New Years Rezzies

T'is the season to stop an old habit or start a new one tomorrow, isn't it?

It's right up there with birthdays that end in a zero.

I woke up this a.m. with the Goo Goo Dolls in my head singing Jalfreda. Yeah, and for you fans out there, you're thinking, Whaaaa? That's not a Goo Goo Dolls song. And you would be right, because it's not "Jalfreda", the name of some gal from the Norse. John Rezzie is actually singing Yeah, I'm fadin'. But there I am in the car singing at the top of my lungs, Jalfreda! Because I didn't hear the whole thing. I misinterpreted. But now I have more information, I've updated the file, as Dave Dobson likes to say. And I'm singin' Yeah, I'm fadin'....

Which brings me to this thought:
Sometimes we don't have all the information or we misinterpret. Often it's on an Other-Than-Conscious level so that our OTC mind links up something from an event and that's WHY we have a behaviour, habit or pattern. The problem with WHY is that the mind will come up with a million reasons and then our conscious mind gets into a loop of excuses or justifications. Or we give up.

*sigh*

This time last year I was fat. FAT. There are lots of reasons I could give. I was even asked by someone, Why did you let yourself go? Really, there's no good way to ask that. And certainly not more than once. Because what it really means is Why are you so fat? Of course, nothing has meaning and everything has the meaning we give it. Still. That's how I interprelated it.

I don't know how heavy I was because I got to that point where I didn't want to know. You know? But I stopped buying number sizes when my size 16's got too tight and I transitioned to stretchy XL's. And when I was heading into the XXL's, I decided I needed to do something. So I listened to my labyrinth CD every night with the intention not to lose weight, but to be healthy. And to pay attention to what my body needed from me: mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually.

There are a few changes I made specifically in terms of diet, exercise, etc. that I'll save for my next post. Most importantly is that I didn't do it through willpower, I went to the source: the OTC. I bypassed the conscious mind and communicated and updated and worked with my OTC mind. It makes it so much easier when you have the cooperation of the part of you that guides your patterns in the first place. THANKS, Dave.

And now John Morgan has a new CD I Love My Body, which I've written about before. This is what I'm listening to to keep me a size M, size 10.

Day of Rest

Even when the sky is heavily overcast, the sun hasn't disappeared. It's still there on the other side of the the clouds. ~Eckhart Tolle

It's a good day to curl up with a cup of tea and a book. I'm reading my Xmas gift from John, The Power of NOW, by Eckhart Tolle. I've joked about what a snooze-fest listening to the audio book was, but the book is pretty good. For an enlightened guy.

Xmas Bonfire & Thick Thumbs Update

Here's a pic of our Xmas bonfire from last weekend at the Fam Gath. Isn't that a tradition in everyone's family? ;-)

And now for the Thick Thumbs update! I got another text yesterday. What's Kyle's number?

Hehhhh...pay attention boys! [Read with my teacher voice]. I texted back: I dk Kyle. I dk u!!! BTW, I only know the DK (don't know) Thing from that commercial about texting with the daughter speaking in letterese to her mother. So here's a quote I heard yesterday from John Morgan that made me think of the Thick Thumbs boys:

The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. ~Dorothy Parker

And now I'm off. The Mormon Pantry is out of dog food and tea, so I'm venturing out into civilization today. Have a GREAT day!

Thick Thumbs Strikes Again!

'member my random text story from a coupla days ago when I got a text from someone I didn't know? Well. At 1.59 a.m. IN THE MORNING! I received another one:

How are you u loser brain from Keegan and Ryan

Ah-HA! I knew it couldn't be an adult. (Yeah, I know: really? What gave it away?) [Side note here: have you noticed the generational theme of names? No one my age is named Keegan, or Dakota, or Madison. Those are younger names. Older names are Mildred or Beuford. And then there are every-generation names like John, Paul, George....]

Luckily, I turn my cell phone off when I go to bed. But when I got this, I laughed out loud. What should I write back? Who R U callin a loser brain, poopy head? But of course, I didn't. Silly boys! Go to bed! Where are your mothers?

Wouldn't it be funny if I started sending messages from the future? Keegan, I'm you-from-the-future. On Sept. 18, 2013 don't order the chicken salad or you'll be sorry. Or perhaps things like, Eat your veggies, stay in school! Meditation not medication! or a quote-of-the-day: Do not neglect the gift of God within you. ~Timothy 4:14

But in the end, I texted back: LOL! Merry Xmas!!!

