Post Birthday Bliss...

 I just want to know one thing.  If there can be 12 days of Christmas...why can't there be 12 days of birthday?

  I'm here to tell you..THERE CAN BE !!!!!

  And today is Day 2. (or 3, if I start the day before my birthday) Doesn't matter. Once again, it's something I'm going to do until I don't want to do it anymore. (The story of my life).  lol

  It was a wonderful Epiphany. I got up and the Irishman made my breakfast. Then he drove me to town for my 10:30 massage appointment. After I was completely rubbed and squeezed into ecstatic submission, I wandered down the stairs to find him at the desk, chatting up my masseuse.  Turns out he had not only paid for my massage, but paid for the next one too. What a guy, huh?

  Afterwards we went to the Dead Lobster (my affectionate nickname for the restaurant)  for a shrimp-y lunch, which we enjoyed immensely.  Then it was back home to rest up and get ready to make the pilgrimage to the veterinarians office. The Honey Badger had to get her post-bite exam and be micro chipped and we also used the opportunity to get Miss Caylee rustled in for a rabies shot.  This is no mean feat. She HATES riding in the car and was terrified, but the Irishman was able to manage her and we got there and back and everything was fine. Thing is, every time she gets in the car it's because of trauma and so she has connected those two things. We try and try to get her in the car to go to the park like the other dogs love to do, but he will not.  Anyway, it's over for another year.

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  now then.  Dear Kristen, from Jilli Java, has sweetly awarded me an award.

 I am supposed to award it to 3 people whose blogs I read and then tell you 7 obscure facts about myself.  I want to acknowledge Jozien  at Keeper of Wild Places, for always giving me another magnificent way to look at the world around us. Her writing, her art...she is wonderful.   Then there is Linda at Hello,It's Me.  She's really something--talented, intuitve and inspires me more than she'll ever know.  And last, but not least, is the ubiquitous Rubye Jack (aka Linda) at Blue Skies, Sunny Days. We are sisters under the skin and she opens new doors for me every time I read her blog.  I am blessed by all 3 of these women...as well as many more, but I only get to pick 3 here.  LOL

  Okay. 7 obscure facts about me.  (This could be harder than it sounds, as my life is an open book). (Which only means I am a blabbermouth).   lol

  1)  I am an earthquake "sensitive".  Preceding earthquakes (sometimes for up to a week before, depending on the magnitude)  I experience physical symptoms: frozen neck muscles, headaches,stiff neck and a low hum in my ears. 

  2)  I am a conspiracy theorist, and instead of getting better, I only get worse, as the world gets smaller.

  3)  I have a good singing voice, even though my regular voice sounds like one of those old lady gin-voices.

  4)  I have an amazing ability to BS my way into, out of and through almost anything.

  5)  I have never had an earache. In my whole life.

  6)  I have an ultra-keen sense of smell.

  7)  I was in South America when the Jim Jones Massacre happened. Whatever year that was. I was in a     

       drunken, drug crazed  whirlwind and it's a miracle I lived long enough to get clean and sober.

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  So, there you have it.

  I have some things to do before it suddenly turns into noon (half an hour from now)  and I'd better get crackin' !!

  Later, Taters...

Namaste.

Big wheel, keep on turnin'....

 Ah-la...(as Mz Moon would say).

  My aunt passed away relatively peacefully yesterday early evening. They went to get her up for supper time and she was dead.  They had started giving her doses of morphine for the pain in her back (?) and trying to keep her comfortable, and I suspect that may have been the little push she needed to let go and pass over to the next great adventure. That's what I'd like to think, anyway.

  She wanted to be cremated, so there will probably be a memorial service in the next week or so. I haven't talked to my cousin yet today.

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  It's a beautiful day here at Honeysuckle Hill. Supposed to get close to 60 today and it's sunny and the skies are blue and here I sit. lol  I do have some things done and some more things to do, but I decided to start celebrating my birthday a day early and just run it on for a couple of days. Why not?  It's probably a miracle I have lived this long. And miracles need celebrating.

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  My nephew is doing well...slight fever (expected) , and they are weaning him off the ventilator. He keeps trying to wake up, and they have apparently restrained him, because he keeps trying to pull out all his tubes.  Spoke with my sister today and she cried a bit off and on, something I don't think she allows herself to do much.  She said he has pancreas damage from all the drinking and I said yea, I wasn't surprised and that she hoped God could get through to him and make him understand he needs to change his lifestyle. She's very upset with his wife and I tried to gently remind her that she's only his mother now, and that wife trumps mother. It's an old story.  If only it were that easy...that an unfortunate accident could make drinkers stop drinking.  It rarely happens that way, but I guess sometimes it does and maybe this could be one of those times. It scares me too, the way these kids drink. Just like I'm sure it scared our parents and their parents before them. 

