New Additions for Ostara this year

I would be terribly remiss if I did not share with all of you the beautiful birthday gifts which I received from my sister Robin this year for Ostara! I am so excited to be able to display them in my home and add them to this year's Ostara altar ...

A cute bunny votive candle holder

 

 and two adorable tiny ceramic scented candle bunnies, a box of scented tea lights and a  Yankee Candle "Bunny Cake" scented votive candle also!

 

 

I will treasure these very special gifts always! Along with these awesome treasures, my sweet mother-in-law gave me two decorative cereamic rabbits which I have adorned in my living room for Spring ...

 

 

 

 And, last but not least, I found a cool Yankee Candle Topper to decorate my scented candle jars ...

 

 

I don't know about you guys, but I have two different types of candles. The kind that I burn and the "decorative" candles which I keep strictly for the holiday celebrations and which will never be used for burning. The two tiny bunny candles will be my decorative candles and will remain that way so that I may enjoy them for many years to come!

  

And so the plot thickens ...

You know my friends, it’s really funny how the Universe has a way of setting things right sometimes. It turns out that the “young new hire” whom had gotten picked over me for the job of which, dare I say, I was extremely qualified for is an illegal alien in this Country from Canada! Yes folks that’s right, it would appear that the Human Resources Manager  for The Teamsters who interviewed me was in so much of a hurry to hire her that he hadn’t bothered to look deep enough (if at all!) into her background. I am told by my very reliable source who works for this particular manager that The Board of Trustees now has knowledge of this fact and they are not happy about this situation to say the least! What can I say? It serves him right. J

Apparently, there is a bit of chaos going on there at present and at this point it’s anyone’s guess if they will be stupid enough to allow this girl to actually keep her job there, but the truth is now out at any rate. Not only is she not a legal U.S. citizen, but she has been caught complaining to her co-workers about how she does not like her new job after starting only two weeks ago. Imagine that? Not to gloat or anything, but it looks as though I called that one right. As I had said in my previous post regarding this matter, I work with young people all of the time and they are never happy just being in “a” job. They are always looking to advance themselves and it seems that this young 22-year old is certainly no different. Whatever made them think that she would be satisfied sitting at a switchboard all day for 8 hours 5 days a week anyhow? Honestly.

Furthermore, I can’t understand exactly what makes people think that they can simply waltz into another Country without becoming a citizen and not have any kind of obligation to follow any of that Nation’s laws? For example, when my hubby, my in-laws, and I visited Canada, the Canadian Boarder Patrol politely asked us all sorts of questions (and rightly so) before allowing us to cross over onto Canadian soil. “Where are you from? Where do you work? What do you do for a living? How long are you going to be in Canada? How are you all related?” etc, etc. We did not stay in Canada and attempt to acquire work hence becoming “illegals” in their Country. In my humble opinion, it takes a lot of nerve for anyone regardless of what Country these individuals come from to do such an unscrupulous and disrespectful thing. Most especially in lieu of the horrible economy we now face in the States. Goddess knows that we certainly have enough home-grown citizens in this Country who have lost their jobs and have fallen on hard times who need any available jobs out there.

 

I recall a conversation I had last year with a very lovely Canadian woman while in Ontario regarding this very subject. She said, and I quote, “Oh, our (the Canadian) government put a STOP to THAT!” What a shame our own government doesn’t follow suit, eh? In any case, I trust in the karmic laws to do their job regardless of any given situation. It’s like that old saying goes, “What comes around, goes around!” You betcha!

Monday morning pick-me-up ~ Land of Make Believe"

http://youtu.be/WtRxKRS0r8g
(video of song without lyrics ~ great version!)

Happy Monday all!! I wanted to post something a bit up-lifting for today and so I decided to post one of my absolute favorite jazz and stage band songs, “Land of Make Believe.” This song was written by the legendary Chuck Mangione and it is one of the many songs of which I have had the privilege to be exposed to during my years in band. This song was so popular with our band front (twirlers, rifle and flag squads) that every time we heard our band play it, either at rehearsals or live performances, we would all immediately stop what we were doing and watch them play, our eyes literally glued to the stage.

