vacate.

here are a few pictures (which would have been of much higher quality had my husband realized that my jokes about getting a Canon Rebel weren't jokes at all...) of our recent trip to the Ozarks:

i didn't want to come home.

no rest for the weary

and to think, i used to be annoyed by my husband's 'loud' acoustic guitar playing...

OM

i'm a late riser. since i left the traditional workforce 6+ years ago i very rarely have the opportunity to see the sunrise, or even the dew on the grass. i'm an 8:00 kind of girl.

this weekend, Daylon had an early soccer game and i was sitting in my soccer mom chair drinking coffee at 7:30 in the morning.

the early games are nice, there are very few people there and it's a time of day i don't get to enjoy often. it was a really nice morning and i just sat and soaked it up...until i realized i wasn't soaking up as much as i thought i should be.

there were cars out on the main road, planes overhead, the freeway in the distance, and the low chaotic hum of civilisation.

the sound of the silent chaos of the universe has been obscured.

it is very easy for us to be lost in the tiny insignificant morass of our daily doldrums when we have been so effectively cut off from the simple flow of life energy.

when is the last time you felt the OM?

school daze

the other day i was on the elliptical at the gym and i noticed a situation through the window beside me. school had just gotten out and all the Abercrombie and Hollister covered kids were making their way to the afternoon hangout at the Y. one of the kids had some art work that he was bringing home from school. it was made with construction paper and some sort of translucent paper that made it look like a detailed stained glass. i noticed on the back bottom corner there was the emblem of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo art competition. you could tell the kid was proud of it, and he had every right to be.

i watched as he stood and visited with his friends who were all about my oldest son's age, then one of his friends started razzing him. he snatched the kids' creation, laughed at it, and held it up out of his reach and verbally ridiculed him. finally he handed it back, but the look on the artist's face told it all.

i think everyone who grew up in public school had a similar incident. doing things well is sure to bring the scorn of your classmates.

i felt really sorry for the kid and the whole situation got me thinking. how much of my personality was shaped by a vicious peer-group? generally i didn't fall into the group of kids getting bullied because i was somewhat rough (because in an animal-like environment, one can be mean or be eaten), but i can still remember trying to find ways to be cooler or funnier or more stylish. i can remember being so concerned with what others thought of me that it hurt. i remember the ends of summers spent planning how i was going to 'be' that school year. how horrifying was dressing out in gym class? how mortifying was the ill-founded rumor? remember all of the things and ideas one needed to be 'acceptable'?

my parents formed me, but my peer-group raised me.

all these things in mind, what sort of people are my children going to be? they may have 8 hours a week in their peer group, not 8 hours a day. the vast majority of their communication is with adults. there is no pressure to be anything they are not. i honestly can't get my head around the whole thing. their experience is going to be so opposite mine.

they are fortunate beyond reason.

what the world needs now

is a little more panic, like i need a hole in my head.

honestly, i can feel it. i'm a germophobe. i live in Texas, which is pretty close to Mexico. some of my neighbors have relatives in Mexico whom they may or may not have visited recently. my kids spend 2 hours a day in a YMCA kid care room.

so i should be all decked out in a hazmat suit and respirator, right?

but somehow, i'm not buying this one. and i may be wrong in the end, this may be all they've hyped it up to be.

i can't help but wonder about the state of the world in relation to how we perceive it. i can't help but hope that the world is in such a messy quandary because we were told it is, and we believed it.

consider the swine flu (or the bird flu, or terrorism, or the economy...etc.) . if there was no television pumping fear in the family rooms of the world, if there was no internet with it's abundance of every sort of information...well, people wouldn't be too worried about all this, now would they?

i want to imagine a utopia where all communication comes from passing travellers and things are slow and simple. i just want to imagine that for a second, ok?

