The sweet and the sour

 

Last December, my employer decided to raise the starting minimum wage in order to be 'more competitive' and furthermore, give all of us an incentive to stay in that horrible environment. While everyone else was elated by the news, I had my trepidations. Why? Because, folks, I have definitely 'been around the block a few times' as the saying goes and I knew that we employees ("associates" as they refer to all of us) were going to pay the piper for it. Not only have we been pushed to work 10 hours a week overtime for a year now, but now we were informed that we are going to be forced to work mandatory Saturday's until the end of the year! The only time we can be 'excused' from it is if we work three Saturday's to get one off, OR we waste two PTO (paid time off)  days - Friday and Monday. My response to this BS is they can KEEP their pay raise - I want my life back. Period.

I have to be honest, this job has been THE WORST thing for my heath both medically and mentally. The initial reason I made an appointment with my new physician, Dr. Guiles, was because of the fact that my blood pressure was so high. Why do I blame my job for this? Well, besides the terrible stress of working there, my body has gotten so screwed up working second shift hours that I actually gained 50 (Yes, I said 50!) pounds in the two and a half years I have been employed there. 

As per my doctor's instructions, I have been keeping track of my blood pressure on a daily basis. It is still very high - 177 over 107. However, I have been taking the Collagen with Peptides for a week now (one scoop in my juice or tea twice a day) and it is too soon to really notice much of a difference (the Peptides are suppose to help bring my levels down). But, because Collagen is good for arthritic joints, I am beginning to feel a lot less pain in my bad knee. Happy about that. 😀

For example, money can not buy friendship. My case in point, the day after my birthday, my co-worker and friend, "Sweet Rosa" as I have nick-named her, surprised me at work with this beautiful and very thoughtful gift ... A Tree of Life gemstone necklace with rose gold.

 

I must add that the ONLY good thing that had come from working at this godforsaken job are the few good folks I have met! And I do not regret that.

Well, I didn't expect this!

Today, I received a package with my husband's name on it, so I did not open it. Lo and behold, it was a late arriving birthday addition ...

A couple of handmade shea butter soaps! 

Wordless Wednesday

Busy Birthday Weekend!

 

Greetings, friends! Although my birthday isn't until this Wednesday, I was able to celebrate this entire weekend. As I mentioned in my previous post, I was able to take a very rare Saturday off from "prison" and have a very memorable 58th birthday celebration.

Beginning with Saturday, I spent the day having lunch with my good friend of many years, Deb, and her hubby at our long-time haunt, Flanagan's Pub ...

Deb made reservations for dinner at a place in town called, "Third and Spruce" before attending a show which we had tickets for - a concert performed by "Get The Led Out" (an extremely popular Led Zeppelin tribute band). 

Kyle's mom, Julie and my friend Deb.

Posing with Kyle waiting for the show to start!

The acoustic set  singing "Going to California" and "The Rain Song".

GREAT concert! And, as for Sunday, I was very blessed to be able to spend the remainder of my birthday weekend with my seester, Aurora Skye. ... 

 We frequented our favorite shopping spots, then spent the rest of the day at my house chilling out. She surprised me with a bag of goodies ...

A large Yankee Chocolate layered Cake scented candle, and two votive candles.

A cute little mermaid doll, candle wax drip catchers, and a Yankee room spray.

A kitty cat scrub and a Dragon Journal!

Birthday cupcakes

And, last but not least, my birthday gift from hubby ...

Mermaid whipped soap with white starfish soap inside ...

Have a blessed week everyone!

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday This and That

 

Happy Tuesday everyone! It is going to be yet another busy week including the weekend as well. Yesterday, I came home from work around 11pm and found these lovely gifts waiting for me on the sofa ...

A little heart-shaped box of chocolates and a HUGE red velvet bag with these items inside of it ...

A "Pajamagram" (a VERY soft, comfy pajama set!) and sleep mask ...  Surprise!

And, a specially sent Valentine's Day card from hubby I found in my e-mail ...

Moving on, this Thursday I have to take my mom to another doctor appointment before work with her orthopedic surgeon regarding her knee and the possibility of her getting a knee replacement.

On Saturday, I plan on having lunch with my friend Deb and then attending a "Get the Led Out" show in the evening. Then, on Sunday, I will be spending the day hanging out with my sister Aurora Skye. This will be a very much needed weekend for me - I am actually getting a reprieve from "prison" (in other words, I will be taking a "1 in 4" day from work). 

Have a great week!

Valentines Day: History of a Holiday!

What's in a Holiday?: Lupercalia

I have always been fascinated by our holiday traditions and where they actually came from. St. Valentine’s Day, as with so many of the contemporary holidays which we, as Americans, celebrate today, has its’ beginnings in Paganism. In ancient Rome, a Pagan fertility and purification festival called Lupercalia, was celebrated. Lupercalia is uniquely Roman and was named after the fertility god Lupercus, protector of flocks against wolves. In fact, he was often identified with the gods Pan and Faunus.

Lupercalia was an important festival and historical records indicate that Mark Antony was Master of the Luperci College of Priests. In the year 44BC,, he chose the Lupercalia festival as the proper time to offer the crown to Julius Caesar. Since February occurred later on the ancient calendar than it does today, Lupercalia was held in the spring. Each year on February 15, the Luperci priests gathered on Palatine Hill at the cave of Lupercal. Young men wore their loincloths and led the priests around the pomerium, the sacred boundary of the ancient city, and around the base of the hills of Rome.