Although Chuck Mangione plays a flugelhorn, our rendition was played with trumpets which produced a much more powerful sound. I have our version burned onto a CD, but do not possess the means to feature it here on my blog. Instead, I have the You Tube version which is simply wonderful! I also added a link that features the actual lyrics to this song as sung by the beautiful Esther Satterfield. Have a great week everyone!!

Birthday Wishes and, oh yea, I'm sick ...

Greetings my friends! Sorry it has been a few days since I have posted, but I have been sick all week with soar throat, coughing, sneezing, sinus drainage and a fever. I called up my doctor this morning and was told that I most likely have a sinus infection "like most other people do right now" and the nurse is going to speak to my family physician to see if he can simply call in a script for me. I told her that would be nice as it would save me a trip! Still waiting on the call.

My birthday is tomorrow and I received a few special birthday cards from family and friends, a birthday cake from my co-workers, and an awesome Jim Shore gray cat named "Leona" from my dear friend Judy ... 

Oh yeah, and just as aside: I also received my "little monthly friend" this morning as well. I wouldn't normally feel the need to share something such as that, but under the circumstances, it just seemed appropriate and too funny considering it's my birthday week and all. Like the old saying goes, "When it rains, it pours" eh? LOL!

A funny little Valentine's Story

Happy Valentine's Day all! I hope that everyone had a very nice one. Well, looks like my hunny did it again. He actually sent me a beautiful bouquet arrangement of pink carnations (my favorite!) and red roses at work today! (I can truthfully count on one hand the number of times that he surprised me like that in our 11 year marriage.)

Now, the actual funny part is that the card read the following ...

So what is so funny about that? Well, my hubby's name is BRETT! LOL! Last night, he gave me an early Valentine's Day gift. This gift was especially meaningful as it was a special addition DVD of my old High School Marching Band days when I was a seasoned twirler, and, it featured lots of great performances from our competitions and parades including our band trip to St. Petersburg, FL my Senior year when we won the Nationals (you see, lately, I have been trying to concentrate on the accomplishments and things I can be proud of in my life instead of my many failures). It helps my state of mind anyhow. ;)

He also gave me a pretty gift card to go with the flowers ...

I gave him a little bear with a heart balloon and chocolates with it and a card ...

All in all, a pretty awesome Valentine's Day ... even if the flowers did come from FRED! LOL!

A Blast from my Past!

(taken at a H.S. football game ~ me and my long-time best friend & twirling partner Karin. We had competed as a duo and won many trophies and ribbons through the years)

  

 

Greetings to all! I don’t know about you guys, but I LOVE You Tube! Just yesterday morning I was surfing around in hopes of finding some very old footage from my High School Band days back in 1983. Much to my delight I actually found a couple of things. I had been a twirler (2 baton) since I was 10 years old and I was involved in drum and marching corps up until Senior High. I was a twirler in both my Junior and Senior High School days and it was in that year that we took a High School band trip to St. Petersburg, FL and won the 1983 National Championships! What a year that was!!!

Anyhow, I just thought that you all might get a kick out of the following clip which was taken from the last few minutes of one of our Field Show competitions. The song was “Firebird Suite” and I am the twirler up in front third in from the left on the left-hand side. You may want to only watch until we march off of the field as the rest of the video is just the awards ceremony ...

 

And the winners are ...

Happy Saturday all!! It's time to announce the winners of the Wiccan Life Give-away!! I hope you don't mind that I enlisted the help of my main man Midnight? He is just so good at picking names ...

 

Ready? Here we go ...



 

 

 

The winner of the Blue Mountain Hollyberry double-wicked Scented Candle is Darcy Winters!

 

 

 

 And the Rainbow Candle Holder winner is Rebecca Boucher!

 

 

 

Congrats to both of you and, again, many thanks to everyone who participated! As always, I would have loved to have been able to give you all something, but I am planning more give-aways in the future. If the winner's could please e-mail me their address within the next three days at Ladycaer1964@yahoo.com, I would be happy to send you your gifts!  