(i'm going to make a confession here: sometimes i really, really wish i lived in Middle Earth. i wish it hard enough that it may actually be a disorder of some sort...)

profiled!

i got one of the most stunningly stereotypical insults hurled at me the night before last, and i thought i'd share...


the neighbors have been real big honkers lately, and when one of the boys rolled up and honked at 11 o'clock the other night, my husband went out to ask if they could refrain from waking my kids up with their laziness. this led to the offender laughing and laying on his horn for about 10 seconds, which obviously agitated my husband just a touch. some words were being exchanged when i popped out to witness the commotion. my horribly offended neighbor hollered in a fit of emotional turmoil:

'Hey, you're white! why don't you go inside and read a f*cking book!?!'

i laughed. i cried. it was a beautiful day in the neigborhood.


this is Baby Emily:



she's been hanging out with us alot. her mom is my neighbor and my friend. she is 34 and got diagnosed with Stage IV skin cancer on her daughter's first birthday. she doesn't have insurance so all of her (exceptionally slow) care is coming from Harris County. it's so damn sad i can't stand it, and i'm notoriously bad at dealing with things like this. all i know how to do is take care of kids and babies, so i'm taking care of Emily.



i've decided on my life goal. when i retire, i want land in the Texas Hill Country. i'm going to raise Borzois and write a novel.

good grief.

this is my house. the motorcycle is not mine, it belongs to my husband's carpool buddy. note the Blessed Holy Oak swaying in the breeze.

our house is right at 3 years old and we got into it with a sub-prime loan. that's right, our credit was nicht so gut but my husband's income qualified us. we paid $500 and they built the house for us. we got $108 of our $500 back at closing. we felt on top of the world and oh-so-fortunate, like we had really pulled one over on someone. until after our first year when we discovered that our escrow was being calculated on the value of the land sans house and we owed our mortgage company an outrageous sum of cash. they were going to be so gracious as to let us pay off the balance over the course of a year, raising our mortgage payment to $1,700 a month! um, no thanks. so we haggled and got a solution we could deal with and all was well...

then we noticed that a lot of, shall we say...brownies were moving into the neighborhood. disheartening to say the least. in light of the mortgage crisis, apparently our builder decided to waive all sorts of legal documentation in order to keep building houses.

so, we bought our 4 bedroom, 2-1/2 bath, 2500 square foot house for $135,000 almost three years ago. last year's appraised value was $139,000. great, right?

friday i got my appraisal for 2009. my house is now worth $117,700.

(enraged silence.)

and to think we'd entertained the idea of selling and moving up around the Woodlands to get away from the less desirable neighborhood. now i'm doomed to live here and receive letters from the homeowners association about how they don't allow the raising of livestock, namely chickens, in the suburban neighborhood. letters addressing the graffiti problem. and tejano bass drops as the theme music playing in the background of my life.

don't get me wrong, i like my house and there are some decent people in the neighborhood...but being upside-down by at least $12,000 makes it hard for me to see a way out if i should desire one.

back in my renting days i thought home ownership was for suckers and chumps. i'm beginning to re-agree with myself.

rain?

in Texas, 60% chance of rain has come to mean 'partly cloudy'. i'm really starting to get a complex with the way the weather man keeps letting me down.

we are studying one of the Noble Virtues a week in school and this week is Discipline week. this is the first virtue that we've studied that needs work among the kids. the little ones have somehow equated discipline with brushing their teeth alot, so we have some really fresh mouthed little heathens around here! Daylon really needs to work on his discipline. he's a pretty good worker and he does more chores than any of his friends, but i have to tell him what to do and when to do it. every day. it's the same old thing, every damn day. he's living on the hope that mom'll get distracted and forget some of his chores. which really isn't working for him. at least he's persevering, right?

anyway, over spring break i was working on a human interest story that threatened to change the world and make my family rich. there was a woman who got a really bad infection in her lymph glands under her jaw. it made it's way into her throat and she told her husband that she needed to go to the doctor, but her husband replied, 'honey! you know business is slow right now! how will we pay our sub-prime loan if you go to the doctor? you don't even have insurance!' so the woman suffered on in hopes that her body could fight off the nasty infection. she was losing the battle and the infection spread to her sinuses, her ear, and even her eye. when her eardrum ruptured, she resigned herself to death. in her last moments she reflected on the state of the world...the recession, the mortgage crisis, uninsured citizens of America...and she realized that if she were to die, the media would grab hold of her story and her grief-stricken family's tale of the mother who died of a simple sinus infection would grab the heartstrings of America, causing all to join together in the cause of nationalization of mortgages and banks and universal healthcare...Bryan would be invited to the White House to bowl with Obama and the kids would be moved to Washington DC and enrolled in public school....

