How did it all go for you? I hope you had safe travels and that you can move forward with your son!
Luckily, she was able to fax the report to me while we chatted about the results on the phone. Thanks for asking.
Friday is the big meeting.
vydalea--haven't ordered it yet, but I think I'm going to! Yay for Amazon Prime for students! :)
I am loving this thread, taking some time to go back through it. I needed some inspiration as I had to lay someone off today. 
AND it is the one month anniversary of my father's passing. Tonight my DD and I will clean up the ancestor altar and give thanks for their wisdom and guidance. I figure this is the first chance I have had to get to it and it will be a perfect timing considering the significance of the day.
The yule (solstice) conversation has me so excited, I LOVE the spiral/apple idea. For us we usually have a dark night where we turn off the lights and enjoy our evening in the darkness/candle light. It starts out with all the lights being turned off (except the pellet stove) then in the darkness we hold hands and sit for a moment. Next we do a ringing of the bells for our wishes of the new year and to our earth as we light candles. The ringing of the bells is something easy to to with a large mixed age group too, everyone can ring a bell even if they have nothing to say. If it works out, we try to have a "yule" fire. Where we talk about greating the sun and honoring the time of darkness and the gifts we get during the dream time. We will exchange small gifts.
From Nov to Solstice I keep a dream mask and mugwort by my bed to invite dreams. Also we decorate a solstice/yule/christmas tree (we are a mix family, though santa is down played and we talk about Santa as the archetype of the spirit of the time. DD however goes around chritmas morning saying "look what the solstice faerie brought me!!!" - we do believe in fae folk). On our tree is the glass pickle which is always a fun treat. Who ever finds it gets to open the first present.
This year we will have a small gathering at my house (small- bigger than I anticipate or want) and will enjoy time together in the darkness and possibly have a fire with some poi to enjoy as a gift from a friend.
Ahhh!! I love the dream mask idea!! I have to do it RIGHT NOW. Okay, not right now. Right now I have to study for a test and get to school. But LATER I am SO doing that.
Sorry you had to lay someone off. That does not sound fun at all :(
I'm loving all the Yule ideas!
We're pretty stressed here, my DH has been laid off for one week now. He has some leads but at his level, people don't hire very fast. Its looking like we won't be staying in San Diego, probably moving back up to Seattle, maybe the Bay area.
We did get out of the house and went for a short hike with my crunchy moms meetup group. DH wore DD in the Ergo for the first time and absolutely loved it! Here's a pic of Phina giving dad a kiss!
Kaydove---that picture is so cute!
Does anyone here celebrate Saturnalia? As opposed to Yule or ... solstice? I'm not even clear on all the differences. I know that Saturnalia is a week long or something. Hm.. I should look this up... *wanders off*
Mmm...poi....lucky! Love to watch fire dancers.
What a sweet papa/baby pic! Aww!
I do not celebrate Saturnalia...but I do have to giggle at your *going to look that up now*--- so many people forget Google is your friend.... 
11 days till I see my sweetie 
I am loving this thread, taking some time to go back through it. I needed some inspiration as I had to lay someone off today. AND it is the one month anniversary of my father's passing. Tonight my DD and I will clean up the ancestor altar and give thanks for their wisdom and guidance. I figure this is the first chance I have had to get to it and it will be a perfect timing considering the significance of the day.
The yule (solstice) conversation has me so excited, I LOVE the spiral/apple idea. For us we usually have a dark night where we turn off the lights and enjoy our evening in the darkness/candle light. It starts out with all the lights being turned off (except the pellet stove) then in the darkness we hold hands and sit for a moment. Next we do a ringing of the bells for our wishes of the new year and to our earth as we light candles. The ringing of the bells is something easy to to with a large mixed age group too, everyone can ring a bell even if they have nothing to say. If it works out, we try to have a "yule" fire. Where we talk about greating the sun and honoring the time of darkness and the gifts we get during the dream time. We will exchange small gifts.
This year we will have a small gathering at my house (small- bigger than I anticipate or want) and will enjoy time together in the darkness and possibly have a fire with some poi to enjoy as a gift from a friend.
for having to lay off someone on the month mark of your father's passing. yuck.
Love the ringing of the bells idea! That sounds so lovely and intimate! Every year for the last decade or more I have a party at my house where all my friends come with their families, we share food and drink and make reindeer like the ones you may have made in elementary school. The ones where you trace your hands as the antlers and your feet as the head. Everyone makes a unique one that represents themselves. I have a whole wall of these reindeer and hanging them is remembering our loved ones. It's pretty awesome. It's my favorite holiday tradition.
