285: movie stuff

tonight we watched "Who Killed the Electric Car".

i watched it last week while i was home alone but fell asleep about 2/3 through. it wasn't boring. i was just tired.

the movie made me angry. very angry.

sad too.

why are humans so... human? it sounds funny but in some cases it's horrendous.

i can understand that we might want to hit back when hit or hurt back when hurt. but why are we greedy? and mean for no reason? why do we get so ugly when we don't have to be? and on such a large scale?

i was reminded of why for sooooo many years i said i never wanted to have children.

284: still among the 'live and kicking

hey y'all!

Happy New Year to all my blog sistas and brothas.

i can't believe it's been so long since i posted. i almost couldn't remember how to log into my blog. :-(

i've been super busy on my end. what have y'all been doing? i guess i have to make the rounds, to catch up on all i've missed. :-)

right before Christmas, time seemed to go hyper-speed and i just didn't have enough hours in the day to do all i wanted or needed.

then before i knew it, mr. bliss was leaving to go visit his mom back home and baby bliss was heading off with her dad to her stepmom's parents' home.

and for the first time in a looooooooooooong time, i was home alone!

i really did intend to use some of that time for blogging. but i was sleepy. so i slept. i also got some reading done and a little crocheting too.

i also think i spent a lot of time playing Bejeweled 2. but my memory on that is a little foggy. which might be a sign of my budding addiction because it's full-blown now.

last night i started playing on king.com around midnight. i logged off around 6 a.m. no joke.

i just started playing again and i said i'd be off before the ball drops but i'm not so sure.

baby bliss and i are supposed to dress up for our midnight toast. i said i'd get dressed at 11:30. and we're supposed to wake mr. bliss at 11:45. (he passed out on us on the couch around 9:30.)

our party menu: nachos with black beans and cheese, and sparkling grape juice to toast with.

283: in-the-meantime post

while i wait to re-gain my farsightedness, here's some earth-friendly info to go for y'all.

i'm reading Mother Earth News as i'm typing and i see some things to share.



Water on the Web - help protect our planet's water

Find Local Food - where does your food come from?

Search for a Great Cause - donate to your fave charity by using this search engine

How clean is your electricity? - find out here

Demand cleaner air - sock it to the EPA

A Novel Idea - book exchange for avid readers

282: something i was 'sposed to blog about...

hey y'all.

there was something i was supposed to blog about but now i've forgotten it. not that there's not other stuff i want to blog about. but this was something i really wanted to blog about.

now it's a faded memory. it's right in the outer limits of my periphery but i can't see that far without my SuperDuperWonderWomanBadMamaBliss glasses. and i loaned those out to a friend who never gave them back so i'm stuck with seeing as plain ole Bliss, for the duration...

any way, if it comes back into view, i'll post it.

later y'all.

281: ALERT - identity theft

hey y'all.

i got two disturbing e-mails today about identity theft.

i'm gonna share them with y'all cuz it would be a sin and a shame not to.

* * *

Subject: FW: Identity theft...watch this video


Identity theft

This is exactly why I lock my doors when pumping gas.
This video is well worth your time to watch. This is
a 3 1/2 minute video produced by the Broward County,
FL Sheriff's Office. Identity thieves are at it
again, this time targeting people at gas stations.
This sort of crime never occurred to me, especially
since many of us never leave the side of our car when
pumping gas anymore.That has apparently not improved
our safety, especially for women who carry purses.
The footage of the actual crime being committed is
shocking in how easy it is to pull off. Please take
heed and pass it along to friends, families and
coworkers.


Click on the link below...


http://video.sheriff.org/psa_cartheft.shtml

* * *

Jury Duty Scam

This has been verified by the FBI (their link is also included below). Please pass this on to everyone in your email address book. It is spreading fast so be prepared should you get this call. Most of us take those summonses for jury duty seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic duty, that a new and ominous kind of fraud has surfaced.

The caller claims to be a jury coordinator. If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the scammer asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so he or she can verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant. Give out any of this information and bingo; your identity was just stolen.

The fraud has been reported so far in 11 states, including Oklahoma, Illinois, and Colorado . This (swindle) is particularly insidious because they use intimidation over the phone to try to bully people into giving information by pretending they are with the court system. The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning consumers about the fraud.

Check it out here: http://www.fbi.gov/page2/june06/jury_scams060206.htm

And here: http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp

http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp

http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp

And here: http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp

http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp

http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp

280: just chillin'

hey y'all!

what's been shaking 'round these parts?

i feel like i've been gone for ages. i miss y'all when i'm not here.

Aly, what's going on in your neck of the woods? we saw that some parts of your state had floods. baby bliss and i were worried girl. i gotta get over to your place to see what's happening with ya.

there are a bunch of others i need to drop in on too. but it probably won't be today. you see, i've been taking a much-needed chill.

the holiday bazaar weekend was busy busy busy at church. i went on friday night to help set up and write up the silent auction items. baby bliss and i were there for a few hours.

saturday we were there bright and early too. baby bliss helped work the kids' tables and i mostly wo-manned the silent auction items. i placed several items in the silent auction and two of them were snapped up (one of my crocheted doggy leashes and a fun yarn-and-wire, free-form, body-wear thingy i made.)

sunday the silent auction and kids' sale continued, before and after service. by the time it was all over, i was exhausted.

we missed church this sunday cuz i was just too tired to go. so we slept late. i'm sure God didn't mind.

and our ministers (along with some church members and members of a few other churches) are cruising. i really wanted to go too but for a number of reasons, i don't do the Big Boat Ride.

i am in need of a vacation tho. i'd love to take baby bliss to bermuda but there's the matter of the passports. getting them has been on my to-do list for about 2 years now. i have all the pertinent documents and know i need to just get the ball rolling but i haven't.

i'm content with going to florida for our next holiday (somewhere on the gulf coast) as long as the sun is shine-shine-shiney, the sand is sugary sweet, and the water is any shade of turquoise/azure/sapphire/teal/aqua.

cuz i'm a beach snob.

and i'll drive down. cuz i don't wanna fly any more. but i still want our passports. just in case we need to fly.

but in the meantime, i'm relaxing. i feel a little bad cuz i haven't done any personal writing at all. i've been to busy crocheting, work-writing, and indulging in my new guilty pleasure--playing ElfBalls and Santa Balls.

They are both games that require great skill and good vision. and they're fun too. I got ElfBalls from Tucows.com, a website that has lots of great resources and lots of them are free or free to demo.

go check out Santa Balls (along with a slew of other fun games) at Kewlbox.com

if nothing else, you'll get a good laugh out of it.

279: movie week

movies we've watched recently:


Going to School in India: a well-made documentary about children who live in various locations in India and the interesting places and ways they school.

English and several Indian languages. English subtitles


Kamikaze Girls: a comedy-drama about a teen-aged Japanese girl who lives in her own world. she loves the Rococo era and dresses in a style the Japanese refer to as Lolita. she accidentally takes up with a biker chick and chaos ensues.

Japanese with English subtitles


Private Fears in Public Places: a weirdly romantic drama about people who can't connect in meaningful ways. i liked the cinematography and the way the characters' lives intertwined.

