that is WONDERFUL!!! i love it! and thanks for the flower ideas. i was just gonna come post about what to plant here in the SW in winterish.
i have to say i am a bit melancholy about not having real winter weather here. i mean i LOVE that the kids can be out pretty much all day and night if they wanted too, but it is almost 80 here. and every freakin' show has snow. it was nice and coolish for t-day and now it is all warm again.
maybe working in the garden will help.
h
Ooooh...pretty Aweyn. :)
thankee!
h~ delphs will bloom now thru april, but probably wont over-summer (unless you pull them and put them in the shade, lol). stock does well from now til about then, too, i think. pansies might last even longer, unless it gets in the 90s much before then. primroses will be ok for a while, but not as long, and they need shade. snaps will do well now thru april or so, too. and of course, petunias, geraniums, and all those do well too, but imo, they're too summery. ;-) i admit, i've been enjoying the warmpth. but, since i swim outside each day, i like it to be warmer. i've been wearing leggings and tunics and scarves (and flippies, of course)... and i'm ok with it, but i've never been huge on snow. i will watch the mountains each day, though, and as soon as they've got a dusting, we'll head up. any chance you will make it down to go to mt l for snow? i'll pm you my cell just in case.....
:-)
My boy and I are working on our citrus slices right now. 
This will be our 3rd year doing a dried orange slice tree. I think they're beautiful. Also 1.) it's an expensive way to fill out a tree 2.) they're made with fresh energy every year, and 3.) Like Maia said, they look like stained glass with the lights around them.
I love the recommendation of adding different citrus, so we're trying it this year. I'm sorry I don't remember whose idea that was (bluets?), but the limes, lemons, tangerines and oranges are drying out. Thanks for the idea!
that is WONDERFUL!!! i love it! and thanks for the flower ideas. i was just gonna come post about what to plant here in the SW in winterish.
i have to say i am a bit melancholy about not having real winter weather here. i mean i LOVE that the kids can be out pretty much all day and night if they wanted too, but it is almost 80 here. and every freakin' show has snow. it was nice and coolish for t-day and now it is all warm again.
maybe working in the garden will help.
h
not a show, but some tunes. get your hands on Ottmar Liebert's Christmas in Santa Fe CD. It will give you a new perspective on these seasonal tunes.
okie... third time to post today because i keep forgetting to post this link:
http://www.goddessguidebook.com/50-ways-to-feel-like-a-goddess/
enjoy. oh, and Leonie (the goddess blog post author above) had such a rough transition to motherhood that she originally wanted to call 2010: The Year That Sucked Giant Panda Balls but instead is calling it "The Year of Radical Change" (Goddess Circle Miracles #2: With The Most Magical Unicorn On The Planet!)
but of course her site isn't loading at the moment :/
okie... third time to post today because i keep forgetting to post this link:
http://www.goddessguidebook.com/50-ways-to-feel-like-a-goddess/
enjoy. oh, and Leonie (the goddess blog post author above) had such a rough transition to motherhood that she originally wanted to call 2010: The Year That Sucked Giant Panda Balls but instead is calling it "The Year of Radical Change" (Goddess Circle Miracles #2: With The Most Magical Unicorn On The Planet!)
but of course her site isn't loading at the moment :/
Brief popping in and such... hugs to everyone and Clay my heart is out there for you right now.
Bluets - I love Leonie and even more now for her acurate naming of 2010! I love her site and hopefully for the holidays get to order some items from it!
maia, hugs for you and m! sounds hopeful. xoxox
i need recs for card-type games (not regular playing cards, but like a box you would buy) for kiddos young and kiddos older (there's an almost-teen in the family, and we've been warned Nothing is Cool Enough for him..... mom wants to give "games" to everyone this year, and i'm supposed to do her research. i'm stumped. thoughts?
Thanks! He took his first dose today around 2:30-3:00, and was out like a light while I was on the phone with him. It's one of the side effects, which is why it's recommended to take before bed, but he wanted to make sure if he got whalloped by the med. he'd be able to be bright eyed and bushy-tailed for work tomorrow. I just tried to call (3hrs later) and no answer. I think he fell asleep with the phone on! So it might need to charge when he wakes up. Which I hope is before tomorrow morning, but might not be! His one med is a beast of a med. The Wiki page scares me a bit. I don't know what the other one is but it's a Lithium of some sort.
