Spring cleaning

Today I cleaned. And cleaned. And cleaned some more. One reason is the spring cleaning bug bit me, I think. I would like to start of the Spring season with a clean apartment. Actually, I'd like to start off *any* season with a clean apartment. Maybe this time the apartment will stay cleaner for longer than four hours? Not likely, but I have hopes!

Another reason for the deep cleaning, other than the fact that it needed to be done, is I'm trying to prepare for moving day in May. Although we're moving from a one bedroom loft to a two bedroom duplex, I don't think the new apartment is actually bigger than my current one, just rearranged differently. Which means there's no way I'm carting all the stuff we have here into the new place. Mainly stuff in the form of clothing and toys. Because, obviously, I need all of my kitchen stuff, despite the fact the new kitchen is about half the size of my current one.

So lots of clothes, toys, and books have been boxed/bagged up for yard sale fodder or donation, or they've been trashed if completely unusable. And thanks to the decluttering, I was able to rearrange the toy corner, so the toys are once again contained and hopefully not spilling out to the rest of the living room. And Camden can reach all of his toys and games without my assistance.

Like anything, it will take work to maintain. I'm hoping I can train teach Camden that picking up his toys is better than leaving them lying about; hopefully, I can convince myself of that, too!

Friendly fire

When I was a kid, I played with guns. Not actual guns, but water guns, toy guns, stick and finger and rubber band guns. Hell, my brothers and sisters and I shot bottle rockets at each other. We carried on the tradition of being children growing up in the middle of nowhere, the tradition of a world before school shooting and terrorism. And now, I have my own son, who seems intent on carrying on that tradition... Despite the fact that I would rather he didn't.

I am not a fan of guns. When a child points his obviously-play rifle at me and says "BANG," something inside me wilts and I fear I will never get it back. And now my son is doing it. I understand why, somewhat. My dad hunts with a muzzle loader. Cam watches Bugs Bunny cartoons, which are filled to the brim with guns, dynamite, and falling anvils. Last night and this morning we watched WALL-E, and as Cam was quick to point out, Eve has a gun.

Is it hypocritical of me to allow him to watch these cartoons and yet scold him when he points his finger at someone in Wal-mart in the act of "shooting" them? I don't think allowing him to play guns will turn him into a mass murderer or anything-- but the thought of him play-shooting me still makes me squeamish. Is it even more hypocritical of me that I don't mind him dealing a killing blow with a sword, but guns are off-limits?

Is it silly of me to try to ban what is, for better or worse, a part of our culture? Should I compromise to no shooting at people. Or should I just let him play, knowing that he doesn't mean anything by it and that there will never be an actual gun in my house that could hurt him/others?

Gardening

Despite the fact that a few short weeks ago I was all sorts of excited about getting a garden plot, I'm now having second thoughts. Mostly along the lines of "will I really have time to take care of it?" I know that if the garden was right next to my house, I would have no trouble with it. Well, no more trouble than gardens usually present. But the farm with the garden plots is at least two miles away from my apartment. If I go there every day, that's using up a lot of gas. It's also quite a way to bike with whatever tools/whatnots I might need.

Do I want my own garden? Yes, I would love to have one or two or three. A vegetable garden, a garden for flowers, and an herb garden.

Does a vegetable garden make sense at this point in time? No, not really. But I'm still continuing with my container gardening.

I've been thrifting quite a bit this week, because there are so many good ones around my parents' house! I've found a few flower pots and containers that will be turned into flower pots. I also have some ideas of what I'll be planting. Camden wants to plant a pumpkin plant because his Grammy killed his. (Oops!) I've also got some columbine, lavender, cockscomb, and catnip seeds to plant. One of these days, when the greenhouses open up, I'll be able to find some more flowers and herbs 'n such.

As a side note... I've redecorated the blog. Spent FOREVER downloading the stuff for it, because it came as a ridiculously huge digi-scrapbooking file with all sorts of goodies. Whatchya think?

Finally, Spring!

I've found Spring! I only had to drive 200 miles south to find it. And look what else I found:

That's right! I've finally found my elusive crocuses! So far, that's the only flower I've found, though.


