Tanabata 2018 (Photos and Script)

Quick update: Hannah went to the ER and got her gallbladder out on 7/7! Yay! Without health insurance the cost of the surgery is enough to purchase a new vehicle! Boo! But we are so poor that the hospital is writing it all off... so yay again!

Because Hannah's gallbladder decided it wanted to jump ship on Tanabata, we pushed back our annual celebration to the following Friday the 13th. This is totally my jam. I get pretty super excited over three celebrations: Yule (and Christmas Parties), Halloween/Samhain, and then Tanabata. There are other various things that get me really excited but these are my set big Holidays. For those who might not know what Tanabata is: it's a Japanese Star Festival celebrating wishes and love. I'll include the play I wrote for the celebration at the end of the blog post - but for now, behold all the pretty things:

My favorite sushi! Vegan and delicious.
This was my share item for the potluck. I brought 6 packages.

We strung a rope across the yard to represent a bridge across the Amanogawa (Milky Way) River.
Below the bridge is our Altar. 

Overview of the Altar. The long packet in the middle contained consecrated wish strips called tanzaku.

Another view of the Altar. 

We burned this absolutely lovely Japanese incense.
(Not very Shinto, I know but we loved it and it appealed to our witchy sensibilities!)

Hello Kitty Lantern decoration for the bridge.

A long view of the Amanogawa bridge.

These were Hannah's balloons that mom and I brought her for after her surgery.
We offered them up to the Amanogawa as well.

I had lots of different decorations for people to try and mostly people did the lanterns,
but someone did the pretty dangling rhomboid chain. I love it!

Here's a view of some participants and a sweet goblin child with red glowing eyes.
She's a mini-me. I love her!

Check out the exciting crystal ball in this picture!

Just a fun shot of the Altar.
You can see Orihime really close and in the distance is Hikoboshi.

I love this fox. He's guarding the tanzaku.

Excellent close up of the after festival treats!

Rachel of Lavender Moon Bakery provided two cakes to represent the lovers
 and Hannah baked Milky Way (Amanogawa) cookies!

                                                   

Across the Amanogawa

A short play for Tanabata

Retold by Amanda LaFantasie

Narrator: A long time ago, in a Kingdom in the Sky, there was a beautiful princess called Orihime. She was a very talented weaver and seamstress and she made the the most beautiful robes in all of the Sky Kingdom. Her father, the Sky King, was very proud of her and praised her often. For many years Orihime weaved in happiness, but as time wore on, her smile began to falter. The King noticed his child’s diminishing mood and grew worried.

King: I’ve watched you working these past few weeks. You look sad, my child. Do you no longer enjoy weaving?

Orihime: It’s not that. There is nothing I love more than weaving and bringing joy to those who wear my garments. But I’m lonely. All of my sisters have married and moved away to live with their husbands and I miss them.  

Narrator: This got the King thinking. Perhaps it was time that his treasured daughter should also take a husband. So he journeyed across the great Milky Way River, the Amanogawa. There he searched for a man honorable enough and brave enough to marry his precious daughter. He searched until he was exhausted. He went to the field where the Sky Kingdom’s best cows grazed on the finest grass. As he walked among the cows he rethought his plan. After a while, a young cow herder named Hikoboshi approached him.

Hikoboshi: I hope I’m not bothering you, but you seem troubled. Is there anything I can do for you?

King: Only if you can find me an honorable man worthy of marrying the most beautiful girl in the kingdom.

Hikoboshi: I’m very sorry but I don’t know anyone like that. I’m all alone now that my brothers have taken wives and left their herds to my care.  

King: You mean you watch all of these cows by yourself? Doesn’t that get stressful?

Hikoboshi: Not at all. There’s nothing I love more than tending the cattle and keeping them safe.

Narrator: The King asked Hikoboshi many questions and, in the end, invited him to dine with the Royal family in the Sky Palace that night. The cow herder hated to leave his cows but knew it would be rude to refuse. So he made his way across the Amanogawa to the Sky Palace. The King made sure to seat Hikoboshi next to Orihime and before the night was through the princess found something she loved more than weaving, and the cow herder found something he loved more than tending his animals. In no time at all, they were married.

[King ties a ribbon around their clasped hands]

Orihime and Hikoboshi: I will love you until the stars burn their last flame.

Narrator: With each passing day their love for each other grew. Over time they forgot about things like weaving and cow herding. Soon the fine garments of the Sky Kingdom became tattered and torn, and the prized cows across the river began to wander. They left their safe field and traveled on rocky, dangerous ground. They ate grass that made them sick and many of them died.

