Game Face

Photo from today:



Josey’s “game face”. Yeah, sums up this shitty ass day perfectly.

Hopefully I caught my cold-whatever-thing right as it was attempting to get its hooks into me and I’m exhausted because my body is fighting it off valiantly. I hope so. I’m in no mood to deal with that shit right now.

Spring Break

Photo for today:



Two worn out golden retrievers. Babysitting at the Robinsons’ today.

I can hardly believe there are only three days (including today) left in the month of February. Three days and then we’ll be in March! Craziness! That also means only two weeks until Spring Break! I am seriously looking forward to an entire week of no job or classwork obligations. Now I just need to magically win the lottery so I can take an amazing trip, and everything would be perfect.

Tonight is the new moon. Tomorrow is the National Polar Bear Day. On National Polar Bear Day, I typically re-affirm my big dream of traveling to Churchill, Manitoba (Canada) to see them in the wild. I bless the money I am saving for the trip (I am budgeting $10k) and gently encourage the money I currently have (just shy of $5k) to attract the rest I require for the trip.

I am hoping to do quite a bit of work in my grimoire and assorted journals over Spring Break. I haven’t done a lot of work in my grimoire this month. I’ve scribbled notes here and there. I’ve done the gloss-over blogging about various spiritual things, but haven’t written the more in depth entries that I want in my grimoire. I just haven’t had the time to really sit down and delve into these things deeper I will make time over Spring Break to get my grimoire up-to-date.

Irrational

Josey’s favorite spot in the house…as evident from her wide array of toys:



I hate it when I’m angry, but I KNOW my anger is irrational. But there’s nothing I can do about said irrational anger until it finally dissipates on its own. Same goes for irrational anxiety and really, any other sort of irrational emotion. I’m fine with anxiety rooted in a rational fear, or anger rooted in something truly irritating. But the irrational? Fucking pisses me off to no end. Because I have NO CONTROL over it.

Wheeee, welcome to my brain. We’re all insane in here.

I don’t even want to talk about what irrationally pissed me off, it’s that fucking stupid. I’m sure it has to do with a LOT of various, small, rational irritations that just finally snowballed into this big ball of rage sitting in the pit of my stomach. But I don’t even want to talk about those. Suffice it to say, is it fucking Spring Break yet?????

Mom sent me this ADORABLE photo of Lil Nephew:



Lil Bro captioned it with “he’s picked out what he wants for his birthday”. ::laughs:: I just ADORE how giddy he seems over the car. I mean, look at his little feet!!! He’s up on his tippy toes, or was jumping up and down with excitement, or BOTH. Like, lemme die from this adorableness overload.

Babies

written: Feb 24th

Photo for today:



Two, TINY little rose buds I spotted on my rose bush today when I was out watering it.
Looks like I just might get rose blossoms this year!

Seriously, I am STOKED!

I am NOT known for my green thumb.

But not only has this rose bush NOT died from the transplanting, but it just might bloom this year. I’m super excited.

Thankful Thursday 08

written: Feb 23rd

Today’s #cy365 photo challenge prompt is “Outside”:



A photo of the sweetgum balls and various acorns I have collected.

I am thankful…
1. For the truly awesome, gorgeous weather we’ve been enjoying this week – mid 80s and sunshine.
2. A really informative and engaging staff meeting – the first we’ve had in ages. I’m also thankful the bosses changed up the seating arrangement and I no longer sit at the Debby Downers table.
3. Running around, playing with my students. They’ve created the “Mrs. Kelsey the Wolf” in which I am a wolf and I chase them, sneak up on them, and scare them to death type of game. They would play the entire 4 hours if I could. ::laughs::
4. Having this past Monday off. I got a lot of little errands run and relaxed the rest of the day.
5. David file our taxes and we are getting a decent chunk back. We’re paying off the Lowe’s card completely and then splitting the rest of the money.
6. The various messages I’ve been getting each night in my dreams. It’s always something profound and/or spiritual.
7. Still going strong on my 365 Photo Challenge and my writing. While this isn’t a NaJoWriMo month (National Journal Writing Month), I am trying to continue to write something, no matter how brief, each day.
8. The rose bush Paula gave me this past weekend seems to be doing well. It’s go a ton of new leaves sprouting from where she had cut it back, so I’m taking that as a good sign.
9. That Josey is doing so well on our much longer walks. I am just concerned on how to continue doing the walks once it really starts heating up, without having to do them crazy early in the morning. I am NOT a morning person.
10. I will be babysitting this Sunday. The extra cash is always welcome. ::laughs::

