- the sunshine; what a LOVELY reprieve from the monsoons we've been having all month
- 4 oz of delicious wheatgrass, blended with a couple bananas and some strawberries
- some dried bee pollen & maca powder
- a salad with red pepper and avocado on it
- tea with my Uncle & Aunt whom I haven't seen in 7 years!!!
- cleaning the eavestroughs in the sunshine, and now it's pouring rain!!!
- having the two baby chicks (who are actually 12 weeks old now) sit on my legs as I sat out on a bench in the sunshine.
- getting yardwork done
- planting wheat & barley grass seed in one (fenced off) area of the chicken pen. Four weeks from now they're gonna be soooooo happy to get in there!
- taking a day off from painting the kids' rooms
- a quiet evening hanging out with my daughter, in her new room
- watching my uncle lavish our chocolate lab with soooooo much loving attention
25 September 2010
13 September 2010
busy as a beaver
Phew it's been a couple *very* busy days around here! (okay, busy few weeks lately) Yesterday I got off to a slow start as we found ourselves heading into town (40 kms away) for 'supplies' (We've been watching Little House on the Prairie again, LMAO - I often find I end up speaking like them, ha ha ha)... so I didn't get started until ~4:30. But I put in a solid 8 hours despite the late start.
I wish I'd taken before & after pictures. I sanded my daughter's dresser, which I found out was her great-grandparents when her grammy was a young girl. I sanded it down and painted it white to match her bedframe (which was her aunt's when we were growing up; and my daughter's great-grandfather built it). I will get new pulls for the drawers of the dresser & the drawers on the bed so it looks like a set. While I had the white paint out, I painted the inside of the front & back doors and the bathroom door. Wow did those doors ever need painting!
Today Grampa came out and helped immensely. He stubbed the plumbing pipes that'd been sticking out of the wall in the kids' room and then he built the wall dividing their room into two rooms (each room is now 15'x8.5' - so quite ample still). We framed it, insulated it & sheeted with drywall today!!! HUGE progress. We still have to mud/sand/mud/sand/seal/paint & then put all the furniture & toys back, so there's still a LOT of work to be done, but we did a lot today. I was the one screwing the sheets of drywall to the wall and my knees are rather sore tonight (despite a hot rose bath).
But what all this house maintenance has reminded me is that house maintenance is a necessary evil and must be done; it cannot be avoided forever (despite my trying to). It also reminds me that our homes are a reflection of our selves and if anyone were to come and look in our windows tonight, well... is that *really* how cluttered and unkept-up my body/mind/spirit is? ack! say it ain't so!
I've been motivated lately to get some of the long-overdue house maintenance done because I keep thinking, well, when we win the lottery (which for some foolish reason I keep thinking will be very soon) I'll be getting this stuff done, so I might as well treat myself as if I've already won the lottery and get started on what I can. It's weird because I can see how doing this invites prosperity into one's life, but when it comes to treating my Self with as much respect, well, I fall short. Like I tell myself, ya know, if you'd won the lottery, I'd bet you wouldn't be going out the door with your hair not brushed and in sweats, right? And yet, that's exactly how I went out the door. I just wanted to hide, even though I was going out in public.
I yearn for the time, a year ago, when I was fasting. Even when I was going in to the fast. I was so much happier with my body image than I am today. A lot of that is a vicious cycle - I try to eat well but have put way too much crap in my mouth the past year than I would like to admit to, I've put on weight, I've not exercised regularly. yadda yadda yadda. It's a vicious vicious cycle. I honestly don't know what it's going to take for me to snap out of it. I need to take the bull by the horns. Anyways, while I'm very happy with the progress I'm making with the house maintenance, the body's maintenance needs a tune-up, too.
In peace,
~n~
I wish I'd taken before & after pictures. I sanded my daughter's dresser, which I found out was her great-grandparents when her grammy was a young girl. I sanded it down and painted it white to match her bedframe (which was her aunt's when we were growing up; and my daughter's great-grandfather built it). I will get new pulls for the drawers of the dresser & the drawers on the bed so it looks like a set. While I had the white paint out, I painted the inside of the front & back doors and the bathroom door. Wow did those doors ever need painting!
