Skull and Crossbones Jack-O-Lantern

Shatlyn and I finally got around to carving our Jack-O-Lantern four days before Halloween. Oh well, at least we were able to get it done. I attached a copy of the skull and crossbones pumpkin for your viewing pleasure.

Grown up Halloween

As I continue to age (I refuse to grow up), I continue to find ways to enjoy the Holidays and other events. A couple of years ago, we began visiting different destinations each Halloween. Two years ago, we went to Spookywoods. This is one of the top 10 scariest destinations in the US and is outside the Greensboro area. Overall, this was a great experience; however, we didn't realize that when you purchase general admission tickets, you get to wait in the line until everyone who purchased VIP tickets goes first. This ultimately meant that we waited in line for approx. 4 1/2 hours to be scared to death. By that point, we were so cold and tired (it was about 2 AM) that we were just ready to go home.

Last year, we visited another attraction called the Hacker House (and as it's name suggests, it was full of people chasing you with chainsaws, machete's, etc.) and once again not for the faint of heart. If you don't like people jumping out at you or the adrenaline rush of basically being blind and having Leatherface chase you with a chainsaw, it is not for you!

This year, we went to the relatively calm Haunted Caverns of Dixie Caverns right outside Roanoke with a couple of our friends. This was kind of a last minute plan, being as for the last year, we had planned on attending Scarowinds. Being as Shatlyn just passed the age of Trick or Treating, this was to be how we spent this Halloween; however, we went to the website to purchase tickets, and she was so freaked out by the website, that she refused to go. At this time, she doesn't share our affinity for this type of activity. So, we went with Plan B. This is a much more tame version of the Haunted activities we have attended. Overall, it was a cool experience; however, with all the steps up and down, you have to concentrate on not falling and it takes away from the experience a little. While we were there, one of employees actually fell and hurt her ankle and had to be taken out by ambulance.

So at this point, if I had to pick a return trip, it would be to Spookywoods. This is truly a great experience, but not for the faint of heart.

Just Living the Dream

It has been a little while since my last post. It is amazing how quickly time passes and just taking a few minutes to set down and reflect on the last little while.

I have been extremely busy working on doing some remodeling of the house. I just finished redoing all of the wood floors in my home. It is amazing the dust that comes from this. The dust gets into places that I never knew were there. I have been repainting all of the trim in the house which takes forever!!! I will be so glad to have a huge wall to paint, so it will not be quite so tedious. Over the next couple of weeks, I will be replacing all of the interior doors in the house. These are a couple of the last finishing touches and then our entire house will be redone from the time we moved in about 8 years ago. So now, Becky is ready to move and find another home. Oh well, I don't know what I would do with all the extra time, so we can just move to a new home and have new projects to complete!!

Shatlyn has continued to cheerlead for football, so we have been busy running back and forth to her games. The football team is not having a good year. They tied a game on Tuesday, but that has really been there only close game of the year. Yesterday, they got beat by Fries 39-0 which is closer to how most of the games have been.

Professionally, things have been busy as can be expected. When the economy takes a downturn, we have more and more people coming through our doors who need assistance. Throughout the state, we have seen the greatest number in the increase of cases over the last three months that has occurred in the last 10 years. People are just really having a hard time right now. The way the economy is going, I don't expect that things will slow down anytime soon. Virginia has a huge budget shortfall and the Governor announced some pretty huge budget cuts this week. He eliminated around 100 positions throughout the state, which fortunately didn't impact my agency. If things continue at this rate, our Commissioner is propsing eliminating one of the programs that serves our elderly population. That would be extremely detrimental, so let's hope that things turn around soon.

I was offered the Director's job in Montgomery County, but ending up turing the job down. I have to say that it is probably the most interesting interview process I have ever gone through. It consisted of a telephone interview, a full day interview and then a private interview with the Board of Supervisors member who sits on the board of the agency. I was just not comfortable with the entire interview process and was concerned about how supportive the Board would be if I were to take the job. Luckily, I am not in a situation where I need to move on to another job. Additionally, everyone in the world knows that I applied for the position. I love how confidential job interviews are!!!! Oh well, just livin the dream.

And for those of you who care how football season has been going, GHS won their first game and had last their last five in a row before Friday night. They beat Grayson 30-28 Friday night in a great back and forth game. Finally, back in the win column again!!!