I'm loving all the Yule ideas!
We're pretty stressed here, my DH has been laid off for one week now. He has some leads but at his level, people don't hire very fast. Its looking like we won't be staying in San Diego, probably moving back up to Seattle, maybe the Bay area.
We did get out of the house and went for a short hike with my crunchy moms meetup group. DH wore DD in the Ergo for the first time and absolutely loved it! Here's a pic of Phina giving dad a kiss!
The Ergo is the best. thing. ever. Right? We had one and it saved our sanity for the first year of Z's life. We would go on an hour walk every night and she would sleep and DH and I would have time to just be adults on the only level that we actually could at that time!! I love love love the photo. It's a framer, if you ask me!
I will send energy your way for your DH to be led to something that will benefit your family! Doesn't sound like Washington would be that terrible of a place to be after the last election. 
Kaydove---that picture is so cute!
Does anyone here celebrate Saturnalia? As opposed to Yule or ... solstice? I'm not even clear on all the differences. I know that Saturnalia is a week long or something. Hm.. I should look this up... *wanders off*
The English department at the school where I earned my Masters degree had a Saturnalia party every year. I'm not really clear on the actual significance mostly it was just a time to get together and eat, drink and be merry! I believe it has Roman origins... and that is all I can add on that topic! haha.
11 days till I see my sweetie
Wahoo!! 
How is that sweetie of yours feeling these days??
I'm trying to be motivated today. That's kind of a joke. I have the countdown cards all ready to be made... and a rainbow blanket to finish knitting... and... and... here I sit... oh well!!
The Ergo is the best. thing. ever. Right?
Wahoo!! How is that sweetie of yours feeling these days??
I'm trying to be motivated today. That's kind of a joke. I have the countdown cards all ready to be made... and a rainbow blanket to finish knitting... and... and... here I sit... oh well!!
I had an Over The Shoulder Baby Holder. I don't know how many slings or carriers they had in 2001, but that's what I had. I loved it. It's so...hmm, flexible? As in, you can wear the baby in it any number of ways, and more ways as they get older. I wore him cradle style when he was a newborn, then by the time he was 4m or so, he could sit up in it facing forward, then as a hip child, I could wear him that way and still have two hands, or wear him on my back even! Loved it.
M says "I'm feeling okey-doke". He's still sober! 
Yeah I am totally a post holiday discount shopper. The stockings were like ten cents a piece marked down from $1. I mean, some of them are in less than perfect shape and they don't all match but that is our family's way anyway!! ha. So, the things I have on the list are pretty simple. Things like read this book or that book, Paint a big paper green on one day and the next cut it out the shape of a pine tree and decorate with stickers - so I have a lot of "multi day" activities. Also I am adding things we already do like decorate the tree, hang our reindeer, go on a ride to look at all the lights, light our yule log, etc. My list is upstairs and I am feeling too lazy to go retrieve it. I am going to type it out and print it so when I do I will send you a PM with them. :) We'll see how it all goes...
I love the idea of moving the apple through the spiral! I am TOTALLY doing that!! *hopefully* *if i can find time*
Sending lots of blessings and love to your little kindergardener. I hope she enjoys herself and it fits her well. It's so cool that you are open for whatever she needs. What a great mama! I also love thinking of you guys meandering to the bus stop!! I think our school mornings go best when we have lots of time to spare and be together. I guess all mornings do!
Thanks for that beautiful poem. So fitting. I'm trying to just embrace the cold. Also, Z and I are working on putting the garden to bed as we call it. We clean her up and then cover her with a blanket of leaves for the winter. Then in the spring we get out the bells and wake up the garden! It's so fun. I realize that my garden is like one big living altar! I love it! But then, you know that.
How did it all go for you? I hope you had safe travels and that you can move forward with your son!
Hi, amlikam! How are ya?
greenwitchymama! Did you order the book?
I love your garden rituals. I'm still dreaming up what we will do come spring. I love the idea of forest gardens, so I'd love to work on that, but buying trees and shrubs is expensive! Still, I'm definitely starting to plan.
While my eldest has some complaints, she definitely enjoys school. The academics disappoint me. I don't like academics in kindy period, and then she brings home busy work. As long as she remains happy, I want to avoid meddling, but oh, do I have strong opinions on education that make it hard.