I've not heard back from them yet. :-)

Rainbow on a Grey Day

Have you ever had one of those days? You know; one of THOSE days. Yesterday was pretty grey. But then I looked out the window to see this:

And it happened without any rain. Sometimes God sends a rainbow just because.

blip blip blip

I got a random text from some number I didn't recognize. What r u doing? I'm bored.
I ignored it. Wrong number, I thought. But a few days later, I got another boring message. I was driving and ignored it. I did call later, but there was no answer. And anyway, who complains of being bored? Children: right before their mother gives then something to be bored about, like housework. My brother suggested it was someone with "thick thumbs" who got my number wrong.

And THEN:

Sup faget.

Thick Thumbs strikes again. Hehhhh...I'm not a fan of the texting. It's tedious and it necessitates abbreviations I loathe. Like R U bored? NO! Only boring people complain of being bored! But I digress...

So I texted back blip blip blip tapping out: Who R U?

Thick Thumbs: Whats your name?
Me: You should know, you texted me first.
Thick Thumbs: Kyle gave me your name dumby.

Really? This is how you introduce yourself to someone you don't know, you silly boy? If I didn't hate the blip blip blipping of texting--oh! The tongue lashing he'd get about manners and the general moral decay of society. Not to mention his poor spelling.

I texted back, I don't know any Kyle.

So far, Thick Thumbs has not responded back. Apparently I have cured his boredom.

Happy Getmas

If my brother wrote a comic strip, it would be Brewster Rocket: Space Guy. When his 4 year-old daughter runs up to me with the Vulcan hand-sign and says, "Live long and prosper," you understand why I'd make that leap. Anyway, in the comic strip, Christmas is called "Getmas," aptly describing the state of our consumeristic society of stuff-getting. Oooh, nice alliteration....

There are all sorts of FW's and articles and pleas to remember the reason-for-the-season, in the midst of all the frantic gift-giving/getting. So I won't repeat it here. What I will say is prolly going to sound...like I've entered an older generation that longs for simpler days. Not quite the horse 'n' buggy era, BUT...

[Cue music and put on Granny Voice]

When I was a young girl, I wasn't raised with Santa. Mum never told me a fat guy in a red suit was going to leave gifts for me or my sibs. Now, we did celebrate and have a tree with the lights, but we got the "spirit-of-Christmas" talk. One of my favourite memories is Mum waking me up to take me to my first Christmas Eve mass. The whole experience of it--intangible and lovely...the car ride there looking at the lights and the beautiful songs and the stained glass windows. BEAUTIFUL.

In kindergarten I had a conversation with a friend and she was explaining all about Santa. Really? I asked. But I was skeptical because she was also the one who told me Jesus gave us scabs--not randomly, of course, but when you get a scrape or a cut. My dad, who knew everything when I was in kindergarten, explained that scab-making was left to the innate intelligence of my body. So you see, I didn't buy into the Santa Thing, and I thought that Jesus prolly had more important things to do than give me scabs when I needed them.

I have a picture of one Christmas with my stepson where he is sitting in front of a MOUNTAIN of STUFF. Stuff that I would spend the next year cleaning off his floor and gradually throwing away. Happy Getmas. It was the guilt of divorce and the competition between two wounded parents that contributed to this frenzied gift opening where it was almost like a race to see what was next.

So we came up with the Jesus Christmas Rule of Three Gifts. This is how it goes: Jesus got three gifts. Are you saying you're better than Jesus? All right, then. What do you really want? It eliminated the stocking STUFFers and the superfluous. And they weren't deprived--they still had grandma & grandpa, aunts & uncles from both sides of the family. Plenty of more stuff to clean up for the next year. Pah-lenty.

On this first day of Christmas,
and the eleven more to follow into a new year,
I wish you all the gifts of the Spirit of Christmas:
loving kindness, compassion and hope for better times.
Wherever you are in this world,
wherever you are in your world,
I wish you PEACE.
The kind that passeth all understanding.
'Tis the season to open hearts
to receive the greatest gifts of Spirit
the kind that are wrapped in God's LOVE.

Merry Getmas. And Merry Christmas, too. :-) H.