King: Orihime, you’ve neglected your duties far too long. Look at my robes! They’re in shambles. I’m the Sky King and yet I look a beggar. Get back to your weaving and sewing!

Orihime: I’ll do it. But please, allow Hikoboshi to sit with me as I sew.

King: Absolutely not! Hikoboshi, you must leave at once and go back across the Amanogawa and tend your cows.

Hikoboshi: I’ll do it but I won’t leave Orihime behind. Please, let her come with me and join me as a cow herdess.

King: No. I forbid it. She will stay here and weave and you’ll return to the fields. Your King commands it.

Hikoboshi: I’m sorry, Your Majesty, but if she stays, then I stay.

Orihime: I won’t be alone again, father. If Hikoboshi must go across the river, then I have no choice but to follow.

Narrator: The argument continued until the King had no choice but to remove Hikoboshi by force and banish him back to the field across the river. To make sure that his daughter stayed in the Sky Palace and did not run away to join her husband, the Sky King destroyed the only bridge between the two banks. With a mournful heart, Orihime resumed weaving and sewing. The Sky Kingdom dressed in fine garments once again, yet somehow they were less radiant than everyone remembered. Across the river, Hikoboshi returned to herding the cattle. They regained their health, yet somehow the beasts were less impressive than they’d been in the past.

King: I had to do it. They cared only for each other. They didn’t care about the kingdom anymore. If I’d left them alone we’d all be naked with no milk and no meat. The kingdom would fall into ruin. Wouldn’t it?

Narrator: Orihime worked diligently. But she never smiled anymore. The King didn’t want to recant on his order but he couldn’t stand to see his daughter so miserable. After a long time he came to a decision.

King: The kingdom cannot do without its best weaver and its best cow herder. But, because they cannot do without each other, I will allow Orihime and Hikoboshi to see each other one day each year. On the seventh day of the seventh month, I will order the magpies of the sky to fly down and form a bridge between the banks of the Amanogawa. That is how they will meet and part.  

Narrator: And so, every year after the King’s proclamation, the lovers met on the seventh day of the seventh month. Sometimes the princess would travel to the cow herder’s side. Sometimes the cow herder would travel to the Sky Palace. But always, when the time came for them to part, the King’s magpies would seek out and carry the displaced lover back to their own bank. Many years and many meetings later Orihime’s weaving resumed its former brilliance, and Hikoboshi’s cattle grew into extraordinary beasts. But what they were most proud of was the vow of love they had managed to keep despite the river that ran between them.  

FIN

Merry Yule and Christmas and Happy New Year

Friends and family, loved ones near and far, Hannah and I wanted to take a moment to extend some Holiday warmth and cheer to you and yours. As most of you know, our 2017 has been wrought with change. As if we jumped into the Tower card of the nearest Tarot deck, we have been faced with sudden and life altering situations that have made for one intense 2017. Early in the year Hannah underwent a surgery that brought with it a slow and painful recovery. Later in the year, on the first of October, in fact, our apartment complex gave us 30 days to vacate as they had become a tax credit property and we no longer qualified to live there. The good news was that they gave us a rehoming stipend to help; the bad news was that October happened to be the month of our wedding.  

It was only with the help of our amazing friends that we were able to accomplish a Friday the 13th Wedding, a honeymoon to Seattle, and a move-out in the span of a month. Sanity aside, we then began the very adult task of shopping for a house. No more renting for us. We were ready to put down some real roots. We stayed with friends and my parents while looking for a home and finally, two months to the day after our wedding, we closed on a house on Wellesley.

I cannot thank you enough, all of you, for helping Hannah and I make it through this turbulent time to find peace just in time for Yule, Christmas, and New Years. Making it through this year wouldn’t have been possible without your helping hands and encouragement.

Thank you so much to all those who listened to our woes and helped us ground our emotions, who walked backwards up a ramp hauling a handcart loaded with hundreds of books, who arrived early, who stayed late, who donated money to our honeymoon, who stunned us with generosity, who humbled us with kindness, who kept us going with positive energy and litanies of ‘good luck’ and ‘hang in there.’ Hannah and I have been so stressed that we may not have seemed as grateful as we actually felt. So I tell you now: dear friends and family, know that we love and appreciate you and wish you peace and joy during this magical time of year.

Here's to the Death of 2016

Happy New Year everyone. And I'm so glad it is a new one. 2016 was made of suck. In true Hannah and Amanda form we have yet to send out cards and letters. These are coming, I promise. They may arrive in July but, much like the ukes in Sensitive Pornograph, they are definitely coming. 

