I'm reading Naamah's Kiss! It's so far awesome.

( Spoilers )

As those of you on my facebook learned yesterday, Eden managed to stick her face into a patch of poison ivy on our hike. She woke up yesterday with her poor face covered in it. Lots of Calagel and reiki/prayers/good thoughts really made it look much better before she went to bed.

And in her sleep, she couldn't help but scratch. Not only is it still on her face, she also now has a small trail running all the way down her body.

Please give her a little more of that good healing energy. I'll be washing her sheets in hot water again, and heading to the store soon to get her some benadryl.

Well, tomorrow is the trial of the unrepentant mother-killer. This will be the end of the first part at least, and we (me and my sisters) will finally be able to get up and speak to him. Boy, do I have a lot to say.

Please be with us and lend us your prayers and energy. I just want to see justice done. It's not likely that he'll get jail time, maybe just lose his license for a year, so I don't know why he's being so difficult about it. This has been so hard, but I've been trying to get my heart back in the right place.

I miss my mom. I want to do right by her, and I want the system to do right by her.

Please Reiki/pray for our cat Cinder. Having reaction to flea meds.

Wow, thank you guys for all the awesome energy! My back has improved so much so darn fast.

Josh went to the drugstore to get me a heating pad, and left me with a staff in case I had to hobble to the bathroom. I intended to do just that, and suddenly I was able to walk better again! I still had to use the staff, but I'm shuffling quite quickly now, and I can even walk around without it as long as I go carefully.

I felt so much better, I was even able to make the bed and fold up the laundry piled on the couch. Our laundry basket is actually full and sitting on the floor. I couldn't do those, because I still can't bend over to pick it up, but I got everything that was already sitting up on the couch.

Josh has returned with my heating pad, and it's really helping too. Still, after having such a hard time yesterday and an even worse time this morning, I did not expect such drastic improvement. I chalk it up to you all beaming greatness my way. Thanks so very much!

It had recently come to my attention that the Sapphire Reiki website is using my What is Reiki? article on the front page of their website.

While I'm quite proud of this article, I really do hate my work being stolen without credit. Or asking.

The website gave no email contact whatsoever that I could find, but I called the number of the practitioner and asked him to either link back to my site and properly credit me or to remove my article.

I don't know how long they've had it up, passing it as their content, but that really irks me. I've done a lot of work trying to educate people about Reiki and have been working on getting my own school off the ground. Also, as a writer, I expect to be paid for my work.

I give him a couple of days, then I contact my lawyer. Seem fair?

Edited because I'm not giving him a week.

This week's therealljidol topic was chosen by my f-list. Thanks, guys!


I'm a Christian, but I'm certainly not your mainstream Christian. When I went to church, I went to a Unity Church, although I now do my celebrating at home. My personal rituals are a mixture of many different techniques – my Christian background comes into play, as does Medicine Reiki, shamanism... Really anything I've picked up somewhere that has personally resonated, I use.

When we left our church, it became really important to me to include my daughters in my spiritual activities. I've tried to raise them with an understanding and respect for God and Universe. Kids get these things; they really do. Maybe not on deep philosophical levels, but Spirit resonates for children just as well as adults. My children are five and three, and we've been discussing God and life since (before) they were born.

At first, I tried introducing an altar to bring some conscious honoring into our daily lives. Moms, I'm sure you can guess what happened. Our little table (er, upside-down banana box), so lovingly set up with print, crystals, sticks from our faerie tree, and little bowls of rice and water, quickly became the hot spot for books, dirty clothes, tiny McDonald's toys, and extra crayons. Rather than lovingly taking our offerings out to the faerie tree each day, I found myself ritually picking rice out of my carpet and shooing the cat away to her own water.

The altar was cleared off, turned upside down, and became a giveaway box for all the extra toys that had previously been piled upon it.

I still haven't given up, though. For a while, I got slack about my own spirituality – our spirituality. Seeing my kids continue to struggle as badly as me after my momma's death really made me realize that I needed to get our family back on track.

We had our first “family ritual” on Winter Solstice. Josh doesn't often join me in such endeavors, but we planned this one together. It was a Healing Ceremony for the girls, and no mistake! One of the important things about creating your own ceremonies is that you really need to have a set intention. It's almost all about intention. With that one, I wanted to make sure it was something that would engage my children: we made a big fire outside, drew out all of our darkness that we wanted to release, and went out as a family to throw them to the flames together. Afterwards, we filled in that empty spot with the sweetness of roasted marshmallows.

My kids have been healthily happy ever since. It wasn't a miracle cure for grief, that's for sure, but even children are empowered by taking their healing into their own hands.

That ceremony was quite a success, and the girls have asked us to do them more often. I'm so glad that they're excited about it! And we homeschool, so I'm excited about the educational aspects as well as the spiritual and bonding aspects.

My youngest, Ivy, has been having some health issues lately. Tonight, we're holding a healing ceremony for her. I understand that ritual is also important, but I don't want our ceremonies to be the same every time. I like to ask them to check in with their hearts and determine what feels right and needed.

As mom, I get to do the same. For instance, I've explained why it's so important to me that we clean up the room before we ceremony in it. We must bless our house and clear the space for the energy to move. The girls pitch in, usually with minimum griping. (It really helps to call it “blessing the house” and not “cleaning the house”.)

