T-shirts

Mum & I are babysitting my nieces. I told one when she started whining that I couldn't understand her because I don't speak Whinese. But I do. We all do. I aspire not to, tho. It's so much easier to complain than to do something to change the circumstances. Anyway, this shirt says it all, and it's something my brother would wear. His favourite one is "Area Man." As in, Area Man wins lottery or Area Man robs train. Both he & my SIL were physics majors. I got him a T-shirt one year that said, Protons have mass? I didn't even know they were Catholic. Hahaha So we have a busy day of sandboxing it and celebrating my chiro-sister's b-day.YAY!!!

*Free* Teleconference Tonight!

America's Best Known Hypnotist and author of Grasshopper Notes, John Morgan is doing another teleconference tonight! The last one was awesome with people from around the country. If you've had questions about hypnosis or if you have a specific issue you'd like to address, here's your chance:

A FREE HYPNOSIS SESSION with John Morgan Tonight, May 29th at 9 PM Eastern Daylight Time. Call 712-451-6000 about 20 minutes early. Enter the code 642177# when prompted. Please tell your friends who have always wanted to try hypnosis about this FREE session tonight.

HERE’S WHAT TO EXPECT:
John Morgan will conduct a question and answer session at the beginning of the call.
Next, he will guide you through a 12 minute written exercise designed to zero in on your goal.
Finally, John will guide you through his legendary Calm & Collected Hypnosis Session.

REQUIREMENTS:
A willingness to learn something new.
A note pad and a pencil or pen to do the zeroing in written exercise.
Wear comfortable clothing and be in quiet place in your home where you won’t be disturbed for an hour.

We look forward to having you on the call on TONIGHT at 9PM EDT.

Ornament Thursday: INSECTICA

I knew immediately what I'd be featuring for this month's OT. For Christmas, I made Grasshopper Quote cards for the creator of Grasshopper Notes, John Morgan (also my boss and friend). My mother is also a huge fan, so for Mother's Day, I made her Grasshopper Quote cards, too. Here's the bag I sewed to hold the cards. I printed the image of the grasshopper onto T-shirt transfer paper & then ironed on to the fabric.


You could do this with any favourite quotes. I used Publisher and created a template to put the quotes, and then I made the back of the cards with the picture of the grasshopper.

I painted a plain white box with green acrylic paints, and glued an image I printed of the grasshopper onto card stock. I liked "Grasshopper Quotes" because it rhymes with Grasshopper Notes, and because I write my favourite quotes on sticky notes and post them on the wall where my desk is.

Click here for links to the rest of the talented OT gang!

On the Road

I'm heading out of town for a coupla weeks. My brother & SIL are in Scotland so I'm babysitting with Mum...or as one of my sibs calls it, "GranAnne Bootcamp." (GranAnne is her "grandma" name). Toys SHALL be put away! Hahaha Bro says that I'm the favourite auntie of one of the nieces because I give massages-- but I think he was saying that to butter me up. Anyway, after that, it's on to a few days with Jerry Stocking.

I'm not sure how regular postings will be, but I will do my best.

Day of Rest

Isn't this a great invitation? Welcome to our church. Now sit over on the left so we can be sure you're not one of us. We need heathens on the left, believers on the right.

Am I the only one who thinks of something completely different when it comes to the word "contest?" Thank you, Seinfeld. You're the BEST, Jerry!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

Yesterday GSF Bess & I scoured through a bin of postcards at an antique shop. Bess found this one sent in 1961. Love the bathing caps! It was to Mrs. Ernest Martin of Brooklyn, NY. & says:

Dear Ann: Hope I have not sent duplicate cards. This is the view from my porch. Enjoying every minute and working hard to keep below 140 lbs. Madge

Yes, of course made me think of another Madge. Have a swell weekend, everyone!

Woodshed Woes

Fisherman Willie says to be careful & watch out for snakes when I restack the logs. Yeah, THAT'S happening. Hahaha This reminds me of that T-shirt~

Gravity: not just a theory, it's THE LAW.

Hehhh...stoopid gravity. I think it may have had some help from a squirrel. Yesterday I saw one on my back porch the size of a small beagle. Ah, country livin'.

