New Year's Resolutions...

Damn, we make it tough on ourselves, don't we? "I'm going to lose 500 lbs." "I'm going from couch potato to competing in triathlons." "I'm gonna quit a five pack a day habit in 2 days." "Yea, well, I'll get my GED, then my PhD." Gees...

Come on, people! Except for those few notable people (whom I secretly loathe) with EXTREME discipline, most of us are setting ourselves up for failure. And that's not a good way to start the new year. Believe me, I've been among the sinners with an alarming regularity myself, so here's my thoughts on the subject...

Let's plant a seed and leave a little room for improvement. Kind of like when you first start working out at a gym. You don't walk out of there ready to compete in Mr./Ms. Universe, ya know?

My theme (following the Buddhist state of being) this year is "moderation". My first task will be the easiest...

1. EVERY morning without fail, I promise to make the bed as soon as my spouse (yes, he still lives and breathes after the dye incident) arises. I usually wake at sunrise for some ungodly reason.

2. I will work on this blog every day. This doesn't mean POST every day, so you can release that scream of frustration you're holding! Some of my posts have taken days to write, either due to lack of concentration, constant distractions (oooo shiny!), or tough subjects that I want to get just right.

3. I will do at least 1/2 of my PT exercises every day. I realize that doesn't seem like much, but if I did all of them, we're talking about 2 hours of my day and I simply don't have that sort of focus.

4. I will cut down on my inhalation therapy. Yes, I'm a smoker. Don't bother writing me about the insanity of the habit. It's MY habit and I'll keep it, thank you. You really wouldn't want me writing this from prison after I killed everyone who irritated me, now, would you?

5. I'll work on the whole "I'm sad so if I buy this thing I've wanted then I'll feel better" mindset. Yes, I'm also a Pier 1 and book addict.

6. I will either a) lose 5 lbs. or b) drop a clothes size. That'll be a tough one since my body seems to have it's own ideas on how much I should weigh.

7. I will continue my campaigns from last year... Random acts of kindness, getting others on the recycling bus, and trying to convince my family of the benefits of healthier eating.

Baby steps, all. I realize that. But attainable, don't you think? I believe that the whole idea of resolutions should be that we become better people. If we're better, then we can help make our little corner of the universe just the teeniest bit nicer. A good thing all in all!

So, what is on YOUR agenda?

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you... May it be the brightest and best of all!

Now That I've Had My WHINE and Cheese!

'WINTER'
a poem by
Abigail Elizabeth McIntyre

SHIT...It's Cold!

The End

Well, that post on winter was rather depressing, eh? We all have days... sometimes LOTS of them... during which we feel that way... Just kind of lost. I know I'm not alone in that. Why did I post something that whiny? Maybe so that someone else would feel a connection and understand. It's "normal" for people to get to that place now and then. Damn! Did I just use the "N" word??? LOL

It's a full moon, so I couldn't sleep but my brain has yet to engage, so let's just say I'll build on this post. Good Morning, boys and girls! Waaaaaaake up!!!

And here's a neat article to keep you busy for a bit while I put my brain back in: Full Moon Now, where did I leave that brain jar???

Don't you just HATE it when you have your own personal pity party??? Yikes! It makes me nuts. (Yea, yea, yea. I know. Too late.) Once it's over and done, I always wonder where that came from. Boredom and a desire to find that "something special" that's always featured in prose and songs, I suppose. I think we set ourselves up for that one on a regular basis.

So... Tis the season, boys and girls. Christmas, Hanukkah, Saturnalia, Kwanzaa... Hell, Howling at the Moon in the Depths of Winter... whatever you celebrate. It seems we all celebrate something at this time of year. Some primeval sense of "Hey, I'm surviving", perhaps? It's GOOD to come together, whatever the reason.

Saturnalia is the Winter Solstice. The longest night of the year. Since the dawn of humankind, it has been celebrated as the death of the old and rebirth of the new. The tradition that modern civilization partakes of on New Year's is appropriate during the Yule season as well. What better time to come together with those near and dear to us? To touch and reaffirm?

It's also a good time to do a little self-evaluation.

