Happy New Year

Hope all my readers are having a fun New Years Eve! I was coerced into leaving little 'un with my parents for tonight and party like an idiot. I'm blaming all my bad moods, my body aches, and my recent sewing project mess-ups on Mercury being in retrograde. That is my story and I am sticking to it. I'm hoping that 2011 will be as nice as the first half of 2010. The second half just kinda started to suck around July 4th but I digress. Hope you and yours have a wonderfully magical New Years and I will see you all then!

I have Survived!

Well I have survived the Yule Christmas rush around again this year. Despite my mother-in-laws best tries at manipulating hubby and I into running all over the place at her behest we have resisted. This time of year sends her into overdrive with the "I MUST SEE YOU EVERY SINGLE DAY!" bs that just plain drives me nuts. Looking forward to a quiet week of clean-up and getting back onto schedule. Little 'un got 3 train sets for Christmas and he loves every one of them! We all have been having fun with them. Reading has been put off for the most part because new toys have taken over the house.

I'm planning on getting him on a more involved schooling schedule in the new year. He now knows his ABC's and can count to 15 so I think hes ready for more difficult schoolwork. So I'm really looking forward to that! I am also working on weight loss in the coming year, I have been working on finding a diet plan that works for months now and I'm hoping to lose at least 30 pounds. Here's a list of all the things I'm going to be working on in the next few weeks:

1. Furthering my education in the areas of health and nutrition. This is very important to me, I want my family to be healthy and eat well. We have cut back on eating out, salt and fat. I'm hoping to be soon making all our own pasta and bread. Maybe even things like kefir and yogurt.

2. As always work hard on homeschooling with little 'un. I have all the materials gathered together and a schedule worked out. Now I will put it into practice and see how it works; tweak it if I need to and make it as best as I can!

3. Add in some me time to everyday. Less stress more time with the Goddess it's a win win situation. Meditation, yoga, ritual and prayer are all things that I need to have more of in my life. I'm going to make time for them.

4. As a part of number three; get more sleep. Again I will feel better and less stressed and it's something that will make life better for me and my whole family. Little 'un especially siffers from my lack of sleep in the for of lack of patients for him being a toddler.

A Yule Montage

The cookie decorating winners!









Mulled Wine for the win!


Yummy Cookies

Ahh Yes

I didn't get buried in Yuletide crap yet! Sunday was busy but due to inclement weather some of the guests had to choose to stay home for their safety. We still had a good time with those who did make it. We had a great meal (I gave my kitchen over to a "sister") of stuffed collards and homemade salsa. Plus all the cookies I busted my hump baking and decorating (in the case of my favorite sugar high cookies) for the party. We just hung out and had a good time; drinking mulled wine and having good drunken conversation. Exchanged some gifts and enjoyed each others company. It really did me some good because by the time the party happened I was just a little burned out. There wasn't much left to do but I didn't even have to ask and it was done. I got a whole day to do nothing but what I was looking forward to doing and nothing that I wasn't so a major stress relief for me. Today after hubby came home we decorated our Yule tree with lights and bulbs and some really nice fruit decorations my grandmother gave me because she wasn't using them, pictures will be forthcoming.

Party!

So busy getting ready for the Yule Party we will be hosting for the tribe this weekend. Since we all find family important we get together very early in the month for our ritual and get together because we will all be traveling to our families homes as it gets closer to Christmas and New Years. I just added batteries to the camera so tomorrow I will hopefully not forget to take some pictures of lil 'un and I making our dozens of cookies. This year we decided to make as many gifts as possible for people because money is tight. I'm really trying to not let the holiday stress get to me (ie: Mother in law) it's still a work in progress. Sleep still isn't happening. Boy do I wish I new something new to try to get some sleep. Don't be expecting too much in the way of posting until the new year. I'll leave you with some things I currently working on

1. Getting some sleep; I don't like being tired and moody.

2. Finding some better ways to relax. That will also help with #1

3. Doing some historical research on the house. It's an old one and should have some interesting background.

Phew

Well Thanksgiving is officially over and now the run towards Yule/Christmas can begin. I must admit while I like getting together with friends and family it just tends to overwhelm me at the end of the year. Every weekend is jam packed with parties and activities and I find it a bit much. Looking forward to the new year so that I can take some time to slow down a bit. My mother in law has been going out of her way to make this year particularly stressful. She has this just great habit of sitting on her duff and doing nothing but giving orders and complaining. That is when she's not taking over my duties as mother to little 'un. Which makes life fun for those of us who are rushing around trying to get things done. I am usually more tolerant of her antics but right now I just don't have the patients for it. Hoping in the next week or so to have all my holiday plans cemented to that I can start the preparations early. Last year we moved in a week before Christmas so there wasn't much planning. I am rather exited to have the time this year to do some crafts and baking and actually buy my own decorations!

A Little Break

Just wanted to let you all know that I wont be posting anything substantial until after Thanksgiving. We are hosting and have a very ill cat at the moment so I will see you all then!

A Blog Prompt!

Well not that I had run dry or anything but I found this blog prompt and just had to write about it. What I mean is I spent the last three days mulling over my points and building on the inspiration provided and now here it is in a quickly typed out post here on my blog.

