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Showing posts from October, 2007

Blessed Samhain

To most people, today is Halloween. However, today's holiday is steeped in history from many older religions. Some of these holidays occur at different times of the year. However, they all have similar themes. It is a time when they believe that the veil that separates this world and the spirit world is at its thinest. In Mexico, they celebrate El Dia De Los Muertos on November 1st and 2nd. They believe that these two days their deceased loved ones will rise up to come visit them. They hold all manor of festivities in honor of the deceased. They create pathways of flowers from the graves to their homes so that the deceased can find the way home. There are offerings left for the deceased. Ancient Celts celebrated October 31st as Samhain. Many modern day pagans still celebrate Samhain. This day is the Celtic new year. At this time of the year, we celebrate by holding rituals to honor the gods and goddesses of the dead as well as the deceased themselves. In some pagan grou

Samhain Night

Here is a poem that I wrote back in 2003 for Samhain. Samhain Night October 25, 2003 Darkness creeps in the land quiets down anticipation of visits as the veil thins Relatives long gone Coming by for a chat Their spirits are here with us Closer then ever before Love ones we have missed Others we are glad are gone Those not known to us All here to visit once more Witches celebrate Its the Celtic new year Time for change and transformation Time for renewal Shifting Changing Everything spinning As the Wheel of the Year starts again

Woohoo!

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I got me award for placing in the 2nd Annual Spicy Cauldron Awards . I had entered a Halloween writing contest. I have never won anything for my writing before. Yes, I only got 2nd place, and it is only a web competition, but still. I really does mean alot to me. If you would like to see the entry go here . It was a short story that I wrote off the cuff.

The Spoon Theory

I have many people in my life who do not understand how I feel or what I go through on a daily basis. I have finally found the perfect way to show them how I live. I came across a great way of describing my life. Its called the spoon theory . I may not have lupus like the person who wrote it, but I have many other illnesses that debilitate me. I challenge you to expand your vision and read the spoon theory . I read it to my sister DC and she now has a better view of my world.

Next Iron Chef

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I was all psyched up and ready to watch The Next Iron Chef tonight. I really wanted Aaron Sanchez to win. He is a great cook and he is very good looking. Ok, so I have a thing for hispanic men! LOL! Anyway, I was saddened to see him leave. Out of all the people, he should not have left. Heck, Chef Cosentino was annoying tonight. He was being nasty to the camera guys. I mean really, they are just doing their job. He agreed to let the cameras be there when he signed up to be on the show.

Shocked and pleasantly surprised

Well, Sunday's are my weigh in days. I was actually very shocked when I weighed in today. I really thought that I either gained or hadn't lost anything. This week at work was a bear and I know that I cheated a few times. Like when YL went to McDonald's the other day. Not only did I get a chicken caesar salad, but I also got an order of chicken fries. Let's also not forget that VB went to Cold Stone's on Friday. I ended up getting a medium Chocolate Chip Cookie dough with whipped cream on top. Yummy! Anyway, to make a long story short! I lost weight!! OMG!! I lost another 2 pounds! I can't believe it! I have lost a total of 18 pounds so far. I am so happy that I did lose though. I know when I don't, I tend to get frustrated and cheat more. Knowing that I am 2 pounds shy of losing 20 is definitely going to make me work harder though. Wow! I can't believe I am doing it. I have tried and tried so hard over the years. I just could never lose

Weekend Writing Workout #2

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This is the second weekend the I am going to do one of the great writing workouts over at The Accidental Novelist . I don't have a story that I am working on at the moment. So I will just continue using the character that I created from my last exercise. Who knows, this character may round out enough to help create a story. Exercise #1 Mother duck waddling by 5 little ducklings struggling to keep up Intent on reaching the lake squawking and quacking Merrily on their way Reaching the liquid brilliance of life Swimming merrily on their way The day strolls lazily along Sun gleaming on the refreshing water Not a care in the world Relaxed and enjoying the moment White clouds dance lazily in the sky Reflections of the world in the lake A small rain shower Baby ducklings playing in the water Splish, splashing around Exercise #2 When Sarah thinks about her apron, it always reminds her of her mother. In her eyes, her mom was a domestic goddess. Their house was always lovingly well kept

