Monday Musings

Wow!  Where to even begin?  This last weekend was Halloween weekend, which meant there were several things going on for us Waltzes.  I was fortunate enough to have Friday off since it was the week of parent-teacher conferences where I teach, so I got out early, got a lot of things I still needed for the Silent Supper, and attended KD's school Halloween party.  I seldom get to go to those things since I am a teacher, too, so jump at the chance whenever I can.  I really enjoyed her school party and helped them with the mummy wrap activity!  So much fun!

After her school party, we headed for home, packed up our clothes and stuff we would need for the Silent Supper, then headed to the Walker Building to finish setting up and decorating.  I was so pleased with how it turned out.  Two of our guests were sick and couldn't attend, so I called another guest to see if there was someone they would like to invite.  They did and so we had a young man and his girlfriend attend.  Nothing could have prepared me for how much fun it would be once everyone started showing up.  We had wine and sparkling grape juice or apple cider in the lounge area before the dinner.  There was plenty of talking then!  Once the last two guests arrived, I got everyone's attention and went over the "rules" of no talking or cell phones and the procedure for acknowledging the spirit chair, lighting the candle, placing the photo, etc. etc.  The only light in the dining area was candlelight and the atmosphere was wonderful.  I played a CD of  piano music by Chopin.  Once we all began, I could definitely feel the presence of our deceased quite strongly.  Angelle and KD both said the same thing.  Halfway through we noticed some guests started writing notes for their deceased on the backs of their place cards.  The meal was wonderful.  "A Moment in Thyme" catering was awesome to work with.  If you need a caterer, I strongly recommend him!

Of course, the dinner was eaten backwards, dessert first, then the entree, then a wonderful spring salad with raspberries and mandarin oranges.  Spirit was always served first, and then cleared first. The uneaten spirit meal was boxed up and I fed it to the two crows I feed the next day.  After we were all done eating, the guests burned their notes for the dead using the candle they had lit for their deceased, retrieved their photo, then gathered in the lounge area once again.  There, KD and I told fortunes, me using the Lenormand cards and KD using the pendulum.  I felt the cards were particularly accurate that night and from the reactions from some of our guests, their questions were answered in the readings.  We made some powerful new connections and from what I've heard, everyone really enjoyed it and people are already talking about next year's.  The event was truly everything I dreamed it would be and more.

Saturday I got to sleep in some, and other than a voice lesson for my older daughter, we had the whole day to clean, cook and prepare for our fun Halloween party.  This year we had more people attend our bash than ever.  With our small house, it was a bit crowded but nobody seemed to mind. For the adults in attendance, I made a cocktail using caramel vodka and apple cider.  Yum!!  All of the under 18's seemed to have a marvelous, crazy and fun time.  They played "Don't Get Me Started", we danced to the "Time Warp", and they had a costume contest.  They also played "Ghost in the Graveyard" and when it got near the end of the evening, the few who were left played "Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board", which worked the best it ever has!  And we also turned down the lights and told ghost stories.

We crashed hard that night, we were so tired from all the activities.  I awoke around 6:00 a.m. the next morning to five knocks.  I assumed they were on our door, but then I wondered if someone was at our door that early on a Sunday morning, why they wouldn't just use the doorbell?  I'm the only one the knocking woke up, which is unusual, too, since our dogs are very good watch dogs.  So, I ignored it and when nothing else happened, I just went back to sleep.  I'm thinking it could have been knocking on the house next door?  Or maybe one of the crows knocked.  I've heard they can figure out how to do that.  I don't know, but it just seemed rather odd.

Looking back on this October and Halloween, it was a wonderful holiday season.  We were blessed with warmer than usual weather and everything seemed to just fall into place.  I am so happy everything turned out like it did.  Only 364 days until the next Halloween.  Time to start planning! Have a marvelous Monday and check back tomorrow for Tarot Tuesday!