Quick, Quick, Quick Blog Post

Hello all. Okay, first I typed Hell all, which was pretty funny to me.

Saw the orthopedist yesterday and he said that there is no permanent damage to my knee, and I don't need surgery or anything, it will just take a while for it to heal. He said the numbness I'm feeling is because of the swelling pushing on the major nerve that runs over the knee and down the leg. It should fade as the swelling subsides. Basically, he said that not only did all of my weight fall onto my knee, but with gravity and momentum, the equivalent of 4 times my weight hit my knee. I'm not going to say how much that is, but suffice it to say, that's A LOT! He said it will be a good month before I'm 100% but that everything should be fine. I was much relieved to hear that, though I'm not thrilled about being in pain and unable to bend my knee for another month. But, no surgery is definitely a plus!

I missed Random Tuesday Thoughts, which bummed me out. I thought about doing it late, but I'm just too tired. I haven't had a chance to read my fav blogs for a while either, for which I apologize. We've had family in town, which has been wonderful, though it has prevented me from getting the solitude I need every day to stay sane, so I'm a bit 'Aaaaah!' We've had a lot of fun though and it's been nice to not only see my grandma and uncle, who are in from California, but my bro, sister-in-law and nephews too, who we don't get to see that often.

So, basically it goes like this: endless medical appointments + visiting family= CRAZY!

Don't get me wrong, I'm having a blast with my family, I'm just feeling a bit overwhelmed. And, this past Sunday was my birthday so my entire family took me out to eat and there was much merriment and presents, which was wonderful. That was really fun.

Okay, well I have an article to submit to SageWoman today so I'd better finish that up and send it in. It's an article on 'finding our balance' is that just too uncanny or what? Wish me luck!

Laters!

Feeling Better and an Epic Haircut!

Hello all! I hope everyone is having a good week. I'm feeling much better today. I fell on my knee a week and a half ago and it's still killing me, along with my leg down to my ankle, but I'm not puking everywhere anymore so I'm thrilled about that. Since I mangled my knee and leg so bad (all of my weight fell onto it on a concrete step) the doctors prescribed me a mild painkiller, which just goes to show that it was bad since I don't normally take painkillers, being a recovering addict and all. But the doc decided it was necessary in this case. Since I don't take them anymore, it made me really, really sick, which is why I was ill the other day. Thanks to all who told me to feel better soon, I appreciate it!

So, Monday I head to the orthopedist to see what's going on since the X-ray showed no broken bones.

Went in for a haircut today for the first time in 2 years! The stylist cut off 15 inches!!! I originally only wanted to cut off 11 inches but I wanted to donate to Locks of Love so she had to cut more. They want 12 inches of healthy hair, but since it had been so long since I'd had a haircut she had to cut off 3 inches of split ends before we could cut to donate. So I now have a 12 inch long braid in a plastic bag waiting to be sent in to donate. I'm so happy I was able to do that, I mean, why throw away all that hair if someone can use it? I just hope that there's enough to use, my hair is very, very fine, and for being 12 inches worth of hair, it wasn't much of a ponytail.

If you've never heard of Locks of Love they are a non profit organization that collects donated hair to create prosthetics (wigs) for financially disadvantaged children that suffer from long-term hair loss due to any diagnosis. If you can't donate hair they accept financial donations as well.

So, my hair is so short now! It used to go all the way down to my ass, but now it's just below my shoulders. It's going to take a while to get used to it. But, I'm glad I did it and I think I'm going to grow it out again to donate in a couple years. It is so worth it.

Oh, and this is the onesie I finally decided on for my adorable new nephew:
How cute is that? My bro is a musician so I think he'll love it.

Laters!

P.S. Next time I post I'll write about how to create your own incense for those who are interested. It's fun and makes your house smell great too!

Random Tuesday Thoughts Again

Yes, it is that time again, time for Random Tuesday Thoughts. As I am feeling ill today, my list of random thoughts will be short and I probably won't be checking out the Random Tuesday Thoughts of everyone else until tomorrow, but I promise I will get to it. I always enjoy reading what random things people come up with. Having said that, here we go...

~My cat, Dakota, likes to lie in bed next to me, which would be fine with me, except for the fact that he wants me to pet him constantly. When I stop petting him for even a nanosecond he feels that it is appropriate to claw me in the ass to get my attention again. Not a gentle, hey I'm here, don't forget me kinda thing, but a deep tissue claw in which his claws often stick in my flesh and he can't pull them out. This is bad enough when I'm awake, but there is no ruder awakening than cat claws in your ass at 2 in the morning.

