Dark Dreams at Night

UNCONSCIOUS BECKONS THE NIGHT

                                                 



Pay attention to your past
grown up little girl

Listen to your dream world
lest life's denial unfurl

The stairs creaky and weak
with age and disrepair

Don't enter, you'll see it
thine eyes do BE-WARE

When did dark storms come
to flood childs room

I see pasts' haunting anger
and feel foreboding loom

I see the evil spirits
walking down our halls

I hide heart-breaking pain
but searing fear falls

Now dingy earth that lay
deep under my feet

Starting to die and crumble
I must claim defeat

This place admits its unstable
and soon it'll break

I'll dream to make sure
life it won't take

Lets face all the pain
that lies deep within

For pushing away past pain
will only cause sin

Happy Thanksgiving

MISS YOU MOM AND DAD

Thanksgiving is a time for reflection and gratitude. This holiday is a state of mind that can be lived everyday. Being grateful for what we've been blessed with, is a way to live a fuller, more meaningful life. This Thanksgiving I have so much to thank God for and would like to share my blessings with you.

• God who is always with me and knows every hair on my head.
• My parents who brought me into this world. For all they taught me and the love they gave me.
• Our home was in foreclosure but we qualified for the HAMP Program. We found out in September that we will now keep the home we all love so much.
• I will be seven years cancer-free this St. Patrick's Day. I was given poor odds of surviving the first five years, so this is a mile-stone for me.
• I have the honor of living with my twin sister and her two children. I am helping Laura raise them which gives me such purpose in life.
• I have a family that loves and supports me through the ups and downs of life.
• I have TRUE friends that have my back. After the cancer diagnosis I learned quickly which friends were real and which were superficial.
• I have new friends that I have met on Hub Pages that mean the world to me. Writing has always been a passion for me but now add good friends to this blessing.
• The fact that Laura and I were told about Hub Pages and are writing again after many years.
• I am blessed to have a car to get me and the family from A to Z. Laura and I share a car but it is a blessing. It is also a blessing to have an old car that is already paid off.
• My two dogs are my little angels. They bring so much love and joy to this home that I cannot imagine life without them. What a blessing we found eachother.
• I am grateful for the wonderful neighbors in my culdesac. We all watch over eachother's children and gather often to enjoy each others company.
• I am lucky to have a home-based job which is something I always wanted. Now I can make money and still be home to be there for the kids.
• My twin sister is in her dream job that uses all the gifts that God has blessed her with. She is a director at a non-profit agency. She inspires everyone that crosses her path with her beautiful personality and compassion. Her soul is filled up every day with God's love as she helps homeless women and their children that are recovering from addiction. What a calling to have in your life and Laura answers it with a deep love and passion.

Thank you for letting me gush about some of the blessings in my life. I hope everyone is having a beautiful Thanksgiving. Thanks again for your important friendship here. You have given me so much:)

Our Rescue Dogs Really Rescued Us

 
My Two Furry Babies

I am a proud and blubbering parent when it comes to my dogs. I can't explain in words how much they mean to me. I grew up with dogs as a child, but as I got older, couldn't have dogs due to apartment living. When I moved in with my sister, this changed because she owns a home.

We adopted Joey first, in the summer of 2004. I wasn't at the Human Society when Laura and the kids picked him out. I hadn't had a dog in so long that I was a little apprehensive with Joey at first, but it didn't take long and we were connected at the hip. Till this day, our neighbors comment to Laura about how inseperable Joey and I are. He truly is one of my best friends. He doesn't care what I look like, he's as loyal as they come and always has my back. He gets excited to see me even if I have only been gone a minute or two. He senses when I'm down or things aren't right with me and gives me extra lovin and care during these times. Getting Joey was one of the best things that has happened to me as an adult. The timing on getting a dog wasn't an accident. Laura knew a dog would be just what the doctor ordered. He was there for me through some really rough times which connected us even more. Joey lifted my spirits while I was going through my cancer journey. He also helped Laura's kids get through their parents tough divorce. Joey is an angel that was sent to us for a reason. This beautiful dog had been adopted two differen't times before we found him. Can you imagine how hard that must of been for him. We were the third family to adopt him. The way we see it, the third time was a charm. We needed him and he needed us. We know that Joey the dog was meant for us.