2016 took so many people and pets from us all. And it didn't leave without a fight. In the last week I managed to cut myself nice and deep on my thumb (new knife for Christmas doesn't leave one wanting!) and break all my nails. They are my natural nails and I'm used to the longer ones occasionally meeting with a jagged death but not all fucking ten nails at once. I look like... like... someone who cuts their nails. It's horrendous I tell you! 

But not all of the end was bad. There was a spontaneous Hobbit extended editions marathon one day. And Yule was made of ash, mead, reindeer fur, and three lone souls bearing witness to the birth of the new sun after the longest night. And what a sun it is! We've had some beautifully sun shiny days. Cold as fuck but sunny at least. 

Looking forward to the future: Hannah and I are going to start writing 6 hours a week. That's the minimum that Brander Sanderson, the author of the Mistborn series) prescribes his students in his college writing class. I think 6 is fair and more than doable. I think I shall start with a short story and then return to Death Man. I need to finish that so that I can do two things: send it out and get on my life! Haha. I feel trapped by my desire to make it perfect, but I keep forgetting what my first MFA mentor told me and that is - it will never be perfect. There will always be a sentence you wish you could tweak or a phrase that you want to go back and hash over again and again. In short, you will never be finished writing. You're never finished composing. But there comes a point when the book itself is finished with you. And that's where I need to be. And soon. 

There's a wolf moon coming up and I would like to greet the full moon in her splendor with wolf howls in the night. I remember last year's Wolf Moon and want to relive the energy though in a much more contained way. The aspect of wolf I want to explore this year is the cunning and sly aspect, the clever watcher from the shadows. I want to embrace those shadows for all the secrets and knowledge that may lie within. 

In other news: the two kitties are getting along remarkably well. They tolerated/cuddled on the same cat bed last night for four hours. However, Narcisa it seems is feeling very under the weather. She's thrown up (very tiny amounts) twice this week and this cat never throws up. I mean she's a rock solid warrior princess, she ain't got time for that shit! Yet she's thrown up twice that we know about and her voice is ragged and scratchy. That may be a result of all the hissing she threw at Thorin when he first came to live here but I think she's caught a cold or something. We're taking her to the vet on Thursday because we're paranoid mommies and don't want to just say "Oh, she'll get over it on her own" because what if she doesn't? What if she suffers for our negligence? So to the vet she goes.

Kitty's gonna Kit; Pyrex gonna Py

Tomorrow marks week three after catching the sick and I'm finally feeling better. Still coughing (because goodness knows I wouldn't want to spend a day not doing that!) and still a bit weak and sore in my core but overall I'm feeling much more like my old self. And I can talk again! World beware. So here's a quick update of all things fanged and fragile.

Our friend Chris got us a cat for Christmas/Yule. She knew we were looking and so she paid half of the adoption fee which was the only reason we were able to get a cat and it was damn nice of her. We visited her rescue ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc                                                                                                                                                    yttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttth6777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777x

Okay... so I left the computer for a minute and came back to the above nonsense. Since it was the new cat who inserted said nonsense, I've decided to leave it for your viewing pleasure. Also it ties in nicely with my explanation of this cat's proclivities. 

So back to where I was: we visited the rescue and found a four month old little orange tabby. He came from a feral mama but had been fostered pretty much since birth with his brothers and sister. Of the litter he was the smallest as well as the last to be adopted. So we brought him home. Narcisa had things to say. Mostly hissing things to say. But it hasn't even been a week and the cats are already playing and chasing each other. They sniff each other a lot and are not aggressive toward each other at all, however it may still take some time before they cuddle. If they ever do cuddle. But I think eventually Thorin (that is the little one's name) will wear her down.

In the mean time however the Son of Thrain has found his calling in dismantling our computers. He took mine off internet access for two days. It wasn't that he put it into airplane mode... no he somehow erased my computer's connection to our wifi. Hannah had to work her magic and run a whole bunch of cleaners before I was able to get back on the net. No sooner was my compy back up and running did he waltz over to Hannah's and erase all her icons. He's been known to turn off the computers as well as save print-screen images to Hannah's one drive. Yeah, he's pretty good with the technology but that isn't surprising as most kids these days are born with a tablet in their hand. 