Wicked Witch

written: Feb 22nd

Looong crazy day.
I fucking LOVE this mug my Mom spotted on our last trip up to Canada (geez, that was back in 2010!). We picked it up in Kansas. ::smiles::



It has all sorts of meaning. As a young girl, I LOVED the Wizard of Oz.
And then again, there is that whole Me Being a Witch thing as well. ::laughs::

Happy Mail Day!

Today was a happy mail day (seriously, what’s better than getting awesome shit in the mail besides just shitty bills?):



My order of “Muse” (15 ml) from Sage Goddess arrived and holy hell, that stuff is AMAZING! I always worry that the scent won’t be the same (I had a tiny 1 ml sample that I had fallen in love with the aroma), or that it won’t be like I remember the scent being. But this is friggin’ amazing and well worth the price tag on it.

I lucked out and scored a free 10 ml vial of her “Triple Moon” oil (that smells awesome as well). I’ll try that scent out tomorrow.

And I scored two of her postcards – one of some crystals and another about Ostara (the next Sabbat coming up in March), AND a sample (1 ml) of her “Druidess” scent. Which, Brandy, my Canadian Spirit Twin, says is top notch.

I plan to order some small roller ball vials to put some of my tiny samples in so I can actually USE them. The sample vials Sage Goddess uses just aren’t easy to open and use the scented oil that’s inside them. A member of the Sage Goddess Perfume group on Facebook mentioned these tiny 2 ml roller ball vials, and I think that’s just brilliant. So once I order those, I’ll try out one of the DOZEN or so samples I have. Plus, I want to make Brandy a small vial of “Muse” and of “Triple Moon” so she can try those out as well.

And the postcard in the photo is one I received via Postcrossing today from Japan. So all in all, a damn good mail day.

The Birds

written: Feb 20th

The birds, the birds!



Man, we had a SWARM of Cedar Waxwings descent upon my yard today. Josey couldn’t sleep because they kept flying by the windows and making noise, and their shadows REALLY irritated her. ::laughs::

The bush/tree/thing in the front yard used to be just solid red berries. Like the branches were bending under the weight of these berries. But the swarm make quick work of that, and now there isn’t a single berry on the bush/tree/thing.

In other news, my husband watched Magic Mike with me today. Gods, how do I describe how incredibly sexy that is?

With Help

written: Feb 19th

Today’s #cy365 photo challenge prompt is “With Help”:



This is me, filling out my rough draft for my 10 Year Journal with the help of my blog and Facebook. ::chuckles::

I use a large day planner from the local teachers’ credit union to fill out each day before transferring the information into my nice 10 Year Journal.

Paints & Challenges

Photo for today, Feb 18th:



Watercoloring painting Linda (MysticKitty) did for us of our lil asshole dog, Josey. I’ve known Linda for a while through the Witches’ Journal group, but never realized she was LOCAL until last year. ::laughs:: Now I’ve finally met her in person and just adore her. I hope I wasn’t too terribly socially awkward and scared her off. I wouldn’t mind doing lunch with her once or twice a month just to be able to discuss Witchcraft and Paganism with someone in person. Since Hazel Nut fell off the grid, I don’t have that any more. And it’s interesting how much I miss that now.

So I stumbled across yet another Grimoire challenge. ::chuckles:: I know, I know. Don’t I have enough on my plate already?

