Photo Topic -- Military

In a photography group I've joined, once a week they have a photography prompt. This week's is Military.

I chose to photograph part of my husband's dress uniform.
While I'm extremely proud of him for the 8 years he did in Airborne Rangers (branch within the Army), I am so grateful that he isn't enlisted.

Creepy

My students have figured out that they can smoosh their faces onto the glass door and then move in different directions, completely changing their faces.

This is one of their favorites:


Yeah, because that ain't creepy at all. * shakes her head *

Survey stolen from fhqwhgads

1. White or red wine? white

2. Who was the last person you hugged? david

3. Have you ever had a crush on a teacher? just a few coaches

4. Where did your first kiss take place? my closet

5. Do you prefer foxes or wolves? wolves

6. What is your shoe size? 10

7. Do you prefer fruit or vegetables? fruit

8. Have you ever kissed a member of the same sex? numerous times

9. Would you rather never fall in love again or never orgasm again? never fall in love again.  i'm fine with the man i love right now.

10. What does your outfit consist of today? t-shirt, undergarments, jeans

11. What are your pets' names? Leviathan and Holly

12. Are you a hypocrite? everyone's a hypocrite in some form or fashion

13. Why did you last cry? that time of the month and i was exhausted

14. What are your favourite smells? vanilla

15. What are your favourite textures? fur

16. Fur or feathers? fur

17. Tartan or tweed? tartan

18. Leopard print or neon? neither.

19. Someone abandons your friendship. What do you do? obsess for a while

20. What do you do with those you don't like? plot vicious things to say and/or do (that i will most likely never follow through on)

21. If you won a LOT of money the lottery and decided to move, where would you move to? I'd buy 200+ acres in the country and build my home dead center to give me a lot of space away from neighbors.

22. Alcoholic beverage of choice? baileys

23. What is more attractive: Nice hands or nice feet? gotta have nice hands.  though honestly, I'm a sucker for nice arms first and foremost.

24. What’s the youngest you would consider dating? 27

25. If you could meet friends and family in the afterlife, what would you do? catch up

26. Are thongs sexy? depends on the person wearing them.

27. Did you grow up in a healthy environment? no childhood is perfect.  mine was very good though.

28. What do you think of when I say “the twenties”? great fun time in my life

29. Could you ever deliver a baby? i'd prefer not to

30. Is penetration important to you? yes

31. What did your last text read? how have the kitties been?

32. Can you ride a bicycle? yes, though it's been ages since i have

33. What sport were you best at in high school? extreme sarcasm

34. Who do you miss right now? i don't really miss anyone currently

35. What was the last alcoholic beverage you consumed? blackberry merlot

36. Paris, London and New York… which one would you live in, which would you visit for a day, which would you visit for a fortnight? Paris, New York, London

37. What is your sexuality? slightly bisexual, though i prefer males most of the time

38. Heavy rain or heatwave? heavy rain all the way

39. Chicken or fish? depends. 

40. Do you think suits are sexy? if they are tailor made and on a sexy male, hell yeah.

Thankful Thursday on a Friday

I am thankful.....
1. that this crazy work week is mostly over. I enjoy my jobs, but I definitely need some down time.
2. Arlene's journal arrive (for the journal swap). It's the last one I'll work in. Then all the journals go home.
3. absolutely GORGEOUS weather. I wish it would stay this way for much longer. I am dreading the 100+ degree weather that is on the horizon.
4. David is done with the tech pager this week and gets a few weeks' break before he has to do it all over again.
5. YouTube that allows me to decompress either through watching music videos and/or America's Funniest Videos. Really brightens my day.
6. slowly solidifying my own personal beliefs and code of ethics. Well, as solid as such an ever evolving thing can be.
7. mockingbirds, with all their attitude stuffed inside such little bodies.
8. spotted one of the local coyotes Tuesday morning as I headed out to my shift at Starbucks. Much food for thought on that totem appearing. I'll be writing that out soon.
9. babysitting the kitty-demons for Liz and Julie this week. I miss having felines (but not the allergies that go with them). It's nice to see my old feline buddies again.
10. learning and evolving.....constant expanding and contracting.

Feminine

It's a beautiful altar. The creator wrote this:
Altar for the day of the Goddesses. Incense, flowers candle and some of my favourite teas as offerings.

Now, I don't have a problem with the altar at all. It's beautiful and altars are a personal reflection of how one connects with the Divine.

My problem arises in the comments where it becomes apparent that cultural gender roles are encouraged and praised. That's what I have the issue with.
This altar was praised for being so wonderfully feminine due to the soft lighting and having a gentle feel to it.

And it really pissed me off, because my altars will almost never be described as that....neither will my goddess, Sekhmet. She is most definitely not "soft" or "gentle". And neither am I.
Now maybe I'm reading way too much into this, but I'm tired of these descriptive words being used to praise women and our "femininity". Am I gentle at times? Sure. Am I soft? Sure.

