Thanks to Pandora, who has made me come up for air, I'm writing an update on what is going on with me and my adventures into charity haunt professionalism.

I can pretty much sum it up in three words..."It ain't fun!"  It's not exactly "hell", but it's sometimes a struggle, occasionally depressing and often stressful.  To be an organziation that is trying to accomplish what we are trying on such a shoestring budget leaves room for only two ways to go ~

Beg Street and Borrow Avenue.

The endless calls to make...the mounds of paperwork cluttering your life...emails, emails, emails...the sleepless nights (it's currently 2:26am).  It all adds up to...

probably the most noble thing I have ever done in my life.

To say starting this nonprofit has changed my life is an understatement.  For years, I often wondered why I was put on this earth.  Besides giving birth to four really great individuals, there had to be another reason, another cause, for my existence.  Now, when I see the work I am doing with ShadowBox Theatre Company, I am no longer perplexed.  I'm here to help children with Autism and their care-givers.  No "ifs", "ands", or "buts" about it.  And what better way to help them in October than to include them in my 30 year passion...Haunting the living nightlights out of anyone who dares step foot on my property.

"The HOUSE", the name my haunt is donning this year is coming along slowly and is in the midst of a major floorplan change at this late date.  We open October 29th and have not even created half the walls necessary.  At least I don't believe we have since like I said, the floorplan is undergoing a major change.  I've had to create another floorplan of my entire property on graph paper so that I can have a proper plan of "The HOUSE" to give to the Fire Marshall to pass inspection and the County for our temporary permit.  The deadlines to jump through all hoops and make our haunt "legal" is upon us and I'm to turn in our applications with fees and plans on Friday.  That means pulling an all day(er) on creating the new floorplan.  I'm going to be partially utilizing a floorplan technique called the "Triangle Grid."  This technique creates walls that are set at different angles wether than all right angles.  I, like most, prefer right angles, but feel it would be quite interesting and take away my customers' "comfort zone" if I through in a room every so often with walls on an angle.  This is going to be quite interesting.....

This time last month, I was very concerned about the amount of volunteers I was garnering for our event.  Five people cannot run a haunt the size of "The HOUSE."  I'm happy to report that things have definitely changed on the volunteer front.  Thanks to Volunteermatch.org and craigslist.org, I have over 20 individuals who are dedicated to making this fundraiser work.  Yes, we are behind schedule and yes, sometimes we don't know what the hell we are doing, but we're determined to make "The HOUSE" the best damn charity haunt this community has seen in years.

A week ago, I was pulling my hair out and about to cry because we had run out of wood and had no money to purchase any.  Companies that promised donations of wood pallets only delivered pallets that looked like they had been sitting out in the elements since the Civil War.  But, whoever said "What a difference a day makes" certainly knew their stuff.  Because the days of disappointment were followed by miracles and the kind heartedness of those who truly care.

Thanks to a few individual companies, we now have what we believe to be enough wood.  WHEW!

Unfortunately, the begging and borrowing isn't over yet.  We yet have things that are required by Fire Marshall regulations on our "To Get" list.  That means more knocking on doors, chats on the phone and faxing up a storm in my future.  Next year, if we do not have a budget that will keep me from having to do all that I have to, to keep us above water...there will NOT be a haunt.  Not to this magnitude.  However, I don't anticipate next year to be as this one.  I've gotten a lot of experience under my belt this time around on how to run a charity haunt and what is required.  Hindsight is 20/20.

Well, I'm off to the frig for a soda and to try this sleep thang I've been hearing about again.

So, how will your day go for you....

PEACE!

So I have not posted a lot here recently.   It is not that I am not working on Halloween stuff, it is the contrary.

There is a bunch of sites I maintain, so it does take some time.  (not to mention a couple of other things I am working on).

For those who do not know:

CavernsOfBlood.com PG-13 Halloween Horror site created with a humorous overtone. This site is designed for adults.	HalloweenNews.com Your Halloween News and Information Resource. News is added frequently and on a regular basis.	iScare.com Resource site for the Halloween Community constructed by the Halloween Community.
BlogCrypt NEW Create your own FREE Blog / Mini-site easily by choosing one of our pre-made templates.	HalloweenForum.com Discussion forum relating to Halloween oriented subjects.	HalloweenGallery.com Allows members of the Halloween Community to post pictures to share with others.
TheHalloweenSite.com Halloween product reviews, Shopping guide, and more.	HalloweenWebmaster.com NEW This site is for the Halloween, Haunt and Horror oriented webmaster.	HauntMart.com  NEW Buy merchandise such as shirts from HalloweenForum.com .
HalloweenDirectory.com Our huge search engine of Halloween and Horror resources.	HalloweenNewsletter.com Join our Free Halloween newsletter for Halloween all year long.	HauntedHumor.com Halloween and horror oriented jokes and humor for the demented side in all of us..
HalloweenExchange.com Updated Free Halloween Banner Exchange.	Creakydoor.com Ghost stories, urban legends and more.  Create a graphic tombstone instantly.	HalloweenAdvertising.com Site for serious advertisers in the Halloween industry for network wide exposure.
HalloweenSyndicate.com Webmasters can get free content for their site. Advertisers can get free advertising.	HalloweenShopper.com Halloween oriented classified ads.	HalloweenAds.com Site for Webmasters and Advertisers. Tools include a free banner exchange and more.
BestOfHalloween.com Web traffic generation system. Get your site at the top of the list.	CostumeMagazine.com Online magazine dedicated to Halloween costume ideas and resources.	HalloweenWebCam.com Can you see what is wrong with this?.
HalloweenJackpot.com Contest site. Win a great prize from one of the best online stores.	HauntChat.com Live Chat Events for the Halloween Community.	HauntMail.com Get your own Free email address at You@HauntMail.com
HalloweenSafety.com Halloween safety rules.	HauntedCards.com Send online Halloween greetings.	Halloween Showcase Showcase of some of the best products.
Halloween Toolbar Toolbar for your Halloween Site.	Scary Domains Some of our un-developed domains.

