homewitch

1. I'm getting more crotchety, cynical, and less tolerant of bullshit the older I get.

2. I'm also getting more tolerant of *certain* things - inexperience, youthfulness, over-zealousness (born of the former), and obnoxiousness (see previous parenthesis).

3. I'm too freaking tired, busy, engaged, and focused to waste time on people who aren't willing to Do The Work.

4. I'm too freaking wussy, lovey dovey, and mommy-like to actually follow through on said above great statements of New Standards on as regular a basis as I would like right now.

5. I am not, however, too freaking wussy, lovey dovey, or mommy-like to put up with whiney drama queens ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER again.

6. I am entirely convinced that I have the best friends now that I have ever had, ever imagined, and ever will, and I am entirely convinced that I will have those friends for the remainder of my tenure on this Earth plane.

7. I am doing the Work I am supposed to be doing, and I am doing it well... and what I am not doing as well as I could/should be, I am working on. Woo hoo!

8. My husband rocks.

9. My family rocks more than they suck.

10. I am going to beat this back thing.

For all who have sent supportive, magical, healing energies for me during my little back crisis... I had an epidural steroid injection and nerve block procedure done today, and I am feeling much better! And am very hopeful for getting this thing under control, and getting back to my 100% "go-bot" status!

My thoughts... this has been a difficult two weeks, but I am finding some really good "stuff" through it... learning to be present, in the moment, in tune, in touch... coming to some determinations and intentions about certain heretofore rather unvisited self-care issues (and if I am honest, I should add "discipline and motivation" issues)... and allowing friends and heart-family to give of themselves on my behalf.

Transformational vortex energy still a'whirling!!

So today my husband said something that is probably the most romantic thing he has said to me in years. For him...

"Why do you think I am so concerned that you get to the doctor and get your stuff taken care of? Do you have any idea how freakin' hard you'd be to replace?"

Hee.

And here's a pic of my SpiralGround peeps who held the fort at NoVa Pagan Pride Day today, since I was not *allowed* to go. :P Everyone said it was a great event!!



(Click on the pic to get a bigger version if you want.)

Oh yeah, and that's Fred, Tishie, Denise, & Betty!

I have no inkling of any past lives, but I liked this description (although maybe not the picture):



If you ever hear mysterious voices in your head, you're not necessarily crazy - you might just be channeling the prophet you used to be.

Centuries ago, you used to hang out in the desert, waiting for signs from you-know-who. Were you nuts? Maybe - but either way, you still did loads of good. You were a community leader who helped out the less fortunate and made tons of sacrifices for the good of others.

So if you're ever feeling selfish, knock it off and remember to do what prophets do. It's in your soul!

http://www.espin.com/quizzes/past-life-test

• Friends are not gold and silver; they’re coal and ashes and sweat and tears and pain and shit and and worth far more than any precious substance on earth.
• Magic is tangible in physical space if there has been enough of it there, and it follows you out the door like trailing stardust.
• There’s being in love, and there’s being in love, and you can be both at once, and they are both grand, and everyone is better for it, even when it’s painful, and I’m thankful for it all.
• Music is magic and defies any emotional blocks, and if it’s in you, things will still sing in your hands.
• Parallel lives don’t exactly make us clones, but jeepers, is it fun to find one.
• Going away from home – and *really* going away from home while you’re away – is exhilarating and exhausting and thrilling and sad and lonely and guilt-laden and often filled with stuff you could never, never, never have found if you’d stayed in your own garden.
• New friends found do awesome wonders for healing the wounds of old friends lost.
• I really get pissed off when people I love are not treated like I think they should be, and I lose respect for people who don’t follow through on the guts and grime of doing the right thing for those that they call friends, themselves.
• And that sucks.
• I can push past pain when I need to in order to get the job done.
• My husband is the most amazing man I’ve ever known.
• Gods, I have a lot of work to do.

Not bad for 20 days (minus 36 hours) worth of experience.

At our church's Beltane festival this year, we are going to play a Family Feud style game, and I need input for the "100 Pagans Surveyed Said..." part. If you're willing to take this little quizzie, I'd sure appreciate it! I put the questions out on email lists, but thought some here might have fun with it, as well. You may notice that some of the questions are similar; just answer anyway. I'm trying to get enough useable questions as possible, so tried several variations on the questions. Also, if you substitute a witty comment for a "popular answer," you might make me smile, but you won't help me prep for our game... off-the-wall answers don't equate to usable "top 3" and "top 5" numbers!