  I guess I keep coming back to the fact that there's just SO much more information out there now...when I was a kid, everybody thought it couldn't hurt you, and now we know better.  But I'm sure that the base troubles that lead us to wanting to get lost in the haze of alcohol are still there and still the same.

  And so it goes....

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  On a lighter note, I am going to make veggie burgers and sweet potato fries for supper.  I have a small list of things that need attending to, like my vacuum cleaner needs to go in the shop. I need to call the vet and see if we can bring another dog along to our appointment tomorrow who needs just a rabies shot. I need to call the local witch doctor and see if they are still doing ear candling...I am having an issue with itchy way down deep ears and some possible hearing loss. (OR--I'm just not paying attention.)  :)   They are right here in town.  I had it done about 4 years ago, I think, and it was a good thing.  I want to take the vacuum cleaner tomorrow and leave it over the weekend.  Which means I need to vacuum before I take it.

  One thing's for sure...I have job security.  LOL

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  I'm trying to do a better job of blogging in 2012...have you noticed?  Quantity, if not quality.   Yay, me.

  Off to cook, to clean , to call.  Have a great Thursday , all ya'all...

   May all your days be sunny and bright....

  Namaste.

A blessed Wednesday...

 Ahhhhh...deep breaths.. life isn't about the breaths we take, it's the moments that take our breath away...

 My nephew is out of surgery and they closed him  up and said he should make a full recovery. It will be slow, but it will be blessed, I am sure, by the outpouring of love that envelopes him.  And for this, I am grateful.

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 I have just started some spaghetti sauce and will leave a nice pot of basketti (as my son used to call it) on the stove for my dear husband's supper.  He's pretty much been feeding himself at least 2 or 3 days a week...on leftovers or whatever he finds to fix easily. I like to have something waiting for him when I can, as he works 10 hour days and gets home around 6 PM.  I have some rolls in the freezer that'll bake and then he can just heat up to go with it. I don't have any greens in the house for a salad, or I'd make that too. lol He won't care. The pasta will hit the spot with him...he's a carb junkie.

  With all the craziness of the holidays, there's been a lot of times that I just haven't had the time or energy to do much. Plus we've had plenty of leftovers. The fridge is actually starting to look a little bare, FINALLY! lol

  I am using home canned tomatoes, homegrown frozen bell peppers, homegrown onions and garlic...yum.

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  One thing I always get a kick out of is when I open a jar or a freezer bag of something I've preserved and see the date and remember the harvest. This morning it was 7/11/11  on the jar of tomatoes. July.  Mmmm...something really nice about remembering July in the month of January.  Even though it's 45 degrees today and not like January usually is around these parts. And my first thought was --WOW.  That was 6 months ago already! yikes... I was pulling some of the older kale leaves for the chickens yesterday  and thinking, as I looked around the beds all heaped with dead leaves, "It won't be long before we'll be out here turning the composted stuff under, watching the grass green up again and planting seeds...waiting for that miracle of faith...the one where you just know in your heart that the seeds will sprout and be true to their origins. THIS is true faith.  It's that simple.  To me, anyway. 

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  The sauce must need stirring...I'm starting to smell the tomatoe-y goodness. 

  I'm going through some winter doldrums, like I hear from a lot of people. I don't like it. lol  I'm sure it's a combination of things...like bad eating around the holidays, not enough sunlight, and not enough exercise. Top that with the family emergency stuff and you've got a perfect recipe for the blahs.  I hate the feelings of powerlessness that surround me when things are happening to other people, and I cannot do a thing about it. It used to be worse...at least now I can pray.  But I still have moments of ...I don't even know what it is.

   I think I'm going to try staying off the computer so much too...I come in here in the morning and before I know it, it's noon. And time for me to get ready to leave.  I have so many connections to people, both in blogland and email land that it takes me hours to stay caught up. Maybe if I wait until the evenings to check in.... lol  It's kinda ridiculous, when you think about it. I was thinking the other day about how I try to EAT locally..maybe I should try socializing more locally too.  But...I probably won't.  LOL  It's hard to shrink your world once you've been on the information superhighway.  (Do they even call it that anymore??)

