Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Gifts

Photo for today:

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This is the package I received today in trade for the Lioness perfume I didn’t like. A full bottle of Muse that I will be giving to Hazel as a surprise, along with a necklace, a ring, a witch broom pen, a sample of Practical Magic bath salts (by Sage Goddess), a green adventure crescent moon pendant, and samples of Hither, Sacred Space, Magica Luna and Pax perfumes (also, all by Sage Goddess). I feel kind of bad because I only put the perfume in the package to mail to Amber. I didn’t even think of putting other little trinkets in there. I just hope she doesn’t feel jipped.

And then I found this little wing feather from a Sharp-shinned Hawk while on the evening walk with Josey. I love the little Sharpies – such swift and agile little predators.

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Today went smoother in some regards and more insane in others than the previous two days. BUT I did get most of the families signed into ProCare (the software we are now using at work). Hopefully this will give me a brief respite and the rest of the people will trickle in slowly over the next month. Some kids have up to 8 people authorized to pick them up, but I doubt all 8 will be utilized over the year. And even if they are, I can easily handle one or two a day. It’s just that today, trying to get the bulk of the parents signed in was an utter BEAST. But, like I said, the bulk of it is done. So now it’s all about catching the stragglers. ::chuckles::

The parents are NOT overly pleased. Previously, with the paper sign-out sheets, all they had to do was sign their name and put the time and they could take their kid home. NOW they have to punch in a 4 to 8-digit PIN and THEN punch in a 4 to 8-digit password. Well, ya can’t make everyone happy. And there will ALWAYS be those who only seem happy when they are belly-aching and bitching. ::shakes her head:: Yeah, well, they are more than happy to take that up with my bosses if they are so inclined. ::chuckles::

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Brutal...

Photo for the day:

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Scaly/fluffy mushroom I spotted in the neighborhood.

Second day is always the craziest. Why do I always forget that? Holy hell. Brutal day. And the random asshole people didn’t make things any easier. ::shakes her head:: Today apparently was thunder cunt day. I was so ready to punch some people in the damn throat.

Yeah, so apparently the office didn’t buy enough rights to the software program we’re supposed to be using, for all of us to be on it at the same time. Yeah, so that was fun. Wasn’t able to log into the system for quite some time. Luckily, none of my new students’ parents showed up in that time frame. I wouldn’t have been able to verify that they were able to pick up their children. ::shakes her head:: BUT, they claim they will have that “issue” fixed tomorrow. I am not holding my breath though.

Gifts, Swaps, & Hell No

written: August 28th

Photo for today:

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A wonderful surprise from a dear friend, JoAnn. She’d seen me post on Facebook about this “Wipeboard” kickstarter – it’s a notebook that has white board style pages inside of it. So you can write all on it and then wipe it clean. I am hoping to get in on that kickstarter once I get a good pay check. BUT, JoAnn had two of these “Boogie Boards” that she wasn’t using and they work very similar to a white board, so she figured she’d pass it along to me. SWEET! I’m using it up at work already.

So I hopped on the SG Perfume Trading group, letting them know I had a full bottle of Lioness for trade. That I was HOPING for a bottle of Muse, but was open to other perfumes. Seriously, within 15 minutes, I had FOUR offers – one with a full bottle of Muse. Sweet! So Lioness is getting mailed off tomorrow and Muse is getting mailed to me. I’m going to surprise Hazel with it. ::grins:: She’s going to flip her lid. That perfume is normally $42 – and I’m getting it in a trade for a perfume I don’t like. Lioness is a bit cheaper than Muse, but hey, I’m happy to part ways with it.

So yeah, first day of school. Wheeee! Holy crap, Kindergarteners are some lost lil sheep. ::shakes her head:: Like wow. Since it was the first day, I opted NOT to start trying to convert the parents over to the new electronic system. Yeah, I already have a SHIT TON of insanity on my place, I REFUSE to toss that in as well. FUCK NO. Yeah, we’ll do that on the third day…when the parents have MOST of a clue as to what’s going on. ::chuckles::

Monday, August 28, 2017

Knees & Perfumes

written:  August 27th

Photo for the day:

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These little yellowish mushrooms have sprung up all over the neighborhood overnight. Thanks Hurricane Harvey!

I’m starting to suspect I’ve really screwed up my right knee, though I’m not sure HOW. But holy fuck, it’s hurt ALL DAMN WEEK. It catches when I try to straighten it out and it seriously feels like I’m tearing something when I do manage to straighten out. Most of the pain from that is centered directly under the knee cap. And then I have random shooting, red hot pain in the top of the knee cap area, where the knee joint joins the thigh bone. I’m too tired to look up all the technical terms. This pain has even woken me up twice this week because when I sleep on my side, I slightly bend my knees. When I roll over, I straighten my knees out and it seriously is burning pain in that damn knee. And the crazy thing? This is my GOOD knee. The other one I tore the meniscus about 7 years ago (I think?). And it’s usually the misbehaving knee.

Enough about the crazy ass old lady knee. I finally got around to making up some sample roller ball jars of the various scented oils I have to share with Hazel. I gave her samples of Muse, Goddess, Transition, Shield Maiden, and Lioness – all by Sage Goddess – and some of the Sekhmet Anointing Oil I purchased from the Sekhmet Temple in Nevada. Lioness was a total impulse buy, and I’m reminded now why I don’t impulse buy expensive scented oils without trying a sample of it FIRST. Lioness is NOTHING like I thought it would be. The gardenia note is just overpowering and nauseating in this perfume. And gardenia isn’t something that comes to mind when I think of the Lioness. But then again, I’ve been dedicated to Sekhmet since 1997, so maybe I’m a little biased when it comes to lionesses. But I just don’t understand why GARDENIA is used. It just smells like old woman to me. ::shakes her head:: I’m completely baffled. And pissed, because those scented oils by Sage Goddess AIN’T cheap. I’ll hop onto the Sage Goddess perfume swap group and see about swapping it for something different.

Calm Now & Harpies

written: August 26th

Photo for today:

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Bottle of Calm Now that I got completely free. I saw an ad on Facebook claiming I could get a free bottle. Sounded like a total gimmick, but I figured I would give it a try. Turns out, it was legit and here’s the proof in my hands.