We used purifying fire last time, so I thought we'd center around a different element this time. I want to make a healing oil to anoint her with. My kids love that sort of thing. I've caught them making potions with my bath salts and bubbles before. I plan on pouring a little oil into a bowl and letting them add whatever herbs they feel will give Ivy healing power.

When we're ready, I'm going to let Ivy smudge the room with Sweetgrass, and then Eden may smudge the people with Sage. Kids love smudging! We'll consecrate a blanket for the floor, to lay on. All of us will say a little prayer for Ivy and anoint her with oil, then she'll lay down and we'll do a nice family Reiki session for her.

If the kids are in the mood for anything else, we'll do that too. Ceremony is all about moving with the Spirit, after all!

I do have a more devious plot than marshmallows this time. The doctor told Ivy that she needs to work on drinking more water and eating more vegetables if she wants to be healthy. So after Ivy's healing portion is done, we'll move to the kitchen where the girls can smudge the squash I have in the fridge (it really needs to get eaten up), and I'll even teach them how to chop them. We'll pour the rest of the unused, health-imbued oil into a pan and saute up some veggies! I've learned that once children cook it themselves, they'll really eat anything.

The trick about including kids in ceremonies is that is needs to be fun, and it doesn't hurt for there to be an immediate reward of some sort. It doesn't have to be sweets – it's as easy as mom or dad saying, “Hey, your energy was awesome tonight!” Try it different ways. Let the children lead if they have ideas of their own.

It's fun. It should be fun. Still, before you begin, it's important to invoke Sacred Space in some way. Children will respect Sacred Space. In fact, I personally feel that it's quite important to teach them how to center into that still space while they're still young. Do it through breathing, saying a prayer, or simply standing together, holding hands.

Always close out and end with gratitude. Phrase it in a powerful way: “Thank you for Ivy's health and wholeness!” rather than “Thank you for helping our poor, sick girl.” If you've called in your guardian angels or guides, thank them for their support. Thank each other, especially if someone did something that really moved you.

Plan ahead of time, because children have notoriously short attention spans and will likely give up the ceremony idea if they're waiting around for you. At the same time, be willing to abandon your plans if your children take you in a different direction. If you're introducing a new concept, like anointing, explain how different religions have used this technique over the centuries. If you've just made something up and thrown it together, at least explain why you felt drawn to do it that way. Explain to them in simple terms what it means to “focus in your heart, and not your head” or to call in your guides.

Ceremonies don't need to last a long time, and they don't have to be 'just so' or they won't work. Let Spirit move through you and show how people can easily work with Spirit. If your candle won't stay lit, laugh and say, “Guess Universe wants us to use more air than fire, eh?” If your pet jumps in the middle of things, thank her for coming to lend her energies. Ceremonies at home are perfect places for giggles! It shouldn't be a sit-down-and-shush situation. Remember to always end on a happy note. And have those kids help you lovingly put everything away afterwards!


This is my week 17 entry for therealljidol. If you enjoyed it &/or found it helpful, please vote for me when the polls open tonight or tomorrow. Thank you!

Please give Reiki, prayers, &/or good energy to our dog Achaiah. We think she may be sick. If she doesn't improve this weekend, I may have to take her to a vet. She's been having some stinky farts for about a week now, and this morning she had really bad diarrhea. Since we all just got over a tummy bug, I really didn't think too much about it, but her tummy seems pretty swollen and she's yelped like she hurts several times today. Thanks in advance!

I added a link to a picture and some info on my last LJ post.

I'd sure appreciate any prayers or energy for these two. They appear to be overly scared of Josh. The female growls quite a bit when he is around, but they let me get close without growling. I was really trying to soothe them, offering food & lots of Reiki. We think they were abused by a man. They're really terrified.

I'm afraid that might make it hard to find homes for them. Worse yet, I got an automated letter from our local freecycle mods, and apparently some people pose as rescues and specifically target multiples or litters to use in training for fighting dogs. I don't know how accurate that is, but I've checked out the profiles of everyone who's responded, and none of them have actual profiles with personal info or pictures. Only one or two of them was even a coherent response by intelligent pet owners (as in, nobody giving me *any* information, just "I'll take them"). *Sigh* I've contacted them all for more information. Makes it discouraging, because we really don't want to take them to a shelter. But they're scared to death and we can't very well keep them out in our shed.

Anyway, thanks for all your kindness and help as we try to find them loving homes!

Me? I'm just chilling here at Charlotte airport, waiting for my buddy lessthan90sheep to get in. Then it's NYC or Bust!

Gonna try to see Lady Liberty today, and I've promised to find the best snow globe in NY to bring back to Eden. She's a snow globe fanatic, and her last one busted a couple weeks ago (she was sleeping with it & it fell out of the top bunk...)

If you don't mind, I'd be so grateful for prayers and reiki! I'm a nervous flier. Just wrap our planes, pilots, and cute little selves in a bright ball of safety.

I should be able to post pics tonight, and then you'll see my new hairdo.

The world's oldest person has died. As I read things like this in the headlines, I always say a little prayer and offer healing to the departed. I thought I would share and pass that on here.

I strongly believe that people's love/prayers/energy/thoughts help others as their souls cross over. I've been around birth a lot, and though I'm fairly new to death, they seem to me to be very similar as far as being life's biggest, strongest, most powerful transitions. I think my mom's crossing was extra powerful because so many people were praying for her. I think that kind of outpouring of love helps offset fear, pain, and confusion.