Flow

Fisherman Willie on the Shenandoah

There's a saying that
you never step in the same river twice
because the water is constantly flowing.
Connecting to the flow of life
guides you to your destination
without the struggle and hardship.
It is the power
not the forcing
that creates your dream
Merrily, merrily, merrily....

Quantum Change

Einstein knew that every cell in the body generates an electromagnetic field, and that energy is a common denominator in the functioning of every aspect of the human body. Einstein and other physicists sensed, however, that there is a universal energetic underpinning, something bigger that serves as an organizing causal agent…[Lynn McTaggart] summarizes recent discoveries by writing that we live in “one vast quantum field,” an energetic living matrix in which “we are constantly exchanging information”—with each other, with the field, and throughout the field. This, she believes, is why ancient healing traditions were and are so effective: healers access the energetic living matrix to help people balance their electromagnetic field. ~Chloe Wordsworth

Chloe is the creator of Resonance Repatterning and author of Quantum Change Made Easy. She has had a profound impact on my life and the lives of all her students world-wide. I’m so excited to be reading her book and to know that her work is going to a broader audience.

Many of the healing modalities I use come directly from Chloe’s teaching. Harmonic overtone chanting, breathing exercises, coloured light therapy to name a few. Why does one modality work on one person and not the other? Why can a person go from this to that and then FINALLY they discover X (acupuncture, tuning forks, fill-in-the-blank) and they are healed? Chloe says it’s because all healing modalities are perfect when they’re the right one. Resonance Repatterning teaches a simple system of kinesiology for being able to identify quickly what healing modality is appropriate for that particular issue.

The beauty of Resonance Repatterning is that it works in person or if you’re on the other side of the planet. (Think Quantum Field, we’re all connected, yada yada). On Monday morning, my boss John Morgan, called me to have me cancel his radio interview for that day. He was in the middle of passing a kidney stone—altho he managed to do his first interview through it! Anyway, I did some healing modalities for him and he was going to the doctor. A couple hours later, I walked to the post box and Chloe had sent me her book. I opened it and asked the question: What do I need to do for John right now? I turned to page 136:

Two students have reported doing Resonance Repatterning sessions on themselves to identify the pattern underneath the symptom of their painful kidney stones…The modality both practitioners needed for their individual patterns turned out to be tuning forks. They needed different notes and they needed to move the tuning forks over different areas—one over the pelvis and the other over the kidney area.

Now. I had done tuning forks on acupuncture points for John earlier. But reading that last bit, I took my proxy teddy bear and did a tuning fork around him. I could feel the energy of the stone shifting as I sensed a yellowish cloud disperse from the back of the kidney area. John was asleep during this, and when I was finished, I went down to the river with Fisherman Willie. My work was done. When John woke up, he passed the stone. He is on the mend, and garnered some new stories to tell. Always the BEST!

If you’re interested in learning more about Resonance Repatterning, I invite you to check out a class. It’s a wonderful tool for self-healing as well as for working with others. And if you ever have the opportunity to study with Chloe, GO. Even if you take the same class with her again and again, you will learn something new. I have taken her (acupuncture) Meridians class 3 (or 4?) times, and I get a deeper appreciation of this work each time. THANK YOU, Chloe. MUCH, MUCH, LOVE, :-) H.

Gone Fishin'

I have successfully failed to upload fabulous photos. Stoopid Blogger. In the meantime, here's the story:

Yesterday, Fisherman Willie stopped by and we went down to the river. It was our first fishing-of-the-season. He was getting the poles out of the car and inspecting them. He looked at the handle of one and said, "Lessee...does this one have OLP on it?" I'm looking at it, trying to see the writing and he grins and says, "You know, OLP--Old Lady Pole." Hahahaha He's a kidder. While I was lollygagging, John Morgan was busy birthing a kidney stone. Ouch. He wrote a really great post about his experience about bad hypnosis. I'll be back tomorrow with my own experience of Kidney Stone Day.

Relax Dammit

It’s a running joke in my family that if anyone says “relax,” it is automatically followed with a “dammit.” It’s an unfortunate anchor related to my chiropractic father. He was really wonderful with friends and patients, but when it came to his family…there would come a point where his impatience won out, and as he was adjusting us, he would say, “Relax, dammit.”

I’ve had the opportunity to be working at the Mimslyn spa, where we offer couples massages. Basically you’re massaging two people in the same room. It eases the nervousness some people might feel receiving their first massage. This most often refers to husbands who are strong-armed into getting a massage.