So Hurricane Harvey has made landfall as a category 4 Hurricane. Brother and family have elected to stay in Houston and ride out the storm. I made a point to make offerings to the Harpies on their behalf. Harpies are originally storm spirits and are very protective, which makes them ideal for requesting their aid in keeping my Brother, his family, and their property safe. I need to find some incense that they really like. Thus far, the ones I’ve tried, they’ve been rather “meh” about. And I would really like to have something to offer them that they enjoy, rather than feeling like I still owe them. I’ve learned my lesson on owing the Harpies anything. ::laughs::

Saturday, August 26, 2017

Roses & Rain

written: August 25th

Photo for today:

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These are some STUNNING roses I saw today. And if they weren’t friggin’ $20, I would have bought them for myself in a heartbeat. Honestly, now that I think about it more….I will probably go back and get them anyways. They are just GORGEOUS. And I’m not even a huge rose fan, to be honestly. But I REALLY like the gorgeous, unusual ones.

Today, we snagged our laptops and found out that the secondary laptop we are supposed to have….yeah, they aren’t quite ready just yet. ::shakes her head:: I am so NOT surprised. So we will be using paper rosters for the week as we slowly convert the parents over to the electronic system. Honestly, I’m glad, because it just seems like it’s going to be a MAJOR hassle for the first two weeks as we slowly convert over to the electronic system. But once we DO get everyone converted over and get most of the kinks worked out…it should prove to be a LOT easier. It’s just the growing pains to GET to that point are going to majorly suck.

Hurricane Harvey is making landfall later on tonight. Luckily, I live far enough north that at worst, we’ll get some rain. My brother and his family live down in Houston, and thus are in the path of Hurricane Harvey. They’ve elected to hunker down and wait the storm out. Mostly, they are just concerned about flooding. I’ve lit incense offerings to the Harpies to watch over and protect my brother, his family, and their belongings – the Harpies originally were storm spirits/goddesses.

Thankful Thursday #34

written: August 24th

Photo for the day:


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BUNNY!!!! Yep, our little cottontail rabbit was chilling by the front door of the house when I came home for lunch. I got some really nice shots with my good camera that I’ll have to upload soon.

Onto the Thankful Thursday list!

I am thankful for….
1. Finally getting to meet all of my staff. I’ve got really good feelings about my two new aides.
2. That Jess has returned to my campus for a 3rd year now. I would be so lost without her help. And I’m glad that when the bosses inquired if she wanted to be a supervisor floater/sub, she turned it down so she could stay on my campus. Seriously, I am DEEPLY grateful for that.
3. That Orientation week is almost over. This has been such a grueling, exhausting week. These definitely cater to extroverts, and I’ve left each day utterly drained and usually with a borderline migraine. So ready for this to be over.
4. Getting to see the solar eclipse on Monday – even if it completely wiped my energies OUT. I’ve never reacted that badly to astrological phenomena.
5. The Harpies suggesting a specific gemstone necklace for me to make and wear during all eclipses (covering lunar ones as well, just in case) to shield and balance my energy a bit better.
6. That I was able to snag some GORGEOUS rainbow moonstone chip beads (for the above mentioned necklace) on eBay for an AMAZING price. And that the seller shipped them super-fast. I’m hoping the seller as similar sized gemstone chip beads for the other two gemstones I’m needing – gold Sunstone and black Tourmaline.
7. That two of the high schooler aides in the after school program (there are a TON) brought in doughnuts for EVERYONE this morning…and that one of those two high schoolers is MY aide! ::grins::
8. Rain and overcast days this week…even if it means my knee is KILLING me. I like the cooler temperatures and crazy early morning rain means good sleeping weather!
9. That I’ve gotten to “sleep in” all this week – naturally waking up around 8:20 am. Which IS sleeping in, because the Tech Job started at 7:30 am…so I’m enjoying the “extra” rest I’m getting.
10. That school will start soon. I’m ready to see my students once again.

P.S. These are the rainbow moonstone chip beads I got:

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Butterflies & Planning

written: Aug 23rd

Photo for today:

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Pretty butterfly just chilling on the front window, even after I walked past it a handful of times. AND it was gracious enough to let me get a few photos before I had to go back to work.

My class attendance was a LOT lighter today, which was a lot nicer to my anxiety levels. It also gave me so time between classes to jot down some planning notes for next year’s class. Other than the cheat sheets I make for each report (Behavior, Injury, Incident) and a mock-up of that report done in a correct way…I’ve just be winging everything else. So barring the bosses changing the reports between now and next school year, I have some really good ideas on how to make my class even better. ::chuckles:: Now…I just have to find a way to ensure I can remember that I’ve written these notes and that I can FIND these notes when the next orientation rolls around! ::laughs:: Maybe I should just add in a Notes For Next Time document and keep it saved on the jump drive that I have the Cheat Sheets and Mock-Ups saved to…. I think that would probably be the best.

I am working on getting back into the habit of using the elliptical. All the storms and rains in the area this entire week are KILLING my right knee. So I’m hoping that by working out (and still doing the daily 20 to 30 minute walks with Josey), it will alleviate some of that knee pain. I really need to sit down and create a good “running album” on my phone. While I enjoy listening to various songs by Omnia….I do need some serious upbeat, fast tempo songs for the last part of the run to keep me going. And nothing sucks more than scrolling through songs, while still running, trying to find a good one.

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Look Ma', No Flames!

written: August 22nd

Photo for today:

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Look it! PROOF I can set foot inside a church and not catch on fire! ::cackles:: Which, now that I think about it, I’ve been in more churches this MONTH than I have in the past few years! ::chuckles::
So yeah, Day 2 of Orientation for the after school program. As much as it sucks to spend all day (and all week) in Orientation, I do believe that it’s a good thing. Especially for our brand new employees. That way we aren’t just dumping a crap-ton of information on them and tossing them in. It gives them a few days to really get a deeper understanding of all the craziness that will come throughout the school year. ::chuckles::

This photo, I took in my “classroom” at the church. I’m leading the class on documentation – like I did last year. And holy hell, I must have done a good job. Of the two classes I gave today, class one had 35 people in it and class two had 42 people in it. I’m only supposed to have like 25, but the bosses didn’t do signup sheets this year, so people just flooded my classroom. It’s mostly all the new hires, but that means their supervisors told them they had to take my class, so I’ll take that as a huge compliment. But that is a shit ton of people for someone who doesn’t like talking in front of large groups of people. ::chuckles:: But hopefully this means tomorrow, that my two classes will be much, MUCH smaller.