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  The deforesting tree cutters are back again.  Our road looks like hell...and I understand that the branches need to be cut back away from the lines, but did they have to cut down the little kumquat tree inside my fence line?  It was nowhere near the lines. I am really distressed about all this, and my husband says to just let it go, they will mostly grow back.  But I can't seem to. I am (in my head as of now) composing a scathing letter to the electric company regarding all this.  It hurts my heart, like the clearcutting that I saw in Northern California of the redwoods.  It seems to me that it is so unnecessary. In our 7 years on this road, there was 1 time that a tree came down on a power line. ONCE.  It does not require this kind of careless and unconscious devastation. 

  And that's all I'm saying for now about THAT.

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   Okay. I need to shower and get ready  to cook pasta and straighten up my house a little. I was going to try to get my car vacuumed, but that ain't gonna happen this morning.  I am grateful to be able to live the life I live.  Grateful that I can cook and eat foods that I have [mostly] grown myself, grateful for all the love in my life, and grateful that on Friday I will turn 59 years old and still keep my sense of humor about it all. There were quite a few times in my life that I NEVER thought I would live this long, lol.  (And if I'd known, I would have taken better care of myself....)  (maybe)  lol

   Have a good Wednesday, everyone.  We're sliding down into the weekend!!

Namaste.

The Human Condition...

  I am amazed at the outpouring of love on behalf of my nephew and family.  It makes me truly inclined to believe in the good of humanity and that no matter how far we may sometimes wander off our path, we can always find our way back to our own humanness.  This is not news. We see it happen every time there is a Katrina or a tornado like the one in Joplin.  The earthquakes in Haiti, the famines in Africa...good hearted people doing whatever little thing they can to help another suffering human being.

  I am getting emails and phone calls from people I haven't heard from in years, offering  prayers and good wishes.  They are organizing a blood drive down in Florida, friends and family of my nephew and his wife, as a pay-it-forward kind of thing.  Jeremy had to have almost the entire blood volume of his body replaced.  It saved his life. There are people offering up prayers and support from all over the world, thanks to the amazing Internet.

  He went back in today for more surgery, but they couldn't do much...his pancreas is much more damaged than they originally thought  and I guess the lung is too. So, they will wait a few more days, keeping him sedated and with no outside stimulation...they've barred visitors.  It's frightening and tragic and damn....I cannot imagine what my sister and her daughter-in-law must be going through.  It's hard to be so far away...

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  We are having a cold snap (finally--at the beginning of January!!)  Supposed to get down to 14 tonight and the wind has been atrocious.  BUT--Thursday is supposed to be 60. It's crazy, I tell ya....

  I am scattered all over the place. Made a chicken and rice casserole today for supper and served it with some sauteed cabbage and red onions. Yum...good comfort food for a cold windy day. I did a little house keeping and a little laundry and am about ready for bed, even though it's barely 11:30 PM.  All the animals seem subdued as well, and Bella just came in and got into her crate and is asleep. lol  I'm going to take that as a hint and go there myself. 

  The Irishman goes back to work tomorrow and I have nothing planned until time for MissB's in the middle of the afternoon. I can sleep in or get up early or do whatever I want. WooHoo!  (I'm going to be in trouble when the time comes for him to retire, aren't I ??)  lol  Luckily he's young, and still has a bit of work left in him.  lol

  I have one cat outside that needs to come in. I'm thinking that if I just open the front door, she'll probably come flying in out of that 20 degrees out there. Hope so. I am not tracking her down. Not tonight.

  Please take care, everyone. Tell your loved ones they're loved, make nice with the rest, and lets just set this world back on track again. Like some wise woman purportedly said: "Not every one can do great things. But everyone can do small things, with great love."

  You all make my world a better place. Thank you.

Namaste.

And another year begins...

  Had a lovely, sane New Year's Eve here at Honeysuckle Hill...we even stayed up til almost 1:30, lol...toasting in the New Year with sparkling grape juice and a cheese and cracker plate and watching NCIS reruns (marathon) most of the evening. Got up  this morning and made cinnamon rolls and eggs for breakfast and the Irishman is off to his usual Sunday Morning Meeting and I am here...doing some laundry, taking down the few Xmas decorations we have out and cleaning up. Decided I would take a minute to come in here and say good morning and start the year off right with a little blogging.

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  Yesterday was a long and emotionally draining day for me, until I got home and sat in my sweetie's arms for a while.  My aunt is dying, and my sister and I took the almost 3 hour trip up to see her. She's my dad's sister and I wanted to make sure to get up there at least once more before she departs this earth.  On the way there, my brother called to tell me that our nephew was in a terrible motorcycle accident at 1 AM  and was in critical condition in Florida. He was at a party and drinking and jumped on his friend's motorcycle and took it for a spin...no helmet, probably no license, and apparently the road curved and he didn't.  He has massive injuries, ruptured spleen damaged pancreas, broken ribs, one of which punctured a lung. A small skull fracture. Broken collar bone.  He bled out almost the entire body volume of blood...they were concerned about kidney damage, but now they think they are okay. They airlifted him to a big hospital where they pumped him full of new  blood, did emergency surgery to remove the spleen and part of the pancreas. He is on a ventilator.  It's a miracle that he is alive. It's a miracle there was no brain or spinal cord damage.   They will do more surgery on Monday, my sister said when I talked to her last night, but the prognosis is good. He will have a long road to recovery, but he will make it.  