"What you need is a massage."

As a massage therapist, I really believe almost every BODY can benefit from a massage. Bruce Lipton says that 95% of disease is related to stress. We hold that stress and tension in our bodies and massage is a great way to release it. When you feel better, you do better. That said, I’ve seen a husband dragged to a weekend get-away (and end up on my table) because his wife said he needed to relax. Dammit. He wanted to stay home and watch Tiger playing golf. I am confident he did receive benefits from the massage, but will that cancel out the resentment towards his wife for missing Tiger?

Most recently, a well-meaning sibling scheduled a massage for a brother on his wedding day because he needed to relax. The poor boy. He’d never had a massage, didn’t want a massage but was there under obligation. Yikes! Keep your shirt on—and the rest of everything. I did a percussor session with him and we chatted a bit. I did work that tension out of his shoulders. And by the end of our session, he was relaxed. :-) Dammit.

It’s v. easy for other people to tell us what we need. [Read with Dr. Phil voice] I’ll tell you what YOU should do, you should _______.

Sometimes we can offer a different perspective. And sometimes we *should* on other people according to our own values and preferences with advice that is most often unsolicited. That’s when we cross the boundary into Relaxdammit Land.

Now shut up and get on the massage table. hahaha

Day of Rest: Cows

Ahhh...cows, you might be thinking. Or not.

Perhaps your only association with them is eating them. Or not.

I think they're rather sweet and I pass by a herd on the way to 'n' from the wilderness. Happy Sunday. :-) H.

Sweetness

These are the beautiful flowers from the locust tree. They line my road and permeate the air with a delicious sweetness. When I was growing up, my father kept bees. Locust honey was a family favourite--so YUMMY. I wish you sweetness on this glorious spring day. :-) H.

Interprelation

Imagine the daffodil saying to the crocus, “The only reason you bloom before me every year is so you can get the attention of the other flora and bees and show off.” ~John Morgan

This is a quote from John’s blog yesterday. He was writing about the meaning we ascribe to events. We can laugh at it because it’s about flowers. It loses it laugh-appeal when you replace flowers with people, and becomes a bit more...serious.

Here’s a for instance:
I was watching a young mother with her 14-month-old daughter. We were in a living room and the baby was doing what babies do: crawling all over and exploring. She had already been banned from the child-sized chair. (NO! said Mama with a pat-on-the-ass on the third time). Baby then discovered the video shelf and began to pull a video…NO! Mama said. She pulled her away from the videos and took her across the room and set her down. Now, what do you think Baby did? That’s right. Back over to the videos. Again with the NO & back across the room. I lost count of how many times this happened, but what I found curious was what Mama said after one of these episodes.

She’s doing it just to defy me. She knows I don’t want her to go over there.

Really? I am the last person to judge other’s parenting patterns. We all come in with our karma, and barring torture, it is not my place to tell people how to parent. Unless they ask, which Mama didn’t.

So I laughed. She did not think it was funny. I said, “Do you really think that’s what she’s thinking? What if she sees shiny new things to explore and discover? That’s what babies do…they crawl around and explore and put everything in their mouths and that’s how they learn. I don’t think her brain is sophisticated enough to calculate an action just to defy you.” (So much for not giving my opinion)!

It doesn’t matter the event, it’s how we interpret it. This event = this meaning. For Mama, her baby’s behaviour means defiance. Unfortunately, she’s setting up that pattern. She will insist that Baby do x NOW, do x her way or stop doing x NOW…and eventually, what choice has she given Baby? And it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy where Mama can say in later years, “She was always a defiant child. Had to have her own way. Wouldn’t listen to me.” Yikes.

Mamas don’t let yourselves grow up to be daffodils.

Weeds

My Gardener Brother H came to visit yesterday with Mum. He brought tomato plants and Echinacea plants for me. He ooh-aahed about my soil (from the river-- the BEST, Jerry!) When they first arrived, Mum commented on my plants in the window. She keeps telling me I need to repot some. See the apparently-crowded ones from my friend Nadine on the right? Yeah, those.

And then she asked what the dead thing was. “It’s the basil plant and it’s not dead. It still has a few sprigs,” I said. “What’s that thing growing next to it?” Mum says.