she said, 'to hel with that!' and borrowed some antibiotics from her neighbor and lived happily ever after.

ingredients for a paradigm shift

my mother's senior picture. raised in a very affluent family, a ballerina, well educated, well traveled, cultured, chic, and beautiful.



my dad was a massively intelligent band nerd. he raised his 4 brothers and sisters in poverty because my grandmother was too busy worrying with her 8 marriages (before my dad turned 18!) to have time for her kids.

i have no clue how they got together. i can't imagine they had a moment where they found something of a kindred spirit in each other and decided to marry. but they must have, and stayed together for 18 years. i guess i can see that my mom was moved by my dad's hardship, but she had no idea the strength of the personality she was dealing with. i can see that my dad was dazzled by my mom's beauty and in awe of her privileged lifestyle, but he had no idea that it was all skin deep.



they had me. i love them and thank them for giving me the tools i needed to break the paradigm.

random braggadocio

it's getting hectic around here. with the onset of soccer season plus my normal busyness i'm feeling a bit like a push-me-pull-you. luckily spring break is next week, hopefully i can regroup.


here are some random things, cause i feel random.

-i've lost 30 pounds! i'm really into the detox and health aspect of this thing now. normally i diet until i'm not disgusted with myself (which is where i am now) but this time is different. this time is for fitness. i'm aiming for optimal health of body and mind. Sunday i received quite the heady compliment...'you look so much younger!'...which i daresay has stoked my fires.

-Daylon is becoming kinda cool. i can't believe i said it, and don't tell him, but there it is. for example, the other night my neighbor (see previous entry, pardon me while i burst into flames) had a drunk husband arrive home from work. she is trying to stop drinking and in a jealous rage, provoked her husband until he was hollering and being a general ass. she got scared and ran out of her house with the baby screaming for help (eye roll extraordinaire) and brought all the drama to my house. after the situation had calmed down and she went home, Daylon said, 'man, i think they need to watch Fireproof again!' among other things, it gave me hope that i'm rubbing off on him in positive ways. ;}

-soccer season is on! Asher scored 5 goals this weekend (which he was disappointed with, he really wanted 6). there was an Irish grandmother on the other team and after she determined Asher was mine, she said in a thick Irish brogue, 'Ach! he's a little bruiser!' which just tickled me. Daylon played even though he had the flu...and managed to score! my dad gave me crap about letting him play sick, but i assured him that we value a warrior mentality over coddled sickbed crap. ha! i was really proud of Daylon's team, they were down 4-0 at the half and came back top win it 6-4! there are some really good kids on his team which is pretty surprising to me out here in the land of plenty.

-i'm getting Galilee off soymilk thanks to the fear mongering on the OR board ;} and i tricked her in to drinking goatsmilk this morning...she liked it!

-we went to Washington on the Brazos this Sunday for Bryan's birthday. Texas is so damn awesome. the bluebonnets were getting started and it was just really lovely. i always fantasize about moving to somewhere beautiful like Utah, but when it comes down to it i just regret that the economy of Houston ties us to this place. i couldn't live anywhere else. i think i'll give up on Utah and the Faroe Islands and set my sights on the Texas Hill Country. everyone knows the cows think Brenham is heaven, and i'm inclined to agree.

useless, but not for long

i'm not one to subject people to my political persuasion, but something has stuck in my craw lately and i'm trying to either purge or reconcile it here. however, i doubt it will be so simple.

the Declaration of Independence states:

"...Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government"

i'm not an anarchist. i think the founding fathers were some admirable thinkers, and quite wise. while they were addressing their current situation with England, they were foretelling our situation today and highlighting the struggle of mankind to govern itself.

the Nine Charges of Odinism state:

To suffer no evil to go unremedied and to fight against the enemies of Faith, Folk and Family: my foes I will fight in the field, nor will I stay to be burnt in my house.

these quotes have become parallel in my mind.