A friend of a friend has this expression that she uses whenever she gets the urge to cut the clutter. She calls it "de-shitting". Maybe this year, we can de-shit our lives? Cut away the crap that bogs us down and free up some personal space for those things that are really important, home and family (this includes our "chosen family" as well).

It sure sounds good on paper, doesn't it? Let's think about it...

Take this holiday season. How many of us get so wrapped up (hehe) in the holiday season that stress becomes our middle name? Now I ask you... WHY? It's like we're in this competition to get the newest and best for EVERYONE. That typically translates into "expensive".

Okay... this opinion doesn't count for the littles on our lists... well, maybe to a certain extent it does, because we go waaaaaaaaay overboard with them as well.

Gift-giving is supposed to be a joy, a mark to show we care, that someone is in our thoughts... It's a physical reminder of a bond. The price tag is NOT a gauge of that affection. So, why are freaking cars advertised as the perfect gift? I'd severely throttle anyone who gave a vehicle as a present!

It's time to rethink this strategy, to cut it back to a more reasonable possibility. My parents' generation didn't spend big bucks like we do today. One gift (except for the kiddies) for a few select individuals or a family as a whole and you were done. Wow... Just think of the breathing room that would leave, much less the pressure on ye olde credit card.

And I can't tell you how many homes with children have the appearance of a toy store explosion at this time of the year! Those "poor" babies don't know which way to turn or what to play with simply because there are so many choices. People! Less is more, particularly in this example. Let them have a few well-chosen things to treasure. Quality not quantity.

Turn back the hands of time. Especially now when we're all feeling something of a monetary pinch. Pare down that list. Lower how much you're willing to spend. Hell, let's go back to the handmade present. Or chocolate... Y'all can give me lots and lots of good dark rich... What was I saying??? Oh, yea... Lists. LOL

So in this season of commercialism, I give you something without price yet overflowing with all I am. I send to you all my deepest wishes for love and home... for a heart that knows its worth... for time to enjoy those things special to us... but most of all, for peace.

Happy Holidays!

Halloween as Samhain

Fall is the time we celebrate the harvest. Spiritually, it is the time when we reflect on reaping what we have sown. However, few realize what Halloween truly celebrates, that is Samhain (pronounced "sowan").

The following is from the web site, http://home.comcast.net/~buaidh/Samhainn.html

Samhainn begins at dusk on October 31, the eve of the new Celtic year. Oidhche Shamhna ("oi-kha haw-na"), the Eve of Samhainn, was the most important part of Samhainn. Villagers gathered the best of the autumn harvest and slaughtered cattle for the feast. The focus of each village's festivities was a great bonfire. Villagers cast the bones of the slaughtered cattle upon the flames. (The English word "bonfire" comes from these "bone fires.") With the bonfire roaring, the villagers extinguished all other fires. Each family then solemnly lit their hearth from the one great common flame, bonding all families of the village together.

The eve of the Celtic year was a very holy time. The Celts believed that Oidhche Shamhna was a gap in time. Our world and the Otherworld came together on the night between the old and new years. The dead could return to the places where they had lived. Many rituals of Oidhche Shamhna provided hospitality for dead ancestors. Celts put out food and drink for the dead with great ceremony. Villagers left their gates, doors, and windows unlocked to give the dead free passage into their homes. Swarms of spirits poured into our world on November Eve. Not all of these spirits were friendly, so Celts carved the images of spirit-guardians onto turnips. They set these jack o'lanterns before their doors keep out unwelcome visitors from the Otherworld.

There was also a much lighter side to the Celtic New Year rituals. Children put on strange disguises and roamed the countryside, pretending to be the returning dead or spirits from the Otherworld. Celts thought the break in reality on November Eve not only provided a link between the worlds, but also dissolved the structure of society for the night. Boys and girls would put on each other's clothes, and would generally flout convention by boisterous behavior and by playing tricks on their elders.

Divination of the events of the coming year was another prominent feature of Samhainn. Celts used hazelnuts, symbols of wisdom, to foretell the future. Bobbing for apples, another traditional Samhainn pastime, was a reference to the Celtic Emhain Abhlach, "Paradise of Apples," where the dead, having eaten of the sacred fruit, enjoyed a blissful immortality.

