Boo! Givens Castle

 Today we are focusing on a spook in Chicago ion an area where my Aunt Tina lives.  Buckle in for some bumps and scares.  Enjoy – don’t be scared now – BOO!

Givens Castle / Beverly Unitarian Church

The Givens Castle was originally built in 1886 as a residence by Robert Givens. Givens was real estate developer and wanted the house to be a replica of a castle in his native Ireland.  Some say that Givens built the home for his fiancee who died before the house could be finished.  Maybe that accounts for why Givens only lived in the castle for 8 years.

Around 1894, the castle turned into the Chicago Female College. It is reputed to have had a student die in the 1930’s from flu.

During the 1960’s, the castle was turned into the Beverly Unitarian Church.  A janitor once reported that he had a conversation with a woman who disappeared from sight. Their conversation was about the house and how much it had changed over the years.  The janitor saw no footprints outside in the snow and all of the doors were locked.  Where did she go?  Was it the student that passed away from the flu?

The pastor of the church at the time was a woman who claimed she saw a pair of hands touch her husband’s waist.  Even more, the pastor thought the hands were those of a woman.  The husband never felt a thing.  During this time as well, there were reports of a candle being seen through windows when nobody was present in the building.

Unexplained noises have also been attributed to the ghost and a former pastor said that he often tried to track down the source of the noises but was never able to.

The story is courtesy of Chicago Ghost blogger.

 

31 Days of Spook – Givens Castle

 Today we are focusing on a spook in Chicago ion an area where my Aunt Tina lives.  Buckle in for some bumps and scares.  Enjoy – don’t be scared now – BOO!

Givens Castle / Beverly Unitarian Church

The Givens Castle was originally built in 1886 as a residence by Robert Givens. Givens was real estate developer and wanted the house to be a replica of a castle in his native Ireland.  Some say that Givens built the home for his fiancee who died before the house could be finished.  Maybe that accounts for why Givens only lived in the castle for 8 years.

Around 1894, the castle turned into the Chicago Female College. It is reputed to have had a student die in the 1930’s from flu.

During the 1960’s, the castle was turned into the Beverly Unitarian Church.  A janitor once reported that he had a conversation with a woman who disappeared from sight. Their conversation was about the house and how much it had changed over the years.  The janitor saw no footprints outside in the snow and all of the doors were locked.  Where did she go?  Was it the student that passed away from the flu?

The pastor of the church at the time was a woman who claimed she saw a pair of hands touch her husband’s waist.  Even more, the pastor thought the hands were those of a woman.  The husband never felt a thing.  During this time as well, there were reports of a candle being seen through windows when nobody was present in the building.

Unexplained noises have also been attributed to the ghost and a former pastor said that he often tried to track down the source of the noises but was never able to.

The story is courtesy of Chicago Ghost blogger.

 

Journey with Friends

Welcome my friends to our weekly issue of Journey with Friends.  This is a time that we come together for support, for encouragement, for fellowship – all with one single goal in mind – to live better.  Welcome to our journey to share our goals and our accomplishments and our disappointments and frustrations.

Together we can do this!

Another week of maintaining. I’m good with that. Of course I would like to be down – who wouldn’t, right?  But baby steps win the game in the long run. I hope LOL.

Things have been trying to get back to normal here at the Hotel Thompson. I think we all finally got to say goodbye to the flu last week. Thank goodness for that. We are all tired of being sick – trust me on that. Now we are fighting the pollen levels. This is one of the great things here on the south – not. Pollen in the spring kills us all. We walk around not being able to breathe, watery eyes, sneezing and wheezing. One day last week, the pollen level hit over 3,700!  I didn’t think we would survive the day. Do you fight the pollen in your area?  How are y’all doing my friends?  

Happy Monday!

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Journey with Friends

Welcome my friends to our weekly issue of Journey with Friends.  This is a time that we come together for support, for encouragement, for fellowship – all with one single goal in mind – to live better.  Welcome to our journey to share our goals and our accomplishments and our disappointments and frustrations.

Together we can do this!

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Another week down my friends – how are you doing? This week I have maintained my current weight loss so I’m feeling good about that.  The scales are at least in my favor – hip hooray!  I’m still not feeling 100% from the flu.  It’s so strange.  There are days that I feel totally awesome and then the next day it’s like WOW – I feel so tired and drained.  My iron levels are low so I think that accounts for some of it.  I’m trying to eat stuff these days to help out with my iron.