Long after Palatine became the center of the powerful city, state and empire of Rome, the Lupercalia festival lived on. Roman armies took the Lupercalia customs with them as they invaded France and Britain. One of these customs was a lottery where the names of available maidens were placed in a box and then drawn by the young men. Each man accepted the girl whose name he drew as his love for the duration of the festival, which lasted from February 13^th to the 15^th, sometimes longer.

Circa 289AD, a Christian named Valentine of Rome was martyred under the Emperor Claudius. Valentine was a bishop in the city who was arrested for giving aid to prisoners. While in prison, he was said to have converted his jailer by healing the man’s blind daughters’ sight. He then fell in love with her and from his death row cell, he wrote her a note signed, “From Your Valentine.”

Somewhere around 197AD, Christianity began to slowly do away with the Pagan pantheons. It frequently replaced the festivals of the Pagan gods with its’ own modern celebrations to fit the life and teachings of Christ. Lupercalia, with its’ lover lottery, had no place in the new order. In the year 496AD, Pope Gelasius did away with the festival of Lupercalia, citing it as Pagan and immoral. He chose Valentine as the Patron Saint of lovers who would be honored at the new festival on February 14^th.

It is believed that the very first valentine cards were the slips of paper bearing the names of maidens the early Romans first drew. Or, perhaps the note which Valentine passed to his sweetheart from his prison cell.

By the 17^th century; however, handmade cards became quite elaborate and pre-fabricated ones were only for the wealthy. In 1797, a British publisher issued, “The Young Man’s Valentine Writer,” which contained suggested sentimental literature for the young lover. Today, the St. Valentine’s Day traditions continue with the giving of chocolates, jewelry and flowers. An estimated 1 billion St. Valentine’s Day cards will be sent worldwide, making it the second most celebrated holiday after Christmas.

💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

Sunday odds and ends

 Greetings all! Well, here we go, it is snowing AGAIN! Although it is not supposed turn into anything major, I am impatiently counting the days until SPRING!! ...

We woke up to this. The view of our driveway taken from the front door (and yes, it is still currently coming down) ...

On Tuesday while on my way to my doctor's appointment, I drove via one of our back country roads. Up ahead, I saw this pitiful face ...

(Of course I was unable to get an actual pic of her while driving, so I Googled a similar photo for the purposes of this post.)

At first my heart sunk because I thought to myself, "Oh no! Some freaking (I used another word instead) asshole speeding along this road (as always!) has hit this poor little girl!" She was not actually lying on the road as if she were hit? It looked as though she perhaps started to cross the road but got "stunned" and just beared down in the middle of the road! As I drove by her, just inches away from her face, I could see that she was still alive. Of course there was little I could do to help her at that point. So, after my doctor's office visit, I drove home taking the same road - I was quite hesitant - not knowing what I would witness. Lo and behold she was gone off of the road. The good news is that there was no sign at all that she was hit - no blood, no body, no NOTHING on the road! 🌲

As for today, I am playing catch up with the laundry and hanging out with my "kits" who are safe and warm in the house ...

Butterscotch

Sir Leo

Miss Ginger

🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈

Alternative Medicine (Part Two)

In my previous post, I talked about my dad's experience with alternative medicine when he received Radiofrequency Ablation therapy treatments. My dad was born with genetic heart disease and was also diagnosed with arthritis through out his entire body when he was only in his 40's. As is typically the case, these medical issues had only gotten a lot worse as he got older. For 30-some years he was prescribed the so-called "life saving" medications by his "Specialist" Physicians which only served to take him in the end. Why? Because his kidneys finally failed him after all those years of "life-saving" prescriptions. It may well have begun with his heart disease, but it was not what took his life in the end.

Alternative medicine and therapy treatments such as Reiki, Cold Laser Therapy, and, of course, Radiofrequency Ablation, are not offered by very many conventional doctors, hospitals, and even veterinarians. In my opinion,  the reason for this is simple - it is because there is FAR TOO MUCH money in it to be made for them and Big Pharma to not continue to dispense pills/medications, give shots, and perform abrasive and/or aggressive surgeries. This literally makes me sick to my stomach - seriously folks. 

The only reason I even know anything what-so-ever about Cold Laser Therapy is because we had an excellent veterinarian years back who performed this type of therapy on our kitty, Midnight. Does this work well on people as well? Yes! It was actually practiced on humans before it was used on animals.  

This past Tuesday, I had my first visit with my mom's Family Practitioner as my former doctor had recently retired. Her name is Dr. Amy Guiles and I was very impressed with her. She is one of those rare doctors who believes in trying alternative solutions to medical problems such as herbal supplements, natural remedies, etc. before shoving unnecessary pills/medications into ones' body ...

She told me, "I am not a fan of dispensing medications without good reason." She further explained to me that she is "not a part of that group of doctors" in as far as like most other doctors would rather just give you pills and/or shots rather than perhaps explore other, possibly better alternatives to those medical issues. In my case, she had suggested some over the counter supplements and natural herbal solutions for my arthritis, and, if they do not work, she assured me that she had "a few other tricks up her sleeve" before prescribing prescription medications. And, in regards to managing my high blood pressure. she instructed me to purchase a Blood Pressure Cuff and to use it daily while keeping a written record. The reason for this is because my blood pressure has been drastically up and down and this will give her an idea of where I stand with it. I will see her again in 11 weeks, but if my blood pressure would happen to be continuously higher than 140 over 90,  I am to inform her immediately. I told her that I completely agree with that plan of action.

Although I realize that not every medical problem can be resolved or managed with natural remedies, as a Wiccan, I strongly believe in going down that road first!