When I think of people like Edna Parker, who has lived longer than most of us could ever hope to, it brings with it a very humbling thought. Do you have any idea how many people she's impacted in her life?

She was a teacher before getting married and becoming a housewife, too, so once more with feeling: Do you have any idea how many people's she's impacted in her life?

I see how my three and five (and a half) year olds have impacted strangers, and I'm glad that (for the most part) we've instilled respect and common courtesy into them. I'm only twenty-seven (and a half) and I know I've had an impact on the world. It's also a humbling thought, but it's true for every one of us. Some, I've impacted badly. I've done my best to apologize and make up for those, and I've been all right with keeping daily maintenance on the forgiveness process. Some, I've impacted wonderfully. I know this because some of you have let me into your homes/births/hearts/families. (And believe me, that means a lot when I'm feeling down.) My mom was only fifty, and yet she had touched so many, and so deeply. Brenden Foster was only eleven, and yet his kindness and generosity of spirit is at this very moment continuing to feed homeless all over the world.

So it is my sincere wish that you take a moment when you hear about someone who's passed on, or right then and there when someone really impacts you, take that moment to give them the love, prayer, and support that they deserve. Pour it on out to their families and everyone else who's ever been blessed by them. Even if you don't believe in the afterlife, just take a minute to give them a warm and fuzzy hug for their work here.

NJ hospital uses Reiki on cancer patients.

Except for the doctor insisting that this very real and powerful healing method is a placebo, I thought this was a pretty good segment.

We're taking Cinder to get spayed this morning. Please give her good vibes, as she's still just a little thing.

therealljidol offers us an Open Topic this week. I've decided to use this opportunity to update my What is Reiki? post, only this time I'd like to focus a little more on how reiki has affected me personally. Reiki is one of my biggest passions, and it's changed my life in so many wonderful ways.

Reiki (pronounced “ray-kee”) is a form of healing that uses divine energy to heal on physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual levels. Reiki is a Japanese word meaning “divine life force energy”. A Reiki practitioner acts as a channel for reiki energy, offering healing by laying on of hands. Reiki practitioners of level 2 or higher can also give distance healings.

An attunement is the process that creates a Reiki healer. A Reiki Master opens the student to the Reiki energy through attunements, preferably after teaching a class or series of classes on Reiki. However, even if no class is taught and the student only receives the attunement, s/he is still open to the ability to channel Reiki. From then on, all the person has to do is hold their hands on someone with the intent for Reiki to flow and it will flow.

I met my Reiki Master in 2003, I believe, at a Unity church I was attending. I grew up in Asheville, which is a pretty energetic hot spot and has become something of a new age-y town. I'd seen reiki fliers all over the place, but I never really knew what reiki was. K'Sitew was able to explain it to me. He told me he had founded the Medicine Reiki tradition, and briefly explained how that differed from Traditional Reiki. K'Sitew had been attuned to Traditional Reiki long ago, and after living with the Cree for twenty years, he saw how reiki energy and Medicine wisdom could be really complementary.

I was very intrigued. I knew we had Cree blood on my mother's side, though it's lost in the pale sea of strong Irish blood. It was more the energy work part that drew me, and I felt a wonderful energy from K'Sitew himself. I'd always been very open to energy, but I kind of floundered around trying to uncover what that meant. Having a teacher would be a dream come true. And then K'Sitew told me he happily offers scholarships, and I embarked on my reiki journey.

I received my Reiki I attunement in March 2004, about a year after the birth of my first child. In Reiki I, you learn the history of reiki and the Reiki Principles. Reiki I opens you up as a reiki channel and enables you to give hands-on healing. It's primarily for self-healing. While reiki itself is a soothing, healing energy that is often used for physical illness, people who receive the actual attunement process usually find that their lives change much more drastically when receiving an attunement. It brings you into better alignment with your life path, and sometimes this includes things like physical detoxification and past traumas being brought into the present to work through and heal.

I had a minor detox that many Reiki I's say they experience. They were mostly cold-like symptoms – a runny nose, feeling tired, using the bathroom more often. It didn't last long and I knew to expect it, so I counteracted it by drinking lots of water and resting for a day. I did have a lot of issues come up with my then-stepfather, with whom I'd always had a problem. I had to rededicate myself to cutting him from mine and my daughter's life, even if it meant hurting my mom. We stopped visiting. Mom could come out to us if she wanted to see her granddaughter. This was the last time I had to make that stand – mostly because I stuck with it this time, fully committing myself to my vow that my children would know only a family of love, and also because they ended up finally divorcing some time later.

I immediately felt a difference in my energy work. I felt things more clearly, and I understood them much better. I became confident in my abilities, because my intuitions usually seemed correct. I practiced on Josh, who was a great sport. He'd lie on our bed while I fumbled my way through the worksheets, trying to remember all the hand positions. I did my two daily self-healings, happily went along offering even just a moment of reiki to random strangers (we're supposed to practice on others). I reiki-ed our car, our dog, our baby, stoplights. Just to see, you know. One of my very favorite activities was nursing Eden while I opened up to reiki energy and did a chakra meditation with her. I've always intuited with colors, and I'd practice beaming different colors to her when she was tired, cranky, or sad. I'd hold her and fill her with pink mommy-light, or rock her with a soothing sleepy blue, pour in a healing green when her tummy hurt. The more I used reiki, the more it taught me.