You're getting under my skin

Yesterday was an extremely irritating day at work. It seems that patients were just really getting under everyone's skin. There are certain things that patients do that really are irresponsible and annoying. 1. Don't call to make an appointment while driving! You know we are going to ask questions that you will need to get things out of your purse or pocket in order to answer. It is not safe to do this while driving. I have literally had patients tell someone else in the car to "hold the wheel while I get my wallet out of my back pocket". How safe is that? You can wait the few minutes it will take to get to your destination BEFORE calling us to make your appointment. We will still be there. 2. Don't call if you don't know what test you are scheduling! How can you not know what the doctor is sending you for? Don't you ask questions? You would be surprised how many patients can't even tell me the part of body that we are doing the test on.

Friday's Feast

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Appetizer Name a great website you would recommend to others. Since right now, I am focusing mainly on losing weight, I would have to recommend SparkPeople. This site lets you track your weight, measurements, food eaten, exercises done, and much more. Plus they have wonderful groups that provide that extra little bit of morale support. There are some great competitions going on as well. Get a Free Online Diet Soup On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 as highest), how often do you dream at night? I would have to say at least a 7. I tend to have tons of really crazy dreams. When I wake up in the morning, those dreams just make me really confused. Salad Did you have a pet as a child? If so, what kind and what was its name? We had several pets in our house when I was growing up. When I was really young we had a dog named Little Man and a cat named Sneakers. My sister moved out and took Little Man with her. When Little Man impregnated another dog, we got one of the liter. We named that

Great contest

I just found out about a great contest going on. I tend to have really dry skin due to my thyroid condition and some of the meds I am on. Sometimes, it gets to the point that I don't like the feel of my own skin. There is a new lotion out called Skin MD that is supposed to help with dry skin. Laura Williams currently has a give away going on over at her blog for a bottle of the lotion. Stop by her blog and check it out.

Thursday Thirteen #3 - Books in TBR pile

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Thirteen Books in Wakela's To Be Read Pile. I decided that it might be more interesting if I post a picture of the cover. I grabbed the pictures off of Amazon since the battery for my digi needs to be recharged. 1. This is a book I had been meaning to read for years. A few years ago, my mom had really started to get into angels. She had angels in every room of the house. She was buying books about angels. Everything and everywhere were angels. She read and reread this book many times. She was constantly telling me all about this book. She said that this was the best one yet. She even went as far as to buy copies for me and my sisters. I never read it. One thing I remember about this book is that she was always telling me about 444. Supposedly, when you see 444 that is a message from an angel. Since my mom passed away in December, I have been seeing 444 alot. I keep meaning to read this, I just can't bring myself to do it yet. 2. This is one that I had picked up

Diablo Denied

Today was one of those days where you just want to crawl back into bed and hope for the day to end very soon. It started when my head was about to implode and explode simultaneously. I am not sure how it was managing it, but it certainly felt like that was happening. I had a combination of a sinus headache with a migraine mixed in for added effect. Once I got to work, the Bobbsey Twins were at it in full force. I can normally deal with them for the few hours that I have to because it is a short amount of time. But with my head feeling like it was just made them ten times worse. They are really nice girls, but extremely hyper. I swear! I think VG has tourrettes or something like it. All of a sudden, she will just bust out with some strange sounds really loud. Or sometimes she will just start singing something off tune and really loud. Plus every other sentence is ended with "Denied!" VB was in rare form today. She is the other half of the Bobbsey Twins. Her favori