Let’s see, I still haven’t finished the 2016 Grimoire Challenge…and the person creating that stopped halfway through the year. And I have the 2017 YouTube Pagan Challenge – that I’m blogging because I don’t do video. So yeah, now I’m adding ANOTHER thing on top of all of that, plus work, and grad school work. ::laughs:: I swear I am a glutton for self-punishment it would seem! Oh, and I’m still slowly making my way through “The Modern Witchcraft Grimoire” as well. I’m forcing myself to read all of it and NOT skip over parts that I arrogantly believe do not apply to me. Even in those sections that don’t particularly speak to my Path, I find little nuggets of wisdom…a turn of a phrase that I hadn’t thought of before that perfectly sums up something I believed, but didn’t really THINK about the belief behind it, or driving it. So yeah, even though I would rather skip the parts about love spells, I still read it because of the random, seemingly simple but profoundly deep wisdom the author has sprinkled liberally throughout the book.

I finished up my work in Annette’s journal and mailed it out on Thursday evening. I’ve done a single page in my own journal now that it’s been returned to me. But I hope to do more than that. I hope to do more work in my journals, along with my grimoires. But that would also require me to seriously cut back on my internet dallying. ::laughs::

Snakes & Roses

written: Feb 17th

Photo for today:



One of two smooth earth snakes I caught at Paula’s as she was digging up a rose bush she was giving to me. I need to get a photo of the rose bush that is now residing in my completely unused backyard, but I’m thinking I’ll wait until it blooms. It has the most beautiful, deep red, MASSIVE ball blossoms apparently. Hopefully I can keep it alive! ::laughs::

Thankful Thursday 07

Today’s photo is of the plethora of daffodils blooming in the school’s garden area:



I am thankful…
1. A good, LONG walk with Josey. We both desperately needed a good, long walk. She’s currently passed the fuck out – which is AMAZING!
2. Done with Annette’s journal. I will mail it out tonight after work.
3. I have a FOUR DAY weekend starting tomorrow! Oh my gosh, I can’t wait. I plan to pick up a rose bush tomorrow from Paula to plant in our completely unused backyard. And Saturday, I will be meeting up with Linda to pick up the watercolor painting she did of Josey.
4. I purchased a bottle of the “Muse” perfume oil by Sage Goddess – the same oil that I used in one of my rituals awhile back (I had a sample) and just fell in love with. Now I am having to wait for it to arrive. So excited!
5. The daffodils are beginning to bloom here. I am reminded how much I really adore these yellow flowers. I should look into planting some here at the house.
6. That I’ve been spending more time being active with the students. But damn, I am sore! ::laughs::
7. All the amazing work John, Mary, and Annette did in my journal during the swap. Hopefully, this will inspire me continue working in it.
8. The awesome letters and postcards I’ve received through the Month of Letters challenge and Postcrossing.
9. The solidarity and resolve I am finally seeing across our country as we unite to fight back against the racist, sexist, xenophobic crap coming out of the White House.
10. Just three weeks until Spring Break. I am so ready for a full week of zero work and school responsibilities!

Hearts & Journals

written: Feb 15th

Today’s #cy365 photo challenge prompt is “Heart”:



Yeah, these are some more homemade macaroons the Triple A’s mom made for us (all three of her daughters names begin with A, hence Triple A). These are mint chocolate chip macaroons. I still like the red velvet ones and the cappuccino ones better, but shit. A free macaroon is still amazing! Plus she made chocolate covered strawberries as well. Talk about spoiling us!

I am just about finished in Annette’s journal (for a journal swap we’re doing – Me, Annette, Mary, and John). My journal arrived yesterday and man, I love my journaling buddies. They do such amazing work in the journals and I love the slices of their lives they elect to share with me. I only hope that my work is up to par! ::chuckles::

Valentine's Day Smart Ass

written: Feb 14th

Today’s #cy365 photo challenge prompt is “A Valentine”:



Now the story behind this.

My husband and I generally don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day. It’s not because we’re edgy or cool or are anti-Valentine’s Day. It’s just we don’t want to celebrate it on the same day as everyone else. ::laughs:: Because we hate crowds.

So I was quite surprised when he gave me this box of chocolates and said “Happy Valentine’s Day!” Then I realized it was rather light. I shook it and heard nothing. I looked at him and his big shit-eating grin and asked him “Is this empty?” To which he piped up “Babe, it’s the thought that counts!” ::dies laughing:: I retorted with “Well, it’s more than I got you!” Ah the joys of living with a jokester.

