Lovely Surprise

written: November 5

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Look at this awesome necklace my Canadian Twin sent me!

Backside:



I’ve ordered a leather necklace to hang this pendant from. As soon as it arrives, it is all getting blessed and charged on my altar and then I’m wearing that bitch EVERYWHERE.

I am still waiting for the Crystal Necklace I ordered back on October 25th to ship. I emailed the lady about it and she was beyond NOT helpful. ::shakes her head:: I just hope the necklace is worth all of this hassle. She won’t be receiving a stellar review from me already, due to her crap communication. I just hope I don’t get some subpar jewelry and have to then fight to get a refund.

So you remember me talking about a “work-crush” (non-romantic, I just friggin’ adore her as a person), Mackenzi? Well she sent me a friend request a while back on FB and I was going back and forth for a while if I would accept it because I’m an out-and-proud-and-LOUD liberal and Pagan and it SHOWS on my FB page. Which I’m always hesitant to add people I work with because I live in a not so liberal, not so welcoming to non-Christians area and I don’t need that drama spilling out into my work place. Sucks that I have to worry about that, but it is what it is for now. ANYWAYS. I ended up accepting her FB friend request and then sweating bullets for about a week – until she announced she has a GIRLFRIEND now. Yay! So yeah, now I’m not so worried. ::chuckles:: And I’m happy for her. She seems really happy. ::smiles::

SICK

written: November 4

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Yeah, I’m SICK today. Seems I caught a cold at the doctor’s office. Yay. ::grumbles:: But I’ve double and triple checked my symptoms to make sure it is a cold and not the flu.

I spent the day napping off and on, eating cough drops like they were candy. I finally had the strength to venture out and pick up some NyQuil. Gonna dose the shit out of myself tonight. ::chuckles:: I hopefully knock this shit out asap because I just can’t afford to be sick and miss work right now. And I just don’t trust my staff (excluding Jess) to run the campus at all while I’m gone.

Roses

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Yep, those are my roses today. Blooms on November 3rd. ::smiles:: Though today is windy and cooler, so I’m not sure all the blossoms will make it to full bloom. Which reminds me, I still have two packages of dried rose petals that I STILL haven’t mailed out.

Yeah, needless to say that Depression has been kicking my ass majorly this past year (or longer, if we are being honest here). But I’m ready to turn the corner. I’m done wallowing in the darkness. Time to start clawing my way out of this pit. I’ve been here more than long enough. I started the new anti-depressant (Pristiq) today. Dr. O. said to give it at least a week before I could expect to see any changes. But just the fact that I am DOING something about my depression is helping to lift it.

Hope

written: November 02

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My tarot/oracle reading for Samhain that I did today. I felt like Samhain proper (October 31st) was for the Beloved Dead and thus held off until today to do anything for myself. I don’t know why I was so shocked at how accurate the Jade Oracle reading was – it always is. ALWAYS. And damn, this deck doesn’t pull any punches. ::chuckles:: I am so thankful I randomly stumbled across this deck while looking at The Last Unicorn Tarot (STILL waiting for that deck to be printed and shipped), because this is my total go-to deck since I’ve gotten it. It’s not as brutally honest as a Tarot deck is…but at the same time, there’s a bit more edge to it than you standard Oracle deck. It’s a nice blend of the two.

So I had my appointment with Dr. O. today about getting on some anti-depressants. It’s always so much fun to run through all medications I’ve tried and why they didn’t work out. She’s putting me on Pristiq – turns out, the generic of it is a ZERO cost drug for me. My health insurance doesn’t pay shit for doctor visits (this visit cost me $120), but damn it does very well on prescription medication. So at least I’m only get the shaft on one item. I have a follow up visit with her at the end of the month to see how it’s going and if we need to supplement this medication with Wellbutrin. I’m setting my intention right now that Pristiq WILL work for me. Trying so hard to stay positive here.

Annie messaged me to give me a heads up that the On-Line Friend that I had blocked last month has finally figured out that she’s been blocked. ::chuckles:: And apparently On-Line Friend is saying she has no reason why I would block her, that obviously I’m over-reacting to something, and is begging people to talk to me on her behalf. ::shakes her head:: I really wish people would come with appropriate warning labels. How do I manage to consistently attract the crazies? And it’s not even like On-Line Friend was even NICE to me, so why is she so desperate to get me back as a friend? Guess she’s missing her favorite verbal punching bag. ::shakes her head:: Yeah, I just hope she accepts this and moves on to someone new.

Venison

written: November 01

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The beginnings of my famous Venison Chili Cheese Dip. This dip is so damn delicious.



My version:
- 1 pound ground venison (though ground beef or ground turkey work just as well)
- 1 sweet onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
—Cook these together in a skillet until meat is fully browned and onions are translucent.
In a pot, melt 1 block of Velveeta cheese (cubed) and a can of Wolf Brand Chili (no beans). When that is melted, mix in the venison, onion, and bell pepper until fully combined. I eat these with Fritos Scoops. Any of those thin corn chips will NOT stand up to this hearty dip.

I didn’t take a photo of it once it was all combined. It’s just not a “pretty” dip. But holy hell, it is delicious and will fill you up in no time flat. ::smiles:: It’s one of the foods I associate with this time of the year. Cooler temperatures and stronger winds…autumn is coming. Which brings deer season, which brings venison. With my brother having so much work and family responsibilities, his ability to hunt has drastically decreased. I might have to step in soon and start hunting.

But I would prefer to start off hunting pigs. I am pretty sure I would not hesitate to pull the trigger on the feral hogs we have out on our land. But I definitely wouldn’t want to hunt those solo. Cell reception out on our land is hit and miss BIG time, and I wouldn’t risk a nasty run-in with a pack of feral hogs without any backup or ability to get to help, should I require it. Running into coyotes, bobcats, or even a puma out on the land doesn’t frighten me. But coming face to face with one of our monster feral hogs out there while on foot? That shit chills me to the bone.

But I’m thinking hunting pigs could help me work up to hunting deer. Eventually, I would love to go elk hunting. One of those would feed us for a WHILE. ::laughs::

Voted & Samhain

written: October 31

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We voted! ::smiles:: And honestly, it was a pretty easy and quick thing. We were in and out in under 10 minutes. Forgive us, we look a bit ragged. We got up early (TWO DAYS IN A ROW) to come vote because there was no telling what the lines were going to be like. ::chuckles::

The rest of the day was pretty low-key. Work was kind of crazy due to it being Halloween AND raining. ::chuckles::

Blessed Samhain!

My Samhain altar:



Nice and quiet. Just how I like it.

Long Day

written: October 30

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An interesting chocolate bar I saw today at 7-11.

Loooong day today. Hubs had to get up early for his VA appointment. Which meant, I had to get up early to move down to his bed so hopefully Josey would go back to sleep. She did not. Little shithead. I am not a fan of 7:30 am. I hope my library job, when it manifests, isn’t an early one.
I set up my Samhain altar. I went pretty minimalist this time around. I kind of like it. Feels like the altar has space to breathe. I may continue this trend of minimalist for a while, at least for now. Just the thought of setting up a BIG and BUSY altar completely exhausts me and I end up not doing a damn thing instead. ::chuckles:: So I’m thinking of cutting a lot of the fluff out and seeing how that works for me.

Except for Wolfenoot. That one, I’m going to go all out for. ::chuckles::