Reiki Poem/Reiki II Weekend

Universal life force energy,

An ancient gift from above;

Radiates from out the hands

Applied to each with love

We are but the circut

To help the body mend,

It's not us who stand as healers;

It's the energy we send

Our Reiki hands stand ready

For what service they may do;

For when we're helping others,

We feel a healing, too

~ Greg Goodson

I am very much looking forward to finally attending my Reiki Level II class with my Reiki Master Frances M. Moise. It will be a two-day course scheduled for the weekend of August 27th and 28th.  WHOO HOO!!!!

Stubborn Habit or Just Mentally Challenged?

Through the years, we have shared our lives with quite a few cats and thier many different "personalities," but we have never had a problem with any of them persistantly urinating on our furniture until we got Haley, our female Calico.

Haley was about 7 months old when we took her in and did not give us any problems until we brought home Kiki, our other female who was just a four month old kitten at the time. It wasn't too long after that, Haley began urinating on our sofa and eventually our bed!  We tried everything we could think of. We took her to the vet to make sure that she did not have a urinary tract infection ~ she did not. We tried spraying our furniture with pet-safe products in an attempt to discourage her from eliminating on them ~ we were not successful. Our vet even suggested placing more litter boxes around the house as it might be a territory issue. But the problem with that idea is that we can not control which cat uses which box. The only way we could keep her box separate from the other cats was to put hers in a different room.

Fortunately for Haley, we have a nice little enclosed porch for her to call her own. We leave her in with us from the time we get home from work until the time we go to bed. However, she is still managing to urinate on our furniture when we are not looking. I am at a huge loss as to what more I can do about breaking her of this very bad habit?

Other than this frustrating little problem, she is a very sweet little kitty. She absolutely loves people and she doesn't have a mean bone in her body. We have had her for 6 years now and have grown quite attached to her so we feel getting rid of her is not an option for us. Any helpful comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Fun Friday

Leo Sayer ~ The Show Must Go On

http://youtu.be/q6UdgWrrlNY

I was reading the latest post from one of my favorite blogs called, "Cottage Tails." In it, Leanne posts a video clip of one of my (atleast) top 5 male artists ever, Leo Sayer.

Now, I realize that some of you may be too young to actually remember him as he was very popular in the 70's and 80's. He is a British singer (he now lives in Australia) who had number one hits with such songs as, "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing," "When I Need You," "Long Tall Glasses" and "More Than I Can Say." He has also written hit songs for other artists such as my absolute favorite song performed by him called, "The Show Must Go On" for Three Dog Night (By the way, his wife made his costume and did his make up for this performance) and "One Man Band" for The Who.

Leo Sayer ~ When I Need You

http://youtu.be/431sSy7nL40

I remember the first time I saw him perform. I was no more than perhaps 10 years old and my father woke me up out of bed. He had just gotten home from working second shift at the time and the show "The Midnight Special" happened to be on TV. He said to me, "Kimmy, you have to see this guy. He is really, really good! You'll love this!" (And he was right). Lo and behold, there was this rather short little charismatic guy on stage dressed up in a clown costume singing, ""The Show Must Go On." He blew me away!  (I have always been awed by how perfect he could harmonize with himself when recording.) Good memories.

I also remember thinking to myself, "What a performer ~ and sooo cute!" (and yes, Leanne, I agree with you ~ he has aged extremely well! LOL). To this day, I still adore Leo Sayer and his beautifully versatile voice.

(photo credits: http://www.google.com/search?q=leo+sayer+pics&hl=en&biw=1024&bih=588&prmd=ivnso&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=M108To3MEM29tgeTqLSOAw&ved=0CBgQsAQ)

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Thursday is my mother's birthday. Yep, you got it ~ she is a Leo! As with most people I know born under this Sun sign, she is very loving and extremely protective of her family and friends. It always reminds me of a paragraph from one of my all-time favorite poems by Addison called, "The Astrology Poem" which goes ~

"... Who praises all his kindred do,

      Expects his friends to praise them too

     And cannot see their senseless view?