It's spring break, and I've taken the chance to visit my parents, who seem to be living in the tropics compared to my arctic home in NEMO. Today, Cam and I were able to get out and enjoy the warmth, going to thrift shops and also to Haha Tonka, which is quite possibly my most favourite place in the world. Haha Tonka has just about everything one could ask for: a castle, amazing rock formations, beautiful glades, long rambling trails, and a spring. The spring is where it gets its name: Haha Tonka means "Laughing Waters," which is what the spring sounds like, I suppose.


The castle was built in the early 1900's, and along the path are displays with gorgeous pictures of it in its prime. There's also a water tower, which pumped water up from the spring.
Sadly, fires in both the water tower (two) and in the main castle left it unlivable, and, as you can see, it now lies as an empty shell, a fading shadow of its former glory.


Yesterday I did some spring cleaning, and quite possibly finally said goodbye to my childhood. I was trying to clean out my childhood bedroom, trying to decide what to throw away and what to keep, and I came across a few of my journals. As I read through them, I was horrified. I have come so far from that poor, scared child I was at 12, 13, 15. But sitting there, reading that, brought back all of those dark thoughts I thought I'd left behind. I realised then that I had to get rid of that negativity. So my journals, once so precious, found their new home in the trash. I'm still not sure how I feel about that. Those were once my only friends... But I've grown beyond who and what I was. And I can't really say I want those reminders hanging around, even if only at my parents' house.

Seven days without (completed!)

I made it! I've not had one drink of soda since Wednesday 24 February. Nine whole days. And what a journey.

It took almost twenty-four hours for the high levels of caffeine and sugar to wear off, as I said last week, with my severe headache and tiredness. It took a few days before my every second cravings of "Oh, gods, I NEED a Mt. Dew" wore off. And another day or two before I stopped counting down the seconds until I was finally free of my pledge. Yesterday I went into the grocery store to get some apple slices for breakfast, walked right past the soda coolers, and made it out to my car before I realised that I didn't once pine for a Mountain Dew while I was in the store.

Even today, right now, a few hours away from my first soda in nine days... I am surprisingly unexcited. I look forward to it, but if it didn't happen, that'd be okay, too. I think I'm going to try giving up soda on a daily basis. I've already proved I can do without it; however, I don't think there's anything horribly wrong with having a soda from time to time. My goal was never to give up soda completely, but to bring back the pleasure I found in it. At this moment, with my some-what-unexcitement with being able to drink soda again, I'm not sure how well I succeeded in that goal. Have I gone from love/addiction to disinterest? In nine days?

My Book of Shadows/Grimoire

I don't think a BoS is strictly necessary for the path I am on; however, I do think it is nice to have all my info in one place. And also that the place is not on my computer, so it's a bit easier access. To this end, I've decided to begin creating my own BoS. Right now, I haven't done much more than creating my section dividers. I'm still trying to decide what I want to write out by hand and what I don't mind being typed out. Here are some of my pages for your enjoyment!





The images came from Clipart ETC and the fonts used are LaPointe's Road and Romance Fatal Serif.

ABCs of Paganism

Although I normally don't post during the week (lack of time and thinking ability between school work, practice, rehearsals, and taking car of Camden) I stumbled upon this and thought I'd like to share. ^_^


Accept others as they are. We are all individuals.

Belief in yourself is a necessity.

Concentration is important in any endeavor, both magickal and in life.

Do what you will, so long as it harms none.

Empathy is an important life skill... learn it, practice it.

Find strength in yourself, your friends, your world and your actions.

God is multifaceted... the Lord and Lady, all deities take many names and faces.

Help others every chance you get.

Intelligence is something that cannot be judged on surface.

Judge not... what you send out comes back to you!

Karma loves to slap you in the face. Watch out for it.

Learning is something that should never stop happening!

Magick is a wonderful gift- but it is not everything.

Nature is precious. Appreciate and protect it.

Over the course of time your soul learns many lessons. Make this life count!

Pray.

Quietness both physically and mentally restores the soul; meditate often.

Remember to take time for yourself as well as others.

Spells can help you, but you must also help yourself!

Tools can only do so much... they are not the foundation of all.

Unless you enjoy worrying, keep a positive mindset!

Visualize the success of your goals before you set out to achieve them.

Wisdom can often be found in the least expected places!

Xenophobia (a hatred of those different from you) is a path to misery.

You are a beautiful person who is capable of anything!

Zapping away all of your troubles is not going to happen

by Victoria Martyn