there is something bad wrong in this country and the world. i do not think that sitting idly by and waiting for the storm to pass is going to yield a bright clear day, i think the agendas at hand are sinister where the common man is concerned.

i do not want to be burnt in my house, yet that's what we're all doing. of course, we don't know what to do, and we can barely conceive of the conditions that could be right around the corner. we are the generation of fat american privilege, after all.

if what's going on in washington isn't 'unremedied evil', i don't know what is.

we have the right to make this right, but we lack the courage and the vision. if there were a march on washington with pitchforks and torches tomorrow, i'd be there...however, i'm unlikely to start one myself. ugh.

i don't know how to go about it, but i do know what i'd like to see happen. i want to march up to the capitol and fire every lousy fucker in the place. they could be replaced by people who truly want to serve the people...if you have the conviction to govern the people of this country you need to put your money where your mouth is. all of the members of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government should take a (verifiable) oath of poverty for the length of their term. i'm talking sackcloth and ashes.

greetings from the sick house

for the second time in as many months, we've got a four-pack of infected ears and a two-pack of streppy throats. why, oh why are my kids always sick during our brokest time of year?

i'd like to take a moment with the nice ladies at the YMCA who are so in need of a workout that that continually bring their strep-infested kids into the child care room: you are evil, and it doesn't matter if you're fit when your soul's so ugly.

it's funny that i feel like i'm generating good Wyrd by keeping my kids out of the Y's child care room when they're sick. surely the gods'll grant my kids with a strep immunity due to the fact that i've been so thoughtful of other innocent kids, right? if not, i'm bound to inspect every kid in the room with my strep-flashlight before leaving my kids in there and i can imagine some Claire's getting their panties in a wad about that...

(by the way, a 'Claire' is a type-A suburban supermom)

in other news, i'm getting pretty pumped about my yoga/meditation routine. i've done yoga on and off for 3 years now, but i've finally had a breakthrough.

growing up, my dad was quite the yoga guru. 3 or 4 nights a week he would do at least an hour of yoga and he was good. he could do asanas that i don't even aspire to try. he would listen to Santana, the Moody Blues, or Mahavishnu (yes, you read that right!) and he could totally tune out the outside world and do his thing.

so, i've been using DVD's all this time in my practice. lately i've been reading more books about developing your own practice and this week i discovered this: http://www.wardruna.com/home/index.html
and things have fallen into place. my balance is better, my asanas are deeper, and my focus is sharp.

at this rate, i should be enlightened by next week.
:}

vitamin B6 vs. the world

here is the first news article i've seen today:
http://http//www.naturalnews.com/025606.html

it seems the ever-vigilant FDA, those guys who are determined to keep Americans the picture of fitness and health has determined that vitamin B6 is a drug. and therefore illegal.

not just a drug, mind you, but a 'new' drug. oh, really.

B6 is used by the body to help regulate the release of glucose and glycogen, it also helps the body assimilate amino acids. pretty sinister stuff.

if you have a deficiency your skin will will look like crap at best, and your brain will mess up at worst.

i've heard rumors that they're planning to put soy (protein) products on the food pyramid. soy has never seemed so scary.

bunch of jackasses. evil jackasses.

in other news, i had sworn off gardening...until i decided to dig up a quarter of my backyard for a garden.

we're planting onions, cabbage, bell peppers, hot peppers, tomatillos, green beans, tomatoes, asparagus, and strawberries.

as soon as the weather stops dripping i think i'll do some photo journalism on our little project.

;}

Hexenmistress!

Hooray! it's my very first hex! it's almost as though the art were designed with me in mind...all the compasses, protractors, and rulers! using a compass to bisect an arc just really does it for me. in my past life (you know, my working incarnation ;) i was a draftsman. i've never been able to draw but i'm quite proficient at geometry so imagine my pleasant surprise when i discovered that drafting uses geometry to make anyone draw! Symmetry is an obsession of mine, i really think i've found my niche. it's an excellent meditation for me.

this one was just for practice, when i get good they'll be done on wooden discs and painted instead of watercolor-penciled. i've yet to determine where one procures 12 to 18 inch wooden discs though. the book says to use a particular saw on plywood...which isn't happening. i'm fully saw-phobic.