French with English subtitles


Raise the Red Lantern: period piece set in 1920s China. four wives (each referred to as "mistress" and a number that tells which wife they are. i.e. first mistress, third mistress) compete with each other for their husband's attention with tragic results. beautiful imagery especially the costumes.

Mandarin Chinese with English (and other) subtitles

278: craft madness

hey y'all.

baby bliss and i have been crocheting like mad hens over here.

she's making a neck muff for her godmommy. (i don't think she reads my blog so i guess it's okay that i told.)

i'm working on two scarves for no one in particular tho i do have an idea who i might give each one to. i'm almost done with one. the other i just started.

i'm also working on a basket for the church holiday craft bazaar. which might not get finished cuz we're sposed to take stuff up there tomorrow and i'm not done. maybe halfway...

that brings me to my dilemma: i have lots of rings and a few other pieces of jewelry all done. even a few dog leashes. but i haven't labeled or packaged anything yet. grrrrr!

and i've been toying with the idea of donating all the stuff for the silent auction and kid's booth sales instead of doing a booth myself.

i've also been asked to help vendors set up the night before and act as auctioneer on saturday.

uh oh.

i don't have a clue what i'll be doing. it's a silent auction and that makes me feel a bit better but i'm still wondering. i'll have more info by this time tomorrow.

277: The Hindi-Bindi Club - a review

I will start with this disclaimer: this is my own unbiased opinion of a novel I read this summer. I was not compensated in any way for this review nor do I expect to be. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it to those who love learning about other cultures.

* * *

This is a book about love, marriage, family, food, and relationships.

Monica Pradhan did a great job of explaining the subtle layers of Indian culture for me.

In The Hindi-Bindi Club, three young-ish Indian-American women learn through their relationships with their moms that living up to the expectations of their families can allow room for their own individuality.

I learned many things from this book. For example:

- If I choose to cook more, I can try the yummy-sounding Indian recipes found through out this book.

- People are basically the same when it comes to family. Most of us want what's best for our families. Sometimes we're pushy but hey, it's what we know. :-)

- Maybe arranged marriages aren't so bad. Marriage can be difficult at times. Having two families willing to invest in the survival of one's marriage can be a good thing.

- Tradition and ritual can be good things too. Sometimes it's helpful to know what one is expected to do and then do it. Other times, maybe not. ;o)

- I really really want to visit India. As many regions as possible. I want to experience it live and in person.

Thank you Monica Pradhan for sharing this book with us. I reallllllly want to see this one on the big screen. Hopefully soon.

* * *

Christmas is coming y'all. If you're looking for stocking stuffers or you're making out your wish list, this one is a definite good read. :-)


.

276: how cool is this?

hey y'all.

i almost forgot to tell y'all this.

i belong to a couple of online reading groups/book clubs where you can create an account, list your favorite books, rate them, and write reviews (if you want).

about a week or so, i got a nice e-mail from the author of my favorite summer read, Monica Pradhan, author of The Hindi-Bindi Club.

she'd seen my rating of her book and thanked me for rating it so well . i think it was absolutely wonderful of her to take time to do that and i told her so.

i thought it was so nice in fact, that i decided to write a full review on Hindi-Bindi Club. i did and i'm gonna blog it in a separate post.

i'm also thinking about posting on amazon.com. (if i can remember my login info...)


.

275: get an elf

hey y'all.

a friend just sent me an e-mail with a link to her elf self.

well, i couldn't pull her up but i'm making my own elves right now.

it's funny and goofy. of course i haven't made any with my face. only baby and mr. bliss. LOL

if you wanna make your own elves, go here: ElfYourself.

you'll need to be able to upload photos from your own 'puter or else you'll have to do random elves.

have fun!

274: new stuff

hey y'all.

i was determined not to get caught up in the Black Friday hype. just cuz i never do.

but i couldn't resist taking a peek at online specials.

then i remembered that i really did need to buy some stuff. like business supplies so i could offset some business income.

so i ordered a case of paper from office depot. it was less than $20.

then i made the mistake of going to walmart.com. and i saw a digital cam on sale for less than $70. it came with a 1GB memory card and something called XtraDrive, a little device that turns my extra SD/MMC memory cards into USB thumb drives.

i thought, "wow. what a deal."

i wanted a new camera but couldn't justify (to myself) spending $100 or so on a new one when i already had one. i also needed a flash drive but couldn't decide which one to get. i also didn't want to pay a lot for one because as tech savvy as i am, i didn't really understand how they worked.

the paper i ordered came yesterday but we weren't home. mr. bliss had to get it from the office this morning. whoever packed it wasn't the brightest bulb in the bunch. there were 9 packages in one box and one package in another box all by itself. and some of the packages had split. thank God none of the paper was damaged.

the camera, memory card, and XtraDrive came today. in a big ole box with the giant bubble packs. the merchandise was slam on the bottom of the box and the bubbles were on top.

baby bliss inherited my old camera and she's happy as can be.

i'm also expecting a new printer i ordered from walmart.com. i'll have to pick that one up from the store cuz i wanted the free shipping. it's one of the all-in-one fax/scan/print/copy models. i'm hoping i like cuz it will save me from having to leave home to send and receive faxes.

i won't be using the new printer right away. (but i will hook it up to make sure it works.) i got the printer for a lot less than the $99 i'd previously seen it for.

i still have ink for the old one so i'll keep using it until the ink is gone. but once the ink is done, i'll be donating it to Goodwill.

if baby bliss gets a laptop for Christmas (as she's hoping), we can get rid of the old desktop 'puter in our office. that's going to Goodwill too.

my printers and cameras are all HPs. i've not had any problems with my HP products ever. i should have bitten the bullet and gotten the HP laptop. this Gateway has given me a few problems and i've barely had it for 6 months. it's still under warranty tho so anything major and i'll be sending it back for a full refund.

gotta run y'all. baby bliss is forcing me to take her to the gym. '-)


.

273: i was gonna vent...

about my grandma but changed my mind.

it's not that my thoughts were uncharitable. i was just gonna complain about her attitude.

but i think i'll pray about it instead. '-)

so what did y'all do for the holidays?

we were busy.

on wednesday, baby bliss and i drove to get a friend so he could go with us to T-day dinner at our church. he treated us to lunch at his job then we all hit the mall where he picked up a few uber-expensive (for my budget) pieces of clothing at ultra-trendy shops.

some time ago he had promised baby bliss a top and he told her it was her day to collect. i could not in good conscious allow her to pick out anything in the stores he got his stuff from. he's a good friend and all but i don't want baby bliss to get a taste of that kind of lifestyle.

not that our friend makes a million bucks or anything. but he's waitstaff at a popular restaurant and i'm pretty sure his weekly tips are substantial.

i steered baby bliss to a store that was more reasonably priced and let her loose. i tend to like clothes that appear classic but she's a trendy gal. she tried on a few tops in styles that are all the rage nowadays. she ended up with one in her favorite color and a few matching accessories. everyone was happy and we skedaddled on back to the pad.