Xmas Gath

We started a Christmas tradition of having our family celebration the Saturday-before-Christmas so that my sibs-with-kids can stay home on Christmas day and enjoy it without having to rush anywhere. We do a potluck buffet. I brought a bucket of hummus & veggies. Mum made her famous homemade mac & cheese and a Gluten Free (GF) version for my chiro-sister Ruthie and me.

We have a rule that we make gifts or don't spend over $20 per person. There's a lot of creativity in the fam! Books are a favourite gift, or course. This year I gave out my new CD, family photo ornies, and the Stephen Colbert Ornament of Truthiness, and hand made truffles. One of my bros made Gluten Free biscotti. OMG!!! De-lish!

And this is what I'll leave you with: my other brother created his own packaging with boxes of crackers. This will not be funny unless you know what Soylent Green is. So read this before moving on.

OK, so now you know what Soylent Green is, right? Because whenever you have to explain a joke, it's just not funny. And it's too much work, besides. OK, so this is what my brother gave me:

"Now with more girls." Get it? hahaha

Not pictured, but listed on the side are the ingredients: Celiacs. hahaha Merry Almost Christmas!

Day of Rest

I've just enough time to say I don't have time this a.m. to write! It's a weekend of family FUN and general merriment (Truthiness ornies a BIG hit!) and WAIT til you see what I got from my bro. hahahaha I'm out the door, back tomorrow. Have a FABULOUS day!!!

Massage Collage

I'm a journal kinda gal. I use a basic spiral blank art pad so that I can draw, write, take notes, record quotes. On the cover of each journal, I do a collage or put a picture from a magazine that I like. Sometimes I do it at the end of the journal or before I begin. It just depends. It's a great medium when traveling: just get an Oprah magazine & scissors & go at it. I always travel with glue sticks, doesn't everyone? ;-)

Creating a collage is like a labyrinth: it's directed by your intention. I've done collages for goals and collages for inspiration. This one is my Sedona journal, an AMAZING trip I took with my friend Susan (who has an Oct. post about our trip). Sedona is such a *magical* place. Our whole trip was so inspired; we spent the week with Chloe Wordsworth at a Holographic (Resonance) Repatterning conference AND Bruce Lipton kicked it off with his Biology of Belief seminar. AWESOME! We just by chance got tickets to a sold-out concert by Deva Premal AND we took a day trip to the Grand Canyon. If you've never been to the Grand Canyon, it's a must-see before you die. And I think Bell Rock is one of my favourite places in the world--AWESOME!


This next collage was done 3 years ago and was the answer to my prayer What now? I was asking for guidance about renting space at a spa to do Reiki, education consulting, etc. At the time, I had interpreted it as a "yes," but didn't follow through. Something didn't feel right about it. Less than a year later I went to massage school. One of those wonderful life-decisions that changes you forever. Sometimes we receive guidance and misinterpret it, but somehow we get to where we're going!

So now it's collage time again. Every December I do a collage for the cover of my planner and set an intention for the year. Ah...what's in store for 2008?

Last Ornament Thursday!

I LOVE dimensional paint, especially for creating finger labyrinths. So here's a simple Christmas tree labyrinth, made on cardboard. I mapped it out on graph paper first. I used metallic green paint, followed by green sparkley paint, and then used glittery silver for the labyrinth lines.
And here's another Stephen Colbert ornament, The Retro Ornament of Truthiness:
I had cut it out last week and had not done anything with it and then I saw Alexa's retro-inspired ornaments from last week and had the Ah-ha to do a similar treatment. Thanks, Alexa!

Here are the links for everyone participating:

Christmas cookie - Jennifer Heynen http://www.jenniferjangles.blogspot.com/
Ring in the New Year - Kriss Cramer http://www.art-interrupted.blogspot.com/
Quilty pieced snowman - Linda Augsburg http://cs.makeitminemag.com/mimcs/blogs/makeitmine/
Simply striking sparkling spheres - Margot Potter http://margotpotter.blogspot.com/
Beaded memory wire - Elaine Luther http://www.CreativeTextureTools.com/news
Wire & beaded tree - Lynn Kvigne http://beading.consumerhelpweb.com/blog/
Beaded sun catcher - Debba Haupert http://www.girlfriendologytoo.blogspot.com/
Jolly and yummy ceramic candy - Melanie Brooks Lukacs http://earthenwood-beads.blogspot.com/
Polymer snowflake embedded in resin - Melissa Lee http://www.strandsofbeads.blogspot.com/
Beaded candy canes - Candie Cooper http://candiecooper.typepad.com/savvycrafter/
Polymer clay gift tag/ornament - Heather Powers http://www.polymerclay.craftgossip.com/
Twisted blues - Lampwork Diva aka Cindy Gimbrone http://lampworkdiva.blogspot.com/
Holiday spiral tree & party pixie - Art Bead Scene http://www.artbeadscene.com/
Wire bird's nest - Rebecca Peck http://vintagegirlmodernworld.wordpress.com/
Plush gingerbread doggie - Jenny Harada http://pomly.livejournal.com/
Swell ornament - Alexa Westerfield http://swelldesigner.blogspot.com/
Holiday paper crafting - Brandy Lung Gill http://accesstoexcess.blogspot.com/Shaving cream & chipboard ornament - Michelle McGee http://fromichelle.blogspot.com/
Easy needle-felted orb - Katie Hacker http://www.katiehacker.com/index.htm

P.S. BIG THANKS to Margot for the invitation to participate and Katie & Candie for starting it!

Can't talk now--just go to my blog!

I know I can't be the only blogger with this sentiment, right? haha So anyway, here's what's going on:

This is my new CD, Virtual Massage. And this is the story behind how it came about:

My friend Lena was my first massage client here in my new home. After she left, I was on the phone to John and I said, "I wish I had another body to work on." And he said his shoulder was bothering him and what would I do to alleviate the pain. I told him I'd start with his traps and work into levator...and being the auditory person he is, he said, Tell me as if you're giving a massage in real time. So I did, without the anatomical nerd-talk. At the same time I did some distance Reiki and at the end of it, he felt better and said, "I think you have something here. Write a script." He came up with the name Virtual Massage AND did the post-production (he made my voice sound like velvet!) AND designed the CD for me. John was my willing guinea pig as we worked through the script together and he gave me advice on how to make it even better. On the final reading, he fell asleep (the ultimate success!) and I hung up the phone after I was finished. He phoned ten minutes later saying, "I think you're ready to go into the studio." High praise coming from "America's-Best-Known-Hypnotherapist."

I also wanted feedback from a fellow massage therapist, so I read it to my GSF Bess. She said, "That was fantastic! I feel like I've just had a massage and a half!" High praise coming from my favourite massage therapist! The night before I went into the studio, I read it for XM Radio Guy, who is familiar with my healing work and my Healing Labyrinth Path CD. And he said, "That was amazing." THANK YOU!!!

I'm also excited because I have background music on this CD. And not just any music, but my favourite music when I'm giving a massage: Chesapeake Bay: Reflections of Beauty, by Mike Zampi. He let me use the whole CD just like I would in a massage session. THANKS, Mike!

In addition to the new CD, I've written a new website with Homestead--so easy! Not as complicated or labyrinth-beautiful as Healing Labyrinth Path that my friend Val did...but I did it! Techno-tardo moi! It's not official yet--I have to get my domain name, halichambers.com pointed to it (Oh, the tribbles with Stargate..Hehhhh....) Anyway, in the spirit of the Holliday season, I am going to have a drawing. If you go to the new site and subscribe to my newsletter, I'll put your name in the hat to receive a complimentary Virtual Massage CD. There will be 3 lucky winners and I'll do the drawing on the third day of Christmas (next Friday, Dec. 28th). First newsletter will announce the winners and have some homemade spa recipes for relaxing into the new year. Mmmm...yummy....

First Morning Thought

You know when you wake up in that first-morning winter coziness? Before the need to brush your teeth overides the desire to stay wrapped up in the duvet cacoon? I awoke with the thought of my cells. Doesn't everyone have these Bruce Lipton-ish thoughts first thing?

Our bodies are made up of trillions of cells that make up a community, and we are the leaders. And I was wondering if I was being a "benevolent dictator" as Bruce says, or if I needed to change something for the health of my cells. Drink more water, was the message. Really? You need more water? Wow. I consider myself the Water Queen--especially since I've been living here with the Most-Delicious-Tap-Water-Ever. I could bottle this stuff--it's so deliciously nothing-tasting, with a hallucination of sweetness. Mmmm...but back to my cells. More water, perhaps less tea.

