Every Day is Halloween

On Saturday Night, I always email XM Radio Guy & request The Goo Goo Dolls. He always plays The Cure. But this Sat. p.m. he played my request; the Boppy Song a.k.a. Everyday is Halloween by Ministry:

I dress this way

just to keep them at bay

cuz Halloween is everyday

hay-hay-hay

Boom boom boppy boppy boom boom

It's one of those Death Rock anthems. You see, Billy. Back in my day we called it Death Rock. You youngsters these day call it Goth.

3 sisters.

Around about this time, Mum would say to me, Oh, Halimah. You're so beautiful on the inside, why cahn't you look like that on the outside? This was interchanged with the other phrase, Oh, what a surprise. You're wearing black.

But as you can see, she has a sense of humour:


She let us dress her up.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Pattern Interrupts

Dave Dobson used to say that everything is patterns. We have productive ones & less-than-productive ones. Useful & non-useful. Bruce Lipton says that for the first 2 years of life, our brain waves are predominantly delta waves--that v. deep, unconscious state. It's a time when we soak up learning--and patterns, at a rapid rate. Eric Jensen says in Brain-based Learning that the brain needs to feel safe before it can really learn. Credit that to the only part of our brain that is fully formed at birth: the amygdala [uh-MIG-duh-la] It records everything.

Which brings us back to Dave: the primary concern of the unconscious mind (Other-Than-Conscious, as he called it) is to keep us safe. Patterns develop as a safety mechanism. And then we run them like a computer runs a program. OR:

They run us.

What do you do when you become aware of a pattern that you find less than elegant? Dave said there are no good or bad patterns. They all had a purpose at one point in time. All you need to do is to update the pattern. John Morgan says that awareness is the first step in creating a wedge between stimulus & response (pattern). And then you do something to interrupt the pattern. When I was training with Doug O'Brien in Ericksonian hypnosis, he used a v. simple pattern interrupt. He would say, Do you golf?

I have been looking at the pattern of how I make decisions. Or, to be more accurate, how I don't make decisions. I have created a sense of urgency where there needn't be one. It's something that I'm becoming aware of. It's something I need to update.

Perhaps I should take up golf.

Laugh. Dance. Vote.

XM Radio Guy sent this video to me yesterday. [On the original, it featured my name where it says "Undefined." Apparently I have embedded incorrectly; anyway, you get the point--imagine your name splashed up there.] It's so funny & it's v. appropriate because you know, I registered on the LAST day. Thank you, Ellen. I don't consider myself a political person. Eh, voting. It's like pumpkin pie; I can take it or leave it. Yeah, it's just like that, Hali. I've never been all RAH-RAH about any candidate. I liked Charlotte Pritt when she ran for governor of WV, but that was because she was a friend-of-sorts. But in general, I hate politics. It's just a lot of BLAH BLAH BLAH. From office politics to the GUBerment, they just annoy me. And if I need to know anything about politics, Jon Stewart & Stephen Colbert will tell me. But then. Then! I thought about the election and who I'd want to see in the White House, and then I thought I'd better DO something. And I'm in a swing state. Sh-wing! So this is my doing something. I registered. I shall vote. Suddenly, I'm all RAH-RAH about the BLAH BLAH BLAH. I get it. I get the excitement and the hope and the fear. Oh, I feel so grown up. I've got my big girl panties on. I'm ready to rock-the-vote!

P.S. If you'd like to customize the above video for your friends, click here.

*Inspiration*

While you’re here, stay locked in the shed.
Enjoy this wonderful isolation, with no responsibility but to improve yourself.
But when you leave here, head to the business aisle of the bookstore and start reading a book a week about entrepreneurial things like marketing.
Never underestimate the importance of making money making music.
Let go of any weird taboos you have about it.
Money is nothing more than neutral proof that you’re adding value to people’s lives.
Making sure you’re making money is just a way of making sure you’re doing something of value to others.
Remember that this usually comes from doing the things that most people don’t do. ~Derek Sivers, 6 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Berklee

I love this guy! He could be talking about anything, but his passion goes through the door of music. He's the creator of CD Baby where you can buy my CD's. He's created a life doing what he loves and is such an inspiration to aspiring artists. AWESOME. Here's his whole speech:

Have a GREAT day! :-) H.

