~*~ December Pagan Families Chat~*~ It's Yule/Midsummer!!!!! - Page 3

[Aubergine68]

Originally Posted by Maiasaura 
 Only...they refuse to glue on. I am thinking I probably need some sort of wire to hold them on. Is there such a thing as teeny nearly-invisible wire? That's relatively cheap? I'm thinking like thinner than fishing line, maybe, or about the same. Or should I see if I can borrow a glue gun from someone? Thoughts? If you can even picture this, LOL. Thanks, mamas!

Beading wire?
 

[aweynsayl]

maia, ime it's hard to glue plastics. maybe rubber cement? might be worth a shot if you cant get a glue gun.....

[bluets]

Originally Posted by Maiasaura 

Hugs to you, Clay. Lioness sounds reasonable, but what do I know...couldn't hurt to try it though! Valerie, thinking of you today, too. Hope all's well with everyone. Hey-- I have a question for you crafty folk. I have this section of log that I've used for a Yule log in the past. It's about a foot long by about 5" diameter and has 4 holes cut in that accomodate taper candles. I originally, years ago, decorated it with fake holly and real (teeny) pine cones and such, with a glue gun. Well, they've all fallen off, and I no longer have a glue gun. I just came back from the dollar store with these decorations encased in wire and I thought I'd take them apart and Elmer's glue them on. They're things like fake holly leaves, pine cones, tiny cardinals, berries, things like that. Only...they refuse to glue on. I am thinking I probably need some sort of wire to hold them on. Is there such a thing as teeny nearly-invisible wire? That's relatively cheap? I'm thinking like thinner than fishing line, maybe, or about the same. Or should I see if I can borrow a glue gun from someone? Thoughts? If you can even picture this, LOL. Thanks, mamas!

BAH.  I dislike this new interface still.  MY post went haywire.

Anyhow... floral wire or fishing line. 

[wombatclay]

Oxygen mask- good analogy... I totally feel like the plane is going down!  lol

My diet is GF/CF and due to budget that generally means rice and beans in some format.  Breakfast is slow cook oatmeal or rice, topped with almond milk/cinnamon/chopped apple or scrambled eggs.  Lots of stews, bean chilis, refried beans, etc for dinner (and leftovers for lunch).  Generally served with or on brown rice.  Sometimes served on a bed of baked veggies (sweet potatoes usually).  Meat is more of a seasoning, and the veggies are generally home canned (both the meat and the veggies are local/organic but they ARE canned since that's what we have in the pantry and fresh is our of the question at the moment).  A mug of coffee in the morning, then bubble water and RRL tea during the day.  Sometimes lemon verbena from the garden or ginger, but more often RRL.  And I take a prenatal, a probiotic, a liquid vit D, a Bcomplex, papaya enzyme, a calcium/magnesium/zinc, elderberry syrup, and EPO/Flax over the course of the day.  I use GSE internally and externally several times a day.  I've been treated for depression twice in the past 5 years but not to the point of medication, I've had three babies and three miscarriages in that time, and the women in my mom's family tend to start peri-menopause in their mid-to-late 30s.  Most of my immediate family have blood sugar, thyroid, and blood pressure problems that require medication or monitoring.  So I know I do need a complete checkup.  I just wish I was confident that my dr could work miracles and figure out what to do in a single session... or less worried that this will just be dismissed out of hand and I'll feel like the money was "wasted".  Kind of like when I fell last year and DH insisted on taking me to the ER for xrays... nothing was broken and I felt kind of silly since if I'd jsut waited a day or two I'd have been fine and it wouldn't have cost anything.

Ah well... hopefully the dr will take a look, there will be a moment of miracle, and all will be right with the Clay!  Hey, I can hope, yes?  LOL

And I do plan on asking for a longer course of Diflucan, more anti-fungals/anti-bacterials/anti-biotics for both Torin and myself (his fungal face rash thing is back after having been gone for almost 6 months), and blood testing for Celiac, Thyroid, Blood Sugar, and Triglycerides. 

