The Night Of Terror!!!!!!!

It all started out innocently enough. My sister Linda had invited us over for spaghetti dinner night. Little did we know what awaited us.


Our first inkling that something was amiss was when we knocked on the door and were greeted by two ancient people.
"Velcome", they said. "We are the butler and housekeeper and we have been expecting you." I stole a quick glance at Unkie but he was struggling to open his 2nd Schmidts roady and didn't seem to notice anything was wrong.





It













quickly became apparent that we had wandered into THE HOUSE OF HORRORS when we rounded the corner and bumped into these this friendly fellow and his bride. Neither seemed to notice that they were dead! We were startled and turned to flee but found our way blocked by a very unfriendly beast. It offered to scratch our eyes out "free of charge." We politely declined and ran screaming in the other direction. (At this point Unkie was fumbling to open another beer and I decided I needed one as well.)

Just when we thought the worse was over we happened upon this! Slowly the lid of the coffin creaked open and out crawled the most horrifying sight yet! Unkie, by now, was squealing and crying. "Please, please, I'll do anything but let me live to drink another beer!"

Running as fast as we could, which wasn't all that fast" we encounter this sight ~ As scared as we were Unkie, being the avid sports enthusiast that he is, threatened the blind referee with bodily harm in the name of all Bills fans. "No, No," I screamed, " there's no time for that now!"










We ran and ran until we could run no more. Unkie did take one brief time out to have a beer withMr. Bones, his new friend from the coffin.


















And just when we thought we were safe...POOF! the spell was cast and Unkie and I were turned into these horrifying creatures. So, at Christmas, please don't be frightened by us. We are the same lovable Unkie and Antie, we just look different. Who knows by then we may even have found a way to break the spell. One more thing, could someone please open a beer for Unkie?

24 "The Surprise"

This is a story about a boy, his family, and a surprise visitor, called Mother Nature.
By JT Pilaf



Monday, October 9th, 12:15 PM
It was a beautiful fall day. The sun was brightly shining, birds were singing, and the kids were playing in the sand.

I was dutifully waiting for my wife to direct me to go change my selected outfit for the day before we ran off to the Buffalo Zoo. It's the German side of me that always matches up dark socks with slippers.
There had been early weather reports that indicated that there might be snow on Friday the 13th, a dusting. BUT, for four days over Columbus Day weekend we had gorgeous, sunny 75 - 80 degree weather.

Thursday the 12th, 3:00 PM

I was leaving work and snow flakes had already begun to fall. My five minute ride home was serene and peaceful. It made me wish I had Genesis' "Wind and Wuthering" in the car so I could put it into my car stereo. BUT, how could I do that before Thanksgiving? What was thinking? That's winter music.

Outside the snow fell wistfully to the unsuspecting ground. Mustafa, the squirrel, seemed to spell out our doom. He was prepared, he earlier had gone to Consumers and picked up a case of Pabst Blue Ribbon.

4:30 PM The snow was not letting up.

5:15 PM We lost our power while the kids and I were watching Spongebob. I was bummed. I never saw that episode before.

6:00 PM It was starting to get dark outside. Being the novice camper I went in the basement and brought up our collection of Coleman Camping Supplies to ready us for the night. NOW, I know once the power goes off your not supposed to open your fridge, so we just had PB & J sandwiches for supper. BUT, Zach wanted milk, so he opened the fridge.

6:32 PM Candles were lit and we sat down to a game of Sorry.

7:15 PM After losing at Sorry I joined my neighbor outside to experience the happenings. Tree limbs had already begun to fall from their century aged Silver Maple trunks.

7:45 PM We put the kids to bed.

7:46 PM I tried to get a lil' lovin' from the Mrs.

7:47 PM She respectfully declined my suggestion.

7:48 PM I this time suggested that we adjourn to the bedroom and try and stay together. I assured her there were no ulterior motives.

8:07 PM With fluttering candles lit and our very own 4th of JJuly just outside our bedroom window (thanks to the lightning and power surges from the cables) I once again attempted to bring a lil' romance to our chilled home.

8:08 PM Damn, shot down again.

Friday the 13th, 6:15 AM

The power was still out and it was quite chilly waking up to get ready for work. I took an ethnic shower provided by Mennon's Speedstick and went outside to start shoveling. Yeowza!!! That's a lot of snow.

7:16 AM I went back inside to call work and let them know I was going to be little late. I was quickly informed that there was no way I was going to make it in today.

8:45 AM I got the van stuck in the snow at the end of the driveway. This is going to take awhile.