One day last year we were watching t.v. as a family. The local news brings on an animal from the Humane Society every Friday. They were introducing their viewers to a very cute beagle. At the end of the segment, the woman from the Humane Society mentioned that there were some puppies that had just come in and were ready for adoption. She said they were three black labs. We all looked at eachother (we love black labs) and headed out the door to the animal shelter. Unfortunately, the black lab puppies were so popular that everyone wanted to meet them. We anxiously waited around for over an hour, hoping that they wouldn't all be adopted. In the mean time, we strolled up and down the halls looking at other dogs. We found the beagle they were introducing on t.v. but it just wasn't the right dog for us. She was very sweet but a little old and quite the shedder. I'd only played with her for five minutes and had dog hair all over me. We kept checking in with staff to find out if one of the three puppies was available to meet, but to no avail. We finally decided it was time to go, figuring the wait may go on for a while. On our way out the door, we literally bumped into a young couple that was holding one of the black lab puppies. We quickly asked them if they were going to adopt the cute little girl and thankfully, they said no. They lived in an apartment and knew it wouldn't be fair to the dog. We were grateful to know they were just looking at dogs for entertainment value only. The woman from the shelter said that other people were next in line to see the puppy, but since we were right there, she decided to let us go next. It was a sign to us that this dog was meant to be ours. She escorted us into a small room so we could play with her and see if she was a fit for us and visa versa. I will never forget how much fun we had with her in that room. We all took to eachother right away but the icing on the cake was when I looked at her little tummy. There it was, another sign. She had a white patch on her belly just like my childhood dog, Spooky. I looked at my family and said, "this is our dog and her name will be spooky."

First Big Snow Storm of the Season for Minnesota

http://www.you tube.com/watch?v=mN7LW0Y00kE

My nephew Jacob on top right with his friends in the neighborhood

I don't know what it is with us Minnesotans, but the first big snow is always an exciting adventure.  You'd think after so many winter seasons it wouldn't be such a big deal.  This is what a typical Minnesotan does when they hear of a big storm a com in:

• Get to the grocery store to stock up on needed items just in case one can't get out for a while.
• Start a nice fire in the fire place so we stay cozy and warm
• Pull out the bin that holds the hats, boots, mittens, winter coats and snow pants
• Turn on the weather channel or local news so we can follow the storm from start to finish
• Once the storm starts we must look out the window as a family and let out loud squeals of joy
• ,Eventually it's time for the kids to run outside and rouse the neighbor kids for some winter fun
• If it's a heavy wet snow then they must build Frosty the Snow Man, throw snowballs, go sliding
•  When they've had their fill of cold and wet snow, they make their way inside for some of Laura and Linda's hot chocolate with marsh mellows, usually fireside

News Bulletin:  This report just in from our local weather station
The First big snow storm of the season is just starting to taper down in the twin cities area. It looks like we could get about 7-10 inches of snow before all is said and done.
Channel 9 local news weatherman Eric Maitland, says that the heavy wet snow is causing several tree branches to fall, in turn bringing down power lines. According to Xcel Energy up to 3,000 of its customers are currently without power across the Twin Cities Metro area.

Cancer Diagnosis Leads to Loss of Friends

http://hubpages.com/hub/Cancer-Diagnosis-Leads-to-Loss-of-Friends

Happy Halloween

Haunted House in Mtka, MN
They start decorating October 1st and add something spooky til Oct31st

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. Mom and Dad made this such a memorable celebration, that as an adult, I get excited like I'm still a child. I remember like it was yesterday, the great halloween parties we had at our childhood home. We would bob for apples, have costume contests, eat lots of candy and hang out with our friends. The kids in the neighborhood always looked forward to the Rogers tradition of Halloween and fun.

Nowadays, we are the house on the block that goes crazy with halloween decorations. Even the little kids know that it is the fun house to check out. We have scary music blaring as the kids dare to enter our front doorstep. Monsters and goblins of many types are there to greet the children with blinking eyes and blood curdling sounds. If they want some great treats, they have to be brave enough to reach into the witches basket. Laura will eventually creep the night streets with her kids and the rest of the neighborhood children and parents.  I will stay home and give out candy and make the traditional baked pumpkin seeds. The children will gather lots of goodies in their bags, only to come home later and count the treats. There will be candy exchanging going on and scary movies to watch late into the night. The smell of lit jackolanterns fill the night air and beckon the ghouls that run rampid in the darkness.