But why not praise me for my intelligence? Or my sharp-wit? My ability to handle craziness under pressure? My physical strength? My creativity? My humor?

Why do women always have to be praised for being quiet, soft, kind, gentle, forgiving? And those of us that aren't these things? We're frowned upon. And I know that isn't imagined on my part. I've had many people, male and female, comment on how un-feminine I am, and they aren't meaning it as a compliment.

And to that, I say THANK YOU.
I can take care of myself. I'm not some frail little creature that is scared of her own shadow, that needs a man to make her whole, who needs to be taken care of and protected.
Fuck that bullshit.

May 10, 2014 Photo

Photo for this month's selfie:

Thankful Thursday 05.08.14

I am thankful.....
1. for both of my jobs, even though I may bitch quite a bit about either one of them. They are paying my bills, getting me out of debt, allowing me to save up for my Polar Bear trip, and keeping me busy. Those are all blessings and I need to remember those on the less-than-stellar days.
2. for the daily walks with Holly that get me out of the apartment, off the internet, and out into the natural world that makes my heart and spirit so happy.
3. also for the green belt around our apartment complex that is teeming with life. While this apartment complex may piss me off beyond belief most of the time, this green belt/wooded area is a major, major plus to living here and at times, is the only thing that makes living here tolerable.
4. for my ability to spark creativity in my students. I've gotten a number hooked on art journaling. I specifically picked up a journal to be used at work, to gently fan my own creative spark, along with that in my students. Totally love this.
5. the internet. Even though I'm horribly addicted to it and spend way too much time on it, it does enrich my life quite a bit. Currently, I'm looking up ceremony/craft/ritual ideas for Litha, the Summer Solstice, that's coming up in June.
6. just 21 more days of school left. Then it's off on our crazy ass summer road trip to see David's parents. We are both desperately needing the vacation time from our respective jobs. Hopefully we kill many birds with this stone -- a break from the burn out of working, visiting his parents, seeing new parts of the country (at least for me), and just having fun.
7. that we are getting a second go at spring. Right as the trees and flowers were beginning to bloom, we got hit with a nasty, sneak-attack ice storm, so this spring has been very light flower wise. But we're getting a second round, and this has made me even more grateful for the blooms that put forth the extra effort to show up this spring time.
8. for free photo offers through Shutterfly from time to time. I don't do as much photography and print even less, but when I do want prints, it's nice to get them almost completely free. I do have to pay for shipping, but the rest is taken care of.
9. for having Saturdays off. I guard these days very jealously, but completely relish having a complete day off, all to myself and whatever I wish to do. It's exactly what my heart and spirit need so that I don't go off the deep end and go on a murderous rampage.
10. that David and I randomly decided to check out a new store that opened up near Petsmart -- called Tuesday Morning. Awesome little store. A step up from a dollar store -- the quality is GREAT -- but still much cheaper that we would normally pay. I foresee us paying that store a visit at least once a month.

An Odd, Yet Lovely Day

Work at Starbucks was nothing short of utter insanity. I swear, trying to herd 20 felines, cracked out on catnip, with a vacuum cleaner would have gone smoother than this morning. *chuckles*

I took Holly out for our daily walk. The sun was blindingly bright. And then....raindrops started falling, in the bright shining sun. It's happened before, so it didn't throw me completely off. Just shocked for a second.....to be honest, I was concerned that a bird may have pooped on me! *laughs* But no, just a quick 30 second shower and it was over.

A very odd, yet perfect way to sum up this day thus far.

It's Raining Squirrels

MoonTime is here. I look for a totem each MoonTime, that will guide how the rest of the month will go until the next MoonTime. This totem usually brings something to my attention that I'm lacking in my life, or on the flip-side, something I that I'm doing well, and need to continue doing.

So on my walk today with Holly, a squirrel fell off the carport a mere 2 feet in front of Holly's snout. Spooked all three of us (me, Holly, and the Squirrel). Usually, my totems don't almost fall into my lap, but Squirrel definitely made a big impact today, so that's the totem for this MoonTime.

Animal-Speak by Ted Andrews has this to say of Squirrel Totem: If squirrel has scampered into your life, examine your own activity and preparedness. Are you too active? Not active enough? Are you not planning at all for the future, distant or near? Are you becoming too erratic -- running to and fro and not accomplishing anything? Do you need to learn how to save and ration on any level -- including money, time, energy, etc?

And -- Squirrels are the masters at preparing, but they also are reminders that in our quest for our goals, we should always make time to socialize and play.

Basically, I'm so focused on the right here, the right now, that I'm not looking beyond my nose. I'm burrowed down, doing what needs to be done right now, but am not doing anything beyond that. I'm in survive mode, not thrive mode.

I need to make time for the fun things in life, the things I enjoy. I need to sit down and list the things I do for fun, and then start doing them!