Here's the formula Dr. Brett taught me:

Divide your body weight in half, convert to ounces.

That's how much water you should drink. WATER, not tea or anything else. Just water. There's an awesome book called Your Body's Many Cries for Water, which essentially boils down to this: there are a lot of illnesses related to dehydration. So drink more water. Dr. Lee says to drink 2 ounces of neutral pH water every hour (that you're awake) for 2 days to get your body back in balance.

I would write more, but I need to go hydrate.

Icey Frostiness

It started ice-spitting 5 minutes after I got home on Saturday night. BEAUTIFUL when you don't have to drive in it! It didn't last long, the ice stayed long enough for me to take my pictures. Thank you, Nature for cooperating.

Day of Rest

FW: Tag You're It

My friend Jane sent this to me, so I'm posting it here.

Two names you go by: Only 2? That's a whole blog post in itself: The story of my name. But for now: Mum calls me "Blessing Number One" & my fam calls me Hal.

Two things you are wearing right now: a tiara and a SMILE. hahaha

Two of your favorite things to do: Read and laugh....What's the deal with listing "2 things?" A feng shui person would hallucinate that the author of this is married...but I digress...

Things you want badly at this moment: World peace...and organic milk for my tea, because *sigh* I'm drinking evaporated from my Mormon Pantry.

Two Pets you had/have: Barkley & Remi, my 2 labweilers.

Two things you did last night: Watched The Next Great American Band (GO Clark Brothers!!!) & I knitted (FABULOUS scarf). It was a rockin' Friday night.

Two things you've eaten today: DSF adrenal support (YUM--no, really, bleh) and Total Green drink (v. YUMMY). There's your Brimhall reference for the day. ;-)

Two people you last talked to: John Morgan & a radio station gal in Indiana.

Two things you're doing tomorrow: Oh, I could make up all sorts of things! Refinish furniture, tile the bathroom (yeah, THAT'S happening)...but I'll prolly work on Xmas gifts and an ornament for Ornament Thursday.

What were your longest car rides: across America when I was 6, but the longest ones haven't been in geographical distance.

Favorite holiday: Only one? I LOVE holidays and birthdays and celebrations! Thanksgiving (Gathering of the fam without the Gift Pressure), Christmas (LOVE the lights!) and 4th of July(ooohhhh, aaahhh fireworks!) are some of my faves. Along with Beltane. hahaha

Two favorite beverages: Celestial Seasonings Teahouse Chai, and water from my tap. No, really. It's SO good! You wouldn't believe it. It tastes like Fiji. And that's all I drink.

Well. This has been fun. LOVE to Jane and all my friends back in West-by-God-Virginny!

P.S. XM Radio Guy's show is on tonight: Lucy XM channel 54 at 9 p.m. EST. What will tonight's cheap give-away be? Tune in to find out!

P.P.S. I just read today's blog post at Grasshopper Notes. AWESOME!

Blog Hopping

I had so much FUN yesterday checking out all the ornaments for Ornament Thursday! I'm such a fan of blogs: reading about the creative processes of other artists is so inspiring. I was going to welcome a friend to the Blogging World, but this person is not ready-for-primetime just yet. So I will wait to make a big announcement--but let me just say, there are some of you out there who are going to be SO EXCITED when I tell you. But I promised Mystery Blogger I wouldn't say anything until this person is ready.

See? Not even a gender hint!

It's in The Vault.

In the meantime, I found this clip of my boss, John Morgan on You Tube. It's from one of his seminars. Entertaining AND educational. My favourite combo.

Ornament of Truthiness

I ADORE Stephen Colbert who has described himself as "an attractive vessel through which the river of truth can flow.” He was on the cover of Parade magazine a few weeks ago and I had cut out the picture and put it on my map that I have on my wall (see Nov. 12th's post). The first ornament is a small book I made with quotes inside:



Favourite quotes :
"And that brings us to tonight's word: Truthiness. Now I'm sure some of the word-police, the "wordanistas" over at Websters, are gonna say, "Hey, that's not a word!" Well, anybody who knows me knows that I am no fan of dictionaries or reference books. They're elitist. Constantly telling us what is or isn't true, what did or didn't happen...