Card games: do they need to be one-for-all, or individual? Because I'm thinking Magic The Gathering, for a pre-teen. You can get him a starter set and he can figure it out on his own. It's very popular with all ages from 7-100, far as I know.
yum. i want to make pumpkin flan this year. yum.
i forgot we can post pics.... let's see..... orange wreath:
That is just gorgeous!! Nice job, keedo. How did you post the pic?
Oh, and your dress-- to die for. I think I might go in this: http://www.etsy.com/listing/58037833/steampunk-vampire-gothic-lolita-black only with a bright red underlay. Or maybe this: http://www.mysticcrypt.com/dark-star-black-and-red-satin-velvet-lace-gothic-mini-dress-p-492.html
I'm all about red and black this year, for some reason...and of course my gothy self has to come out 
My hair's lighter, now, though; I found Sun-In at the poor store. I used to use it when I was a teen and I thought I'd lighten my hair for fun since it was blonde when I was a kid. I had it white when I was playing drums and now it's natural, but it's way darker. Well, it WAS natural till I Sun-In'ed it.
LURVE the wreath! I have some orange slices drying on the stove... I hope they come out as well!
Bluets- I must have missed the FE post... they do resonate (and the pulsatilla may be helping!) but I'm going to wait till after my appointment on Friday to add more things. We've all come down with headcolds (of course LOL) so I'm focusing on that, sipping a hot toddy, and hoping that Friday is a productive appointment.
Steampunk house- Go grab a towel or a mop or something, cause drool is on the way! http://www.onlinepropertyshowcase.com/showcase/10328/
Nifty stuff- DH came up with a fun cleaner the other day and I used it on the floor this afternoon... basically hydrogen peroxide, tea tree oil, grapefruit seed extract, and a little Dr B's peppermint soap. Mix it up in a spray bottle, spray, and enjoy the fizz! The kiddos and I "mopped" the floor with towels on our feet and the scent was good for clearing stuffed noses/soothing headaches. DH actually put it together to try and control the mildew/mold that forms on the window sills during the winter (condensation ick) and it works well for that too. :)
Care credit- not sure why the ding, Dh is going to talk with the dentist about a payment plan. Also, it looks like maybe we can get some of the cost back through DH's insurance program. Send us luck!
holiday decore- I've been making stockigns out of felt. I'm hoping to finish tomorrow... I'll post pics when they're done. I think they're pretty nifty though. And I made a door wreath from some pine branches I gathered in the woods. Yay for thrifty!
Clay- i lurve the stove!!! how cool would it be to have a sove like that?
Yeah, isn't it just wowsa? The whole house, the attention to detail... of course, my coglings would add a touch of mad scientist disarray before you could say "Nooooooo!!!!!!!1" so maybe it's better off with the current owners. Still... I can dream. And I saw a steampunk child's bed that was very spiffy... they built it up so that it's the deck of an airship, with built in plasma screens (as a nightlight), a ship's wheel, and book shelves with steampunked toys. Sort of bed + play space. It was cool. :)
winter car woes- not sure what we'll do. We have "in town" obligations three days a week and since we live in such a rural area those three days result in my driving roughly 300-400 miles per week. Yup. Me, with my phobia of driving, puts close to 2000 miles a month on my vehicle. :( I've tried to consolidate trips as much as possible, but especially in the winter there aren't many spaces to hang out with kids... so if I drop Laia off at 9am staying in town till 2:30 is hard, and by the third day in a row more or less impossible. DH took dd1 to preschool today and will pick her up, but her school is 45 minutes from his lab and then it's another 30 minutes to get her here and 30-40 minutes back to the lab sooooo.... he'll be working late tonight to make up for that and it's not something he can do most days. We tried having me drop DH off, then dd1, and then reverse that in the evening but the milage was seriously off the charts since it doesn't solve the "what to do with the other two kiddos during the day" problem and added over an hour of driving to my route. It also means having everyone up and out of the house an hour earlier that normal (so we'd need to be out the door by 7am... it takes the kiddos an hour to be done with morning stuff so they'd have to get up at 6am, which means DH and I would need to be up no later than 5:30 and that is just not going to happen on a daily basis. lol) So... we need a solution. Brainstorming caps on!
On a happy note, despite the recent financial and health related craziness, holiday crafting is moving along. w00t w00t w00tily w00t!
That's a lot of driving! Hopefully the thinking caps come up with something. The house is amazing. Growing up I had a friend who had converted their victorian house in a similar fashion. Back then, I didn't know what steampunk was. I just thought it was the coolest house I'd ever seen.