[redveg]

Afternoon all:)

Today I am so tired.  I am not sure why but those days when you wake up from a full nights sleep exhausted are a pain.  Clay that oatmeal in the slow cooker sounds good.  I never thought of doing breakfast in the slow cooker.  Gonna give that a try.

Val, how are you doing?  Thinking of you.

I hope everyone has a great weekend, hugs and good vibes to all.

[mamaofthree]

redveg: oatmeal in the slow cooker is AMAZING! i wish more of my peeps actually enjoyed oatmeal. i made mine with a bit of apple cider... heavenly.

val: ((HUG))

h

[Indigo73]

MMMM!  Love slow cooker oatmeal.  Steel cut oatmeal in my little cooker.  And it reheats beautifully.

[_ktg_]

*Hugs* Clay  and the first thing that flashed in my mind was thyroid with the exhaustion, super long AF and the feeling low/blue all go very much hand in hand.  Has your MD recommended culturing what you have to pinpoint it? (or maybe I missed it)  

Awey - your orange wreath sounds so lovely!  I think I'm going to try it once I'm back from my work trip.

Ladies -  I am super excited as I am off to San Diego for 5 days!! Yes its work related, but I get to see some dear friends too especially 2 of my bestest friends in the whole wide world.  Cross your fingers for me for a smooth flight tomorrow and I'll try to check in while I'm out there.  The kiddos will be with the gparents for the weekend, so DH even gets a bit of time to himself too!

[bluets]

Originally Posted by aweynsayl 

bluets, you rock with recs, hon. we SO need to meet up sometime! i'll check out the NM conference, but NC in october is really calling "birthday present!" to me................. plus, like 4 of my favorite people ever live there (though one keeps trying to move......hugs, maia.)

btw-- what's "MRH"? i was leaning towards just buying a bottle, but of course, you know me, making it sounds too much fun!

i'm sorry you lost your rock! i have a RQ i've been wearing, and if i lost it, i think i'd cry for a day. :-( 

re: anxiety... have you tried any of the kalis/etc like we were talking about before? or ... um.... flowers?? ;-) mimulus or aspen? i LURVE mimulus. i actually think it's been one of the most *powerful* flowers i've worked with so far... though i love them all. ;-) (i do have my theories about why it's so powerful for me, though.... having a bit to do with it coming from wales, my fave place on earth.....................)

....

