~~The August Pagan Parents Party ~~ - Page 5

[Wolfcat]

Originally Posted by MaxsFox 
As for the project I promised to complete, here's the pic below.  I'm five hours into an enormous back piece, with four(ish) more hours to go.  It's a lot of pain, but so much gain!

OMG that's EPIC!! I love the modernization of the image.

I finally got a call back from the guy who wants to publish my book series. Refresh finger crossing and happy energies.

[Millie Ivy]

hey all, mediation went sort of well.  I really don't feel comfy posting publicly about what went on, but it's ok.  pm me if you know me a bit and want to talk more. or message me on facebook. Basically, it ended after several hours, with him still planning on taking me to court.  But I was close to signing away pretty much everything that he wanted and I feel that court will be the same or better situation for us.  Definitely not worse.

So, it's still ongoing, but I feel it will be ok.  There is some major stress with some of the things he wants, but ...  I guess stress is going to keep coming at me. I'm trying to let it roll and not let it tie me up in knots.

sigh. 

Heckedy-Marcelle- I'm sorry for your loss, but I wish you all peace and comfort in this time of change. <3

Clay- I love all the pics from Pennsic!  You have one adorable little family, and an adorable huge belly!

[MaxsFox]

Heckedy, I'm so sorry about your MIL.  I wish her a quick and peaceful journey.

Clay, I can't wait to see baby pics!  Remind me, how old is your other small?  I envy you your trip to Pennsic.  I have a friend who goes every year with her husband and daughter, and she has so much fun I wish I could go too, but I'm not in SCA.

Millie, I'll continue praying that everything goes smoothly for you.

Thanks for all the congrats and the good wishes - I'm starting the buying process on a piece of land tomorrow.  I'll be calling a real estate agent in the area first thing in the morning so we have representation.  We found our perfect home, now we just need to get our claws into it before someone else does!

[HeckedyPeg]

Thank you all for your very kind words 

[vydalea]

Here's positive vibes for::::

BOOK PUBLISHING

HOME BUYING (and SELLING!!)

CLOSURE 

BABIES!! *eeek!!* 

i feel like there is a lot of bated breath right now.  big hugs and relaxation to everyone!! 

[Maiasaura]

Well. My house in Real Estate Weekly is getting lots of views but nobody's leaving contact information. They need to come SEE the house in person to appreciate it! I need vibes for lots of showings soon! And an offer!

DS's school orientation and potluck is this afternoon. Tomorrow's his first full day of school. I am so ready for a couple of days to myself! Ooooh, the quiet...but I am not looking forward to the comparative angst and noise of the bookend times.

He is not happy about his prospective schedule this year: homework every day instead of weekly, and lots less time to himself-- I have already gone over that the more he complies and buckles down and makes the afternoon/evening process go smoothly, the more the afternoon/evening process will go smoothly, kwim? As in-- it's his call. But I know him well. He will tantrum and take for-bloody-ever to do his homework and balk and push back and resist, and it will be a hellish process for a good while. I hope to God I'm wrong, but I know my kid pretty well Let's hope he grows up some this year, and stops the damn tantruming

They've said that there's about 20 minutes of math homework every night. I had to clarify that to ds that it doesn't mean we can set the timer for 20 minutes and he gets to stop, wherever he is in the process. I had to say that no, he has to do ALL of it, and they're estimating it should take about 20 minutes. IF he complies and buckles down and actually puts his nose to the grindstone! Silly  boy.

So I have tix to go see M on the 1st, through the 6th. I'm kind of annoyed because my usual caregiver agreed to watch ds, and then out of nowhere she calls me to say that Friday the 2nd she can't have him overnight at all, because out of the blue she has a chance at a thing that's sort of an audition, at a bar, and it's her only chance. I'm thinking---well, you should have said "I'm committed and we need to reschedule"-- nothing is ever "the only chance". Luckily I have a couple of backup ideas-- hopefully. Because I'm already going to be in MA, what is she going to do, leave my ds with nowhere to stay? GRRR.

M says I should be more forgiving because sometimes things come up and things change. I'm trying. But I'm still really annoyed.