Today Grampa came out and helped immensely. He stubbed the plumbing pipes that'd been sticking out of the wall in the kids' room and then he built the wall dividing their room into two rooms (each room is now 15'x8.5' - so quite ample still). We framed it, insulated it & sheeted with drywall today!!! HUGE progress. We still have to mud/sand/mud/sand/seal/paint & then put all the furniture & toys back, so there's still a LOT of work to be done, but we did a lot today. I was the one screwing the sheets of drywall to the wall and my knees are rather sore tonight (despite a hot rose bath).
But what all this house maintenance has reminded me is that house maintenance is a necessary evil and must be done; it cannot be avoided forever (despite my trying to). It also reminds me that our homes are a reflection of our selves and if anyone were to come and look in our windows tonight, well... is that *really* how cluttered and unkept-up my body/mind/spirit is? ack! say it ain't so!
I've been motivated lately to get some of the long-overdue house maintenance done because I keep thinking, well, when we win the lottery (which for some foolish reason I keep thinking will be very soon) I'll be getting this stuff done, so I might as well treat myself as if I've already won the lottery and get started on what I can. It's weird because I can see how doing this invites prosperity into one's life, but when it comes to treating my Self with as much respect, well, I fall short. Like I tell myself, ya know, if you'd won the lottery, I'd bet you wouldn't be going out the door with your hair not brushed and in sweats, right? And yet, that's exactly how I went out the door. I just wanted to hide, even though I was going out in public.
I yearn for the time, a year ago, when I was fasting. Even when I was going in to the fast. I was so much happier with my body image than I am today. A lot of that is a vicious cycle - I try to eat well but have put way too much crap in my mouth the past year than I would like to admit to, I've put on weight, I've not exercised regularly. yadda yadda yadda. It's a vicious vicious cycle. I honestly don't know what it's going to take for me to snap out of it. I need to take the bull by the horns. Anyways, while I'm very happy with the progress I'm making with the house maintenance, the body's maintenance needs a tune-up, too.
In peace,
~n~
08 September 2010
sept 12th & oct 10th
sept 12th is the International Day of Juice Feasting (www.dayofjuicefeasting.com)
Oct 10th (10-10-10) is World Raw Food Day (www.worldrawfoodday.org)
Enjoy!
~n~
Oct 10th (10-10-10) is World Raw Food Day (www.worldrawfoodday.org)
Enjoy!
~n~
New Moon
You know what this new moon is showing me? That I have toooooooo many projects, toooooooo many loose ends, that I'm *SUCH* an Aquarian. LOL I look around and see things "not quite finished" allllllllllll around me, and yes, it drives me NUTS. BONKERS. Slightly off-balance. ;) I *try* not to start new things, but there are just soooo many things I'm interested in!! Like right now, for example, here are some things (off the top of my head) that I have started, but not finished:
- two counted cross-stitch pieces, one *near* completion, the other kinda just started
- the deck railing outside that I painted the other day - I just need 10 minutes to finish it!!!
- my cob oven that I started last summer. I just need one more layer of insulative cob and then plaster, and voila - a functional, very cool, outdoor oven. Oh, and I need to build that living roof above it, too.
- yardwork: pulling Scotch broom, weedeating, don't even start on the weeds in the garden, and my plans for *more* garden beds, etc...
- a gaZILLion renovation projects around the house - like the ensuite (jetted tub needs jet pump installed, ceiling drywall needs patching, floor strip between tile & bedroom carpet needs to be installed, etc.), or the bedroom, for that matter (curtains need more rings to hang on, fireplace needs glass doors built & installed (they're designed, just not built), drywall above fireplace needs mudding/sanding/painting, mantle above fireplace needs to be finished).
- not to mention the housecleaning. don't even get me started on the half-assed job I usually do. (ooh, that's being a tad harsh on myself, isn't it)
- right now I'm reading several books, including Becoming Raw (Brenda Davis, Vesanto Melina & Rynn Berry), Storey's Guide to Raising Dairy Goats, a couple books on house design, a couple other books about raw food...
