What I'm Lovin' Wednesday

I'm LOVIN' Adele's album 21.  Her voice is so beautiful (to me anyway) and when I listen to the lyrics, you can just feel the emotion she had while writing these songs.

I'm LOVIN' the challenge of editing the haunted house's website.  While I do get aggravated and sometimes lost, I'm learning a lot of new things.  ***If any of you would like to critique me and give me some advice, I'd love to hear it - please keep in mind it is a haunted house website, so it's generated to attract those who love the obvious, Halloween, scary movies...etc  

the URL is www.rottenrusty.com

I'm LOVIN' that we're 94 days away from our Disney cruise!

I'm LOVIN' that Breaking Dawn Part 1 is only 78 days away, I cannot WAIT for the honeymoon scenes tee hee hee

I'm LOVIN' that there are only two episodes left of Season 4 of True Blood

and then I can cancel our HBO subscription and save ourselves $10/mo

Guilty pleasure(s)

True Blood

Lady Gaga

Zombie movies

Betty Crocker chewy fudge brownies

Breyer's Vanilla fudge twirl ice cream

80's music & movies....gosh it was such an awesome era

Listening to HANSON's first album

Reading Celeb-gossip, especially via www.perezhilton.com

The Twilight Saga series (the books and movies)

"The cat's meow" - via Instagram

Our children

Flower

 

Tinker Bell

MIA

My posts for the next two months may be few and far between and what IS posted may be repetitive (so I'm apologizing in advance). 

 

Nothing new is going on in the world of The Jones'.  We are only 100 days away from our first Disney Cruise and we are so ready to get away from our every day life and escape, especially into the world of Disney.

 

 

It's officially haunted house season and we only have 6 weeks before we open - INSANITY!!  When I started helping in 2008 I was just an actor.  2009 I continued acting and helped with makeup, in 2010 I was responsible for the Facebook page (www.facebook.com/rotnrustyproductions) , keeping track of our actors, acted part-time and sold tickets a few nights.  This year I took it upon myself to add another task, managing the actual website (www.rottenrusty.com).  It's by no means perfect and unfortunately I'm using what I'm familiar with, Blogger.  I'm still learning and editing, I do one thing and change it five minutes later.  It's funny I don't usually beat myself up over my own blog, but I'm taking this one serious. 

 

So here are some details about the haunted house, of course for those who actually ENJOY these kinds of things:

 

Rot N. Rusty's Haunted House

312 Riley Rd

Dahlonega, GA 30533

 

***Open every Friday & Saturday at dark***

Sept 30th - Oct 29th

(also open Sunday 10/30 & Monday 10/31)

Tickets $12/per person - $2 off coupons will be available soon

 

 

I would like to point out that we are NOT witches, Satanists or part of a cult.  A haunted house is a form of entertainment, a rush of adrenaline.  Some people like to ride roller coasters or sky dive....others like to get scared.  Unfortunately society is quick to judge and assume all of us are evil - I can assure you, we aren't. 

 

If you are interested in coming, let me know - I will give you the hook up!  Also, if anyone you know likes haunted houses, certainly pass along our facebook and website links!!!

West Memphis Three are FREE!!

While on our aquarium adventure yesterday, I received a text from a friend telling me the WM3 were freed via a special plea deal.  I couldn't believe it, this was the best news I'd heard all day, aside from escaping the elevator of course.  Some of you may remember my blog post back in May detailing the case for these three men (Injustice). 

Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr and Jason Baldwin were freed under an Alford Plea, meaning they can maintain their innocence, but plead guilty w/ time served.  It's not 100% justice, certainly not for the families who lost their young boys and the fact that this will remain on their record, but it's better than spending more time in prison for a crime they didn't commit.  Especially for Damien who was on death row. 

Good things certainly do come to those who wait.  I am ecstatic that they are freed and I hope this proves a point to those involved, those in our justice system and to society, period.  Swift justice, isn't justice and to convict people of a crime that in NO WAY connects them is travesty.