ETA: the time before that, when I talked to her, she asked for more money. I agreed, and to put in a bit of money for gas to go back and forth to her house from mine, which is about 45m. But should I pay her for that Friday if she doesn't have him? It's only an overnight and she would be dropping him off and picking him up at whoever keeps him that night. But gawd, I'm annoyed, and I don't think I should. Thoughts?

That said, I'm SO excited to see M again I just wish it was for permanent and not another bloody visit.

[UnschoolnMa]

That tattoo is really bitchin'! We are really wanting some new ink, but the magic money tree continues to elude. Sneaky lil' bastard.

 So let's see if I can get some photos from the handfasting to show up here.

[DaughterOfKali]

Originally Posted by HeckedyPeg 

My MIL died this morning. I'm still in shock. We spent several hours with her yesterday and, while we knew it was coming, didn't think it would be a matter of hours. She was lucid and talking yesterday. The whole family was there, so that was good. Still trying to wrap my head around this...

I'm so very sorry for your loss.

Originally Posted by Valerie.Qc 

Just a Hello from under my rock...

I'm feeling low, not chatty at all and I'm no fun to be with at the moment... I'm tired of planning fun things and have to cancel at the last moment... this have been the story of this summer and it's getting old. DH is unhappy with my reaction when he showed me an hotel this morning and suggested we go there for a few days... It looks good and the kids would have fun but I can't get excited about "vacation"... I won't beleive it's true till I'll be there...

Sorry you are feeling down, Valerie.  I hope you can manage to get away for a few days.

Originally Posted by _ktg_ 

I'm rather excited and hopefully I can get it done this week after work & post pictures once it's complete.

Looking forward to seeing it!

[DaughterOfKali]

UnschoolnMa- Congrats!  You look beautiful. 

[MaxsFox]

Love the kilt!  And the matching 'hawk. 

[Maiasaura]

Originally Posted by MaxsFox 

Love the kilt!  And the matching 'hawk. 

What Maxs said! Is that hottie in the kilt your man? ~fans self~ And you are just gorgeous!

[UnschoolnMa]

Thanks everyone! That is muh man! ;) He is handsome, no? We had a really lovely ritual. It was a blessed day for sure. Did you see my kids in that one shot? Amazingly lovely. xoxoxo

[MaxsFox]

Wait...what?  Your kids?  You're old enough to have grown kids!?  No way!

[wombatclay]

LOVE the pics!  Swoon swoon swoon!  :)  Congrats and may your journey together be filled with love!

MaxsFox- you don't have to be in the SCA to go to Pennsic, though you do get a 20 dollars "member discount" on the ticket cost if you are.  And member or not you have to make an attempt at garb while you're there (which varies from super fancy historically accurate outfits to the sort of t tunic and flannel sleep pants my DH usually wears).  Of course, if by "not in" you mean "not into SCA stuff" then that's cool too.  :)  Actually, since a big part of the SCA is outreach, SCA events of all sizes are open to non-members.  Demos are usually free while events that have a fee will generally have a non-member surcharge (3-5 dollars) on top of the regular ticket cost.  Oh, and the kiddos are 6yo, 4yo, 2yo, and due any week now.

Life in general- really, really, really tired.  SUPER tired.  And the car has to go back to the shop (failed inspection yesterday).  Argh.  But otherwise the weather is good, everyone is more or less healthy, and we're getting back into our normal routine.  Which of course will shortly be put aside for the new babe, but ah well... a few weeks of "normal" is still nice.

Maia- Go house Go!  Sell house Sell!  Rootabaga, snootabaga, rah rah rah!  About the sitter... I dunno.  I totally see why you'd be angry, but I also see her side because sometimes things really are a "one time" deal.  She probably knows this could be a bridge burning moment in terms of caring for your ds/being your go-to person and if she is willing to put this audition over that then it sounds like this chance is pretty significant to her.  If she is dropping him off and picking him up that evening/morning and will have him full time on either side of that night then I'd probably pay her whatever had been agreed upon since you'll probably want her to do this sort of thing again and so you kind of need her ongoing good will.  But if you have someone else lined up who could do the whole thing, then maybe go with them?  And see if there is someone else for future visits to M?