Update on citrus slices. Limes turn black. Not sure why, but they do. First I thought sugar content, but that doesn't make sense because oranges don't. I don't think it was the light color because the lemons work. AND after babying my slices all day...keeping the temp low/turning etc...DP came home and asked if the convection oven would work. I hadn't even thought of that. I always forget we have that feature on this oven. So...15 min on 175 fried my beautiful slices except for a small handful! Grrr poop! 
Poor DP thought it was his fault. Nope. I thought it was a great idea. Oh well. Not sure if I want to do it again or not. Maybe it's a sign I should mix things up this year, but I lurve orange slices for Solstice.
I'm going to have to go "shopping" for my dress. You've all found some pretties. I got 1/2 my Solstice cards done. 
clay~ that was me with the FEs, not bluets. :-) i keep talking about them. like i used to with tapping. ;-) flowers have been able to do things i couldnt fully do with tapping-- like fears. i have one fear in particular i never was able to even dent with tapping. a week or so on mimulus (FE for fears), and, seriously, it was GONE. life-alteringly GONE. sometimes i twinge a tad, take a does, and i'm fine again. so, i keep wanting to share flowers. i dabbled, and wanted to for so long, and i finally did, and i wish i had sooner.
hope things go well on friday!
driving--gak. i wouldnt want to be "out" that long either... but the driving would drive me bonkers. maybe one day a week out & the other two home? we have one day where we drive dh to school, and then go play for a bit.... 9 to 1, though, which is substantially easier than 230, or what yours is. libes? playgroup? what are your indoor possibilities? i often find myself daydreaming about buying a commercial property and making it a co-op mom and kiddo indoor hang out. i dont know why places like that dont exist. it would be so helpful!
that house kinda makes me think of myst... i'd love to visit it!
maia, there's a button to click to insert a pic. it has to be sized (as in you cant resize it once it's in), which is why it's so big, lol.
lurve the first dress! thanks for the card rec, i'll check it out.
FR~ohno! i'm sorry! do it again! do it again! :-) i love mine, and i so want to make more. maybe i'll do that today. i need a project (ok, other than the ones i'm procrastinating doing.......).
i'm stalling today. i dont want to get up and do stuff. i want to go out and play................
Dh and I had a very nice evening together. We watched Season 5 of Bones and then had a great talk. I didn't get much sleep but it was worth it. :)
Wrapping up odds and ends today. I have my shopping list and stuff planned. Glad the weather has cleared up, so I can get out of the house. I have about 6 bags and 5 boxes to drop off at SA this weekend. Mega declutter for me. :)
Clay- I know part of the reason you go to town is for homeschool classes...hmmm...anyway for someone to come to you? Or sharing a ride where you would only have to drive half way? I hope you find a solution that cuts down your time on the road.
Steampunk house- Go grab a towel or a mop or something, cause drool is on the way! http://www.onlinepropertyshowcase.com/showcase/10328/
OMG that house is to DIE for!! Wish they'd show the bedrooms. DS said he wanted to see them, and I agree. Sent link to M
Felt stockings: when I was a young teen, I made felt stockings for my parents. Their stockings were looking utterly ragged. I spent HOURS in the dining room (which was the sewing room unless we had company) assembling these things, which were layers of felt, mostly done with glue. Mom's was an angel and Dad's was a Santa. I planned to give them Christmas Eve. We'd always had one gift (us kids) that we were allowed to open Christmas Eve, but my mom got to pick out which one. It was nearly always new pajamas. Well...Christmas Eve came, and my parents absolutely refused to open these, saying we'd never opened a gift on Christmas Eve, and were not about to start now. I was in tantrumy tears by the time they finally relented. I still can't believe they reduced me to that before they'd consent to open them. They loved them, but sheesh-- what a price. I've never forgotten it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by aweynsayl clay~ that was me with the FEs, not bluets. :-) i keep talking about them. like i used to with tapping. ;-) flowers have been able to do things i couldnt fully do with tapping-- like fears. i have one fear in particular i never was able to even dent with tapping. a week or so on mimulus (FE for fears), and, seriously, it was GONE. life-alteringly GONE. sometimes i twinge a tad, take a does, and i'm fine again. so, i keep wanting to share flowers. i dabbled, and wanted to for so long, and i finally did, and i wish i had sooner.
maia, there's a button to click to insert a pic. it has to be sized (as in you cant resize it once it's in), which is why it's so big, lol.
lurve the first dress! thanks for the card rec, i'll check it out.