Down my road on Sat. Oops! Horses!
Part of the 7 miles of dirt road I travel out into the world.

I woke up with a smile this a .m. and feeling v. rested. Aaaaahhhhhh...so nice. My motto is

A merrie heart maketh glad the day.

I have a new one:

When you feel better, you do better.

Because it's true: You really DO do better when you feel better. I watch this transformation after I've led a guided meditation or given a massage. We are such a frenzied, stressed-out society. Especially in these economically, politically turbulent times. Get a massage. Meditate. Take time to BREATHE. Or do all 3 with Virtual Massage. ;-) Have a GREAT day!

Day of Rest: Swangin'

This a.m.'s view. Did I mention I'm in a swing state? Oh, yes. And I plan to swing. East coast, West coast, Benny Goodman and beyond. Have a BEAUTY-ful day! :-) H.

I have successfully failed to upload this a.m. It's been raining v. hard & the satellite rebels against all that drippy wetness. Here's a shot of the river from a coupla days ago:

This is Neighbor Dave's lot next to Fisherman Willie's.

See the postbox on the far left with the duct tape? Guess who's. A branch fell on it and Neighbor Dave asked me if I wanted to replace it. I said duct tape would fix it. Really? he asked. Yes, because it's funnier. When I went down to check my post, he had repaired it. My dad used to say that if there were a nuclear war, the things that would survive would be cockroaches & marachino cherries. And now we can add my postbox.

So I joined Facebook. And I'm still figuring stuff out. A message on my wall? What? A note to my Facebook friends (all 3 of you): Thanks for your patience. ;-)

Chop Wood, Carry Water

What do you do before enlightenment?

Chop wood, carry water.

What do you do after enlightenment?

Chop wood, carry water.

How do you impress my mother?

Stack wood

into shed.

Faithful readers may remember last winter's adventures with the wood stove. And the woodshed. I was debating whether to stay another winter. I really was. I'll just pop across the river & stay with Mum for the bleakest days...because toward the end of last season, after I thought I'd mastered the wood stove, it started not working. I couldn't get it to light, not even with Fisherman Willie's firestarters, and I just ended up with a giant smoke fest. Pioneer Sister M came to visit and built a fire for me with her 3 paltry sheets of newspaper & a smug There! That'll make a nice fire. She left, and her fire--well, it went up in smoke & that was all I got. I have a neighbor, Dave, who keeps the road navigable, the river lots clean & clear, and comes to my rescue when things break down.

Pioneer Sister's twigs and logs were still there when Neighbor Dave came to inspect the wood stove and give me a lesson on how to work it. It's v. complicated. It has a catalytic converter which I'd clogged up. The stove pipe was a chimney fire waiting to happen, so it's good I couldn't get it to light. Neighbor Dave cleaned out the stove pipe, taught me how to use the catalytic converter, explained that stupid damper to me and then brought his wood splitter over and split the heavier logs into more manageable pieces for me.

Now I'm nice and toasty. The wood stove heated up to 1200 degrees! I'm here for the winter. Not so bleak. THANKS, Dave!

BLESSED

I've had a headache all week. As much as I didn't want to drive anywhere, I finally reached my limit and scheduled an afternoon appointment with Dr. King in his Harrisonburg office yesterday. (Thank you, John for the little nudge). Physical pain is draining and distracting. I can get away from it with meditation, but at some point, I have to do the dishes, do my job, live a regular life & whatnot. So I started down my road . . .


. . . and as I was coming down my driveway, I was struck with the absolute BEAUTY. I've been reading Jill Bolte-Taylor's My Stroke of Insight. She talks about how during her stroke, her left-brain was silenced, and she had the most glorious sensation of being completely connected and ONE with the universe. I have had these experiences, as well. I got there through the door of migraine pain, because when you're in that much pain, where can you go?