Plants- I asked Dh to pick up a spider plant (or other hard to kill green thing) for our kitchen.  It's low light, and I never water things on time, but I wanted a plant for our family section of the house.  Anyway, he came home with this really kind of creepy looking plant (he likes it, dd1 likes it, dd2 and I think it looks kinda snake-y).  Anyway I figured I'd give it a shot since at least half the family liked it... then I looked it up online.  It's apparently a very "high needs" plant (requiring a constant temp, humidity, daily misting, specific amount of sun, frequent fertilization, etc) and prone to "fainting" and failure.  NOT exactly the sort of plant I want to put in the part of our home that symbolizes our family!  I stuck it in the kitchen window, but much sigh... not really sure what to do with it (except watch as it faints away because dude, I barely remember a weekly watering session... daily misting?  Not a gonna happen even if I loved the darn thing).

[vydalea]

UnschoolnMa: lovely photos!  and what gorgeous weather you had!  hooray hooray!  congratulations and many blessings!

Clay: what about using one of those bulb- looking self watering doodads for your new plant??  know what i'm talking about??  :)   of course you have to remember to fill that dang thing too!  how bout a cactus?  lol.

Maia: hooray for another trip to see M!!! yayayay!!!  Much luck with the babysitter situation.  I agree with Clay's take on the situation and totally can understand your frustration... another hurdle you didn't expect.  Anything fun touristy things planned for the weekend in MA?? 

I think it's time for me and the babe to go stretch our legs outside.  It's cooling down to be in the mid 70s - lower 80s now and I'm just LOVING this weather!!!!  hooray!!!  I don't get a third degree sunburn when I run out to harvest a cucumber!

[Maiasaura]

Originally Posted by wombatclay Maia- Go house Go!  Sell house Sell!  Rootabaga, snootabaga, rah rah rah!  About the sitter... I dunno.  I totally see why you'd be angry, but I also see her side because sometimes things really are a "one time" deal.  She probably knows this could be a bridge burning moment in terms of caring for your ds/being your go-to person and if she is willing to put this audition over that then it sounds like this chance is pretty significant to her.  If she is dropping him off and picking him up that evening/morning and will have him full time on either side of that night then I'd probably pay her whatever had been agreed upon since you'll probably want her to do this sort of thing again and so you kind of need her ongoing good will.  But if you have someone else lined up who could do the whole thing, then maybe go with them?  And see if there is someone else for future visits to M?

Well...still. I said to my friend today, yes, I understand things popping up. But if I were in her position, what I would have done, is ask first at the bar, if that were the only option because I had a prior commitment, and I probably could wangle out of it for that evening, but is there another date I could try out? And if they said absolutely no, THEN accept, and tell the person I'm sitting for that they have to find someone for that evening. KWIM? Not just assume, and tell me Friday's out.

So she'll be dropping ds off at school that morning, 8:15ish, and not have to see ds again till Saturday. It's a whole more-than-24hrs that she won't be with him. I made this whole trip easier on her by being able to drop ds off at school and THEN going to the airport, on the first day (not having to have her stay overnight the prior evening so I could get a dark-thirty flight), and being able to pick ds up from school myself on the last day (instead of her picking him up and me not getting home till like 7pm). And now there's a whole 24+ hours she won't be with him. Hmm.

And thanks for the cheer! Snootabaga

Originally Posted by vydalea Maia: hooray for another trip to see M!!! yayayay!!!  Much luck with the babysitter situation.  I agree with Clay's take on the situation and totally can understand your frustration... another hurdle you didn't expect.  Anything fun touristy things planned for the weekend in MA?? 

YAY, you betcha yay. I can't WAIT.

