A Collection of Memories and Oddities

My mother's birthday surprise turned out to be a live Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert in Ontario. OH MY GOSH, it couldn't have been any more badass! Full on light show, a snow machine, fire, and a FREAKING GIANT POCKET WATCH THAT SWUNG WHILST ON FIRE... Needless to say I was ecstatic. I told Mom I nearly cried of the amazingness of it all. So, she's won Mother of a Lifetime Award. I had no idea what it was up until we got our seats and they were playing some of their songs in the background. I had mentioned in passing to her when they had a commercial advertising their dates and locations how awesome it would be to attend one of their concerts. Of course, I never believed we would get that opportunity. One of those wishes and wants kind of thing. Mom was happy she was able to keep it a secret till the very end... like, literally, it was an hour before the show actually started that I figured it out. So she gets the awesome award, I get the dimwitted one.

I'll be going to hang with my brother in San Diego for a week and a half this coming Saturday. Mom is taking a plane ride to Kentucky to spend some pre-Christmas time with my sister and her two boys. Nine to ten days I'll be spending with my big bro... let's see how much I can corrupt him with all my crazy interests.

I'm a little worried right now. Something strange happened today.

This popped off the wall. Well, actually, it's more like it was forced off the wall from the inside of that hole. The screws that were supposed to hold the plate are still intact (albeit one of the is bent) and apparently the amount of force used to push it off was enough to make the painting fall off (left side in between the wall and the pantry). Now, this especially freaks me out because it happened while I was watching Supernatural.

SCARED. THE LIVING. SHIT. OUT OF ME.

Of course my first notion is ghosts, but I had to think reasonably. Right outside the building is the dryer vent that had a grate attached to catch any lint that fell out (as well as keeping critters from crawling in). Well, my brother took it off because it was catching so much lint the dryer wouldn't dry the clothes... and he never put it back on. He was skeptical that anything would crawl it's way into the dryer vent. He seems to forget that we're in Yucaipa at the foot of the mountains where our neighbors actually have farm land and animals. Sure, the likelihood of a mouse or rat climbing into the dryer vent is small but it's possible (why else would they make a grate for it????). All of this aside... the way it was "popped off" still concerns me. It used enough force to knock a painting down... and the plate isn't cracked in any way shape or form.

I might not have the heart or stomach to face that thing.