How do you know you are a comedian…?

I always tease my youngest son that he should grow up to be a comedian. I originally started saying this only because he was the funniest in our family. But as time went on, he was “really funny”. He has this way with facial expressions and one liners that just crack’s me up. Maybe he can’t be a comedian for a living… but could be a great second job and have lots of fun doing it. I know I would go watch him with an extra pair of depends.

So a couple of months ago, he made this facial expression like Jim Carey did in the movie The Mask… you know the one when he says “Smok’n” and he points his chin out, dropping his jaw with a smile. Well I nearly fell out of my chair… perfect impression. I guess I made too big of deal because he won’t do it for me again.

Last month, I got a new table set for my birthday and was putting together the chairs. Because this is a repeated process, I turned on the TV to keep me company. Well there it was… Ace Ventura… OMG! Jim Carey did a great impersonation of my son. I could not look at the movie without thinking of my very own comedian. The funniest was when my son came downstairs later, I commented that I saw him on TV and he replied “oh, really, did you watch Ace Ventura?” Even he thinks he is funny.

I don’t mind my little comedian keeping me in stitches but I wish he would stop being a comic long enough so I can take a family photograph. Every family picture he is making some funny facial expression or pretending he is asleep. Now he thinks that is funny… me… not so much!!

Here’s laughing at ya’ll !!!

NASCAR Diehards…

Well I never consider myself a Diehard NASCAR Fan… but I sure love the fun. It was an incredible weekend with family and friends camping at Texas Motor Speedway. Even if you are not into the racing part… you are automatically sucked in to the excitement by just being around the crew. We tell the same stories, have a similar agenda, but it really doesn’t matter because each year a little something is added and the memories keep get better.

I honor my drivers by the sponsor and the number of the car. So I have lots of favorites. I like #2 because it’s the Miller Lite Car, then, #7 Danica Patrick because my favorite number is 7, plus she's a chick!! Then there is Budweiser… cause it is Beer, Crown Royal… cause it’s a cool color & whiskey, Geico… for the “here lizard, lizard, lizard”, Aflac… just because we love making that duck sound, and of course M&Ms… cause who doesn’t like those little chocolate guys!!

Well this year was definitely the year of rain… both Saturday and Sunday’s race got rained out and proposed to Monday. A lot of people lost money on their tickets including us. It spoiled the “big” fun but we still had fun. Saturday afternoon while waiting for the rain to clear we played “Redneck Horseshoes”. Yup, medal hockey sticks as the stakes and commercial grade toilet seats as the shoes. Absolutely hilarious!!! We even gain spectator traffic. The champions where of course Marc and I!! This was one of many events that entertained us. Then you can’t forget the food… food… and more food!

Another great year, thanks ya’ll… can’t wait to do it again!! But next year, I am buying myself some rubber boots.

It's All Fun and Games Until Someone Gets Annoying

All my boyz have the ability to make others laugh. I tried to instill in them to laugh at themselves and find humor in life. We are known to do practical jokes and scare the bajeebers on each other.

My youngest is scared to go into the ally to take the garbage out. So he has to do it early in the evening to avoid this certain fate. So one evening he forgot to take out the trash and we was stuck having to do it at dusk. We convinced him that there was nothing in the ally to hurt him and he needed to do his chore. So off he tromped, out the garage door and down the driveway to the edge of the ally. In the meantime, I darted out the front door and around the house to the back. He was still at the garbage cans. Apparently he put the recycle bag in the garbage can and hand to fish it out. This was taking extra time… in the dark. Then he swiftly walks back to the garage and as he took the first step inside the garage, I jumped out from around the house growling. All I saw was him drop behind my car. By the time I got to him, I was laughing so hard that I could barely speak. It was hilarious, to me… but not for him, he was pretty upset with me, but it was worth it. I wanted to console him but I couldn’t stop laughing. He was very annoyed with me and walked back into the house. Lesson learned… now, he manages to get the trash out early and we still tease him.

Then, my middle son’s phobia of spiders. He absolutely screams like crazy and runs with no directional knowledge. One day in the kitchen, he saw a spider on the floor; he jumped so high, he almost hit the ceiling. Then, I went to look for the spider and it was so small that I could barely see it, so I pretended to pick it up as I motioned to throw it at him. Needless to say, he was gone, running, and screaming, leaving us laughing until our bellies hurt.

Now my oldest, is a little harder to scare. You can do the old “Boo” from around the corner but you better duck, he is known to swing his arms. He has more fun laughing at me scare the others.

As far as Ray, I like to run up to the door of the room he is exiting in the dark, and growl. He just jumps back and howls a little, but still scared. I like the power you feel.

Now as for me, I don’t scare easily, but I get startled. I do have to say, my girlfriend at work got me good in the parking garage at 8:00 o’clock in the morning. I was getting my things out of the back seat of my car like I do every day and someone approached me then pointed something in my back. I screamed like a baby, as I quickly turned around to see her giggling. What a rush, she got me good, my adrenaline was pumping. I guess for all my scares I do… this is how “pay it forward” works.