I got to meet one of my new aides today. Luckily, Jess is returning again. This is her 3rd year on my campus. She told me that Gail (our supervisor) had asked her about being a floater supervisor (like a sub), but Jess preferred to be on my campus. Thank goodness! I don’t enjoy doing “all brand new aides”. Hopefully my other aide will be at Orientation tomorrow. And I still have one more slot to be filled and then my campus will be fully staffed. As it is, the ratio isn’t too terrible – not ideal, but definitely do-able.

The new aide I met today, Laina, is an education major, due to graduate in December. So I have some pretty high hopes for her, and she seems eager to put her own spin on things as well. So I will certainly be utilizing her!

And this is also Day 2 of Migraines. This are triggered migraines due to the projector they are using at the church to display videos and notes up on the big screen. It just kills my head to watch it. At least today’s migraine isn’t nearly as bad as yesterday’s. I knew from yesterday, to give myself a lot of breaks from trying to look at the screen and I just tried listening instead. And apparently, a number of us are having headaches/migraines from the projector as well.

And after all of that, then the site supervisors (like what I am) all headed over to the main office to get an actual walk-through step-by-step of the new software we will be using to log our students in and out and it keeps up with all their data as well. And holy fuck, they packed us in like sardines. I’ve never grinded up against more people in my life….INCLUDING my single days at the Goth Club! ::laughs::

BUT, it was so much better to actually have the laptop in front of us, able to go through each step. It sounded so much more convoluted and difficult when the Tech was explaining yesterday, and we had nothing physical with which to link it to. Surprising, a lot of students that I had last year, aren’t in my program this year…or at least not at the beginning of the school year. I should have looked at who all is on my wait list, as I know a number of parents waited until THIS WEEK to register their kids, so those students are starting until Sept 5th.

Who knew I could babble this long about work-related stuff that ISN’T rage induced? ::laughs::

Flying Death

written: August 21st

Photo for the day:


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This flying, stinging creature of doom is a female Cicada Killer Wasp (Sphecius speciosus). These bitches get up to TWO INCHES IN LENGTH. And yes, bitches is right, because only females have stingers. Do you understand the level of terror a flying, stinging insect the size of my goddamn THUMB is to someone borderline allergic to wasps and bees is? And the fact that this bitch is carrying around a goddamn CICADA while FLYING??? I about had a damn stroke! ::laughs:: But luckily, the females are SUPER mellow. Males are aggressive, but don’t have a stinger. But holy crap, when she flew past my head, it sounded like a damn helicopter. ::shudders::

So yeah, Eclipse was today. I got to see part of it, so that was cool. Apparently, Texas will be in the totality path for a solar eclipse in 2024. So I’ll make a big deal out of that one. This one, honestly? I was pretty meh about. It was interesting to see the metaphysical community all abuzz about it…talking about all this amazing energy they felt. And I’m over here with a splitting migraine, upset stomach, and just completely exhausted. The Harpies did suggest a necklace for me to make from some gemstones to help balance the energies of the eclipses (both solar and lunar) and to protect me, since I don’t react well to that chaotic energy. I’ll be purchasing the supplies for that and making that necklace in the new few months.

Josey (the pup) must have known I wasn’t feeling well, as she allowed me to sleep for an hour and a half once I got home. And she’d been in the kennel all day, so for her to not be bouncing off the walls AND allowed me to sleep that long? Yeah, she had to know how crappy I was feeling. For all the stunts and bullheadedness she embodies, she really is a good pup at heart.

Totems, Cards, and Heat

written: August 20th

Photo for the day:

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This is my oldest and most beloved Oracle/Tarot deck – The Medicine Cards by Jamie Sams. I got this deck in 1999, I believe, and I made it a point to bring it with me to college, and I’ve just always kept it with me since then. The book is pretty beat up looking and I’ve toyed with the idea of getting a newer set…but just can’t bring myself to release these just yet. They read beautifully for me and are pretty damn accurate. They were also my first real introduction into Totems and animal magick. I’ve since then, developed my own understanding of totems and their basic medicine/magick aspects, but this is a deck that I return to time and time again.

Today was a super low key Sunday. Hubs worked on guitar stuff for a while. I’m still feeling under the weather, but did manage to walk Josey. I really try not to miss a walk with her because she seriously needs it to burn off excess energy…and I’m weighing too much and thus need to get the walks in myself.

I tossed out my scale when we moved into the house, but I know my weight has gotten too high again. I can always feel that in my poor abused knees. And now my right hip is beginning to ache as well. For fuck sake, I’m just 35! I shouldn’t be feeling this damn old and tired already! So yeah, need to get my butt in gear on working out again.

I’m honestly toying with the idea of getting a scale again because it did motivate me somewhat – when I used it correctly. I just have to watch myself with the depression cloud descends – I was bad about weighing myself on those days and then mentally beating the shit out of myself over it.

I’m hoping once we get into September and October, with the temperatures no longer being in the triple digits, Josey and I can go for longer walks. I’d love to explore the neighborhood outside of just the 6 cul-de-sacs, but when the heat index is at 98 degrees at 7:30 pm….yeah, ya can’t be out in that too long. Thirty minutes is the pup’s limit.

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Vodka Ain't My Friend

written: August 19th

Photo of the day:

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My dog is such a dork. ::chuckles::

Today was Hazel’s party. It was originally supposed to be a surprise party, but then Hazel got invited over to Lady Gravedancer’s for a New Moon ritual. ::sighs:: So yeah, we (her husband and I) had to pop the bubble and tell her what we had planned. She felt terrible for ruining the surprise but it ended up being a pleasant party all the same.

But holy shit. I need to remember that I’m not 23 years old anymore and accustomed to drinking all the time. So yeah, I should NOT drink a fourth of a bottle of vodka on a mostly empty stomach. Yeah.

Saturday, August 19, 2017

Thankful FRIDAY

written: August 18th

Photo for the day:

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Gifts from my Tech coworkers.

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My team of coworkers this year, minus Ken (he had to be at the textbook warehouse to oversee all of that).