Scam Alert

More and more people who suffer from hypothyroidsim are turning to alternative sources for information and cures. This is due to the fact that many doctors do not simply listen to their patients when they say a medicine is not working. I came across an internet scam that is currently targeting thyroid patients. The only thing The Secret Cure for Hypothyroidism cures you of is having money in your pocket. First off, the thyroid expert that wrote the book is fictional. Secondly, there are numerous reports against them for false advertising. Third, that $17 you pay isn't a one time fee. They keep charging it every month. Fourth, its not so much an e-book as a pamphlet that has the same information that every thyroid patient already knows. Stay away from this company at all costs. The person behind this scam is Perry Belcher. The same person who tries to push Alvidar down the throats of unsuspecting thyroid patients. Here are some sites that lists complaints against them: Rip-

Hootin' Anni's Treat

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If you have never visited Hootin' Anni's blog , then I suggest you speed on over the right now. She is a wonderful lady and has some really great posts over there. I first came across her blog in the Thursday Thirteen list. I am definitely glad that I did. This month, she is giving away little "treats" to those who visit her blog. I was the lucky recipient of one of those treats. Right now blogger has photo posting down... So I have to use a link from another location to post the little treat. A Halloween Treat from Hootin' Anni Each day up until Halloween [October 31st] Hootin' Anni will be handing out a treat for 1 - 5[one to five] bloggers who drop by during the week for visiting. You're more than welcomed to pass it along to ones you think are deserving of a special treat for the season. Kinda like "Pay it Forward" Y'know, one goodwill gesture deserves another? But DON'T just choose your friends making this cliquish and 'just

Weekend Writing Workout

Found this little gem over at a great blog called The Accidental Novelist . I thought I would give it a try. The Precious Object Exercise 1) Decide which character you are going to develop / work on for this exercise. 2) Pick a random object, let's say a drum. 3) Imagine that this object is the MOST precious object in the world to your character. Set your timer for 5-7 minutes. Using the start line below, write (without stopping, without editing) until your timer goes off: The most precious object in my character's life is her... _________________________________________________________________ The most precious object in Sarah's life is her statue of Bast. All of her life, she had been drawn to cats. As a child, kittens would follow her home from school. She had posters of cats hanging from every available space on the wall as a teenager. She couldn't get cats out of her head. She also had these recurring dreams of being in ancient Egypt as a priestess of cats.

Thursday Thirteen #2 - Favorite Movies

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Thirteen Favorite Movies 1. Donnie Darko - Each time I watch this movie, I find things that I never noticed before. It will really stretch your mind. What is reality? 2. Dirty Dancing - Patrick Swayze... need I say more? At any rate, this movie has a great sound track and a great story. Nobody puts baby in a corner! 3. Bringing Up Baby - Yes, I know its a classic and way before my time, but I just love this movie. Kathryn Hepburn and Cary Grant team up in this wonderful comedy. 4. Amelie - If you don't mind watching movies with subtitles, then I highly suggest this one. Amelie goes on a mission of trying to do random acts of kindness for others. But its the way she goes about it, that makes it hilarious. 5. Underworld - Very few movies have the main hero as a strong female. This is one of those. If you like werewolves and vampires, then this is a must see. 6. First Wives Club - Great movie. I love the scene where Goldie Hawn's character got silicon injected int

The State of the Enviornment

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Good Morning everyone! Today is October 15th also known as Blog Action Day. It is today around the glob that bloggers will unite and blog about the environment. The environmental cause has been one that has been dear to my heart since I was a teen. There are many easy ways that everyone can help out. You would not believe how many people say the words, "But my little bit won't make a difference." No but when you add it all up, it does. Being green isn't a fad. Being green isn't a passing phase. We need to make it a lifestyle. Here are a few simple tips that can help out: 1. Use halogen light bulbs. They cut down on electricity. They last longer. And they end up saving you money. 2. Recycle. I remember going to a nature preserve in Ft Myers and all of the "wooden" walkways were actually made from recycled plastic. So I actually saw recycled material put to good use. 3. If you aren't using an electronic device (tv, radio, etc) turn it