Take a look at this sentence: 'Timmy and me went to the store to buy milk.' Wouldn't the correct grammar really be, 'Timmy and me and Jesus went to the store to buy milk?' Because Jesus is with Timmy and I wherever us go.

You see, we're America the Beautiful, not America 'Well, At Least She Has a Great Personality'

I'm not a fan of facts. You see, the facts can change, but my opinion will never change, no matter what are the facts.


Clothes don't make the man, God does. Stop taking credit, my pants.

The second ornament I printed on card stock & pasted to a popsicle stick. It's painted gold on the back. I used a paper clip to hold the ribbon. I'm going to make LOTS of these! Here are the links to check out everyone else's AWESOME ornaments! Happy Ornament Thursday, everyone!

Sara Naumann http://blog.paperwishes.com/sara/

Lynn Kvigne http://beading.consumerhelpweb.com/blog/

Candie Cooper http://candiecooper.typepad.com/savvycrafter/

Katie Hacker http://www.katiehacker.com/index.htm

Margot Potter http://margotpotter.blogspot.com/

Linda Augsburg http://cs.makeitminemag.com/mimcs/blogs/makeitmine/

Melanie Brooks Lukacs http://earthenwood-beads.blogspot.com/

Art Bead Scene http://www.artbeadscene.blogspot.com/

Cindy Gimbrone http://lampworkdiva.blogspot.com/

Suzanne http://suzanne-catching-up.blogspot.com/

Humblebeads http://www.humblebeads.blogspot.com/

Polymer Clay Craft Gossip http://polymerclay.craftgossip.com/

Alexa Westerfield from http://swelldesigner.blogspot.com/

Debba Haupert http://www.girlfriendologytoo.blogspot.com/

Elaine Luther http://www.CreativeTextureTools.com/news

Melissa Lee http://www.strandsofbeads.blogspot.com/

Rebecca Peck http://vintagegirlmodernworld.wordpress.com/

Jean Yates http://prettykittydogmoonjewelry.blogspot.com/

Michelle McGee http://fromichelle.blogspot.com/

Jenny Harada http://pomly.livejournal.com/

Jennifer Heynen http://jenniferjangles.blogspot.com/

Kriss Kramer http://www.art-interrupted.blogspot.com/

Brandy Lung Gill http://accesstoexcess.blogspot.com/

Xmas Trivia

This is from Dave's Joketree, my favourite place for jokes and good cheer. Thanks, Dave!

• Saint Nicholas of Myra, the original Santa Claus, was the patron saint of children, thieves and pawnbrokers.
• Based on previous surveys, 17 percent of you will embarrass yourselves in some way at your office Christmas party.
• A Mongolian wild ass can run 8 mph faster than a reindeer.
• It's Donder, not Donner.
• Christmas pudding should be stirred from east to west. [Is that true, Mum? BTW, Mum has a delightful Christmas story of a spat with her sister where she threatened to spit in the Christmas pudding!]
• 56 percent of Americans sing holiday carols to their pets.
• 53 percent of Americans plan to "re-gift" this year.
• 1 in 3 men will wait until Christmas Eve to finish their shopping.
• 1 in 6 men would like to get rid of all the "gift-giving nonsense."
• A traditional Christmas dinner in early England was the head of a pig prepared with mustard. [Is that true, Mum?]
• On Christmas Eve in 2001, the Bethlehem Hotel had 208 of its 210 rooms free.
• It's "God rest ye merry, gentlemen," not "God rest ye, merry gentlemen."
• There are 1.76 billion candy canes produced every year.
• Kris Kringel, a man in his 40s, lives in North Pole, Alaska, and delivers pizzas for a living. He drives a 1984 Ford Tempo.
• Based on a 1999 estimated population count of North America and Europe, on Christmas Eve of that year Santa Claus had to visit 42,466,666 homes in a 12-hour period -- that's 983 homes per second.

Courage

I've been thinking about courage. Some people have said I'm courageous to be living out here in the wilderness by myself with only my big dogs and modern conveniences to keep me company.
I do have neighbors. And I'm across the river from civilization. Sort of.

Years ago, I was standing on top of a Mayan pyramid, Chitzen Itza. The steps were made for tiny feet and were v. steep and it's a lot farther UP once you get to the top and have to look DOWN. I had been there a few years prior, when I discovered a sudden case of acrophobia. But I manage to make it back down to the ground. One step at a time. On my ass.