~Did you know that they make bumper magnets instead of stickers now? What a great idea! Now I can buy a bunch of them and change them up every so often. And now people who decide to sell their car after applying stickers won't have to scrape for six hours to get the adhesive off their bumper. I stopped by Spencers looking for a baby gift for my new nephew and that's where I found them. I bought a bumper magnet that says, "Some days all I want to be is a missing person." Man, can I relate to that! We also bought a fridge magnet that says, "They tell me I have ADD. They just don't underst... Hey look, a chicken!!!!" Since we all have ADD to some degree we find that one to be rather hilarious.

~So, I bought this book, Do Fish Drink Water?: Puzzling and Improbable Questions and Answers. My brilliant, inventive, ever-curious, genius IQ child particularly loves this book and was delighted to find it among my recent purchases from the used bookstore. She was, however, disappointed to find that it did not answer the burning question that keeps her up at night: if sunlight is attracted to dark colors why is it always cool in the shade?

~Every time I try to type 'taking' into my cellphone when I text, T9 gives me 'takini.' That's not even a freaking word!!

~I have so many books that I haven't read yet that sometimes I think if I read nonstop from this moment until the moment of my death I wouldn't finish them all. Thinking about this while I read makes me panic and I feel an enormous pressure to finish as many books as I can as quickly as I can. I wish I could read like 4 books at a time. I saw someone do that on tv once, though I can't recall if it was real or fictional. Now that's going to bug me all day.

~I make my own incense and burn them periodically for different things such as purification, relaxation, knowledge retention while studying, etc. When I do so, I burn a very small amount as a little goes a long way when you are creating incense from fresh dried herbs which are very strong smelling. Well, my daughter decided to make her own incense a while ago using lavender and sage, which smelled great and is now one of my new favorite recipes. However, she put like 1/2 a cup of incense into the bowl and lit it all. The house smelled wonderful but it was also filled with enough smoke for a forest fire (apparently it is true that only I can prevent forest fires). So, we had to cover it as best we could (she used a large mixing bowl instead of my small censor with a lid) and put the fan on to blow all the smoke outside, which was an enormous waste of fresh herbs and sawdust. But, that's ok, at least she won't make the same mistake twice...I hope!

K, that's all I got for this Random Tuesday Thoughts. I hope everyone is well and don't forget to check out Keely's blog.

Laters!

New Baby Sweetness!

We made a trip to the hospital today to see my new nephew, Jack. He is just adorable! And that new baby smell...heaven. Can't we bottle that or something? I was able to hold him for a while, though he slept the whole time since he had been circumcised that morning (ouch!). Poor guy!

I'm very excited, I found what I want to buy my nephew. We ordered a matching Big Brother/Lil Brother set with a onesie (I'm not sure how to spell that) and a t-shirt for Jack and his big brother Will. We also found a Beatles onesie online too, which is so cute. My bro will love it, that's one of his fav bands. I wanted to buy a Green Day onesie too, but couldn't afford it. That stuff is expensive! It's almost $20 for a single onesie! But Will and Jack are so very worth it!

K, well, I am feeling quite ill all of a sudden so I'm going to lie down.

Laters!

Notes From the Red Bull Side

So, I woke up the other day and my house was so clean. It was like little elves came in but instead of making me shoes they picked up my junk, did a few loads of laundry and scrubbed down the kitchen! So, on the kitchen counter I found this note from my 17 year-old daughter:

Mom,

So... Result of chugging a Red Bull at 1 AM is cleaning for three and a half hours (epic struggle). I got bored while waiting for my food to cook... So here's an epic fail [epic fail underlined 3 times] time line...

12:40 AM: Chug Red Bull

1:00 AM: Start laundry

1:30 AM: Last stragglers on Facebook leave me (Bastards)

1:40: Change laundry loads

1:50: Starts kitchen

2:00: Massive struggle with damn iPod cord

2:20: Take down cart (also epic struggle) My note: we had a cart with garbage and recycling in our front hallway waiting to be taken downstairs

2:30: Spray counters

2:40: Finish dishes in sink

2:45: Respray counters after realizing I should have waited [until after she did the dishes]

2:50: Soak coffee maker

3:00: Take down 3rd load of shit [more garbage and recycling]

3:10 Kicks cat for the 5th time since 2:50 AM ['Since' is spelled wrong and crossed out twice]

3:20 Struggles spelling 'since' and still believes it incorrect [She got it right the 3rd time]

3:24 Mac & Cheese time!!!