 

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Sending smiles to you ...

 

First and foremost, I truly want to send a HUGE "THANK YOU" to ALL of my friends whom have sent me so many touching and caring comments, thoughts and prayers! Your sincere friendship has touched my heart so very much and I want you all to know that you are always in my thoughts and prayers as well, my dear friends!

 

This post is just my little way of bringing a smile your way as your friendship has most certainly brought a smile back to my face. I hope you all enjoy and Goddess Bless!

 

Some Cat Quotes

 

“A cat is there when you call her - if she doesn’t have something better to do.”

    ~ Bill Adler, American Writer
 

“Saying, ‘Either those cats go or I go’ may be words you’ll regret.”

   ~ Eric Gurney, American Writer
 

 

“The cat is such a perfect symbol of beauty and superiority that it seems scarcely possible for any aesthete and civilized cynic to do other than worship it.”

   ~ H.P. Lovecraft, American Writer
 

“At bottom, cats are like music. The reasons for their appeal to us can never be expressed too clearly.”

   ~ Lloyd Alexander, American Writer
 

“When cats condescended to adopt people, people got civilization”

   ~ George Will, American Columnist
 

“If man could be crossed with a cat, it would improve man but deteriorate the cat.”

   ~ Mark Twain, American Writer
 

 

“There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: Music and cats.”

   ~ Albert Schweitzer, French Physician and Philosopher
 

 

“The purr of a cat on a lap makes solitude endurable.”

   ~ Muriel Beadle, American Writer
 

“Her little cat soul implored some company, some friendship in a lonely world.”

   ~ Pierre Loti, French Writer

 

Feeling hopeless ...

Who hasn't ever, unfortunately, had that horrible feeling of hopelessness in their life at one time or another? Okay, moment of truth. I have been haunted by this dreadded feeling on and off for many years now. Perhaps it is the fact that I am getting older, but each time this happens I swear that it gets worse?

Anyone who has struggled with depression and/or feelings of repeated failure in their life understands that it is never simply just one particular thing or event which triggers these strong emotions. It is a culmination of several different events actually. I have always tried to do my very best to subscribe to the thought process of "Whenever life hands you lemons, you make lemonade." Well my dear friends, it appears lately that I have lost the recipe for making that lemonade. In other words, lately it is a continuous effort to push myself to so much as even get up out of bed every morning. Not a fun feeling.

A major factor, but most certainly not the only one by any means, has been the fact that I am absolutely miserable at my job. Yes, in spite of the fact that I admitedly live in an extremely oppressed area of Berks County, I have been making every effort to get out of my current situation and get another job. And, because my hubby's job does not keep him working steady (he is on call weekly and is lucky if he gets to work three day a week), he has also been trying to seek better employment but to no avail. Much like many other people in this Country now-a-days, we are  indeed struggling financially.

Now, getting back to the subject at hand, the straw that broke the camel's back this time was the fact that I recently had a very important job interview over my lunch hour. Mind you, I have well over 15 years experience in performing the position in which I was interviewing for and I was most definitely qualified for the job. Without boring you all with a lot of details, I will just say that after my interview was over I was told that I would receive a phone call informing me either way as to whether I was chosen for the position or not. Big surprise, not only had I not gotten a call, but I found out through someone I know well who works for this employer that the position was filled by some young pretty thing and, even worse, someone who is not even from our Country (no offense, but that's Unions today for you I suppose). Turns out that all of my hard work and years of experience in an office that includes 18 years as a Notary Public (which was part of the perspective job description BTW) and I am apparently not good enough to fill a simple receptionist position for these people. It would have been slightly more than I am making now and I would not have had to pay for mine or my hubby's insurance. Too good to be true, right? Yup. I was also told by my interviewers that they were looking for someone who would be satisified with staying in the receptionist position for a long, long time. Umm, I work around young people all of the time and they are always looking to advance themselves. Do these people seriously believe that this young girl is going to wish to be chained to a chair answering phone calls 8 hours a day 5 days a week for long? I doubt it.