Georgia Aquarium Trip

Friday August 19, 2011 King GREEN treated the office staff to a day at the Georgia Aquarium!  We all arrived at about 9:30, then met up with Alan Davis, the director of safety and security for the aquarium, which I need to add was very kind for taking his time to show us all of this.  Before we got started, 19 of us hopped on an elevator to begin our tour......

.....and we got stuck between the 1st and 2nd floor

we were about 18" shy of the doors opening and letting us out. 

I have a thing for making weird faces...

Here we all are, stuck on the elevator.

So we hung tight and yes I mean TIGHT for about 5-8mins before we were rescued.  It was funny for the first few minutes, then it got hot and we were all wondering how long it would be before we got the hell out.

On with the tour....Alan showed us a special behind the scenes tour of the aquarium. 

We got to see how they heat the water for the coral reef exhibit...

Three of my favorite people, Megan, Ashley and Tabitha

....showed us how they feed the whale sharks (which are actually fish, not mammals). 

It was AMAZING!  It's one thing to see these giants through an aquarium wall, but actually seeing them at the surface of the water is an entirely different experience and one I'll never forget.  He also showed us the Beluga exhibit from above water...

the veterinary facility

After our special tour, we went to see the new Dolphin Tales show.  For a kid, this might have been fun to watch, but aside from the cool dolphins, the show was silly.  I mean it was cheesier than a Disney show...probably even worse than a Six Flags show!!  Ahh it was weird, we were all cracking up.  Photo's weren't allowed during the show so I don't have any of that :(

After Dolphin Tales we walked all the way across Centennial Park to Googie Burger and had lunch outside.  I'll be honest, I wasn't even hungry it was so hot outside, I had a plain hotdog and a coke and couldn't manage to get it all down. 

We headed back to the aquarium where we started each exhibit one by one...

Our day ended at about 4pm or so and we headed home, surprisingly we were all pretty darn tired.  It's amazing how in your 20's, you get worn out quicker than when you were a teen.  SHEESH!!

Georgia Aquarium in pictures Part 1

The day started with my hair down, but after waiting outside for 30mins, it was quickly tossed into a sloppy pony tail.

Where they heat the water for the coral display

Feeding the whale sharks!!

My bubbles!!

Sweet river otters napping

Cool penguins

Sea otter getting his frisbee on

Me being silly...I have no idea what's going on with the thumbs up

...............................

My brother was given a good diagnosis for now.  After having some bloodwork and a petscan, the oncologist said there weren't currently any signs of lymphoma.  He is still going to keep in touch with the pathologist to go over the full report of the cyst they removed a month ago.  He goes back in 1 month just to re-check every thing.  If it does end up as lymphoma, it would be cutaneous t-cell lymphoma which is treatable.

When I was calling collections today, I spoke with a businessman who owed an invoice from April.  Today was the first time I tried calling him on his business # -vs- his home # and he answered.  He was very upbeat and cordial and apologized for the bill being late, after asking me to fax him a statement he explained his wife has been his bookeeper for over 20yrs, but was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year and since going through radiation and chemotherapy she hasn't been able to work. 

I don't know why this time I felt bad, that sounds awful doesn't it?  Calling collections, I'm naturally the "bad guy", but I've heard almost every reason for late payment, even non payment that I think you could hear.  I try not to attach myself to the customer, because it's my job, but also because lawn service is a luxury.....just saying.  A lot of people call in, start service and never pay a dime, believe it or not, we've had repeat offenders!!  So it's my job to try and stop it from going to collections and save the customer.

Back to the story.....I genuinely felt bad for this particular customer and I believed him, so much so I decided to send he and his wife a card letting them know they were in my thoughts.  Is that weird??  People like getting cards, right?

::sigh::

Why am I still thinking about it?  I've already mailed the card...

Oh Tuesday

Did anyone else step outside yesterday to feel the breeze?  Ha, I was in shock!  Maybe fall is right around the corner, well technically it is.  The first day of fall is September 23rd.

 

The ladies in the office (including myself) have Friday off work this week because we're being treated to a day at the Georgia Aquarium (complete with a backstage tour and the new Dolphin show!!).  I'm so excited I could squeal.  It's the little things in life that really make you appreciate where you are and what you are given. 