Now. I have to say that it was a little whisp of a thing when I first brought it in, and I’m not the best when it comes to houseplants. But I've managed to keep everything alive and I have enjoyed watching this whatever-it-is grow.

“It’s a tree.” I turned to my bro: “Do you know what kind it is? It’s really taken off.” He did not. Any tree leaf identifiers out there?

“Well. You need to get that out of there,” says Mum with authority.
I turned to my-brother-the- expert. “When should I repot it?”
Mum says, “Repot? It’s a weed!”
“Mum, it’s not a weed, it’s a tree.”
“Well it was a weed until you let it keep growing!”

Interesting. It made me think about the nature of weeds. What is a weed? A weed is something out of place. That’s all. A field full of dandelions is acceptable in a cow pasture. Joe Homeowner is not so welcoming. How many of us feel like weeds in our own lives? Perhaps it’s because you’re trying to fit in to someone else’s garden. Or perhaps you’ve outgrown your pot and it’s time to go to a bigger pot OR transplant yourself into the Big Garden.

So the question is: What kind of garden do you want to plant yourself in? Some people want the structure of a formal garden. Some people want an English garden with winding paths and sweet surprises around the corner. Some people want a rain forest. There are so many gardens, and the beauty of it is: You get to choose which garden you live in surrounded by which plants.

Yes, you do.

Many Busy's

I've been working on a new blog for the Mims. It will be a collaborative effort with the wonderful gals I work with & focus on massage and spa thingies. It's not ready for the Big Reveal yet...I was just on the phone with DJ Bruce who is a big fan of my boss John Morgan because John used to be his boss when they worked together in Providence. John had an illustrious career in radio before he got into the hypno biz. Part of my job includes setting up interviews for John on the radio station morning shows. In January when we have 3 teams around the country, it requires me to do a bit of Time Zone math (YIKES!), and John can be on the phone for 3 hours across 3 time zones. Anyway, it's nice when I meet radio people who know John because then they're excited to talk with him. A token 5 minutes becomes, "I'll try to keep the interview to 20." And no matter who I'm talking to, they all say the same thing: He tells the best stories. Yes, he does.
And then we swap a few favourites...

DJ Bruce asked how close I was to John. I told him we gab on the phone everyday, but that I'm in VA & he's in RI. I didn't go into more detail than that (really, who's heard of LOO-ray?), but here's a shot of my house. Right there. In the middle. Of nowhere. :-) H.

A New Experience

I was on my way back to the homestead and I took a detour off the off-road to the overlook behind my house. It's an AWESOME view of the mountains and river. See that little patch of field in the lower left hand corner? Well. I heard a yelling coming from that direction. What is that? I wondered. Then I heard it again somewhere in the woods. And THEN!

Then I saw this:

Cows running in single file across the field toward the yelling. Now I know what cow-calling sounds like and why they have contests at the county fair. Altho, to be fair, they should be judged by cows. Likewise for pig-calling. Cool, huh?

Mum on Mother's Day

Mum reads her card about raising us on health food. Hahahaha!

Yesterday after massages at the Mims, I popped over to Mum's to give her some sweet purpley mums and The Grasshopper Quote card set that I made for her. [Side note here: I'm deliberately not showing the details of it because it will be featured in this month's Ornament Thursday blogpost]. Suffice it to say, Mum's a huge Grasshopper Notes fan and prints out John's blog posts to give to friends & coworkers. So I knew it would be a great surprise for her. She'll be passing the cards around to her nurse-aide students today. :-) H.

Day of Rest: Mother's Day

First Day of Advent, December 2007

You appreciate your mother most when you are faced with children your own. I got an instant family of 2 boys when I got married. I’m standing in Son#2’s room and I said, “I can’t see your floor.” OMG. Who said that??? I’m channeling my mother! My sibs and I will all marvel: How did Mum do this with 6 children??? On my 7th birthday, we moved from California to Virginia in a van: 4 1/2 children: one potty-training, one in diapers and the fifth child on the way!