clay, oh, hon. i hear you on not wanting to go. is there an alternative doc you can go to, since it's going to be out of pocket anyway? they tend to be better with offering "deals" and they wont order stupidly expensive tests that maybe you feel arent going to give real answers anyway...?? i dunno too much how you "feel" about all that foofier stuff, but i will just say that as a kid, i had lots of odd ailments, and the only doc who ever really helped me was a foofy doc. if i send you a bottle of FEs will you take them, and just see? i'm just wondering if you dont feel under it all that YOU can heal yourself, and maybe something's keeping you from listening. like with the local/vs/GF/etc debate you were expressing a while back.... i dunno. i wish i was there and we could talk over coffee. i have skype if you want to chat about it. and i seriously will send you a bottle of something for yule if you just but hint. (or you could always bribe me with beads.) hugs on the dental costs. un-reimbursed medical expenses will be tax write offs, though, right? surely this still counts?... not that it helps a ton, but we had $7k with ds's birth, and got it back over two years in tax refunds. 

~~~~~

so i made my dried orange wreath yesterday, and i LURVE it! i realized (and you all will say "DUH") the little slices look just like little suns! so cute! i put it together without really thinking about meaning, and then saw i'd put on 11 slices (in a circle, around the wreath)... so of course, clay's voice popped in my head and said "hey! make that 12, silly!" how so totally wonderfully apt. :-)

MRH = mountain rose herbs.

anxiety for me is relieved by pulsatilla, homeopathically.  but i just took a 1M dose of calc carb, so i'm a little reluctant to mess with that.  but in the flower thread, Panser recommend an Australian Bush remedy combo that is quite apt for me.

well, if you would be willing to go to NC in October, I'd go there again.  if we can get 8-9 women, we could put together a group and get a discount (doesn't apply if you want to volunteer, like Wuwei plans to), and stay in one cabin. 

and your oranges... i was daydreaming about doing decorations with citrus fruit... you could get REALLY creative and colorful with limes and lemons and blood oranges and regular oranges and grapefruits.  i wonder if dried lime slices fade in color...

oh and the multiple choice letter... it was really like a regular multiple choice test.  some of the options were way out there and obviously wrong.  in others, it was an "(e) all of the above " sort of thing.

your monsoon decorations - you could also look for glass bubble ornaments.  and clouds or white things resembling clouds.

----------

Clay - I would second checking out an ND if you can.  it would be a more holistic approach, and a good one would even recognize that Tor's problems emanate because of the nursling relationship.  If you were my patients, I'd treat you as a unit.  [Dunno if my mentor treats mama and nursling as a unit - I should ask.]  I'd also not waste your time/money on celiac testing - it doesn't account for gluten intolerance (which is surprisingly more of the population than not).... what are you going to do if you're not celiac?  Have a non-GF household and torment that one child who is celiac?  Sorry, it's a bit of a harsh perspective but there ya go, it's out there now...  I can offer you money saving ideas to reduce your supplements, but sadly they are not time-saving ideas - PM me if you're interested.  And let me know how the pulsatilla fares.

-----------

oh lookie.  home time.  i managed to fritter the day away entirely.  though i did have one entirely pointless meeting today (why do old men think that you have to have a meeting to "get to know each other", in order to work together or communicate with each other, especially when most of the follow-up interactions would end up being through email or phone? and why do they like to print out their email when they want to share it with you?  welcome to my world.)

[CariOfOz]

Originally Posted by Valerie.Qc 

My father wants to know if I want to say something at the service or read... I'm scared... I tried to write something about my mom all week and the words won't come, my writer's mind refuse to admit that she's gone, refuse to seal the facts with a tribute...

  I wish I could help, but I wasn't able to write anything to send for my mothers funeral either... I just could not do it. 

Originally Posted by aweynsayl 

cari, hugs on the leper van. :-(  (ok, i am laughing at that, though.) btw-- speaking of chocolatey nummyness-- saw yesterday that yoda chocolate has drinking chocolate now......... danger! 

LoL... yeah that's part of WHY I do it.. keeping myself laughing keeps me sane ;)  EVIL yoda chocolate!!!  Why would they DO such a thing LOL

 

Originally Posted by bluets 

MRH = mountain rose herbs.