I did get back to the plasma clinic this past week.  Can you believe I have made 28 donations now to help out others?  It’s such a small gesture on my part and I really hope that it helps.  My pulse rate is staying within range so that’s a plus.  And this time of the year at the clinic, the lines are so short!  Do you remember me telling you about having to weight 3-4 hours just to donate?  These days, I’m in and out usually within an hour.

Hope your week went fabulous my friends.  Remember – stick with whatever plan you are doing – we are all here to help each other out – hugs!

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Journey with Friends

Welcome my friends to our weekly issue of Journey with Friends.  This is a time that we come together for support, for encouragement, for fellowship – all with one single goal in mind – to live better.  Welcome to our journey to share our goals and our accomplishments and our disappointments and frustrations.

Together we can do this!

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Hey friends – how did you do last week?  Did you stand strong?  Any bumps in the road?  Any mountains you climbed?

Since I’ve been sick with the flu, I’ve lost a little over 10 pounds.  Okay, it’s not the best way to lose weight but I’ll take it, right?  I am doing better with the flu; however, I’m still not 100% yet.  The doctor assures me this is normal and it takes weeks – sometimes months – to get back to where you were.  Shaking my head – this is something I never want to go through again and don’t wish it upon any one.  Everything tastes ‘funny’ and certain foods I’ve loved before, I can’t stand at the moment.  For instance, I’ve been having a hard time with soda – you know the real stuff.  Especially being here in Atlanta, we live for Coca Cola.  Well I’m happy to report that since my illness, I can’t stand it.  I guess that’s a good way to kick it to the side huh?  And food wise, I can eat just a little bit – maybe 15% of what I was eating before and I’m done.  My tummy just swells too much from still being sick.  But on the other hand where I once craved everything, lately I’m just craving good old southern food – greens, mac & cheese, fried chicken – you know southern dinner stuff.  We went out yesterday to a local restaurant that serves this kind of food.  I couldn’t even finish my plate.  Weird.

And you want to hear another strange thing that has happened since I’ve been sick?  A remarkable overwhelming calmness has overtaken my body.  Things are just shrugged off my shoulders and my pulse rate has been ‘below normal’… well below normal for me.  When I was giving plasma, it was a struggle for my pulse rate to be 100-112 bpm.  Here lately, it’s been hanging around 94-99 bpm which is totally awesome.  Weird too huh?

Well friends – hope your week was marvelous and your scales were kind to you.  ❤

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Mom’s Living… We Think

Mommy doesn’t have a temperature anymore and today she has emerged from the depths of her sick bed and went to the worky place.  It was slow going but I think she may live after this bout of the flu.  She says that it was the *worse* that she has ever felt and never ever wants to experience this again – EVER.

Mom is still recuperating and can’t do too much at one time.  Just walking down the hall takes her breath away – can you believe that?  All of this from the stupid flu.  And now, daddy is walking around the house like a zombie – I think he might be coming down with it.  Oh Lordy, us anipals here may need to move out of the Hotel Thompson for a while.

Thanks everyone for your well wishes, cards and calls.  I’ll be around checking on blogs soon – I kind of got my hooves full with daddy right now.  ❤ ya’ll!

 

Journey with Friends

Welcome my friends to our weekly issue of Journey with Friends.  This is a time that we come together for support, for encouragement, for fellowship – all with one single goal in mind – to live better.  Welcome to our journey to share our goals and our accomplishments and our disappointments and frustrations.

Together we can do this!

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Hello friends. I write this post from my bed. Some of you may know while others don’t about my current situation. I came home from work early last Thursday not feeling so well. I was aching and coughing – a cough I might add is from the depths of hell. I couldn’t sleep that night and was having difficulty breathing. About 6:30am on Friday, I told my husband we needed to go to emergency care because it was getting worse.

Once at the emergency room, they took me straight back and hooked me up to oxygen and started breathing treatments. They took blood, throat and nose cultures, gave me liquid codeine for my cough and gave me steroids. After my second breathing treatment, I started feeling a little better.

That is until the doctor finally came back with my test results – flu. And yes I did get a flu shot this year. The doctor explained that the flu strain they were seeing wasn’t what the flu shot had. Yay me huh?  The doctor wanted me to stay the night but where do you want to be when you’re sick?  Your own bed in your own home. So they did let me go sending me home with a breathing machine.  I’m also taking steroids and ibuprofen. I was instructed to be quarantined with strict bed rest.

