After the holidays ...

The Yule and Christmas mad rush over, we can now get ready for the official start of the New Year! Since I will have to work all day on New Year's Eve, I have decided to take my Yule tree down this weekend. I usually only leave it up until New Year's anyhow.  But before I do that, I would like to share a few more of this year's holiday memories with you all ...

Tabby's favorite nightly spot!

Special gifts from hubby ...

A set of framed illustrated astrology prints for both our Sun signs ~ Sagittarius and Pisces

 

Mr. Gray finally able to get acquainted with his new brother and sisters ~ what a true blessing for all of us ...

Looking back at this past year, it has most certainly been for us, a series of life's usual highs and lows. However, the reflections of the past are just that and we can now look forward to the fresh start of a new (and hopefully) happy and healthy New Year!!

 

WISHING ALL A VERY WONDERFUL AND BLESSED NEW YEAR FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS, MY FRIENDS!!!!

The Best Holiday Gift Ever!!!

 

That's right my dear friends, Mr. Gray's re-test results came in just this morning from the vets office ... both of Mr. "Earl" Gray's tests were NEGATIVE!!!! Hubby called me at work to tell me the great news! I just want to again thank each and every one of my awesome friends out there who sent healing prayers and positive energy to my little guy ~ you are all indeed a blessing!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas holiday! I know that we certainly did. As per usual, we split up the holiday between our folks. First, my parents place for a lovely dinner and afternoon of opening our gifts ...

Me 'n' my mom!

 

My sweetie pie dad

 

Then, on to hubby's folks for the remainder of the day with them and Tulip, their King Charles Cavelier ...

After exchanging our presents, we relaxed and had a little shrimp and cheese snack... ummm good! After which, we finally headed home for a bit of quality time with our fur babies, helping them open all of their gifts from Santa Paws, Nana Rita (my mom) and Auntie Judy ...

Hey, gimme some of that!!!

 

Mine, ALL mine!!!

 

 

Well, that was it for our Christmas this year. We are all so very busy in our day to day lives that every moment spent with family and friends is oh, so precious. And it's these special memories which we can cherish for a lifetime ~ and the holidays are, for us, the perfect time to help create them.

 

A White Christmas ... eve that is

Last night, as we and the "kids" sat in the warm comfort of our cozy little home, we watched as the first snow fall of the season in Berks County, PA came quickly fluttering down from the sky.

My very first thought? "Oh no, not already?" For as beautiful as the snow truly is, I do not relish the thought of having to drive in it. I suppose it is the difference between loving to play in it when you are a child and having to deal with it on the roads (and shoveling it) as a grown up!

At any rate, it didn't seem to dampen our spirits too much and we decided to have some fun of our own with our furry little reindeer ...

"Tabby-girl"

 

"Mr. Midnight"

 

 

And so, as I sit here this morning writing this post, I await my hubby awaking from his slumber that we can all open our be-lated Yule gifts from underneath the tree and then it's on to the start of a very busy day with the families.

Merry Holiday Season!!!

                                                                                                                                                                          

Here's wishing EVERYONE a very memorable holiday season. On this eve of yet another celebration, I thought you all might enjoy a little holiday cheer from "The Boss"!! One of my favorites ~ Enjoy!!!

What's all the fuss all about anyway?

Lately whilst browsing through the blogs which I follow, I have noticed a few posts written by some Pagan/Wiccan parents of whom have expressed their discontent with the concept of Santa and gift-giving. ~ citing him as Christian and deceptive. Say what, honestly?

While Christmas is indeed a Christian holiday, the idea of Santa and gift-giving is not! In fact, both traditions are Pagan in origin and anyone who has done their historical homework has long been aware of this. Now, I would never ever presume to attempt to tell parents, Pagan or other, how to raise their children. That is not what this post is all about!!

Like many Pagans/Wiccans, I was raised in a Christian household and Santa and gift-giving were a huge part of my childhood memories. It allowed me to be a child, unlike so many parents I see now-a-days who try to push their children to grow up much too fast and treat them like adults at the age of two! (Yes, unfortunately, this is what I have seen far too often.)

I, myself, would not trade these wonderful holiday traditions for anything in the world and I am forever grateful to my parents for giving me such delightful memories. Besides, I don't recall seeing anything in the Bible about Santa Claus, do you?