I took my Reiki II in May, just two months later. I was an eager student and signed up for the very next class. Reiki II was just wonderful. I learned distance healing, which I had already done my whole life in my own personal energy work. I applied reiki to my own techniques after Reiki I, and I found it quite effective. Still, there was no denying an increase of power after my Reiki II attunement. I was not just holding a person in my hands, mind, or heart; I was often feeling a definite and powerful connection, especially if it was someone I loved.

During this time, my uncle was diagnosed with cancer. He was so far away in Illinois. With his permission, I made distance healing for him my daily practice. I included any and everyone who wished or could be talked into it. I applied my distance healing practice to the prayer list I was on. It was anonymous, through the church, so I was able to practice settling into Sacred Space and connecting with strangers, asking permission to do the reiki work. I find asking the 'Higher Self' to be perfectly acceptable if one can't literally ask permission, but I find that too many healers misunderstand or abuse that practice. They'll use “asking the Higher Self” as a way to circumvent permission from someone they know would be uncomfortable with reiki energy. I always include the caveat that I intend the energy to go to Gaia if someone prefers not to accept it. Our Earth needs healing, and she has never said no.

Only once did I get a strong and emphatic NO. Reiki II's distance practices also urge us to move beyond space and time to heal old emotional or karmic wounds. I had been doing a lot of healing and releasing work with my issues with my stepfather. Eventually I got to the point where I felt like I could joyfully offer him healing for our relationship as well. He and mom had split, and he'd long since fallen off the wagon and no one knew where he was. I did some self-work too, making sure I could offer with a light heart. I connected with him and told him I was working on forgiveness, that I wanted to move on and was offering what I could if he wanted it. Not only did I get a NO, but the NO was in big bright red and slammed up in my consciousness on a thick stone wall. Point taken.

I had to wait a while before Reiki III was offered. Reiki III is the Master/Teacher level, which enables the practitioner to teach each level of reiki and pass attunements to others. By the time the class was offered in February 2005, I was three months pregnant with my second child. I wondered if the attunement would have any effect on the baby. From both my doula and reiki backgrounds, I feel pretty emphatically about informed consent. It was my child though, and I'd been waiting eagerly for a Master class. I figured it was meant to be the way it would be. I asked K'Sitew if he thought the baby would be attuned too, and if so, would it be a level one or a Master attunement? He said he had no clue, but it would be interesting to find out what happened.

My attunement to energy was much stronger by this time, but my Master attunement was really indescribable. It was so strong, and I felt a bit dizzy and lightheaded for some time after it. I was in a sparkly haze. I remember things only vaguely after that, but the power of it stays clearly. I was so thirsty. I drank a lot of water. I remember smiling a lot.

K'Sitew said that he had seen four hoops. Medicine Reiki is also sometimes called Hoop Reiki, because we utilize Medicine Hoops in our practice. K'Sitew said he felt I received my Master hoop and the baby received hoops for all three levels.

I had been throwing myself head first into my new reiki practice, but I had never lived with the Cree. I didn't understand Medicine energies, except for what stories I picked up here and there from K'Sitew. I always invited any guides and totems into my work, but I'd never had a clear awareness of them. That is what changed with my Master attunement.

Within a week, three different people (one was a stranger) recommended Sandra Ingerman's Shamanic Journeying: A Beginner's Guide. Listening to Universe, I went and bought it, and thus embarked on my shamanic journeying path. I did a whole lot of reading after that, but I also started journeying and asking different energies themselves what they were and how they related to me and my path. It was truly an awakening. I was able to actively connect and work with my guides, and I have done successful journeys for others.

When I went into labor with my little Reiki Master (we still did not know the sex), it was also exceptionally powerful. I passed my very first attunement while I was in labor. I wanted reiki, and I wanted it from Josh. That is what I remember most from Ivy's birth – the cool, blue-green waves of reiki that Josh held me in during my hour of active labor.

It was over two years before I felt comfortable enough with reiki to hold my first class. That was done with my mom and sisters, and it is a memory I will forever cherish. I finally opened my own reiki school in January of this year, when I felt ready to devote much more of my life to my reiki path. That was derailed after mom's accident, but after several months of actively healing, I'm ready to start picking up the pieces again.


****

Click here to receive reiki healing, any time.

Okay guys, a couple questions/thoughts...

If you see one of your friends snarked somewhere, do you tell them? Is this a case or 'what they don't know won't hurt them' or 'better point that out, lest they be pissed you didn't tell them'? Does it only matter if it was an f-locked entry, so they can be aware that a "friend" is a viper?

Me personally, I want to know if I'm being snarked. Hell, I snark myself often, so I'll be impressed if it's done well. In fact, I'm fairly sure that I saw an entry about myself the very same day I joined mock_the_stupid. I almost commented, but what's the point? Wank only makes it worse. Still, most people have thinner skins than me. Would I upset someone more by pointing it out, or by remaining silent?

This isn't today, BTW, so don't go reading my f-list to see if you showed up somewhere. LOL This is something I noticed one day while I was peeking in randomly.

Also...lots of folks vent about their friends. I'm just curious - do you create a special filter that excludes those friends, or do you just let them see it & hope it works out? I don't vent about my friends here, I tend to do that to Josh. LOL No really, I usually talk it out with said friends whenever I'm calm enough to. I'll talk to them before I'll talk to others about it, and it usually peeves the shit out of me if I find I'm not given the same courtesy. I'd rather know what's being said about me than not.

Speaking of filters - since I have a bunch of new friends, I should really go over them again. I think most people miss my filter link I have.