So, you can see that many of the ways that were celebrated in the days of eld have survived to this day. Another tradition that I find beautiful is one that also involves the communal bonfire... Each person writes on pieces of paper those negative things in his or her life. It can be personal traits, outside influences, or things in life from which one needs to separate oneself. Then, one by one, these papers are thrown into the fire and the smoke carries them away. Isn't that lovely?

Now you know the meaning behind some of the things we do, which makes the season even more special. Perhaps we can bring some of the lovely old traditions back? However you choose to celebrate, have a happy safe family-centered time... Commemorate those who have gone before, those you loved... And watch out for the ghoulies behind you! Mwahahahahaha

Happy Halloween!

Sometimes, I have entirely too much fun...

Take Halloween. I don't have any little kids at home. No one has EVER gone trick or treating out where I live. But come by my home and you'll see it decorated to the max (well, as much as I can afford!) with a graveyard and enough ghosts and ghoulies to make the most hardened cynic smile! LOL

What is it about Halloween?

Well, for one thing, it's fun as hell! It seems that all of the other holidays have this set box of options... You can go with the cute... and I SO do NOT do cute... or the elegant. You have certain set colors that are often interchangeable. And all of the other celebrations typically require the exchanging of gifts. All of that adds up to tedious predictability and high stress.

Halloween is the time to go nuts (oops! Sorry... already there!). I suppose a person could do cute... And some of my things border on that. I prefer to consider them odd. But on this particular holiday, I get a chance to thoroughly enjoin my bent-ness! Mwahahahahahaha!!! My husband is even catching my disease. How cool is that???

If I had the money, I would have THAT house. You know, the one that people drive for miles and miles just to experience. I'd have mausoleums and body parts and probably even a haunted house. Have you checked out the price of body parts online??? Holy shit! But next year, I am definitely getting a fog machine at the very least. Kenneth says we still need more ghosts.

For me, Halloween goes something like this... Around October 1st, I drag out my containers of decorations. I always have a surprise or two from post-Halloween shopping the prior year. I get everything out and set it up, then think... Hmmmmmm, something's missing and off to the stores I go.

Oooo oooo ooo Shredded gauzy stuff! I need that. Ghouls!!! I need more. Damn, I only have 6 gravestones. What's with THAT? Wally-world only has the same old, same old. Note to self: check out other stores. Ooo! Walgreen's has some cool ones! Gotta have a black light! What??? No one has any vampires? Gotta find time to make one. Gonna make a witch, too. Yea... I have that cool twisty broom. I can make a witch for that! Buy some stuff to make one, come home, start sculpting the head... Ugly, wicked, simple... Add the wig... What's this??? You aren't supposed to think you're PRETTY!!! Yikes! Laverne is your name? You're a fashionista??? WTF? sigh Okay, okay. Back to the store... Rhinestones, check. False eyelashes, check. BOA??? sigh Check. Four days of back-breaking work later, Laverne is a happy camper flying around my living room on her broom... Wait? You want what??? A cat? Yes, I know that no self-respecting witch goes without a cat, but I can't find a decent black cat anywhere. MAKE one? What the hell do you think I am??? sigh Okaaaaaaaaaay. Back to the store to buy fake fur. Another day spent sewing the whole frigging thing by hand, sculpting eyes and a nose and adding MORE false eyelashes. Are you happy NOW? Finally! Taking a look around, I realize that I'm still missing stuff... More strings of purple lights. Yea, that would be good. Some more lit pumpkins and, oh yeah, a crime scene. Where'd this freaking wind come from??? Damn it!

So, anyway, that's where I am today... Gotta go outside (when it warms up) and resurrect (HA!) my graveyard.

My neighbors are great. This year, they've decided to share their family with me since I have the coolest decorations on the hill. Teeheehee. Once the kiddies have finished trick or treating, they're going to come here and we'll have a small bonfire and roast weinies and make s'mores and have spooky treats. That'll be so much fun! I'm even going to dress up. LOL

But... as I look around, I realize... Something is STILL missing!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN to you all and come by to see us if you can...