3:25 Stupid cat-kicks*

3:30 Valerian time!!!

3:36 Mac & Cheese shit!!! [Underlined-she forgot about it in the microwave]

3:40 Gives up & eats Mac/Cheese

3:42 Starts Wall-e for the 4th time in hopes of actually watching it...

So yeah, I read that and laughed my ass off, though you may have to have our strange sense of humor to appreciate it.

*No cats were harmed in the making of this blog post. When I said she shouldn't kick the cat she explained that it was more like 'nudging it out of the way with my foot.'

OH, and btw I'm an auntie (again)! My newest nephew Jack Myron was born at 12:29 this morning. We get to see him tomorrow! I can't wait!!

Random Tuesday Thoughts Time

Yes, it's that time again. Last Tuesday seems like it was just yesterday! But then time seems to pass by more quickly as you age...or so I've heard.

My random thoughts today are in the form of random questions. So, here we go...

~Why does anyone care what Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Nicole Richie and all those other brainless bimbos are doing? Which leads to my next question...

~Why is it that our society worships people just because they are beautiful and rich? They have no talents (my daughter keeps telling me Britney has talent, but I just don't see it) and have never contributed anything to the world other than an inane reality show or two and starting the latest craze of carrying your dog around in your purse (no wonder my checkbook smells like pee). Not to mention that if you combined the IQ of every famous pampered and worshiped nitwit out there you'd have approximately the IQ of a goldfish (my apologies to goldfish everywhere), and yet people revere them. Paris Hilton didn't even know what Wal Mart was! She thought they sold walls!!! I don't get it!

~Why won't Donald Trump fix his hair?!?! I mean, he does own a mirror, right?

~Why does my teenage daughter feel the need to lick my arm?

~Will I survive the teen years?

~How much longer before the men in white jackets come to put me away? And can they hurry, cuz I could use a vacation.

~Why can't I start my own religion?

~Can you kill somebody with a ball point pen? This could be a very useful skill...

~Has anyone ever really licked their way to the center of a Tootsie Pop?

~Why is it that in George W's pics he always looks like he's just farted?

~Why 12 steps? Why not 11? Or 13?

~Cake or death?

~Why does anyone even care that Clinton got a blow job? I mean, come on, aren't there more important things to worry about? Not to mention that we have a long line of presidents that had affairs while in office, of both parties, so why impeach Clinton? Wasn't there, like, a better use for our tax dollars? And apparently if you lie about getting a blow job you're punished severely and without mercy, but if you lie and send thousands to their deaths and bomb the shit out of untold thousands more, that is perfectly ok. Yeah, that doesn't sound fucked up or anything!!!

~Why are they Flogging poor Molly?

So, those are my random questions for today. If you want to participate in Random Tuesday Thoughts head over to The Un Mom and check it out!!

Run away! Run away! Run away!

I'm having one of those Mommy moments, you know, the kind you have in the summer when the Drunken Midgets have been home for over a month and you've showered them with attention all day long and you just really need some time of peace and quiet, just to relax and decompress, or maybe you need to do something (like writing) in order to hang onto that tenuous wisp of sanity that is left and yet you just can't get a moment's peace and it makes you feel like your brain is going to explode and you want to race down the street like a bat out of hell, naked and barefoot, screaming and tearing your hair out from the roots.

Yeah.

I'm having one of those moments.

*sigh*

But, I wouldn't change it for the world. Even if it sucks every drop of sanity out of me. Being a Mommy is the best thing that ever happened to me.

So, we went and bought some guppies today. Guess what I learned today? I learned that guppies are insanely expensive. Well, ok, the fish are only $2 a piece, but then they need things like an aquarium, rocks, food, plastic plants, some liquid to remove the impurities from tap water, etc. So, in the end these inexpensive little fish cost over $40. I know, right?

*sigh*

I'm telling you, my kids had better pick a phenomenal nursing home for me. None of that third rate let you sit in your own filth for days nursing home.

All this talk about guppies and children reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:

"Humans are the only animals that have children on purpose with the exception of guppies, who like to eat theirs." ~P.J. O'Rourke

Wow, was that just a perfect quote or what? Are you impressed? I was impressed.

