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A new year has started with an entire month having passed by. I keep trying to feel the effects of a new year. All I seem to be feeling?

Like I need to wake up before the whole year passes me by.

I keep getting random phone calls to my cell. I'm sure the woman has the wrong number, but every time I answer it's like she can't hear me. And she keeps asking for her sister. She leaves messages, too, when I don't answer. I get these calls at least once a day.

Thanks for the birthday serenade, random stranger, but I was born in June.

So this is a little late, but I hope that everyone had a good Christmas. I enjoyed mine here in Texas with my family, but I'm ready to get home. They're projecting that I should be able to fly back by tomorrow but I'm not holding my breath. Thanks OC for making my travel plans difficult.

This is what I do when I'm stuck inside because of the snow. I bake. (Seriously? Snow? C'mon.) Ben's been out playing in it, but I let Merlin handle that. Maybe it's the Southern Belle buried deep inside, but I'm not all that fond of the snow.

I'm making Snowball Christmas Cookies. A little late for Christmas, I know, but the snow part is fitting? We'll have them on special at Baxter Bakery, along with all kinds of Hot Chocolate (try it with Sparkling Milk!) to help fend off the cold.

This is your friendly reminder to put your turkey in the fridge if you bought a frozen one. They typically take a couple of days to thaw out, so make some room and get it in there. We still have a few fresh organic ones at the shop, so if you haven't gotten out to get your turkey yet swing on by. Or you know, just come on by to pick up stuff to cook for your family over the holiday since we'll be closed from Thursday until Monday morning.

We've been so busy at the shop that I've been getting home later than normal, but it's been worth it. I'm still looking forward to my weekend off though.

I can't believe Thanksgiving is in two days.

I may or may not have fallen asleep with a baby on my chest while I was watching my nephew tonight for his parents. They got to go out and see a movie for the first time in several weeks, and trusted me to watch Roger for a few hours.

I was Dreaming about being in space, and when I got home I found a set of armor waiting for me in my apartment.

Just as a friendly reminder, don't wait until the last minute to order your turkey's, hams or whatever other meats you might need for Thanksgiving. We're doing a month long special on free range turkey, and if you let me know you're from the network I'll give you a little more of a discount.

I will be closing the shop on Thanksgiving day, and won't open back up until the Monday after. I think I deserve a little bit of a break this year.

Alright, I have a love/hate relationship with haunted houses.

That said, I want to go to one!

I also want to decorate pumpkins.

I managed to convince the girls at the shop to not decorate for Halloween until the first. I think they dubbed me the Grinch of Halloween, but that's fine by me. This morning, however, when they came in they immediately went to the back where our decorations are stored and began putting things out. Now it's lovely, festive and boo to you.

( trigger warning: violence, and talk of dismemberment. viewable to all though )

I'm unfortunately going to be out of town for whatever day it is where you talk like a pirate, however, the Jolly Roger has got a nice space for a fire pit - or really, it's a metal box filled with sand meant for grilling or heating preserved food. Nothing fancy but I quite think it's about time I had people over to see my beautiful love for a get-together on deck and under the stars.

She's in private dock space in Newport Beach - how about next Saturday, I'll just invite the whole bloody network. No boiled and salted leather or turtle's blood, but there will be lots of fish and other delicious things. Perhaps rum as well.

Someone else is quite ready for it too, mind you.

( cut for image, viewable to all )

Red and black is my favourite piratical colour combination.

Day of remembrance today.

A little surprising (and almost fitting?) that I procured a job interview. I was at a cafe grabbing breakfast when I struck up a conversation with the police officer ahead of me in line. Seemed right to pay my respects on a day like today. Turns out he was a Superintendent and in charge of hiring civilian officers for this precinct. They're looking for a tech guy, and after hearing about my qualifications, he wanted to hire me on the spot. But protocol, so I'm headed in tomorrow for a formal interview. Pretty spiffy, I think.

Spent the last few days on the floor in my new apartment because I don't have a bed yet. But I've got a fantastic sleeping bag. (AKA, Anyone selling an old bed? Know where I can get one cheap?)

Sorry, Wash, that I didn't have more comfortable accommodations for you. I bet you're glad to be back home.