anxiety for me is relieved by pulsatilla, homeopathically.  but i just took a 1M dose of calc carb, so i'm a little reluctant to mess with that.  but in the flower thread, Panser recommend an Australian Bush remedy combo that is quite apt for me.

well, if you would be willing to go to NC in October, I'd go there again.  if we can get 8-9 women, we could put together a group and get a discount (doesn't apply if you want to volunteer, like Wuwei plans to), and stay in one cabin. 

and your oranges... i was daydreaming about doing decorations with citrus fruit... you could get REALLY creative and colorful with limes and lemons and blood oranges and regular oranges and grapefruits.  i wonder if dried lime slices fade in color...

Oh your multicoloured dried fruit sounds gorgeous!    Wednesday when we get paid I may pick up a few different fruits and givie it a try :D

It's raining, dreary, and positively wonderful here :D  Our back yard is a marshland hehehe... but our water tank is FULL!  I was out surveying the garden briefly this morning during a non monsoonal moment :lol and discovered we have about a dozen tiny water melons on the vines!  One is about 1.5inches across already woot!   My tomatos.. well I just bloody give UP on them.. half of them are eaten by some sort of hornworm or something, and ALL of the plants are doing the leaf curling, browning off & dying thing.  They LOOK awful, and the fruit that is making it is not so good either.. all mottled and not very appealing at ALL.. mushy even  :(  SO I'm yankin those suckers out when it's dry enough to go outside, and I'm goign to put a bean  teepee in where the tomatos were, more chard into the garden (if I do the hcg diet thing, I'll be well stocked with an allowed veggie! lol) and not sure what else.

I was out yesterday and found the most PERFECT xmas gift for myself, and informed dh upon arriving home that next week he & the littles must go buy it for me (without them knowing I know of course lol)  It's a gorgeous ceramic wall clock... that looks like a coffee mug, with adorable curled silver wire 'steam' tendrils floating up from the cup.. and the KICKER?  it has a spoon pendulum that ticks back & forth.  OMG beyond adorable! lol  It's not too expensive and it's literally the ONLY thing I want :D   I think Mum would like it too.. so might get DH to get her one too hehehe

I've just been summoned for to make my omelete now that everyone else is done .. nom... hope everyone is well 

[liza-s]

Originally Posted by aweynsayl 
so i made my dried orange wreath yesterday, and i LURVE it! i realized (and you all will say "DUH") the little slices look just like little suns! so cute! i put it together without really thinking about meaning, and then saw i'd put on 11 slices (in a circle, around the wreath)... so of course, clay's voice popped in my head and said "hey! make that 12, silly!" how so totally wonderfully apt. :-)

Can you share directions?? Sounds lovely.

[DaughterOfKali]

Educator Appreciation day at Barnes & Noble.  I don't use the discount for books that often but I DO use it for the toys/games/educational stuff.  I just hope they have something that I can afford for ds.  His birthday is coming up very quickly! (Same week as christmas).  If the child support hasn't gone into my account, then I can't buy anything.  

[wombatclay]

Yay for citrus slices!  Aren't they gorgeous?  And easy!  I want pictures!

I ran into a problem with my yule cards but think it's sorted now.  I had amazingly odd dreams that were a bit freaky but provided some answers at the same time.  I'm really not sure /where/ my brain found the "setting" it used though... kind of a vacation town that turns into a sort of steampunk/wild west place with a sort of time travel twist?  People travel to the town, time shifts, and you're "locked in" until it shifts back.  It was REALLY detailed and VERY odd.

celiac testing- We're GF because dd1 was diagnosed with celiac.  We'll stay GF because, obviously, dd1 has celiac and that wont change!  :)  However, if I'm going to get blood drawn and pay for testing, then I'm going to ask for every test that might apply in one fell swoop (at a cerain point I'll hit my deductible, but till then I don't want to pay for multiple office visits where the Dr says "well, let's test for X since the test for Y was negative".  Not to mention the only phlebotomy lab I have access to doesn't allow kids so I have to arrange for DH or my mom to be with me to watch the kidlets while the blood is drawn, which is a hassle I only want to go through once!  lol).  At present I'm not watching my own food for gluten as closely as I watch the kiddos' (if I'm at a friend's house I don't ask about gluten if dd1 isn't there too, and if someone offers me something with gluten I usually take some to be polite) but if the blood test is positive then I'll crack down on that for myself too... and if the blood test is positive then I'll find a covered dr and get the endoscopy so we can get the medical diet tax break (dd1 can decide on her own if she wants an endoscopy for tax purposes, though I'm hoping by the time she is paying taxes they'll accept alternate diagnostic modes or have a celiac treatment in place, there are some really promising tests going on right now). 