I realize that disappointment is a big part of life, but there are times when I just can't help but wonder to myself, "What did I do wrong this time? How did I screw things up?" I don't know. All I know is that life has been getting the best of me lately on every level and for some reason I am having a difficult time this time "getting over it." Although I suppose I eventally will since life does not seem to give us any real choice, right?

What makes things even worse yet is that I haven't gotten a raise in seven years! Therefore mind you, my salary goes down every single year as high insurance rates go up and so do the BS taxes! The mere thought of possibly losing our home is bad enough, but I can't bear the idea of ever losing our cats, my fur babies!! Truthfully speaking, they are the reason that I am able to push myself to keep going every day these days!

Well, if you are still reading this post my friends, I sincerely thank you for listening to my ranting. It is not something I usually do on my blogs, and I do apologize for it. But I simply felt the need to journal and, temporarily, take off one of my many "masks" I must wear.

Just a friendly reminder ...

Happy Wednesday all! Just thought I'd give a shout out to everyone who has participated in my Wiccan Life Give-Away to remind all that the drawing will be held this coming Saturday, February 9th!!

Well, early Spring or not, we have been getting a bit of snow fall around here. So far nothing more than a couple of inches and some flurries here and there (*knock on wood*)!

The cats; however, are all safe and snug lying on the bed and sofa. What a life, eh? ^^

Have a great rest of the week and I will catch up with everyone this weekend!!

 

A Little Wiccan Life Give-Away!!!

Good morning all! Since it has been quite a while since I had my last blog give-away, I have decided to have another one. These give-aways are just my little way of saying, "Thank you" to my awesome blog friends and members and; therefore, are only open to members of this blog!

The two gift prizes are ...

Hollyberry doubled-wicked, double scented Blue Mountain Candle

 

 

Rainbow Votive Candle Holder

  

 

All you need to do is leave a comment on this post letting me know that you would like to be added to the drawing. The drawing will be held on Saturday, February 9th and, as usual, the winmer's will be announced here and I will also attmept to contact them via their blog or their e-mail (should I already have it). The winner's will be asked to e-mail me their address to send their gift to and as always their addresses will remain strictly confidential!!!

 

In the interest of fairness, the winner's gift prizes will be held for no more than three days after the drawing date in which at that point I will pick another winner in its' place ~ so please make sure to mark the drawing date on your calenders my friends!!!  ;)
 

 Here's wishing everyone a blessed Sunday!!



Imbolg Blessings and a Groundhog!

I woke up early this morning to watch my favorite groundhog, Punxatawney Phil, on the news!! Where in front of thousands of extremely excited fans, Phil was brought out from his burrow by his "The Inner Circle" members to address everyone, including reporters from various National news stations, in order to give us all his "live" winter prediction broadcast for 2013. Phil's verdict?  Yay!!! "An early spring for you and me!" I said it before and I'll say it again, "Gotta LOVE that Phil!"

Watch Phil's live prediction here ...

 http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-lehighvalley/Punxsutawney-Phil-Early-spring-around-the-corner/-/132502/18383750/-/sjx7xlz/-/index.html

 

 

 Groundhog Day is so poplular here in PA, that I would be terribly remiss for not mentioning two of our more local weather predicting prognosticating groundhogs, "Shoey Louie" (from Shoemakersville, PA) and "Pagoda Patty" (who makes her live appearance from The Reading Pagoda in downtown Reading, PA). 

 

 

 

So what are my plans for today, my friends? Well, I am going to start by doing my usual house cleaning while watching a marathon on TV of the movie "Groundhog Day," then I plan on traditionally cleansing and blessing my home, and then finally in the early evening I am going to celebrate Imbolg solitary style.  Nothing too exciting, but, I, just like my cats, am a creature of habit and I do so enjoy my routines as this is how I typically spend this sabbat (along with Groundhog Day, of course).

 

So as we all await "an early spring" this year, let the mid-season of Winter commence with whatever way in which you perosnally choose to celebrate it!

 

 

WISHING ALL THE BLESSINGS OF IMBLOG AND ALL THE BEST FOR GROUNDHOG DAY!!!