* Writing: My stuff, I usually like thorough critiques if you're willing. I do enjoy those "this is perfect; you rock!" comments, but I more greatly prefer constructive criticism. Like I said, thick skin. Since lots of people (ha! sometimes) comment, I may not take every suggestion, but I'll consider them.

* Poetry: Kind of self-explanatory. Seldom-used.

* NaNoWriMo: For those fellow WriMos or the angelic friends who just want to stay on my ass as I attempt National Novel Writing Month

* Ladies Only: Not for men, but hopefully more Lady-power than ewww-gross-stuff. Also seldom-used.

* Reiki Masters: For people with Reiki III attunements only. This is my teaching-prep stuff. All regular reiki posts are public, or f-locked if it's sensitive.

* Shamanism: Where I share my shamanic journeys. I love feedback, but rarely get it. I'm also hoping for people who would be willing to do joint-ceremonies/journeys.

* Channeling: My mom was a channeler. I am (slowly) going through her channelings. This is more personal reflection than readings, as well as my own experiences.

* Music Exchange: Not started yet, but in the works. Read this post if you think you may be interested.

Let me know if you want on any of them!

Some other things you should know about my lj:

- I only use lj-cuts when many pictures are involved.

- I prefer mutual friending. Most of my lj is f-locked. I usually delete anyone who removed me. I'm a little OCD about keeping my numbers even/balanced. *blush* There's your secret for the day!

- I usually only add people who introduce themselves and ask to be added. I overlooked that for my LJ Idol friending-fun, but that's usually how I roll.

- I post on many different topics, but it doesn't bother me if you're not interested. Comment/contribute when you're interested. Just don't come in my house demanding cuts or filters. That irks me. And on that note...

- Feel free to unfriend me whenever you want, or ask me to take you off a filter if I've put you on one. I just usually prefer hearing it from you than commenting on yours for a few months before I realize you've unfriended me. I always say goodbye, but I don't make a big deal.

Thanks for coming along!

See my previous list and mission101. X-posted there.

When I started this project back in September 2006, I quite fervently decided that I would do none of this silly rearranging my list. Oh no, I would set out to do exactly what I aimed to do. I would do it or consider myself Fail.

We must grow or be conquered by life. Point taken, life. I should know better than to feel all staunch and high and mighty, than to continue to let my perfectionism defeat me when it comes to trying to get better.

Since I began this project, I have gotten engaged and spent considerable time and energy into planning a wedding. That wedding fell through when my mom was in a horrible car accident four days prior, and though we got married anyway, I still have the 'wedding' part to replan. I also spent several months really doing nothing in the wake of her death (Mother's Day, 2008). I've kind of dropped my SCA plans altogether, which I barely ever dipped the surface anyway, and my doula work has taken a back seat to my writing and reiki as I deal with these other issues. I've also left my church, so all remaining goals related to that – and correlating to the wedding – need to be dropped or revised anyway. I'm also still up in the air about whether I'll have the time & resources available to do Meals on Wheels or Body for Life this round, but we'll see.

So I have revisited and revised my goal list, though I've decided to maintain the finish date of May 30, 2009. We were married May 9, and I want that new part done by our first anniversary anyway! Then hopefully everything regarding my mom will be settled, and I can make my second list with a fresh eye to the future.

My last update was New Year's. I'm a bit surprised that I have so few done yet! It seemed like more. Yipes! I have many in progress, but I really need to buckle down. If anyone wants to be motivator/encourager/accountability buddies, please let me know! I'm great with both virtual hugs and haranguing.

I have eight months to knock out 83 more items. Go me.

Start date: Saturday, September 2, 2006
Ending date: Saturday, May 30, 2009

Strikes to indicate items completed and italics to indicate items in progress. Bolded items are my new additions.

27 / 101 words. 27% done!

Miscellaneous

1. Organize this list (Done as I posted - what can I say? I need instant gratification)
2. See Keller Williams live (Nov. 5, 2006 - The Neighborhood Theater in Charlotte...it was awesome!) (Also 10/25/08 - pics & vid!)
3. Learn how to make a compost pile Summer 2008
4. Plant a garden
5. Find a female friend *Waves* hi, lahermite!
6. Find another female friend
7. Send a message in a bottle
8. Make a scrapbook

Doula

9. Get my DONA, Int'l certification Got the call 5/20/07 - I'm certified! :D

Reiki

10. Get a portable massage table 12/24/07 Thank you, K'Sitew!
11. Teach a reiki class Done July 1, 2007 for my mom & sisters. Friends hear the Voice Post. Reiki Masters on my Level 3 filter can see the class outline. Total classes held: 3
12. Participate in a Full Moon Hoop Ceremony July 07
13. Participate in a New Moon Hoop Ceremony Oct 07?
14. Lead a Medicine Reiki Ceremony
15. Get attuned to Violet Flame Reiki (October 21, 2006, 1, 2, & Master levels)
16. Make a Manifestation Grid
17. Find a new place to hold Reiki Shares
18. Complete my distance course

Writing

19. Read 101 Books
20. Get an article published
21. Get a short story published
22. Complete NaNoWriMo Nov 07: 12,643
23. Submit to the Writers of the Future contest
24. Get a paid LJ account Thank you, simplydorei! 06 – I have maintained paid status since.