So even as I'm going through this physical pain, the heavens are singing (well, actually it was the Goo Goo Dolls Yeah, you have become beautiful) and I'm feeling light-hearted as I'm driving down the road. And since I was going to the Big City, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to go to the DMV & get my official VA driver's lisence:

No, officer. I wasn't speeding.

So here's my previous WV photo:

Yikes.

4 years ago, it took me 3 months to renew my WV lisence. I was so sick, I couldn't get to the DMV. This was a couple months before I went to the Brimhall Clinic for the first time. I feel like I let a part of that painful past go yesterday. Even tho I had a headache this week, it was spit compared to what I experienced in the past. I'm so grateful for my life as it is now, in this moment. I'm so grateful for Dr. King adjusting me & getting my head back on straight! And I am so grateful, that no matter what, no matter how I'm feeling physically, that the presence of God is in me and around me and everywhere.

What a BLESSED life I am living.

Regrets

I'm finding myself having regrets. What I've noticed is that it's not about the things I've said or done. I've reconciled myself to those: made amends, learned the lessons, come to value the experience. No, it's the things I've NOT done. It has an it's-too-late-missed-opportunities vibe to it. These kind of regrets keep you tied to a past you think you should have had. I should have . . . .

Too late?
Too late for what?
Are you still alive?

It's never too late to learn something new.
It's never too late to open your heart.
It's never too late to let LOVE be your guide.
It's never too late to let life live you.
It's never too late.

Which is why I'm getting a tattoo. Hahahaha Kidding.

You Already Have It

This is a Grasshopper Quote from John Morgan. He likes to call my quote-of-the-day posts "hair wash days." Hahahaha He can't complain too much when I'm quoting him, right? But it is a hair wash day. And I'm in a daze with a headache. Hehhhhh . . . so most likely I'll driiiiiiiive to see Dr. King for an adjustment. Back tomorrow. :-) H.

Metaphors

Apologies for the lack of a Day of Rest post, yesterday. I had no internet yesterday, and then I was at the Mims doing massage. So happy Monday morning! Autumn is my favourite season--I know there are those lamenting summer's end, but I love the crispness to the air, and the BEAUTIFUL colours. My favourite trees are maple because the leaves can be multi-coloured on the same tree, and they are so vibrant. This is a tree at the Mims:


When I was taking Doug O'Brien's Ericksonian certification a few years ago, we had to create a metaphor around a problem or concern someone was having. We were in groups and one man said that he was sad because his mother was old and ill, and he was afraid. Have you ever said just the right thing at just the right moment, and your words are like a healing balm that soothes and comforts a person? This was not that. I don't remember what anyone else said, but I said, "It's kind of like a bowl of rotting fruit...." YIKES! His face crumpled and he said, "That's probably true." How do you back pedal that? I said, "No. It's not like that at all. It's like the seasons. Your mother is in autumn. Her leaves are turning and she's letting go, getting ready for winter. The tree doesn't rebel against autumn, the tree lives through its seasons." He took a breath and smiled and said, "Thank you." That is the power of metaphors.

I see hearts wherever I go.

It makes me think about the metaphors we have in our lives:
Life is . . . a game.
Life is . . . a battlefield.
Life is . . . a school.

Each one comes with its own beliefs and feelings and rules. What life do you choose to live?

Shirley Valentine

Mum & I went to see the play Shirley Valentine last night at the Five Rings Arts & Education Centre last night. AWESOME!!! A one woman play, wise & witty and superbly acted by Sally Anderson. Here's a quick quote, and then I'm on with the day. I'm booked at the Mims for massages.

"I have led such a little life, I have allowed myself to lead this little life when inside there is so much more. And it has all gone unused, and now it never will be. Why do we get all these feelings and dreams and hopes if we don't ever use them? That is how Shirley Valentine disappeared, she got lost in all this unused life."

Quote-of-the-Day : BEAUTY

Yesterday's sunrise. If you blink, you miss it.

Beauty is an ecstasy;

it is as simple as hunger.