Fun, touristy things...nope. Neither of us has any money. Which is fine with me-- being that I don't see him but every two months or so, I really don't want to see much but the inside of his apartment

[wombatclay]

Giggle and yay to the apartment bound plans.  ;)  Though do keep in mind you're not far from Boston and there are LOTS of free things to do in that town!  Probably not as much fun as what you can think up for private time, but if you need a break to recharge... LOL

Vydalea- apparently this plant doesn't like wet soil, but requires high humidity around the leaves and no direct sun.  It's originally a rain forest plant so it's needs make plenty of sense... it's just not a set of needs I'm going to be any good at meeting!  I've been reading a bunch of feng shui books and kind of tweaking areas of our home to fit some of the feng shui ideas.  Having some (healthy, low maint, pretty) plants in the family life section seemed brilliant!  Having a hgh needs plant on the edge of death in that corenr (especially since it gives dd2 and I the creeps) seems like a bad idea.  I'm thinking I might send the plant in to DH's lab and let him take care of it!  LOL

My MIL took care of our animals (in her home) while we were away... I'm really thankful and everything, but she apparently didn't use the food we gave her and didn't follow any of the care instructions we left with her.  So the rabbit is sick she didn't feed it the supplements, and she decided to just use newspaper in the crate instead of hay so the poor critter has been lacking food and roughage) and the cat has been throwing up and pooping all over the house today.  I'm not happy.  I soooooo do not need sick animals right now!  Hopefully a few days will set them straight and we'll just be more, I don't know, emphatic or something when I'm off having the baby?  I really do appreciate the help, and I don't want to complain, but ugh!  Cat puke!

[Millie Ivy]

howt damn woman!  You and your man are super fine, and your kids are awesome!

wtg. you all look very happy!

Originally Posted by UnschoolnMa 

That tattoo is really bitchin'! We are really wanting some new ink, but the magic money tree continues to elude. Sneaky lil' bastard.

 So let's see if I can get some photos from the handfasting to show up here.

[Maiasaura]

Originally Posted by wombatclay 

Giggle and yay to the apartment bound plans.  ;)  Though do keep in mind you're not far from Boston and there are LOTS of free things to do in that town!  Probably not as much fun as what you can think up for private time, but if you need a break to recharge... LOL

I really do appreciate the help, and I don't want to complain, but ugh!  Cat puke!

UGH cat puke indeed. Oh, ew, Clay, I'm sorry!

For only 4 days I don't think we'll need a break to recharge Plus, Boston is an extra train ride in and back, and since I take the train to and from the airport, um, no. We've often thought about it, going into Boston for the day, but besides having to pay for the train an extra time each and all, I have decided we'll have plenty of time to do that when we move up there. I don't have to do it now-- now I just want to see M and maximize my time with him, and since he's having such a huge financial strain right now (he came within inches of eviction the other day ) we'll just have to find really free things, in town, to do. September should be beautiful, and we both like to take walks. He can bring his camera-- he's an excellent photographer. I might not even mind pix of me now, since I'm some 35lb lighter than when I first went up there!

I just realized it's only two weeks and one day till I go! And I just found out that ds has Monday Labor Day off of school. I am NOT mentioning that to the caregiver till the last minute! Yikes.

[redveg]

Originally Posted by Maiasaura 

Yes. On those days, I just chalk it up to Bad Day or whatever, and my most comforting thought is "all I have to do is get my head to the pillow tonight, and tomorrow things will look different". Sad, huh? But sometimes a day is just...well, a waste of a day. Be gentle with yourself. How did today go?

Thanks:)  I had a weepy 2 days and now things are good again.  It has been a long time since I have felt that emotional, maybe I am getting ready for the change?

Originally Posted by MaxsFox 

Totally redveg.  But in my case it's probably due to being at the end of shark week.