(our friend is young enough to be my son if i'd had him at the same age my mom was when she had me. (we met him thru another young friend.) he loves to get his shop on and i'm not sure he understands the concept of "spend some, save some". good mommy/big sister/friend that i am, i did tell him that our friendly gov'ment will want their cut of his cash come tax time. but i'm not sure the message sunk in and he is an adult so i didn't belabor the point.)

so back to turkey day.

baby bliss grabbed the cake she baked, i grabbed a box of graham crackers, and we three headed to the church for grub.

about 25 people showed up and everyone brought something to eat. we stayed for about two hours, eating and socializing. one of baby bliss's friends showed up and they played with the puppy. (one of our members has a new puppy that she brought in with her.)

when we left church, we went to eat again at another friend's house. we stayed there for a few hours as well. friend #2 rode with us to take friend #1 home (a one-hour drive, round trip.)

baby bliss and i didn't make it to grandma's, our usual holiday haunt. the family was disappointed.

i think that was what led to the "church invasion" on sunday. LOL

my relatives have never approved of my choice(s) of spiritual practice and they still don't.

saturday, #1 auntie told me she wanted to visit my church one day. then she said she wanted to visit "tomorrow". okaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy...

sunday morning, baby bliss and i overslept. but thanks to a phone call from #1 auntie, we still made it to church on time. it involved a lot of fancy footwork, but we did it.

mr. bliss was on his way in as we were leaving. i asked him to go to church with us, since #1 auntie was going. he said no because he'd heard that #1 auntie was taking her daughter and #2 auntie as well.

i'm thinking mr. bliss thought there might be some kind of family altercation of biblical proportions, one he had no intentions of referee-ing.

two aunties and a cousin? as we headed for church, i wondered what they had up their sleeves.

.

272: if you're looking for a date...

try your local library.

we're still here.

baby bliss is on the PC and i'm on my laptop.

there's a young(er) man sitting at the table across from me. he's a cutie. dark, smooth skin, pleasant face, nice smile.

maybe it's my imagination, but i think he's watching me.

not that i'm paying attention. okay, i am. but only cuz i watch everyone around me. so i can feel safe.

if i was single and childless, it might be a hook up.

if...

271: last night we watched...

hey y'all.

it's been movie mania at our house. which is kinda good. network t.v. has gotten to be too predictable for me.

i still like "House" tho.

last night we watched "The Method": several job applicants were left in a room to psyche each other out as a means of eliminating the competition. things get heated, etc.

i liked the concept but not the execution. there wasn't enough tension or drama for me, for the type of movie i thought it would be.

Spanish with English subtitles.

* * *

"The Taste of Tea" was pretty good. it was funny and real despite its surreal-ness. it was the story of an unconventional Japanese family going about their every day lives. they all did normal stuff but always seemed to be in the middle of abnormal goings on.

Japanese with English subtitles.

* * *

"Separate Lies" was a British thriller about the horrid occurrences that resulted from a wife's affair with a dashing neighbor.

this one was worth watching again. it starred Emily Watson (of "Red Dragon" and "Gosford Park") and Tom Wilkinson (who has played in lots of movies including "Shakespeare in Love" and "The Full Monty").

we have more at home to watch and some i'm picking up today (we're at the library now). i hope i can find at least one more that's as funny as "Keeping Mum".

270: curse of the golden flower and more

we watched Curse of the Golden Flower (Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia) last night.

it as a chinese martial arts film starring Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li.

the story: the story of an emperor's family life during the Tang dynasty. drama, betrayal, tragedy and more drama in the palace in the Forbidden City. beautiful imagery. don't expect Jackie Chan-style stunts.

in Chinese with subtitles.

* * *

Strangers with Candy, starring Amy Sedaris, was an all out nut-fest.

a 40-something ex-convict/ex-trixie/ex-addict goes back to high school in hopes of waking her daddy from a coma.

not for the little ones.

* * *

Hijas de su madre: Las Buenrostro

this one was funny. dark humor.

set in Mexico. a family of women who married for money. and made sure they outlived their husbands to reap the rewards.

in Spanish with subtitles.

269: good vibrations

hey y'all.

thanks to everyone who send healing energy, prayers, and other forms of positivity my way. i'm feeling a lot better and have been taking every possible moment to relax.

i wanted to share an interesting tidbit with y'all.

remember i said i had an ugly bruise on my arm from the i.v.? well, it got uglier as the days went on. friday it was about the size of my palm (and i have big hands) and it was a dark maroon color. saturday it looked about the same.

saturday, baby bliss and i went to yoga.

a few hours later, i noticed that the bruise looked a lot better. a lot better.

yesterday i forgot to look at it.

today, you can't even tell it was there.

amazing.

i'm guessing the asanas got my circulation going really good.

i know it got my muscles all stretched out. my body was ache-y in weired places when i got up sunday morning.

today i felt good tho. like i want to do more yoga this week. :-)

any way, now i'm wondering if anyone else has ever experienced a "yoga cure".

if so, i'd like to hear about it.

thanks y'all.

268: my seven

hey y'all.

i'm late with this but i guess it's cool right? "-)

thanks to Mama Loves Baby for tagging me for this one.

here are the rules:

• Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
• Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
• Tag 7 random people at the end of the post and include links to their blogs.
• Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

here are my 7.

1. i used to have a gap in the middle of my teeth (front top)
2. when i was in high school, i bit my thumb nail too much and it got infected. my momma took me to the doc and he "lanced" it. lanced = cut me with a razor blade-looking thing then squeezed all the blood and pus out.
3. i thought my toes were ugly and i wore socks with sandals until i graduated from high school.
4. when i was in elementary school, i used to lick the dirt off my grandma's venetian blinds
5. i won a book as a prize in a dance contest when i was in 1st grade.
6. mr. bliss and i grew up in the same neighborhood, know a lot of the same people, and i dated one of his distant relatives (distant by kin and miles) when i was 18. but he and i didn't meet until i was in my late 20s.
7. i learned how to drive when i was 27.

now i'm tagging...

lemme think about it and get back to ya. '-)

267: movies at our house

y'all know we make the most of our wonderful county library system. and i've written before about all the great movies we've been checking out.

we've been checking out lots and i've been forgetting to tell y'all about them.

my apologies.

yesterday we watched "Shirley Valentine", a British movie about a woman who took a vacation and found a new life. it was a comedy of sorts.

it got me thinking about my own life and all the things i plan to do as soon as baby bliss flies the coop. :)

now we're watching a "bollywood" movie called "Picture Perfect". it's in english and one of the indian languages. i'm thinking punjabi but i'll have to find out for sure.

i don't like subtitles cuz i have to read them. which is hard to do while i'm blogging. but i love foreign films and a lot of them don't have the "english version" option. but even when they do, it's kinda weird.

even baby bliss has to admit that listening to english when you know the people on the screen are speaking some other language is weird.

"Boca a Boca" was good too. it was a comic drama about an aspiring actor who takes a sexy job and ended up in the middle of some other people's mess.