RIP Andy

Today’s #CY365 photo challenge prompt is “Tiny”, so I took a photo of the TINY clover blossoms that are showing up in my yard.

1st photo is of just the blossoms:



2nd photo is of the blossoms and my index finger so you can see just how tiny they are:



I got the news today that Andy was found deceased. I don’t have any other information than that. I texted Dusty (Andy’s brother) to verify the information because Andy tends to go off-grid every so often and I didn’t want to spread rumors without knowing for sure they were true.



Andy certainly had his demons. I had even had to unfriend him on Facebook because of the negativity he was spewing was just awful. I know there were some mental health issues there as well…but there is only so much you can do if the person REFUSES any sort of help.

It just sucks that this is how it all ended.

I came home and lit a candle for him. I don’t know what his personal beliefs were (though I know he was viciously anti-Christian), so I figured I would honor him in my own way. I dressed the candle in “Mystery” scented oil by Sage Goddess (one of a thousand samples I have). Mystery certainly seemed to shroud Andy throughout his life, so I felt that was an appropriate selection.



I just hope he’s found the peace that was denied him here on this plane of existence. And I hope he attains all the wisdom and knowledge he thirsted for.

White Boards & Grimoires

written: Feb 12th



Today’s photo is part of the essay I had to write today for my Financial and Human Resources Management in Information Agencies class:



Yep, still using that white board my husband gave me a while back. It seriously has been quite useful, as I do prefer to write things out long hand and writing on the white board doesn’t fatigue my hands. I’m actually thinking of getting some white board paint and painting a huge board with it. I would get my husband to put an edge/frame on it (so that when I erase things, the eraser poo doesn’t smudge up my walls) and then have him hang it in my room. Honestly, I would love to have a HUGE one that takes up most of the wall next to my bed. Big enough to do my class work on, and my own personal writing on when the mood strikes. I could keep my weekly To Do List there as well. Ah, the possibilities of a 9 foot long, 4 foot high white board. ::laughs::

So, seeing as how my essay today (all 800 words of it) revolved around the Vatican Library, and because I am terribly behind on the YouTube Pagan Challenges, I thought it would be a good balance to write about one of the challenges.

I did Week 1 on January 10th and Week 2 on January 15th.

Week 3’s Prompt: How to organize your books – a table of contents, books marks, etc.

I have two books I’m working with. My Book of Shadows (which is more reference that I’ve built up over the years) is divided based on Sabbat, Esbat, Rituals, Totems, and Miscellaneous. Because it’s in a 3-ring binder, I use tabbed dividers. It does make it very easy to locate information I have on Ostara sabbat (an upcoming one in March, for the Spring Equinox).

My Working Grimoire is currently in a 3-ring binder, but I plan to have it bound at the end of the year into a hardback book. In its 3-ring binder phase it is also separated with tabbed dividers – but it’s separated according to month. So any ritual I do for the month of January, be it smudging, personal ritual, spell work, Esbat, Tarot readings, etc., it all goes behind the January tab. So my Working Grimoire will be done chronologically for the year. Maybe I’ll put a Table of Contents in before I get the book bound. It would make it easier to find the information. Or maybe I could include tabbed dividers in the bound book as well? Hmmm, all things to think about and figure out at the end of 2017 or the beginning of 2018.

Full Wild Moon

written: Feb 11th

Today was the Full Moon for February. It’s typically called the Snow Moon….but yeah, here in Texas, there is no snow, so it’s not really a name that resonates with me. I was reading in “The Modern Witchcraft Grimoire” and the author listed the “Full Wild Moon” as an alternative name for February’s full moon and I just love it. So that’s the name I’m going with for this full moon from now on.

