My Birthday week in review ...

Greetings all! Yesterday was my 62nd birthday, but I celebrated it this past weekend with my seester. However, before I get into my birthday weekend I just wanted to post an update on our Charlie. I took him into our vet after noticing a skin irritation on his shoulder blade. It looked much like feline dermatitis. So after having him checked, Dr. Hoy did indeed confirm that he has dermatitis so she gave him a shot of convenia (an antibiotic which lasts approximately two weeks) and a topical dose of Neosporin twice a day. I asked them to run blood work on him since we haven't had that done in a year since we took him in from outside. 

UNFORTUNATELY, we received a call the very next day informing us that he was diagnosed with kidney disease! We were devastated! He is currently on a special RX kidney food diet in hopes we can prolong his life. Now, we already lost TWO cats who have passed away from kidney disease and IT IS NOT PRETTY! In fact, it is utterly heartbreaking! We are doing everything we possibly can for him. :( 

Okay, now that I have told you all about the BAD NEWS, I will move on to the rest of the weekend. 

My seester Aurora Skye treated me to a wonderful birthday lunch at Ganly's Pub and gave me a really COOL set of earrings and a beautitful card ...

We also went shopping where I found these neat little items - a pen with amethyst gemstones and a pava shell bracelet ...

We also stopped off at our local Yankee Candle Store to check out the new Spring items ...

Spring/Ostara Luma Lid.

My co-workers were so kind and surprised me with these cards and gifts! ...

From hubby ...

From my fur babies ... lol!

And from my Twin Soul (sister) Rhiannon and her son ...

And, Blessed Mother's Memorial Day 💖💔💖💔💖

Valentine's Day Weekend

Blessed Sunday, friends! Hope everyone had a very nice weekend. Upon returning home from work at 11PM on Thursday night, I was surprised by a pretty bouquet of flowers in the kitchen from my hubby for Valentine's Day!

On Saturday afternoon, after dropping off my car to be repaired, we frequented a local venue, "The Fairgrounds Square Farmer's Market" and found these cool little items for Valentine's Day and Spring/Ostara ...  

Later on, we decided to have dinner at a really good restaurant located directly down the road from us called, "Klinger's at The Airport". They had entertainment which made for a very relaxing dining atmosphere ... 💕

A Sunday smile

Greetings, friends and Blessed Ostara!!

Yesterday, I purchased an HP Elitebook (laptop) ...

Butterscotch gave me a HIGH FIVE!! lol ...

And, for a Sunday smile, the comedic genius of the late John Ritter!! ENJOY!!

Special Birthday Lunch!

Greetings, friends and Blessed Sunday! Today is my 61st birthday and I am enjoying a rare winter day here in Reading, PA. The sun is shining and the temperature is 46 degrees outside. I was treated to a special Birthday Lunch at The Railroad House by my sister, Aurora Skye! ... 💗

Along with the delicious food, she surprised me with these very awesome presents! ...

A large "Strawberry Bunny Shortcake" scented Yankee Candle! It smells sooo good and I can not wait to burn it. It actually smells like Nestle's Strawberry Quick! YUMMY!! ... 😘

And a matching Luma Lid to go along with it for Ostara!!

Also, these beautiful Mother of Pearl earrings just perfect to wear with my mermaid studs!! ...

On the way home from lunch, I stopped off at PetSmart to pick up some more kitty litter when I saw this gorgeous guy ...

 

"Toby"

One of our local cat rescues was at the store trying to get some wonderful kitties adopted. THIS is "Toby" their model/calendar cat who is only three years old! ...

"One By One Cat Rescue" (no kill shelter) 

 

Have a great rest of the weekend all!!

First Day of Spring

 

This and That ...