We're supposed to go downtown today to watch the "Santa Drop" (the local SWAT unit rapels off buildings while wearing elf costumes, and the final guy is dressed as Santa) but the weather is wild.  The snow is just pouring out of the sky and already we've had a car stuck on our road... they drove up the hill, slid back, drove up the hill, slid back, tried once more and... slid back.  They didn't try again so hopefully they made it back down to the bottom of the road and found an alternate route.  We have chains for the minivan but I'm still nervous... and the santa drop this year is three hours!  Three hours standing outside with the kids.  Last night the kiddos slept oddly too and this morning they have been really fussy so I'm just not sure if we should try.  We've gone every year for 5 years so this is a pretty long standing tradition for us... but the snow is crazy and I'd rather not have a huge, cold, fuss fest on my hands.  :)

[Maiasaura]

Originally Posted by redveg Today I am so tired.  I am not sure why but those days when you wake up from a full nights sleep exhausted are a pain. 

I so know what you mean. I have had a week of crap behavior from ds in the mornings and at night, the two times when I am most vulnerable to bad behavior, and I'm about out of patience. No, I am WAY, WAY out of patience. I'm so freaking sick of this shyte. Saturday morning and I was exhausted before the first hour was done

Quote:

Originally Posted by _ktg_ I am super excited as I am off to San Diego for 5 days!! Yes its work related, but I get to see some dear friends too especially 2 of my bestest friends in the whole wide world.  Cross your fingers for me for a smooth flight tomorrow and I'll try to check in while I'm out there.  The kiddos will be with the gparents for the weekend, so DH even gets a bit of time to himself too!

Thinking of you and hoping you are having a good flight! I must have missed a bunch of posting yesterday. Hope you have a great time.

Originally Posted by bluets well, if you would be willing to go to NC in October, I'd go there again.  if we can get 8-9 women, we could put together a group and get a discount (doesn't apply if you want to volunteer, like Wuwei plans to), and stay in one cabin. 

and your oranges... i was daydreaming about doing decorations with citrus fruit... you could get REALLY creative and colorful with limes and lemons and blood oranges and regular oranges and grapefruits.  i wonder if dried lime slices fade in color...

Well wouldn't that be cool if you could ALL come visit me? I mean...yeah, I really hope I'm not still here next October, but if I am, I would LOVE to see all my MDC friends!

Citrus wreath...I don't think limes, while pretty, would be very Yule-y. It does sound gorgeous for summery, though! Yes, little suns...I like to hang them on the Yule tree after they're dried. If you put them in front of the little lights, they're like little stained glass suns. They shine through

Originally Posted by wombatclay I had amazingly odd dreams that were a bit freaky but provided some answers at the same time.  I'm really not sure /where/ my brain found the "setting" it used though... kind of a vacation town that turns into a sort of steampunk/wild west place with a sort of time travel twist?  People travel to the town, time shifts, and you're "locked in" until it shifts back.  It was REALLY detailed and VERY odd.

That sounds very cool, actually...hey, have you seen those steampunk computer keyboards? I want one so badly! Those laptops....oooh, drool item for sure.

[bluets]

just popping in to query... are we going to have a virtual solstice party here?  if we are this is what i will wear (though i'd probably not do minty green because it usualyl turns me minty green too).  i think i'd rather do icy blue.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/63094151/emerald-green-winter-solstice-dress

[Aeress]

Bluets- Sounds fun to me! Love the dress, very pretty, simple but gorgeous!

Nothing much to report. I need to put up my lights and get things put back together. So what am I doing? Yep, browsing the web. *ugh*

[Maiasaura]

Bluets, that is a gorgeous dress! And you'd look stunning in it, too, even in mint green.