Here is a link to the blog which gave me the prompt itself; go check it out: http://paganprompts.blogspot.com/

My Thoughts on Sacred Space(s)

Well where to begin! Sacred Space(s) can be so different and unusual so how to define it is a lot harder than one may imagine. I personally have gallons of sacred space both indoors and outdoors and within me. Personally I believe that all of nature is sacred and therefore I just need to go out into my backyard to commune with something that is deeply sacred. I don't need any huge set-up to find nature awe inspiring and blessed it comes well excuse the pun naturally to me. I have created my own personal sacred space in my backyard; a nice little elderberry grove that I do my outdoor rituals in so it's kinda a sacred space within a sacred space if you will. It's blessed my life in so many wonderful and profound ways. This is also the first year I have been able to have my own garden. Which is a whole nother kind of sacred space to me, I was able to hum songs and dance in the garden as the ground was being overturned. I was the one who planted all the seeds and with the help of some friends and family I cared for the plants and I harvested their fruits and the fruits of my labors. I used this food to feed my family and placed it in soups, sandwiches, salads, and homemade salsa. In my own kitchen which is another one of my more sacred spaces (I am a Kitchen Witch and all).

My home is the sacred space of my whole family and we all contribute to it's well being in one way or another. However I do have two special altars which are a permanent fixture. One in the living room which is the "family" altar and hearth. If I work magic for the good of the entire family there will be a component here(a candle, an amulet to power up ect ). Then in my room I have my own personal altar; it's willy nilly just like I am and rather than traditional I went and spent a lot of my creative talents on it. If you were to look at it you would just think that it was a nicely put together shelf. It has all the things I need on it and because it sits atop one of my many bookcases I keep some of my most prized quick reference books on the shelf right below it for easy access. If I am talking to the Goddess privately or doing some magic with hubby that's where it would be done. Again there might be a dream sachet sitting there from time to time or some other spell component but for the most part that it where I sit as one with the Goddess and get some private spiritual time.

Then of course I have what everybody has that sacred little space within me that I share with the wider world. Call it spirit, soul, or the force for you Star Wars fans out there but I think it's really important that we recognize it in ourselves as well as everything we come into contact with. (Yes it's a love your enemies as yourselves type of thing.) When I go to my bedroom altar I connect with something greater than myself that is still a part of me. This sacred space is a garden within me and just like a garden it sometimes needs tender loving care and some connection with the Goddess doesn't hurt either!

Don't forget the Eggs!

Well I was baking today then I realized that I didn't have any eggs. For those of you who bake on a regular basis you know how important eggs are to baking. In fact I think you need at least one egg for baking anything. Yup I can't think of one recipe for cookies or pie or bread that doesn't require egg. Now aren't I silly. I guess the pumpkin pie will just have to wait. So will the banana bread I was planning on making with little 'un when he woke up from his nap. I already did all my housework for today and even a little extra and was baking to fill in the empty hours between the end of nap time and bedtime tonight. Oh well, hubby is running out anyway so that he can get some new work pants. He grew out of his old ones (I guess I can blame all my baking).

Working on planning Thanksgiving, which will be at my house this year so that the only family with small children won't have to run all over Timbuktu for the holidays. We usually host to avoid unnecessary traveling with little 'un, it's just too much for him to go all over visiting. For Christmas we usually do each side of the family's one special Christmas dinner and save Yule and Christmas day for resting and spending time together as a family. Yes we celebrate both Yule (or the Winter Solstice for those not in the know) and Christmas. While my family is Pagan we do have many Christian relatives and Christmas is a part of our family tradition.

So to close out this post here is something I learned today:

1: When you plan on doing baking DON'T forget the eggs!

I'm Back

Well I've come back to post again now that I am not totally losing my mind. (That implies that I ever had it.) I hope that nobody was offended by my taking a leap off the deep end. Now that I'm back we can get back on track with something worth reading I'll start today with something I learned today.

1. I learned that I have way too many homeschool materials. Almost everyday I am going "Ohh I want that!" I will never use it all much less remember it all. Little 'un won't be starting a formal homeschool program for at least two years and I already have enough for all 12 grades and then some. It's silly; but I LOVE some of the homeschool materials that I have found and one thing leads to another and bam I have more material than I could cover in a lifetime. Miles and piles of it and most of it was free isn't that wild? Way too exited about it.

On another note Pillars of the Earth isn't at all what I had expected and it's taking me longer to read it than I first thought it would. I still plan to review it on this blog it's just going to be awhile. Part of the problem is I also bought Radical Homemakers and well I loved it and have devoted most of my reading time to finishing that instead of Pillars. I always do that; plan to read one book but end up reading something completely different. I have my own "special" system for reading books; it takes me longer but it somehow makes sense to me. Well since I bought Radical Homemakers by: Shannon Hayes with my own money and was not paid at all to review it; I will do so here.

I really liked it. I was thinking that it would be more in line with a conservative ways of thinking and I was surprised to find such a liberal bent to it. It wasn't about religion so much as it was about changing the world and the way that people think about society, family and the planet. Being a homemaker wasn't being handed down by a stern and angry G-d it was a way of life dedicated to saving the planet and the happiness of our families. She interviewed both men and women who had chosen for their own reasons to not work a 9-5 job and take care of what was really important; their families. Very in line (in my opinion) with Pagan ways of thinking. It made it seam doable; you don't need a huge bankroll to be self sufficient you just need some basic skills. Many sufficiency books expect that you have all this capital for getting the necessary tools. Not the case with this book, you just needed the gumption to learn those skills that you lacked. The author very nicely laid out her arguments for the need of Radical Homemaking and then listed the way you went about becoming a Radical Homemaker. All around a well written concise book. (It only has about 250 pages.) By the end I was left with a feeling that I had just gotten a label for what I was already doing in my home. I would recommend it to any stay-at-home person (some of the people interviewed did not have any children), especially if they are having doubts or feeling insecure in their decision to stay home to take care of their families. Two thumbs up! I can't say enough good things about this book!