So here I was climbing for the second time. I reached the top and there, plastered to the side of the wall was a v. stylish woman, wide-eyed with fear. Her husband, speaking French, was standing at the top of the steps facing her with his hand stretched toward her, trying to coax her off the wall. So I watched all this going on. He started off with the Husband Logic: take my hand, it's OK blah blah blah. She didn't budge. Then it disintegrated into his yelling at her: Come on! What are you going to do? Stay up here all day?! Yeah, THAT worked.

I looked at her and said Je sais. [I know] I sat down on the steps and smiled. Comme ca. [Like this] dans notre derrieres. [OMG, did I just say IN our butts?!] She scooted over in her white leather pants. And together we held hands and scooted our way down to the bottom ON our bottoms. YAY, US!!!

So back to courage:

Some people may think that to be couragious is to be fearless. I don't think so. Courage is not a feeling, it's an act. If you're waiting for a feeling, you'll keep waiting. Courage is movement. And to me, the impetus for courage is a perceived lack of choice. How long am I going to stay on top of a pyramid? How long am I going to stay stuck before I do something? And that's the key: the doing part of it. No matter how you feel, because that will change after the doing. And at the bottom of the steps, there may be people laughing with you or at you. There will surely be a few cheering for you. Do it anyway. No matter what people think. Choose courage.

Goddess-Sister-Friend

I can't remember which one of us came up with the term "GSF." But it fits. Today is my friend Kristina's birthday. She is writer, artist, priestess. One foot on Mother Earth, and the other firmly planted in the realm of Spirit. We say to each other: Tell me stories about your childhood. Because we both had unconventional ones that make us WEIRD ( Wonderful, Energetic, Intuitive, Radiant, De-Lightful). And we both have that mystical tie to Catholic saints & icons, tho neither of us grew up in that church.

She taught me the basics of tea leaf readings and that everything is a reading. One Halloween, she was on XM Radio Guy's show, back when he was KMZ Radio Guy. She was going to read his tea cup, but he said he didn't have tea, only Tang. So she read his tang cup.

One time a friend had given me some "chakra" bath salts. Imagine sitting in a pool of red water. OK, so I let the bath drain and it left patterns in the bathtub. I called Kristina and spoke to her husband with a message that I needed her to read my bathtub. When she called back, she said, "You need me to clean your bathroom? What?"

What's that red stain in the bathtub? said my husband. Don't clean it! I need a reading first! So there we are in my bathroom, Kristina all dressed up, sitting in my tub, scrutinizing each shape and line. It was v. profound at the time....

A few months ago, I was with XM Radio Guy at an Indian restaurant and he handed me his chai cup to read. I looked at it and it just looked like a foreign language. I need Kristina to read this, this is beyond my scope of expertise. So there I am explaining to the owner of the restaurant why I must take the tea cup with me.

I meet Kristina in the parking lot on a break from her work. She looks at it and says, "WOW. Oh my...." I know!!! I say. What does it mean? And she gives the 3-minute parking-lot-tea-cup reading. After the reading, I call XM Radio Guy. Well. It turns out his GF also reads tea cups. So now she wants to see it. So there we are, back at the Indian restaurant, explaining to the owner that the tea cup is getting a second opinion.

We go months without seeing each other and stay connected in cyberspace and beyond. And always when we get together, it is the perfect time and place. Happy, happy birthday, sweetie! I'll meet you at the pyramids. :-) LOVE, H.

Day of Rest

Friday Harbor, WA. Hi Dave.

Wintery View from the Labyrinth

I had the most extraordinary experience. Have you ever seen a robin in the winter time? Well. Yesterday, for about 2 minutes, a whole FLOCK of robins came around my house. The harbingers of spring came to visit? YES! I heard them first making that yippy-sound outside my window and there was a flurry of activity. I don't have any pictures, I just stood in a trance and watched them bounce around and yip. And then they flew off. :-) So sweet.

Christmas Bay Window

I was inspired to Christmas-up my kitchen bay window after I took my ornament pictures yesterday. The angel blowing a kiss is the one that used to sit in the center of my first labyrinth. Yesterday's Ornament Thursday was such an inspiration, I'm going to post all the links here in case you didn't get a chance to visit.

