Lazy Saturday...

Added new question/answer to Pagan Blog Prompt Page.

It's sunny outside but really, really cold. It's quite deceiving. It's also the perfect day to stay inside. This is the first day I haven't been out anywhere in a long, long time. It felt lazy but nice.

I stuck on some Wire in the Blood Season 5 on the Netflix and stitched. The little piece I picked out last week is finished! I sound really excited but it's been the first piece I've stitched in a while. When I picked it up last week almost everyone in the house said 'wow, you're stitching' - yes, it's been that long.

The little piece is called Chocolate is the Answer and is by Designs By Lisa (website http://www.xstitchdesignsbylisa.com/index.html)

It's Friday, Friday...

Got that song stuck in my head! You know the one - the Youtube sensation - worst song ever (so it's called!). Been listening to Scott Mills on BBC Radio One (check out his podcast - hilariously funny). They were pulling apart the song.

Anyway... Friday... not my favourite day of the week. It's Payday for those in our store who still have cheque cheques - which means basically cashing cheques from before we're open. MegaMillions jackpot really high - lots of people buying - majority happy, but there is always the one or two - one of whom I got about 6.30 this morning.

Day didn't start off well -

* Couldn't find debit card. Knew it was home, using it last night on the net but could I find it this am? Nope.
* Got up to work and my car door wouldn't close or lock. Managed to get it just shut so inside light not on but not locked. Took anything valuable out. Apparently lock frozen - darn cold at 3.30am. We've been playing musical cars and because I'm the first out I no longer have the garage.
* Hurt my finger last Sunday and hurting this morning. Starting to get infected. Woke up couple times last night as hurting.
* Got shouted at by some idiot at the lottery machine.
* Bookkeeping not going well and people nashing at the bit wanted cheques cashed.

And all this before 7am. I was glad when the work day was done!

:)

Getting Crafty...

Well I did some stitching Saturday and...well, that was it. Hope to get more done by end of week. Sunday I had to go to work and it was my FIL's b'day so went over for cake and ice cream. My MIL outdid herself with three...yes three, cakes. There were only seven of us there. Yikes. We brought cake back with us and are still eating it!!!

On Saturday Morning my DD and I actually did something crafty. She had picked out a lotion and bubble bath kit. We made some up. Tried out the bubble bath and it was surprisingly good. See pics below.

We used approximately half of each so containers are not quite full. It was a fun thing to do, picking scents and colours. The small tin I ended up taking to work. This project got me somewhat energised and I pulled out some of my candle-making things.

I used to make some creams and lip balms from scratch. I'm trying to get DD to try it out but she wants to stick to the kits for now!

HAPPY SPRING!!!

Welcome back, I've missed you! Looking forward to longer, lighter, warmer days. This is one of my favourite times of year. It is all about renewal and growth and life. What could be better than that?

Saturday - Storm Moon.

According to my Llwellyn's Datebook today is the Storm Moon. A Storm moon is, according to weather folklore, the moon which occurs in March during shifting weather patterns in the northern hemisphere. It is also called seed moon, moon of winds, crow moon, and moon of the snow-blind. I looked the second part up online, so if it's wrong my boo-boo.

Now - that out of the way - how did I do with my Wednesday things? Well, the only thing I didn't do was clean off the top of my dresser which, sadly, still resembles a hilltop.

Had some ups and downs - more downs than ups. Feeling quite melancholy despite the sunshine. Work is getting me down, being tired is getting me down and I just feel like a good old moan.

On the plus side below are some pictures of the Chocolate Chip cookies my DD made. They were REALLY good and quite addicting.

She also made a cake too though it was from a mix and didn't look half as good as the cookies!

Goals for Wild and Wacky Wednesday (my day off).

Okay, it’s Tuesday and my workday is done which means tomorrow is a DAY OFF. I’m going to post my goals for the day and maybe, just maybe, I’ll actually get something done. This won’t actually include the normal day-off things (such as grocery shopping, cleaning etc). This is a small (probably very small) list of ‘extras’ I’d like to get done.

