Away Too Long

Being away from my writing for any length of time sends me into withdrawals.  Whether it's working on my book or just posting a blog, I need to be putting my thoughts down.  This post is going to be a short one, but I felt I needed to get one out there.

Those of you who've seen my tweets or are my Facebook friend know my girls have had Strep Throat. When you're kids are sick, everything else goes by the wayside.  Having both of them home at the same time hasn't happened since they were babies.  And I hope it doesn't happen again for a very long time.

Nothing has gotten done around my house in almost a week.  However, it's the sleepless nights I can do without.  Whenever my youngest is sick, these are always a guarantee.  She's a chronic asthmatic, and we've had countless attacks this week.  Come to find out, the culprit this time has been her antibiotic.  She's had an allergic reaction to it, and her old standby has been called in.

Here's hoping to a better night tonight and sleep for both of us.  The poor baby is running on empty, and so am I.

- Heather

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Family Night And Vampires

My daughters are fourth generation vampire fans.  They've inherited their love of vampires from me, and I inherited it from my grandmother.  She got me hooked on vampires before they were pulsing in the mind of every tween, teenager, and young-at-heart closet watcher who won't admit they're a fan was even paying attention.

On my overnights to Grandma's I would snuggle up next to her and watch the old black and white classics with Vincent Price and get scared out of my mind.  I also loved every minute of it.  Those are memories I will treasure forever.

Now it's my turn, and I get to make the memories with my daughters.  Every Thursday night, the computer is off, the phones are silenced, and the junk food comes out.  It's become our Girl's Night. 

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Facebook And Our Children

I've always been leery of social networking when it comes to children.  I never thought I'd be one of those moms who allowed her children on Facebook before the posted age of thirteen. However, a couple of years ago, I gave in and created a Facebook account for my oldest. Not for the reason she was begging, which was all her friends were getting one so they could remember each other as they all got separated into different middle schools, but because I wanted her to get to know our family up North.  Facebook is a great way to keep in touch with those you love.

We discussed the fact that she couldn't accept any friend requests without my permission, and I had to be one of those friends.  She wasn't allowed to take any quizzes or play any games that I didn't approve of.  Her privacy settings were set at the highest priority.  I believed I'd thought of everything to keep her safe.

Her younger sister is now of the same age with her own page and all the same rules apply.  Things have gone reasonably well, but she's more of a free spirit. I have to monitor her much more closely and have had to delete a friend or two on occasion.

The problem I've been eluding to happened last week when she declined a young man's request to "go out" with her.  He instant messaged her through Facebook, and she gave him her standard reply.  "Mom says I'm too young to go out with anyone." 

He wasn't happy with this answer, and tried to persuade her.  While they were chatting, his profile picture became her picture.  She was "creeped out" when he did this.  At first she thought she hit a wrong button and changed her own picture.  Before she could tell him to delete it, he disappeared from her screen.  He unfriended her in the middle of their chat because she'd finally had to outright tell him, "No."

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~ Omen Or Celestial Message ~

I can't say I've ever given a thought in my belief about omens one way or another.  However, when the same thing happens twice in five days, I've got to pause and assess the situation.

If you live in the South, you'll understand exactly what I mean when I say torrential weather can blow up at a moment's notice.  Picking my daughter up from school on Thursday, this is exactly what happened.  We'd been under various weather watches all day, but just as the pick-up line started moving the sky opened up and the wind blew in from out of nowhere. 

The line was stalled while all the kids were taken back inside to a secure hallway for a tornado lockdown as a safety precaution.  The rain was still coming in sheets when my daughter was finally escorted out, but at least we were on our way to my other daughter's school. 

Coming around the corner my route was again delayed. A tree had just fallen across the road.  I turned to my daughter and told her someone must've been looking out for us.  If she hadn't been stuck at school, it could've been us under that tree.

On Tuesday, we woke to the weatherman warning us of inclimate weather on the way.  I couldn't believe the line of storms headed our way.  It's just too early in the year for this kind of tropical weather to be starting.  The thunderstorm came so hard and so fast our yard was flooded within a matter of minutes.  You couldn't even see to the end of the road.  I waited for it to let up a bit before leaving for school.

It was like deja vu.  Another tree was blocking our path.  Again, it was a good thing our routine had been delayed.  Once, I consider a coincidence but twice?  What are the odds?  Am I being sent a message of future events?  Death by tree, I hope not.  It leaves me with only one other explanation.  Is someone up above trying to get in touch with me?  If so, it's a pretty drastic way to send a message.

I'm no stranger to paranormal activity.  Since my daughters' two grandpas have died we've had quite a few strange but enjoyable events, but that's a story for another time...

- Heather Tweet