A Bit of a Family Crisis

I as always apologize profusely for my lack of posting on this blog and as always my life off the computer has taken me away from my best intentions of posting something worth reading on this blog! October has just turned into a big pool of disappointment for me. I have totally given up for the reasons of this post trying not to complain; I'm pissed and I'm going to vent. Just thought I would give you all a warning.

My little sister has a heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome. She was born without the left side of her heart, and also was missing her left lung. My parents were told by doctors that she would never survive. But; because of an experimental surgery (it's now become common practice among babies born with this defect) she has managed to live for now 19 years. Through 4 heart surgeries in total. She in fact just celebrated her 19th birthday yesterday. However due to a doctor's general lack of interest she is now in heart failure. She has been suffering from a distended stomach for some time now and my parents have been running her all over the area to get tests to find the problem and fix it. They did an ultrasound of her belly and my mother was told by Mr. Bigshot doctor's nurse (yeah he didn't even have time to make the call himself he made a nurse do it) that it was just air in there. Well my mother being adamant that we had already treated her for that and the treatment failed; took her to another less of a Mr. Bigshot doctor who looked at the radiologist's report and was told something totally different. She has fluid in her stomach because her heart is failing and we could have been doing something about it in July if it wasn't for the fact that this big shot doctor completely ignored the report that he was given and let her go on like nothing was wrong when she needed treatment. She has brain damage due to lack of oxygen at birth; she cannot tell us when something is wrong, we need to be vigilant and be able to rely on her doctors information to take care of these things. I am just livid right now that someone we have entrusted with the care of my sister has failed so badly. I know that there really isn't anything that I can do to change this and not being in control is just a huge pet peeve.

Poor little 'un and I both got a doozy of a cold on Friday and were too sick to participate in Halloween/Samhain this year. No trick or treating, no party, no ritual. Hopefully in a day or two I will have processed this and be on to better things. It's November and that means Thanksgiving is coming up. Here's to hoping it will take my mind off things.

So Busy

The fall season was in full swing here then we got hit by a few days of Indian summer this week. I am enjoying it while it lasts; lots of time outside. We went pumpkin picking with our resident artist and little 'un in tow. Totally forgot to take any pictures while we were there but I did get some rather cute ones of little 'un "helping" us carve our pumpkins I'm going to save those until Halloween so it will be a cool jack-o-lantern post. We are all set for Halloween besides a foot of my cloak that STILL needs to be finished and I'm running out of time!

Just got back from Rhyme Time at our local library. Cute songs and stories for the toddler bunch. We are lucky to have such a nice children's librarian. We have a lot of libraries around where I live but most of them don't want children to come in! Isn't that silly, little 'un got exited one day to be in the library and we got hissed at by some librarian who then made us feel so unwelcome as parents that I vowed I would never go back. Why bother having a well stocked children's section if you don't want them to come and take out the books?

Good news has hit hubby has gotten a new job, with a pay raise and good benefits. We are looking forward to having a semblance of our normal routine once again. We were going just a little insane for the lack of order. The house is messier than I have let it get in a long time which I am posting about because being online is how I am procrastinating and not picking it up.

I am going to close with something I haven't done in awhile some things I learned!

1. At rhyme time we learned some really cute songs and poems with gestures. Something I am always trying to do for little 'un because he gets tired of hearing the ones I know all the time.

2. There is a mommy and me gymnastics class a few blocks away. Looking forward to signing little 'un and me up for it. He is off the wall all the time and it will be a great way for him to let off some steam in a productive rather than a destructive way.

Mrs. B's 31 Days of Halloween

We are coming close to the end of the 31 Days of Halloween over at Mrs B's! Today's giveaway is from Dancing Rabbit, a book The Way of the Horned God. As I have said before I will never pass up a good book and this one looks really special. I am a little disheartened that Pagan men and boys seem just a little under represented in our literature. This looks to close the gap.

The publishers have a great many interesting books so you should all go check out their website:
http://o-books.com/book I just love the A-Z Reiki book!

Baking Post 1

Well I have been busy working on my post for today and here it is as promised a post about some baking for Halloween (erm yeah). I'm using the recipe from my Betty Crocker Cookbook. First things first gather together everything your going to need like this:

3/4	cup granulated sugar
3/4	cup packed brown sugar
1	cup butter or margarine, softened
1	teaspoon vanilla
1	large egg
2 1/4	cups all-purpose flour
1	teaspoon baking soda
1/2	teaspoon salt
1	cup coarsely chopped nuts
1	bag (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)

Preheat the oven to 357°. In large bowl, beat sugars, butter, vanilla and egg with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Mine looked something like this:


Then you add the last of the ingredients; Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (dough will be stiff). Stir in nuts and chocolate chips. For some reason in this picture my chocolate chips didn't show up.

On ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown. Cool 1 to 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. I would have more pictures but I was in a hurry to get done baking so the last two steps don't have corresponding pictures. The cookies didn't last long enough for me to get a picture of them, we all have horrible sweet tooths.

I also made the pumpkin bread I said I was going to make but I was so worried about messing up the recipe that I totally forgot to take any pictures! It turned out well and hopefully I will be making it again before Samhain/Halloween and will remember to take some pictures.

My 31 Days of Halloween Post!

Well I have been waiting to enter the giveaways the last few days because I always look at them and decide if I would like to win the giveaway or not. If I wouldn't kill for the giveaway I don't enter because I would feel bad about myself if I won while somebody who wanted it more than I did lost. It just wouldn't be right of me to do that and I think it would be bad for my karmic debt if I did enter a contest I didn't want to win just so I could say I had won something.