FLY-ing

25. FLY consistently for 28 days
26. Get Flylady calendar & sticker kit August 26, 2008. It really does help, too. I'm going to start listing monthly goals to work on.
27. Get both FlyLady dusters
28. Get blue FlyLady water bottle
29. Try all of the sample menus in Saving Dinner and see if there's one I'd like to subscribe to Tried several, and Josh was not a fan.

Home

30. Make fruit baskets for the kitchen
31. Take a Home Depot class & fix something on the house
32. Redecorate the bedroom
33. Get a bed ~ Thanks to lahermite!
34. Get the kids' room fixed up Yay to Josh for clearing out the 'junk room'.

Family

35. Start a piggy bank for the girls This has to be done again. Apparently I did it once, but I'm not sure why we no longer have them.
36. Make a basket for Ivy
37. Take the girls camping
38. Take the girls to the ocean
39. Go to Cherokee
40. Make a gingerbread house with the girls
41. Take family to IL Check out my IL Trip tag!
42. Start a homeschool routine with the girls Check out our “official” First Week of Kindergarten and my homeschooling & unschooling tags
43. Offer to braid Josh's hair 3 times I
44. Take Josh to Carowinds
45. Go a full day without scolding or yelling
46. Finish reading Little House series with the girls/Order Little House on the Prarie dvds I made this one entry since we're already almost done with the series.
47. Find a reliable, relatively local babysitter
48. Get a new digital camera

Personal Improvement

49. Make lasagna
50. Learn a new language
51. Learn a song on the guitar
52. Read the Complete Idiot's Guide to Beating Debt
53. Read the Complete Idiot's Guide to Investing
54. Invest in the stock market
55. Take a Continuing Education course
56. Take a small business course
57. Pay library fine & return all books that aren't mine Done two or three times now, whoops
58. Pay all of my bills early I've done good recently – let's see if it lasts through the whole month.
59. Pay off an outstanding debt Eden's doctor bill - Oct. 2008

Spirit

60. Learn about & visit at least 5 other churches
61. Fast for a week
62. Participate in a drum circle
63. Hold another releasing ceremony Here, and with excellent results!

Love

64. Clean up a road My girls and I have done this once for Earth Day 08. We will do it again.
65. Be a Secret Santa
66. Leave a book
67. Take food to the food bank
68. Bake something to give away at least 6 times 10/27/06, 06/08

Month Long Projects

69. Do Bellydancing videos three times a week (Health)
70. Meditate every day (Spirit)
71. Do a shamanic journey every day (Spirit)
72. Make breakfast every day (Family)
73. Keep a journal (Personal Improvement) I am keeping a homeschool log and blogging more, so I consider this working even if I can't seem to keep long-hand journals.
74. Fast 2 days/week (Spirit)
75. Volunteer for Meals on Wheels (Love)
76. Write a letter/wk (Love)
77. Write 100 words/day (Writing)

Six Week Projects

78. Do Flash Challenges at Liberty Hall every weekend (Writing)
79. Reiki Gaia every day (Spirit)
80. Do at least one Random Act of Kindness/day (Love)
81. Send a card/wk (Love)
82. Do EFT every day (Personal Improvement)
83. Drink 64 oz of water/day (Health)

Three Month Projects

84. Take the family somewhere new every week (Family)
85. Do Body For Life (Health)
86. Do the 4T Prosperity Program (Personal Improvement - Sept 10, 2006 - Dec 06)

Wedding

87. Finish thank you cards from the first time!
88. Find a new place to hold wedding
89. Send out save-the-dates
90. Invitations again
91. Find a fourth bridesmaid
92. Have some sort of real music plan this time. Dj, band, kazoos, something.
93. Interview and hire a professional photographer
94. Have a real cake, freeze the top layer, that whole shebang
95. Take a Dance class with Josh
96. Have that bonfire/drum circle I wanted. Book separate reception place, if necessary
97. Attend a Wedding Festival Sept. 25, 2008
98. Have wedding by May 9, 2009
99. Have a real honeymoon
100. Research Married-Across-The-World idea. If viable, book two more spots

101. Make new 101 list! I'm kinda-but-not-really counting the revision on this list. I still have to make another once this is completed.

( Here are the ones I took out: )

I put 6-9 because I'm not entirely sure what days everything happened. I pretty much lost track from Monday (mom's accident) until Friday. It was all quite fuzzy and veil-like. I mentioned once in a reply how my mom always seemed to have significant dates in her life. Her accident was the Cinco de Mayo and she died on Mother's day. She was born right before Christmas. Married my dad on Friday the 13th. (I was never quite sure how that happened). Come to think of it, I was born around Memorial Day, Lyz was the day before Papa's birthday (mom's dad), and I don't think Tina's is a holiday but one of my uncles always called it Soldier Day (“March 4th!”). Anyway, the days in between fuzz together, but the big ones stick out fairly well.

I'd pretty much parked myself at the hospital from the moment I got there Monday. Family started arriving Wednesday, I think, though most of them didn't get there until Friday. I was very glad to have my dear friend Tracy at my side that first full day (Tuesday?). Tina's boyfriend Adam's parents came up right away from Gastonia, and they were really helping her a lot. Lyz couldn't really stand to be at the hospital at first, and she was mostly with her boyfriend Bano. I was so glad someone came just to be there for me. Poor Josh seemed so far away with the kids. They were coming up every day to visit, go eat lunch at a park, that kind of thing. They weren't allowed up in Neuro Trauma, and we tried to keep them away from the hospital after our first cafeteria excursion created havoc on Josh for the rest of the night.