I envy all you ladies who are planting gardens and harvesting your crops.  But...I might not have to envy you for too much longer.  We've found some land.  It's 5.5 acres, has a cabin on it and a stream in the backyard, and is close enough to a city to provide jobs but not be suburban.  There's just two problems.  The first is that we have the money, but might not have access to it fast enough to get it before someone else snaps it up.  The second problem is that it is an hour farther away from where my son lives, rather than closer like we had planned.  But it's perfect for us - exactly what we have been dreaming of for our off-grid homestead, and cheap enough that we can buy it outright.  That means we can live on one income while I do nursing school or whatever ("whatever" possibly being another child, which we both desperately want).  That also means Badger can actually come and see us more often, as it's my work schedule that keeps us apart the most right now.  Besides, he'll be 4 1/2 by the time our lease here is up next summer (enough time for us to get the new place ready to move in if we buy it soon) and he'll be starting public kindergarten in his father's town.  We had agreed that at that point he'd stay with the ex during the school year and come to us for vacations and over the summer.  If we get this land, so many doors open to us.  And there are so many coincidences surrounding the land and cabin and the area it's in, it makes me feel like we've been led to it.  Led to it, in fact, the day after I started work again on a project that I promised Kali I would complete in Her honor.  What do you ladies think?  And can you send some more positive energy our way, if you can spare it?

I say get the land too.  You will get use to the long drive, I did.  Plus it seems the positives are more than the negatives, I say go for it!

Quote:

Originally Posted by revolting 

Get the property. I'm so jealous!

Can I just say that I'm so done with August. In the first half of the month, I have:

1) gotten into a car crash

2) had a huge fight with my mother about my eldest and preschool

3) had my other car stolen

4) had a flat tire on the car I crashed within days after getting the car out of the shop

5) had trespassers using the empty apartment directly below me below me for drugs/drinking/partying regularly while management does nothing

6) my husband working out of state most of the month

7) a vacation to prepare for, without a car, and not being able to figure out how to do things like buy two car seats and get them home on public transportation with two small children in tow

8) an 18 month old who screams the.whole.time on the bus or train as he desperately tries to run away from me

I dunno. I'm a pagan but not a witch. Still undecided about the whole magick thing. But, man, I would love to hear how y'all use your pagan spirituality to help you through sucky times.

So sorry your month has been difficult. I hope the rest of the month is quiet.  Meditation, getting outside everyday and feeling the earth on my bare feet, feeling the sun or the breeze or even the rain, it just calms me right down and makes me feel connected.

Originally Posted by vydalea 

hi ladies.  just checking in from the beach.  thanks for all the wishes...we arrived safely and have had a wonderful week.  I miss my life at home, though, that's for sure.  It's weird, i guess I live pretty sheltered from greater society or something -- it's hard to understand how disconnected from the Earth so many people are... i'm such a recycling/reusing "tree hugging dirt worshipper" for the most part eating a mostly vegetable diet, yadda yadda (like I have to explain it here) and to be here and see such mass consumption and disregard not only for fellow humans but for the Earth is so odd.  

What is really cool, though, is watching the ocean worship!  Everyone just standing at the shores playing and in awe of something so much greater than they are.  I keep thinking of the goddess Sedna - especially when we see the dolphins swim by - it reminds me of the balance of the Earth and the give and take of life.  Anyway...

I miss the ocean so much.  That is one of the negatives of living in the mountains in the woods.  There are lakes and some streams close by but they are not the ocean. I miss the smell of it the sound of the crashing waves.  One day I might get back.  I hear ya on the shock of how people treat our planet/home/mother.  As a tree huggin, earth loving person I am always amazed that people treat her like a big trash can mostly when they are on vacation. It's sad.
 

Originally Posted by UnschoolnMa 

T'was me indeed! My relationship with the witch title has been a long and winding one. For me? I had to come to terms with the fact that there are always going to be those people who will panic at the term and associate it with either Satanism or angsty young people looking for a show off outlet. I had to know myself and let those people think what they will. My behavior needs to show a positive image of witchcraft and Paganism, and that will be enough for me, kwim? It's such a loaded word! lol

I agree:) This is how I feel too.

Originally Posted by HeckedyPeg 

My MIL died this morning. I'm still in shock. We spent several hours with her yesterday and, while we knew it was coming, didn't think it would be a matter of hours. She was lucid and talking yesterday. The whole family was there, so that was good. Still trying to wrap my head around this...

I am so sorry. Thinking of you and your family. 

Originally Posted by Maiasaura 

I just realized it's only two weeks and one day till I go! And I just found out that ds has Monday Labor Day off of school. I am NOT mentioning that to the caregiver till the last minute! Yikes.

How exciting:)  Any bites on the house yet?