~W. Somerset Maugham

Snuffy the Black-nosed Beagle

Today is Snuffy's birthday. Snuffy is John Morgan's v. cute beagle. He has reached celebrity status on his first CD cover of our newest release, Hypnosis for Dogs. Hypnosis for dogs? you may ask. Trance is not a phenomenon exclusive to us humans. If you've been looking for a way to calm your dog during a thunderstorm, or to deal with separation anxiety, this is the CD for you! It teaches you how to train your dog to relax with a simple command. There's a part that guides you through working with your dog. What's really cool about this is that John did some research into sound and then had a musician compose specific music to calm down brain waves into a relaxed alpha/theta state. Even cooler, is that he has a track that you can put on repeat to play while you're away.

Back to Snuffy. He has tricks. His most famous is Circus Dog. He tugs on his big rope and John says, "Do Circus Dog!" and then he twirls all the way around. Then everyone claps for him. It's v. funny and I hope it gets recorded and put on YouTube someday. It would be an instant hit. You can read more about Snuffy & his specialness from John's b-day blog post from last year. In the meantime,

Happy 5th Birthday, Snuffy!

Blah Blah Blah Brimhall

I'm back at the river house and so I'm slapping these photos up from the seminar. This is Dr. Tyran Mincey. I managed to capture him in his cowboy look this time!


There was a whole group of doctors up along the wall doing this exercise when Dr. Mincey walked in. So he tried it. You can see a bit of the laser to the right. Without getting too technical (really, as if I could!) it speeds up the healing process. It stimulates the mitochondria (energy factories) of the cell to produce more ATP (energy) in the cell. It really is the miracle tool. Great for injuries, pain & inflammation & a bevy of other symptoms. What could your cells do more of if they had more energy?

Lasering in different positions increases flexibility.

OK, on to Dr. Mincey's brother, Riley. He is one of the most positive people on the planet! When he was 2 months old, he had a botched needle procedure done on his leg and it got infected. They amputated starting at the knee and eventually they took his whole leg. They also wanted to take one of his arms. ????? Afterwards, everyone associated with the incident disappeared from the hospital. This was in 1968--can you imagine if that happened today? So this is Riley's little trick:

Hahahahahaha!

The seminar was sponsored by the Mincey Bros (Nutriwest PA) & was taught by Dr. Brett Brimhall. He's kind of a cross between his dad, (Dr. John) and Dan Murphy. The science stuff just flies off his tongue & sometime right over my head. But WOW! Awesome stuff!

Me & Dr. Brett

Chiro-sister Ruthie & Dr. Brett horsing around.

I learned a great new percussor technique from Dr. Cliffton Brady having to do with digestion and the colon. I worked on another doc there who had some shoulder pain. As I was working on him I was engulfed in a cloud of chlorine smell. He used to be a swimmer. Dr. Brady says that when you start doing percussor, you experience some pretty weird things. Yup. So it was a really great weekend--lots of learning and laughing. My favourite!

It always works out

I finally did it. I left my percussor behind in a hotel seminar room. It was a bit of a mad-dash-out-the-door, and there it sat under the table. Yikes! Thankfully I was going to lend it to chiro-sister Ruthie so I was looking for it when we were unloading her stuff into her car when we got back to Mum's.

Here's the thing, and it's just a belief I have, but it's useful:

It always works out.

No matter what "it" is. If I can't find the positive right away, I'll look harder. It's there waiting to be discovered. Everything has a lesson in it. [Like: where in the Land of Duh am I living that my cell phone number isn't scrawled all over it?!] There is no disaster that doesn't bring out the inherent goodness in people. Little ones, big ones, natural, man-made. People step up. Like Meaghan at the Hilton Harrisburg who's UPSing my percussor back to me. Worthy of a Borders gift card, don't you think?

And if I lost my percussor? Well then. I get the newer, smaller, quieter version. Eventually.

