The Leaning Tower of ....Christmas???

We made it through another Christmas without Rye.  It felt slightly easier for the most part and I spent less of the day this year crying in secret or trying to get control of the crying, although I did at one point ask "who are we missing - we are missing someone- we can't start" and then realized that he would not be coming this year either.  It still often feels as though he will just walk through the door - a little late maybe- and join the family again. We march.

A couple of years ago our family started drawing names for Christmas - our group was getting big and it was financially and time unreasonable to get a quality gift for each member and then it took hours - literally- to open them.  On Christmas each year after we open gifts, we draw again for the next year.  We have a whole year to put together a gift for the person we drew, and find a little "stocking stuffer" gift for each of the others.  We have a dollar amount limit so that no one is supposed to be getting more than anyone else - keeps it pretty even!  Unless you are the recipient of the Tower of Christmas! Then it is an over the top gift event!

This year was my year to get the Tower - from my sister.

You can see to my right in the above photo - the Tower.  It is a set of various sized "nesting boxes".  The tradition started last year when my niece was gifted the Tower, full of all kinds of things 13 year olds might like for Christmas.  I got really excited about it being my turn for the Tower and forgot to take a picture of it before I started opening!  The above is a set of finger-less gloves with Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven" on them - so fitting!

A Christmas Broom!  Made by hand by sister and so so so cool!  It is perfect and a joy to have such a decoration at my house!  The picture does not do it justice!  It was on the front of the Tower - thus my angst about not getting a picture before I started opening.

We take turns opening gifts, so it does take a bit of time to get through and I am right in the middle!  We start with Mom and Dad because they always have more than everyone else, and then we go youngest to oldest and end with Mom and Dad.

I had already played a bit with the broom once I knew it was for me - so it wasn't actually attached to the package anymore by the time everyone else had opened!

Box 4 of the Tower - Crystal ball - aka Calcite Sphere.  Said to have uplifting energy attributes and healing properties among other things!

Ree Drummonds aka Pioneer Woman newest cookbook!  Not ever a bad bite from one of these recipes!  This was box 6.

 We are going backwards in succession a bit - Box 1 had this sparkly Chamomile Tea - Twilight Tea - it has actual sparkles in it!  In another of the boxes was a beautiful night shirt with "sweet dreams" all around the hem of it, and some Eucalyptus/Mint bath salts- so comfortable and wonderful!

Socks - which I badly needed!  It was one of the only things on my Christmas list!  I actually threw away the ones I was wearing at Christmas day - turns out they had holes in both of them! You can see that some of them (Center above) have some relevant sayings on them, and the ones on the left match the new shoes that were in box 10 of the Tower!  My magic shoes from InnerArt that I told you about in an earlier blog- the old ones were worn out and I needed new!

These are called Mandala pattern.  They have many original art designs at InnerArt.

 Opening Box 5 of the Tower, while wearing the gloves and a pair of the socks that say "Magic is Real"!  Awesome!

A beautiful leather journal and a marvelous pen to write in it with!  Incredible work in the leather and for any of you who are bent like me - smells and feels wonderful - like magic itself is infused within.

Box 2 had these beautiful Dragonfly note cards and the "You are Magic" cards.  40 quote cards to "help you follow your gut, tap your intuition, and manifest your dreams"!  The Universe on Speed Dial! There is also a little stand in the box to hold up the card of the day.  I have gone through and picked out all my favorites - but there really is not a bad one in the bunch!  They will help me to keep marching as we go through.  

So now I have the Tower of Christmas boxes, so whomever I get next year (we forgot to draw this year so we will draw on New Years) will get the Tower of Christmas next year!  I hope I can do as good a job on it as sister did this year for me!  Magic is Real!

I hope that your Christmas/Yule was wonderful and that you were able to find some joy.

Blessed be in 2020.

Thankful

Thanksgiving day has always been a big holiday for us.  Usually we are at hockey tournaments and out of town or out of state even for this holiday, but this year we have no hockey and we aren't travelling.  This is the first year in about 15 years that we aren't doing hockey or hockey related Thanksgiving.  We don't quite know what to do with ourselves for holidays anyway since there is always an empty chair at our table, no matter where we are.  Holidays are hard - also no matter where we are.  It is hard to find "a reason for the season"  so to speak, and find meaning in what we are doing.  That's really a daily thing.  Every day! We had planned to go to my moms house this year for the celebration, but a giant winter storm moved in and we got 6" of snow and then it rained all night on top of that and driving is a hazard from where I live - so we are having a thankful "snow day" here.