Books, Lies, and costumes

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Holly fought hard to keep herself from calling Tom. She knew that he was bad news from the day that she met him. However, she couldn't stop thinking about his smile. There was something kind in the way he smiled. He couldn't be completely bad. Or could he? Opening the door to her office, she noticed that it was ransacked. Who could do such a thing? Everyone knew that she was such a neat freak. Maybe they were trying to play a cruel joke on her. Sasha walked in behind her and gasped. "What happened here?" "As if you didn't know already!" screamed Holly. "Everyone knows you are the biggest practical joker around." "I promise that I had nothing to do with this. Maybe we should call the police. Do you know if anything is missing?" Panic suddenly struck the very core of Holly's being. If Sasha was suggesting that they call the police, then this isn't a joke. This is for real. Someone rummaged through her office. Wer

Soulful Sunday

Last night, I did a lot of soul searching. I had been in emotional pain for a very long time. I felt that I need to start really taking a look at what was causing some of this pain. So last night I sat down and wrote in my regular journal. By the time the entry was done, my hand was cramped around my pen (now I remember why I hate writing instead of typing!) and I was in tears. It was a very cathartic experience for me. Here is what I wrote: I had been trying to win her love all of my life. I always felt that I was never good enough, never pretty enough. I was just a kid. I didn't understand. Why didn't she love me like all the other mommies? Why was she always distant? The only times she would interact with mer was with Ms. Frances. My mom had been sick before I was born. It was always "leave me alone, I don't feel good" or "You don't know what its like to be in so much pain". I never gave up though. I wanted her love so baldy. I rememb

Time to get off my butt

Ok so birthday is over. That doesn't mean I can still cheat on my diet. Wow! I allowed myself one day of indulgance and it stretched out for a week. Yes, I did not go back to my old eating habits. However, I did sneak in foods that aren't healthy. Such as that cheeseburger that I just had to have on Friday. I mean really. Plus lets not forget the french fries that juts begged to join in the fun. Not good at all. I went from simply allowing myself some pizza and a piece of cake on my birthday to a week long splurge. I have had pizza more then once this week, I have had candy, chocolate, cake, cheeseburger, and fries. I can't get upset at myself. When I do that, I just defeat myself and give up hope. I can't do it. Tomorrow is my official weigh in day. I already know what I weighed since I cheated and weighed myself today. I will do it tomorrow morning again since that is when I am supposed to be doing it. I am also giving myself a new start. So I messed up

Thursday Thirteen

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Thirteen Things about Wakela Runen Today's Thursday Thirteen is a list of 13 places I want to see again or for the first time before we move out of Florida. I am not sure how long it will be until we move though. Our house has been on the market since the beginning of the year. 1. Bach Tower - I remember visiting this as a child. We had always called it the singing tower. I never really knew its name until I got older and started missing it. Every time we would go to Disney, we always stopped here on the way home. The gardens were always so beautiful. I remember walking around them with my mom and dad. Then the tower bells would start. No matter where in the gardens you were you could hear the songs. It always seemed so magical to me. 2. Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens - I have only been there once. Unfortunately it with one of those types of people who is always in a rush. He could never really appreciate anything. Instead of looking at the beauty surrounding

Out of Control Freaks

There are times in our lives when we wished that we could force everyone to be miniature versions of ourselves or some other format that we would rather prefer. However, if we let people be who they are, they just might surprise us. Last night at work, Z went all insane. Apparently her 16 year old sister has a myspace profile. Who doesn't have one now? They are all the rage for teens. Now I had looked at this girls profile. It really wasn't bad at all. There weren't any pictures of her that put her in a compromising position. In fact, there was only one picture of her up there and it was a close up on her face in profile. So its not even like you could get a look at her entire face. However, Z went hysterical. She said that she has already taken her profile down a few times. She called her mom up and had her mom force the login information out of her sister. I think she went completely crazy over nothing. Meanwhile, Z is always surfing myspace in the evening c