I'm looking forward to your list. A lot of my favorite activities I've done in the past with my eldest are things that my youngest is too little to do, and I don't think my oldest will have the time for it on top of school.
Luckily, she was able to fax the report to me while we chatted about the results on the phone. Thanks for asking.
Friday is the big meeting.
Update please!
This year we will have a small gathering at my house (small- bigger than I anticipate or want) and will enjoy time together in the darkness and possibly have a fire with some poi to enjoy as a gift from a friend.
How long have you been fire dancing? I just brought back out my poi (not fire ones). I like hooping better (though I've yet to get to a point where I hoop well enough that I'd trust myself with a fire hoop), but the ceilings are so low that I can't hoop inside and the puffy layers of clothing the cold require make hooping outside at this time of year hard. I aspire to learn poi dance well enough that by next Beltaine (around when the full moon fire jams in my area begin), I'm ready to spin some fire.
I'm loving all the Yule ideas!
We're pretty stressed here, my DH has been laid off for one week now. He has some leads but at his level, people don't hire very fast. Its looking like we won't be staying in San Diego, probably moving back up to Seattle, maybe the Bay area.
We did get out of the house and went for a short hike with my crunchy moms meetup group. DH wore DD in the Ergo for the first time and absolutely loved it! Here's a pic of Phina giving dad a kiss!
Totes adoraballs! I'm glad you got out to go on a walk. We had planned to go on a bike ride this weekend, but then a sudden rain spoiled our plans. Especially with my daughter cooped up inside during the warm parts of the day, I really want to make it a priority to bring the kids outside a lot on weekends.
Kaydove---that picture is so cute!
Does anyone here celebrate Saturnalia? As opposed to Yule or ... solstice? I'm not even clear on all the differences. I know that Saturnalia is a week long or something. Hm.. I should look this up... *wanders off*
Nope, but I don't have much of an interest in Roman Paganism, but if you end up celebrating, I'm sure we'd all be interested.
11 days till I see my sweetie
Yay!
Oh I leave the poi to my friends, I am an earth/water girl and while I enjoy fire for my alchemy work, I am not one to play with it!
Life is busy. 
We got bad news about work too... Just love the financial struggle right by Holiday Season and coldest time of the year. 
Keeping low key today: DD2 is sick. 
Hi ladies! Remember me??! Its been, what? Six months since I posted last? 
Things got very overwhelming for me and unfortunately posting here was (part of) what ended up cut out. But I'm hoping to be back!!
Quick update on me and mine...well, DH was diagnosed with Bipolar 2 a few months ago. That's bipolar with strong depressive tendencies and shorter, slightly less intense manic episodes. Its been hugely straining within our family. DH decided the best option was to hide it until it couldn't be hidden anymore and, well, you can imagine just how well that worked. So our marriage has been difficult lately. He's been on a medication for about two months now and he's reminding me of the man I married again, though, which wasn't something I was sure was going to happen. Things are starting to look up there. We still have a long way to go, though. There have been a few other things that have happened that I'd rather not go into detail about but have been extremely stressful on our marriage and family. So we are in the middle of mending our family. Luckily the boys are too young to really absorb what's been going on, but I can tell its taken a toll on DD. She's always been on the serious side and not very imaginative, but lately she's gotten very quiet and spends most of her time reading. DH and I are at a bit of a loss there, but we are hoping a little less tension in the air coupled with a little more attention will pull her out. I've been pretty depressed by the whole thing, too, and that just complicates it all that much more.
DH did get a new and much better job a few months ago. He now is working as a chef at a large state university. He manages one of the dining halls there and he absolutely loves it. It comes with a considerable pay raise, too! Oh, and paid time off and sick days and benefits!! All things we didn't think DH would ever get in his field! Its been the one bright spot in these past several months of darkness.
But I am looking forward to things getting brighter! Which seems fitting at Yule is coming and the Sun God is about to be reborn. I talked DH into celebrating Yule this year as a family rather than Christmas and I'm hoping to ditch Santa, too. I'm looking forward to Yule, though dreading the holiday season. Its been a lot of carting overtired, overstimulated kids to and from various family gatherings. It should be better this year, though, since DH will actually get to use vacation days and he'll be around to help a lot more!