- there's some financial matters that need to be wrapped up, all pending me getting my shit together
- this blog po... jk jk ha ha ha ha ha
You get the idea. I feel like I'm a spider web or a snowshoe - spread thin across so many different interests. I always kinda wanted to be a person who excelled in just one area when I was a kid - like to be super-good at just one thing - but I realized that wasn't my nature, and actually, I like having many different interests. It makes conversations interesting. ;) (although excelling in just one interest is pretty damn cool, too)
One bonus of this whole thing is that I'm feeling a need to purge, to release our grip and attachment to material things. I'm realizing just how much *stuff* we actually have. It's mind-boggling. (I think the bigger you build your house, the more stuff you will acquire to cram into it; which is one reason I prefer small houses).
As far as learning to live with others' different values, well, that seems to be an ongoing theme of my life (my choosing, to be sure). I have long felt this intuitive pull towards that exact idea - that the wars in our world happen because we cannot put ourselves in others' places/shoes... that we cannot live with others' different values. I laughed in that last post when I wrote: "why can't everyone just succumb to *my* way of thinking; after all, I'm right." But there's a certain degree of sadness in writing that, as I know that we *all* tend to be like that at times in our life - pig-headed - we all want to be right, not happy, sometimes, and that's a hard realization to swallow.
So I ask you - how, in your life right now, are you not living and embracing our differences, our different values & beliefs? (But a second question came up in thinking about this, and that was: where do healthy boundaries fit into this? Does allowing others to live their values mean that we become doormats? I don't think that's what's intended.)
Anyways, I have a *lot* of loose ends of old matters to tie up today, so I'd better get started. lmao
- two counted cross-stitch pieces, one *near* completion, the other kinda just started
- the deck railing outside that I painted the other day - I just need 10 minutes to finish it!!!
- my cob oven that I started last summer. I just need one more layer of insulative cob and then plaster, and voila - a functional, very cool, outdoor oven. Oh, and I need to build that living roof above it, too.
- yardwork: pulling Scotch broom, weedeating, don't even start on the weeds in the garden, and my plans for *more* garden beds, etc...
- a gaZILLion renovation projects around the house - like the ensuite (jetted tub needs jet pump installed, ceiling drywall needs patching, floor strip between tile & bedroom carpet needs to be installed, etc.), or the bedroom, for that matter (curtains need more rings to hang on, fireplace needs glass doors built & installed (they're designed, just not built), drywall above fireplace needs mudding/sanding/painting, mantle above fireplace needs to be finished).
- not to mention the housecleaning. don't even get me started on the half-assed job I usually do. (ooh, that's being a tad harsh on myself, isn't it)
- right now I'm reading several books, including Becoming Raw (Brenda Davis, Vesanto Melina & Rynn Berry), Storey's Guide to Raising Dairy Goats, a couple books on house design, a couple other books about raw food...
- there's some financial matters that need to be wrapped up, all pending me getting my shit together
- this blog po... jk jk ha ha ha ha ha
You get the idea. I feel like I'm a spider web or a snowshoe - spread thin across so many different interests. I always kinda wanted to be a person who excelled in just one area when I was a kid - like to be super-good at just one thing - but I realized that wasn't my nature, and actually, I like having many different interests. It makes conversations interesting. ;) (although excelling in just one interest is pretty damn cool, too)
One bonus of this whole thing is that I'm feeling a need to purge, to release our grip and attachment to material things. I'm realizing just how much *stuff* we actually have. It's mind-boggling. (I think the bigger you build your house, the more stuff you will acquire to cram into it; which is one reason I prefer small houses).
As far as learning to live with others' different values, well, that seems to be an ongoing theme of my life (my choosing, to be sure). I have long felt this intuitive pull towards that exact idea - that the wars in our world happen because we cannot put ourselves in others' places/shoes... that we cannot live with others' different values. I laughed in that last post when I wrote: "why can't everyone just succumb to *my* way of thinking; after all, I'm right." But there's a certain degree of sadness in writing that, as I know that we *all* tend to be like that at times in our life - pig-headed - we all want to be right, not happy, sometimes, and that's a hard realization to swallow.