I am thankful…
1. For the Techs who did come lend a helping hand to get the iPads done in time (even with all the bitching and moaning and whining that went on during all of that).
2. That today is my last day at the Tech Job for the summer. Next week starts the after school program’s orientation week and the week after that school starts up.
3. Amazing gifts and brownies from my Tech Crew. And I’m glad we got a group photo too. I’ve been working with Sandy, Roni, and Jennifer for four years now and just adore them. I’ve been working with Ruben just this summer, but he seems to be very awesome and a good fit for the crew. I’m actually looking forward to working with this group again next summer!
4. That the dragonflies are back again AND we (Josey and I) got to meet the lady whose yard is dragonfly central. AND Josey did surprisingly well, meeting a new person. I guess the secret is to walk her 20 solid minutes and THEN let her meet a new person. I think she was too tired to do too much jumping up. ::laughs::
5. All the oils I mailed out made it to their destinations safely. I always worry about shipping things – that they’ll get lost or damaged. But, after the snafu of the auto-mailer not charging me enough to ship them (which means they came back to me, telling me I owed more to ship them), I’m glad they all arrived safe and sound.
6. That this paycheck was much better than the previous one. I won’t have to touch the money in savings this time around.
7. Worked on the class I will be giving at orientation. Given that it’s the same class I did last year, I just had to update the information and print out the necessary packets. After that, I goofed around for about an hour (on the clock) and helped out a few of the other supervisors before heading home for the day.
8. That after YEARS of begging and pleading and fighting and bitching…..we are finally NOT doing Caine’s Arcade at the after school program. Like I’ve written previously, the IDEA behind Caine’s Arcade is amazing and I LOVE it. But the reality of attempting to do that with SEVENTY children….it makes for the absolute WORST two weeks of the ENTIRE school year.
9. The possibility of a drastic change in direction on future employment – even though I won’t seriously consider the change until I’m done with my Master’s degree. But having three of the higher-ups in the Tech Department inquire if I was interested in working for them full time, or what it would take for me to work with them full time…it definitely has opened up a new employment avenue that I had never considered previously.
10. Kick ass storm that blew through this week. I just wish it had come through at a time I could have really enjoyed it instead of 4:30 am. ::chuckles::

Thursday, August 17, 2017

Nazi & Cowoker Rant

Photos of the day:

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It’s damn challenging to try to take a good photo of some pretty flowers while Josey is tagging along. ::laughs::

Photo of the flowers MINUS Josey’s nose:

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I’m currently all sorts of pissed off about the whole “Nazis have feelings too and if you are hateful to them, then you are just as bad as them” bullshit going on. Um. Fuck no. Me calling Nazis total dickheads is NOT the same as advocating for the eradication of multiple ethnicities (and the MAJOR attempt to actually DO SO some 70 years ago). Like people are trying to tell me, “we need to come together and find a commonality”. Bitches like that deserve to receive the same punches that Nazis receive. Do NOT tell me to “come together” with people who are idolizing the bastards that did their damnedest to kill off my fucking ancestors – just an FYI: Nazis were NOT a fan of Slavic peoples (Ukrainian & Polish in my family). There is no commonality to be found. So just take that shit somewhere else please.

So anyways…I didn’t come here to bitch about Nazis and Nazi-sympathizers. I came here to bitch about the Techs that came to “help” me out today. We’re having to go BACK through the iPads (this makes re-do number 5 this summer) to add NEW ID tags and change that information in the system. Now, I’ve been working with these particular iPad cases all summer, and yes. They utterly destroy your hands getting them off and on the iPads themselves. And yes, this is the first day the actual Techs were having to do this. But holy shit, you want to talk about some grown-ass titty-baby pissing and moaning and bitching and whining. Hole-Lee-Shit man!

And I do get it. It SLAYS your hands and thumbs. But damn, do we have to bitch LOUDLY with every SINGLE iPad ya do? At least some of them were VERY sympathetic when they found out that this is what I’ve been doing all day, every day, all summer long. ::chuckles:: So that’s nice. And the fact that they’ve now done a TON of the iPads, so all I have to do is assign them to schools now. I’m flying through that.

Damn, just realized it’s Thursday – which means I need to do my Thankful Thursday. Given that this entry is mostly bitching, I think I’ll make a separate entry for the Thankfuls.

Busy

written: August 16th

Photo for the day:

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A blue jay feather and a really cool acorn I picked up on my walk today with Josey. I wish I could capture the golden coloration of the acorn. Reminds me that SOON-ish Autumn will be here. I’m so ready. I love Autumn. I love Mabon and Samhain. I love my birthday and Turkey Day. All great things!

Which reminds me, once September gets there, things SERIOUSLY speed the fuck up until the end of the year. Let’s see:

Sept 5th – Leviathan’s 11th hatchday
Sept 6th – Full Moon
Sept 12th – David’s birthday AND Ray’s birthday (he’s a super awesome friend)
Sept 20th – New Moon
Sept 22nd – Mabon/Autumn Equinox
Sept 30th – 8th wedding anniversary
Oct 1st – Mom’s birthday
Oct 5th – Full Moon
Oct 12th – Sister-in-Law’s birthday
Oct 14th – local Pagan Pride Day
Oct 19th – New Moon
Oct 22nd – Acorn Harvest & Processing class
Oct 31st – Samhain
Nov 4th – Full Moon
Nov 9th – Sharmila’s birthday
Nov 10th – MY birthday
Nov 18th – New Moon
Nov 18th – 19th – Brain Tanning Buckskin class OR the local Gem & Mineral show
Nov 21st – 13th anniversary of being in my journaling group
Nov 23rd – Turkey Day with the Family
Dec 3rd – Full Moon
Dec 18th – New Moon
Dec 21st – Yule/Winter Solstice
Dec 25th – Christmas
Dec 31st – New Year’s Eve

And that isn’t even counting the work related items OR the grad school related items. Like Hole-Lee Fuck Balls, that’s a LOT of stuff! Oh, and doesn’t take in account the possibility of pagan-related classes or public rituals…or rituals with Hazel Nut. Shit, and that doesn’t take into account of the trip we are planning at some point this autumn to visit David’s parents. Oye. I am pretty sure I’m just going to HIBERNATE once Winter Break hits and I’m done with the students and my studies.

The Harpies' Bowl

written: August 15th

Photos for the day:

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This is the “raven wing” bowl I picked up at Michael’s over the weekend. I had spotted it a while back and the Harpies immediately piped up about wanting it. ::chuckles:: So I made Them a deal…if I had a 40% or better coupon or it was payday.