Ex-File

Everyone knows what its like to come face to face with one of your ex's while standing there with your current girlfriend or boyfriend. Well, poor Agent Gibbs on NCIS had worse troubles then that last night. The episode was called Ex-File for a reason. As any loyal fan knows, Gibbs had a fling with his boss Director Jenny Shepard years ago. Also Gibbs has been married four times previously. Gibbs is also currently dating Lt. Col. Hollis Mann. Here is where things get sticky. A Marine was found dead on an army base. This puts the murder in the jurisdiction of Lt. Col. Mann. However, since its a marine, Gibbs has to investigate as well. This means that he has to work with his current girlfriend on a case. The marine (Mr. Reynolds) was found by his wife (Mrs. Reynolds) and Stephanie (Gibb's 3rd wife). As the show goes on, we find out that Stephanie is also dating one of the main suspects in the case. Things totally get out of hand. Mann is interviewing Stephanie, she s

Days End

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Thankfully, today is finally drawing to a close. It just seemed to go on forever. Today at work was horrendous. I was stuck in the scheduling room with a bunch of morons. Since the manager and one of the two supervisors were out, they decided they didn't want to do any type of work. Even though company policy does not allow us to have any type of personal music playing, they continued to play it loudly while I was trying to help people on the phone. The one supervisor that was there just stood back powerless. She lets them run rough shod all over her. They two nimwits wouldn't answer phones. They didn't do anything but play. You would think we were back in high school with a substitute teacher. I was thankful when it was time for me to go take over the front desk for closing. Unfortunately, the girls who worked it during the early shift, forgot to mention that there were 4 patients signed in on the prior sheet. They had already highlighted someone on the top sheet.

Monday, Monday

The Question of the Day over at the Monday, Monday meme : What’s on your agenda for today? As for me, I’ve got the day off to spend with my husband. We’ll probably end up at the movies. Any suggestions? Unfortunately, I have to work today. I really don't feel like going in at all. The last few weeks I have been taked off of my job to do another one that no one else wants to do. The reason for this is that in a normal day, I spend 5 hours doing my job and the last 3 hours doing closing work. So, I only have 5 hours a day to get my job done. This never works out at all. That isn't nearly enough time. So the boss took me off of that job for "one week" to show me that it can be done. Well, I made the mistake of commenting that the person who was doing my job was there for 8 hours. I told her that I knew that it could be done in 8 hours. I just couldn't get it done in 5. Well, I later found out that she hadn't been doing all of my work. Just some of it.

Pink for October

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Too many times, women forget to take care of themselves. They are too busy looking after their kids, their husbands, their careers, and their homes. This month, its time to step back and take care of yourself. If you don't already know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Many people think of Breast Cancer as something that is completely curable. It isn't. The only way to save yourself is by doing monthly breast exams. If you are 35 years old, then you should be getting your baseline mammogram. Once you are 40 years old, you should have a mammogram done yearly. Always bring priors films with you to your appointment if you change facilities. Make sure not to wear any perfume, powder, deoderant, or lotion on your chest or underarm area. This can lead to false positive results. If you are younger then that and find a lump, you should have a breast ultrasound. Mammograms don't help if you are too young since your breasts are too dense. Breast MRIs are up and com

Deepest Sender

My internet world was woken up to a bright new day. I finally decided to get around to downloading some add-ons for firefox. I really hadn't bothered up until now. I guess I was just to lazy to do it. Either that or I would just find other things to do. Boredom must have crept up on me to go through those tedious lists of add-ons. I grabbed several so far. The best one would be Deepest Sender. I don't have to log into blogspot to be able to post anymore. I just click on a little icon and wham, a window opens up. Nothing more simple then that. It logs me in and away I type. I also grabbed YouPlayer. This allows me to bookmark YouTube videos and watch them in a different window. I don't have to go back to YouTube to look at them. Nice and simple to use. I already had the one for StumbleUpon. If you haven't found out about StumbleUpon, you are certainly missing out. This little button takes you to random pages that other people have suggested. You can custo

Faeries, Witches, and Cauldrons.. Oh My!