Giveaway #1: Is a 25.00 gift certificate to Spelled with a W, which I could always use because who doesn't need money these days? Engraved All Metal Athame & Sheath is just one of the things I would want to buy with it. You all should check out the site because all of the supplies on it are very fairly priced in this humble witches opinion.

Giveaway #3 Is a Handcrafted Tarot Story! Wow really original concept I just love the cover of the book in the example. I love it and the Tarot Written Story in a frame it cool as well.

Wheeee! Paint Fumes & Pictures

I am alive just busy with the fall clean out. Plus the extra projects around the house like painting. I love to paint hate the fumes! I am painting our hallway a pretty powder blue (I'll put up some pictures when it's all done being decorated). In fact while I'm on the subject of posting some pictures here are some things that you'll have to look forward to in the oncoming weeks!

Our trip to the pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkin and get some more apples so that I can make some applesauce for Samhain. I'm also making a few loaves of pumpkin bread for hubby (it's his favorite). So there will be some posts on baking and they will include pictures. (Like this one)

Closer to All Hallows Eve I will post some pictures of my cloak which I will finish in time dang it! I don't know what I will be this year I can't decide and I don't want to spend too much money because money is so tight right now. Plus pumpkin carving fun and much much more!

I was able to catch up with a few old friends from school today. We had so much fun just taking and goofing around with the little 'un. It's been so nice that I have had the opportunity to see them after so many years and catch up. Looking forward to seeing them on a more regular basis from now on. I missed being able to have a small group of female friends around. It's always been my prerogative to have more male friends than female. Many females around here are catty snobs who won't have anything to do with anybody that isn't a part of their country club (ie: Church) and I have always been different. I also don't care about clothing or shoes. I would rather spend $100 on cloth and patters to make my own clothing than spend they same amount of money on the latest styles. I am an oddball at hart and most women find me strange and unnerving.

A few odds and ends

Well today is national coming out day and Jason over at The Wild Hunt has a really great article I think you should check out. http://wildhunt.org/blog/2010/10/a-confluence-of-occasions-columbus-and-coming-out.html

I practically live at The Wild Hunt website; I love it so much. It's become my new Witchvox when it comes to Pagan news.

Mrs. B had a wonderful idea for a Samhain project (See my note below) that I am going to try out in between finishing my cloak and my household projects for fall. So far we have managed to clean out the basement which was left totally filthy by the previous owners. I have just finished painting the trim in the hallway so that we can totally re-do that and cleaned out the closet. I have about another day and a half of painting left before I can move on to replacing the railing which is in the early stages of decay. After the hallway is complete I don't know what my next project will be because I have to finish my cloak for Samhain so that I will have a costume this year that I won't freeze to death in. I am so close and I just can't make myself finish it because once I start sewing I am usually sewing day and night for a week before I stop to sleep and I am already sleep deprived!

Loving the fall weather now that the rain has ceased. Looking forward to going out into the yard to collect leaves for fall decorations and crafts. Little 'un has his own tree in the backyard that we collected a leaf from on Lughnasadh. I preserved it and now that the colors of the leaves are changing I want to gather another one so he can see the difference. One leaf will be green and one will be orange or red and then I'm going to let him explore them both, a little science for him and it will educate him on the changing seasons now that he is old enough to remember the difference.

31 Days of Halloween!

Lotsa good things over at Mrs. B's today! As always wonderful giveaways and great extras like the Haunted Blog Tour and Samhain notes!

Giveaway #1; Is once again from Weiser Books; This time it's The Field Guide to Ghosts. Just neato I love ghosts and things that go bump in the night and lets face it I will never turn down a new book.

Giveaway #2; Is a bath set from The Sacred Oak! I would just kill for the Pan Window sticker but you have to go and check out their website for that. http://www.thesacredoak.com/store/

Allow Me..

..if you will to wax poetic about my newest obsession; The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Well to be more precise the television mini series that I was able to watch because Netflix can sometimes be totally awesome. I just love the story, I'm a total sucker for both political dramas and romances. You love to hate the characters because in my opinion none of them are very good people (in the fantasy polarity of good). Prior Phillip is a man of God but still had his own agendas and is at times manipulative. There are few female characters but they are all powerful and Ellen iis just plain epic! The evil guys are beyond redemption, there isn't a shred of human compassion amongst them. But I think this lends a certain believability to the story, the characters all have monumental faults. In other words they are human, fictitious humans with humanity if you would. I have just ordered the book and will tell you all how I like it. I'm thinking that it will be another one of these utterly gaga posts.

31 Days of Halloween!

I looked through the giveaways and the apron giveaway was the only one I found that I am entering. I don't wear jewelry so I figured I would let someone who would wear it win.

The pumpkin half apron is darling I love it and I would wear it everyday! I'm thinking about getting myself the Moonlight Full Apron just because I love it so much........

Inside I'm Singing!

Alright after that last post of sheer angry frustrated anger/depression at the loss of all that was to be I'm back with a more see the silver lining outlook on life.

Isn't it totally funny how coincidence works out. Having nothing better to do with my time then search my favorites list for some numbing agent to my utter despair with life I stumbled upon http://gospelpagan.wordpress.com/. I love this site because I can identify with this persons utter awe at the Mama but humans just boggle my mind and sometimes I am at a loss to make the two opposites meet in my mind. Being that I haven't been to the site in a few months I scrolled down a few posts skimming through her poetry most beautiful and found a post with some videos; this post about her battle with anger which is a battle I have fought before and am still fighting today and how she found a purpose toward which to put her anger to the task. Anger isn't a feeling that has no use but despair is; your anger can be used for some good in this world despair just numbs you. It's an important distinction to make. Yes the world has darkness but there is also light and without that darkness the light could never shine. Yes the layoff sets our plans back years and it sucks. No other way to say it; it sucks but it isn't the end of the world and I can't let it totally cloud the fact that the world is a beautiful place.