266: stress kills (a long one)

but not me cuz i'm still here.

hallelujah!

i've missed it here. but i've been taking a break.

it's not that any one thing was more hectic than any other thing at our house.

it was a combination of things actually: stress in months past, weird electrical happenings all around that seemed to be signaling me to take action of some sort, mr. bliss's subtle badgering (yeah, i know it sounds like an oxymoron) for me to perform my wifely duties, baby bliss being so mouthy (thanks to my mother for being the fairy godmother who bestowed that gift upon us), me wanting to do more crafty stuff and feeling like there was no time between doing laundry/home schooling/washing dishes/working from home/vacuuming/cleaning the tub/keeping up with routine maintenance on the car/making sure all the bills are paid on time...

in other words, there was a lot to do and only one of me.

last week, my body/mind/spirit said "enough!"

i had a small flutter of chest pain tuesday night. wednesday, as i was bending down to retrieve something from the floor, i had a HUGE pain. but it was in my back, closer to the middle, by my shoulder blade.

it felt like someone had stabbed me in the back with a dull, ginormous knife. it took my breath away. all i could do was cry. i tried to hold it in because baby bliss and i were home alone.

but i couldn't.

she looked at me and i saw my pain reflected in her face when she said, "mommy are you alright?"

i shook my head. then i snapped back to mommy mode. i asked her to hand me the wintergreen essential oil. cuz i thought it might help.

well, it didn't. so i asked for the arnica gel. that didn't help either.

i got online and looked up the symptoms of heart attack in women. cuz ya know, sometimes they differ from men's symptoms.

and sure nuff, there was something about pain between the shoulder blades.

and i was like, "oh shyt. i could be croaking here. let me get my tail to the doc." yes, my common sense said "hospital". but my heart said "doc's office".

my doctor's office is less than half a mile from us. and he's a great doctor. and i love his calm demeanor and the fact that he's holistic and an M.D.

i figured he could do an EKG in his office and give me a shot of something. cuz that pain was sooooo bad, i figured if i survived, surely there was something my doc could do right in his office that would make my body act like it was 'sposed to.

sometimes real life goes just the way we want. other times it only happens in movies and fairy tales.

sadly, there was no magic wand waiting at my doc's office.

he was sitting at the front desk on the phone when i got there. (thank you father-mother God.)

i told him i needed an EKG and bless him, he managed to talk to me and the person on the phone at the same time: his EKG machine was broken but he could examine me and if necessary transfer me to the hospital.

to make a long story short, when i heard the medics from the ambulance and fire truck coming
thru the door, my heart began galloping in escape-from-Freddy-Kruger mode.

in the ambulance, the young EMT said she needed to take blood and i almost stroked out. i don't like needles and for good reason. my veins are small and they like to party. my blood pressure sky rocketed. the EMT changed her mind. she decided to drive and let the older EMT (a very soothing man) take her place in the back with me.

he gave me baby aspirin and a nitroglycerin tablet. that nitro tablet is one very good argument for keeping your heart fully functional. my prayers go out to those who must take them. seriously.

when he said he still needed blood, i felt betrayed. i know it's his job but why on God's green earth would anyone think it a good idea to stick needles in a distressed person while riding in a moving vehicle?

i just don't get it. but i did get with the program. i convinced myself that it would hurt less if i gave myself a reiki treatment and called on God to personally get on the stretcher with me.

and it worked. God wrapped me in reiki's healing energy while i sang one of my favorite songs from church, "Blessing to the World" by Karen Drucker.

thankfully there was no pain. but that didn't stop my overworked brain from recalling every movie i've ever seen where the ambulance crashes on the way to the hospital.

the other drivers on the road seemed to be in another dimension. i could see them laughing and talking, celling while driving, seemingly paying no attention to the emergency vehicle as it passed. that we we were on a street that sees a huge number of accidents daily only added to my paranoia.

i was appalled. i always stop for emergency vehicles, even if there is a median in the road.

the paramedic couldn't get a vein to sit still after several sticks including one in the back of my hand.

after the looooooong two-mile drive, we arrived at the hospital. as i was being wheeled into the E.R., i saw mr. bliss rounding the corner in his hunk of junk. i was relieved to know that baby bliss wasn't still sitting in the doc's office waiting and afraid.

now pay very close attention to this part y'all. this is stuff i didn't know and wish i had.

the nurse who was able to get my blood started an i.v. (something i didn't know would happen.)

they hooked me up to all the bells and whistles to monitor my heart. aside from a plethora of irregular rhythms, PVCs, and drops in heart rate, everything seemed okay.

after the preliminary blood work checked out, the doc said he was ordering a CT scan.

oh. okay...

so we waited a while. then my arm began hurting at the i.v. site. the nurse said he couldn't take it out cuz i needed it for the CT scan.

huh?

i was too afraid to ask and i wanted it to be over so i could go home and sleep.

at some point, the nurse asked if i was allergic to anything (food, medicine, etc.). i told him my food allergies and he asked what kind of reactions i got. i forgot to mention my allergy to crabs (but not shrimp) and he didn't say that the dye they would inject for the CT is iodine-based.

i was tired and i'd been answering questions for about an hour. what was his excuse?

a different nurse took me to get the scan. she dropped me off in the hallway outside the door without so much as a "see ya later".

the guy who retrieved me (the scan tech?) was nice. and kinda cute. too young for me. if i was single, i mean.

he explained the procedure and told me the dye would make my arm feel "a little warm" and said i might feel like i had wet myself. he said i would hear a voice that would tell me to take breath and hold it but that it should be a shallow breath. etc. etc.

wellllllllllllllllll, if you are allergic to shellfish, be sure to tell it from the mountaintop. in light of what happened, i'm pondering a medic alert bracelet that says i'm allergic to shellfish.

the dye was not warm. it was hot. like i'd stuck my hand and arm in the oven. and i got nauseated and my breathing became, as they say, labored. and i thought i was gonna die right there. i felt like i was gonna pass out and choke on my vomit. seriously.

i couldn't call out and i couldn't keep still when the voice told me to hold my breath.

i thought they would notice. (they didn't.)

a different tech put me back on my bed and the cutie came out to wheel me back to the E.R. the first tech noticed my teeth chattering and offered to get me a blanket. cutie said, "i'll get it". and he did.

as he was wheeling me back to my E.R. cubby, he called me "mami". mmmmm... sexy... if i hadn't been so out of it, i would have gotten his number.

then we got back to the E.R. and there were baby and mr. bliss.

oops! ahem. yes, i had a family waiting for me. cutie greeted them with the utmost professionalism and bid me a compassionate farewell.

in my absence, my E.R. doc had been replaced by his replacement. she came in later to tell us that the scans looked okay. she followed with all the usual stuff about following up with my own doc, etc. then she left and the nurse who'd dumped me in the hall outside the CT door came in with discharge instructions.

she also removed my i.v.

OUCH!

30 minutes later (at lunch), my arm seemed sorer than it should be. i took off the bandage and ewwww. there was a small ugly egg growing on my arm. and it was starting to bruise.

at home, i sprang into recovery mode. i downed a glass of spirulina-laden juice to help remove the radiation (?) from my body. later i took arnica to help with the bruising and vitamin C to help with general healing. i also took some B after i checked online to see what might be going on with my arm.

can anyone say "phlebitis" and "thrombosis"? seems the two are commom after problems with i.v. and after i.v. removal. i also used warm compresses to keep the blood moving.

now, a week later, my arm is still bruised. it looks a lot worse but feels a lot better.

i did follow up with my doc. he saw me the next day. he said all the hard facts on my blood work haven't come back yet. he also said he's gonna schedule me for a stress test. (that's the treadmill one.) i've done that before but it's been years.

so that's what i've been up to y'all. it was kind of a nightmare while it was going on. but now it's over and i (almost) feel like it didn't really happen.

except that i know it did. and that's part of why i wrote about it here. so i won't ever forget that my physical health really does rely on my mental health.

sometimes i forget.