I also had a wonderful chaplain friend from church come to visit me. Jen is the person helping me coordinate the Reiki Share I'm starting at church – today (5/20) in fact! She came just to hug me first, but she came back the next day and brought two great big bags of food – one for me and one for the girls. She also took me out for Starbucks, which had become life sustaining sustenance after trying to subsist on hospital coffee. Then while we were there, and she was just being so great and letting me vent, Jen offered me a healing attunement.

She's a Master of the Usui school, and I didn't realize there were actually different types of attunements. I was feeling way too stressed and worried about my family, and I really felt like her attunement really marked the start of things getting better. It was interesting, because that was the day after I'd tried (without luck) to go drown my sorrows. I'd bummed a cigarette at one point, and I completely started tasting it again when Jennifer did the healing. I could literally feel and taste it coming back up and out of me, and the clean feeling it left in it's place. It was actually a really cool experience. I'm pretty sensitive with energy anyway, and the week was already crazy intense. I hadn't eaten for a week and had little sleep, and I felt like I was straddling the veil anyway. Jen's attunement felt really powerful, and I did start feeling much better.

It helped that I also had some internet friends coming to visit! Two dear friends had planned to come to the wedding, and I was excited to find out that both would still make a point of coming to Asheville if I felt up for a visit. I really needed those bright spots.

First – Thursday, I think – I met my good buddy Beth and her boyfriend, who I'd met through my favorite writing forum. Beth and I used to do flash challenges every weekend when I still had the internet. We'd always be on at crazy wee hours and would act as muses for each other when we got stuck. She's the genius who taught me that dead hookers solve every plot problem. (Try it, it's eerie.)

I've tried to remember how long I've known her online now. Two years, maybe three? I could check if I logged on to LH, I'm sure. At any rate, she and her lovely other half treated me to lunch at Barley's Taproom. She was very cool, though I knew I wasn't the best company. Next time we'll have much more fun getting smashed together, I'm sure.

At some point I got a call from my long time cohort lessthan90sheep, who surprised the absolute hell out of me by calling and saying, “We're just outside Knoxville. Did you still want to try to meet?” I'd forgotten that they'd also planned to visit other friends in Knoxville anyway, and I was beyond stoked when I found out that they had still made the trip. I've “known” Steph for somewhere around 8 or 10 years now and have always wanted to actually meet her. We made plans to meet Friday before my Grandma flew in at 2.

Friday (the 9th), I started regaining some sense of time. Steph and her husband met me early and also whisked me away to Starbucks. Her husband Scott showed me the drum they had made and taught me a bit about making them. I can't wait to try that. He also had the coolest flute. We weren't entirely sure where to go, so they suggested pagany tourist shopping. I lean more hippy myself, but I hope I didn't let them down too much. I took them to my favorite shop where I get all my ceremony supplies. Josh called and celebrated the fact that Tracy came and took the kids for the night (it had started getting rough for him to handle them alone, and me & Josh really needed some time together since it was supposed to be our wedding day). Josh agreed to meet us up at Silver Armadillo, the very cool earthy shop.

We browsed while we waited for Josh. I got three hematite healing necklaces for me and my sister, and a card and stone for my mom. Josh and I were still kicking around the idea of getting married when everyone got there, so I bought a bag of rose quartz to give as favors, just in case. Josh showed up and introductions went round.

I went over to Earth Fare (whole foods organic store) to use the restroom, and the sidewalk musician busted into Eyes of the World as I walked by. I think I started crying. It was so weird that some random dready guy would start singing me that song. Besides the lyrics (“wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world....”), I used to sing that song to Eden in the mornings after she was first born. I was extremely moved, and dude was really breaking it down.

We then went to walk around downtown and check out some of those shops. We found a little tree place to get some pictures. I was really glad to finally get to meet her and just chill for a few hours.








Afterwards, it was Friday so Josh and I figured we'd go get the marriage license just in case. Funny enough, Tina called right as we were getting into the car afterwards. Tina says, “We all talked about it, and we want you guys to get married. Today, the day you were supposed to do it.” I had called K'Sitew that morning, just in case. I'd called Chad too, but didn't have luck reaching him. So we told them we'd have to get some things ready, which meant I missed Grandma and the rest of them coming into town. I had been there when everyone saw mom for the first time, and I felt so bad that I wasn't there for Grandma. But we didn't have the rings on us or anything, so we headed back to the house to try to get things in order.

I think about it as the 'marriage', with the 'wedding' to follow. I'll write that up later, but there's the highlights of my week leading up to it.

Prayers and Reiki are earnestly requested for my mom, Christy. I'll probably f-lock this post later, but for now I just want to be sure as many people are praying for her as possible.

Mom was in a pretty serious car accident today. I guess it was yesterday by now – I'm at the hospital now, still a bit too keyed up to sleep. It's bad. She's had massive brain injury and was in surgery for hours. They honestly don't expect her to make it. They are forward with us about it, but really, they say it far too often (and in front of her) for my comfort. I appreciate the honesty, but I also believe in the thought/word/deed method of creation and I'm doing my very best to hold the positive and vibrant image that is my mom. I really need and appreciate anyone who'd be willing to hold that image of health and wholeness for us.



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Long time no see, old friends. I've been so incredibly busy lately, I hardly have any web time anymore. My snatches of time seem to come late at night (yay for 24 hr coffee shops!), and I always play mad catch-up any more. I haven't even read my f-list in forever!