So I ask you - how, in your life right now, are you not living and embracing our differences, our different values & beliefs? (But a second question came up in thinking about this, and that was: where do healthy boundaries fit into this? Does allowing others to live their values mean that we become doormats? I don't think that's what's intended.)
Anyways, I have a *lot* of loose ends of old matters to tie up today, so I'd better get started. lmao
06 September 2010
Show me the money!!!! LOL
my (well, 'our' - we have 3 aquarians in our household, lol) weekly horoscope:
Aquarius (Jan 20 - Feb 18)
The next few weeks are a wonderful time for unexpected financial opportunities for you. Some of you might have a real windfall. Meanwhile, back at the bank, you're focused on shared property, inheritances, taxes, debt, and anything you own jointly with others. This is a good time to wrap up loose details in old matters. The New Moon this week is your best chance all year to ponder how to best tackle these issues. But more than that, it is also the best time to think about how your values differ from the values of others, and how you can learn to live with those differences! Aagghhh! (Kill me with a spoon.) This can be challenging.
WHEEEEEEE!!!! Bring on the unexpected financial windfalls!!! And ya, I'll get right on that - looking after the loose ends on the shared financial matters. It's on the to-do list!!!! Seriously, I was getting to it! :P Oh, but the bigger life questions this horoscope demands of us!!! Yeesh! How am I honestly supposed to live with people who value different things than I do?!? I mean, REALLY. Why can't everyone just succumb to my way of thinking/living?!? I am right, after all. (jk jk JK) alright, alright, I'll think about accepting other people's values and beliefs as equal to my own. I'll try. ;)
The funniest thing that comes to mind is our incongruent plans for retirement: dh says he wants to go on cruises - like 90 and 120 day cruises - and then spend a month at each adult child's home, and then go on another lengthy cruise - and so on... Me? I get seasick (and I can`t imagine dropping on on our adult children & their families/lives for a month at a time!). I think I'd rather live in a little cob cottage on an organic farm and grow my own food and be active in my local community and just live lightly on the earth and have my family (including our children!) and friends nearby and enjoy the connection to Spirit and the land... practicing Reiki, eating raw, travelling by bike & bus, and being active, visiting with our children regularly, and so on. So you tell me - how on EARTH do we compromise and accept the other's 'different values'?! I think it's pretty obvious from just this much information that we have different values - add a "financial windfall" into that and it is going to bring these "different values" to the forefront of discussion, no doubt.
you know, i'm sure i could've waited to settle down (i was only 20, after all, lol) and first of all, done some soul searching and 'found my self' before attempting to find a life partner who shared the same values and beliefs as myself. I've seen others travel that path, and sometimes I find myself a little envious of them, admittedly - no discussions with their partner about which lengthy retirement cruise to go on, for example, or even if I want to go in the first place, lol. But that's not the path I've chosen in this lifetime. No, I chose someone with different values from those I grew into (I say grew into because at 20, I was really not certain of 'who I was' and where I wanted to go in life, and I think I've changed considerably since our relationship began) - and actually, that's something that adds to our relationship, having different values does. Oh sure, sometimes it's cause for disagreement, but often it's also a chance for personal growth - for accepting others' different values & beliefs as equal to one's own - and that's what this New Moon is offering. I can see that. It's a blessing. :)
(kinda unrelated, but funny: we heard an interview clip of Kurt Cobain on the radio today - about how the 10 yrs of being a struggling musician were better than the fame and fortune of stardom. About how being on the cusp was where it's at, was the cat's meow. The kids & I discussed this - about how so often wanting something (like more money) is better than actually having it (the financial windfall mentioned above). Until I said to my son, "Like Lego - wanting more is better than having more." and he replied, "ya, well, that's where he was wrong.")