I originally felt like a bus had hit me twice. Now I just feel like I’ve been hit once. The aches and pains are still present but the coughing seems to be getting better.

Thank you so much for all of those that sent prayers, healing vibes and cards. I really appreciated them so very much!

 

31 Days of Spook – Givens Castle

 Today we are focusing on a spook in Chicago ion an area where my Aunt Tina lives.  Buckle in for some bumps and scares.  Enjoy – don’t be scared now – BOO!

Givens Castle / Beverly Unitarian Church

The Givens Castle was originally built in 1886 as a residence by Robert Givens. Givens was real estate developer and wanted the house to be a replica of a castle in his native Ireland.  Some say that Givens built the home for his fiancee who died before the house could be finished.  Maybe that accounts for why Givens only lived in the castle for 8 years.

Around 1894, the castle turned into the Chicago Female College. It is reputed to have had a student die in the 1930’s from flu.

During the 1960’s, the castle was turned into the Beverly Unitarian Church.  A janitor once reported that he had a conversation with a woman who disappeared from sight. Their conversation was about the house and how much it had changed over the years.  The janitor saw no footprints outside in the snow and all of the doors were locked.  Where did she go?  Was it the student that passed away from the flu?

The pastor of the church at the time was a woman who claimed she saw a pair of hands touch her husband’s waist.  Even more, the pastor thought the hands were those of a woman.  The husband never felt a thing.  During this time as well, there were reports of a candle being seen through windows when nobody was present in the building.

Unexplained noises have also been attributed to the ghost and a former pastor said that he often tried to track down the source of the noises but was never able to.

The story is courtesy of Chicago Ghost blogger.

 

Happy Monday!

 Happy Monday my friends!  Hope everyone had a delicious and wonderful weekend.  I got to run a bit in the back of the Hotel Thompson. You can *almost* taste fall in the weather here.  I ran, jumped around, ate some grass – it was interesting – and chased mom for a while.  This will hold me until fall/winter is over – snorts with piggy laughter.  Almost time for my winter hibernation – I can feel it starting in my bones.

Houdini had his spa day on Saturday.  It’s like he knows when his spa day is.  He got daddy up at the crack of dawn and then played during breakfast.  Daddy kept fussing at him to eat something and he was like, “Nope, I’m good”.  Snorts – silly guy.  Daddy dressed him in his pirate attire and that’s what he had on when he got dropped off at doggy spa.  The peeps there thought he was so hilarious.  I would have paid to see him ‘walking the plank’ into the bubble bath… wouldn’t you?

Mom and dad then did errands.  Mom doesn’t get to do any during the week because of the worky place so on the weekends sometimes her schedule can be full just running here/there.  First they dropped Houdini off, then had breakfast and then it was off to the doctor’s facility.  Mom/dad got their flu shots and mom got her blood work done.  Thank goodness mom is on her DIEt full time now.  She tells daddy that it takes her a couple of weeks to slowly ‘ease’ into the situation.  I guess that kind of makes sense to me.  But to help her out, daddy is going to have this dinner table installed at the Hotel Thompson.  Too much?

 

31 Days of Spook – Givens Castle

 Welcome my friends to 31 Days of Spook.  Today we are focusing on a spook in Chicago ion an area where my Aunt Tina lives.  Buckle in for some bumps and scares.  Enjoy – don’t be scared now – BOO!

Givens Castle / Beverly Unitarian Church

The Givens Castle was originally built in 1886 as a residence by Robert Givens. Givens was real estate developer and wanted the house to be a replica of a castle in his native Ireland.  Some say that Givens built the home for his fiancee who died before the house could be finished.  Maybe that accounts for why Givens only lived in the castle for 8 years.

Around 1894, the castle turned into the Chicago Female College. It is reputed to have had a student die in the 1930’s from flu.

During the 1960’s, the castle was turned into the Beverly Unitarian Church.  A janitor once reported that he had a conversation with a woman who disappeared from sight. Their conversation was about the house and how much it had changed over the years.  The janitor saw no footprints outside in the snow and all of the doors were locked.  Where did she go?  Was it the student that passed away from the flu?

The pastor of the church at the time was a woman who claimed she saw a pair of hands touch her husband’s waist.  Even more, the pastor thought the hands were those of a woman.  The husband never felt a thing.  During this time as well, there were reports of a candle being seen through windows when nobody was present in the building.

Unexplained noises have also been attributed to the ghost and a former pastor said that he often tried to track down the source of the noises but was never able to.

The story is courtesy of Chicago Ghost blogger.