I'm still (obviously) working on not being such a whiner about everything bad that comes my way. Life is full of challenges and promise, happiness and sadness, but the music goes on and that makes life worth living. So go check out her August 27 post and be uplifted!

Mrs. B's 31 Days of Halloween!

Well I looked at the giveaways today and here is my blog post about the one that I entered.

It is a handmade Ocean Heart Prayer Bead set. Just plain pretty and since my other kitchen witch duties keep me from truly pursuing making my own set of prayer beads I entered in the hopes of winning. Also started following her blog at: http://verynearlyhippy.blogspot.com/ She seems like my kind of witch!

What to Say?

Little 'uns birthday was under a cloud again this year, hubby got laid off and we are facing a rather uncertain future right now. The most frustrating thing about it was he did nothing wrong; there was nothing he could have done differently, he was well liked and did his job well the company just felt it was a good cost saving measure. Which is just plain silly since he was making the lowest possible salary paid for his job. He's all out of sorts because he can't understand what he's supposed to do if he works hard and does everything right and STILL loses his job how can he win?

Spells are in the works and we are doing our part to. Saving money, pinching pennies, and just hoping that like last time a better job will come around and make us stable again. Cross your fingers!

My 31 Days of Halloween Post!

Due to unforeseen circumstances I have been unable to visit Mrs. B and her wonderful giveaways as much as I would have liked but I was able to find some time today so here is my blog on the giveaways!

Giveaway #1: This is from Divine Lotus healing, a $40 dollar gift certificate! Which is really great because then you can get whatever suits your needs best. I did some poking around and found so much worth getting. What I would do with the gift certificate would be to get some of the Energy spray, with a rather rambunctious toddler running around and bouncing off the walls I sure could use a boost!

Giveaway #2: Is from Following the Craft as a thrifty Pagan blog, a craft loop pentagram. Very pretty and can be used for about anything. Looking forward to her guest blog post, she was ice enough to give a preview of it on her blog.

31 Days of Halloween!

Well here we are looking forward to another wonderful year of the 31 Days of Halloween and here are the giveaways Mrs. B put up today!

A Book by Judika Illes from Weiser Online! I looked around and found a great deal there for the Pagan masses so go check out the website for yourself! My favorite was Parenting the Children of Now

Practicing Health, Spirit, and Awareness to Transcend Generations Meg Blackburn Losey, Ph.D. As a parent it is always on my mind how to be better at what I do. I can't wait to see who will win!

I'M ALIVE!

Well we all ended up too sick to throw poor little 'un a birthday party so we had to postpone it to this weekend. He ended up with a double ear infection and we had to make a late night run to the ER because I couldn't let him suffer until morning. Three days without sleep and I ended up with the nasty cold that is going around. I'm starting to feel better and getting back into the normal routine, hopefully I will be posting more often as things settle down. Looking forward to Halloween/Samhain this year as always. It's my favorite holiday because I get to dress up. You can take the girl out of the theatre but you can't take the theatre out of the girl! As always we will be going to a ruckus party with our friends before going home to celebrate Samhian with a little more private ritual. This is the first year I will be able to celebrate in my new grove of elder trees, I'm just hoping that this really wet weather is gone by then so I won't get soaked and will be able to bring my drum outside. This is also the first year I have actually had a bodhran to play in circle which is especially exiting. I have been able to coax some interesting things out of it and I'm hoping to know Oscail An Doras by then.

Mutterings!

Getting ready for both Mabon and little 'un's birthday party this week so things are once again very hectic around my house. Lots of cleaning and organizing. Worked so hard on my article for Mrs. B and didn't the computer crash and I lost it. (Ok a little whining, still working on not complaining so much!) I had to rewrite it from my notes and memory. I haven't tried to write a well written paper like that since school and I feel that my brain is too fried to do it. I sent it off just a few minutes ago and I hope it's alright!

Looking forward to getting some household projects started this week to finish them before the cold weather sets in. Replacing the railing for the stairwell, painting hanging art and a baby gate so little 'un won't fall down the stairs if he gets out of his big boy bed at night, fixing the screen door on our porch so it won't blow open in the wind. Hoping to find some inspiration from that to post here.

Notes

As per my earlier confession I tried to work a sewing machine; let's suffice it to say that it didn't go well and leave it at that. I will be hand sewing all my projects from now on. Dry ran my recipes for Mabon this week. In fact I have done so much cooking and baking that we will be eating nothing but leftovers the rest of the week because I have used up everything else edible in my cooking and baking. Working really hard on my article for Mrs. B's 31 Days of Halloween. Hoping that I will actually start to type tomorrow now that I have most of my main points down on paper. Planning for little 'un's birthday as well. Got about half of the shopping done already and waiting for hubby's next paycheck to get the fishies! He loves finding Nemo so I thought that I would get him a few fish for his birthday, so that he could watch them all the time and learn a little responsibility in the process. I know that I will be doing the brunt of the care but I am looking forward to adding it into our morning routine. That's all for now!