I am looking forward to catching up with all of you and getting to know those of you I've not yet met! I am hoping hoping hoping to get Mothering and esp these threads back into my regular life!! I have definitely noticed my spiritual life slipping to the wayside with everything else slamming into me and it'll be nice to be here and get back into a spiritual groove. If you would like, I'd love to Facebook with any of you. I don't post much, but I do check often and enjoy being able to "know" or be involved with people that way. 
I forgot to ask: has anyone here been to a Reclaiming ritual? I went to one last year for Yule while I was visiting a friend in northern California. Starhawk was there, looking quite exhausted I might add. But it was really beautiful and magical and enchanting. I blogged about it if anyone is interested (I don't think I'm allowed to post a link here...?)
Also, with all the crazy stuff that seems to be happening for a lot of you, I just happened to notice that Mercury is in retrograde...
I forgot to ask: has anyone here been to a Reclaiming ritual? I went to one last year for Yule while I was visiting a friend in northern California. Starhawk was there, looking quite exhausted I might add. But it was really beautiful and magical and enchanting. I blogged about it if anyone is interested (I don't think I'm allowed to post a link here...?)
Also, with all the crazy stuff that seems to be happening for a lot of you, I just happened to notice that Mercury is in retrograde...
I haven't been to one with Starhawk but have enjoyed attending rituals influenced or collectively a part of and reading about them very much.
Also lets not forget the new moon and eclipes.
----
Today would be a perfect day for jammies, tea and naps.
hi there!
are most pagans born in november? because i'm the 26th!
i just started identify as Christopagan and find great peace and relief in the term and practice. a local church has paganism 101 classes i hope to take in the new year as i don't know much about were to start. ideas?
being going through much change in my life the past month. i see my world shifting like the plates of the earth. i am really trying to cleanse my relationships and outlook as i do each new year. change is always hard for me but i find it so necessary. there is still so much of myself i need to discover.
anyway i hope to learn from all of you:)
blessings
I forgot to ask: has anyone here been to a Reclaiming ritual? I went to one last year for Yule while I was visiting a friend in northern California. Starhawk was there, looking quite exhausted I might add.
Clay has. I don't know if she's even still on MDC, but I can ask her on FB and see if she's willing to pop over to talk to you about it. I did go to a Starhawk ritual here once, for...for something...my boy was about 3 at the time, and I had to have him babysat and I had to leave early, but I did manage to get Starhawk to sign my books for him. Because he is named for the character in them BUT, yeah, she looked...I'd say exhausted would be kind. Frankly, she looked high.
Today would be a perfect day for jammies, tea and naps.
EVERY day would be a perfect day for jammies, tea, and naps.
i just started identify as Christopagan and find great peace and relief in the term and practice. a local church has paganism 101 classes i hope to take in the new year as i don't know much about were to start. ideas?
I kind of practice a dual (triad?) faith. I grew up Episcopalian and I find comfort in the old rituals and services. I'm a Witch for sure, but I also dabble in Catholicism. My love is Catholic. I think it's beautiful. I just wish I could get the One God thing...sigh. I just can't get past that. Or the one-way ticket to heaven.
I might start with learning a bit about the holidays. There are eight. The next one coming up is Yule, or the Winter Solstice. Do you have questions? Maybe the rest of us can help?
My very favorite books are ones by Phyllis Curott. She has three, I believe. She is such a practical Witch, makes so much sense. No nonsense, that one. I love her.
Life is busy.
We got bad news about work too... Just love the financial struggle right by Holiday Season and coldest time of the year.
Keeping low key today: DD2 is sick.
Oh no!
Hi ladies! Remember me??! Its been, what? Six months since I posted last? Things got very overwhelming for me and unfortunately posting here was (part of) what ended up cut out. But I'm hoping to be back!!
Quick update on me and mine...well, DH was diagnosed with Bipolar 2 a few months ago. That's bipolar with strong depressive tendencies and shorter, slightly less intense manic episodes. Its been hugely straining within our family. DH decided the best option was to hide it until it couldn't be hidden anymore and, well, you can imagine just how well that worked. So our marriage has been difficult lately. He's been on a medication for about two months now and he's reminding me of the man I married again, though, which wasn't something I was sure was going to happen. Things are starting to look up there. We still have a long way to go, though. There have been a few other things that have happened that I'd rather not go into detail about but have been extremely stressful on our marriage and family. So we are in the middle of mending our family. Luckily the boys are too young to really absorb what's been going on, but I can tell its taken a toll on DD. She's always been on the serious side and not very imaginative, but lately she's gotten very quiet and spends most of her time reading. DH and I are at a bit of a loss there, but we are hoping a little less tension in the air coupled with a little more attention will pull her out. I've been pretty depressed by the whole thing, too, and that just complicates it all that much more.