So, this morning I woke up to find a second set of dog tags around my neck and a square, zippo-like lighter on the end table. Dream Gifts. Somehow, I didn't think I'd get any. My mistake.

More Dreams last night. I'm pretty badass, if I don't say so myself. Really shouldn't have let myself out of the Hospital to run the mission, but at least it was a success. I woke up sore as hell this morning, and I'm babysitting all day. There's not enough coffee in this world.

I have a pet. He must be from dreams. He's a little unusual.

This isn't Pokemon Go either, so don't throw a Pokeball at him.

Only a few more days until I'm headed to Texas to meet my birth mom, and see my parents. I'm excited, nervous and definitely looking forward to this little vacation. I think it's going to be a lot of fun to learn about my birth mom, and her side of the family. Hopefully if I do have a cousin Jed here, he's not...crazy or anything.

But yes, so this means that Miller's Meats will be closed from Sunday, August 14th until Sunday August 21st. If you have anything you'd like to order, now would be the time to do it so I can get it out to you.

I made the mistake of dozing off in front of my television after work only to wake up with a sore throat from screaming so much in my dreams. They'd tied me up, then my cousin Jed showed up and was about to kill me when he noticed the burn mark from my birth mother's necklace on my chest. He let me go, and I tried to leave before one of the mayor's henchmen grabbed me. Let's just say it's the last time he'll be grabbing anyone again.

[ooc: might be talk about murder in the comments below]

My first Dream wasn't so bad. It was pretty nice, even. But this one wasn't. Not in the slightest. I ended up falling off my brother's couch and scaring the crap out of my sister-in-law. I wasn't really all that keen on reliving the loss of my eye.

Think I'll go for a walk to clear my head.

Spoke on the phone to my mum this morning. It's a bit odd, not having her around all the time. Seems like I'm calling her every other day to make up for it. Maybe I'll fly her out here for a week or so. She's hardly been out of London let alone out of the country. Might do her a bit of good.

I found this at the store the other day:

( Cut for Picture; Viewable by all )

Is it egotistical that I bought it just because of the name?

It hasn't lasted long. After dreaming that my neighbor was electrocuted I went through the entire six pack. The other deaths were bad, but this one...this one was the worst by far.

These pocket things have me worried. I know I'm probably not the only one.

Right now, I keep worrying that my dad someone from my dreams might come through. He's only human and he died in my dreams, but I have repeat nightmares about him. He kills girls that look like me. in their late teens. He's very sick. He can't be talked out of it. He only strikes when his victims are alone except for me and my mom..

I don't want to scare anyone. I haven't seen him. He might not be here and might not come through. Maybe the pockets will all be closed before he can.

I think, just in case, any teen girls or young woman that could pass for teens should be careful. Especially if you look like me.. I suggest not going out alone.

Thank you to everyone who's fighting those things.

Stay safe everyone.

Naps are not my fiend. Seriously.

I haven't woken up screaming for a long time.

I have to remind myself that naps are a bad idea. Now I'm sore, bruised and pretty ticked off.

I was trying to get away from the damn mayor, only to get hit by a car in the process and then captured by one of his cronies. I got away, and then ran into a cop I thought I could trust. Unfortunately said cop is the mayor's son, and now? Now I'm being taken to the slaughterhouse.

Great.

We're running a 10% off sale on all of our meats tomorrow, and Monday. Though on Monday we'll only be open for half a day due to the holiday. Stop on by and see us at Miller's Meats if you need anything for your BBQ needs.

Finding out the creepy ass mayor isn't a good guy doesn't really shock me. I knew there was something skeevy about him. Finding out my parents were in on killing my birth family in my dreams did surprise me, and so did finding out that the chainsaw wielding psycho is my cousin Jed instead of some random dude. I have no idea how I feel about any of that.

On a different, not dream related note, I did manage to get information in regards to my birth mom. She's still alive, and still lives in Texas. My PI did get me her phone number, it was public anyway, so I'm thinking I'll give her a call sometime this weekend.

Oh my God, I can't stop laughing!!

Ow, waking up feeling like I've been hit by a truck is not a good feeling, and no, I wasn't hit by a truck in my dreams. I was in a van that was wrecked twice as we tried to get away from the chainsaw wielding psycho. I should also note that Ryan, my boyfriend in my dreams, was driving so it was his fault.