I love my family… we got a sense of humor… LMAO!

My Haunted House Experience…

Nested in the heart of San Antonio is the Victoria’s Black Swan Inn. It is 35 acres of lawns, gardens, cottages, barns, gazebos and woodlands. It sits along side the Salado Creek where the Battle of Salado occurred in 1842. This southern mansion was built in 1867 and was home to some of the most prestigious people of San Antonio’s history.

Victoria’s Black Swan Inn is also known to be one of the most haunted inns in the area. The original owners, a German immigrant by the name of Heinrich, are known to still roam the dairy barn. As well as, the prominent attorney who was found dead with his hands bind to his back and ruled a suicide. This battle was a bloody massacre leaving 100’s dead, many Texas army men, countless Mexican and Cherokee soldiers as part of the battle for the Republic of Texas.

There have been plenty of unexplained phenomena, including lights turning on and off, sightings, cold spots, music playing, doors locking or unlocking on their own.

Even during the day it was dark and creepy, the house is hidden by a mass of 100 year old oak and pecan trees which makes it hard to see from the road. We drove slowly up to the Inn and got a feeling we where living a horror movie. The place looked deserted, and there was an eerie quietness while I walked the grounds.

This is a great place for amateur ghost hunters to practice their craft. We are here with The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS ParaLab) Beyond Reality Events who is holding a Paranormal Boot Camp at the Inn. They conducted a class session with a hands-on investigation. In the class we learned about the equipment, theories, experiences and the scientific explanation. The class was very informative and the team was quite funny with their stories.

We had no idea what we where about to experience. As we broke up into teams we separated into different areas of the property. We first went into the dairy barn, where they experienced things being thrown and people being pushed. Then off to the main house, where music is heard, doors open and close. Unfortunately, it started to rain, so we where unable to go to the gazebo where soldiers have appeared. So, they sent us back to the dairy barn. For our final location we went to the cottage where it was originally a slaughter house.

I experienced something in every location. From hearing the voices using the enhanced recording and playback equipment, to a sickness feeling, to the music playing and the door opening & closing on demand.

When I sat on the sofa in the cottage, an incredible sensation came over me that I was going to be sick, but when I stood up and walked to the other side of the room the feeling stopped. Maybe it was just the old smells, animal urine, mold and wood rot. In the main house, the sound of music playing happened at least three times. Everyone in the group of 20 people heard it at least twice and we all confirmed it wasn’t our cell phones ringing. Creepy! Then as we sat in the ballroom, someone asked the spirit to open the door. The door did not have a doorknob on the outside of the building and it only locked from the inside. They asked about three times and on command the door opened partially ever so slowly. Then they asked to close the door and with the same effort the door closed. I quickly got up to investigate the door and I knew the back and side doors where open. It could have been easily the wind or draft pulling the door or maybe not.

In the famous closet where the owner of the house continuously kept getting scared and the door locking on its own, I sat quietly waiting for some experience. As I sat there with my eyes open, I thought to myself, do I really want to experience this… what if something appeared in front of me. I waited about five minutes and got out, the closest gave me the creeps. I decided, I would leave this experience to someone else.

The most incredible experience was in the dairy barn. The TAPS Paralab had their equipment that would enhance the volume of any EVPs so you could hear it easier. As well as an ultraviolet camera to capture any images. It wasn’t more than 5-10 minutes when things began to happen. I am in the room with 20+ people who all shared this with me. The link below is the sounds of Sophia, who is a 14 year old girl, who constantly plays tricks on the owner in mischievous ways. I am sitting right in front of Andy who has the voice magnifier and Michelle is on my left who is asking the questions. There is high static on the clip because this is the energy in the room. If you turn up your volume and try to ignore the static you will hear the voice of a little girl who giggles and answers all Michelle’s questions. You may have to listen a couple of times so you can learn how to hear over the static. Sophia Talking

This is only one of many voices we experienced. As I get the other EVPs I will upload under my links section of my blog. As you can hear, we laugh with the responses of the giggling, with no fear, totally comfortable and participate as if it’s a conversation amongst friends. We also heard, Don, Steve, and Tobias Samson.

Believe it or not, but it was awesome to begin the day with 80 strangers and end the evening at 2:00 am the next day with people who now are your friends who shared something which many people do not get this opportunity.

I had a memorable experience and I was blessed to share it with my good friend Carla. We laughed throughout the day to help calm our nervous from creepiness to the sigh of amazement with every experience. I can cross this off my bucket list… I completed my ghost hunt. Now only time will tell if we brought any home with us… I hope not, my motorcycle only has a solo seat.

Other EVP Recordings:
I'm Here (listen closely at 17-18 secs)
Milk Barn (inaudible sound)

Feb 12... Snow Day… in Texas

Growing up in Nova Scotia, a snow day was every other day. A snow day in Texas, normally is once a year. Well now we are in day three and the snow is still on the ground. It snowed for 24 hours straight giving us 9 inches in our hometown but 12.5 inches in Dallas. That is a lot of snow for Texas. The kids really like the cancellation of school and the snowball fights with their friends. As parents, I loved the fact that they where outside playing instead of hanging around the video games. The lack of winter attire created a challenge but the boys didn’t seem to mind the cold ankles (no boots) or cold hands (99 cent gloves).