Suzanne http://suzanne-catching-up.blogspot.com/
Rebecca Peck http://vintagegirlmodernworld.wordpress.com/
Michelle McGee http://fromichelle.blogspot.com/
Melissa Lee http://www.strandsofbeads.blogspot.com/
Melanie Brooks Lukacs http://earthenwood-beads.blogspot.com/
Margot Potter http://margotpotter.blogspot.com/
Lynn Kvigne http://beading.consumerhelpweb.com/blog/
Linda Augsburg http://cs.makeitminemag.com/mimcs/blogs/makeitmine/
Kriss Kramer http://www.art-interrupted.blogspot.com/
Katie Hacker http://www.katiehacker.com/
Jenny Harada http://pomly.livejournal.com/
Jennifer Heynen http://jenniferjangles.blogspot.com//
Candie Cooper http://candiecooper.typepad.com/savvycrafter/
Art Bead Scene http://www.artbeadscene.blogspot.com/
Alexa Westerfield from http://swelldesigner.blogspot.com/

Ornament Thursday

This is a variation on last week's theme--and then I promise I'm doing something completely different! No really--just wait til you see! I've been sorting through family photos and I LOVE the ones I have of Mum's family. I've always had in the back of my mind that I would do a family quilt with them (yeah, THAT's happening). In the meantime, I was so inspired by Margot's ornament of her grandmother that I thought I could do something if I created a system for whipping these up fast. So this is how to do it using Publisher:

* Create a template: 6 circles with squares to fit inside. (My squares are 2" X 2")
* Copy photos and then crop them to be square.
* Insert photos into the different squares.
* Print on card stock (you could use different colors like red & then you don't have to...

* Paint around pictures (I also used a metallic pen)
* Score around the squares.
* Cut out circles and paste together.

Each ornament follows a different theme: great-aunties, grandmother's wedding, my mother & her sister, etc. You could do this all by hand and colour-copy photos and physically cut & paste photos to fit into the squares. It was just a bit more stream-lined & quicker to do it on the computer. Then I just painted, cut, glued while watching Ellen & Oprah.

And this is what they look like:

P.S. I've successfully failed to upload the template, so I'm going to give up and get this posted!

P.P.S. To check out all the other creative artists who are participating, go to Margot's blog for a listing.

Heart of God

Sit in the heart of God and know

that the LOVE you feel

is not seperate from who you are.

Open your heart

not to receive

but to fill up

from the wellspring

that is your soul.

It is your Light,

it is the Light

of the Holy ONE

that merges within,

until there is no boundary

between flesh and Spirit.

You are the LOVE

you seek.

PERSPECTIVE & EXPECTATIONS

A couple years ago I was in Florida and I did the sightseeing thing at NASA. I learned some interesting facts unrelated to rockets. Did you know eagles nests can be so big they can fit a mattress? The tour bus rode by one that was 20 feet deep!

Anyway, back to rockets. They had this AWESOME, authentic retro living room set up with a TV to show how the homes of America looked while watching the launch on TV. I saw a sign that said, "Touch a piece of the moon! Authentic rock from the moon." Well. I was excited. Because I'm a fan of rocks, anyway. And a MOON rock! YAY, me!

And the signs and banners were *everywhere* HUGE. EVERYWHERE.

TOUCH A PIECE OF THE MOON!!! AUTHENTIC MOON ROCK IN THE SUCH 'N' SUCH ROOM!!!

YAAAAAAAAAY! A moon rock!!!

And here it is:

See, I was expecting a rock. A ROCK.

This. This is not a rock. It's a sliver. A slice. A piece. A chip. So instead of a rock, I got something even better. A laugh. This picture makes me SMILE. Everytime. Oh yeah, and I saw some rockets. They were HUGE.

Quote-of-the-Day

"Begin each day as if it were on purpose."

~Mary Anne Radmacher

I got this quote from a catalogue at Mum's, on the cover of this book called Lean Forward into Your Life. It's on my LIST to read. Happy Monday! :-) H.

Day of Rest

I joined NaBlopomo inspired by Marmite Breath blogger, Nat. All you had to do was post everyday for the month of November. Which I did, since I was posting daily anyway. I didn't mean to take yesterday off, I was at Mum's and her internet service was down so I couldn't post. Anyway, am back in the wilderness now. I'm going to read the paper, make some pumpkin bread and be lazy. And then I'm going to take a nap. Back tomorrow. :-) H.