Aquarius (Jan 20 - Feb 18)
The next few weeks are a wonderful time for unexpected financial opportunities for you. Some of you might have a real windfall. Meanwhile, back at the bank, you're focused on shared property, inheritances, taxes, debt, and anything you own jointly with others. This is a good time to wrap up loose details in old matters. The New Moon this week is your best chance all year to ponder how to best tackle these issues. But more than that, it is also the best time to think about how your values differ from the values of others, and how you can learn to live with those differences! Aagghhh! (Kill me with a spoon.) This can be challenging.
WHEEEEEEE!!!! Bring on the unexpected financial windfalls!!! And ya, I'll get right on that - looking after the loose ends on the shared financial matters. It's on the to-do list!!!! Seriously, I was getting to it! :P Oh, but the bigger life questions this horoscope demands of us!!! Yeesh! How am I honestly supposed to live with people who value different things than I do?!? I mean, REALLY. Why can't everyone just succumb to my way of thinking/living?!? I am right, after all. (jk jk JK) alright, alright, I'll think about accepting other people's values and beliefs as equal to my own. I'll try. ;)
The funniest thing that comes to mind is our incongruent plans for retirement: dh says he wants to go on cruises - like 90 and 120 day cruises - and then spend a month at each adult child's home, and then go on another lengthy cruise - and so on... Me? I get seasick (and I can`t imagine dropping on on our adult children & their families/lives for a month at a time!). I think I'd rather live in a little cob cottage on an organic farm and grow my own food and be active in my local community and just live lightly on the earth and have my family (including our children!) and friends nearby and enjoy the connection to Spirit and the land... practicing Reiki, eating raw, travelling by bike & bus, and being active, visiting with our children regularly, and so on. So you tell me - how on EARTH do we compromise and accept the other's 'different values'?! I think it's pretty obvious from just this much information that we have different values - add a "financial windfall" into that and it is going to bring these "different values" to the forefront of discussion, no doubt.
you know, i'm sure i could've waited to settle down (i was only 20, after all, lol) and first of all, done some soul searching and 'found my self' before attempting to find a life partner who shared the same values and beliefs as myself. I've seen others travel that path, and sometimes I find myself a little envious of them, admittedly - no discussions with their partner about which lengthy retirement cruise to go on, for example, or even if I want to go in the first place, lol. But that's not the path I've chosen in this lifetime. No, I chose someone with different values from those I grew into (I say grew into because at 20, I was really not certain of 'who I was' and where I wanted to go in life, and I think I've changed considerably since our relationship began) - and actually, that's something that adds to our relationship, having different values does. Oh sure, sometimes it's cause for disagreement, but often it's also a chance for personal growth - for accepting others' different values & beliefs as equal to one's own - and that's what this New Moon is offering. I can see that. It's a blessing. :)
(kinda unrelated, but funny: we heard an interview clip of Kurt Cobain on the radio today - about how the 10 yrs of being a struggling musician were better than the fame and fortune of stardom. About how being on the cusp was where it's at, was the cat's meow. The kids & I discussed this - about how so often wanting something (like more money) is better than actually having it (the financial windfall mentioned above). Until I said to my son, "Like Lego - wanting more is better than having more." and he replied, "ya, well, that's where he was wrong.")
01 September 2010
Sept 1
It's probably because I grew up with the influence of the public school system here in Canada, but September seems more like a fresh start, more like a new year, than New Year's itself. lol And so here we are, September 1st, and I know I'm not the only one feeling like this is the time for new beginnings, for releasing that which no longer serves us, and embarking on new habits and delving into new interests.
Today is the 3d day I have woken with renewed commitment and vigour. I read a Lou Tice article the other day that said - wonder why you haven't got what you want in life? It's because what you're thinking about today is what you'll get tomorrow. Well, duh. I *know* that, but was I *living* it?! So for three days, I've been retraining my thoughts - arresting any negative thoughts, nourishing myself with 100% raw foods, doing something daily to assist with detox.
It feels good. No, it feels great. Here's to the future! Here's to today!!!!