anyway, tomorrow is Daylon's first soccer practice this season so my break from chauffeuring is officially over. which is fine, i guess.

pardon me while i burst into flames...

i have a neighbor who i'm friendly with.

she's about my age, has a baby, she's a stay-at-home mom, and she's a christian. she's the type of christian who doesn't really know much about their faith, never really reads the bible or does anything that you think of christians doing...she just is one and jesus is soooooo important in her life. sigh.

i was not raised in a christian home and when i had my fist kid i really studied the bible and christianity very intensely for about 3 years. i went to a pentecostal church (religiously!) and tried to get with the program...however, the more i studied the bible and history, the less i could believe any of it. as a result, i'm well aware of what i believe and what i don't believe.

she knows that my family is 'not-christian' and i've been very forthcoming about information about our religion any time she asks. she never tries to witness to me or convert me because she knows i know biblical scripture better than she does, and this probably is the 'saving grace' of our relationship.

apparently, she still frets for my soul, though.

around Yule, her church (that she very rarely attends) was bringing in a snow machine for the kids. she invited me and was sooo excited about us all going to sunday school together that morning!

um. you can't force me to send my kids to sunday school. so no thanks.

so, yesterday afternoon she stops by and asks me if i want to borrow this movie that she rented. she tells me that she and her husband watched it the previous evening and they were both so moved by this movie...they had a big boo-hoo fest over it and she thinks it may have saved their marriage.

she tells me the movie is somewhat christian-based, but the principles are good for anyone and it will make you re-evaluate your relationship and see what it's worth to you.

she really seemed like she really wanted me to watch it, so i told her that i would. she gives me the movie and calls an hour later to see if i watched it...i mean, the kids were still up and everything! we never watch movies before the kids go to bed but it was obvious that she was really concerned with us watching it.

the movie is called 'Fireproof" and it stars the illustrious Kirk Cameron.

here's the long and short of it: the acting was atrocious. Kirk Cameron is a firefighter married to a medical assistant and they have no children. they have a 'terrible' argument in the beginning of the movie that show them both to be shallow, disrespectful children (this is my take, i think they were supposed to be arguing like every 'normal' couple would.) so the wife decides she wants a divorce. the husband is angry and resigned to the situation until he talks to his father. his dad says to wait 40 days before signing divorce papers and in the meantime he needs to follow the daily advice in this little 'love dare' book. the father's marriage had been saved by this little book coupled by the work that god did in his life.

so, ole Kirk Cameron starts doing the things in the book. they're really deep concepts (ahem) like, 'don't say anything negative to your partner today' and 'let your partner know that you're thinking of them' and even 'do work around the house without being asked'. halfway through the program he realizes that he didn't really love his wife properly because he didn't understand the love that jesus had for him. so he says the sinner's prayer and it's all good. he wins his wife back and they say the sinner's prayer together and then re-consecrate their marriage because NOW they are truly married because they have jesus in their life.

so. this morning i'm waiting on the edge of my seat for my neighbor to call and get my review of the movie.

i'm a little worried i'm going to offend her, but i can't be dishonest about it. the movie was INSULTING. the overwhelming moral of the story was that you cannot have a successful, loving marriage without being a christian. in fact, the only way to make your marriage 'Fireproof' is through jesus.

i beg to differ. my marriage is based on respect, communication, and like minds reaching for a like goal. there are no petty, selfish, self-indulgent, disrespectful, childish fights. and we've done it all without HIM.

so i'm wishing i could just hand her the movie and thank her and leave it at that, but she's going to want to discuss it. she really thought that this was going to make us 'see our need for christ' (to use her words).

ugh.

anyway, if your neighbors show up trying to save your marriage with this movie it's probably not your marriage that they're really worried about. just say no. i wish i had.

the strange place between eclipses

my mind is on fire. i can't stop it, even my dreams are more interesting lately. i am obviously in the throes of an awesome celestial alignment and my thirst for knowledge and thought is insatiable.

school has went very well this week; Galilee has made good progress in reading and is getting really good at her basic addition facts, Asher volunteered to tell me what 6 + 3 equals without figuring and he's actually participated in penmanship the past couple of days, and Daylon has whined much less about doing math. ah yes, the momentary bliss of a rewarding week.

