walked back into the kitchen and pointed the gun at the clock.

"What are you doing?" His mother asked as she pulled a tray of food from the oven.

"This is my time manipulation gun."

"How does it work?" She asked.

"You point it at a clock and it moves time ahead to when you want it to be."

"Hmm. What if you like what you are doing and don't want time to move?"

He wrinkled his nose. "I hadn't thought of that." He paused for a moment. "If you like what you are doing, you can use it to freeze time."

"Interesting. A device to speed up or slow down time. Is it working?"

"What do you mean?"

"Have you used it to speed up or slow down time?"

He rolled his eyes. "It's just a concept, not a real working model."

"Oh." She looked at the clock. "You better go get changed. You need to leave soon."

He looked at the clock, surprised to see how much time had passed while he had worked on the time gun. He returned to his room and changed into the clothes that were laid out on his bed.

"Don't forget these." His mom handed him a flashlight and a bag. "Have fun!!!"

"Thanks, Mom."

He skipped out the front door and made his way up the block. The sun had set, giving him the dark night, without storms, that he had been waiting for. He stopped in front of a small house whose porch light was on. Squaring he shoulders, he marched up to the door and knocked.

The door creaked open. Screams and eerie howls spilled into the night air. He swallowed, held put his bag and cried out "Trick or treat!"

Where did October go?

Wow- I can't believe it is the end of October already. It was such a busy month here. I am putting in my request t the scheduling gods that next year all the things that I need/want to do in October be spread out a little more.

The 4-7 of the month found me in Albany for training for work. I attended classes, taught a class, carted stuff around, and hung out and partied with a great group of friends (I had an absolute blast and my co-worker saw me let my hair down for the first time ever!!!!)

I returned home on Wednesday, worked on Thursday and Friday found me packing up for a weekend trip to Ives Run State Park with our camping buddies from the internet. I know- we're crazy. I still remember when, about 6 years ago, my DH told me he had just booked a camping trip for us with a group of people he had been chatting with online. I believe I said, or at least thought, "Are you nuts?" We had a great time and could not have asked for nicer people to hang out with. We try to hit at least one trip with all of them a year.

During the trip I picked up a miserable cold which tried to keep me from having fun (it did not succeed, it just kept me from staying up late). We had a great time. My DS and the other kids had a Hickory Nut factory going. They were cracking open the nuts, taking out the meat inside, and piling them up to cook over the campfire.

After this trip, my good friend and I took a trip to Ohio to an Eric Church concert. As my DH will say, I did not go to the concert to see Eric Church, but to see Christian Kane. Christian and his band were the opening act. They did a great job (even though he was sick and losing his voice). My only complaint is that the Church fans where we were sitting were rather rude- chatting through the whole set. I know they weren't there to see the opening band, but still, have we lost all of our manners?

If you are interested in the photos and video that I have from the concert it can be found here. (Link has been fixed). I used the new camera DH bought for us. It takes HD video and is good in low light- great camera and easy to use (thanks, honey!!!). I have 2 videos in here- the first is very short as I thought I was recording, but wasn't- got the whole second song, though.

Now we are getting ready to host a Halloween party for family and friends. Hopefully things will slow down here a little and I will get back to work on my writing. I have decided to hold off on sending my Princess story to Lulu. I am thinking my Princess might be too MarySue (For those of you who, like me, had never heard this term before, it means she can do anything, always saves the day, never has any problems, etc.) So, I am still thinking about what to do with this, as well as working out the logistics of my knight story. If you are interested in giving an opinion, let me know- I can use all the eyes I can get.