Well, guess who got a 40% coupon? ::laughs:: So yes, I bought the bowl and the Harpies are blissed the fuck out. Which is ALWAYS a good thing when it comes to Harpy moods. ::chuckles::

In the apartment, I had a black shelf that I had on the wall above the small rosewood bookshelf I used as an altar. Since that bookshelf is now in my closet and houses all of my journals, obviously the shelf is just hanging out in the closet as well until I figure out where I want to put it. But that shelf, I think, will become the Harpies’ altar. I can put the above bowl on it, and leave little trinkets that they like, mostly feathers and bones and specific stones. I could also get an incense burner just for them to burn the rain incense I mostly use for them. I do want to hunt around and find some other scents for them as well. Not sure what artwork will be hung on the wall above this shelf. Maybe something to do with feathers? Or I could find a way to hang the Harpy Mask that Brenda Lyons made me ages ago? I dunno yet. I just know there will be a lot of feathers involved. ::laughs::

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Wishes Answered

written: August 14th

Photo for the day:

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A lovely little hawk feather I found on our walk today. I swear, this neighborhood truly is finally warming up to me, and I’m finally connecting with the natural world here. It’s pulse is very different from the wooded trails, but I’m finally meshing with it.

So today, I didn’t go to the Tech Job. Instead, I got to sleep in until 8:30 am! Amazing! And then I went up to the after school program’s main office to work on my presentation I’m going at our orientation. My presentation is over documentation again – I got such rave reviews last year. And since I’m just updating the information, it was a breeze to do. And then I goofed around for about an hour, still on the clock. It was awesome.

But the best news? Gail, my supervisor, came in and told me she had news she thought I would be thrilled to hear – we aren’t doing Caine’s Arcade this year! She was shocked at how the other supervisors were THRILLED as well. ::laughs:: I’m sure you could hear us cheering on the other side of the building. ::laughs::

Now, don’t get me wrong. The CONCEPT behind Caine’s Arcade (serious, look it up on YouTube, it’s awesome), is to encourage creativity in children. Caine made his own arcade out of cardboard boxes at his dad’s work and it turned out to be something truly awesome. And I love the creativity my students unleash when given boxes. But attempting to do this massive undertaking with SEVENTY kids? It’s a fucking nightmare. And add to this that Kelly (director) wants us to do it in September…when we’ve only been in school a few weeks and are still trying to get the kids on a routine? Yeah, it’s just insane. NONE of the supervisors enjoy Caine’s Arcade. We have a major jump in the number of injury reports and behavior reports. And we are all so ragged by the end of it. It’s just terrible. So I’m THRILLED that after FOUR years of complaining and begging and pleading and crying and a whole lot of civil disobedience (at least on my part) – upper management is finally bowing to our collective wishes. Thank all that is holy.

Little Project

written: August 13th

Photo for the day:

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This was my little art project for today.

I took the bottom “plate” of a terracotta pot and decided it would make a great candle holder. But I can’t stand the color. So my husband offered to let me use his wheel paint (he uses it for his various guitar projects). The silver is REALLY silver, so we darkened it up a bit.

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I love how it turned out. Now I just need to let it completely dry, and it should be good to go.

Sunday, August 13, 2017

Shutting Down

written: Aug 12th

Photo for the day:

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I finally got around to getting a shot of the blue jay feathers Linda gave me, that I’ve been just over the moon about. Hmmm, now I got a flash of inspiration that maybe I should team some of these feathers up with the cracked quarts “moon” beads I picked up at Michael’s back on August 4th. Not sure how that’s all going to come together, but we’ll see.

I had to take a break from the internet for a few hours this evening. Apparently there was an “Alt-Right” protest in Charlottesville, Virginia surrounding the decision to remove a statue of General Robert E. Lee. And, let’s be fucking honest here – the Alt-Right is a group of Neo-Nazis, KKK, White Supremacists – They are Terrorists. Look at their behavior and change their skin color from white to brown, and EVERYONE would be jumping on board with calling them Terrorists. Change their religion from “Christianity” (put in quotation marks there because it’s the same brand of “Christianity” that the Westburro Baptist Cult – I flat out refuse to call this radical hate cult a church – espouses) to “Islam”, and you would have the entire nation up in arms about these new “Terrorists”. But because they are WHITE and “CHRISTIAN”-ish….not even fucking TRUMP will call them terrorists. ::shakes her head::

And then the fact that someone drove their car into the middle of the counter-protest group….. And I saw people saying something along the lines that protesters that block highways are just as bad. Um, fuck no. Protesters that block traffic and inconvenience you are NOT the same as MOWING DOWN PEOPLE WITH YOUR CAR. Blocking traffic is NOT the same as MURDER and VEHICULAR ASSAULT. And the fact that so many people don’t seem to understand that? I was so disgusted.

So I shut down Facebook and all of that jazz last night because my heart couldn’t handle it. I went outside with a cup of coffee and a cigarette (I haven’t smoked in a long time), and just watched this amazing storm roll in. And when the storm hit and I couldn’t be outside anymore, I turned on some Native American flute music and worked in my 10-year journal instead for the rest of the evening.
And then some of my friends seem to be going off the deep end, mentally, and are enjoying posting every crazy thing that flits through their unstable mind.

I’ve just hit my breaking point and I cannot deal with it right now. Hell, most of the time, even on a good day, I can barely deal with it. ::shakes her head::

Bunny

written: Aug 11th

Photo for today:

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I finally got photos of the little cottontail rabbit that will occasionally show up in the evenings. I had to bust out my “good” camera (a DSLR) as I wasn’t sure how close the rabbit would allow me to get, so I needed to use a zoom. And man, I had forgotten how much I love that camera. I need to get my punk ass back up to the local zoos and dust off my photography skills. Sadly, I’ll have to wait until it starts to cool off, because these 105+ degree days do not make being outside enjoyable at all.

Saturday, August 12, 2017

Thankful Thursday #32

written: August 10th

Photo for today:


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Frank (our resident Texas Spiny Lizard that lives in the bushes by our front door) ain’t intimidated by me at ALL. ::laughs:: Hell, he didn’t run until after I had passed him, which scared the crap out of me because I wasn’t expecting it at all. ::laughs::

I am thankful for….
1. Staying on track pretty well with walking Josey. I need to work more with her on how to properly walk on a leash, but for what little work I’ve actually done on that, she’s pretty good.
2. Finally heard back from the after school bosses that they do indeed want me to give the documentation class again at our orientation. I received a lot of positive feedback from the class last year, and I know what changes I can make. Now I just have to figure out how to stretch that out so I can be on the clock the full four hours. ::grins::
3. The public Lammas ritual Hazel and I went to this past Saturday. Even though it was very light on ritual, it was still very enjoyable.
4. That I’m branching out once again, instead of sitting at home, vegging out. The oil class last month and the public ritual this week. Kind of proud of myself actually.
5. Meeting up with Linda (so I could give her some of the Red Fast Luck Oil) and that she in turn gave me some BEAUTIFUL brilliant blue Blue Jay feathers.
6. My natural physical strength, sharp wit, and sheer stubbornness, which makes me a true asset at the Tech Job. ::laughs::
7. Having the ability to worship as I please.
8. Plethora of books to read and expand my knowledge base.
9. Having no children, which means we don’t HAVE to socialize with the masses this weekend – it’s Tax Free Weekend, so many families do their back-to-school shopping at this time.
10. Finally finding the motivation to clean of the “art territory” table. Now I just need to finish cleaning the rest of the room! ::laughs::

Thursday, August 10, 2017

Accomplishments & Plans

written: August 9th

Photo for today:

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Seems only fitting that the Black Shadows I worked on my very first summer at the Tech Job….I removed all the memory from them and they are getting recycled. That is a SHIT TON of laptops, lemme tell ya. Each one of those layers is comprised of 15 laptops. Yeah, you do the math. I ain’t gonna!