DH did get a new and much better job a few months ago. He now is working as a chef at a large state university. He manages one of the dining halls there and he absolutely loves it. It comes with a considerable pay raise, too! Oh, and paid time off and sick days and benefits!! All things we didn't think DH would ever get in his field! Its been the one bright spot in these past several months of darkness.
But I am looking forward to things getting brighter! Which seems fitting at Yule is coming and the Sun God is about to be reborn. I talked DH into celebrating Yule this year as a family rather than Christmas and I'm hoping to ditch Santa, too. I'm looking forward to Yule, though dreading the holiday season. Its been a lot of carting overtired, overstimulated kids to and from various family gatherings. It should be better this year, though, since DH will actually get to use vacation days and he'll be around to help a lot more!
I am looking forward to catching up with all of you and getting to know those of you I've not yet met! I am hoping hoping hoping to get Mothering and esp these threads back into my regular life!! I have definitely noticed my spiritual life slipping to the wayside with everything else slamming into me and it'll be nice to be here and get back into a spiritual groove. If you would like, I'd love to Facebook with any of you. I don't post much, but I do check often and enjoy being able to "know" or be involved with people that way.
So glad to see you again! I'm sorry your family has had so much struggle, but it sounds like you guys are on the road to healing. Yay on the job.
Maybe I should come out of the closet as a total believer in Santa Claus. 
I know this is a Pagan thread, but I love that St. Nicholas is the patron saint of children, the poor, and prostitutes. I love the parallels between Santa Claus and Odin.
hi there!
are most pagans born in november? because i'm the 26th!
i just started identify as Christopagan and find great peace and relief in the term and practice. a local church has paganism 101 classes i hope to take in the new year as i don't know much about were to start. ideas?
being going through much change in my life the past month. i see my world shifting like the plates of the earth. i am really trying to cleanse my relationships and outlook as i do each new year. change is always hard for me but i find it so necessary. there is still so much of myself i need to discover.
anyway i hope to learn from all of you:)
blessings
Are you coming from a mostly Christian background? What draws you to Paganism? I'd call myself a Pagan with Christian leanings, and draw from things like the Red Tent, Marcus Borg, Waldorf, etc when I think about how I incorporate Christopaganism into my path.
EVERY day would be a perfect day for jammies, tea, and naps.
Word on the jammies, tea, and naps. Especially the naps.
Yeah, so new moon: what are people manifesting this moon? I'm trying to focus on connecting, especially with my daughter. The first few days of school went well, but the last few days have had a lot of stress in the morning around getting ready to go to school and my daughter not wanting to go. When I agreed to register my daughter for school, I made her promise that she'd stick it out until winter break. Everyone has bad days, and if we were going to do school, I wanted to really give it a chance. I didn't want to pull her too soon and then a few days later have her beg to return. But, it's been really hard to make her stick to it. Her brother really misses her. I really miss her, and I've had trouble with the school both about her religious vaccine exemption letter and accommodating her academic level (which is way way way past what is taught in this academic kindy).
We had a death in our extended family this weekend. I haven't told the kids, since I don't know if they'd remember him. When I was a kid, my whole extended family would get together on Christmas Eve (my birthday), and I so strongly associated him with the holidays because he'd always tease us that he was going to give us birthday spankings, and it was a big thing in our household, my twin and my plots of how we'd make sure to avoid our birthday spankings. Anyway.
First off... 3xmama!!!! They don't have a "runs over as fast as fast can be to give a virtual bear hug of happiness" emoticon. So you'll have to settle for: I'm so happy to see you are back. I am terribly sorry to hear about your DH dealing with being Bipolar but I am glad to hear that things are heading in a good direction for you all. I bet your DD is learning a lot about how to work through big life issues and still love one another which is a really important lesson. Big hugs to all of your family.
I love your garden rituals. I'm still dreaming up what we will do come spring. I love the idea of forest gardens, so I'd love to work on that, but buying trees and shrubs is expensive! Still, I'm definitely starting to plan.