 10 books. I will sort them and get rid of them. I have a choice of Ebay, PaperbackSwap.com or donate them to our library bookshop. The trick of any of those is not to order/purchase any more!
 Cross stitch project. I will pick out a small one and pull everything I need to start. I will make sure it is by my chair and ready to reach for.
 Make cookies from scratch. DD has a half-day at High School so we’re making cookies.
 Clean top of dresser. Things are piling up and beginning to resemble a small hilltop.

Time change.

Okay someone needs to explain this time change thing to me. Springing Forward. It sounds so…happy, so pleasant, and so…nice. NOT! Whoever thought this thing up obviously didn’t have to think about how much sleep they would (or wouldn’t, in this case) get. It was probably a man, well off, someone who didn’t have to work or didn’t have to clock-watch.

I got up (groan) before the clocks actually changed. I have to be at work at 3.30am so I get up around 2.40am. On Sunday morning I got up at 1.40am and watched the clock go from 1.59am to 3.00am.

I had trouble all day – I couldn’t seem to stop yawning and the only thing I could think of as soon as I got up was going back to bed. It didn’t help that people-who-shall-remain-nameless (basically everyone!) kept waking me up. Telephone ring, dog bouncing, back door slamming, car lights blaring. Groan….

I was reading up on Daylight Savings, but I still don’t get it. The theory is that DST ‘makes’ the sun set one hour earlier and therefore we use less electricity. Okay. Apparently most energy used in homes is used in the evenings and every little bit will add up to lots of savings. It sounds good in theory. I still miss that one hour of sleep.

Bodice rippers...

Romantic reads.

Let me begin by saying that I read a lot. I read a bit of everything – you name it, I’ve probably read it, maybe excluding westerns and Christian fiction. I admit it – I’m a book-a-holic, books are my addiction. I don’t go a week without buying a book. I consider book buying a perk for working all week. Some people buy cigarettes, or booze (well, I have to admit to liking a little of that), or lottery tickets (ok, I do buy those once in a while) but my main vice is books. It could be worse. I see a cover, I read a description an excerpt and I am lost.

What I am reading depends on the mood I am in. Lately I’ve been in a bit of a romantic-read mood. I’m dating myself here, but back in the day when I used to sneak ‘adult’ reads the romance was a LOT tamer. Nowadays WHEW! HOT!!! I’m sure the details would make my Mum cringe (or I’d like to think they would!). The covers for romance books have changed too. There used to be pictures of swooning women and buff longhaired me. Remember Fabio? Nowadays the men are still buff, but mostly shorthaired and the women look like they can take care of themselves. I think it’s a result of the changing role of women in our society. Wow, I’m beginning to sound all serious here.

My DD and I took a trip to the library this morning. She had some books to return and I like to go along as they have a cool bookstore in the bottom of the library. People donate their used books there and the library uses the money for different projects and activities around the library. It’s always a great place to find used books and they are really cheap. They aren’t all old books either, some of them are recent releases and most of them look as if they were only read once or twice. Today we bought eight books and paid just over $7. You can’t beat that! Now I have to find the time to read them…

Water... the sea...the ocean..

A couple things got me thinking about this today. When I watched the Tsunami on the telly I couldn't help but be awed by the strength of the waves, the power. Such devastation they wrought! The wave washed away houses as though they were nothing more than cardboard constructions on the land.

The second thing that got me thinking about water was when I was watching An Unsuitable Job for a Woman. There was just a flash of the sea, the sound of seagulls and the splash of waves upon the beach. In that instant my heart ached. Sad, but true. I miss England. It's about that time I get homesick all over again.

I'm deterring from the subject. I'm talking about water and tides and the sea. I grew up near the sea. I'm a good swimmer. I enjoy swimming - I loved it as a child. But I have a love/hate relationship with the sea.

On the one hand there is nothing I enjoy better than lying on the beach, hearing the sound of the waves as they crash upon the sands, the salty scent of the sea mixed with the hot oil of fish and chips frying and the joy of families, of children enjoying their day out. It's what I dream of when I dream of England. When I go back I could lay for hours on the beach and soak in the ambiance. I lay and close my eyes and I feel at peace. There is no other word for it. When I strive for calm in my life that's what I think of.