What do you DO with them? Are they liquid? Do you spray them? Where do you buy them? Are they expensive? Of course...I'm lazy and cheap and broke, so not likely I'll even do it, but I hope you don't mind my curiosity.
Where's the button? Oh, and ds also recommended Magic cards. Even though he's only 9. He got into Magic at PSG two years running-- they have a giant tent set up just for Magic playing, and it's full all.day.long. with people of all ages, from 7 to about 40ish. I mean GIANT tent, like circus sized tent. Always crowded. Most of the people playing were tweens, teens, and 20s. DS went in at the beginning of the week knowing nothing, and at the end of the week came out knowing how to play fairly well,and with a collection of over 300 cards
OH, M's meds-- holy cow, mamas, he fell asleep while I was on the phone with him around 2:45ish, and didn't wake up till close to 4 in the morning 
He's OK, though. I kept having fleeting thoughts of "instant cardiac arrest" but kept my cool and just went about my day. I missed him terribly, though 
but the good thing is, this huge sleeping thing levels off after awhile. Thank the gods.
Cards mostly done and some mailed. No crafty ones for me...maybe one of these days. They're pretty, though 
Aweyn- LOL! See how mixed up I am these days? :)
Driving- I've tried and tried to get people to come here... I've even posted ads! No one comes. :( No one wants to drive this far from town, and honestly, unless they have 4wheel drive I think they wouldn't make it up our road with any more success than I had the other day. I'd hate to think someone got stuck in a ditch because of me! And there are no carpool options... there is one person on "this side" of town who goes to the same preschool as dd1 but they live just minutes from the preschool so either they'd have to drive half an hour in the wrong direction to get dd1, or I'd have to drive nearly the same distance as I do now to drop her off with them so they could drive the final mile. Which we both realized was silly (I know the other mom and we thought at first it would work).
Actually, maybe ya'll can help with brainstorming! Here's the deal:
Wed- dd1 preschool 9am-2:30pm, it's a half hour in good weather (one way)
Thur- dd1 preschool 9am-2:30pm, again, each direction takes roughly a half hour
Fri- "Gramma school" with my MIL 9:30am-2pm, it's an hour from our house to hers. Given the extra long commute on Fridays I try to make that my "town errand" day with a visit to the ScienceCenter, grocery store, etc. It works some weeks but, with a 3yo and a 1yo it's not always possbile to leave home at 8:30 and stay out till 4ish.
Worst case scenario weeks look like this: Half an hour to get dd1 to preschool, half an hour home. Half an hour into town to get dd1, half an hour home on both Wed and Thursday. Then an hour into gramma school and an hour home, a second hour drive out to gramma school and an hour home in the evening. Plus whatever driving ends up being necessary during the week... dr visits, grocery trips, ICAN meeting, and so on. Best case scenario weeks have me managing to keep the two younger kiddos amused in town during the preschool hours and then timing all the errands to fill the time dd1 is at gramm school on friday. But keep in mind that it's still 15 minutes from her preschool into town so even spending the day in town involves a half hour of driving just to get too/from the preschool.
Think of it kind of like an octopus. "Town" is the middle but all the "stuff" is out on the arms. There aren't a lot of cross roads or short cuts due to the state parks and gorges. For instance, if I could drive straight dd1's preschool would be maybe 10-12 minutes. But I have to drive a big triangle because there are no roads through the state park that lies between us and the school. And during the winter options get even smaller since many roads are seasonal access only and even with a 4wheel vehicle they're scary!
So, one option I've thought about is having dh take dd1 to work on fridays, then have gramm pick her up there... but she isn't really comfortable driving, especially now that it's winter, and so dh and I aren't totally confortable with that either. And given the overall financial ick going on, we've discussed pulling dd1 out of her preschool. But she really enjoys it, she gets to do a lot of stuff I just can't manage (they do a lot of hiking, outdoor stuff, take care of the farm animals, knit and weave and sew, cook and prepare their meals, etc).... it's stuff I /want/ to do with my kiddos, and experiences I want them to have.... just not practical given younger sibs and our lack of space. Plus we had to sign a one year contract and I don't know what options there are there. We already get a reduced tuition. But it is a big monthly expense, and there is the driving to consider.