Well...today was the Day From Hell. Literally, I could not have ordered up a crappier day if I'd tried. DS was an utter beast from before I even had my eyes open, and it just started calming down now, at 7:30pm. It's been over 12 hours of complete hell. Thank the gods that M was there for me or I might be hauled in for unspeakable crimes...sigh. I yelled, cried, curled up in a ball, exacted consequences, life generally has sucked today, and on top of it, the mini-blind in my room that I just bought to replace the broken one (and they're odd sized, so, expensive) keeps coming out of its side-casing-thingies (it was working fine for the last couple weeks), then to add insult to injury, we went to go to a Yule ritual, got all the way there, there were different people and odd things in the hall where it usually is, and I remembered that for the first time in like 3 years, they changed the venue. I had no idea where it got changed to,and if I'd gone home to find out, I would have missed it anyway.

So, at least there were holiday singers out in the middle of the road, under a 10x10, and we got to watch them for a bit, and the chestnut guy was there. We didn't have any money for chestnuts, but we did find out where and when the chestnut guy is for the rest of the season.

The one highlight of the day  is we went to the new Harry Potter. I'd really like to see it by myself, again, because having ds there was a PITA. He wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought, especially in light of the REALLY crappy behavior, but I still had to shush him and explain things and all that jazz.

Gawd, I'm glad the day's over.

[bluets]

Originally Posted by Aeress 

Bluets- Sounds fun to me! Love the dress, very pretty, simple but gorgeous!

Nothing much to report. I need to put up my lights and get things put back together. So what am I doing? Yep, browsing the web. *ugh*

well, i ordered a flower essence that will help me to concentrate and focus on stuff... so that would mean less procrastination.  my brain hops from one idea to another way too easily.  it's a good thing dh can follow my thoughts, usually hinging on a key word in the prior sentence.

did i remember to mention that we got 4 inches of snow overnight?  we've been here in B'ton for almost 10 yrs (golly, has it really been that long?)  and it has never snowed this much so early.  so ds and i cleared the driveway this morning.

we all went to the nutcracker ballet this afternoon - a not-so-inexpensive perk at being at one of the biggest music/fine arts schools at a public university in the country.  dh wasn't too keen on seeing men prance around the stage in tights.  ds got a little squirmy near the end but his teacher prepared the kids really well (most of the class will be going to one of the 4 shows).  and they'll be putting on costumes on monday and enacting it in the class.  for those who aren't going, they'll get to watch a movie in class.  ds has declared that he'll be the mouse king when they enact it in class.  oh, and one of the male dancers almsot dropped his partner when he was getting ready to toss her over his shoulders.  it was obvious enough for the audience to gasp.

so it is looking very solstice-y here now.  maybe i can let myself get into the mood of the season.  without the silliness that pervades our society though.

[_ktg_]

Hello lovely ladies!  I have made it to San Diego in 1 piece and it was a trip from the snowy roads of WI to here. Had a bit of rudness on the plane where the gentleman in the row ahead of me, cranked his seat all the way back (he's in the exit row mind you) and then fell asleep while I am squished in my seat and hopeful that no one in my row wanted to get up for the restroom.

 My room is goregous and looks out to the marina & harbor and the other window looks out towards the downtown-area. I got to see the sunset, and I forsee a nice yoga sun salutation stretch tomorrow afternoon.  For the holidays - all the palm trees are wrapped in lights - its so neat to see.

Had a lovely dinner of grilled fish tacos and a pear cider and now I'm off to curl up in the tub and maybe watch a movie or something since there's cable here.  Its so ooh-la-la for me right now and there is no screaming of children or frustrated mommies or daddies.  I feel uneasy somewhat with this peacefulness and quiet. Like when will the bomb go off and this will be shattered?

So for you Maia - I am sending you some quiet sunshine and peaceful vibes to surround yourself in and DS too. 

After that its... oh except I need to find a coffee place for tomorrow morning.  If I can't sleep I'll be back before tomorrow!

[redveg]

Originally Posted by mamaofthree 

redveg: oatmeal in the slow cooker is AMAZING! i wish more of my peeps actually enjoyed oatmeal. i made mine with a bit of apple cider... heavenly.

val: ((HUG))

h

Where did you get the recipe?  Do you have a good slow cooker book you could recommend?

Originally Posted by _ktg_ 

Ladies -  I am super excited as I am off to San Diego for 5 days!! Yes its work related, but I get to see some dear friends too especially 2 of my bestest friends in the whole wide world.  Cross your fingers for me for a smooth flight tomorrow and I'll try to check in while I'm out there.  The kiddos will be with the gparents for the weekend, so DH even gets a bit of time to himself too!

Have a wonderful time:)