A Confession

Well I have a big old confession to make, it may shock you, just a little. I do not nor have I ever known how to use a sewing machine...... Oh you were hoping for something a little more exciting? Sorry but that is my big deep dark secret for the day, I'm just not that wild of a person. I know, it's sad. But. I digress..... I have never learned how to use a sewing machine. We had to do a project in Home and Careers using one but I always cheated a little and after watching the teacher thread the machine once I always let somebody else go first so I would never have to thread the thing myself. Whenever there was a problem with it somebody else always fixed it for me and well that was the only time I have ever used one of those things. It doesn't matter that I made myself a ritual cloak and mended and had tons of sewing projects over the years. I did it all by hand, I am now rather proficient at hand sewing, but not using a sewing machine which is faster and easier. I'm a total scaredy cat about them so I have never bothered with them since that one project I had to do for school. Well until tonight. Now I have this cute Sew Perfect sewing machine that hopefully has directions on how to thread it still inside and I am going to get over my fear of sewing machines. It says it virtually foolproof and I am hoping that it's true otherwise I'm screwed. I am totally technologically impaired so if something can go wrong it will, I will find a way to break it or somehow mess it up. I'm just good like that! Wish me luck!

Just back from the fair!

The Erie Canal Village was having this wonderful thing that they called a Victorian Fair this summer. It turns out some friends whom I had been out of touch with for awhile were performing and invited me to come. I am so glad that I did! It turns out that I knew quite a few of the actors and it was so hard not to run around like a crazy person asking them a whole slew of questions that they wouldn't be able to answer because they were in character. It was wonderfully surreal. Little 'un made quite a few friends a dog named Charlie, two ponies, three horses and a nice lady who gave him a free popcorn. Queen Victoria gave him a commission as an Admiral in the Navy! Just a spectacular day and really hoping that next year I can be counted as one of the performers. Looking forward to getting back into a little acting. My next post will hopefully be longer, going to include some preparations for Mabon. (I know it's weeks away but I always get exited by the changing seasons!)

What a Day!

Been busy all week trying to catch up on the house cleaning that I fell behind on for the last two weeks, and today was no exception! Vacuumed the carpets, cleaned th kitchen top to bottom again, and did a load of laundry. Which wouldn't have been to bad but I was suddenly struck with mysterious stomach cramps for about an hour this morning which isn't that unusual for me, but made me get a little bit of a late start on the chores for the day.

We also had to take our wonderful cats in to see the vets. By Friday of next week they will not have to deal with going into heat ever again. I am thankful beyond measure! Bast was a bit too much to take with all her yowling! We met some really nice people in the waiting room unfortunately one couple was in to put their elderly dog to sleep. I just wish there was something I could have done other than say I was really sorry and try not to cry my eyes out. Totally in a funk now, and I didn't even know the dog.

Heres some things that I wish I could work on for the coming weeks:

1. Try not to complain so much, lately I've felt that the only time I open my mouth anymore is to say something that is wrong or went wrong in my life today. (See above) I am getting sick of it, I want to contribute more to the conversation than a list of my aches and pains.

2. Start a playgroup for stay-at-home moms in my area. The closest one is miles away and with the primary breadwinner needing the car to travel to and from work it would just be impossible to make it. So against my better sanity judgement I want to start my own playgroup to meet my needs. Also maybe start a non-for-profit to help people cope with the loss of their animals......

The Best Laid Plans!

I had every intention of putting up a nice post about my informal home school with my little 'un but as always my best intentions were put aside. Family just up and showed up in the middle of the week and will be here until this weekend. Then one of our tribesmen had a personal crisis and needed my counsel. All in all life just plain got int the way with my plans to post on my blog for awhile. However, whining aside, here is what I planned to post a week ago:

My Home Schooling:

1 hour a day of reading and looking at books (I break this up into 15-30 minute periods of time throughout the day)

1 Hour of mommy and me playtime

1 hour of independent play (at least thats what I am working up to)

10 minutes of chores each day

30 minutes of music

30 minutes of working with numbers

1-2 fun time activities

Now what do I mean by fun time activities? Well this is things that little 'un likes to do either by himself or with me. Coloring, playing with clay, running around outside, going to the library looking at books on his own, dancing/listening to some extra music (tapes or the radio), having a play date, going to story time, visiting family ect. This is what gives him a well rounded finish to his day. This ensures that he has a lot of things to keep him busy during the day and his attention will not waver.

That being said onto the next topic! My garden is right now overflowing with good stuff to eat! I did everything wrong and it still came out alright, in fact it is better than alright! I am very exited and cannot wait until next year when I will have more time to devote to the care and keeping of my garden. It might even get weeded more than once! Now that I know what does well in my soil and what doesn't I expect next year to be an even more bountiful harvest. Plans are in the works for a list of things to grow next year which if my best intentions are not thwarted again should be showing up on this blog in the not too distant future!

Long time no see!

Well I have been busy yet bored all this week. I am working on a post about my informal homeschooling schedule which should be posted by tomorrow! Nothing fancy but keep an eye out for it!

A Giveaway!

Yay! It's a wacky and wonderful giveaway from Mrs. B over at Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom! This time around it is a lovely art tile of a flying kitchen witch by Brigid Ashwood. Very pretty and it almost makes me want to get a Twitter account just so I can get some extra entries. I really want to win this one. Hubby and I are renovating the kitchen in a few weeks and I would love to add this to our plans! I would say that anyone reading this should go check it out but then I would have more competition and well... I WANNA WIN IT!

Bits and Pieces

Well we celebrated Lughnasadh over the weekend with a few friends, grilling playing games and just generally enjoying the first harvest from my garden. I harvested enough basil to dry for winter and also made some herbal oils for cooking and ritual workings. Plus lots of very hot peppers and cucumber. I will wait until fall to pick some for pickling right now we are just going to enjoy them as they are. Little 'un and I were outside and running around before the flowers woke up that morning and we listened to the wind chimes and picked flowers (Queen Anne's lace one of my favorites!) and visited our fairy tree. The tree was nice enough to part with a leaf so that I could press and dry it and when fall comes and the leaves start to change color I can show little 'un how the seasons change. Then later that night after everyone else had gone to bed I did my normal solitary ritual in my little grove of elder trees. Very productive I thought and very soothing.