264: a crafty challenge

hey all y'all blogging moms, mamas, mommas, and mommies.

i have a crafty challenge for y'all.

i'm thinking this will be a fun one. hoping. praying. :-)

for everyone who said they want to take up a hobby, do it!

something fun with a low learning curve.

like the baskets. LOL

it took a few tries for me to get a decent one but you do get a basket (of sorts) on your first go. if you stick with it.

and it can be a small one.

any way, learn something that will generate an item or two. then you can proudly display your stuff on your blog and your window sill. or bedroom dresser. or give them as holiday gifts.

and no, making snowflakes with the kidddies doesn't count.

our library has all kinds of instructional DVDs. maybe your's does too. (oooh, speaking of the library, i've got a few overdue items. not good.)


so get at it y'all and show us some pictures!

263: thanks y'all (and a "challenge")

howdy y'all.

i see that folks have been checking out the crafty posts. :-)

thanks for all your comments, ideas, suggestions, pats on the back, and requests to buy things.

it feels good when people show appreciation for my crafts. especially because i am thinking about selling my stuff online.

i mean, it's one thing when family likes your stuff. you expect them to say nice things. ;-)

y'all have really touched my heart at a time when i need it. (i'll tell y'all more about that later.)

now for the fun part. the challenge: coming soon to a blog near you.

262: bliss crafts - baskets

i started making the baskets after we moved south.

i hadn't crocheted much in a while but i still had a big stash of yarn. and somehow it began mysteriously multiplying while mr. bliss wasn't looking.

i knew i had to do something with it or risk mr. bliss noticing the ever-increasing volumes of brightly-colored balls of fluff.

so i got online and searched a gazillion websites for yarn crafts and crochet patterns.

one of the things i found was a how-to for baskets. of course mine didn't come out like the ones in the picture. (it never does...)

but i didn't give up.

i began experimenting with color and materials. i learned something interesting: the baskets already know what they're gonna look like when i start. i'm just a vessel for bringing them into view. '-)

261: bliss crafts - earrings, part 2

some of them are no-brainers. meaning i didn't have to come up with a design. i just saw a nice charm and hooked it on.

but there are still some things to consider, like weight and color.

you can't put a heavy charm on a light-weight ear wire. and i'm not too fond of silver ear wires with gold-tone head pins.

more...

260: bliss crafts - earrings, part 1

i'm thinking this might be better in 2 parts cuz i do have quite a few pics.

making the earrings is still a work in progress. i gave up before i perfected the technique that makes a nice round connection from ear wire (the part that goes in the ear) to head (or eye) pin (the part that holds the actual earring i.e. beads, shells, etc.)

i said i wasn't gonna make any more earrings then i got inspired to make a few special pair. i don't have pics of those (yet). the pics are all earrings i made about 2 years ago.

these are some i've sold and/or given away:

259: saturday stuff

hey y'all.

how's the weekend so far?

mine has been relaxing. baby and mr. bliss got up early for a trip to the mall. he promised her a new pair of boots and she went to collect.

she and i talked about new boots. we even went online and checked out the pair she liked and an alternate (that i suggested).

so tell me why my husband brings her back in here with a pair of suede boots with a 3 inch platform?

i'm guessing he thought it was okay cuz most of our flip flops are the platform ones. they're just more comfy somehow.

but i think there's a big difference in a tween wearing wedgie flip flops and one wearing suede platform boots.

yeah, she can walk in 'em. but i just don't like it.

i guess i'm really shocked that mr. bliss--the daddy who monitors skirt lengths, amount of lip gloss, tightness of pants and tops--thinks the boots are just fine.
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258: movies

hey y'all.

mr. bliss got home on time for once. so we watched a few movies.

the first was The Painted Veil, with Ed Norton. it was okay but not what i expected. the scenery was what i liked best, it think. i can't believe it was still a rental from the library. :-(

then we watched Hotel Rwanda. horrifying. great acting tho. even Nick Nolte was believable.

now i'm watching Boca a Boca. it's hilarious so far.

last night baby bliss and i watched Babette's Feast. we both really liked it but she hates subtitles and i can't read them and do other stuff (like blog) at the same time. so i only got bits and pieces of the story until close to the end.

257: we're making snowflakes

did y'all see my post last year about the snowflakes?

you can make them at this website Popular Front.

last year each snowflake donated to charity. this year i'm not sure cuz i didn't see anything relating to it.

but it's fun y'all. take the chaps (that's "children" for those of y'all who don't speak southern) and let them make snowflakes. it will keep them outta your hair for a few hours. guaranteed.

but i warn y'all: it's addictive. if you only have one computer in the house and you'll need your's that day, you've gotta have something really spectacular planned to get it back.
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256: high tea

5:29 p.m.

while i was drafting this, baby bliss and i were watching Brief Encounter, an old B & W movie about a British woman who had an "affair" with a doctor she met.

it's an old movie so there's no real hanky-panky shown. just some kissing and a lot of talk.

but it was good and gossipy. the woman lived in a small village and she and her paramour were spotted around a few times by women she knew. all the woman's ducking, hiding, and narrative soul searching turned what could have been a boring movie into relatively high drama.

baby bliss and i noted -- and remarked on -- how much tea was drunk by the characters and what they ate with their tea.

that led me to thoughts of "high tea" and we researched it online.

we learned that what most people think of as "high tea" isn't what most people think.

we also learned other interesting tidbits about afternoon tea.

then we decided we're gonna do our own afternoon teas.

every day.

okay y'all. stop laughing.

i know it's not gonna happen every day. not 'round here.

but i'll try my best.

we discussed going to our local thrift stores to buy pretty tea cups and saucers. i said i'd even get us a silver tray and a tea cart. (only if i can find them in the thrift y'all.)

today we had cookies with our tea. and we wore our red summer straw hats.

i'm sure our teas will get more elaborate as time allows. baby bliss is a drama queen.

255: arts-and-crafty bliss

here are the links to previous posts with photos of crafty bliss.

some of it will be sold.

i really do have a ton more stuff in here, some that's been photo'd and some that's waiting for its 15 minutes of fame.

i promise the next crafts post will have pics in it. i didn't want this one to get too long. and also it's after 11:30 p.m. and i've got an early bell tomorrow.

for those of you who haven't seen them before, enjoy. if you have seen 'em, oooh and ahhh like it's your first time laying eyes on 'em.

many thanks to the mommy who inspired this post (and the one coming). you have my sincere gratitude. :0)

the bracelet

i call it the "Fertility Bracelet". it's explained in the post...


the rings

• fall - red and gold (i'm gonna add a small dangling charm to this one but only if i find something that complements it perfectly)
• winter - blue and white (this one won't be for sale)
  

baskets

• Sunni Daze - my first
• Luv Handle - one of the Fuzzies; the only one with a handle
  

the scarf

summer weight, 100 % cotton

i actually made two. the other is navy blue and missing. (thank you baby bliss. mommy still loves you.)
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254: coming soon...

more photos of my crafty stuff.

lest y'all think i'm tooting my own horn, i've had a request from one of my blog sisters (mommy to the cuter-than-cute Stella and Thomas).

i've posted photos here before but it's nice to have someone ask...

i'll also link to the previous post(s).

note: i'm really writing this to myself as a reminder. otherwise i'll forget.

carry on.