It has been a long time that I have had a snow day that didn't still end up being a work day anyway - but today since it is Thanksgiving and everything is mostly closed, I get to sew and write and be thankful!

This is the view from our front porch, out toward the road, which has just been scraped but not sanded - the scraper truck got stuck!  Yikes!  Thankful I didn't try to drive anywhere today! Thankful also that these trees have survived - beetles, drought and wonky winter weather and they stay beautiful throughout!

Thankful for this view too - even the tree eating moose in it!

I am thankful for these two guys - husband and son - no matter what - marching with me.

And for the great kitchen I have to cook and share in, in my cozy house with a roof over it and my cozy bed inside.

Thankful for these boys - Reed and nephew Chance.

I am thankful for the 23 years we got to have this guy - and his friends - in our lives.  We miss him terribly, and the pain is the same every day, daring us to get out of bed and function....but the memories, ahhhhh the memories....

I am thankful for the mother, and grandmother who taught me to quilt - and who quilts with me.  Quilting has saved my life more than once, giving me something creative to do - making gifts that have meaning - thus giving meaning to my day.

I am thankful for friends and kids and family who keep me marching - knowing that I have to keep going so that they also will.  I am grateful for their courage and bravery and joy!

I am thankful for the friends who sit with us when we cannot go any further, and who take us out of our comfort zone (basically make us get off the couch and go do stuff) and who let us experience joy without judgement when we cry sometimes through the joy.  They are there for us.  There are many more than are in the pictures - I don't have pictures of all of you~

 Aunt Cinny at quilt retreat - I think she may have been thinking about

giving me the bird - she didn't though! She keeps me going...

Thankful for these three who have come with us and struggled with us through all of the crazy crap.  Who also have had their own struggles and crazy crap and trauma, and who keep going despite it all.  Keep f'ing going.

SO thankful for the family of friends and co-workers I have at the school!  Here we are at the annual Holiday meal - this group serves 500 people from the community at a fun, free event with prizes and games.  It is an incredible amount of work and it is done with such love.... this group amazes me daily, not just for the volunteer stuff they do but for he work - hard work that they do every day as well!

Family at the highland games - thankful for that experience and the history behind it!

I am thankful for the love of tea.  I love coffee too but tea allows us to take a moment each day for ourselves.  Coffee gives me the get up and go, but tea lets me enjoy the results of the day.  And there are lots of teas that can be drunk at night and still lets me dream sweetly- I haven't found a coffee that will do that!

I am thankful for hockey family.  No matter where in the world you go, when hockey folks find out you are also hockey folks, you are also family.... no matter where you are from.

Thankful for the joy of hockey!  The way it brings kids from 1 to 95 together to play, have fun and experience joy.  Look at those smiles!  

 Thankful for these people.  My parents and my grandparents.  I am here and who I am because of these people - straightening out my crown - helping me remember whose grand daughter and daughter I am, and reminding me of the reasons to keep going -on the daily. 

Thankful is hard - it took me all day to finish this even with so many pictures to show things I am thankful for.  I hope thankful is easy for you and that your day has been filled with things that will become memories to be thankful for!  Blessed be and be thankful.

A little Birthday Magic

I had a birthday recently and turned 52.  It was a pretty magical birthday this time.  I don't usually look forward to birthdays anymore, but I remember being a kid and so looking forward to my birthday and what surprises that would bring! I have a winter birthday and it is rare that we do not have snow on my birthday.  This year we had no snow.

I got my birthday from Sister Chelle and Niece Ellie a few days early so that I would be able to use it on my birthday!  A little birthday magic... for real!

The little card says "$13.00 - exactly the right amount for a magic wand"!  

There is a line crossed through the 13 because when I asked if I could keep the card with its special message for me, the owner carefully crossed out just that part so that it could become a keepsake.

This is from one of my favorite shops here locally in Wasilla - Black Birch Books and Magical Gifts!  Okay - the real name of the store is actually Black Birch Books and Curiosities, but for me it is Magical gifts!  The store is an eclectic mix of new and used books, magic items (including a whole wall of wands), good energy, amazing people, and anything you could dream of needing, as if it would almost magically appear for you if you wished it to!  