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  It was really hard to see this always vivacious, full of "piss and vinegar" aunt lying in that bed almost unresponsive. We stayed for quite a while, talking to her and we actually managed to get her to drink a little and I put her glasses on her and she smiled. She did try to talk to us some, but it was really hard to understand her and hard for her to do.  She has developed Parkinsons and early Altzheimers (though I don't know how they can diagnose that at this stage).  She is dehydrated and we kept pushing the water and a bottle of chocolate Boost nutritional drink on her and she took a bit. When her son got there, he was amazed--said this is not the woman who was in this bed yesterday. She actually waved at him when he came in the door...a little fluttery hand wave. My cousin is having a really hard time with this...as he lost his dad and sister in the same year about 2 years ago.  And he was always a bit of a momma's boy, so that makes it even worse.  I promised to come back up next Thursday (if she's still here) on my day off.  He hugged me and cried and said thank you thank you so many times until I wanted to cry too.  I know how hard this is..I went through it too. And I will do whatever I can to help him and support him and be there for my aunt. 

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  So...all in all, a sad and scary start to a new year, but also one that holds promise and hope.  Getting some black eyed peas and hamhocks and greens and cornbread going for dinner..our traditional New Years Day fare.  I started thinking about some "goals" (thank you, Leigh! lol)  for 2012 and one of them is going to be looking towards a cleaner, meat-free diet.  We have a freezer full of stuff and we'll use that all up first.  (There'll be no wasting of food on HH). Then we'll decide just what direction we want to go. Probably not vegan, but surely a more vegetable and grain based diet. We'll keep our layers.  We'll still use butter, probably. But a change is in the air, I can feel it.  We don't really eat a LOT of meat, and almost no red meat, so this won't be difficult to institute, just a matter of changing some habits once again and going the extra mile to plan meals.  

  We also spent some time yesterday evening talking about things we want to do around here...some things that NEED doing and some things we WANT to do.  We need to put them to paper so that they don't get forgotten or ignored in the shuffle.

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  I hear the washing machine finishing the spin cycle and need to run the vacuum and clean this mess up before the Irishman gets back and we have to dine and then I'm off to MissB's.

  I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and send blessings of peace and prosperity to each and every one.

   Namaste.

Another day in Paradise...

 Woke up to 40 degree temperatures at 8 AM...it's almost 50 now.  Sheesh. 2 days ago, we had  over 2 inches of snow. Today is all sunshine and blue skies.

  This about sums it up, don't you think?

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   I am going to the dr. with a friend today who has found a lump in her breast and is scared. She went for a mammo a few days ago and they wouldn't do it  without the dr being there.  Of course, now she is even more terrified than before.  Sigh....I will go and hold her hand and pray for a good outcome...this is what friends do. And we will talk about not putting the cart before the horse and not making assumptions about any of it until we have the facts. And then, we will go from there.  And I will be scared for her too, and for me and for all women who face this stuff each and every day.  Thankfully, the detection rates and treatments for breast cancer are so much better than they used to be. Women the world over have done a much better job of self-examination and paying attention and getting treatment than ever before.  Please keep us in your prayers, if you're inclined to do that sort of thing.

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 I am (thankfully) off for a couple of days.  I have an afternoon massage scheduled for tomorrow. I have no big plans for people or parties or even housecleaning. (Though, I may do a little straightening).  lol  I am tired and lazy and full to the brim with holidays and people. Time for a little quietude and reflection, as I am wont to do this time of year.  The neighbors may or may not be having us over on New Years Eve or Day (lol)...all depending on the arrival and departure of their grown children. I will be happy to go or not go, as the case may be. 

  As you can see...I am slithering out of 2011 with  a slovenly lurch.  

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  What does 2012 hold for us? Interesting to think about, but not obsess on. I've been thinking about it  little. All the usual suspects...need to lose weight, change my diet a little (sugar), do a better job of saving money. Those things are probably on everyone's list. But what about the stuff that entails the real inside job stuff ?  