The cat and his shenanigans aren't the only reason for this post tonight. Earlier today, friend Rachel of kettle korn fame, came over to the house to hang out with us while Hannah made a butt-load of bierocks (German buns) and I made an equally loaded butt of baklava (honey-nut pastry). Apparently it was b-named food night in the Hannamanda kitchen. Anyhow, I made some fun alterations to the baklava. I am trying to think of a dairy and gluten free sort of substitute for a friend but that might not happen. I'm a wee bit discouraged, you see. I made the Krampus-klava (pumpkin spices and whiskey) without too much stress and followed that up with Snow-klava (the addition of sweetened coconut) but then I made my masterpiece: Freya's Delight Baklava. We named it that as I was constructing it. This baklava had everything in it apart from the kitchen sink. And the honey syrup mixture that I put on top was perfection! I set it on the stove to cool and went to work on a special fruit filled batch for my dad that I call Loaded Odin Baklava. 

I got one layer of Loaded Odin down when there was a sudden loud pop-crack sound. I looked up to see Freya's delight (and Rachel's very special baking dish that she had let me borrow) scattered all over the kitchen with a decent sized fire roaring over the burner. A burner that I had left on. I feel like a moron for that rookie mistake but I know that I'm not the only one who has done it and I take solace in knowing that while it's embarrassing at least it is common enough to illicit a teensy bit of sympathy from my culinary friends. The best part about this sudden emergency was that none of us panicked. Hannah quickly and efficiently herded the cats to the bedroom and closed them in while Rachel and her boyfriend helped me to extinguish the fire (baking soda is my new best friend) and clean up massive chunks of broken glass and honey. What a fucking mess! But how cool of them to help me. 

The kitchen counters are very clean now and I'm nearly 100% certain that there is no glass in the bierocks that Hannah made earlier. I suppose if we find blood in our stool we shall know otherwise. The last thing I have do to now is to mop the kitchen and that will have to wait until morning. I'm exhausted and it wasn't until Rachel and her boyfriend left that I realized how late it was. Today has been an interesting one to be sure. (Or yesterday into today rather, since it is still in the very wee hours of the morning right now.) 

At first we thought the breaking dish might have been a sign that we'd angered the gods or that we were somehow undergoing a sort of curse. Earlier in the evening my Yule tree fell over on the table for no seemingly no reason. So the tree falling and dish breaking all seemed a bit spooky at first but we realized in the end that the tree fell because I had neglected to ever balance it properly (something I have since rectified) and the dish broke because I'm a moron. In all actuality we can count this as a blessing because no one was hurt. We could have easily been in the kitchen and been cut, burned, or otherwise harmed when the dish exploded but everyone was off doing their own things. A cat could have been in there, or been in the tree. But no kitties were harmed either. Aside from adding a lot of cleaning to the evening and wasting a batch of baklava (and the loss of Rachel's dish which I'm still very sad about as the dish had belonged to her mother who is no longer with us) the evening was a fairly decent one. 

Busy times, an update on life in general and the Bucket List

It has been incredibly busy. My counterpart, the Hannah, has mentioned some of this business in her blog, but I wanted to recap it a little here. It's been sort of nonstop, go, go, go for a while and today being the Fourth and all I wanted to just slow things down a little and reminisce. We've sold the Jeep. Our friend has a tiny bit left to pay on it, but more than that I'm super excited for it to be alive again so that she doesn't have to keep renting Uhaul trucks to move her Kettle Korn stuff from place to place and also because I feel the Jeep is somewhat safer and more reliable than the old yellow truck that she'd been using before. So knowing she's safer makes me happy.

After selling the Jeep however, Hannah and I got a real wild hair to go and trade in the Kia but right now it just isn't going to work. We had a bit of a meltdown last Thursday about all of that. Being without my depression meds for a while certainly didn't help. On Friday we went with mom to Silverwood. I love that place. For me it is a clean slice of a different world: Victorian and elegant yet rugged and rustic. And I love all the flowers. I never noticed flowers before as much as I do now. I think being able to plant in the back yard has really changed my perspective on green things. My Kettle Korn friend calls me a Green Witch. I just might be. 

On Saturday Hannah and I went to our friend's house for soap making. Hannah made soap. I attempted to write for NaNo and ended up taking a much needed nap in a comfy as hell recliner. I worked the next morning (not too many issues) and then we returned to said friend's house for a round of gaming. I really enjoy this group of people and hope that I don't ever get too weird or obnoxious for them. I know that I often lack the 'okay you're going too far' self warning. I think as I get back on my meds properly I either won't A) be as obnoxious or B) won't worry as much about it knowing that my friends love me for who I am. 