however, i haven't cleaned house all week.

i've worked out everyday at the Y after school, and as of this week's weigh-in i've lost 21 pounds. woohoo!

back to the lack of house cleaning...i'm reading 4 books right now. i usually can't find time to read one book, somehow time has made itself lately.

i'm reading:

this is such a cool book. i love historical fiction and this one is really a bit of a stand alone in the genre. it takes place in the 1340's in a small German village in the Black Forest called Oberhochwald, which later becomes known as Eifelheim after it's disappearance. so far, an alien spacecraft has landed in the woods and some of the people in the village set up communication with the aliens. it's really interesting that the people never really consider that these 'people' are from outer space despite the fact that they have voice translators and 3d picture screens and things that people of the 14th century could have never dreamed of. i guess theoretically China was as far away as Jupiter in their mindset.

i'm also reading:

i've read this one before, but it's a real challenge and i missed alot the first time. it takes place in the distant future of England. there has been a nuclear holocaust and language and society have broken down. it's written in the broken language that the people use by one of the few people who is able to read and write, Riddley Walker. Russel Hoban is a true genius; not only because of the use of language, but the way he takes events of the past and weaves a mythology (complete with folk songs) of the remnant society is amazing and thought provoking.

i've been waiting on this one from amazon for two weeks!

my grandmother used to always tell me that we were English, German, and Pennsylvania Dutch. i thought this was my claim to Scandinavian blood until i was 30 and found out that it was just more German...ah well, that's fine with me. but i really, really want to be crafty and i'm so not. well, not only is hexwork in my blood, it's really alot like drafting! woohoo! hopefully next week i can get some supplies and get started. if i get good, yall can expect some custom hexes for Yule!

and last but not least:

now this book is real new-agey and pretty touchy-feely, but i've got a bit inspired by it. i believe in the chakra system and i've been toying around with the idea of incorporating chakra meditation with the runes. first i have to really decide what runes correspond with which chakra (and possibly ask advice of those more seasoned than myself), but i like the idea of healing the chakras with runic energy. any thoughts?

juicing the aloe

for Deb, i've decided to enlighten the masses as to the untold virtues of the Aloe Vera plant. everyone knows it's good for burns, lacerations, and sunburns; but the true value of the plant is neglected if it's only used externally. when i started my low-carb-athon in January i wanted it to be more than a diet; i wanted to detox from all the alcohol and sugar of the Yuletide celebration so i added some things to a typical low-carb diet. Aloe juice was the first thing on the list because i'd been interested in trying it for a long time. by the fourth day of my diet i was having some strange side effects; i'd wake up in the morning and my teeth and mouth felt so clean. it may sound silly, but it was so noticeable that i was shocked by it.

benefit #1: oral health. aloe juice balances the pH of the mouth. it is also an anti-microbial and anti-fungal, not to mention the massive benefits to your gums. anyone who has ulcers or gingivitis should really try it.

so, in noticing how different my mouth felt, i couldn't help but think of how by digestive track must be benefiting...which leads us to the exit function. anyone who has tried a diet that suddenly changes a big part of what is eaten everyday gets constipated. not with aloe juice.

benefit #2: natural colon cleansing, as well as diuretic properties. anyone who has tried a colon cleanse may be scared of this part, but it's actually very normal. nothing explosive or gut wrenching about it. energy levels are increased and weight becomes more manageable when the digestive system is clean and in good working order.

now that we've covered the in's and out's, let's talk about what it actually does in your body. most people realize that it's really hard to get a day's vitamins and minerals what with soil depletion, vitamin supplements with sketchy countries of manufacture, and the good ole FDA.

benefit #3: up to 200% improved vitamin uptake from food and supplements.

if you work out, and you're old (ish) like myself, you may overdo it from time to time.

benefit #4: aloe fights inflammation in the body.

and there are many miscellaneous benefits: increased immune response, better skin health, and aloe contains 19 of 20 amino acids.

it's good stuff. really a natural miracle plant. but you are going to get what you pay for! if you get a gallon for under 10 dollars, you're looking at some pretty low grade stuff. my favorite brand is http://www.lilyofthedesert.com/index.html. considering i drink 2oz twice a day, i'm spending under 10 dollars a week. it's well worth it!