During the course of picking out the fish and all their paraphernalia my daughter reminded me about the year that she went trick or treating with my Dad and came home with 3 goldfish. Who gives out goldfish on Halloween??? What happened to candy? And who has enough goldfish on hand to give them out to dozens of children? Of course, the lady who was handing them out asked my Dad for permission to give my daughter the fish and my Dad was like, "Whatever". Yeah, if you want permission for something, my Dad, bless his heart, isn't really the one to go to. In his mind as long as you aren't robbing a bank or drenching yourself with gasoline and setting yourself on fire, it's all good.

Yeah, my Mom was the one in charge of most of the decision making when my brother and I were growing up. Most family meetings (which generally focused on me as I was the out of control troublemaker) started with my dad leaning back in a chair at the head of the dining room table, hands crossed over his chest, staring off into space as my mom said, "Your father and I think...."

Don't get me wrong, my Dad's a wonderful man and worked (and still does) damn hard to provide for his family so he could offer his children things he never had, but he just wasn't big on parental involvement. But I think that's pretty much the norm for men of his generation.

Ok then, I'm going to end this post with a retelling of a text conversation that I had with one of my kids while they were away babysitting:

Drunken Midget: Hey

Me: Hey there. Whatcha doin'?

DM: I'm being forced to watch a creepy penguin 2 year-old movie. (I'm assuming the penguin movie was creepy, not the 2 year-old)

Me: What's it called?

DM: Idk

Me: I see. Are you doing anything special today?

DM: Idk

Me: Well you're just a fountain of knowledge today, aren't you?

DM: Walt Disney was the original voice of Mickey Mouse. TAKE THAT FOR KNOWLEDGE! muahaha



All righty then!

She really cracks me up sometimes. :-)

Random Tuesday Thoughts

I haven't participated in Random Tuesday Thoughts for a while cuz I haven't been blogging (I don't have electricity under my rock), so I thought I'd post today since it's been so long.

For those of you who want to participate in Random Tuesday Thoughts, head over to The Un Mom.

Random Reasons I Don't Care for Summer:

1. Oddly, I don't sweat under my armpits, but I do sweat everywhere else on my body, especially my head. When I get really hot (which happens anytime it's above 30 degrees) my hair gets all wet like I just got out of the shower and my glasses fog up like I've been sitting in a sauna. It's gross.

2. When you sit in front of a fan (in a desperate attempt to keep the air off and save money) and your cat comes to visit you the fan blows the cat fur all over your face, and if it's sweaty (your face, not the cat), the fur sticks to it. Very annoying.

3. I have to whore myself out every summer to pay my air conditioner bill. Ok, so it's not that bad, but my electricity costs about $120+ in the summer as opposed to $40 in the winter.

4. Getting into a car that has been outside is like walking into the sun and the skin of your hands melt onto the steering wheel.

Random Cat Idiosyncracies:

1. My cat, Dakota, is so strange, he likes to lick odd things. I always have at least 5-6 books scattered on my bed (I'm forever cross referencing things when I read nonfiction) and he loves to lick the covers of the books and chew on the corners. He then moves onto my tv/dvd remotes and my cell phone. He especially loves the remote, he'll lie on his back and toss it into the air then chew on it for a while. It's weird. I've never had a cat that did that.

2. He also eats things that aren't food (rubber bands, plastic tags, paper, etc.) then promptly pukes all over the place. Nummy! Luckily there haven't been any major problems (like a rubber band entwining around his insides) and we are trying to break him of the habit, but he is steadfastly refusing to cooperate.

3. He likes to 'circle' me. When I'm sitting on the couch he always sits to the left of my lap. Every so often he will get up, cross over my lap to the right side, jump up onto the back of the couch, walk behind me, then jump down to sit on the left side of my lap where he started. It's very strange.

Inane Random Facts (yes, I know, they're all inane):

1. I think Google is smarter than me. Every time I misspell a word it corrects me. In fact, now when I want to know how to spell a word I just Google it and see if Google corrects me. Who needs a dictionary?

2. One day one of my daughters was eating jelly beans and there were a few flavors she didn't like. Instead of throwing them away in the garbage (*gasp!*) she hid them in random places near her so she didn't have to get up. Some went into a flower pot, some into a glass of water, others into a half full bottle of cranberry juice. She even threw a few on the floor as cat toys, but the cats weren't buying it and ignored the jelly beans completely. In fact, they seemed rather affronted by the whole attempt.

Well, those are my Random Thoughts today!