How long have you been fire dancing? I just brought back out my poi (not fire ones). I like hooping better (though I've yet to get to a point where I hoop well enough that I'd trust myself with a fire hoop), but the ceilings are so low that I can't hoop inside and the puffy layers of clothing the cold require make hooping outside at this time of year hard. I aspire to learn poi dance well enough that by next Beltaine (around when the full moon fire jams in my area begin), I'm ready to spin some fire.
Totes adoraballs! I'm glad you got out to go on a walk. We had planned to go on a bike ride this weekend, but then a sudden rain spoiled our plans. Especially with my daughter cooped up inside during the warm parts of the day, I really want to make it a priority to bring the kids outside a lot on weekends.
Thanks, mama! I'm so glad to have a garden finally and SO GLAD that my kid loves it as much as I do. I've never really heard of a forest garden. Buying trees and shrubs can be less expensive if you buy them really tiny. Of course, there's all that WAITING for them to get big. haha. We bought little shoots from arborday.org a few years back. the shrubs are still small but it's fun watching them grow. They were relatively inexpensive and, of course, the money goes to a great cause.
I LOVE watching firedancing and hooping! I'm pretty uncoordinated myself although I can do a few turns of the hoop before it falls to my feet! It looks awesome, though!
AND, btw, I love that you said "TOTES" because I have been saying it all over the place in my house and my DH just looks at me like the weird lady that I am. It's great to see someone that isn't 14 use it too! ha!
Quote:
We got bad news about work too... Just love the financial struggle right by Holiday Season and coldest time of the year.
Keeping low key today: DD2 is sick.
Hope things turn around for you, Valerie!!
hi there!
are most pagans born in november? because i'm the 26th!
i just started identify as Christopagan and find great peace and relief in the term and practice. a local church has paganism 101 classes i hope to take in the new year as i don't know much about were to start. ideas?
being going through much change in my life the past month. i see my world shifting like the plates of the earth. i am really trying to cleanse my relationships and outlook as i do each new year. change is always hard for me but i find it so necessary. there is still so much of myself i need to discover.
anyway i hope to learn from all of you:)
blessings
WELCOME!! The first book I bought myself was "Celebrating the Great Mother" and it really helped me to understand a lot of the basics. Then Maiasaura suggested "Book of Shadows" by Phyllis Curott and that helped me a lot more. I'm slowly working through both her book Witch Crafting and Circle Round. Someone also mentioned Natural Witchery by Ellen Dugan recently which I am excited to read after the new year.
I consider myself a Pagan/Buddhist mix. I love the manifesting of the Divine through Nature idea in Paganism.
EVERY day would be a perfect day for jammies, tea, and naps.
HECK YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and I'm super delighted to hear that M is still sober. ROCK ON, M!!
Yeah, so new moon: what are people manifesting this moon? I'm trying to focus on connecting, especially with my daughter. The first few days of school went well, but the last few days have had a lot of stress in the morning around getting ready to go to school and my daughter not wanting to go. When I agreed to register my daughter for school, I made her promise that she'd stick it out until winter break. Everyone has bad days, and if we were going to do school, I wanted to really give it a chance. I didn't want to pull her too soon and then a few days later have her beg to return. But, it's been really hard to make her stick to it. Her brother really misses her. I really miss her, and I've had trouble with the school both about her religious vaccine exemption letter and accommodating her academic level (which is way way way past what is taught in this academic kindy).
We had a death in our extended family this weekend. I haven't told the kids, since I don't know if they'd remember him. When I was a kid, my whole extended family would get together on Christmas Eve (my birthday), and I so strongly associated him with the holidays because he'd always tease us that he was going to give us birthday spankings, and it was a big thing in our household, my twin and my plots of how we'd make sure to avoid our birthday spankings. Anyway.
Birthday Spankings?!! I haven't heard about those in years! Hilarious! I'm so sorry to hear about the passing of your extended family member but I love that your memories of this person sound fun.
I'm actually about to sit down and do my new moon reading this afternoon (I hope). I'll let you know how it goes. I'm not sure I'm feeling much of anything. Usually I get an inkling of something that is shifting inside but things feel kind of optimistic and balanced here for the moment. I'm starting to feel as though I want to start my own business so that might be something that is manifesting... Actually I just checked out tracy's astro salon and she mentions in her new moon write up: "[Scorpio] is perhaps the bravest sign in the zodiac because when other people talk about doing stuff or think out loud about this or that, it is Scorpio that suits up and does it. "
so there's that... ??