253: fritini anyone?

does anyone remember fritini?

it was a dried veggie mix that was out in the 70s or early 80s.

we used to add water, form patties and fry them as burgers. we usually ate them with eggs and toast.

i still remember the scrumptious taste and i've been trying to find the mix for years with no luck.

if anyone knows where i can find fritini, please, lemme know. i need it! :-)

thanks y'all.
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252: taking a deep breath and reeeeeeee-leeeeeeeasiiiiiing

hey y'all.

i just got an e-mail from the Client.

my part of the Main Project is done. with the exception of a few minor changes (for the graphic design firm), the Client's Client is happy with it all.

hallelujah!

now i can get back to sleeping, my own writing projects, making jewelry, making baskets, eating! :-)

thanks to everyone who sent good wishes, positive energy and prayers my way. i know it all worked cuz my stress level was way lower for the second half of the Main Project, which was the shortest but most intense part of it.

251: children, church, commerce, and crafts

can y'all tell from the title that our church is having a holiday craft bazaar?

they're calling for vendors and i'm thinking 'bout selling some stuff.

i have a things i made that are just sitting round here wondering why.

i already have:

• 3 (crocheted) dog leashes (that were incomplete; i finished 2 last night)
• 1 ring
• 1 bracelet
• 1 crocheted scarf
• 3 baskets
• several pair of earrings (but some need a little work)

i plan to make more rings cuz they're the fastest to make. the only thing is coming up with design ideas...

i might make a few baskets but i'm not really committed to the idea. i did find some really groovy yarn at the dollar store tho. it would make pretty barrette or pencil holders for the kids.

did i mention that the kids will be making ornaments to sell so they can raise money for the youth fund?

i'm not sure if all vendors are sposed to donate any of their proceeds to the church or the kids but i plan to.

the bazaar is Dec. 1 but we have to take the stuff to the church by Nov. 30.

that gives me 30 days right?
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250: today's Dr. Phil show

hey y'all.

did anyone see today's Dr. Phil show?

the reason i'm asking is cuz the one we saw did something weird towards the end.

the last segment was shown twice on our t.v.

i'm not sure if that was a t.v. station glitch, a Dr. Phil Show glitch, or a halloween glitch (as baby bliss claimed).

i'm wondering if the show will be exactly the same when it comes on at 8 tonight.

249: how do

hey y'all!

what's been shaking round here??

i feel like i've been gone for a loooooooooooong time. i'm sure y'all have some new and exciting news right?

i do. :-)

mr. bliss took me to a movie saturday night then treated me to a manicure and pedicure. :-) i got the white-tipped pedicure and it sure is pretty.

248: good intentions

hey y'all. 

top of the morning and all that good stuff! 

i sure did mean to sleep until 10 this morning. but my subconscious mind played a trick on me. or maybe it was something bigger, a Universal conspiracy of sorts cuz i needed to be up early for some (as yet) unknown reason. 

any way, i forgot to turn off my daily alarm on my cell phone. and even tho the phone was on vibrate, it woke me up any way.  :-(  but i ain't mad at you God. 

i cleaned (most of) the bathroom, addressed a mess of envelopes that need to go out, remembered that baby bliss wants to go to Victoria's Secret to get the new Spice Girls CD, and remembered to make a Very Important reservation for tomorrow morning. 

i also had time to think about some home schooling stuff. i don't know if i mentioned this before, but baby bliss loves movies and music. with the same passion i have for reading and writing. so i've come up with a way to bond her favorites with the subjects she likes less (reading and writing). i found some book report templates online and morphed them into movie analysis worksheets; i'm about to do the same for music too. 

usually we do a lot of verbal work with these subjects, which was good because i've been able to document baby bliss's correct use of her ever-expanding vocabulary, her grasp of inference and innuendo, how well she pays attention to detail, and her evolving ability to logically assess contextual circumstances and predict outcomes. 

but the time has come for baby bliss to move in other directions. 

now she'll have to stretch her brain a little more and put it all on paper. i anticipate a little bit of resistance but not much. if she wants to continue watching her favorite movies during the week, she'll embrace the idea. :-) 

and it's not that she won't read or write. she likes reading and writing fiction (short stories) and has been known to dabble at poetry. i also stress the importance of sustaining long distance friendships by encouraging her to write letters to her friends back where we used to live. 

i proof and edit all her works (not for context or content, only for formatting, grammatical and punctuation errors) while we go over the rules for English grammar and punctuation, but baby bliss is responsible for making all corrections. 

sometimes one letter or story takes a few hours but it's okay. for us, home schooling is all about taking the time to get at least a basic understanding of one thing before we move on to the next. so i don't feel like i'm coercing her. i'm just helping her understand that movies and music can be tools for education as well as entertainment.    :o) 

247: wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew

did y'all hear that?

it's my big sigh of relief.

the worst is over with the Main Project. we have a 4-day lull before Stage 3 kicks in.

today was fairly quiet but i was on edge most of the day, wondering if i'd forgotten to foist off any piece or part of the Main Project to the next person in line.

then later, there was Something but it was Something i had no previous knowledge of and so i didn't have to worry about it. (thank you Father-Mother God/Goddess/Universe.)

but i did worry. i e-mailed and called, to see if there was something i could do to help. there was nothing. (thank you Divine Energy that lives within us all.)

so the ball rolled back to someone else's court and i went back to being jittery bliss.

it felt weird not to be getting several e-mails an hour, making back-to-back phone calls, writing drafts between tossing loads of laundry in to wash or dry, helping baby bliss with math while uploading photos to the FTP server...

i don't expect to hear anything tomorrow (fingers crossed) and i'm planning to sleep late. at least until 10.

246: g'morning

hey y'all.

just peeking in to see what's shaking and stirring...

i'm 'sposed to be in the shower cuz we gotta take these chaps (my nieces and nephew) back to their momma.

how was everyone's weekend?

mine was stoooopid busy.

working for Client A of course. but it's been good. no complaints except that i didn't have a lot of time to show my kin the sights of our big city. (they live in a reallllllly small town.)

it looks like the Main Project is drawing to a heart-pounding close. i'm thankful.

we're gonna miss church (2nd sunday in a row) but i know God understands. :o)

what are y'all doing today?

soon's i'm outta the shower, we're hitting the road.

ciao for now.