Road Trip

I'm back from my Brimhall weekend, but will wait to post about it until I can do pictures with the post. I'm at Mum's and don't have the ability to download my camera. However, I will say this: It was AWESOME. But it's not the just the seminar and the fact that I always learn something new, it's the whole package: It's getting to see old friends and new ones, too. It's the relief of having a quiet hotel room and sleeping well through the night. It's the laughs and the insights and the inspiration. It's all of that. It's the road trip with chiro-sister Ruthie. We had a blast rockin' out to the Goo Goo Dolls as we blazed up the highway. LET LOVE IN! We had my car GPS & Ruth's portable GPS AND mapquest directions just in case...and we made it there without getting lost. Mostly. Ruth pointed out that I'm a bit spazzy when I don't know where I'm going at first. It's true. I get a bit flustered, but then I'm OK. It reminds me of Dave Dobson who said that people's patterns come out when they're uncomfortable or stressed. You can use anything as a metaphor for your life; e.g. cars. How well do you take care of your car? How well do you take care of yourself? Do you take time to clean it out or do you shove stuff in the glove box and other nooks & crannies? What else do you stuff away and not deal with? Bills? Health issues? Emotions? Is your car clean on the outside and messy on the inside or both? How about your body? Do you pay meticulous attention to your appearance but eat junk food? What's the breaking point before you can't stand it anymore and have to clean? Do you have a breaking point?

How's your driving? Are you always late and speeding? How's your life? Do you take time or are you always on the go rushing here & there? Are you a curteous driver? How aware of other drivers are you? Do you let others in to your lane? Do you allow them to pass you or do you speed up? How well do you merge with traffic? Do you yield? Do you make room for others to get on the highway with you? If you're in the fast lane and someone comes speeding up behind you, do you get out of their way? Do you let them make their own choices about their speed or do you hold up traffic going the speed limit because everyone should do what you do? Interesting.

Of course, we were just talking about driving. Back tomorrow.

Special Day Today

One of my favourite blogs that I read religiously is by my friend-boss John Morgan of Grasshopper Notes. Today marks the first year anniversary of his blog. Hop over there and wish him a . . .

HAPPY BLOGOVERSARY!!!

I'm not sick, I'm cleansing

It started as a tickle-in-the-throat Sunday night as I was driving home after the CSFT seminar. Eh. I ignored it. Monday I had a TO DO List. Somebody said, "Acceptance is the beginning of transformation." The Grasshopper? Eckhart Tolle? Who? Anyway, when I got back to the river house on Tuesday I finally acknowledged the fever, the laryngitis, the aches and other sensations I was feeling. I spent the day sleeping interspersed between hot baths. I drank lemon & honey tea. I got in my EB305 footbath. I read The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. [Book report to follow when I'm finished--but oh! Delicious. Intriguing. Bittersweet. Smart. That's all I'm saying. If you're a fan of Oprah, and if you're not, she's on to something with this book!]
Wednesday was a new day. I always feel so good after a fever, like it's burned up all the impurities. I woke up with energy again and got a tremendous amount done. I'd done a HUGE shop to stock up my pantry. I don't do a lot of prepackaged stuff, but look! Indian food on sale at Big Lots! And Gluten Free rice noodles. Martins had a sale on organic beans. Omega-3 fatty acids, second shelf to the right. Woo-hoo! This picture of a few shelves is for you, Mum:

Mum calls this my Mormon pantry.

Later today I'll be heading back out to meet up with chiro-sister at Mum's to go to a Brimhall seminar. YAY, us! One of the things I did in addition to stocking up the pantry, was to clean my car.

Perma-frost of river road dirt.

Um. Yeah, the inside. I always wait until I get out to civilization to wash the outside.

When I called Mum yesterday, she answered the phone with laryngitis. Well, I've been talking everyday for 6 hours straight in the classroom. Because, you know. She's not sick. Never mind that I used her toothbrush. What?! Kidding. I'm bringing the footbath over for you, Mum.

Yes, I am. Don't argue with me. ;-) When I was growing up, whenever we got sick, my dad would say, "Well? Have you been washing out your nose? Yogis in India do it everyday, and they never get sick." Hehhhh...nothing like snorting water up your nose. This was a big joke in the family and even when I went to visit my old teacher-friend, Quinn at Wakefield recently, he made reference to it. Of course, growing up I was so embarrassed. Shut up about nose-washing, Dad!

