Nightfall

So Halloween is my favorite time of year.  And ever since my hubby got back from Africa we have gone, that makes this year, year 6. The first time we went it was literally the same day he got off of the bus from that deployment. We were having issues, I had made some massive mistakes that year, and even before he left our marriage was falling apart around us, that night, we had gone back to the hotel and we just sat and stared at each other, neither of us knew what to say to the other, things were horribly awkward. After around an hour of that, we realized that we needed an out, so we looked to see what was going on and there was Nightfall. That night helped us realize that we were still us, the friendship that had originally brought us together was still there, and the attraction that had seemed gone for so long was also still burning under all of the crap that we had allowed to come between us. Nightfall was where we were finally able to start talking again, about the past and the future, about the pain and mistakes, but most importantly about the love. I remember a few trivial things about that night, the fact that the mine haunted house tripped me co platelets out the first time I went through it because I was pretty tipsy, that the theme behind all of it was pretty awesome, but really what I remember the most about that night is my husband and the love that ended up eating away all of the awkward between us.

That first year we actually ended up going twice, because we went back on Halloween with Lil Man and Kary and Beth. We learned that little Michael really hates haunted houses, that I cannot be hypnotized, and that Halloween makes it so insanely busy that you are lucky to do everything once if that...

The next few years we kept up the tradition, just the two of us going and hanging out together, enjoying getting scared and scaring people in return, we have watched as the haunted houses have changed, the stories have evolved, some building on their predessesors, some starting all new storylines, we have seen things shut down and then reopen for a charge. But we have always done it together. Then a few years ago we started to invite other people to come with us, people who were important to us, because Nightfall is important to us. We had chosen to share it with others, and in some ways that made it better, and in others it has made it worse. Because these people don't necessarily get why this place is important and why we would want to share it with them, to them it is something trivial, but to us it can never be that because it is a new beginning, a place to really look back on and say that is where we started to fix us, so when people you care about, people you want to share this with, blow you off, it hurts, and it annoys, and it makes you question why you invited them to begin with. This year we invited a lot of people, some because we love them and wanted to share something with them, some because they are in a bad place and we wanted to try and share something awesome with them, we wanted to help them in our own way, and some because when you invite others you have an obligation to invite them as well. None of the cheer me up people or thankfully the obligation people choose to come, maybe it is not something that makes them smile, which is cool, everyone is different, but out of the people we love, most of them said yeah, we will be there, and then one after another they each called that day and backed out for various reasons, which is fine, life happens right, I get that, but when one of them has always backed out, I was expecting it, but when the others all got together with another friend the next day, particularly the ones who were too sick or whatnot to come, that just pisses me off and hurts me all at the same time. So today I figured FUCK them, next year I am inviting no one but Jenn, she gets it, that it's important to us, so she will always have an open invitation, but I am done with the rest of them...

Now onto some good memories, no more venting about this... These will be done randomly, as I think about them, just like most of the stuff here, and I don't necessarily know what happened when, just that it happened there...

First I want to tell you about the time Michael and I got our faces painted like zombies, we did it on a whim, the lady was by the carousel, and we figured why not, it was pretty awesome because after that we would freak people out, only on purpose once, the rest was just because we were there. 😄

The once was when we were in a haunted house, it was a zombie apocalypse themed haunted house, so we fit right in, and we were in there with only one other couple, it was set up as a maze, and we had been in it before, so we kept separated and surrounding the couple so at first they assumed we were sticking close because we were freaked out like they were, but then they looked at our faces and thought we were part of the scare, it was a blast, that was also the night that I got to get my picture taken with Pappy!

I guess that means I should tell you about Pappy, as anyone who knows you can tell you, I am not very fond of clowns, and Pappy is a homicidal clown, so you would think that I would hate him, but no, I adore Pappy, he is a great character, as are his roommates in prison in the skits they do, they are just hilarious, something we always look forward to watching.

This year was really special to me because I got to go up on stage twice, which for me is sorta a big deal because I tend to get stage fright quite easily, the first time I volunteered, it was for the Strange Family Circus, which is a sideshow act, which in and of itself was awesome because I have always really enjoyed sideshows and to have the opportunity to see one in person was pretty darn amazing! Anyways I volunteered not knowing what was going to happen, in the end ingot to stand on a half naked man while he was laying on a pile of broken glass, I am so not a lightweight, but it was really a cool experience! The second time I was not volunteering, it was for the magic show and I was just sitting in back enjoying the performance when the magician walked up and asked if I would be willing to go up on stage, of course I said yes even though my nerves were getting  to me badly. The first time there was only five of us in the audience, so it was not a big deal, but for this one there was considerably more people... Needless to say up I went and I got to perform a card trick that involved a gun, it was embarrassing because it was set up to make it seem as though I was consistently missing the shot with anon loaded gun, and that of course made me the brunt of a few jokes. But in the end I got to bow, which I guess I do like a professional because someone came up and asked me if I was planted for the show, and I got an autographed DVD from the guy and his assistant/wife which my boys will love to watch! And I did not hyperventilate on that stage, even though it was close for a moment or two, so yay! 

💀😈👻🎃

So I guess that is all I have for the moment, thanks for listening/reading whatever! It has helped me to feel a lot better!