On the other hand whenever life starts to close in on me and nightmares strike it is the sea I dream of. I am out enjoying the day - not just any day, but the day I've described above - the perfect day. When I blink I am alone on the beach, on a sand bank, and the water is closing in on me. There is water all around and I can't escape. There is no way out. The water is coming closer and closer. Sometimes I scream, but there is no-one around. Other times I can do nothing but watch.

I always wake before the water completely surrounds me. But I wake with my heart beating furiously against my chest and the terror feeling real in my mind. The dream usually carries through the day and sometimes I am afraid to close my eyes in case it returns to me.

Logically I know the dream is fairly common. I know I only have it when I'm stressed or worried or feel that life is closing in on me. I can't stop the dream or the terror I feel any more that I can stop my love of the sea, the beach, perhaps even of England.

Wild Wednesday (well, at least in my dreams)..

I don't have a wild life - hence the title of my blog. Sometimes I just feel like I'm plodding along. Work, home, work, home, shop, clean, sleep. Sadly the most exciting part of my day off - the thing I most look forward to - is sleeping. I am not a morning person. I hate mornings. I always feel like I do the best of everything at night, but the job I have requires morning work. Not just morning, but before-the-crack-of-dawn mornings.

I feel more alert and alive on my days off. On work days I can keep up the energy and smiley-ness just enough to last the work day and then I just want to collapse. I miss the things I used to do. I used to have hobbies - I used to be creative. I cooked, stitched, made lotions and candles. I miss that person. Once in a while I try to bring her back, but I've seemed to have the connection to her. I sometimes feel like I'm losing myself and I'm not quite sure how find my way back. Sounds rather melancholy.

I've pulled out a couple of my pagan inspirational books to try to get things kick-started, but I feel like I'm failing there too. I want to be able to connect with other people who share my beliefs, other people I can bounce ideas off. Once again, there I'm rather shy. I have trouble finding things to say when I meet people and I always feel rather self-conscious. I've considered myself a Pagan for many years, but there is so much that I don't know and I feel like I should know more. I'd love to find someone to teach me there, to share

I'm whinging again.

Things to look forward to: Got taxes back and I can start planning holiday back to England to visit Mum! Can't wait. It's what keeps me going :)

Lazy Saturday Morning....

I got up later than usual - round about 8am. Yes, that's early, but it's late for me. I have to be able to go to bed tonight to get up for work tomorrow morning (2.45am early rise and shine!) so I try not to sleep in too late. I woke up around 5am but couldn't get out of bed so the cat and I just dozed lazily.

I was planning a lazy Saturday morning - curled up in a chair perhaps with a book and maybe watching a mystery or two. I got up, slipped in Midsomer Murders and... the power went out. S***, not again. No storm so what the heck happened? The day is dull and grey and not much daylight. Tried to read a little in the semi-darkness. We ended up giving up and going out to grab a couple things. That meant getting dressed and somewhat presentable instead of spending the day in sweats and a grotty shirt.

The power was still out when we came back but we did see the crews at the top of the street working on it. About 45 mins later the power came on. Thank goodness. We just got over spending 2 days without power a couple weeks ago. I had just replenished the freezer and such, really didn't need to lose any more food.

So now I am back to watching Midsomer Murders - oh my - there is a dead man in a tumble dryer. Wow!

Take care

So bad...

I'm terrible at this. I always have such good intentions of writing things down and then I get home and get stuff done around the house and then...well, I collapse and fall asleep. Must be a side affect from getting older. I do go on my computer everyday - I'm an addict, but I never seem to get around to posting. Perhaps I'm just not cut out for this blogging stuff. I do enjoy the writing and - when I remember to do it - I enjoy thinking things out on paper. This whole procrastination thing is not just something that seems to happen on this blog though - I carry it through into 'real' life. When I'm awake and at work I think about all the things to do when I'm home, all the projects I'll work on and - poof! - it all turns into dust when I do get home.

Well, what have I been up to? We survived the ice storm that hit the midwest. We lost power at home and at work. Sadly the work power-loss did not last as we have one generator to keep the essentials up and they called in another to get the rest of the stuff up and running and we all had to go into work. We were lucky enough at home not to sustain any house damage - did lose some food but glad that's all.

I think I'm going to figure out how to put reminders on the computer to remind me to post - kind of like an electronic sticky note.

Take care