Killing Kittens

I have some friends who can't help but hit the forward button to everyone in their e-mail address book everytime they get the cutesy e-mails of fluffy kittens or "A Prayer for You."

I finally drafted this e-mail and hit "Reply All" to their most recent posts - sending the word to just about 100 strangers.

Dear Group E-mail sender,

• Regarding E-hugs, I prefer them in person with people I know and not a group-hug shared with the cold and electronic addresses in your Cc line.
• The E-Prayer, E-Angel or E-Jesus that you send eventually ends up in my E-Trash. I then get the option to "Delete Jesus Forever? [Yes] [No]" Hmmm. Decisions, decisions. Why would you do that to Jesus?
• When forwarding pictures of adorable puppies and kittens please do not forget to include the recipes.
• Let me spoil it for you. That promise of a "really cool thing" that happens to your screen after you forward an e-mail to ten people? -- you're disappointed,
  3 people get pissed off,
  3 people deleted it without reading it,
  2 people have your address blocked from sending them e-mails,
  1 address is undeliverable, and
  1 idiot forwards it to 10 more people. Cool, huh?
• I have automatic withholding from every paycheck, with a final rendering no later than April 15th each year and do not need to be reminded to "support our troops."
• You said if you don't get that [e-mail wish] back from me you'll "know I'm not your friend." So why do you keep sending them? I thought I was being clear.
• If you're worried about God being removed from politics and schools, do not fear. Have faith that she is where she pleases.
• The stories of serendipity and random acts of kindness taste great, but are less filling than a quasi-cash deposit to my pay-pal account. ( It's so easy, Sign up for a PayPal account at www.paypal.com Click the Send Money tab, Enter an amount, and the recipient's address mine is poizniv@gmail.com )
• I can pretty much guarantee you that by fate, luck, chance, kismet, destiny, happenstance, coincidence, predestination, faith or a willing god, faerie, spirit, sprite, God or Goddess that something good, bad or indifferent will happen to you whether or not you forward this e-mail to the number of people of your choice.
  

Chuck Walker

Your Nature Name?

I would have to say that the biggest things I accomplished yeterday is the discovery of my true Indian name.

Nevermind that I'm Scottish. Everyone should have a name that connects them to Nature - I think - so instead of calling it an Indian name, I'll call it a Nature Name.

Mine may be "Naps with Cats."

There is a HUGE difference between taking a catnap, and taking a nap with cats. I highly recommend the latter.

Exhaustive studies, which were quite refreshing, conducted in my own home, have led me to the conclusion that one sleeps better, deeper, longer, and more snuggly with a cat stretched out on or beside you.

And that's what I did yesterday. It may also help that yesterday was rain rain rain.

Well, I did make a good-sized list of things to do and, let's see, . . . I did three and a quarter of them. Groceries, Bills, Laundry, Bank, Knit. (Laundry and knit are still incomplete).

I will consult the great list today as well.

Stream of Consciousness

Now I find I have time on my hands and no list.

It's my first day of spring break. What to do?

I have lots of creative projects and must-get-done projects and I don't know where to start because I don't have list.

I promised I'd start journaling more and would try a little stream of consciousness writing to see if I could give myself a little direction.

I have been living without a LIST for quite a while now. That doesn't mean I've been idle. It just means that I've been only just getting through without working toward any well-defined goals.

After I finish my coffee today I'll sit and begin making some good lists. Then I'll go back and prioritize and make sublists.

Paint, knit, bills, construction, yard, home, clean, bills, groceries, recycling, family, letter writing, lesson planning, blogging, Prissmas, career planning, . . .

I'm not sure where to start.

Fortunately it's a foggy rainy day so napping will have to be added to the list.

Laundry, new glasses, dental appointment, storage space, reading for fun, book study, recipes, . . .

If I don't have a good list in place soon, before I know it, I'll find myself in my first teacher's summer sitting in this same spot doing the same thing.

Clean Jeep, new Jeep top?, design knit patterns, witch's garden, pagan studies, tarot, . . .

All these things jump in and out of my head while I drive to and from work each weekday, and once I get home, all I want to do is go to bed with a book.

My first thought each workday morning is "Today is [insert day] so I must . . ."

My first thought each weekend is "I overslept! No, wait. No school today so I must . . ."

Know myself. Know my craft. Learn. Apply knowledge with wisdom. Achieve balance. Keep my words in good order. Keep my thoughts in good order. Celebrate life! Attune with the cycles of the earth. Breathe and eat correctly. Exercise the body. Meditate. Respect the energy. (Goals of a witch.)

I also have to remember things that I promised to do for other people, like post the Bush family confession - where did I put that?

This is the most disorganized I've been in quite a while. "Time keeps on slippin', slippin' into the future."

The very first item on my list should be love my husband . . .

Play with my dogs, pet my cats, mark a meandering path through the hillside, rake up the acorns, twigs, and leaves, move some rocks, clear the porch, plant signs in the garden, what to plant with bulbs? . . .

Determine to be happy - celebrate life - enjoy the little things -

Post blog entry and finish coffee.