Greetings, friends! No, I am still not emotionally ready to discuss the events of the last few months yet as it is far too painful and difficult. However, I will update you on the current situation. My mom is back at Mifflin Center after several bad falls and TRYING to rehab there. She had no choice but to change her current Medicare third party insurance (Geisinger Gold Advantage Plan) to regular Medicare because Geisinger would not approve her stay at Mifflin Center until April to continue her rehab! And at $400-some dollars per day, she can NOT afford it! I HATE insurance! Especially when it is so damned complicated and confusing thanks to our Government!! I have no freaking idea WHAT I am doing I feel so lost. I spent four hours at Mifflin Center yesterday making phone calls with my mom lying in a bed aside of me because even as a legal P.O.A., there are some things I can do to help my mom and some things I can NOT - dealing with changing my mom's address with Social Security (and the million questions they ask of an 84 year old woman) is one of them, and, dealing with the IRS and taking care of her taxes is another! Both the State of Pennsylvania AND the IRS DO NOT recognize a legal document such as a Power of Attorney. In fact, the IRS has their own way of doing things and require you to fill out all kinds of ridiculous forms in order to accept you and your legal P.O.A.  In other words, my mom's bank and her insurance honor it, but the IRS and State do not. My mom owed money this year and after contacting the IRS via telephone, I was advised to pay her Federal taxes owed from her modest annuity by cashier's check. Oh God how I hate taking on my mom's responsibilities. It scares me TO DEATH! There is A LOT more to this story , but I will spare you the ugly details. I swear I am losing my mind!!!!!!

In other news, while I was getting ready for work on Tuesday, I received an IM via Facebook from The Mint Leaf that I won a bunch of tulips. It was a rather nice surprise ...

Have a good everyone.

Getting ready for Spring!

Yesterday, my sister Aurora Skye and I ventured out for a bit of Spring shopping. We went to our local Yankee Candle Store and I found three large jars, a new Luma Lid for them, and a Spring Bunny votive candle holder ...

Another place we stopped off at was Barnes & Noble Bookstore. We are always looking for what clearance books and such that they have on sale. I picked up this really GOOD Chinese Astrology book for only $5.00! 

I was born in the Year of the Dragon - specifically, I am a Wood Dragon. I found it QUITE interesting that a lot of the information regarding my sign aligned almost perfectly with my Western Astrology sign of Pisces!

I could not resist buying this adorable Game of Thrones bookmark!

 🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉

Another really cool book I bought was, "The Essential Dream Journal" ...

This journal has lots of pages filled with detailed questions and great ways to keep track of your dreams!

My left-over cheesesteak with Old Bay Chips and a pickle from our lunch at "Ganly's Pub" (today's lunch) ...

I still have to finish decorating my house with my Spring things, but for today, I am still working on my Spring cleaning. I finally bought a set of drawers at "Staples" to replace the three small ones I have been using for my office supplies.

Before ...

After ...

That will have to do for now. I will post more Spring pics after I have finished getting them down from the attic.

Have a good week everyone!

TBT: A Matter of Faith

 

As a Wiccan, I faithfully celebrate Ostara and the Spring Equinox. As a daughter; however, I still spend the Easter holidays, church aside, with my Christian family. There may be a few of my fellow Wiccans who might believe that in doing so, I am in conflict with my Wiccan beliefs. As I see it, I, myself, am not celebrating Easter - I am merely respecting the fact that my family does.  I love spending time with my family and friends and since that does not interfere in any way with the fact that I am Wiccan and celebrate the sabbat of Ostara, I certainly do not see any problem with it. 

For example, my husband is agnostic, but he has always respected my decision to be a Wiccan. Even though he does not actually participate in our circles and sabbat celebrations, he is still there with me and he helps me in any way he can.  He has always stood by me and supported me throughout these many years. The fact that he does not follow my own personal religious beliefs, does not mean that he can not be accepting of them.

.

As a Wiccan Priestess and teacher, I am also a strong advocate of religious tolerance, and as such, I truly believe in “practicing what I preach.” After all, it is a road which runs both ways.  It is important for us to remember that, ultimately, we all breathe the same air and we are all a part of the same universe – regardless of our various faiths and diverse religious beliefs.