     Ahh, Leo ..."

Well anyway, that is definately my mom. Through the years she has been my rock. The one person that I can count on to always be there for me no matter what and I have always tried to be there for her as well.  That is family.

She is the reason I became so interested in astrology as a teenager. Her birthstone is Peridot and her favorite color just happens to be green. And so I bought her this personalized necklace with her name and birthstone color on it.

I also went shopping at A.C. Moore (I love that place!) and made her a vase of autumn flowers that I think she might like as she has already begun decorating her home for fall. I used orange, yellow and dark red marbles (colors of the season), silk flowers and an autumn bow to top it off.

Happy Birthday to you, mom. You are the best!!!!

A sisterly "Thank You"

My sister Robin and her husband returned home from their week vacation in Maine on Saturday evening. Upon her return to work today, she presented me with a few very thoughtful "Thank You" gifts for taking care of Miss Jeepster.

Among the places they visited while in Maine, was a really neat shop called the "Maine State Prison Showroom" located in Thomaston. The Showroom sells unique items which are hand-made by the inmates of Maine State as part of a rehabilitation program. They make all sorts of beautiful wooden cabinets, hobby horses, etc. including cool little boxes such as this one ...

She also gave me these sweet little gifts ...

What can I say, she knows me all too well! ;)

Celebrating Lugh Solitary Style

Although lately I have been celebrating the sabbats with either other solitaries or with my dear friend, Lady Sabrina Rhiannon and her group, "The Coven of the Silver Moon Circle," I still consider myself a solitary witch at heart. Since I first began practicing my Pagan faith so many years ago, I had always chosen to honor our holy days in a more private way in which only the solitary path can provide.

As time went by, I began to meet other Wiccans/Pagans with whom I could share my beliefs and celebrate with from time to time. And, once in a while, I will join Lady Sabrina Rhiannon's coven in their sabbat and esbat rituals. I feel very comfortable with them and they are a wondferful group of gals who have generously accepted me into their group at any time, and for that, I have been indeed blessed! Afterall,  sometimes it is just really nice to be with your peers ~ solitary or not.

Still, I must admit that is has been quite a little while since I have performed a sabbat ritual as an actual "solitary" per se.  Today, I decided to celebrate Lughnasadh in the quiet solitude of my Altar Room. It had been so long, I had almost forgotten how completely exhilarating it is. The feeling of "oneness" with our Goddess and God which one experiences in that type of setting and the feeling of total peace I still get both during and after ritual.

That being said; however, this is not to say that I will choose to forgo any opportunity to gather in a group celebration in the good company of my close friends and Wiccan family whom I love so very dearly. It simply means that I now realize how much I really do enjoy celebrating as a Solitary from time to time and doing so reminds me of why I enjoyed being one in the first place. I suppose you might say that being a Solitary Practitioner is who I am and have truly always been deep down.

Wishing a very Blessed Lughnasadh to all!!

Books Are Fun Day!

Today, we had a "Books Are Fun"day at work. Twice a year, they come to our office with discounted books, CD's, stationary, speciality boxes of cards such as "Leanin' Tree," children's toys, soy candles, cool purses, and a huge assortment of books for cooking, home repair and improvement, children's coloring books, educational books, science, etc.

I even do some of my shopping for Yule and birthday gifts. For example, my mother's birthday is next week so I bought her a couple of cute books ...

And I also bought a few other cool items like a couple of books on the paranormal.

A cool book bag and a new purse with which I can put my pics on the front of...

and two boxes of Leanin' Tree specialty cards for all occasions.Oh yes, I couldn't forget to pick up a little something for my hubby and so I bought him a book that I knew he would appreciate (and he did!) ...

As for me, I can't wait to start reading my new books. Happy reading all!