Focus

I'm listing things in my journal that I like to do.
I swear I'm ADD, because there is such an eclectic list and when I pack my "activity bag" for the day, there's far too much in it than I could ever get to.

I pack my bag for work, in case it's a slow day, and the things I have in there are often knitting, laptop for writing/blogging/playing games, my herbalism book and journal, tarot cards, and much more.

So at work, the laptop is open to a video game, the journal is on the counter, the knitting is on the corner and I hop from task to task to task, never actually making a dent in anything.

I'm at a point now (similar to last December) where I must pare down my activities to a more organized focus. Can I do it? Right now I've got the blog open in front of me, the journal beside me, knitting and tarot behind me and a yard full of landscaping outside waiting for me. When will I get to meditation, bills, and crafts?

I hate to create an activity schedule for myself, but I think that's what it's leading toward.

Okay, Something's Gotta Give

I have been living on the edge.

Three weeks of no school and no running commentary in my brain of what's due next or what must be read or written or filled out. It's been bliss.

I've been rediscovering the Chuck of 3 years ago--the Chuck that has lots of interesting things to do. I pulled out old projects, old hobbies, old books and covered the dining room table. The coffee table. The buffet, the guest room bed.

I look at all these things and think, "what will I do today?" It's overwhelming. It's amazing. It's wonderous. It's fractured. It's scary. I love it.

Being a Gemini, I'm going to have a conversation with myself this week. The other side of my personality is saying "There's just too much. Something's gotta give."

I'm going to have a serious conversation with myself.

"Yes, all of this other stuff is fun, but you have responsibilities as well. Wouldn't it be nice to see the floor? Wouldn't it be nice if the bedroom didn't smell like three dogs, two bears, and a cat? What about the litter that's blown into the side yard? How about putting up some cedar shakes at the cottage, marking the driveway, or clearing out the scrap wood? And when was the last time you poop scooped the dog run?"

Okay, okay, okay. Let's make some lists. Let's make some exhaustive lists. You like lists. We can split them up. Some for me and some for you. But let's not get strict about it.

"Well, if we're not strict about it, how can we be sure to balance fun with responsible?"


Do we have to?

"I think we should. In fact, we should probably be even MORE responsible."

But I've BEEN responsible. I got all A's. I worked hard, I wrote a lot and read a lot and put up with a lot. Why can't I just watch movies, knit, read, and nap?

"You've been doing that for three weeks. AND you have to get a job. I'll give you until 2010. January 1st we start ticking things off of MY list."

I won't like it.

"Yes I will."

He's Baaaaaack ! ! ! !

I'm sure that this dusty old thing (the blog, not me) has fallen off of your radar screens, but here I am again.

I am DONE ! (For now.) With college. Yesterday I did the last thing I had to do. I need create no more, turn in nothing else, and neither write nor read for obligation (at the moment).

All I have to do now is sit back and wait (and fret) for the grades to come in (Christmas), the teaching certificate to be approved (January to March), and the degree to be printed (May).

My summer reading list was nothing compared to what I read in the last quarter. Visit www.gliterature.blogspot.com to get an idea. (Then tell me what you think.)

Student teaching had its downs and ups, but I've found I actually do like middle school kids. They weren't the hellions everyone said they were, and oh, the potential there!

Okay, no more talk of school and schooling (and I won't EVEN go into job hunting).

My new year resolution for the past couple years has been boiled down to one word.

2008 - Simplify
2009 - Finish
2010 - Family

It's the year of the family. For the past 3 years I have been woefully out of contact with family and friends who are family, so this coming year I'm going to do something about it.

I'm going to write letters.
I'm going to send cards.
I'm going to visit.
I'm going to call.

I'm fairly certain I've missed EVERYONE's birthdays for the past three years (and NO, I'm not knitting any retroactive gifts).

(I actually still owe Tammy TWO gifts - one promised for killing the most bunnies and one for her last birthday. I haven't forgotten ! )

College obligations are slowly draining from my mind (contented sigh) and the creative Chuck is coming back to life.

I have fleeting visions of writing, painting, knitting, meditating, oh the places we'll go.

Summer Reading List

I have perused
1000 Places to See before You Die by Patricia Schultz
Not In Kansas Anymore: A Curious Tale of How Magic is Transforming America by Christine Wicker.

I have read
Simple Spells for Success by Barrie Dolnick
Mirror, Mirror by Gregory Maguire
The Crow: Temple of Night by S.P. Somtow
Dead Sleep by Greg Iles

School's out for the Summer!

Not quite a week since I finished my last Final Exam of the Spring Semester . . .

I have perused 1000 Places to See before You Die by Patricia Schultz and Not In Kansas Anymore: A Curious Tale of How Magic is Transforming America by Christine Wicker.

I have read Simple Spells for Success by Barrie Dolnick and Mirror, Mirror by Gregory Maguire.

I have visited Green Man and cleaned up some scrap wood and made work plans for my next visit.

I have sketched, sanded, cut, and started painting a VIP Lounge sign for JL.

I have taken a nap, stayed up late, fell asleep early, played cards, and knitted.

All in all it's been a fabulous near week.

Now I'm going to pay some bills and figure out what to do with the rest of the morning before work.