Ok.  I am guilty of working probably way too much.   But that is ok. 

Worked a bit on the configuration for HalloweenChat.com

Today I started prepping for the SHIRTS (HalloweenForum.com)!  They should be in by Wednesday 9/14.  Going to ship them out as soon as possible.

I have gotten a few emails inquiring about buying shirts.  If you did not get them during "pre-order", then you can get them starting on 9/16/05 at http://www.HauntMart.com .  As they say: "Supplies Are Limited".

I sold one of the domains that I had registered for future development. (listed at http://www.ScaryDomains.com ).  It is kind of a bummer to let a good domain go that I want to use, but I could use the $$).

Made the local rounds today.   Walmart=just a little Halloween stuff out so far.  Target=none, BigLots=Nice, Spirit=not open yet, Party City=putting stuff out now.

Guess that is it for the moment.

i wanted wall sconces for the walls of my porch, had some foam and ta da! did all this with a soldering gun and a paint chisel,attached the floor of the sconce with silicone and now it's ready to paint. 

 a close up of the carving and detail paint

 painted faux stone and finished  gonna add a skull and candle or something not to sure at the moment.

I realize that most Americans have been touched either directly or in-directly by "Hurricane Katrina". 

After I donated for the second time, I was inspired to launch the web site http://www.HalloweenForCharity.com/

Ok, So I have not posted recently.    I have been busy.

The HalloweenForum.com shirts are at the screen-printers.  Hopefully they will do an exellent job as I have never used them before.   But they are less than a mile from my house so THEY BETTER BE!

Been checking out some chat scripts.   The main concerns are having a nice script that also does not use TONS of resources.  Resources cost money.  And this network uses plenty already.   So I want to be careful.    I hopefully will find the perfect one so I can implement chat either on a 24/7 basis or at least regularly scheduled.

Been looking online at all the great Halloween stuff.   Also been going to the local stores to see what is out.   So far, not a whole lot yet.

Sent out the Halloween Newsletter today ( http://www.HalloweenNewsletter.com ).   Now less than 60 days!

With some encouragement I implemented a 24 hour chat event at http://www.HauntChat.com

I popped in a little late in the night.   Quite fun

Oh no...running out of HalloweenForum stickers...  Might have to make more some day.  hehe

Been working a lot behind the scenes working on making sure that the bills get paid.  

Launched http://www.HalloweenWebmaster.com

I have not promoted it much yet so not much traffic...ok...pretty much no traffic.  But that can be fixed.

That's right!  I am on the mend.  I'm getting stronger and stronger each day and I think that I'm gonna be all right.  Thanks go out to all of you who prayed

and sent good thoughts my way.  I wuvs you!

Although I was down, I was not out.  When I had no strength to leave the house, I was propped up in my computer chair in front of the 'puter with my

phone on one side and paper and pen on the other. 

I've made several arrangements for our nonprofit including having a space donated to us at Carmichael's (where I live) 97th Annual Founder's Day Celebration on September 17th.  Last year's event had 5,000 visitors show up along with TV stations and Radio.  I think being there will be good for our organization.

Either today or tomorrow, I should be getting a notice that our 5,000 postcards have been mailed.  If you don't remember, scroll down a few days and you will see what our postcards look like, front and back.  We'll be passing them out at the Celebration and also at California's State Fair.  We'll be at the fair September 3 - 5th in costume. 

Today (Friday), is business as usual.  I have a meeting with the Students Activities Director of a junior college here to discuss us gathering volunteers from the campus and him putting our volunteer flyers in all 60 of the clubs and organizations mailboxes.  I'm really hoping this will pull in quality volunteers.

I'm also suppose to call KCRA Channel 3 today to see if they will accept our commercial as a PSA.  Please send out prayers that they will.....

TALON SCALE:

I'm not going to elaborate on the movies I've watched.  I'll just give a quick critique.

The Pacifier: 1 Talon

Cute.  I'm speaking of Vin Diesel, of course.  So was the movie...a little.  I had a really hard time accepting Vin as a "family man."  He's rough and tough and I like him that way.

Guess Who: 3/4 Talon

This movie was mediocre, at best.  Bernie Mac..uugh!  I have nothing against the man, but I really didn't like him in this role.  He didn't look comfortable and his acting skills just aren't up to a role such as this.  The rest of the cast was so-so.  If you miss this one, no big loss.

So, this is how my day is going.  What about yours....?

PEACE!

 AFTER! I HAVE SO MANY MORE TO GO!

BEFORE

HERES THEIR NEW FACES

THEY GET  NEW FACES 

FOUND AT GARAGE SALE

Today I released a new Halloween Toolbar for IE ( http://www.HalloweenToolbar.com ).  It has more features then the last one.  Like pop-up blocker and options to hide buttons.

Also did a Firefox version with limited options.   Still cool though.  Also updated the online version that shows on the top of some sites.

Gotta go get busy again.