Today I worked the Holiday at work and everything went very well except for the fact that the phones weren't working for about an hour. Even so it went very smoothly. When I got home though, I did something I regret a bit... I curled up on the bed in the bedroom and napped the fuck out of the afternoon. It wasn't particularly restful sleep but it was tremendously comforting because for the entire time that I was napping, Narcisa was right there with me. I think she knew I needed a nap companion and I think she knew I was a bit out of sorts. Tonight Hannah and I are going to watch a movie and enjoy Butter Chicken. I don't work until 8 tomorrow, which is awesome and also sucks. I love getting done at 4 but on the other hand I've been working from 7 until 5 for the past two weeks, so just doing a regular 8 hour day (with one hour for lunch) is going to be a real treat I reckon. I only have to make it through Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. And then I can have some more fun this weekend. I'm trying to cram in as much fun as possible. Rest is great but going out and doing stuff, getting some Vitamin D, socializing... these things are helping me reboot for the work week more than anything right now.

Also, here is a quick update of the Bucket List for Summer of 2016: So far I've only managed to cross off camping and star gazing and one time for Silverwood. My goal for Silverwood is three. I'll be closer to that goal after this weekend though. I really do enjoy that damn park. It's incredibly nostalgic for me.

Into July with Work and Writing

Camped a weekend ago and it was marvelous. Just what I needed to get back in touch with nature. It was brief and it rained but it was lovely. This weekend started in a weird panic attack of adulting. I was supposed to go to the doctor's on Thursday but the appointment was cancelled. No big deal really except that I've been out of my meds already for a month (been cutting pills in half and skipping days here and there to keep myself somewhat normal). Also Hannah and I have been wanting to get a car and we did some serious budgeting the last few days and that resulted in crying. We will be getting a new car and we are fairly certain what type we want and from where but it will have to wait just a little while longer. That's been a huge bummer for us, but we can't do much extra right now. We're making it but not with too much wiggle room.

Yesterday Hannah and I went with my mom to Silverwood. We played in the wave pool and saw the magician, Nick Norton. That was about it. And that was pretty much perfect. She has a pass so we can go anytime we all want to this summer, so there wasn't that panicked must-cram-it-all-in-today feeling. After the park we brought home funnel cake, some coffee, and some chocolate coated espresso beans for dad. We did a belated father's day. We watched a German 'found footage' movie that kind of sucked and then went to our old favorite 'The Vicar of Dibley.'

Today I worked on some laundry and then Hannah, I and some of our friends all convened at De's house for soap making lessons. Well some of us got soap making lessons... I took a shower and then curled up in a comfy chair and tried to get a good start on Camp NaNoWriMo. I got about three sentences out and fell asleep. And snored. To which my friends reminded me that I really need to get a sleep study done because I definitely sound like I have sleep apnea. Which is one of the reasons I really wanted to have that doctor's appointment last Thursday.

Speaking of Camp NaNoWriMo (NaNo for short) I'm going to spend this month finishing and polishing my Death Man novel. It's about damn time I finished it. Once it's complete I'll work on the sequel and then, if I can, I'll pump out my Dust Bowl story. I really love that one. I think it's a bit more 'literary' in a way than Death Man but that's not why I love it so much. I'm just very centered into the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. That time period speaks to me in the same way that WWII speaks to Hannah. I'm intrigued and inspired by those that left and those that stayed and how they managed to survive such an unrelenting period. But, just like getting a new/er car, the Dust Bowl story will have to wait. For now it's nose to the grindstone at work and get Death Man done.

Tomorrow is Sunday. It's D&D night for one of my and Hannah's campaigns. I like it because it's very flexible and we just sort of schedule it when we can all make it. The next day is the 4th of July. I don't know what Hannah and I are doing for it yet. We've been invited to the family thing at my Aunt's and we've also been invited to the lake with some good friends. Those things are possibilities but not highly likely - Hannah isn't wanting to leave home for some reason. I'm working in the morning but after that we're thinking of possibly having a small cook out at home. Or maybe we'll just spend it alone, just the two of us. We could watch fireworks on YouTube and just spend that time with the kitty. Maybe we'll do card games or tarot or something. No matter what, I just want a nice, safe, and relaxing fourth.

A Review of Creative October and Three More Projects

A better picture of the cute Monster High nails I did earlier this month.

So, I'm confident I can succeed in Creative October. I have been doing projects (I haven't been able to post them immediately but I've still been doing them) pretty regularly and so I still right on schedule. I have a poem I've been working on for a few days and I will be posting that later today for Project #25. In the mean time, however, I wanted to share a few pictures and do a small review of my experience so far with Creative October. 

This is a piece of jewelry from another project I did earlier this month.
I coated the backs of several bracelets, pendants, and rings with clear
nail polish to make them wearable for me.