The Spirit of a Reader - greeting customers coming up the path!

The owner is an amazing lady who does great things for the community and for kids (she hires homeless kids from the MYHouse group often), and she hosts authors, donates time, talent and items to fundraisers for good at least once a week, and she is always willing to lend an ear to listen - really listen, when you need it most - even if you didn't know you needed someone to listen at that time.  She is also a Military Veteran, and we are so thankful for that as well.

(Grimm the dog with my magic wand and my newest book "Cyclops" by Clive Cussler)

One of my favorite things about the store is this...Grimm the dog.  Grimm has been the Black Birch store greeter since it opened.  This post was supposed to be written much earlier in the winter season, and I suppose it is fate that I was not able to write it for some reason or another earlier.  Grimm has recently passed away from cancer.  The Universe provided a pause as though knowing that I would need to write this story later.  He was not a young dog, and he was in fact quite old, but he was so loved  by anyone who walked through the door of the store.  This is where he waited for the next customer to come through - as long as there wasn't a child in the store!  If there was a child in the store - he was young again and ready to show them around - through the maze of books and amazing things to see, hear, smell and try....Grimm knew all the best spots.  He was a fan of kids and kids were fans of Grimm.  He usually came with me when I was shopping...I think he could tell that I am dog people - I am certain I smell of dogs, and my dogs would always smell me with envy when I got home - bringing the smell of Grimm and the bookstore with me. I will miss him too.  

(See more of Grimm's story here)

There is also a GOFund me site listed there in Grimm's honor, to help pay for some final expenses and to fund some Children's events at the store!  He would think that was so cool!

A closer look at the store front and the spirit of a reader - greeter!

So this is the wand that spoke to me when I was in choosing mode!  It is perfect for me - beautifully smooth,  turned wood, finished with a soft espresso wood oil (I think it is anyway- it's not chemical), but it is just wonderful with a perfect grip for my hand and just the right length to work as a "pocket" or "purse" wand!  Watch out world - I got a pocket wand!  It has become my everyday wand that I carry with me for those times when I might need to add to the magic around me, or to just make sure no one messes with me MoJo!  A little bit of magical fun each day.

If you are in Wasilla, stop by the store on Main Street and visit a little, browse a little and get to know some of the shop spirits and sprites (and maybe the people too) - You won't be sorry!

Be a Reader and Blessed Be!

The new face of Yoga? aka Twister with dogs!

A few years ago - ok it was three - three years ago- it was recommended that I start doing some meditating or yoga daily along with my writing and quilting so as to have some "intentional exercise and meditation".  To help me sleep, wake, function, and hopefully keep my blood pressure down a little.

So I put "yoga mat" on my Christmas list that year.  Sister in law had my name that year and got me the whole shebang - yoga mat, dvd's with beginning and medium yoga workouts, and some flip cards too, just in case the yoga lady moves too fast through a pose and I can't figure it out by watching the dvd - don't laugh - it happens!

I started getting up 15 minutes early to do a few beginner moves on the yoga mat in my office.  Everyone else was asleep, just me and the dogs doing some yoga.

That was the plan anyway!  I got everything dialed in and ready, started my dvd and as soon as I sat down to do the criss cross applesauce pose (my own name for it not the dvd), Ripley - the old lady dog decided that the mat looked like a great place for her to lay as well!  I could see her thinking "I knew we should go back to bed today - I like this bed - its very easy to get onto".

I was able to do a few poses with Ripley before Brix needed to join - I'm sure he was saying "She's taking the whole mat mom- hey!  What are we doing?  I can do downward dog - I am a dog!"

So then there were two.... dogs on the mat.....

I was able to do the Tree pose and part of a Warrior pose with both of them sitting on the mat but that was about all, and it ended up being more of a Twister with dogs event than a yoga workout!  My Downward Dog ended with more of a face licking contest to see who could get the most licks in and was mostly frustrating and not relaxing!  In the summer time I can do the yoga outside and that works pretty well on the lawn with the dogs because they get distracted by other things in the yard - I'm not the only entertainment.

They were both a little sad that I didn't stay and snuggle with them on the mat.  Now I do the yoga while they are outside on their own morning missions in the yard.  Yoga is once again a serene and calming morning routine, and I have discovered that I really like yoga, but I might be too old for Twister!

Blessed be no matter your workout!