Altar with the lights on:


Going left to right:
Galaxy Coyote Skull (I had put her away for safe keeping when we had the pest people come through and I just hadn’t gotten her back out. But I was quite happy to have her back on my altar again.)
Blue Tarot Bag = The Messenger Oracle deck
Unsheathed Athame (witch’s black handled knife)
“Shadow” tea light (by Sage Goddess) as a candle for the Great Pythoness/Snake spirit
Bone snake “wand” – also a symbol of the Great Pythoness (by TalismanaDesigns)
4 adorable white candles I picked up at Tuesday Morning store (I’ll have to take a photo of just them…I love them).
Small green vial – Anointing Oil (by Sage Goddess)
Altar Pentacle
Black glass jar (formerly a Samhain candle – by MoonGoddessMagick) used to burn my bay leaves in
Sekhmet statue and Her red candle
Sacred feather and Artemis Incense by HarvestMoonHaven
White paper = notes on the Full Moon Tarot layout I used
Black obsidian wand on top of the paper

And two candle-light / shadowy Selfies:


And #2:

Nerd

written: Feb 10th

Today’s #cy365 photo challenge prompt is “What I’m reading”:



Yep that is currently what is DOMINATING my life at the moment. I have a massive paper due (1200 to 1500 words) due by midnight. Don’t get me wrong, it is vastly fascinating to me, but holy shit – 1200 words is a lot more than I’m accustomed to writing.

So yeah, while I’m sure these articles aren’t interesting to anyone else, I find them VASTLY awesome. They have figured out a way to read these scrolls that were basically flash-burnt-to-a-crisp thanks to Mount Vesuvius – yep, the very same one that annihilated Pompeii – without unrolling and thus damaging the scrolls. And thus far, the ones they’ve scanned and translated and all that jazz are previously unknown works by Philodemus (a Greek philosopher). Who knows what else the other scrolls may contain? And the fact that this is one of the few libraries to have “survived” from ancient times? Too friggin’ awesome!

Thankful Thursday 06

written: Feb 9th

Today’s #cy365 photo challenge prompt for day is “Twins”. And I’m sitting here and scratching my head, trying to figure out where the fuck I’m going to find some twins. And then my snarky side piped up and we did this photo of my “twins”:



::dies laughing::

I am thankful…
1. The week is almost over. This has been a weird ass week and I’m ready for it to be over and done with.
2. My Imbolc ritual turned out quite nicely. I’m very pleasantly pleased with it.
3. I finally found THE PERFECT book blessing for my Grimoire. I wasn’t even looking for it and just tumbled across it reading something else. But damn, when I read it, it electrified my spirit. Just amazing. I’ve already written it in my book and I just love it.
4. Pampering shower – I really need to do that more. I needed it and damn, I felt so much better all over.
5. Nice quiet MoonTime. The first day is always the most brutal, but after that, it’s fine.
6. Getting snail mail from the Letter Mo challenge. I haven’t been able to keep up with the letter-every-day portion, but I’m doing what I can.
7. All the compliments I’ve received on my photos of Leviathan out in the tree. I definitely have to do that more often now that I have a house and don’t have to worry about the apartment people being horrible about it.
8. The horrible group project for the Financial & Human Resources Management class is finally over and done with. I’ve never been a part of such a text-happy group. The group texting FROZE my phone at one point and I had to remove the battery to restart it. Oye!
9. Goofing off and playing with my students once more at work. I really need to do more of that as well. They love and I can DEFINITELY use the extra exercise. ::chuckles::
10. Trying out some new meals and some tried and true recipes this week.

Exhausted

Today’s #cy365 photo challenge prompt is “Pink”.
And anyone who knows me, knows I do NOT like pink. So I almost skipped this prompt until I looked at my BaBuJo (Bastardized Bullet Journal):



Yeah, there’s some pink on it. It’s one of the more girlie things I have currently. ::laughs:: But it’s pretty and I like it and that’s all that matters.

I am exhausted. Like a bone-weary level of soul exhaustion.
Oh hello, MoonTime. So nice of you to stop by. Only a few days early this time around. So much better than the times it decides to drop in a WEEK EARLY.

I wish I had written more yesterday about my Imbolc ritual. I don’t write it all down for “public” consumption on my blog here, but even for me, yesterday’s entry was light. I dunno. I think I’m still mulling it over, getting a feel for it all. So yeah, good call lil Wolfie on video recording your re-dedication. There’s no way I could remember the words now and my fingers refuse to write anyways on the subject.