Some people say that we remember our lives in moments. When I think of Mum, I remember those special moments of celebrations and family gatherings. More than that, I think of those days of ordinariness; the daily rituals & routines that I did with my step-sons and that I see my sibs recreating with their own children—things like bedtime with stories, cooking together, and eating family meals together. What Mum did with us seems like such a rare commodity today: she gave us her time and attention. Even with 6 of us, she managed to create stability and structure. She never had to say she cared. It was her caring for us that was evident. It was the activities she orchestrated like polishing the silver together or covering our books at the beginning of the school year. Winter days where Mum had made proper slow-cooked porridge over night on the stove. Summer trips to the library.

We grow up learning without knowing we’re learning what is important in life. And here it is: Learning new things is fun and adds spice to life.

There’s no use in complaining about doing an unpleasant task; just do it and then it’s done.

Read books: for new knowledge, for entertainment, to relax.

Limit TV time.

Sugar, candies & desserts are for special occasions. It’s not a treat if you do it all the time.

Take care of yourself and your environment.

Brush everyday and floss.

Eat together as a family.

Dothings together: not just the fun stuff, but the daily chores like raking leaves or cleaning the house.

Ignorance is not an excuse: learn.

YOU CAN DO IT—no matter what “it” is.

THANKS, MUM. I am SO GRATEFUL and proud to be your daughter. LOVE, :-) Hal.

XM Radio Guys

View off my front porch. Still raining.

Two of my favourite people are on XM today:

The first is CELEBRATED cell biologist, Bruce Lipton. He's talking to Bob Greene, Oprah's trainer. O.M.G. So I just realized I've had another Blonde Moment with the Time Zone Math. *sigh* He's on at 11 a.m. PST = 2 p.m. EST, right? Yikes & duh. OK, check out Bruce Lipton...and tell Oprah you want him on her show...now, moving on...

The second person is XM Radio Guy, Bill Hutton. Here's what it says on the XM site about him:

Bill Hutton, Program Director

Bill Hutton is the incompetent seat filler behind Lucy - XM 54. Born to a poor sharecropper in the Dust Bowl of the '30s, he learned to fake his own death for insurance money by the time he was 10. Hutton began working in radio as a way to steal records in 1967. By showing no talent whatsoever, he was immediately promoted to general manager and developed such forgetful radio gimmicks as "Thirsty Mondays," "Soiled Gym Socks For Seniors," and "Guess What I Just Swallowed." In 2001, Hutton was given a job at XM as part of a settlement with XM's parent company.

Hahahaha! But seriously, I kid. At first glance, you may think these two have nothing in common. Here is the common thread in both: they have a committment to living a life of JOY. And they are both v. funny people. If you're a fan of alternative music, and even if you're not, you can check out The Bill Hutton Show tonight on XM 54 at 9 p.m. EST.

P.S. No, really, that's the right time!

Lushly Green & Growing

I am tempted to say that I am in monsoon season. It has been raining raining raining! So far the river hasn’t crossed my road, so I can still get out. I am surrounded by the lush green forest teaming with life. The fragrance of locust blossoms perfumes the air and there is an everpresent symphony of bird songs and squirrel chatter. I have been asked by a few people if I get scared living out here by myself where there are bears and coyotes and butterflies. No. I grew up like this, roaming the woods of an old boyscout camp. Besides, I am my mother’s daughter.

I am reminded of attending a Holographic Repatterning conference (now called Resonance Repatterning) in Sedona 4 years ago. I was sitting in a group of women and one was saying how she grew up with a mother who would say, "Life is a jungle out there." It was a glorious illustration of what Bruce Lipton was teaching in his Biology of Belief seminar (which we had all just attended). There are 2 states we can live in: fear/protection OR joy/growth. It’s an either/or, you can’t do both at the same time. What drives those states are our beliefs and other-than-conscious patterns. So the mother viewed her life through belief goggles of fear. I said, “What some people call a ‘jungle,’ others call a rainforest.” She took a breath…and smiled…and relaxed. “Oh. I never thought of it that way.”

That week in Sedona was the beginning of my yearning to live a more conscious life. Bruce said, “I woke up one morning and decided to live my life in nothing less than joy.” I decided that was a belief worthy of adoption! If you’ve not had the opportunity to see or hear him speak, you can catch him on XM 156 on the Bob Green Show tomorrow at 8 a.m. EST (I’m sure they’ll be replaying it later in the week). If you don’t have XM, you can sign up for a *FREE* month here. We are one step closer to getting him on Oprah. You can go to her website and write Oprah to help make that happen!