Little 'un still has a nasty cough leftover from his cold and can't seem to get over it. I'm giving him lots of extra baths still but he's back to his over active self. Though he isn't above an "I Love You" shouting match now and then. My poor kitten Bast has done something nasty to her eye and won't open it anymore, I will have to take her to the vets sometime soon.

And I would also like to leave you with some new things I have learned:

1. Despite my frustration with life sometimes I am really grateful for a lot of things in my life here is the list in no real order:

Crickets

Thunderstorms

Rain

Sun

Moon

Health

Family and friends

Stars

Trees

Grass

Flowers

Animals of all shapes and sizes

Books

Music

Food

2. Apparently waffles make me fat, I removed them from my diet and lost weight. I however did not exercise and ate more fast food than I care to admit to all while enjoying a reasonable amount of soda. So eating healthier isn't really necessary I just have to cut out carbs as much as possible.

3. Heres the thing, that is almost impossible for me I love bread, and muffins and cookies and potatoes and pasta. At least I can have whole wheat crackers and pasta but not potatoes and waffles and I have to start making that awful tasting honey whole wheat bread instead of my favorite Italian. This makes me a little sad.

Ohh the Excitement!

Well we had quite the excitement today when a local bank was robbed and an armed and dangerous man was running around. As a matter of fact he is still at this time on the lose although they do have some idea where he is and they now know who he is, thanks to his accomplice ratting him out and all. A police officer was shot in the leg, but is expected to make a full recovery. I am thankful that we have a dedicated and well trained police force to protect us! We are still on lock down and this is just a reminder that we need to replace our doors soon so that we can lock our doors while not making it a completely inconvenient thing to do. Our keys somehow do not work on our doors so we cannot lock them without someone being in the house to let us in again.

In other less exciting news little 'un has had a nasty cold most of the week and my house cleaning has fallen on the wayside to take care of him. I am glad he likes baths because I have been giving him one everyday and locking us in the bathroom with the humidifier to clear out his awful congestion. Poor thing his chest hurts so much from coughing that he cries every time he needs to cough, totally ruins his day. Lots of cuddles and extra story time on mommy's lap for comforting. I am hoping that he will be well enough tomorrow so that we can keep our weekly play date, he looks forward to it all week and so do I! The heat has been so bad lately that we have become quite reclusive.

On another note a friend of the family is giving us some of her canning supplies so that the produce that had taken over our garden will not go to waste. She also teaches a canning class up at the Cooperative Extension and I am planning on going asap so I can learn how to properly use the stuff she is giving me. We'll be putting our root cellar to good use!

Yes I am still Alive!

Had another ruckus weekend with friends all while trying to juggle family responsibilities! Friday we had relatives from out of State come by to see the house because they hadn't seen it yet. So I was in a frenzy to clean the entire house and make it look nice. Had an almost relaxed Saturday, because of the frenzy on Friday there wasn't anything to do around the house, but we did run a few errands in the morning before it got too hot.

Sunday we went up to the Renaissance Fair in Sterling with a dozen of our friends or so. This has been a tradition for the last five years or so, we go in costume like the total geeks we are! This year I really tried and wanted to get there for the opening because I had never seen it and since I had seen everything else there a million times I wanted to see that too! Well to make a long story short we were all too unorganized to actually get out the door in time so we ended up missing it again. Ahh well we might be going back this year and if not there is always next year. I did finally get something I have wanted for the last 8 years or so....A Boudran which for anyone who doesn't know what that is it is a drum of Irish origin. Being a Kitchen Witch and all I am now able to properly drum in circle to raise energy, which is what I did last night to celebrate the full moon! I was also able to discuss with the maker of the drums and got a free lesson on how to play from her. Awesome!

Here is the website that she and her husband run:

www.fireomearth.com

To-Do List!

I forgot about it yesterday so here it is today's to-do list!

Get me and little 'un dressed

Feed cat and give them fresh water

Clean glass on china cabinet, French doors, front, and back doors, and all mirrors.

2 loads of laundry

15 minute project; today I emptied a box that has been a catch all for my junk.

Dust

Wipe down table and counter tops

Give little 'un a bath

Go grocery shopping

Make Dinner and do the dishes

Help little 'un pick up all his books and toys before bed

Not that much today, Tuesdays and Thursdays tend to be my take it easy days so that I am ready for the craziness of the rest of the week! This is stuff that isn't necessarily things that I do on a daily basis like read to little 'un or feed him or work on potty training.

A Post of the Weekend

Well another crazy weekend at my house has just concluded and I thought I would pop in and list all the amazing wonderful goings on that kept me from posting sooner. Well to start off we had plans with some good friends of ours for dinner on Saturday so all week was a rush to clean and make the house look presentable which is really hard with frustration and swollen feet. (See previous post for all the details of frustration and how I am not dealing with it well!) So instead I went out with my family on Friday night and just had a lot of flight of the bumblebees on Saturday morning to get the house clean. This time I hope to be capable of keeping it up with my endless to do list for more than two weeks. I said it now I am going to do my best to be responsible and not let discomfort lead to procrastination lead to downright laziness. The dinner went well; I made this really delicious Chicken and Broccoli Braid that I learned to make at a Pampered Chef party I went to.