The following is what I HANDWROTE in my BaBuJo! Shocker! ::laughs:: And damn, I could tell I was out of practice handwriting journal entries, as I had to stop a number of times because my hand was cramping up. Granted, this summer has been BRUTAL on my hands, but damn! ::laughs::

With how busy this past week has been for me, I gave myself permission to not set up an altar for the Full Moon. And I gave myself permission to not feel any pressure to DO something for the Full Moon. Instead, I simply ENJOYED the Full Moon’s beauty. I greeted her as I always do (side note: add that to the Grimiore) and just took a moment or two to bask in her beauty and peace. And for me, right now, that is enough.

I need to remind myself of this when I get so caught up with what other witches are doing. I don’t need to cast magic every single Full Moon and New Moon and Sabbat and various planetary going-ons or meteor phenomena. I just don’t. And while I certainly do not hold anything against frequent-casting witches, I should stop judging myself for my infrequent casting. Neither Path nor Practice is better than the other. We each have to Walk our own Path and each Path is tailored to the individual witch. The only time a Path/Practice is incorrect is when it’s not right for that individual. My only real belief when it comes to spirituality is that you have to be authentic to your spirit and heart.

I’ve come to realize that I miss the daily ceremony I used to do to honor Artemis – She’s the deity who stepped forward to claim Holly (Old Lady Dog) when we had to put her down last year. For a year, I would light a stick of Harvest Moon Haven’s “Artemis” incense and say a short prayer to Artemis. And then I would put the incense stick in the ground beside the crape myrtle David planted in Holly’s memory. The incense was allowed to burn out. it was such a small, simple ritual but it had so much persona meaning. I would like to revamp it and do a similar thing for Sekhmet. I better load up on the Dragon’s Blood incense and the Kyphi incense (from Hearth Wisdom Store). Hell, may even try my hand at making some Kyphi incense. That could be fun trying my hand at making it over Thanksgiving Break. Plus, it gives me time to gather the required ingredients.

Wolves & Dreams

written: August 8th

Photo for today:

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Every year, Wolf Park has a number of fun fundraisers that I take part in. Back for the 4th of July, it was Watermelons for the Wolves. Watermelons are given to their canine residents, stuffed with cheeses and meats, as a behavior enrichment activity. And if you donate $25, Monty Sloan (the resident photographer – how fucking cool is that job??) will send you a photo of the wolf/fox of your choice, enjoying their watermelons. This year, I chose Wolfgang. He’s one of the wolves I had the distinct pleasure meeting the last time I was up there – in 2007. Fuck man, I’ve got to get back up there.

David was talking about going to Wolf Park in 2019 instead of back to Vegas. We had initially planned to return to Vegas for our 10-year anniversary (holy crap, how have we been married this long already???). I also had vague dreams of having a hand-fasting ceremony done at the Sekhmet Temple, but like I said…super vague here.

Tomorrow is the first day of the Bear Heart Vision Quest. I plan to say prayers for the Vision Quest Seekers throughout the day for the next 5-days. My heart longs to be back out on that mountain, surrounded by acres and acres and ACRES of national forest. I remember everything about my Vision Quest perfectly, even though it’s been 11 years (maybe 12?) now since I was out on that mountain. And I’m re-affirming to myself that I WILL Quest next summer. This time, next year, I WILL be out on the New Mexico mountain. I WILL be seeking a Vision once more. Gods, I fucking need it so bad right now.

Don’t mind me. The moon is riding full in the sky. I’m feeling extra fang-y and furred up. I feel rather pent up, but there isn’t anything for me to go DO. ::shrugs::

I did finally clear off and clean off my “art table”…that sadly had just become a dumping ground for everything that I hadn’t put up yet. So much dust and dirt and all around crap. I tossed quite a bit. I have a few things I plan to donate to Nicky for her to sell for her Coven. And I have a number of little things I plan to put up on eBay. I’m not hurting for cash, but money would be nice to have. ::chuckles:: And besides, it’s really just collecting dust (literally) here.

I really need to sit down and figure out what my ideal ritual space would look like. And then I need to start taking concrete steps towards making that a reality. Hell, I need to hang my photos and the Lion Painting up. I don’t have a damn thing on my walls except for my calendar. I need to put some time and effort into making my room truly MY room. And given that I don’t share it with my husband, I don’t know why I’m dragging my feet on it. I can make it however I wish!

Pencils!

written: August 7th

Photo for the day:

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Aww, my Tech boss is the best! I was joking with her the other day that any of those backpacks that Ruben and I lugged around town weren’t used….that she should let me know who to contact about possibly getting them given to our after school program…if nothing else, I would take the pencils for sure! ::laughs:: And she gave me 100 pencils as a thank you for doing some serious work this summer. Makes my lil heart happy. Now, I just have to find a way to tag them to slow down their disappearance from the after school program. ::chuckles::

Meeting with Lindaa

written: August 6th

Photo of the day:

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Josey….after a very enthusiastic “carpet swim”. ::laughs:: That dog is so beyond special.

I had a lovely meeting with Linda, from my Witches’ Journal group. We met up at Panera…which probably was NOT my smartest idea – that close to church let out time on a Sunday? Yeah, the parking lot was PACKED. But luckily it wasn’t too terrible inside. We sat and chatted about everything and anything for an hour. I gave her the Red Fast Luck Oil and the notes page I had created for it. She in turn gifted me with some GORGEOUS, bright blue Blue Jay feathers and some peaches. I will have to get photos of those feathers. They are some of the brightest I’ve ever seen. Linda had a few in her hair and I’m kicking myself now for not asking how she did that. ::chuckles:: I would totally rock feathers in my hair all the damn time.