the school room

since i cleaned and organized the school room today, i thought i'd share some pictures. a clean school room?!? i just had to get some documentation! i know most homeschool families are painfully organized and their lives are full of baskets from Pottery Barn and shelving from The Container Store, but we aren't one of those families. i feel like the gods are smiling on me if i can find a pencil sharpener from day to day.

when i started homescooling my oldest son almost 4 years ago we did school at the breakfast table and stored our supplies on the kitchen island. so yeah, i like it pretty good.

Weighty Issues

well Saturday is weigh-in day. i lost 3 more pounds this week, bringing me to a grand total of 17 pounds in three weeks!

how did i do it, you ask? simple.

torture.

ha, but really, my plan is pretty simple. a day looks like this:

2 oz Aloe Vera gel with 2 TBsp of golden flaxseed mixed in 15 minutes before breakfast.

1 cup Spava coffee fortified with guarana and green tea

- 2 eggs and a piece of turkey bacon for breakfast

20 minutes of yoga at least 4 times a week

Yerba Mate tea throughout the day

- fresh veggies, soy burger patty with mushrooms, and 2 oz cottage cheese for lunch

-2% string cheese or a piece of beef jerky for snack

*workout.

2 oz aloe vera juice mixed with 2 TBsp golden flaxseed 15 minutes before dinner

- last night we had fajitas, so i had a salad with chicken fajita meat, salsa, and guacamole. i do everything i can to stop eating at 6:30.

* my workout usually consists of 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer, 30 minutes of weight training and then 30 minutes of more cardio. sometimes i do the crossramp, sometimes i walk/jog. since i haven't had any carbs in weeks, some days my workout can be gruelling...i literally feel like i'm moving through quicksand and when i'm done i feel like i've had my ass kicked. i keep telling myself that those are the really effective workouts where i'm really increasing my fitness level and burning fat at significant rate since there is no surface sugar to burn.

overall, i'm feeling really good. i haven't had a drink in three weeks and i can tell the sugar detox has cleared my mind in major ways.

only 20 more pounds to go!

Spring-ish!

it's so exceptionally spring-ish outside that i'm having to restrain myself from trimming the crepe myrtles, pruning back the rose buses, feeding the lawn, and planting the strawberries (yes, i am a glutton for caterpillars and disappointment). somehow i know that i'm jumping the gun by at least two weeks. i always look forward to the cooler part of the year, but i tire of it very quickly.

yesterday, Bryan got home at a decent time so i let him stay with the kids while i went to the Y to workout. i was in the gym for about an hour and a half, then i walked the 1/2 mile track a couple of times. i was the only one out on the track and it was lovely. i daresay there are few things better in life than a walk in silence...

...and i had a thought. during the walk i was completely in tune with the rhythms of my body; my feet hitting the ground, my breath, and my muscles collaborating to move me. it was surreal, it was happening completely out of time with the modern world.

what was the rhythm of life when transportation was on foot or by horse? what is the rhythm of life now? how do these changes change us? feeling and controlling the operation of your body in meditative silence is awareness and mindfulness; riding in a vibrating capsule with music, phone, and (gods forbid!) sometimes tv is numbness and detachment from the self, not to mention one's surroundings. how do these things change our fiber? are we not energy, attuned to vibration and rhythm?

it was a good walk.

...and that's how these fools advance to the Feudal Age!

i overheard Daylon saying that just now.

the past few days have been pretty eventful, and i'm feeling really good and aligned with the cosmos.

i got my truck fixed! woohoo! i'm really proud of myself about it. Bryan's been acting like my truck had a virus and he's been nursing it back to health, saying things like 'it's getting better!' i don't know how a busted engine is going to get better on it's own, but through my research and ingenuity, it got better for 100 dollars as opposed to 2000+.

i watched a bunch of diagnostic videos and determined that we were indeed dealing with a cracked head, then started researching remedies. i knew the crack was small because i had very, very little coolant in my oil, so i decided to go with Steel Seal. this stuff isn't like stop leak, it actually lasts...forever. so for 90 dollars and 30 minutes of repair, my truck is running better than it did the day i got it. and i appreciate it much more than i ever have!