Even though the magnitude and weight of the snow caused a lot of damage to our trees, yard, and displaced us for six days. I didn't mind the experience. We couldn't watch TV, so we played games, talked, and read. It's during these times that families (in a hectic fast paced world) get to slow down and enjoy each other for awhile. I'm sure Zach and Emma witnessed Sandra, and hopefully myself, behave with strength and reason. It was nice spending extended time with my gracious brother-in-law and parents.

Freaky Friday the 13th Part 1

I know there will be many pictures up from the storm that shocked the world. Hillary Clinton has just declared Western New York a "natural disaster area". Our cable has just been restored, so I am able to blog. The pictures will explain everything. I can blog much more later. I wanted to get these pictures up to reach our fan base ASAP.

A twenty minute ride from work turned into over an hour on Thursday night.

This picture was taken on the way home from work Thursday at around 6pm. Who would have known this was the start of 425,000 Western New Yorkers to be without power?

Apparently mother nature had a different idea in mind as the tree sitting in front of the house came crashing down on the rented KIA. Luckily no damage was done, but she withheld the weather.

This was a portion of the tree that collapsed on the front lawn of the house. Most neighbors used power saws to take care of the damage on the lawns. (Not my sissy, she used her bare hands).

October 13 !!!!!?????

Compare and contrast, please -- Buffalo on October 13th, and Atlanta on October 13th. There's room down here for all of you! I will expect great stories of the travails of this snowstorm once you guys have your power back!

sad news

While my previous post was done in jest, and as much as I may dislike the yankees, I felt that it was in bad taste to leave the previous post up. Sad news today. I promise a 2 week moratorium on all yankee hating jokes. Perhaps someone can post a new blog to lighten the atmosphere?

they've won us over!

Yes folks, the wonderful play by those masterful 26 time world champions have finally won this family over! Long live the yankees! Jeter, Damon, A-Rod, Sheffield, Matsui, Posada, Giambi, et al, have shown, even with a bloated payroll of 203 million dollars that baseball is alive and well.

Yes folks, the wonderful Yankess have done it. Given me a new reason to blog again.
I feel your pain.
Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.

Case # 06-613327

As we are fast approaching our annivarsary of the family blog; looking back there were many positive events that happened in our life. So, I hate to burst the bubble people, But; here is my recollection of today's events.

I had decided to take a nice four day weekend off work and enjoy some time off by catching a Sabres game, furniture shopping, relaxing, etc. The Sabre game was quite a treat. As Sunday night fast approached, I laughed as I could stay up late as everyone had to work the next day. My dad worked late that night, and promptly put my car in the driveway. He was sound asleep by 10:30 (See picture). As everyone at my house was snoring,I decided it would be fun to watch tv as late as I could.

Thrillie had to wake up extra early for work on Monday morning, so I was trying my hardest to stay quiet. I have to give her credit, she has prevented criminal activity at Home Depot. So, I managed to fall asleep around midnight.

Since my car was the last car in the driveway, Thrillie would have to leave a few minutes early to pull my car onto the street. But, since the Tonawanda city does not permit cars on streets until 6 am, she would have to pull my car back in the driveway.

At 6:15 Momma woke up to get ready for work and barked at George to go and get her coffee. Antee B is usually out of the house for work around 7 am. George quickly arose from bed and rushed out the door to grab her coffee.

What happened next is all a blur to me, as I was snuggled in my bed hoping to sleep in until about noon or 1. Mother came storming up the stairs and asked where my car was? "What do you mean my car is not here?" As I ran outside and noticed the driveway was clear, I realized that I had been robbed blind. My car was stolen! I thought it was all a dream, a nightmare. But that dream quickly turned into reality. "Please tell me that Jill has it."

After calling Jill's cell phone and leaving voicemail after voicemail, we quickly called the customer service representative at Home Depot. After speaking with Jill we concluded that she did not have to move my car, since it was not in the driveway.

Since it was almost 7 am, it was time for shift change and Tim Horton's coffee and donuts run; the police responded as quickly as they could. They took a mini statement from me and went on their way. I signed a few papers, called my credit card businesses, informed my immediate supervisor, and tried to find a rental car. The neighbors were quick to assist with tips, "I swear I heard a gunshot, " screamed a neighbor. " A bunch of teens were throwing rocks, and laughing and yelling, " screamed another.

After I met with my insurance representative and provided a detailed statement of the events, I drove an Enterprise Kia (slightly larger than a Schwinn) home depressed that I was only a few car payments away from paying it off. On a lighter note, 70% of all cars stolen are returned, and Columbo and Jessica Fletcher are working diligently on the case.

Just how I wanted to spend my day off!!!