Glad to know my uncle is a complete douchebag in my dreams who just manipulates and threatens people to get what he wants. It's not like he's a fucking saint in real life, but he doesn't go around murdering people or turning them into werewolves.

Also, not exactly happy with getting chained up and tortured by a psycho bitch. ...No offense, Allison.

Has anyone else seen something so bad in their dreams that even when you woke up, you couldn't get that horrible image out of your mind?

Putting myself into a coffin only to have the psycho that's chasing me cut into it with a chainsaw is definitely the scariest thing I've ever experienced in my life. At least the guy I'm dating in my dreams is doing something right by getting him away, but I'm 100% he and my 'best friend' were having some fun out in the barn while shit was going down at the house.

Dream me made no comment on this, but of course, dream me was scared stupid.

In other news, I've found out my birth mother's name. In my dreams she's no longer alive, so I wonder if that's going to be true here.

( Possible triggers; talk of death, blood, and violence )

If I'm going to be turning into a werewolf at some point in the future, I really need to get drunk more often, while I can.

I found a doll sitting on my coffee table this morning. A dirty, shabby looking doll with this ratty dress and button eyes. I'm assuming it came from my dreams considering the creep factor. What am I supposed to do with a doll?

My parents in my dreams are jerks. Not that they're that much better here, but at least when I called to ask them if I was adopted they didn't say they wish they'd left me there and yell at me for questioning them about it. I've always known that there was something off in regards to my parents, but they've done the best that they could I guess.

Still, I'm going to see if I can find my birth mother.

Good to know that the S shaped scar from my dream crossed over here to the waking world. My dream self is stupid and called it a birth mark, when it is clearly a burn. My dream self is really stupid apparently.

I have some amazing news! This has been in the works for a while for our company, though we didn't want to make an announcement until it was sure.

Baxter Bakery's second location has been found, rented, and is amid renovations! We'll be opening our second location soon! Stay tuned for more details!

I want to apologize to everyone who got caught out in the fog during the last week of January. I know some really bad things were out in it. It was a dream thing and it was my fault.

I'm really sorry.

Something is up with this fog, and I don't mean just that it's here screwing up the county.  I'm like... normal again, which would make me happy if I weren't trying to... y'know. Survive. It feels like, I don't know... Like something else is out there, too.

Anyone else feeling it?

A regular customer came in yesterday and asked if I'd considered doing bacon bouquets for Valentine's Day. I hadn't, but I think it's going to be a thing now. We'll also be running specials on various cuts of steak the week before V-day, so come on by if you're looking for a great cut of meat.

I have possibly been watching too many Halloween movie marathons and eating too much candy, because I had the weirdest litte dream last night. I was very young and got attacked by what I'm assuming was a werewolf. And I woke up feeling a bit nauseated. Hopefully that passes soon so I can eat more candy.

I've been dreaming of an apartment. It's apparently important. I dreamed of moving there. I dreamed of living there. No big deal. Pretty normal.

Last week though I dreamed about the apartment and...it was different. It was red. Like rusted up or maybe someone had slaughtered something in it. None of my furniture was where it was supposed to be. A credenza I had in the corner had been shoved over and a record player was where my TV used to be. It was like I was dreaming about a dream about the apartment.

Then this thing crawled out of the wall by the credenza. I would call it a monster, except it was human shaped. Bald, naked and zombie like. It crawled out of my wall and then crawled across the floor towards me, reaching out to grab hold of me and moaning. I can still hear it.

Then last night I dreamed I was trapped in the apartment. It was my apartment...well, the same one I'd been dreaming about before, except the door is chained shut. Not like your usual security chain, like someone actually chained it up from the inside.

I can't get out. I can't get out of the apartment. I've been trapped there for a week. And I don't think anyone has even noticed I'm gone.

Been enjoying working around here. Beats being on a set holding down a folding chair. If you see me around on campus at [address] I'm not loitering. I'm there fixing a fender bender. Two people backed into each other and locked bumpers. No idea how they managed in the plastic they're driving.

World's a strange place.

Hey everyone, I'm Heather Miller, owner of Miller's Meats so if you ever need any meats that are fresh and organic? Come on by to see us. You can also get a 10% discount on your purchase if you mention you saw this post on the Network.