So glad to see you again! I'm sorry your family has had so much struggle, but it sounds like you guys are on the road to healing. Yay on the job.
Maybe I should come out of the closet as a total believer in Santa Claus. I know this is a Pagan thread, but I love that St. Nicholas is the patron saint of children, the poor, and prostitutes. I love the parallels between Santa Claus and Odin.
Yeah, so new moon: what are people manifesting this moon? I'm trying to focus on connecting, especially with my daughter. The first few days of school went well, but the last few days have had a lot of stress in the morning around getting ready to go to school and my daughter not wanting to go. When I agreed to register my daughter for school, I made her promise that she'd stick it out until winter break. Everyone has bad days, and if we were going to do school, I wanted to really give it a chance. I didn't want to pull her too soon and then a few days later have her beg to return. But, it's been really hard to make her stick to it. Her brother really misses her. I really miss her, and I've had trouble with the school both about her religious vaccine exemption letter and accommodating her academic level (which is way way way past what is taught in this academic kindy).
We had a death in our extended family this weekend. I haven't told the kids, since I don't know if they'd remember him. When I was a kid, my whole extended family would get together on Christmas Eve (my birthday), and I so strongly associated him with the holidays because he'd always tease us that he was going to give us birthday spankings, and it was a big thing in our household, my twin and my plots of how we'd make sure to avoid our birthday spankings. Anyway.
Thanks! 
We are healing, we'll get there. That's been our mantra for the past month or so: we'll get there.
I totally believe in the idea of Santa Claus and I love the original tale of St. Nicholas. And, like you said, that he's the patron saint of children, the poor and prostitutes. Kind of a strange mash up, can't help but like that! I want to keep that idea alive, but I want to get rid of the commercialized fat man in red. It bugs me giving someone else credit for a gift that took a lot for us to be able to buy plus I feel it supports consumerism and materialism. Oh, and as I've gotten older the idea of a kid loving fat man sneaking into people's houses freaks me out. 
New moon, really just trying to draw some love and peace into my family and my life. That's really what we need now. Go for something more when we are more settled down.
I hope things settle down with your daughter. How long has she been in school?
Sorry for your loss.
First off... 3xmama!!!! They don't have a "runs over as fast as fast can be to give a virtual bear hug of happiness" emoticon. So you'll have to settle for: I'm so happy to see you are back. I am terribly sorry to hear about your DH dealing with being Bipolar but I am glad to hear that things are heading in a good direction for you all. I bet your DD is learning a lot about how to work through big life issues and still love one another which is a really important lesson. Big hugs to all of your family.
WELCOME!! The first book I bought myself was "Celebrating the Great Mother" and it really helped me to understand a lot of the basics. Then Maiasaura suggested "Book of Shadows" by Phyllis Curott and that helped me a lot more. I'm slowly working through both her book Witch Crafting and Circle Round. Someone also mentioned Natural Witchery by Ellen Dugan recently which I am excited to read after the new year.
I'm actually about to sit down and do my new moon reading this afternoon (I hope). I'll let you know how it goes. I'm not sure I'm feeling much of anything. Usually I get an inkling of something that is shifting inside but things feel kind of optimistic and balanced here for the moment. I'm starting to feel as though I want to start my own business so that might be something that is manifesting... Actually I just checked out tracy's astro salon and she mentions in her new moon write up: "[Scorpio] is perhaps the bravest sign in the zodiac because when other people talk about doing stuff or think out loud about this or that, it is Scorpio that suits up and does it. "
so there's that... ??
Hi!!! *returns virtual bear hug with nearest emoticon* Thanks, mama. I can't even begin to tell you how glad I am things are looking up for us. For awhile, it was really bad. But now, it seems like things may become happy and healthy again. Not the same, of course, hopefully better. Which, believe you me, is not something I expected to be able to happen 2 months ago!
I second the Celebrating the Great Mother suggestion. It is a fantastic book and has helped me and helped my bring Paganism into my children's lives as well. Speaking of children and Paganism, has anyone read the Rupert book? I'm thinking of adding it to DD's wish list. Well, the wish list that goes to my FIL who is...hmm...New Age would probably be the best way to describe him.
I've not heard of Phyllis Curott before. I think I will try her book out. Thanks for the tip, ladies!
Are you doing a Tarot reading? Hope it went well!
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