David had to work today and when he got home, he wanted to eat Tex-Mex. So we opted to go to On the Border, and we opted to eat there. Typically we would order take away, but the last four times we’ve done that, they have majored fucked up our order. So we had decided from then on that if we were going to On the Border that we would dine in so we could make sure our order was correct. Damn, it was so good! And the dishes of beans and rice they brought to us were TWICE the size we usually get. So yeah, I had plenty of left overs to eat tomorrow!

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Public Lammas Ritual

written: August 5th

Photo for the day:

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Beautiful, nearly Full Moon rising. I wanted this other shot of the Moon between a pair of pine trees, except this asshole decided to park his truck in the way, so it looked like I was taking a picture of his truck. And he kept looking at me like I was being a jerk. ::sighs:: So I continued on, and got this shot instead. But next month! I’m gonna get that damn pine tree shot, asshole or no asshole. He can just piss up a rope for all I care.

So today, Hazel and I went to the CUUP’s public Lammas Ritual. Their group revolves around the hearth – the heart of the home. And so their Lammas ritual wasn’t much of an actual ritual. They are massive bakers for damn sure. There were probably 20 different bread-things and they had made this awesome Ritual Loaf. The loaf is kneaded by three members of the coven – a maiden, a mother, and a crone. It was shaped to look like a bushel of wheat.

The group is split, most being Norse based, which makes Hazel super happy. It was nice to see her flitting around, getting to know everyone. Me, as always, I’m far more reserved. The other part of the group is more based on Celtic. All in all, a super welcoming group….but. I dunno. A guy there really rubbed me the wrong way at the start. But then maybe he was just overly keen about making us feel welcome? I dunno. I am working on listening to my gut more, and my gut did not like him one bit at the beginning. After talking with him, he doesn’t seem that terrible. But. ::shakes her head:: But, that first impression doesn’t dissipate.

And of course, Hazel loves the Heathen group. Which, I have to admit, they seem to be really awesome. Especially the one who wants to start a “Gay, Viking, Cowboy motorcycle gang”. ::laughs:: With Texas become extremely lax in its weapon laws come September, it will be perfectly legal to open carry handguns (as long as they are registered and you have a permit) AND an axe, if one is so inclined. ::chuckles::

Sunday, August 6, 2017

Lil Moons & Firestone

written: August 4th

Photo for today:

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I came across these cracked quartz 20 mm beads while I was at Michael’s. I was there to pick up boxes to mail the oils to my friends. I’m really hoping the various layers I’m employing will keep the oil vials safe until they reach their destinations.

And I was looking around for some moon charms to gussy up the plain white 7-day candle I have for full moons. Instead, I came across these beads. To me, they look like perfect miniature moons! I am not sure if I’ll use them for the candle, but I just couldn’t pass them up. I am thinking of making a garland with them – 13 for the 13 full moons that typically occur in a year. Or I had a vision of a necklace made of three of these, and some of the smaller ones (that look like even smaller moons) and then the rest of the necklace is made of tiny pearls. It would be beautiful to wear specifically for lunar rituals. I should really sketch out that necklace before it dissipates from my mind.

So hopefully tomorrow morning-ish, I can mail out the oils to Annie, Nona, and Francesca. In the afternoon, Hazel and I will be attending one of the local Pagan chapters of the UU’s Lammas public ritual (which I’ll give Hazel her oil before we go to that). And THEN on Sunday, I am hoping to meet up with Linda so I can pass along HER oil. And after that, I’m pretty sure I’m going to be completely social-ed the fuck out.

I finally got my car back around 3 pm today. Turns out it was the starter – so a much cheaper fix than an alternator. And I was reminded all too well why I do not like that particular Firestone. ::shakes her head:: But I refuse to delve into that. No sense in rehashing crap I already know. Now, next month I will get another opinion on the brakes and the battery. I have ZERO trust in that particular Firestone.

Thankful Thursday #31

written: August 3rd

Photo for the day:

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A small little altar I have for my Dream Protector. The little dark wolf is carved of hematite and I just love it. It has a perfect weight…hematite has a serious density to it.

I am thankful…
1. That I managed to snap a photo before I went to bed as I had forgotten to take one all day! ::laughs::
2. That Liz was available and able to come rescue David and I from Staples and take us home, due to my car dying in the parking lot.
3. That David had today off and thus was able to run me around to get my car towed.
4. Lammas/Lughnasadh solo ritual went well enough AND that I was given inspiration on some things to work on for the rest of the year.
5. Divvied up the Red Fast Luck Oil for five of my friends. And now it’s resting on my altar, soaking up some good energies.
6. Plenty of good walks with Josey in our neighborhood.
7. Found a Sharp-shinned Hawk feather on one of our walks. I’m seriously over the moon about it.
8. I was finally able to get my car towed, after waiting a few hours for one place to call me back. My second choice was more expensive, but they were there within 25 minutes of my initial phone call.
9. Today is Lil Nephew’s 3rd birthday! I cannot believe he’s three! I need to get my butt back down there and see them all – plus visit my Mom as well. I dunno, I just kind of dropped off the face of the earth for a bit and haven’t really seen my family that much.
10. That I’m half way through my Master’s degree. It certainly has been vastly more labor intensive and brain intensive than I ever would have thought (because I am so utterly naïve about such things), but I do enjoy most of the courses, so that makes it bearable! ::laughs::

Lughnasadh: Part 2

written: August 2nd

Blessed Lammas/Lughnasadh! I did my ritual today, which…just a day past the standard date of celebration, so not too shabby for me! ::laughs:: Though, I’ve heard that astrologically speaking, Lughnasadh doesn’t occur until August 7th….so maybe I’m just celebrating early? ::laughs:: Though, now I kind of want to do a bit of research (I know, such the surprise!), and for 2018, I would like to test out celebrating the Sabbats on their astrological days instead of the “standard” Pagan days. Could be interesting! Ok, so I’m going to pause here and go write that in my planner or I will completely forget! How hilarious would to be to find that because I almost always celebrate my Sabbats a few days past their Standard Pagan Date that I’m actually much closer to celebrating them on their astrological dates?

Alright, brace yourselves because here come the photos.

First up, this is the tiny jar of apricot preserves one of my students gave me:

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Seriously, isn’t the jar just too damn cute? It will be cleaned and cleansed and eventually used in some spell work.