If you're coming to SpiralGround Beltane... don't peek! You'll ruin the fun!

( 100 Pagans Surveyed )

You can either answer in a comment, or email your answers to me at amarisse @ amarisse.net (spaces removed, of course.) Thanks in advance!

Thanks to doc_ezra for this one...

... but what are you gonna do when you get a picture of your grandbaby kissing you? :)

Karleigh pointed out, correctly, that I had pictures of her new son with everyone *but* his mother, so here they are. Purty, ain't they?

We needed something special for this dreary, snowy afternoon… the first day together that Cat and I have had in over two weeks! So, I decided to make some savory brunch waffles, filled with carmelized onion and smoked turkey, Monterey Jack and Parmesan cheese, then to top them off with some cheesy scrambled eggs.

Recipe & stuff are over at Homewitch.Net.

TJ (Grandson #1) inspects and gives approval to his first (and First) cousin, Vincent, under the watchful eye of Mom (Ashley.) Too adorable.

Finally, a decent picture with the Tish.

I wanted to try doing something interesting with some of the venison my neighbors so graciously shared with us, so I played fast and loose with my Mom’s Arabian schwarma recipe. My *only* regret is that I forgot to wrap one up for myself, to take to my Mom’s house this week. :(

Recipe, pictures, and stuff over at Homewitch.Net.

To keep my mind off not being with my new (still unnamed) grandson until next weekend, I decided to post these less-than-perfect photos of dinner night before last... which was just barely less-than-perfect, if I do say so myself. Cat, Tishie, Shane and I demolished *ALL* of it (a big half pork loin's worth!)

Recipe & more pics are over at Homewitch.Net.

So, baby "Scarlett," in addition to arriving, finally, over two weeks late (at 9 lbs., 5 oz.) surprised everyone by being in possession of equipment that the sonogram tech apparently either didn't see or didn't recognize. Karleigh & Brandon are well and so is baby, who doesn't have a name yet, but *does* have quite a wardrobe of pink, purple, and ruffles, despite said equipment. He is, however, quite adorable and has red hair (no big surprise, since mom & dad both do, as well!)

I'll be heading to Roanoke next week to spend a week or so there to help everyone get settled back in. At least the waiting is over!

**happy grandmother smiles**

So it’s not the most original after-holiday leftover makeover, but at least I had fun with it. Mom suggested that I try her pie crust trick with the puff pastry… so what you see is (ahem) my (errr) interpretation of a turkey.

Recipe & stuff over at Homewitch.Net.

From Blog Critics Magazine:


Movie Review: In Praise of the Pagan, Feminist, Anti-Musical Holiday Classic, The Year Without a Santa Claus
Written by Jayson Harsin

OD'ed on fruitcake? Reached your patience limit with your family, no matter how much you love them? The lazy hometowns bringing you down during the holidays? Fear not, deliverance from ennui is nigh. Check out Rankin and Bass's classic The Year Without a Santa Claus (TYWSC) available on DVD, sample clips of it available on YouTube (see them below).

Out of all the holiday specials, The Night Before Christmas, Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, Frosty the Snowman, A Christmas Carol, Rudolph's Shiny New Year, and many others, it is TYWSC (1974) that I remember best and most fondly.

TYWSC is an animation masterpiece by the remarkable Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Rankin/Bass had a prolific stretch of productions using stop-motion puppet animation (“Animagic"), beginning with the ever-popular Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1962.

Many of these Rankin/Bass “Animagic” productions are interesting on several levels, since they often pulled the holiday away from religious moorings (with a couple of exceptions) and contributed to the huge holiday commercial machine (music, decorations, TV, now video and DVD) but at the same time celebrated the secular humanist qualities of Christmas, such as cheer and the pleasure of giving or sharing for their own sake. TYWSC, like some of these others, is in fact a pagan, feminist, and still moralizing tour de force.

Read the full article HERE.

But why do they have to get so big, so fast? :(

Just in time for the holiday weekend! Recipes & more pictures over at Homewitch.Net.

Nice winter dinner salad. The scoop is over at Homewitch.Net.