245: "For the One" Dance

hey y'all.

wow, feels like i've been gone a looooooooooooooong time.

time was out of joint for me before but now it's like totally doing it's own thing. it feels good but i know i live in the "real" world and most of the time i have to operate on other people's clocks.

but the day is coming where i'll be back to doing my own thing again and it's coming soon. LOL

but that's not what i came to talk about.

i came to talk about the Weekend.

the Dance, y'all. the Dance...

it was like nothing i've ever experienced.

baby bliss and i took a 2-hour drive north and arrived in another dimension.

i can't describe the whole thing cuz i think most of it is so sacred that y'all really have to experience it for yourselves to get it.

but the Dance (and i mean the whole event, not just the physical movement) was more than i imagined.

the Dance is a tool used to promote peace and healing within the individual and the wider community as well. dancers are dancing to heal themselves which in turn helps the world heal.

when we are healthy and whole, i think we're more likely to be peaceful and to promote peace.

neither baby bliss nor i danced inside the dance arbor. we were support crew or "dog soldiers". baby bliss was so happy that there were 2 other girls and a boy her age too. they were known as the puppy soldiers. :-)

we all worked hard to support the dancers in any way we could. we danced too, but outside the arbor, to help the young people inside to know that there are people who care about their well-being and who encourage them to move towards healing.

but dancing outside the arbor helps heal too.

a few times i was overcome with grief while dancing. the drums and the singing (which is a part of the Native American-style dance ceremony) began to remind me of Africa and slavery, of the marching and singing during the 60s, and so much more.

in dancing through my tears, sadness and anguish, i moved towards my own healing.

we were a small minority of brown skin at the Dance. where in the past i've sometimes felt mixed emotions of fear and anger when in crowds of white skin, this weekend i felt nothing but love.

and it was genuine.

i've never experienced a feeling like that even with my own blood relatives.

i feel renewed, like i've been baptized and all things past are kinda hazy memories.

(that reminds me that i need to journal the dreams i had over the weekend, before i forget them.)

any way, if anyone wants to know more details about the weekend, please feel free to e-mail me.

and if anyone thinks they might want to check out a Dance, either as a dancer or crew member, lemme know.

i'm sticking with local dances this year but plan to travel next year to at least one overseas Dance. the Dances present amazing opportunities to expand your network of friends/spiritual family.

i know there will be someone who reads this who will be moved to experience a Dance for him/her self.

if it's you, e-mail me.

let's Dance together!

:-)
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244: the ABC lineup

hey y'all.

whatcha watching at your house?

we're looking at "Private Practice" right now. it started out cool. let's see what it gives.

"Pushing Daisies" was hilarious. if i can remember to tune in, i'll be watching every wednesday night at 8.

okay y'all. i gotta get some work done.

TTFN.

or is that SLFN?

243: cellular oldies

my grandma has a cell phone y'all.

she got it as a birthday present last year. #2 Auntie kinda forced it on her.

it's the pre-paid kind and it kinda works for her. except that she keeps forgetting to Top Up when she runs out. so we've had to get her number changed once already cuz they cut her service off when she didn't put any $$ on the phone.

she called us about 20 minutes ago to ask me how to turn the ringer volume up on her handset.

uh oh.

grandma is not at all technically savvy.

she only lives around the corner so i asked her if she wanted us to come over cuz that would be faster than trying to tell her on the phone.

she said no need for us to be galivanting at night.

okay grandma.

then she kept me on the phone for 10 minutes, trying to figure out which teeny tiny button was the right one. *sigh*

finally baby bliss said she could help so i let her talk to grandma.

lawd have mercy. that chile is a tech wiz. she told grandma all the right stuff (at least it sounded right) but grandma just couldn't get with it.

small buttons, low tech scores, and bad eyesight all conspired against grandma.

there was no pumped up volume at her house tonight.

242: working in a coal mine

hey y'all.

i'm about to go to bed. i've been getting in some early zee's for a week or two. and i've been getting up early too.

it's the work. and the Client.

and the whole experience.

i believe God is showing me that i can have this but only if it's what i really want.

for now i'm in. but once the Main Project ends, i'm taking a fast french fry-grease guzzling bus back to my quiet and peaceful life.

i know some people thrive on deadlines and that "get-er-done-now" adrenaline.

i am not one of them.

years ago... long before baby bliss was born...

i was the expert on multi-tasking, priority-juggling, and getting it done before you even realized you needed it.

those were the days when i wanted so badly to get the choreography in aerobics class so i could keep in step with the rest of the ladies.

today i need sun salutations and downward dog poses coupled with the abdominal work of pilates. that means i ain't afraid of hard work but it has to be low key and laid back or i'm out of sorts.

don't get me wrong y'all. i'm grateful for the experience. as a friend and i discussed the other night, sometimes ya won't know whether or not something is for you until you jump in feet first.

well, i'm off to work for another 30 minutes then it's off to bed with me. i'll be getting up 'round 8 i 'spect.

241: a blissful weekend

hey y'all.

baby bliss and i are escaping to the wilds this weekend.

church was phenomenal Sunday. we met Jeanne White Eagle and we've been inspired to attend a dance.

if the event is half as cool as she is, we're in for a phenomenal experience. go here Jeanne White Eagle to check out what i'm talking about.

the only thing that gives me pause: most people are Camping Out.

now y'all know how i feel about camping. if ya don't, read it and pray for me.

actually i think we're gonna sleep in the car. perfectly do-able.

that's how much i want to share in this experience.

i'm thankful the information and opportunity were put on my path.

amen.

240: from grandma

"don't putcha hand on that glass. that grease might be hot chile."

i'll give y'all the details later.

i've been editing all day and i'm about to escape from here! :-)

239: second wind

hey y'all.

i've been waiting for my second wind all day. is it coming? shoot. i'll be ready for bed in a few.

now days the one thing about staying up all night is that i know I'll be dead tired very early, when a "decent hour" for bedtime rolls around again.

all this research has been kicking my tail this week. it's not the research itself. it's the copy-and-paste that i'm doing to compile the data.

*sniff, sniff* i need a hankie y'all.

i wanna read, i wanna get back to working on my bigger basket, and i'm starving too. but i don't feel like moving from the love seat.

so i'm watching Oprah. there are two young transgendered young people on today's show. i've been very interested in this topic for a while cuz i've been researching it for a project i've been working on. for longer than i want cuz that's what happens with a lot of my projects.

i haven't been writing at all. other than for work and here. but it's okay. for now.

238: a letter to Raven

dear Mr or Miz Raven,

who ever you are, please stop giving out my phone number. i have taken two calls for you today already and the last caller told me you gave him my number on an application. that is something i DO not appreciate at all.

it's not like i don't have enough on my plate without answering calls for a person i don't know. it's more than annoying. it's cruddy.

why would you make up a number to put on an application? why not put "N/A", "none", or the ever-popular "none uh yo bizness"?

i'd be happy to take calls for you (even messages) if you had called me first and we had a financial agreement attached to said phone calls. however, this is not the case.

rest assured that when i find out who you are, i'm gonna report you to The Authorities. i don't know which Authorities but know that there is an Authority out there that reprimands people like you.

that is all.

bliss

237: GROOOOOOOO-VEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

hey y'all.

i came across something good during my travels online today. yeah, when i was 'sposed to be working.

it's about a project called "Feeling Groovy".

there's a guy named Nigel Nix who's an English teacher in Germany. he has "...designed a program online to make people feel happy for at least one minute using video and sound."

his goal is to make 1,000,000 people happy with this project.

i haven't checked it out yet y'all but i'm gonna. here's the link so y'all can go check it out too: Feeling Groovy
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236: amen and hallelujah!

hey y'all!