And spreading the apricot preserves on the bread I baked yesterday:

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Doesn’t it look like liquid sunlight on the bread? Normally, I would have taken this up to my room, placed it on my altar, and then eaten when my ritual was complete. But since Josey LOVES the bread beyond reason, and she’s typically in the room when I’m doing ritual, AND my altar is well within Josey reach…I decided it was wiser to enjoy it downstairs before ritual than having to combat a dog in ritual to save the bread. ::laughs:: And yes, Josey got a piece of bread as well, without the apricot preserves, but she was plenty happy with it!

Lammas/Lughnasadh altar:

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It’s a bit bare, but I was also doing some ritual work, so I needed the space. I divvied up the Red Fast Luck Oil for the friends I’ll be sharing it with (Annie, Francesca, Nona, Linda, and Hazel). In each of the little bottles, I also added in a chip of pyrite and a chip of citrine.

Not pictured is the black artist board that I originally made for my Rail Spike Protection spell. I decided since it has the four sigils (for the spikes) on the board, that I would keep it under my altar. This way, anytime I do ritual, it empowers the sigils on the board, that link to the sigils on the rail spikes at the four corners of my property. I pulled that board out from under the altar, and used it as the actual work place for the oil, jars, and stones.

Close up of the jars themselves:
 
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I then blessed each jar, wishing that the oil aid my friends in their future endeavors:

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Then I thumbed through my two lists of goals that I have (my birthday goals and my 101 Goals in 1001 Days). I crossed off ones that I’ve completed. And I also crossed off ones that I no longer feel drawn to. Surprisingly, looking at the two lists of goals, I’ve actually accomplished quite a bit more than I thought I had. Granted, the 101 Goals are set to be accomplished sometime in the next 3.5 years….so there’s quite a few I haven’t done yet, but it was nice to be able to cross some off as completed. And I only added in one goal to the list – get a chair of some sort for use in ritual. sitting on the floor is a tad bit too short for my altar, so a meditation seat or something along those lines would be awesome.

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Lughnasadh: Part 1

Blessed Lammas/Lughnasadh! It’s the Sabbat of the First Harvest. Bread is traditionally baked, which thankfully, I did manage to get baked today.

Damn grabby ass dough. It fucked up my star.

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But I at least knew better than to try for a full pentacle…that circle around the star would have completely mucked it up so bad.

Apparently today was an AMAZING day for feather gathering on our walk:

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The large feather is a sharp-shinned hawk. Then starting from the top:
Woodpecker
Blue Jay
Blue Jay
Eastern Bluebird

I just wish Josey had behaved a bit better so the walk itself wasn’t so crappy. ::sighs:: I thought people were supposed to be terrified of pit bulls??? I wish the people in this area WERE terrified of pit bulls. Because they aren’t. And they aren’t even polite about it. ::sighs::

The bread turned out great. I decided to try some of the apricot jelly a student gave me. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be so delicious! I used to hate apricots because my grandparents had an apricot tree that we had to pick for them. You know what likes apricots like you wouldn’t believe? YELLOW JACKETS and BEES. Hell to the no.

This apricot jelly is the first time I’ve had anything apricot since I was probably 10 years old. I’m sad I only have a tiny jar (though that jar will definitely be used in some spell work later on….it’s too cute to toss). I plan to pick up a jar to take to the Lammas Public Ritual Hazel and I will be attending on Saturday.

I will be doing my Lammas/Lughnasadh ritual tomorrow. Today was all about getting the damn bread baked! ::laughs::

Backpacks & Exhaustion

written: July 31st

Photo for the day:

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“Some” backpacks, stuffed with school supplies that Sandy sent me and Ruben to pick up at one of the massive churches in the area and take to the high school. She made it sound like there wouldn’t be that many. Turns out, there are 1,351 stuffed backpacks and another hundred empty backpacks, and a massive box (talking 6 feet by 4 feet by 4 feet) FULL of assorted supplies. Yeah, that shit took all damn day to do. BUT, it’s an awesome “problem” to spend the day lugging these back and forth. They are for the “less fortunate” children in our school district to ensure they can begin the school year with the required supplies.

So I finished off the Red Fast Luck Oil that I’ve been babbling about since Friday. Holy fuck, it’s this BEAUTIFUL deep ruby red color. I need to look into the full range of magickal properties of Alkanet (herb) that gives the oil it’s stunning red color. Because, lemme tell you, Sekhmet has been practically purring about it this entire time. So I’m thinking of maybe making something with it to put on the altar for Her? Or maybe something that I can use as an offering to Her? Gotta put that on my Witch To Do List!

Speaking of that Witch To Do List – tomorrow is Lammas/Lughnasadh (holy crap, I spelled Lughnasadh correctly without having to look it up first! Woot!). I need to finalize what all I will be doing. I had planned to mix up some bread and let it rise in the refrigerator overnight…but I was so damn exhausted by the time I got home, I couldn’t even muster up the energy to feel BAD for not doing so. ::laughs:: Hopefully, tomorrow, I won’t be so worn out and I can get my loaf cooking on. I’ve already set up my altar and have my goals all printed out AND in one spot! Woohoo! That like never happens for me. ::laughs::

Poles & Oils

written: July 30th

Photo for the day:


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Look at my POLE! ::cackles:: I have no idea why or how…but my rosebush sprouted and TOOK OFF. This cane in the foreground is almost twice the height of the rest of the bush, and I swear, it sprouted over night! ::laughs::

Today was another super chill day. I love that our weekends are so low-key. It really allows us to unwind and destress before another workweek attempts to kill us. ::laughs::

We watched “Couples Retreat” on Vudu. Seriously, it’s one of our favorite movies and I swear we’ve watched it over 100 times. And yet, the shit is still as funny as the first time we watched it. This movie is where David also came up with the idea that we needed to go to couple’s therapy…just so we could screw with our therapist. ::laughs::

Tomorrow, I get to finish off the Red Fast Luck Oil. After that, it will be ready to divvy up and use. ::smiles:: I’m so seriously giddy over it. I haven’t unwrapped it since I wrapped it up with all its little trinkets back on Friday. I’ve just kept it on my altar and let it do its thing. I finished up my notes on the oil and figuring out the information I’ll pass along with the oil samples I will be sending out to friends. Just need to finalize the list and pick up some little red organza bags and maybe some citrine chips (in the bead sections). I’d like to put a small citrine chip in the oil to boost its wealth attracting attributes. And the red organza bags, because the oil is supposed to be wrapped in red cloth. If I can’t find the bags, then I’ll think of something else. ::chuckles::