Then after our guests left to put their 6 month old to bed some of our younger set friends came over and we commenced the geeking out! This comprised of listening to Sublime, playing World of Warcraft, and discussing a new campaign for D&D and creating the characters until very late at night. Or early in the morning depending on how you look at it. We crashed and then spent most of the next day doing the same, with a little Magic thrown in for good measure. While everyone was doing that I took a walk with the little 'un and we went for a short ride in the swing. One of the uncles stopped by for a quick break from studying to cuddle and play with the little 'un. Who is a little ball of stress relief cause he's just great like that! Then an Auntie took little one out for the second time today while I made dinner for everyone. After dinner the little 'un went to bed and so did hubby who had developed a doozy of a headache. I'm lef up to put the finishing touches on the house and maybe find some time to unwind and have an early night. Sometime this week I hope to post my to-do list for each day and a few simple recipes.

And just for fun here is a few things I have learned in the last week:

1. Sometimes it is nice just to have people around. Yes I am totally wiped out at the end of every weekend but it's your friends that keep you from going completely off the deep end. They also give you a good reason to stop being lazy and get your house clean.

2. Friends also inspire you to embrace your inner hippie and braid your hair in a funky cool style. You get a creative outlet and figure out how your going to do your hair for the next weekend. We are planning on going to the Sterling Renaissance Festival and now I will have kick-ass hair to go along with my costume.

3. Order additional costume pieces when you get the urge even if it's December and you wont be able to use them until May. Otherwise by the time you decide to spend the money on yourself it will be too late, they wont arrive in time.

Frustration

Lately it seems that I have been in a constant state of frustration. I can't sleep at night no matter how hard I try, which means that I just keep getting more frustrated and can't sleep. It is a very vicious cycle. It's kinda becoming a self-full fulfilling prophecy. I look at the clock and groan about how it's 10 o' clock and I want nothing more than to be asleep at that time but I am not at all tired. I want to go to sleep but am not in the frame of mind for it until about 2 am. Since little 'un is a morning person to the degree I never will achieve that means I am averaging about 4-6 hours of sleep counting those unexpected naps I keep taking. You know the ones where you sit down in front of the tv with your toddler and before you know it the show you wanted them to watch is over and your halfway through the next show? Yeah those.

In the same vein due to the long lasting lack of sleep I am more clumsy than my usually clumsy self. I can't turn around without spilling or knocking something over. Which brings me to the heights of frustration all over again. Alls I want to do is clean out the fridge (or fill the cats' dish, or make lunch ect..) without making a mess and having to take twice as long with those simple tasks as I should be taking. I want to get through my day with few (because asking for none is just not sensible) bumps along the way.

My cat is in heat. Anyone who has or has had a cat in heat understands.

I have a toddler. Any mother of a toddler knows that even the best most wonderful toddler has his bad days.

So yes now that we have taken a trip through my days of frustration now we just have to think up some ways to deal with it. Anybody got any ideas? Anybody?

July 4th Mutterings

Hope everybody had a wonderful Fourth. I ate just the right amount of food to not totally kill my diet. I walked away satisfied but did not over indulge according to my weight watchers points. I then promptly passed out for most of the next day. Still in the middle of cleaning up from the festivities because this year hubby and I went crazy and decided to have 30 of our friends and family come over for the fourth. Well guess what I learned some things here they are!

1. When you ask people to bring something please be specific, if you are not specific you will end up with people coming with crazy wonderful amounts of food that you will then have to avoid like the plague because you're on a diet gosh darn it!

2. Neutrality is not apparently an option. I tried this and that makes me wrong.

3. I have some really good friends so I shouldn't let people who don't like me get under my skin. If I tried my best to be friendly and they still hate me, it should no longer be my problem.

4. #3 isn't as easy as it should be. I like people, and I would like to be liked in return.

Also I would love to post pictures of this awesome amazing BBQ however, I was too busy to remember to take any pictures. I always do this, and I always kick myself afterwards.

Welcome to the Blog!

Just wanted to do your average hello and welcome to the blog post! What am I doing here exactly? Well I really love to read other peoples blogs but found as I looked around that I was reading about women who kinda had it all together. They had been raising kids/ keeping house/ ect. for a few years and had some sort of clue about what they were doing.

I do not have that. They are nice to read for inspiration and good ideas but I was kind of looking for those who like me were just starting out in life and had so much to learn! I wanted to watch someone go whoops I never knew that before. I wanted to see where the people in those blogs had been 5-10 (or more!) years ago when they had so much to learn. Then I had a thought. What if I wrote the blog that I was looking for? What if I put it all out there like I was hoping someone else would? That brings us to this blog and that is what I am trying to do here. I am at the beginning of the long road of adult life and I am going to post about all those things that I learn along the way. Here are a few things I have learned in the last year.

1. Lavender doesn't like to be near other plants. I learned this the hard way when I planted my seedlings and they died and never came back. The books I read and the people I asked at the time did not tell me this. Now that I know, next year I will plant them by themselves and hopefully they will grow.

2. When planting seedlings you should make sure your toddler and cats cannot get to them! (Goodbye cabbage and broccoli!)

3. Those swiffer mop things are really great, but you don't need the spay fluid cleaner, a simple mixture of vinegar and water does the same job, and it's cheaper too!

4. Toddlers destroy stuff, it has been like that since the beginning of time. So trying to have a clean organised house all the time will just make you crazy and take up all your free time. Just let it go......

5. Confessions of a pagan soccer mom is great. Read it at every opportunity and enter as many giveaways as possible. Just going to put it out there that yes, it did cross my mind that I may just have a better chance at winning things if I had a blogger account! (Just being honest)