Smoky green haze filled the air. She was at it again. Syltenia was convinced that there was a secret faerie world. She was convinced that if she found the right potion, she would be able to access it. All of the other witches were tired of her incessant stirring up crazy concoctions in her cauldron. Her cauldron had been in her family for centuries. Her great grandmother swore that she had mistakenly mixed up a batch of potion that granted her entrance to the faerie realm. The rest of the community thought she had gone mad. No one believed in faeries anymore. It was believed that the faeries had became extinct during the Great Witch-Dragon wars over a millenium ago. So here Syltenia sat, stirring away at the cauldron day in and day out. She was practically shunned by the rest of the community. The aweful smells and horrible smoke was always eminating from her little cottage. Yet, she knew that this cauldron would once again be the birth of the Faerie Land potion. Each day, should would

Raven Halloween Hunt

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How many of you like reading? How many more like scavenger hunts? I found a great combination. Be prepared to spend hours working on this one though. Be prepared to go searching through about 60 sites to find the image. Don't be fooled. There were some sites that I found the big image that I have to the left. That is not the one you need to find. The one you need is the small one on that they have an example of on the main contest page. After about halfway through, I realized that some authors had both. So of course, I had to go back and start again just to make sure I got the correct ones. There are tons of prizes to win. You don't get to choose which prizes you get. I have found out about a bunch of great writers whose books I am going to be searching for. There are some whose web pages leave me cringing. They were so cumbersome to look through. Some even had a different look to each page. Others opened each page into another window. Its very frustrating.

incredible dance moves

There are times when I think that creativity has been leeched out of all humanity. Then I see this video and I realize that it hasn't. It is truly amazing. They must have been practicing this for months in order to perfect it. I am not quite sure what it was done for. The video doesn't mention dates or events. I do know that it was supposedly done at the Samsung Stadium. Amazing Choreographed Samsung Stadium Dance Add to My Profile | More Videos

Its a Hard Knock Life

To start from the beginning would be to start with my mom. She was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis when she was only 16. This is an auto-immune disease that affects the joints and muscles. Slowly over the years, her body was being beaten up by her own immune system. I know it was hard for her going through life. Unfortunately, when I was younger she always made us feel like we didn't know what it was like to be sick. That since she was going through this horrible thing, only she knew. So when we did get sick, it was sort of written off until it was really bad. When I was young, I was constantly having ear and throat infections. The pain would get unbearable. They finally stopped when I reached middle school. I had a couple of years living normally. Then when I was 14, I started throwing up frequently. My mom kept threatening to have me commited since she thought that I was forcing myself to do it. I wasn't but I just couldn't convince her. It wasn't unt

Perfect Day - fiction

I could have killed him. He was supposed to have been here an hour ago. Where the hell was he? He could just go rot in hell for keeping me waiting. Today of all days. So here I sit, under the beech tree just waiting for Conrad to show up. The breeze is so gentle. The leaves are talking to me in that soft rustle. Clouds lazily paint the sky white. So he's late again. Should I really be so surprised? I would think not. I might as well just sit back and enjoy the afternoon. Hearing a strange crunching sound, I bolt up to a standing position. "How dare you be late and then sneak up on me?" "Well, Jen you were the one that decided to doze off," Conrad stated as he gave me his lopsided grin. "Are you ready for my surprise?" He knew that I was more then ready. He had been hinting at this surprise for over a month. He just loves to keep me in suspense. We had been dating now for three years. The only thing predictable about him was the he was a

Sunday Scribblings a day late

So over at the Sunday Scribblings blog, they posted a really interesting journal prompt. It really got me thinking. When in your life did you feel the most powerful? Was it childhood? College? Now? What is that feeling like; what does it mean? Do you have power over your own life, or are you not feeling that so much these days? If you don't want to get serious, you might imagine superhero powers, and what you would do with them. I would definitely have to say that it was my childhood. Those golden years of youth spent running around the streets. My parents didn't have to worry about the same thing that parents of todays younger generation have to. I lived in the same house all of my life. My neighbors didn't change that much while growing up. So it was always the same ones. We were all buddies. We were there for each other. Of course we had our share of squabbles, but don't all kids? I remember attempting to hold a magic show in my backyard. I had no knowledge