    I need to take more time for my spiritual life...prayer and meditation. I am, not the most disciplined person I know, that's for sure.  My husband, on the other hand, does not miss his morning time, EVER. We could be in a flood with water rising up around his ankles and he'd still be in his zone....lol  As for me--the dog farts and I'm up and running, looking for paper towels to clean up the mess.  I've never learned to lock myself away from everyone and everything in order to have uninterrupted time. Couldn't do it when I was a young mother...still don't seem to be able to do it today.  Is it a woman thing?? Are we always so "on" and alert to the world around us that we can't quite get to that place?  Because we have to take care of our world around us in the home, whether it's animals or children or husbands...we are the ones who hear the scratching at the door, sense the small sounds of a sick child,  smells the smell form the kitchen that no one else seems to notice?  I don't know. The truth is that although those things used to be true for me, they're really not so much anymore. But I am undisciplined and untrained and unable to shut off the sounds around me.  I guess the question really is: Am I too old, is it too late...for me to re-train myself?  The answer is probably NO. But I am so lazy and tired and this sounds like an awful lot of work...even as I hammer it out on the keyboard.

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  I guess I will decide if I'm making New Year's Resolutions or not before the dreaded day arrives.  LOL   Top this off with the fact that a week from tomorrow I will turn 59 years old, and I'm thinking it might be a too little too late kind of thing.   

  In the meantime, I will get moving, take a shower and go hold my friends hand.  Then we will maybe get some lunch or coffee and talk and I will come home to where the Irishman will have gotten off work 2 hours earlier than usual so he can finish up his unused vacation time for the year.  We will have a little supper and then I will traipse off to a womens meeting and share my experience, strength and hope with other women in recovery, who are trying to make sense of their lives too.  I've been doing this circus act too, for 21 years and so they think I know something.  I told one of them that "You can be an old-timer too someday, like me. Just don't drink, and don't DIE."  And together we can do what we could never do alone.

  Have a great Thursday afternoon, people.  It's the last one you get this year !!

 Namaste.

The morning after...

  Well...here we sit.

   All the gaga is over, the fridge is bursting with leftovers of various and sundry sort...and the house is quiet.

  My brother-in-law just left for Minnesota, heading back home, laden with gifts for the sisters who live there. Fed him a big bowl of oatmeal with walnuts and raisins and a couple of cups of good coffee, and he is on the road.  Husbandman just took Molly, the Jack Russell Terrorist in the truck, where they will drive to the local reservoir and she can run until she drops. The house is a little disheveled, but nothing too bad.  And right now I can hear the sound of a dog munching kibble and the furnace whirring in this 34 degree morning and all is right with the world.

  We had a great Christmas.  Nobody got too excited or upset about anything, we had a balanced weekend of activity and rest, of  cooking and eating relatively healthy foods, and so much love and laughter that it almost makes me cry to think about it.  It as just GOOD, darn it.    :)

  The Irishman still has today off and goes in to work tomorrow. I go back to MissB's this afternoon around 3. I will try to clean up a little and maybe slice that turkey breast I cooked last night. We ate ham for supper, with sweet potatoes from the garden and a big pot of green beans with onions and garlic. Nobody goes hungry around this house. lol  

  There's still an apple pie sitting on the island in the kitchen,  someone brought it for the party on Friday. Himself can take it to work tomorrow..the guys will eat it. Maybe the leftover cookies too.

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  There's always something so anticlimactic  about the end of the holiday week.  Or is it just tranquil?  lol  I got the cooling racks I wanted as gifts, along with a couple of books,  from the Irishman. His brother gave me an Advent Calendar and a 21 year Minnesota AA coin. (lol--I think he thought we didn't have those here--but I appreciate the thought). My kids got me coffee syrups (vanilla, hazelnut and peppermint), a pair of penguin pajamas and a box of chai tea latte mix.  It was a wonderful time, all in all. And now I just want to go snuggle back in bed...lol...but, it's 10:30 in the morning  so that's probably not a good idea.  Even though none of us had a lot of money to spend, we did alright. I made the kids a gift basket with salsa, jellies and a pound of Sumatran coffee beans, 2 gas gift cards and an ice scraper mitten for their cars. The oldest grandson got a pair of gloves and hat and the youngest got a Twilight game, a pizza gift card, and a fleece blanket.  My husband got a Backyard Orchardist book he wanted, as well as one about weeds. He also got gloves, ice scraper, and a calendar of  [Mini] Weapons of Mass destruction, which has pictures and directions for building catapults and things on each month. lol  As you can imagine, him being a boy and all, he LOVED that.

  And now, here I sit in the quiet. 

  Loving my life, loving my family and loving my friends.

 All in all, a good way to feel, on this, the 2nd day of Christmas.

  Blessings...

Namaste.