I, like Dani, really enjoy projects that span a certain amount of time and test one's will power. I tried a 'write every day' thing many years ago and made it into late March before I petered out. I think that for an 'every day' project to work, it's good to start out small. Make a goal of doing something every day for a week, then a month, then for a season, etc. I've very much enjoyed working on and finding my creative every day this month. Yes, there were a few days that I accomplished nothing but for the most part I've learned that sometimes less is more and that we can find creativity in the oddest of places. Also, like Dani, I've rediscovered some of the things that I loved doing in my childhood. Just simply sitting and coloring, or doodling with pencil, or painting... these things are so much fun and easy to do. They are stress relievers with the added benefit of leaving you with something tangible afterwards. 

Pony magnets at work!

But tangibility isn't the most important thing. It's the knowledge that you stepped outside of a normal day's routine and tapped into the beautiful universality of creativity. That might sound a bit extreme but that's what this month has meant to me. It's also been a blessed distraction from not only the stress of leaving one job and beginning another, it has also kept me sane while my poor Hannah has suffered some incredible blows concerning her parents' health. So I'm thankful that, even though Creative October filled my plate to overflowing, that I did decide to do it. And, gods willing, I'll see it through to the end!

A view of my desk at work. You might notice the
Sharka page posted proudly on my cubicle wall.

Project 22: I did a sketch of my character from Dungeons and Dragons. His name is Belafax Malfeiri and he's the crown prince of North Fendar. What I learned while doing this project is that I'm very out of practice with drawing, Also I learned that even though I know Belafax is a fairly attractive half-elf with barbaric tendencies, I always tend to picture him as more of an orc! Even in this picture I feel like he's rather orcish, haha. And I learned too that when it comes to drawing I always cop out and go for the profile shot because for some reason I think they are easier. But in reality they aren't. I need to take some more drawing classes and become more adept of relaying the human shape. All that aside, however, it was fun to draw again. 

Project 23: Yesterday at the IEPG Samhain celebration I portrayed Ereshkigal in our ritual reenactment of the descent of Inanna. So to get more into character, I drew the eye of death on my palm. Then, when it came time for me to kill my younger sister, Innana Goddess of Heaven and Earth, I showed her my hand and spoke the words of death. It was all very theatrical and fun. What I learned in this project is that I really love Sumerian mythology and I want to do further study into the archetypal journey of Inanna's descent. Also I learned that sharpies are the best for making death eyes. Also I learned that I really love the crap out of my Pagan family. They were all so supportive and sweet. Sometimes I get very nervous about performing in front of anyone and even though I felt a bit anxious, I knew that no one would care if I messed up, that they would take it in stride. It was a nice experience over all. And I definitely want to do a ritual in honor of Ereshkigal sometime. She's the Goddess of the Underworld and traditional worship of her usually includes some form of BDSM. So, of course, I'm a total fan. 

Project 24: I sanded and painted a table. Our lovely neighbors gave us their octagonal table earlier this year and since Hannah and I will soon be moving into a place of our own, we decided to spiffy up the table and make it a little more ours. With my mom's guidance, I sanded the crap out of the wood and metal parts then painted over it with flat black rustoleum spray paint. I learned that I apparently suck at spray painting (too many pools of thick paint) but I also recalled a fondness for the smell of aerosol paint. I also like the smell of gas too. I do not, and have never, huffed. But man I sure don't mind a good sniff while I'm gassing up or painting a table! It was brass and brown before. It will all be black as soon as I apply the last coat tonight. Unfortunately I won't have a final, finished shot of it until later because it will be too dark for my pathetic phone to handle another picture after the last coat.

Something Kind of Amazing Happened

Narcisa napping.

I went to change the water in the cat's water dish.  It's a pretty cool water dish - it has a filter that catches degree and also softens the water for the little beasts.  Also they love it because the middle of the dish bubbles up in a gentle fountain that they enjoy playing in.  And when I say 'they' I mean Narcisa, of course. 

You can get one of these bad boys on Amazon.

Periodically the dish has to be cleaned and the filter changed.  Well, I am ashamed to admit that I let it go a little long between cleanings this time - probably two or three weeks.  I usually clean it once a week if I'm on top of things.  This last month was a total bust and this month hasn't been too much better.  So, suffice it to say, the cat dish was neglected.  We kept it full of water of course, but it needed some love.

Here's the filter.  See the frilly bits around the edges...

