I decided to re-start my journal...

And get ready. It's gonna be a LONG post.

So let's see, my last post was in what August? So a ton of things have happened since that time.

In September 2010, I finally got off my ass and got out of the HIE and into a hotel that is 100 times better where they have a proper management system and treat their employees like humans. Yeah, I know.

I'm still doing Audit, but I am making a hell of a lot more and have full benes. Whoo! And I'm right across from Disney again. YAY!

In October 2010, 10-10-10 to be exact, Jack and I finally were married. It was a splendid ceremony, not at Knott's like we had been trying for, but another venue that actually worked out so much better. It was at The Empty Grave, a maze located at the Anaheim Gardenwalk owned by some of Jack's friends. That had some of our family and closest friends attending, even most of my family was there.

I will post a different blog with pics for that soon.

Also was of course Haunt, and this year was a group trip, with Jack, Alex, Keith, Alex's boyfriend Paul and myself. And we had a blast as usual. Keith was already chomping at the bit asking for Haunt in 2011. I love that boy.

November went by nicely and I was able to have a small Thanksgiving with my turkey and all the trimmings.

December was busy, busy as all of us were working and possibly trying to move into a house with our friend Kile. I hadn't planned on putting up the tree or really celebrating, but to my surprise I came home Christmas morning to see that the tree and some decor was up as well as some gifts under the tree. That was a very sweet thing to do and a nice day. I also received my 3 month review to which I got a very good result.

January? Well, January was a pretty smooth month. Not too many things, basic life stuff.

But February....ah, now this past month was a lot to deal with. On the 8th, I had my birthday. We of course went to Disneyland and spent the whole day there. It was great fun as always.

But then tragedy happened on the 9th. A friend of mine(James' brother)was over visiting and he got a call from James' girlfriend. It was her saying that James was in the emergency room and that he was going home after being there for 6 hours. No one knew what was wrong, only that he had pain. But since the tests showed nothing, they discharged him. They had not called his brother as James had not wanted to alarm him, but the girlfriend finally gave in and called.

My friend went home and then called me a bit later saying James was on his way back to the hospital and he would let me know as soon as he heard anything.

I was on pins and needles as yes, James had some issues, but there was no real danger as far as we all knew. We were making plans for him to move in with us once Kile got the house so he could get out of his mom's place.

But at 2:40am on Feb. 10th, I got the call that James was gone. I lost it. I couldn't believe it. I had just talked to him the day before, his brother had dinner with him and he seemed okay. It was a shock to all of us. Yes, he had high blood pressure, yes he had problems with has back due to the rods in it from his accident many years before, but nothing prepared us for this.

He was only 27 years old. I didn't know how to react. I tried to go into work that night after crying for hours on end, but I couldn't do it. My manager took one look at me and said to go home, that I should be at home. I said okay and went home to lie in my bed. I called off for the next couple of days to try to recover.

Thing was, James and I got very close and he became a best friend to me. I didn't realize how close until that horrible phone call. I crumbled. And it was hard for me to go back to work, knowing that we wouldn't have our kooky 3am IM conversations or that he and his girl would not come over and hang out like they used to.

Then on the 18th, it was his funeral. That was terrible, seeing all of his family and most of his friends, most of them folks I knew as well having to say goodbye. I got up and said my tribute, Jack by my side, stammering out the words. I just wanted him to sit up, say it was all a gag, that he wasn't dead. Like it was the best Halloween type prank ever. But it didn't happen.

Then we went to the graveside service and that was even more awful as then it was final. The casket was closed. But the worst was yet to come. James' mom sought me out as her and I had not met each other yet. She hugged me for a long time, telling me how James had loved Jack and I. That she was always hearing about us and how glad she was we were his friends. She went on to say that yes, she knew he had been making plans to move in with us, but in a way she was glad we hadn't moved yet as she got more time to be with him.

That made me bawl again. I knew he cared, but not like that. It was such a great thing to know, but it hurt so much at the same time.

Afterwards, I went to his brother's house with a few others and we sat around talking and we had a few drinks. Now add this to the 2 Monsters I had as well as having worked my Audit shift the night before. We were all trying to forget the events of the day and when I got home, I tried to sleep. But my body was overworn. I began shaking uncontrollably. Jack made me go to emergency.

The doctor put me on an IV and I drained that bag dry. I told him about the last few days and he said I was suffering from massive fatigue and dehydration. I was ordered to not go back to work for the next 2 days.

This scared my husband and he watched over me like a hawk, making sure I ate, drank fluids, and got rest before I went back to work.

So now we are all trying to move forward and pick up the pieces. It really sucks as there are SO many things he and I talked about and shared. I get these twinges and it makes me feel miserable.

But I'm getting better. Or at least trying to.

It comes and goes.

His brother of course took it hard and I racked my brain to try to help him. We talked and it helped a little. I am trying to be strong as I know that's what James would want. Finally, this last week, I stumbled upon something that we could do and we went out, just he and I. On the 27th, we went to the shooting range.

I had never been and it was weird how doing that activity really was a release of so much tension. It was therapeutic for him as well. We plan on going again soon.

Of course, it doesn't ease the sadness completely, oh no. But it was nice to be able to lose myself in something for a teensy while.

So that's the gist of the news for right this moment. I am going to go and make myself busy as now my brain is full of memories and I need to not start crying again, because I promised I'd take care of myself.