We didn’t make any snowmen or snow forts but we went tobogganing at the golf course. We actually own a sled that we purchase in New Mexico on our family ski trip. This turned out fun… and fast down the hill. Then we had to improvise because there were too many kids for one sled. So we blew up the pool tubes. It worked pretty good, not as fast but just as fun. They beat down the snow to the point of mud.

We ended the day in fun but it didn’t start out that way. We woke up to a little backyard disaster. Our canvas gazebo could not withstand the weight of the snow and came crashing down on all the furniture stored underneath. So with the help of the boyz we managed to clear the gazebo and shake all the snow from the trees. It didn’t take me but a few seconds to remember shoveling snow in Nova Scotia. Glad this only happens once a year in Texas. It was fun while it lasted... yea-ha!

Sense of Humor…

Do you think you have a sense of humor? Everyone likes to think they do, because otherwise you wouldn’t be any fun to hang with. You can ask anyone, I love to play jokes or tease other people. I believe once people are able to relax, you become more creative and able to solve problems easier. Laughter is the perfect medicine for stress. Share your embarrassment with other and laugh at yourself. Especially pay attention to children as they take life lightly.

My oldest wonders where do I come up with this stuff… because my mind is always working and I seem to never rest. I am always on guard for a good ‘zinger’ to disarm my focus into laughter. Some call it wit, but I call it being observant to my surroundings looking for the next joke or sarcastic remark.

I believe my two youngest sons; have my ability to ‘zing’. Their humor is similar to mine and always makes me laugh. For example, the other night I text messaged them that supper was ready. Then, in less than 30 seconds the doorbell rang. There they where, huffing and puffing… “Mom, we got the message and ran home”. Impossible, they where at least a 5 min walk away. There attempt at Humor, it was pretty funny… and made me giggle.

My youngest has the funniest facial expressions and when you make fun of him he has this little mutter of “mum, um, mun…(sp?) that he says that you can’t spell but it’s hilarious. Then he has his amazing trick of slamming the back of this right hand to his chest while trying to bit his left ear… LMAO! Try it… then you will know. Oh, we can’t forget how funny it is when he takes the trash out in the dark ally and his parents run round around the house from the other door only to scare the bageebers out of him. It brings tears to my eyes…

Then the middle son, always loving a good laugh when the joke is not on him. It’s pretty funny when you fake a spider just to watch him run for his life. My favorite is jumping around the corner at him and to hear him squeal. It’s getting tougher to do now that he towers over me. He is full of pranks and enjoys laughing with you.

As for my oldest, loves to watch the shenanigans going on around him. I think he just thinks we are all crazy but is happy just to watch the show then participate in the production.

The LeBlanc household is one to experience but you are always guaranteed laughter and fun.

What time is your curfew…?

If you asked our boyz what time is curfew… you would get the answer: “I don’t know” It is not because they don’t have a curfew, it’s because it depends on what they are doing.

If you Google this topic, “teenage curfews”. Parents you should be surprised… today’s kids generally don’t have a curfew… wtf? Did you hear the news today? The ages of offender, victims, and criminals are getting younger and younger. For example, just recently a 16 yr old boy rolled his truck in a mall parking lot, in the middle of the day and one of the four teens died. Can you imagine what this boy is going to go through for the rest of his life? This young man’s actions affect not only him but those in the vehicle and their families. Apparently he was speeding and lost control. Parents are supposed to protect their children until they are older and wiser to be able to make responsible decisions to avoid major life altering situation. This newscast really scared me on how easy this could happen to anyone. Just educating your teens and constantly telling them the “what ifs” of life. Yes, parents don’t know everything but I do have 25 years more experience than my children!!

Each time the boyz ask to attend an event, to be out late, etc. Us as parents can weight the danger and analyze the risk to ensure they come home safely. For example, to drive across town on a Friday night, threw an area with restaurants or bars between the hours of 11:00 – 1:00 am. The answer would be no…”to drive”. It may not be “no” to the event… but the compromise would be “I’ll drive you”. We just reduced the risk. I can remember as a teenager thinking my Mother was wrong and didn’t understand… but she was right way more than she was wrong.

Children do not have the street smarts, nor the ‘lesson’s learned’ to make these responsible decisions. When do you let them be adults? When they are adults, duh! My boyz all have curfews… yes even the 21 year old. The times vary depending on the activity and the dangers involved. Our house is usually grand central station… which I love. Teenagers are going in and out of the house up to 11 – 12 o’clock at night during the weekend. It doesn’t matter to me, because they know this is a safe environment and I know where my hoodlums are. Trust is an important factor. They do not have to have a 3 am curfew to prove there are trusted. We can have trust anytime during the day… but nothing good ever happens after midnight.

Do you know where you children are?