I'm considering a spell for abundance to coincide with the solstice moon... suggestions? I was thinking sort of a "cliff notes" version of my treasure map, kind of highlighting what I need right now, asap. What do you think? I'm not sure it's a good idea...
not sure how long ds will let me have, but let's try.........
flower essences (or "FEs") are basically flowers steeped in water. they are a vibrational or energetic supplement (they are technically classified as "herbal" though they are not like tinctures/etc).
you can get "blends" like "rescue remedy" or the others i listed. or you can get the single flower.
you get them at your local heath food store. they're sometimes near essential oils, sometimes with herbal tinctures. the "bach" brand is the most well known, but there are many others.... "FES" or flower essence society, being a popular one.
typically (and i'm really only just learning the technical details of this myself!) they are sold as "stock" liquids in tiny little bottles (some of the flower-steeped-water as above, with brandy as a preservative-- i could be wrong on the exact nature of the "stock" liquid). you get one or more of them, and a "dosage" bottle, and add some spring water, brandy (or ACV, i've read), and several drops of the chosen flower. (you CAN dose directly from the stock bottle, in fact, i've been doing that, under the mistaken assumption that i didnt have "stock" essences, which i do... long story, but it makes them a LOT cheaper! basically, one of the tiny bottles is about $7-8. or a "blend" like the ones i posted before are $12-15ish.)
how to take...... you can put drops right in your mouth, take some in water, put some in cream and rub it in, put it in your bath, spray it around you, or on you.......... just about anything.
i've used rescue remedy for AGES, but never messed with the others. i started with them earlier this fall... and i love them. they do, being from flowers, especially resonate with me. some of the things i've "done" so far with them include:
* being more grounded/more connected to here (vs longing for somewhere else)
* erasing an intense fear of longstanding
* getting me to DO more (energy wise, but also just a feeling of being motivated)
* soothing headaches and mental tension/anxiety
* calming/softening belly tension
(and that's just some, and just since mid-october!)
some of those were specific flowers, some blends/combos.... although not all would be directly applicable for another, as we all have our own issues.... :-)
i'll talk about it on and on if you encourage me. ;-) remember how i was with tapping?? ;-) lol
off to mix some blends for ds, dh, the dog, and me... now that i know how! squeeee!
~~~ clay, the only thing that pops out at me is to cut back on the grandma care just for the winter (given she doesnt want to drive either might provide an excuse?)
as for a mini TM, i'm all for them, but i'd be honest about what you Really Want.......
omfg i give up :( mdc just ate a massive post *sigh* I have 20 things to do so I can't retype it all either!
Just a quick update... job interview went amazingly well! I was suprised that I really wasn't nervous (although had a touch of the dry mouth so I guess I was physically nervous even if I didn't otherwise notice it!) I was surprised that they didn't ask the dreaded 'strengths and weakness' questions lol.. I was all ready for those too ;) They did ask for examples from my previous work/family life etc on how I handled specific types of situations and I had great examples for each one that popped to mind almost straight away. At the end of the interview the gentleman said that HR would *definitely* be getting in touch with me regarding references 
And she did this morning lol... turns out the previous supervisor I listed IS still with the company and I managed to locate the new division it merged into. I called to give her the ok to release information about me to the new company so I'm hoping she actually remembers me or can have a brief glance at my personell record to jog her memory :)
And dh took over taking the kids to try on & order school uniforms (as I'd actually felt crappy all day) and the total is a whopping 424 bucks :S (that's for 3 full uniforms EACH (shirt,short, hat and mandatory school bag) for the two of them. OUCH. we have about 6wks before it's due thankfully.. May sweet talk MIL for a donation lol 'oh muuuum, don't you want to help the boys look all spiffy for schoool?? lol
Off to supervise the boys outside as quinn has a love of making mudd puddles and wasting water lately :S
clay: i am not one to want to hole up all winter... BUT with money issues, all that driving and possibly sliding off the road.. maybe dropping preschool for the winter and doing grandma once every other week might be in order. what you do every week makes me feel all squishy inside, and nervous. lol
h
Can't keep up with this thread. (Originally, I had typed 'Kant ceep up with this thread.') I've been doing that a lot lately.
Cari- I hope you get the job!
Clay- You summed up why I can't stand winter. Especially trying to drive in bad weather/icy roads. 
Aeress- Glad you had a talk with your dh. Sounds like it went well.
Hi to everyone else. Out of time (have to take ds to school) so I better run.
Follow Mothering