Thanks to everyone who's checked in to see how we're doing. Life is swell right now. Allow me to share a bit with you.

Wedding

I've gotten my first wave of wedding invitations mailed off, and we're already beginning to receive response cards back (lahermite's was first – woot!). I'm so excited! I have more to mail out, but I'm trying to collect the addresses I'm missing. Most of those are for out-of-town family that we don't really expect to make it.

We have a wedding website, which is slowly coming together. I got to have a little fun with it. Check out MackWedding.com, and don't forget to sign our guest book! My buddy David has told me that he may be able to come after all, so I'm very excited about that.

After informing my Reiki Master of our engagement, he offered to perform the ceremony for us. I was so touched! I'd already spoken with our preacher when we reserved the church, though, and had reserved him and his wife (who does the music) for our wedding. After much discussion, and checking with Chad (the preacher) to make sure that he doesn't mind, we've decided to do a joint ceremony with Chad and K'Sitew both participating as officiants. I'm SO VERY excited about this! I absolutely can't wait.

My dear friends and Chaplain coordinators have also agreed (in addition to Romella making sweets for Josh) to read a poem for us during the ceremony. I'm really glad about this, too. I found the poem in our chaplain book, Come Apart for a While, and immediately thought of Josh and the wedding. Having Ed & Romella read it will be quite meaningful for me.

Josh and I are doing so well. He's really being such a sweetie. I'm starting to get awfully excited. A lot of people say wedding stuff causes such stress, but Josh and I seem to just be getting closer and closer. It's awesome. I'm so glad I'm not freaking (knock on wood), and that I found the absolute perfect man for me. People have even told us that more than once lately. It's quite touching. Someone – and apparently I can't remember who – mentioned that I rarely speak of Josh. They said they know him from pictures, but don't really know him. I figure, with the exception of lahermite, that probably everyone on my f-list is in the same boat, so I'm working on a Josh post. I hope to actually finish it soon.

So if you haven't received an invite and want to, contact me privately and give me your address! I'd love to have anyone who's willing to make it out and share with us. I'm super-stoked that I should be meeting at least one lj friend for the first time, and possibly as many as six (?) so far!

Work

Switched to nights. Less hours, but now I'm home with the girls again most days, so it's worth it. Josh is going to seek another day job, as the one he thought he had didn't work out.

Homeschooling

I've started a better routine now that I'm home with the girls during the day again. They are both SO darn brilliant. We've been working on reading and writing. Eden has been enjoying more mindful school time, so we have study time and I'm even making up worksheets for her 'homework'. Even Ivy is trying to learn how to spell everyone's names – by her own request.

We've also instituted a daily story time, only instead of our usual made-up stories, we're trying an actual novel. Eden feels like quite the big girl about this. She's very excited. We're reading Little House in the Big Woods, one chapter per day. We may try to make a pioneering unit study out of it, except that I've already kind of started a space unit study (because I'm a space case at the moment). Eden is begging for a butter churn and pig bladder, though. Ah, kids.

Writing

Well, I'm no longer in my rpgs, so I haven't really been keeping up with my daily writing I'm used to. I'm trying to channel my creative energies into my own stuff, but I've been so busy that I'm not really writing – and not writing well when I try. So I'm mostly back in research phase, devouring all I can about space & generation ships. Bit by bit, information is being filed away, to one day be reborn as the NaNo Wonder Saga again. Hopefully I'll do better with some actual knowledge as background. Ha!

FLYing

Being home and getting all routiney again has had the added benefit of letting me get back into my FLYing. I am messy. It's horrid. I've even gotten so much better about releasing unnecessary clutter, but our house is so small and has so little storage space that it seems like it doesn't matter. I'm not letting it discourage me, though. I'm keeping up with the dishes and laundry most days now (days we're gone all day are still too frequent), and slowly but surely chiseling away the cluttered corners. I've given up on trying to Freecycle everything without the having internet, so I'm throwing away in faster quantities. My goal is to have the house cleaned – really clean, which it hasn't been since, like, Ivy's birth – before visitors start coming in May. I may even try to build my own book case, since I can't seem to cull my books enough to fit the shelf I have, despite having gone through them several times.

Exercise

Not going as well as I'd hoped by this time. With the Big Day beginning to loom, I'm trying to buckle down. I've cut back on my weaknesses of Starbucks and these stuffed, sprinkled cookie things that I can't stop buying, but I don't think the cut-back is as effective as actual moving might be. Have resolved to explore this more fully.

General

I've lost Josh to his mini-chopper mistress. I may have lost Ivy, as well. (She, like her father, enjoys sitting on it and yelling “Whee! I'm cool!”) Josh has helped less with the wedding since getting it, but he's waited about three years for this, so I can't complain. I'm glad to see him so giddy and childlike, although I did threaten dire consequences if he doesn't jump and clap and squee as much on our wedding day as he did on bike-day.

Oh, and one sad bit: our buddy Keia, who lost his home to the fire, found out that his cat was killed in the blaze. :( He and his mom are doing well, though, and appreciate all the thoughts and prayers.

Thank you guys SO much for the awesome turn out on my distance healing request post for my Reiki II class! I'm very excited, and we'll definitely bathe everyone in Reiki. I really appreciate everyone's willingness to help out with this.

If you're interested in participating, check out this post. I'll check it one more time before the class tomorrow.

You guys rock.