P.S. Blogger is not allowing me to upload lovely photo of v. green scenery. Hehhh...stoopid Blogger. Will try again later.... :-) H.

The Real F-Word

Church sign on Main St. in Luray.

OK. So don't you think that with a name like Pastor Jolley, that the only alternative F-word has to be...FUN? Hahahahahahaha!

Snail Rock

This is a rock I painted when I was 12. My mother has kindly packed it through several moves and it always sits in her kitchen window. Looks v. labyrinthian and is a glimpse into my future rock-painting endeavors...finding a rock and looking at the shape and letting that be the guide for how it evolves.

And speaking of turtles, this is a joke I first heard from Paul McCartney (in an interview. It wasn't like we were having tea or anything).

A turtle mugged a snail. At the police station, the police officer says, "Tell me what happened." And the snail replies, "I don't know. It all happened so fast."

Hahahahaha! It's all perspective, innit?

A Serving of Eckhart

One of my favourite diners in WV on Rt. 340--awesome sweet potato fries! Food-related photo explained below because one always thinks of diners when pondering consciousness in the world of Eckhart Tolle.

Last night was Eckhart's last webinar with Oprah. He was talking about being present in whatever you're doing and he used the example of a waiter. It sparked a memory of my first lunch with John Morgan. We were at Applebee's (or Crapplebee's as my brother says) and John asked the waitress for a napkin. When she returned to the table, she tossed the napkin at him and had turned around before it hit the table. He did a v. funny imitation of her, which of course she missed. She did all the waitress things: she took our orders, served our drinks, brought our food. All without any lifeforce behind it. It was a glorious illustration of lack of presence. Conversely, on our way to St. Johnsbury, we stopped at a v. quaint trolley-car-turned-restaurant and had a whole happy dining experience. The food was just regular food, but the waitress was SO nice; we laughed & swapped from-a-big-family stories. She was there.

I see why Eckhart calls it The Power of Now. In our culture of multi-tasking, our attention is divided and our energy dispersed. When you pull your energy from the past and future, you have ALL of it for the present moment. In that moment, you find stillness and are connected to the Source. And then you allow that lifeforce to live through you instead of struggling to force things to happen.

Let's Talk About Death, Baby...

Me & chiro-sister Ruthie basking in the wisteria-infused air. GSF Alaria below:

Yesterday I attended the death midwifery workshop hosted by my friend Paula-of-Overall. She has a BEAUTIFUL home and center. Everything about Paula says WELCOME, and it was the perfect spring day on top of it.

So here are the basics of the seminar:

Just like we birth into the world, we birth out of it. Joellyn didn’t say it exactly like that, but that’s the gist of it. And just as we have a midwife to assist (if you’re lucky, you’d have my mother), we have someone at the end to facilitate our exit. Basically, it’s a matter of being present with the person and honoring whatever spiritual beliefs s/he has.

This class was for the very beginner who has no hospice experience. Chiro-sister Ruthie, Mum & I have all been hospice volunteers and have gone through extensive training. My GSF Alaria actually worked for Elisabeth Kubler-Ross back in the ‘80’s. So we were sort of waiting for the next part, but it didn’t really come. Still, we had fun—mostly at Mum’s expense. We were all gathered around in a circle with Joellyn demonstrating how she works with a client. Have I mentioned just how FUNNY my sister is? And when the 2 of us get together…anyway, Joellyn starts by putting on harp music. Mum turns around and gives us the eye-rolling I hate harp music LOOK. Ruthie gestures back, Oh, you’re totally getting harps on your death bed! [Side note here: ‘member that scene from Friends where Phoebe is leading Monica to her Happy Place and she says, “Just listen to the plinky plunky music…”]

Then Joellyn said that it’s important not to have lyrics in the music. So I started singing to Ruthie, You’re gonna die…and she sings back, It sucks to be you…

Joellyn told a story about working with a gang-banging assassin. She was making the point that it's important not to have judgement towards the person you're working with. Everyone needs someone to be there for them and often times people are alone. She was also pointing out the importance of staying grounded and present in this work. My mother raises her hand and in her most-proper-Queen’s-English says, “What if you don’t want to work with assassins?" Hahahahahaha! Ruthie whispers to me, Oh you’re getting harps and assassins, Mum!