in other news, my Puerto Rican neighbors called the cops on us last night. for racism.

my husband was playing soccer in the road with my oldest son and two hispanic boys from down the road. one of the youngest kids kicked the ball off the tire of the Puerto Rican's car and he came storming out hollering and cussing. my husband was quite impressed with this teenager's effort to control the actions of a grown man, so he told him to STFU. the young Puerto Rican, surrounded by his thuggish buddies, then proceeded to tell my husband that he would knock him out with one punch, POW! generating much laughter from my husband and proving that aforementioned Puerto Rican really has no idea who he is messing with.

he goes in the house for a minute, them him and his boyz load up in the Ghetto Blaster and leave. it's getting cold and almost dark, so we all go in and start cooking when the door bell rings. lo and behold, it's an officer of the law! she asks if WE called the cops on a report of racism.

we talked very pleasantly with her on the porch for about 20 minutes and i must commend her on being my favorite cop ever. we explained the nature of the ongoing dispute with our neighbors and commented that if we were being racist, why were we taking our time to play soccer with the hispanic kids from down the road? on a side note, i'm wondering if they really perceived racism because a white man told them to STFU...because that was literally the only thing that was said.

during our chatting, the thuglets showed back up and the dad (type figure) was outside waiting to talk to her. we went in for a while, and when we went back out to check on the proceedings, those Puerto Ricans were screaming at this poor woman and generally going nuts. i guess they weren't getting the response out of her that they'd hoped for.

my final observations are as follows: if you decide to come out and threaten to knock your neighbor out and then call the cops on yourself, first make sure you know the address that you're calling from and not just the one you're calling about.

i'm sure this isn't the final chapter to this ongoing saga.

300

since AT&T is being so generous as to offer a free 7 day preview of every channel under the sun, me and the hubby snuggled up and watched 300 again last night.

this was the third time i've seen the movie, but the last time i watched it was at least a year ago.

i was once again struck by the copious amounts of male abdominal musculature...and i have a pretty big crush on ole King Leonidas. the color of the cinematography is just so lovely. and of course, i closed my eyes at the gory(est) parts.

there were some things that i had not noticed on previous viewings, and i'm curious as to how culturally relevant the scenes were to the Greek people.

first: the oracle. was she not practising Seid-style prophecy?

second: the notion of a glorious death only being found in battle. Heathens tend toward the belief of death in battle being the 'escape' from the cycle of reincarnation; did the Greeks also believe this?

third: the high regard for the women of Greece. as i thought about this i came to the conclusion that before the rise of monotheism the whole world probably regarded women in a more equal way.

i know it's a bit late for a movie review, but it's not very often that i actually like a movie. i think it's extremely rare that a movie is able to address issues such as valor and true strength of spirit and character without being cheesy or pretentious.

i give it two thumbs up. ;}

Finally

i've been wanting to start a decent, regularly updated blog of this sort for quite awhile. perhaps the fact that my truck is sitting in the garage with a busted motor is the reason i've finally taken the plunge.

of course, i'd rather be at the gym, or the library, or picking up something at the store, or one of the other million-jillion things i can think of to do now that i'm without the means to do it.
hmph.

so the gist of things is as follows. i've got three kids; Daylon is 12, Galilee is 5, and Asher is 4. we have a mini Schnauzer puppy named Gryphon. i have a husband, Bryan. i'm fortunate enough to afford to stay home and school my kids. We are Germanic Heathens, members of the OR, and of Othala Hearth. Suburban Heathens are funny creatures.

random factoids:
i'm a huge soccer fan, i love to canoe, i play the cello in a vastly diminished capacity than when i was young, i'm a fan of heavy jammy rock and neo-pagan folk music, i read, i agree with Ron Paul, i enjoy the dictionary, i work out alot to keep myself in much better shape than i appear to be in, 99% of the time i don't find entertainment entertaining, i love watching videos about Nibiru and the Annunaki, i love to debunk things just for fun with faulty pseudo-logic, and i generally don't believe the hype.


nice to meet ya!