Today is the 3d day I have woken with renewed commitment and vigour. I read a Lou Tice article the other day that said - wonder why you haven't got what you want in life? It's because what you're thinking about today is what you'll get tomorrow. Well, duh. I *know* that, but was I *living* it?! So for three days, I've been retraining my thoughts - arresting any negative thoughts, nourishing myself with 100% raw foods, doing something daily to assist with detox.
It feels good. No, it feels great. Here's to the future! Here's to today!!!!
30 August 2010
Ahh, a new day!!
Sleep is such a wonderful healer. Go to bed crying and wake up refreshed, anew. I feel sooooooooo much better today. Because I have a plan. ;) Something worth working towards, ya know. Nothing like that to pick yourself up. That, and friends to hold your hand, to send healing energy and loving thoughts your way, to remind you that life's not all doom and gloom ('though in that moment it sure seems like it, eh).
So today I am focused and motivated. I dreamt of flash floods in the creek in our yard - the house remained very stable and safe but i was standing on the edge of the creek when i heard the water coming from upstream and i realized quickly to back away from the danger. it was a neat dream - to not be frightened by the danger, but feel very calm and knowing what to do, knowing the house was safe.
Watching Beezus & Ramona with the kids yesterday reminded me of how much I was like Ramona when I was a kid. High energy, high emotions, just generally INTENSE, and apparently that's not a good thing. LOL I laugh about it because I'm still like that, but make a concerted effort to remember that the emotional storms that come through will pass easily enough without me letting them get the better of me; emotions don't REQUIRE any response from me. ;) But sometimes I still think I'm a bit of an emotional basket case (mostly around my moon flow, as any woman can well-relate to).
Yesterday's emotional upsettedness was compounded by the refined sugar and wheat I'd consumed. Today I'm focused on my health, re-committed to raw food. I've struggled the past 4 yrs, having my maca powder and goji berries next to Pop Tarts and other 'foods'. It's hard to sit at a table, sharing a meal, when others are eating pizza or garlic bread or other things like that. I have sometimes thought it'd be so much easier to be raw if everyone else around me was, too, or if I was a hermit and lived alone. But alas, that's not realistic to expect. Everyone's on their own journey, and I'd like to be able to give them the space to eat whatever they like around me, so that they might hold that space for me, too. And i'm not likely to become a hermit anytime soon. LMAO
I just wanted to post today and say thanks, thanks for boosting me up. The irony of the blog's title "Loving life and laughing" and the post "in the depths of despair" was not lost on me... this morning. ;)
Namaste
So today I am focused and motivated. I dreamt of flash floods in the creek in our yard - the house remained very stable and safe but i was standing on the edge of the creek when i heard the water coming from upstream and i realized quickly to back away from the danger. it was a neat dream - to not be frightened by the danger, but feel very calm and knowing what to do, knowing the house was safe.
Watching Beezus & Ramona with the kids yesterday reminded me of how much I was like Ramona when I was a kid. High energy, high emotions, just generally INTENSE, and apparently that's not a good thing. LOL I laugh about it because I'm still like that, but make a concerted effort to remember that the emotional storms that come through will pass easily enough without me letting them get the better of me; emotions don't REQUIRE any response from me. ;) But sometimes I still think I'm a bit of an emotional basket case (mostly around my moon flow, as any woman can well-relate to).
Yesterday's emotional upsettedness was compounded by the refined sugar and wheat I'd consumed. Today I'm focused on my health, re-committed to raw food. I've struggled the past 4 yrs, having my maca powder and goji berries next to Pop Tarts and other 'foods'. It's hard to sit at a table, sharing a meal, when others are eating pizza or garlic bread or other things like that. I have sometimes thought it'd be so much easier to be raw if everyone else around me was, too, or if I was a hermit and lived alone. But alas, that's not realistic to expect. Everyone's on their own journey, and I'd like to be able to give them the space to eat whatever they like around me, so that they might hold that space for me, too. And i'm not likely to become a hermit anytime soon. LMAO
I just wanted to post today and say thanks, thanks for boosting me up. The irony of the blog's title "Loving life and laughing" and the post "in the depths of despair" was not lost on me... this morning. ;)
Namaste
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