fluffycakes
Junior Sitter
A silken-haired beauty with a laugh like pealing bells
Posts: 868
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Post by fluffycakes on Nov 17, 2008 23:48:54 GMT -5
Lol, I shouldn't be laughing at the bad house-sitters stories, but I can't help it. Although ringdings, your neighbour seems awfully nice! I honestly attribute this book, along with some others in the series, for starting my random fear of being broken into, or coming home to find a stranger in the house. Seriously, that idea scares me so much that I'm almost getting freaked out as I write this (though to be fair, I live on my own, so it's a bit easier to get freaked out). If I were Stacey, I'd be telling my mom right away if I thought someone had broken into the house. And no way would I go back there alone, dog or no dog!
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Post by ringdings on Nov 18, 2008 11:00:40 GMT -5
^^ He's the sweetest guy. Fluffycakes, your fear is justified. It's not just the books, but television and movies as well. Even if you're in a safe neighborhood, being a single woman living alone can be scary at times.
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Post by ringdings on Nov 19, 2008 16:43:47 GMT -5
Thanks, layla
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Post by ringdings on Nov 20, 2008 9:04:15 GMT -5
^^ Do you mean why it's more scary for single women to be living alone than men? Because single women are more targeted for crimes (e.g. rape) than men. Sure, women can defend themselves, but there is something to be said about safety in numbers.
Getting back on topic, Stacey acted really stupidly in this book when she didn't tell any adult about her fears and suspicions.
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starrynight
Sitting For The Kuhns
The Royal Diner of Pizza Express
Posts: 4,004
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Post by starrynight on Nov 20, 2008 14:16:23 GMT -5
I had no idea that there were so many less than ideal housesitters out there. I guess that explains why the people I've housesat for are so excited to come home to a clean house, with nothing missing and nothing out of place.
Last year, I housesat for a family with a standard poodle (those are the big ones). Sometimes at night, I'd be trying to get to sleep, and the dog would just start growling in the living room. It was really creepy. Usually, it was just because he saw a neighbor outside or something, but it still got me every time.
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Post by sparklymouse on Nov 20, 2008 17:58:22 GMT -5
^Sometimes at night, in my own house, my cat will just stare at a dark room or hallway. It's disturbing.
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Post by booboobrewer on Nov 20, 2008 21:20:31 GMT -5
^Sometimes at night, in my own house, my cat will just stare at a dark room or hallway. It's disturbing. Mine does that too. Or he'll go into a dark room and look at something in there for a long time, like the door or a shelf.
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starrynight
Sitting For The Kuhns
The Royal Diner of Pizza Express
Posts: 4,004
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Post by starrynight on Dec 2, 2008 11:48:01 GMT -5
They say pets can see ghosts....
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Post by booboobrewer on Dec 2, 2008 22:03:10 GMT -5
I know, right! ;D
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tiff85
Junior Sitter
Posts: 583
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Post by tiff85 on Mar 7, 2009 18:00:32 GMT -5
I read this a long time ago and the cover alone kind of scared me. Stacey looks like she's the one in trouble. I really don't remember much about this book. Was the house haunted?
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starrynight
Sitting For The Kuhns
The Royal Diner of Pizza Express
Posts: 4,004
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Post by starrynight on Mar 12, 2009 11:37:03 GMT -5
^ No, it wasn't haunted. The mysterious happenings were caused by a friend of the Johanssens who was using their house when they were gone. They forgot to tell Stacey about him, so she had no idea why so many weird things were happening.
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Post by zoar3 on Mar 18, 2009 21:20:40 GMT -5
I loved the sleigh ride and thought it was sweet the way the kids' secretly made gifts for each of the sitters. Lol, some of those gifts aka, the magazine necklace I don't understand what it was supposed to be but nice just the same. It was very touching how Charlotte gave Stacey a gift. Did it bother anyone else that Stacey did not give anything back to Charlotte? What I did not care for like most of you was the so-called "mystery." On the cover as someone said it definitely looks like Stacey is waiting in fear of something awful to happen. Bill Grauman, no matter how "dear a friend he might be" (page 131-132) wouldn't he do the Johanssen's the courtesy of calling them to let them know he would be in town? It's kind of them to have extended him the invitation of "using their house whenever he was in town own business" so you'd think he could be kind enough/appreciative enough in turn to let them know he was coming! He could offer to take them to dinner one night or something. If he truly did not know until after the J's had left Tuesday morning he was coming...unless I was super close to the family I'd feel uncomfortable staying in someone's empty house especially when it's clear that their dog is not comfortable with my being there. I love dogs but still-sounded like Bill was a stranger to Carrot. Lol, the funniest thing has to be his brush in the linen closet! I guess in Stoneybrook that's the new place to "hide" your hairs! Then of course, as always, there's the total lack of parental involvement. Surely Stacey's mom heard about the escaped convict and might have offered to accompany Stacey over in the mornings and suggest that she get someone to go with her in the afternoon. Moreso, I agree with moosieand goosie, cool name, that Stacey most definitely should have taken Carrot over to her house. I just re-read this book this afternoon in a hurry and noticed four extra things: it was said that the paperboy was a "girl." Unless Nicky like Skylar changed his gender . Second, since Jessi's house is around the corner from the J's wouldn't it have made sense for them to have least asked one of the Ramsey adults to take a peek at their house a couple times during the two weeks they were gone? Third, I always thought "Carrot"was given his name because Dr. J is a doctor who doesn't like Charlotte to eat too many sweets. You know like how some people name their dogs, Brownie or Hershey. Or maybe Bill was an old flame of Dr. J's in college! Finally, and this is purely intended to give you guys a laugh, how did Claudia manage to sneak her gift wrapped junk food basket inside her house after the party?
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tiff85
Junior Sitter
Posts: 583
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Post by tiff85 on Mar 20, 2009 20:12:21 GMT -5
I also found it weird for the J's to let a thirteen year old stay in the house. Maybe Stacey was looking after the dog. Maybe they trusted her enough to let her look after the house.
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Post by booboobrewer on Nov 27, 2009 18:49:16 GMT -5
Maybe the Christmas party for the charges was her "gift"? The party sounded fun and cozy...I like the "Holiday Tales and Traditions" thing for the kids and Mary Anne and Logan coming in dressed as Santa and Mrs. Claus I used to think that if I was taking part in the sleigh ride too, I would want to ride in the sleigh with Stacey, Claudia, Shannon and her sisters, Jessi and Becca, Charlotte, the Pike girls...the other one held the Pike boys, the Rodowskys, the Kuhns, Karen and Andrew, and the Arnold twins...nope ;D
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Post by anzuhana on Jan 19, 2011 20:56:24 GMT -5
I thought that it was weird that Stacey never saw the person in the house. I would've thought that Stacey and Bill would've seen each in the house while she was house-sitting.
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