Tonight I picked it up and went to the sink to do just that.  When I opened it up and looked at the large filter and saw a few smudges of food particles (pretty typical) and then something that looked like a long blade of grass.  I rinsed the filter and then shook it trying to dislodge the grass.  But it was stuck.  So I tugged it a little.  That's when I saw that it wasn't a blade of grass (and how the hell would a blade of grass ended up in their water dish anyway?) it was a small plant.  It was the very first shoot of a baby plant!  Somehow a seed had gotten into their water dish and become stuck in the fuzz of the filter.  And then it sprouted.  I saw little roots twisted into the edge of the filter and a small blackish seed/bean from where the roots and sprout all came from.  

I will get a real picture later - this gives you an idea of what it looks like.

I couldn't believe it.  I gently removed it from the filter, pulling some of the filter away instead of harming the cute little plant.  It grew in the cat's water dish!  Of all places.  How the hell did this happen?  Well, let me take you back to a year ago when Hannah and I went to our first event with the Inland Empire Pagan Guild. We went to Ostara (Easter). We met lots of people and got to participate in a Heathen themed ritual. It was nerve wracking because we didn't really know anyone, but at the same time it was a great deal of fun.  Enough fun that we kept coming back. During that first event, however, we joined the younger crowd and decorated egg cut outs with seeds. We glued millet, lentils, small red beans, and a variety of other beans onto the little papers.  We made three of them in total.

This is NOT what we made at Ostara.  We did something similar, but in an
 egg shape and far less detailed. Again, this is just to give you an idea.

When we got home, Hannah and I pinned them to the wall in the living room where they have stayed through all the changing holidays and seasons (they'll be back in season in a month, mind you!). Somehow one of the seeds must have fallen into the water dish which is located below it in the living room.  Either it fell or Narcisa jumped and batted at the eggs until she knocked something loose. The latter is probably what happened.  I think it was one of the red beans that fell but I can't be sure.  All that is left of the water soak and germinating seed/bean is a fuzzy black spot.

The middle one!  That's what I think fell into the dish.
I will investigate further when I transplant the little baby.

I still can't believe this little seed grew in this environment. It had no light and was completely submerged in water and yet it grew. That seed/bean was glued to a piece of paper for almost a year and yet... it grew. I talked to it and called it 'little baby' as I rushed around the kitchen and dining room trying to figure out how to save it!  In the end I borrowed some soil from our Christmas Cactus and put the seed and the soil into a small jam jar (something I'd been holding onto since Christmas).  I saturated the soil - I'm not exactly afraid of drowning it since that's all it's known it's whole life thus far! - and now I have it placed safely on the altar in the bedroom.  If it keeps growing (as I dearly hope it will) I'm going to get some fresh soil from the store and transplant it.  I'm not sure how long bean plants live.  I figure they wither after a season, but for while this plant is alive, I'm determined to keep it healthy and happy.   

To quote Jurassic Park: "Life finds a way."

Starting the New Year in the Emergency Room

New Years itself was pleasantly spent with friends playing cards and Monopoly. The next day however, the small bump on my shoulder (over the trapezius muscle) was no longer the small irritated bump it had started out as three days ago. It was large and painful - very painful - and while I wanted to brush it off as an ingrown hair that had gotten too big for its britches, my mother, girlfriend, friend, and friend's grandmother all said to go to the ER. I didn't go that night. I took some pain medicine and pushed through. The next day, January 2nd, during a delightfully slushy snow storm, I managed to make it into Heritage Health.  

The Physician's Assistant took one look at my 'near-to-the-neck' infection and sent me over to the ER with instructions for them to ultrasound the area and get me started on IV antibiotics. Apparently the ER doctor didn't get the memo. Instead of a sonogram, he came at me with a needle of Novocain and a scalpel.  Several years ago a cyst ruptured in my ovary. The pain from that was the worst I had ever felt in my life.  Until the scalpel. This man hurt me so badly that all I could do was sob and sob until my guts ached and my head felt ready to explode.  And then... after he cut me and found no way to release the infection... then he ordered up the sonogram.  During all of this he didn't even get me a damn pill for the pain. I don't think he even believed I was in pain at all - just some stupid girl bawling cause she isn't happy.  Ugh.  Anyway, the sonogram hurt, too, as he pressed down right onto the infection.  He did it right there in the little waiting room - using small sonogram tools including the vaginal probe.  Not sure why.  Also, I forgot to mention, I was alone during all of this.  They wouldn't let Mom or Hannah go back with me because I was in a room set up for three people and it would be too crowded. Only there was no one else there.  It was just me and two other empty beds and a shit ton of free space.  I was not amused.  