On the serious side (and that was pretty much the tone for the most part, except of course for the Smartass Sisters) I thought about Dave Dobson, and the work he did in hospitals with burn patients and teaching pain alleviation techniques. I could hear him ask me, What would you do if you were in a hospital with a patient? Gain rapport Other-than-consciously and ask what s/he needs. So attending this workshop was a real inspiration to look into volunteering my time at the local hospital…

After we left the seminar, on the way back to Mum’s for tea, we stopped at Skymont where we grew up. She’s just across the road on the east side of it. I’m just across the river on the west side. So we walked around reminiscing. We took a few pictures—GORGEOUS. And I found my first 4-leaf clover of the season. Yay, me! All-in-all, a v. fun day!

Day of Rest: Death Midwifery Workshop

Death whaaaaaat? Death midwifery??? you may v. well be thinking. Well. My friend Paula-of-Overall is hosting this workshop. Having trained with hospice and being a hypnobirthing instructor, it sounded like fun. This is your idea of FUN, Hali??? Yeah, well. Mum has worked both sides of the spectrum and has always said that people die like they're born. Some people have an easy birth; quick and painless. Others are labored and drawn out. So we're off for a day of...um, whatever. My chiro-sister & fellow Ericksonian/hypnobirther Alaria are joining us. Woo-hoo!

Out of Pocket

To: XM Radio Guy
Knoxville Radio Guy
Youngstown Radio Guy
Carmax Computer Guy
My Website Guy

Cc: Purple Cow Guy
Grasshopper Notes Guy

Favourite latest buzzword (from Albany Radio Guy): Out of pocket.

e.g. I've been out of pocket these past two days, I was at a funeral. (direct quote)

Really? Are you back in pocket? What else are your pockets doing?

Re: Out of Pocket
From: Carmax Guy

Ha ha...we say "out of pocket" at CarMax too. We also "spin up" tacticals (small projects). Sometimes I'll say things like,"Sorry Gary, I can't spin up any new tacticals because I'll be in Atlanta and out of pocket all week."I dig corpspeak

Today I'm OOP with many busy's, back tomorrow. ;-) H.

Down My Road

Red bud trees in bloom.

I've been traveling quite a bit down my road. I clocked it: 8 miles of gravel 'n' dirt to the paved road. Then another 7 to the main road. Depending on the weather gods and Farmer Joe on his tractor, it takes about 40 minutes to get into town.

Working for John Morgan has given me the luxury of working from home, so that I don't have to driiiiiiiive everyday. The seminar season is winding down for the summer, and I've been doing massage therapy at the Mimslyn's new spa as well as doing outcalls for the Victorian Inn. I have been to Luray more in the past month than I have in the prior 10 months. With that, I've gotten to become a bit more familiar with my road. Here's the thing about taking a new direction:

It always seems longer in the beginning than it actually is, only because it's new. Once you've traveled it a few times, you get to know what to expect. The road will change according to weather conditions, but you get to choose how to respond. It's OK to delay an outing if the roads are icey--sometimes it's not the right time. Nothing is worth the risk of sliding off the mountain side.

Sometimes you'll meet something unexpected; yesterday there was a v. long black snake in the middle of the road. I didn't want to drive over it, so I got out and got a branch to coax it along. It recoiled and was going to strike. Crikey!!! But it recoiled out of the way so that I could drive past it. I think it attacked my tire as I drove by, but that was my outcome. To drive by without hurting the snake (after all, it was just doing what a snake does) and without getting myself hurt. Perhaps I would not be so brave if it were poisonous.

Sometimes emergencies arise, so you deal with them then and there. Last week there was a horse trotting down the middle of the road, so I called 911. I met Buddy walking down the road who told me that the horses often escape and walk along the road. Good to know. Expect the unexpected.

Through the seasons, there is always the opportunity for stillness and gratitude. It's a GLORIOUS drive down my road. So BEAUTIFUL. Even though I have a perma-frosting of dirt on my car, I am grateful for the nature that surrounds me.

HAPPY May Day!

In the month of May we gather the flowers

to garland in our hair.

We sisters walk hand-in-hand

going to the fair.

Petticoats rustle

in hustle and bustle

as we make it down the lane

We laugh in good cheer

with each other for fun

and merriment for a day.