 

I've been blessed to have a position with King GREEN for the last 7.5yrs and when they treat us like this, it makes me never want to leave!  Even though we get on each other's nerves, argue and disagree on things, the overall feel of the company is that we're a FAMILY.  We always have an awesome Christmas party, even when the economy has seen it's better days, the traditions stay.  We're also always closed the last week of the year for Christmas break, this is a HUGE plus because it gives us the opportunity to spend time with our families over the Holiday's.  Not sure why I felt the need to share all of that, but I did.

 

Happy Tuesday every one!

2011 Spelling Bee

For the past two years, myself and two other ladies from the haunted house have participated in the Lumpkin County Literacy Coalition's Annual Spelling Bee.  It's a fun spelling bee for adults to participate in, all of the teams come up with a creative name (involving the word BEE) and a skit.  When your team is called to spell your 1st word, that's when you perform your skit for the audience (you really want to impress the audience as ultimately, they're the ones who vote on who should win the "Take the Cake" award).  Since we go representing the haunted house, we get to have a lot of fun creating a team name and skit. 

 

 

 

In 2009, we were the O-BEE-tuaries and when it was our time for the skit, we each read our own epitaph. 

 

**Beverly wore slippers and a robe, while carrying a box of tissues and a heating pad, her epitaph was "I told you I was sick.". 

 

**Erin dressed as a hillbilly with pigtails, overalls and buck teeth with a watermelon for a prop, her epitaph was "She was not smart, she was not fair, but hearts with grief for her are swellin'.  All empty stood her little chair, she died of eatin' watermelon."

 

**I was "Hi I'm Betty Sue Blake, I hit the gas instead of the break", my prop was a steering wheel, car bumper and a flask.  I had my head wrapped in gauze with just a tad bit of blood. 

 

Even though we were horrible spellers, we won the "Take the Cake" award for being the most entertaining!! 

 

 

 

In 2010, we were representing Zom-BEE-Gone, a new product designed by scientists to rid your life of zombie's. 

 

**Erin played the scientist that helped create the product, which by the way is only $99.99!!

 

**Beverly played the lush, rich house wife who found a zombie in her garden and just couldn't bare to kill it.

 

**I played the zombie.  Appropriately, I drooled, I chewed on a plastic heart and I lunged to bite the other contestants. 

 

At one point, Bev got a little excited with the Zom-BEE-Gone spray and got me in the eye, it was hard not to laugh.....I kept in character the entire time, it was hard, but so worth it.  We did not win the "Take the Cake" award, but we were told by many that we SHOULD have won.  The team that actually won even asked if we had taken acting classes, but no that's just us!  We haven't gotten together our skit/team name set it stone yet for this years spelling bee, but we're hoping to come up with something so we can take the cake back!! 

 

This years spelling bee is on Tuesday September 13th at 7pm at the Holly Theater in downtown Dahlonega.  I encourage any of you who can make it to please come!!  It's fun for everyone!  It is family friendly, tickets are $10/per person and all proceeds go to the Lumpkin County Literacy Coalition.

 

 

Wordless Sunday

Swimsuit ideas

I don't normally buy a new bathing suit every single year, but because I seem to have an ever expanding waistline, my "Michelin Man" figure just won't squeeze into some of my previous suits.  I will NOT be scaring people for life and wear a bikini, so my new love is swimdresses and/or 2 pieces with a skirt or shorts for a bottom.

I would like a new bathing suit before we head off on our Disney cruise, so I've been on the look out, preferably for a CLEARANCE deal....here are a few of my favorite's so far.

Thoughts welcome!

1 piece swimdress

2 piece suit w/ short bottoms

2 piece suit w/ brief bottoms

1 piece swimdress

Rainbow

A beautiful rainbow on a stormy Sunday evening

:)

WILW

~*I'm LOVIN there's only 115 days til our Disney Cruise. Sorry (not really) to keep posting about it, but the closer it gets the more excited we become.