I'll write again soon.

Until next time...

It's been far too long...

So I know I kind of left this blog on the wayside. Sorry about that.

I am going to try to get back on track with it. A TON of things have happened. Of course..since I haven't posted since back in DEC!

But to catch everyone up, we got a new apt, Alex got a job, Jack and I are getting married in October (for sure this time) and we have 2 adorable cats named Vash and Boris.

Life has thrown us a few curveballs, but as we always say, "We're a team, and we'll make it work."

I'll do my best to stay on top of this. I at least owe it to my sister so she knows I'm not dead. -laughs-

See you all on the flip side.

It turns out I clean up rather well

So I spent some time with my sister yesterday and she took some really nice photos!

I am only going to post one of my favorites for now. I really would like to have this one framed to hang in my house.



Yesterday was full of good news as I finally got to speak to the PR lady from Knott's. It seems that everything is a go. The biggest issue will be cutting a lot of guests out, but that's what the reception will be for.

It's either only have immediate folks there and do this for free or have EVERYONE and charge a fee at the church door. My extended family and friends should understand. If not, well...too bad. I love you, but who's wedding is it anyway?

Yes, it may sound a bit selfish. But I look at it this way. Not only is this our special day, Jack and I will not be mingling afterwards. We will be filming our Haunt show, so it's also business.

So I have to really trim the guest list. Which I have already done considerably. Besides, everyone just wants to go to the reception anyhow. That's fun and has food and music! Our wedding will be on October 8th, at either 4 or 5pm. That's so the monsters can be there and we can get arranged at the maze.

Oh, speaking of that..turns out that 13 Axe is gone. :tear: But in its place will be a maze featuring old time London Streets. Yep, a Jack The Ripper maze! Well, that's right up our alley, isn't it? It will have a carriage out in front as well. I'm so excited. We were talking (Jack and I) and since it will be more along the lines of that era, no more vampirey stuffs. More on a Mary Kelly kind of look.

Still Victorian, but damn it, I get to wear PURPLE! Yay! Here is the dress I want. Imagine this is purple.



Yes, it's not exactly period, but who cares? It's Grade A awesomeness. And it does fit in with my Autumn theme. I will wear a purple dress, a black veil and have an orange bouquet. I will BE Halloween colors.

Ooh, I am so excited!

My 100th post is something special!

So, aside from this being my 100th post, I have some fantastic news to share. A while back, I had written to the wonderful PR lady at Knott's. We had such a great time filming the Darkest Hours special there and were anxious to repeat that again.

I wrote to her with that and a plan about our upcoming nuptials. Sort of a celebration of Haunt and our wedding all rolled into one.

She wrote back and said that it sounded great! We just have to change our date from Sat. to a weekday since they will have other media there to promote it. Uh, duh, of course we have no problem with that! She also asked if we want it at one of the mazes or at the Chapel. LOL

Hmm, what do you think? We want to be immersed in Haunt. That's the reason we want to do it. Then afterwards we will film the rest of our show sort of as Honeymoon At Haunt. I am trying to rework our guest list as I am sure I will not be able to invite the 100 people due to security reasons.

Which is fine, since we are planning on using the upstairs meeting room in my hotel for a reception that weekend. My manager has already given me the go ahead on that one. I figure a semi-potluck is in order and it will be a grand Halloween party. I can probably get reasonably priced rooms for the family if they need them.

More on this as I get more info.

October 3rd, 2009 (no turning back now)

Okay, since we may have to scale back quite a bit, I have thought of a few places to hopefully have our wedding/reception. These are possibles if I can make them work.

The first back-up that I thought of was kind of silly as it has been staring me in the face. Yes, we had the plan of getting married at Forest Lawn in Glendale. Why? It's a cemetery and a very pretty church. But wow, so expensive.

SOOOOOO....c'mon. It's in October, and we have a spectacular place that is already going to be decorated during that time of year. It's our second favorite amusement park.

Knott's Scary Farm!

I know, huh? I discovered it may not be too much either. Here's the link:
http://www.knotts.com/group/wedding/index.shtml

Now since I am a Haunt veteran, I do know that more than likely, we would have to have the reception in the Chicken Dinner restaurant. You know how I know? Well, during Haunt Auntie Pasta's is used for the pre-dinners, The Ballroom has a show in it, and Wilderness Dance Hall usually has a maze inside it.

But oh wow. How fun would that be? We could have our wedding and get pictures with some monsters! Yay!

AND.. on Monday (tomorrow) I am going to call the PR department that we dealt with for the Haunt show last year. She had said we were welcome back anytime. If I can present it as a Haunt/wedding promo, we may get to do it for a lesser price or free!

We were planning on doing another Haunt show anyhow. It's The Darkest Hours Wedding Special at Knott's Scary Farm! Ooh, I like the sound of that.

I will do my best to persuade the powers that be. Then all I would have to worry about is my dress and oh the food. Wish me luck on that.

My second idea was to really try to save money and see if my Mom's friend Judy would be willing to let us use her backyard. It is already decorated so cool. We could just throw a few more Halloweeny type props in there and it would be awesome. It would more than likely be a potluck, but everyone loves to cook and I'm sure we would have plenty for all.

The only issue with that is I would have to cut my guest list so much. But hey, I'm sure I will get a sign soon.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.