Don't forget to check out The Un Mom if you want to participate. Even if you don't, I still recommend checking out her blog, it's hilarious and very witty!

Laters!

Raven

P.S. Don't forget to check out the new bumper stickers I posted up and down my sidebar!

Long Time No Blog

FYI: I added new bumper stickers all up and down my sidebar, so check it out!

Spank me! It's been forever since I've blogged here. I have been such a bad blogger lately, not only neglecting my blogs, but I haven't been reading blogs either. I just haven't had the motivation to get on the 'puter, and for some reason, for a while, just the thought of going to the 'puter caused me no small amount of anxiety. I'm not sure why.

But, today, here I am at the 'puter and I'm listening to some Mudvayne on my iPod. I love Mudvayne, they are my fav metal band. Chad Gray is just uber delicious. I have a major crush on him and the Drunken Midgets are forever teasing me for it. My fav vid by them is 'Happy', uncensored of course:





They have a lot of great songs though, like 'A World So Cold', 'Not Falling', 'Shadow of a Man', 'Determined', 'Fall Into Sleep', and 'Forget to Remember'.

In other news, the weather is hot and yucky. I really don't care for summer. I hope it cools off by tonight cuz my daughter and I are heading to the park for a Nature Walk to commune with nature and see what treasures we can find. There's a huge Willow tree there that I love to sit up against and watch the lake. I'm excited since my girl was gone all last week with my 'rents at their cabin. I can't wait to spend some time with her.

I've been pretty busy with spellwork the last week or so and made up some fresh incense for various needs. I love making incense. I'm pretty good at it too. My kids love my Study Incense cuz it smells so good (after you burn it you smell like you've been baking cookies), but it also helps you to focus your mind, absorb knowledge and retain what you are reading. I use it for school all the time.

I'm also in the midst of putting up my altar. When we moved in here I gave the girls the big room since they have to share one and I took the small one, and I had a hard time making room for it. But, after doing a Motivation Spell (I've been so tired and sore I just couldn't get motivated), I unpacked a bunch of boxes that were sitting around in my room and closet from when I moved forever ago and made some space. Instead of my big steamer trunk that I used to use for my altar and is just too big for the corner I'm putting my altar in, I'm stealing one of the end tables from my living room which will sit perfectly in the corner I've chosen for the altar. Now I'm using the trunk to store all my candles, herbs, and other supplies. I'm very excited to put it together, I haven't felt right without it. It grounds me and helps me to remember my devotion to the Goddess and God. Also, it's where I do my spells.

On a totally random tangent, I always have to laugh when people say things to me like, 'If you can cast spells, why don't you do one to win the lottery?' They don't understand that it doesn't work that way, and if they are a Christian I usually say, 'Well, if your god is so powerful why don't you pray to win the lottery?' No matter how you look at it, life just doesn't work that way.

Doing a spell is kind of like an extended from of prayer, using certain things as symbols as well as utilizing their vibrational power to attract to me whatever it is I'm casting the spell for. The way it's been told to me is this: if you look at Quantum Physics you'll find that nothing is static; everything is moving on a molecular level at a certain vibrational frequency and like attracts like. That means that when I cast a spell with a green candle, some basil, patchouly oil, and maybe some runes carved into the candle with a quartz crystal, all those things are vibrating at a similar frequency as the money I'm hoping to attract to pay a bill, or whatever my intent, through my spell. Also, the use of symbols such as the athemae (ritual knife) or wand (not magic wand in the sense of 'wave a magic wand' and all your troubles will go away) connect us to our unconscious and the spark of the Divine which is within all of us.

So, if I'm doing a spell (again, extended prayer), not for a reasonable amount to pay a bill or whatever, but to win the lottery, chances are thousands, if not millions, of people are praying for the same thing. Obviously the Goddess and the God (or whatever Divine Source you believe in) can't answer all those prayers, or that would leave everyone with like a dollar or something. Also, we just aren't meant to have certain things in life, and so, the Divine cannot answer all of our prayers or bring all of our spells to fruition.

We all struggle in life and have our issues that need to be resolved; that is what molds us, refines us and helps us to evolve into the people we are meant to be. Spellwork can be effective and strenghten our prayers but it's not supernatural in the sense that it can defy the laws of Nature or Spirit and make all of our problems disappear with the wave of our wand. I can't think of a single religion that teaches that prayer will make our lives perfect and struggle-free.

K, well, I'll hop off down my Wicca Soapbox for now.

Laters!