~*I'm LOVIN there's only 99 days til Breaking Dawn Part 1

~*I'm LOVIN that work is scheduling a "fun-day" for the office staff on one of the next two Friday's.  Out of all the suggestions gathered up, my final vote:

1. Georgia Aquarium
2. Tubing in Helen

Hopefully it will be one of those two that wins, either way I'm happy that we are even given a "fun-day"!!

~*I'm LOVIN that we won 2nd place this week at trivia, yahoo!!

When life gives you lemons...

.....you better learn how to make lemonade

This year has turned out to be a strange one for me, there have been a lot of happy moments, but also some sad ones.  Last week I posted about a dear friend from the haunted house family passing away and this week my brother learned he may have a form of lymphoma.  So far the oncologist seems optimistic about having found it so soon and after a few more tests and a chat with the pathologist they should have a plan of action.

I've come to realize you can't control every thing in life, no matter how hard you try.

So that's me.....I haven't had much to blog about these last several days, just can't think of anything.

Remembering Lance "Fluffy" Oxyer

Some say people go out of this world in 3's, others say that's just superstition or coincidence. I'm not sure how I feel about it, but already three people I've personally known have now passed this year.

I joined Rot N. Rusty Production's in 2008 and Lance was the first person to speak to me and make me feel welcome. He was always outgoing, whether in driving his personalized hearse around town, going into business' like Home Depot and Wal-Mart in full costume, scaring the customers at the haunted house, or the little kids we walked past in the Dahlonega Goldrush parade. He was certainly an asset to the haunted house that can never be replaced. Every night we were open, if Lance (aka "Fluffy") wasn't outside working the queue, people would constantly ask "Where's Fluffy", "We want Fluffy". Everyone always wanted their photo's taken with this kind hearted giant. He loved being different, he loved the company of others and he would do anything you asked (within reason of course). He passed in his sleep August 2, 2011, he will forever be missed, but certainly not forgotten.

Rest In Peace Lance "Fluffy" Oxyer

See the love some of your friends have expressed already.....miss you buddy

Rusty Smith said: Lance, you have always treated me like a family. You have been one of the best friends anyone could ask for. My right hand! Your heart was bigger than you. Your passion for all things Halloween has kept Rot N.Rusty's going for many years. You have touched so many lives in such a positve way through screams, tears, and laughter. There will only be one "Fluffy" my dear friend. It has been an honor work and play with you. You will be missed by many. Now go and rest in peace my brother!!!

Phoenix Hansen said: fluffy you will be dearly missed by the entire legion. the haunted house will never be the same without you. R.I.P. my friend.

Dyana Postelle said: You will always be in our nightmares! ♥

Sharon Schmidt said: Jordan, Paul and I love you so SO much Fluffy, and we are so thankful that we got to see you one last time last week. Life won't be the same without you, and we'll always miss you.

Jordan Dover said: Many of us have been characters in the Haunted House over the years but Fluffy was the very soul of it. Surpassing only his love of the HH was the love and compassion he showed all of us without discrimination every time we saw his face. We tend to raise our opinions on those in passing but he truly was more than can be put into words and his kindness without parallel. His absence is a true loss for the many of us who knew him. I love you, as we all do.

Caren "Crazy Mom said: My dear little Fluffy, I remember coming to the HH 10 years ago as a visitor and watching you chase people down the street and jumping on their cars. What a rush! May you continue to chase and scare people. You will never be forgotten. Love you.

Amber Allen said: I can honestly say that I have never known anyone like Lance. He was truly one of a kind. An inspiration to not only all haunters across the world but to all human beings. His heart was pure and never ending in it's devotion to those he loved. No one will have the words to explain this magnificent man and no one ever will. He was Lance, a king of men and a shoulder and ear for those who needed one. I know my life has been changed since he entered my life and I am so thankful for what time I did know him. Lance, you will continue to be in the hearts of so many. You left a legacy and for that we thank you.

Danny Hart said: Rest In Peace Lance Oxyer aka: Fluffy! We will miss you Bro. I will change my profile pic to honor you. Fluffy, Thanks for being my friend....and not eating me when you had the chance. Love you Dude.

Kyle Truelove said: RIP lance. You have been so wonderful and caring to all of us haunters throughout the years. I am so glad to share a friendship and so many memories with you!