Happy Halloween

It irks me a little when people say they don't celebrate Halloween because it's "against their religion" or "they don't worship the devil." It's fine if you don't like Halloween or don't feel like celebrating it, but these claims people make show that people don't really know what Halloween is and/or was.
There's a few origins of Halloween. Most of them are of Celtic or Western European heritage. One story is that it is the "end of the light," meaning the days are now getting shorter and the nights longer. Our ancestors believed that spirits were able to come forth during this period, both good and bad. The good were paid respects, whereas the bad were warded off. This is where the costumes come in. They are not to worship the devil or anything evil...they were used to try to scare the evil away.
Nowadays, we don't have any "evil" to scare away (at least we hope not!). It's more for fun than anything. And fun is to be had by all! The kids enjoy it because they play dress-up and get candy. I don't know about any other adults, but I enjoy it because I get to see all the kids having so much fun! This was my first "real" Halloween as an adult, meaning I got a TON of trick-or-treaters tonight! I saw the Mario Brothers, fairies, princesses, the puppet from Saw, the Hulk, Woody from Toy Story, cheerleaders, and so much more! It was so great! I kinda can't wait until next year...I'll definitely dress up the outside of the house a little more (I know, Sam Lambert, you were against spending so much money on the decorations!). I wouldn't do too much, though. Just some homemade ghosts in the trees, a pumpkin/Jack-o-lantern or two, maybe some cobwebs. We'll see. I have a whole year to think about it!

I took the following pictures from inside my house. Sorry they're a little dark. I didn't want to turn on the flash because 1) it would have reflected on the window and 2) I didn't want to freak people out with random flashes coming from our house!

In Your Head

It's been a while, I know. I just had an experience tonight, though, that I have to get down. As a preface, I'll tell you that I believe our house is haunted. Most of the activity is in or around the office downstairs. Keep this in mind...
I had made some Chinese noodles in the microwave. Well, the microwave, which I thought had died (it's been acting like it's wanted to since we bought the place), had actually just tripped the circuit. I called dad to see if that was something that was okay or if we should worry and found out that Eric and Anna were still there. I had thought they had left yesterday, but finding out they leave tomorrow instead, I decided to eat my noodles and head on over to see them one last time before they headed back to Oklahoma. I quickly changed my clothes, shut the upstairs window in the hall, shut the kitchen window, and locked the sliding glass door...lock, bolt, and key. The dogs were jumping up and down, thinking they were going back outside. Then, after locking the front door, I headed on over to my parents'.
I had a nice visit with my brother and his wife...and my other brother and his wife (Steve and Anna came over, too). We finally drew names for Christmas. Finally, feeling a little tired, I decided to say goodbye then head on home.
Here's where the problem is. I get home and lock the car. When I walked in the house, the dogs weren't there waiting for me. That's weird because normally when they hear the beep of the car, they come running downstairs to see me. Instead, it took about two to three calls for them to come downstairs. Well, I went to let them out the sliding door...only to discover the door is unlocked! Lock, bolt, and key...all unlocked. I let the dogs out, then went into the bathroom. I was really freaked out by this point, so after calling Mike, I went back out to the car and called first my parents then 911. They sent two officers right over. They went in the house to look around, but found nothing. They then asked me to come in to be sure nothing had been taken. I went to find Mike's guns...the rifle was still locked. I looked in the handgun case and saw...no gun! I called Mike to ask where he had put it and he told me it was where I had found the case. Mike freaked a bit when I told him. Then, come to find out, there was a layer of foam covering it that I had never seen before. I feel like such an IDIOT! So the officers left after all clear.
I KNOW I locked the back door. I know because the dogs thinking they were going back outside. That's where the ghost may come in...?