Dr. B didn't even wipe off the gel from the sonogram, didn't even patch me up. He ordered me pain medicine and antibiotics that I could go pick up at the pharmacy. And he said if it doesn't get better in two days to come back. Big fucking surprise - it didn't get better. So back we went to the Emergency Room. This time I was taken to a room and given a proper ultrasound but only after being hooked up to an IV and given lovely, lovely pain medication.  Afterward I was started on the IV antibiotics that had been called for two fucking days ago. No. Totally not bitter. And so off I went on my merry way. And back again and back again and back again - every twelve hours to wait the requisite hour through triage just to get a five minute dose of keflex shot into my IV. In the end I went to the ER a total of nine times, eight of those were for IV antibiotics.  I saw a different doctor almost every time.   The few I saw more than once were really sweet to me. But I'm not going to lie - I'm glad I won't be seeing any of them again any time soon. And now begins the battle with the business office and to show them how destitute I am and see if there's any way to write off some of the expenses. I can barely afford to pay Heritage Health at $25 a visit so I'm not sure how I'll handle the much larger amount that I've amassed in 2015. What a great start to the new year.

A Special Christmas for Mom and Everyone

This month has been a very busy one indeed.  I imagine that it is a busy month for most people no matter what they celebrate.  As for me and my girlfriend, we celebrated Yule twice, lit candles for the fourth day of Hanukkah, and celebrated Christmas Eve and Day.  One round of Yule found us in Spokane with the IEPG.  We participated in a beautiful Ritual wherein the Holly King slays the Oak King so that the nights might be shorter and that new life can spring forth on earth.  The second round of Yule was at home with the parents.  We sent our wishes and blessings into the fire to be lifted into the air with the incensed smoke.  All in all it was a beautiful night spent partly out of doors.  Our kitty, Narcisa, wore her harness and joined us around the fire.  She sat with Hannah on the lawn bench.  I have hopes that she will be able to explore the outside with us bit by bit and yet remain safe.  Already she rides in the car very well.  What we're working on right now is getting her to associate her harness with the privilege of going outside - and that in order to go outside she must wear it.   I know she's smart enough to grasp this concept but as of yet she is still young and squirmy and bitchy about the whole affair of putting the harness on.  

For Christmas Eve I experienced something very strange.  My boss lost her grandmother and had to leave to take care of her family (which I understand completely), and I spent the last few hours at the store alone.  This is not usual for us at all - we always have two or more employees in the store at any given time for safety measures - and so this was my first time in this situation.  We took measures to make sure I was safe but it was a bit exhilarating and scary to close all by myself having only closed a handful of times prior.  The rest of the evening was much more relaxing however.  At home we had pizza and movies.  Hannah and I watched 12/12/12 which was absolutely awful.  Then we watched the Radio City Music Hall Rockette's Christmas Special on Netflix.  That was infinitely better than the other one.  (We later watched 13/13/13 and now have finished out the whole set that started with 11/11/11 and have appeased the innate OCD that forced us to watch them in the first place).  

Christmas Day began at six in the morning.  My mother is the activities director for two assisted living homes in Hayden.  Her residents are more than just people she plans activities for - they are a part of her life and steadily becoming her extended family.  She put a great deal of her own money into making sure that they all had gifts to open on Christmas Day this year (in years past they often times are forgotten by family and others) and she wanted to be there to share in the joy with them. 

At the first house we had coffee and doughnuts (cheap little Walgreen baggies of doughnuts since the house employee responsible for making sure we had cinnamon rolls that morning totally botched his mission), and then passed out presents and stockings and watched with pleasure as the residents opened their gifts.  Then we went to the other house - now sufficiently caffeinated and sugared up - and watched them enjoy the fruits of my mother's diligence and labor.  After everything was opened and being enjoyed, a few of us went into the sun room and sang Christmas carols while a deaf resident played the piano accompaniment for us.  It was unique and beautiful and it made that resident's day.  

We had our own Christmas after all of that and opened our own stockings and gifts.  It was wonderful and yet the excitement paled to some degree in comparison to the pure delight in sharing Christmas with those who often receive nothing.  

Some of the gifts Hannah and I received include: the Luis Royo Tarot, the Gothic Tarot, Tarot for Writer's by Corrine Kenner, a slew of books, some beautiful jewelry (namely a dandelion puff necklace that I cannot wait to wear!), soaps and scrubs, blankies and Monster High Dolls.  That's a small list of all our goodies.  Already I'm delving into some of the books as well as the tarot deck.  Lots of inspiration and information to be found in our gifts this year.  Hannah and I have been doing some writing exercises from the Tarot for Writer's book to stir up our creativity and passion for the craft once more.