Still, it reminds me of something my Wiccan sister and dear friend Rhiannon said to me the other day, "Not only is Santa Pagan, but he is magickal, isn't he?"

Quick Mr. Gray Update ...

 

Greetings, my friends! We just arrived home from the vet for Mr. Gray's Fel-Leuk re-test. Unfortunately, we do not know anymore than we did before as they have told us that this time, his blood test will be sent out to the lab which they utilize and we will not know the results until sometime next week due to the holidays.

As far as I am concerned, this is what they should have done in the first place as I have read that the so-called 15 minute or less blood tests, which they call the ELISA Fel-Luek test, that many vets currently use in-house are not known to be quite as accurate and they can very easily be altered by room temperate which needs to be precisely right for definative test results.

Even if his results come back positive, I fully intend to get a second opinion to be sure from the vet whom was the reason I had decided to use our current vet in the first place. He is not a member of the VCA Animal Hospital and left a couple of months after returning to the vets office we now belong to in order to start his own practice. His name is Dr. Sherbyn W. Ostrich, VMD and his reputation has always been impeccable ~ 30 years experience (he was my parents vet for many years until he moved his practice too far away). He has served as President of the American Veterinary Medical Assoc., President of the Berks County Humane Society, and President of the Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association. My guess is that he does not exactly agree with the ridiculously greedy prices of the VCA affiliated vets, ours being one of them! Truthfully speaking, these people (the VCA) would rather see you put your furry family member down or suffer thereof rather than work with you on your vet bill (you MUST pay ALL fees before you leave their office) or even bring down their rates to something much more reasonable.  :-(

And so, we shall continue to play the waiting game and pray for the best in the end. Thank you sooo very much to all of you who have kept Mr. Gray in your prayers. We so very appreciate your thoughtfullness and kind hearts!!

A Crone's Alternative?

 

As I begin entering the Crone stage of my life, I have been experiencing the natural, "normal" life changes which many of us as daughters of the Goddess do. Those of you who may have gone through or are presently going through this can definitely relate to some or all of these issues ~ night sweats, hot flashes, dryness in and throughout your entire body, and, of course, the moody and sometimes edgy demeanor. UGH! Not fun my friends to say the very least!

Since I already have a family history of breast cancer in my family with my mother being diagnosed a few years ago, (that and the fact that every woman I have ever known in my life who had taken hormone pills had decided to go off of them because, eventhough they may do the job, they had experienced some horrible side effects), I personally refuse to go on hormone pills. So instead I began to look for other alternatives. For a couple of years I used Estroven. Estroven is an all natural hormonal supplement with its' main ingredient being the herb Black Cohosh. Black Cohosh is excellent for curbing the hot flashes down to a maximum and, yes, it does work wonderfully for that symptom.

Then, I saw an advertisement for the Amberen product. The manufacturer, Lunada Biomedical, claims that Amberen guarantees relief from the following caused by menopause:

*  Hot flashes
*  Weight Gain
*  Sleeplessness
*  Irritability
*  Low Libido
*  and more ...

Okay, let's start with the hot flashes. I have been taking Amberen for the past 7 months now and I can honestly say that it does the job. Sleeplessness? Well, I suppose if you stop drinking liquids after a certain time before going to bed it works okay for that as well for some, although I personally have not noticed this. Irritability? I have found that it has indeed helped me tremendously on that end. In fact, I can tell if I miss a day or two because I actually do begin to feel irritable and easily annoyed. Now, what about the claim of helping you to lose weight by bio-chemical balance? LOL, not a chance. Atleast I, myself, have not personally noticed any weight loss at all since taking this product. And, so I must say that this claim is complete and utter bull. Of course, I do not feel that there is actually any such thing as a pill that automatically loses the weight for you (other than the "little yellow pills" that your doctor may prescribe to you should he/she deem it necessary), and exercise is a definite must. On a more positive note; however, I have noticed a huge difference in my body hydration ~ Very grateful for that perk!

However, I have decided to continue to use Amberen because for me it has done, for the most part, what I needed it to do. And, it is the best thing I have come across thus far. Mind you, this is merely my own personal experience with this particular product and I realize that everyone's chemical make-up is different and may easily differ from my own. But, in this witch's humble opinion, it may just be worth a try?  :-)