The good news is that there's an idiot-proof way of doing it, and it really does help. Darnit. Dad was right. The Neti Pot clears out the sinuses and is v. easy to use. So if you're prone to sinus infections, allergies, etc. it really does help. It's not too bad, once you get used to it. I can't say I enjoy it. It's rather like exercise: I like having done it. And I only do it when I get sick. Which is not v. often, thankfully. So, on with the day! Since I'm away for the weekend, I prolly won't post again until Monday.

This Morning's Sunrise

Today's blog is in doubley. [Spinal Tap reference]. Or I could call it Double-Post Wed. Anyway, enjoy the sunrise. They are so fleeting here & when I catch them it's such a sweet surprise. The colours last about 3-5 minutes and then it's just regular sky. Still beautiful, but not like an ocean sunrise marathon . . .

Lessons from the Labyrinth

The bedroom I stayed in at Susan's overlooks her Cretan labyrinth. There's a division within the labyrinth community where some people insist it be called a Classical labyrinth. Whatever. Potato-potahto. Funny how we can get our knickers in a twist over names. Reminds me of a 7th Day Adventist woman who was hellbent on making sure that I knew the REAL sabbath was on Saturday, NOT Sunday. Really? This is what you argue about? Anyway, back to the labyrinth: Susan has had her Chartres Cathedral labyrinth for about 12 years. Her Cretan/Classical one was a more recent addition. The first time I walked it, it seemed tiny. Tiny. I was comparing it to mine-at-the-time in Martinsburg, WV which was a bit larger. I had not walked Susan's since I'd left WV. So here it was a year & 1/2 later and I walk it again. It's HUGE compared to my little labyrinth now. It's all perspective, innit? What do you compare things to?

View from my bedroom window.

Chartres Cathedral labyrinth. Part of it, anyway.

First thing Saturday a.m. Susan & I walked the Chartres labyrinth. I didn't get a picture of the whole thing--it's about 100 feet across, I think. She said if I went down the hill and into the woods, I'd get a good shot. I wasn't that motivated in the wet, dewy grass to do that. Anyway, as I was walking through, I thought about how it was fun because I didn't know where I was in the labyrinth or how much more there was to go before I got to the center. Plus it's just so HUGE. If I stopped & turned to take a picture, I wasn't sure which way I needed to go if I'd not paid attention to the direction Susan was walking. In a word, it was unpredictable. What was funny about that was that 2 minutes prior to that realization, I had been saying that I wanted my life to be essentially . . . more predictable. Hmmmm . . . .

A letter

I answered a query from Peter Shankman's HARO (Help A Reporter Out). It's a service that links up reporters to sources for stories they're working on. Anyway, I've answered a few queries & then one came in today about grieving the loss of a pet. So here's what I wrote:

2 days before my birthday in January, my dog Barkley, died at the age of 15 & 1/2. I was traveling and knew when I got home that I would pick her up from the kennel and take her to be put down. She had started having seizures and couldn't stand or walk by herself.

6 weeks later, I lost her son, Remi, who was 13 & 1/2. Unlike Barkley, I had no warning and was rushing him to the vet. Congestive heart failure. I had to let him go.

This time last year, I remember sitting outside with them both thinking that it would be my last autumn with Barkley. I had assumed that Remi would live to be 15 like his mother.

I have lost friends & family members--the grief I have felt does not compare to losing my dogs. Barkley was with me at the end of my 20's into my 40's. They both had a life-expectancy of 12 years, so everyday after that I felt lucky to have them. I would appreciate those quiet moments with Barkley sitting under my feet as I watched TV or read. Remi loved to be massaged. During those last few years as they got older, I would often think: There will be a time when they won't be here. So it made me appreciate the moment even more.

I am still surprised sometimes when the grief returns. I have stopped thinking that I should be over it. Pushing it away only prolongs it. I miss the tangibles of being with them. I miss never calling their names in the yard. I miss hearing Remi make his moaning happy sound when I massaged him. I miss Barkley smiling. Yes, she really did.

All those things I miss. Jill Bolte Taylor recounts in her book My Stroke of Insight how when she thinks of her dog she feels the warm fuzzies, but can also go into a sense of loss because he died. It's both: love and loss. All very bittersweet.

