Over the weekend, my sister and her husband, with the help of at least twelve families, put on the fourth annual Dogwood Court Haunted House. It started the year after we moved out her when my sister and brother-in-law came to my husband and I and said that they wanted to build a haunted house in the middle of their cul-de-sac, and asked if we were in. Ever since, it's been an event we all look forward to each year, especially the kids! 
The first three years were great, but the majority of it was built by my sister, her husband, my husband and myself, which was exhausting. Of course, I can't forget to mention the mounds of conflict that built up each year, coming to a head last year when we debated whether or not we should even go forward with the haunted house (of course we did, and it was awesome.) 
This year, however, was by far the best year yet! Every year it gets a little bigger and a little scarier, but this year everyone out did themselves. We started at 10 AM on Friday and finished after 8 PM putting up the frame, wrapping it with paper and starting on the decorating on the inside. On Saturday we picked up where we left off at 9 AM to add the props and finish up the decorating. This didn't conclude until 3 PM. This gave us all just enough time to head home, put on our costumes and get back to begin the haunting. 
When we all met back up at 6 PM people were already showing up. We let the families of the construction crew be the first to experience the haunt. From then on we had a a steady flow of people that didn't stop until after 9 PM. We estimated that all in all there were around 150 people, not a bad turn out at all!
I think the best part of it all was the team work that went into building this year's haunted house. Even though we were all working our butt's off, we laughed and joked and genuinely had a great time! The team work exhibited reminded me so much of the Ragnar Relay Race I ran last year with a team of 12 people (which, if you are a runner, I highly recommend participating in but I digress.) When everyone works toward a common goal that they are all so heavily vested in, it makes the end result that much more satisfying! Now that the haunted house is done, I'm looking forward to participating in BOO-FEST ON OCTOBER 28TH put on by Patty at Simplicity in Volumes and Quinn at seeing, dreaming...writing. If you haven't signed up for this, don't miss it. Go HERE to sign up and share your favorite ghost story!
After BOO-FEST, I am eager for the kick off of NaNoWriMo. I still can not believe that I have agreed to participate in this crazy contest, but honestly I can't wait to start pumping out those 50,000 words in 30 days. Stay tuned for more information as we get closer to the November 1st kick off.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi, Regina! I'm a runner turned writer, too! Although, now that they're both in my life I'm struggling with fitting them both in. I used to run at this time of the day, but, uh here I am trying to type up more words--and blogging instead! I ran my first full marathon last May and have run a handful of halfs. I just made my best time last month (not fast for anyone, but me, still proud, though!) christy
ReplyDeleteHi Christy! That's awesome that you've run a full. I was supposed to run the Long Beach Full a couple of weeks ago, but somehow after my brother-in-laws Iron Man Triathalon, I dropped off in my running (kids, school, writing, heat, sickness...) Anyway, my goal now is to start training for the Surf City Full on Nov 1st (yes, at the same time I begin writing feverishly.) I'm hoping that by adding more to my plate I'll be more productive, LOL! We'll see, right?!
ReplyDelete