So here's my advice:

Be with your pet when it's time for them to go. Don't leave it to strangers, it adds to your pet's fear and confusion. Let them see you last. It's the hardest thing I've had to do, but it was the right and loving thing to do for my faithful companions.

The homeopathic remedy Ignatia is for grief. Take it. It really does help. It works for animals as well.

Recognize from the beginning that the very nature of having a pet is that you will most likely outlive them. Appreciate the time you do have with them. Love them and cherish them as much as they do you.

Doing something creative in honor of their memory helps to channel the grief into something constructive: a scrapbook, photo album, pillow, etc.

Give yourself time to grieve before jumping into getting another pet. The new one deserves your unfettered attention.

It really does get better with time. I think of them and smile. I am so grateful for their presence in my life.

CSFT Seminar

I took a seminar with GSF Bess in Cerebral Spinal Fluid Technique this past weekend. You can read about it here. I had taken it a few years ago before I became a massage therapist. It was an easier class to take this time because there was a more hands-on approach & less information to have to assimilate. However, while I can appreciate this work, I see it through my Brimhall Goggles and it seems s-l-o-w and tedious. Lots of steps involved and I just think I prefer percussors & lasers. I'm sure practitioners who are proficient at it get miracles, just as all healing modalities produce their own miracles. I don't think it's a technique that I want to devote time to mastering. As always, it's not just the class you're taking, but the whole experience of it. It was a pretty awesome weekend, but I'm waiting to write anything else until I can upload some photos to go along with the narrative. I was back in my old stomping grounds of Shepherdstown, WV. One of my favourite places. I was able to get a visit in with my dear Miss Ruthie. She makes my heart SMILE. And I'll end with a BIG THANK YOU to Susan for her kind hospitality.

It would be funny if it weren't sad

GSF Kristina sent this to me last night, so I had to share. I just learned how to embed Youtube videos but it's been disabled. So here's a link. Tina Fey is hysterical as Sarah Palin. What makes this so funny (and sad) is that she is so accurate. These are 2 back-to-back clips with SNL's parody and then the real Katie Couric interview. Yikes.

GSF Bess & I are taking a massage therapy class together this weekend, so I won't be blogging until Monday. But I will have tales to tell when I get back. In the meantime, Margot Potter has created a new blog, with a craftier focus. Check it out if you're crafty or aspire to be. She's creative, smart, & wickedly funny.

Until Monday, then. Adieu. Parce que je blog mais pas quand je ne blog pas.* How's that for some kickin' franglais? ;-) H.

*Because I blog except when I don't.

2 in a row?

Mum came over for a visit yesterday. I made a scrumptious lunch of a Big Salad with salmon. Loyal readers know my love affair with pumpkins. We had some delicious pumpkin soup--my favourite so far! I rarely measure when I'm throwing things together, but here's a sorta recipe:

Pumpkin puree, about 3-4 cups-ish (You could prolly use a can of pumpkin)
1/2 can of coconut milk
2 c. sweet potato water (I save my vegetable stock, & this is what I happened to have--perfect!)
Curry powder to taste
Salt to taste (Himalayan from Mercola--it's good for you!)

I use a hand blender & blend it up to make it creamy. (Also great for other creamy veggie soups like asparagus, broccoli, etc.)

After lunch, we had tea (of course) and a Frazier Fest. Mum looked out the window and saw a rainbow. Really? 2 days in a row? COOL!

Mum on my front porch with rainbow.

Into life, a little rain must fall. In these uncertain times, it's nice when we get little surprises of rainbows, too.

Rainbow

Yesterday's rainbow. :-)

Can you imagine a rainbow saying, Only primary colours allowed. Pink, get your fancy-pants outta here. We'll consider Magenta at the next meeting.

OR:

Red, tone it down. You're trying to get too much attention. Who do you think you are?

OR:

Where do you think YOU'RE going, Purple? We don't like your kind. You think you can just waltz in here expecting the same priviledges as Blue?

Sounds silly coming from a rainbow, doesn't it?