God is good.

i asked and i been receivin'. :-)

angels are appearing to relieve my stress. i'm not joking.

not the imagined winged beings. i'm talkin' 'bout the people God puts on our path to help us along the way.

y'all know just the other day i was all stressed about Client A.

yesterday baby bliss and i got to the library late. every chair and all the tables were full. we circled the place for a few minutes, hoping two seats would magically appear and that's exactly what happened. on our third round, we saw a table with only one occupant and we swooped down like vultures.

we didn't know we were gonna be sitting with an angel. we asked if we could sit and he welcomed us to the table. baby bliss immediately noticed that he and i had the exact same laptop sleeve. except he didn't have a laptop and used his as a bag.

baby bliss ran off to use an internet computer and the angel spoke to me. we ended up having a deep and insightful conversation that helped lessen my anxiety in a major way.

today my angel was the employee of a company that contracts with Client A. she called just in time to save me the trouble of starting what would have surely led to a long round of e-mail and phone tag.

and i'm thankful.

amen.

235: give 1, get 1

have y'all heard about the $100 laptop project, designed to provide children in "developing" nations with laptops? if you haven't, you can read about it when you follow the link.

if you have, there's new information about the project and i'm giving it two thumbs up.

starting november 12, you can "give 1, get 1" for $399. in other words, if you buy a $200 laptop to be sent to a child in a developing nation, you can get one for your own child for an additional $200.

go here for the full details: Give1 Get 1.

234: stress!

hey y'all.

i

do

not

like

being

stressed!


i've been working on the Main Project for Client A. i've also been doing other Small Projects as they come up.

the Main Project, though detailed and Very Important, has turned out to be fun.

it's the other stuff that's stressing me. it's been a challenge to get back into the swing of being on someone else's clock. not literally because i'm not punching in. but when an e-mail or call comes in, i'm expected to be Jill on the Spot.

in my meeting with Client A, i was told that they have an extremely high level of expectation. not that i'm not capable of doing it. but i'm still getting used to this gig.

it's not like when you work face-to-face with folk you see every day. the majority of my contact with Client A is through e-mail. phone calls are rare. in-person meetings rarest of all. i'm still feeling these folks out and the learning curve is stretching out further than i'd like.

i've been dreading opening e-mail from Client A because i know there will be some Small Project that requires my immediate attention. as soon as i read it, i feel anxious.

it's always my intention to respond accurately and in a timely manner. but my panic causes me to second-guess myself which causes me to go into overdrive which results in the opposite of what i want.

instead of working efficiently and swiftly, i feel the need to check and re-check my work over and over again, resulting in delays in delivery and more heart palpitations for me as i wait to hear how the finished product has been received.

the fear of making mistakes is causing me to have heart palpitations. literally.

and i thought there was no job more stressful than being a mommy...

i believe this is God's way of sending me a message: do what you love and stick to it or else. LOL

what's ironic is that the Main Project is the kind i usually don't like to do; the Smaller Projects consist of work i've previously enjoyed and it's how i market myself. who'd have thunk it?

one of the best things about working from home/as a contractor is the flexibility to set one's own schedule. likewise the ability to create one's surroundings in any way desired. i do cherish both these components therefore my goal is to work out the kinks in this situation.

so y'all, this week i'm gonna try meditation and music therapy.

something has to assist me with changing my outlook and reactions. otherwise i'll be re-assigning my priorities 'round here.

233: the Jena 6

good morning y'all.

it is with a dichotomized heart that i sit and type this post.

i had decided i wasn't going to blog on this subject because my emotions were just too strong about it. but God whispered in my ear this morning in several ways and so, i write.

this morning i dreamed i was on my way out. where to doesn't matter and i don't know any way.

what i do know is that there was a crowd of people out by the entrance to our complex. they were orderly but loosely woven into two lines.

i wondered why in the world so many people were gathered and milling about like that, some sitting, some standing, some eating, talking, laughing...

then it dawned on me. they were all waiting for buses to take them to Jena, Louisiana. i looked at the faces, all open and hopeful. none angry or sad. at first every face i saw was brown, like mine. then i looked deeper and harder. and God showed me more.

there were other faces there. i saw caucasian and asian faces too. then i began to cry. like i'm doing now. my heart was touched and overwhelmed with the love i felt.

i knew it was God's way of telling me not to worry because it WILL be alright.

even after that dream, i forgot that today we pledged to wear black, to show our support for our sisters and brothers who are right now caught up in one of life's harshest struggles: the struggle to be recognized and treated as a human being.

and that's why i decided to write this post.

i know that despite what some believe, we are ALL human beings, created by the same God/Goddess/Creator.

my evidence and proof: no matter what color our skin, no matter what race we consider ourselves or are considered; no matter our religious beliefs or lack of; no matter who we voted for in the last election; we ALL got here the same way: from the joining of an egg and sperm that led to a live birth from a woman's body.

i'm praying for the whole town, that God will bring understanding to their hearts, that they will come to understand that this is not a "black issue", it's a human one

i'm saying a special prayer for the mothers, the mothers of the young men in jail specifically. for the other mothers in that town, the ones who may be saying and doing nothing because they think this is not their issue, my prayer is that God shows them that ALL children deserve the best we have to offer them, not just some.

and maybe they will be moved to help in some way. because one day, it could be their child sitting in a place of condemnation because their skin color, the skin that God made, made them a target of those who still need to learn better.

232: words of wisdom...

howdy y'all.

i'm over at Crazy Hip Blog Mamas cuz i haven't been in a coon's age. i'm right on time for the latest, Collaboration (#45)

they're asking what words of wisdom have been passed down to me through the years, by a family member, a teacher, or somebody similar.

the best career advice i've ever gotten was from my momma, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the day. when i was in 9th grade, she said if i learned to type i would always have a job. so i took one semester of typing.

and she was right.

when i lived with my grandma while i attended high school, grandma would always admonish me about laying around in my clothes after i came in from school. she said if they weren't dirty, i could hang them up and wear them another day.

i thought she was crazy. what the heck did i know back then?

when i became my own Principle Laundry Do-er, i began to understand what grandma meant. i repeat it to baby bliss all the time. maybe she'll get it sooner than i did.

thanks g-ma and grandma for the good advice. it's served me well over the years. '-)

now hold on to your own bon conseil for a little while longer and get on over to Crazy Hip Blog Mamas to check out the good advice other folk got.

don't forget to share yours.
.

231: end-of-summer blues - a note of woe

summer is gone y'all.

it's still sunny and kinda warm where we live but i can tell the sun is running outta steam. she's tired and ready for a rest. not that i blame her cuz this summer was HOT. our sol sista put in a lotta overtime this year.

but i'm already missing her and we haven't even officially gotten to fall yet. i know i'll still see her when the calendar says january, but i won't feel her like i do now. she won't rub my back or caress my cheeks like she's been doing for the past several months. she'll be taking her loving strokes to some other hemisphere.

she's getting ready now, packing her rays one by one and sending them further south each day.

i'm jealous.

why can't i go with her? why can't she stay here with us?

true, our winters are moderate and mostly sun-filled. unlike where we used to live... still. i want heat and light.

does that mean I'm selfish?

or am i just one of many sun-sistas, women who have a fierce love for the sun despite her bad reputation as the cause of skin cancer and heat-related illnesses?

i know i'm not the only woman who revels in big sista sun's warm embrace, who welcomes her despite knowing she'll have me sticking to the leather seats at Chik-fil-A, walking around with sweat stains under the arms of my favorite summer dresses, and possibly getting up from a nice sunday sit-down to discover a wet spot on the church pew courtesy of faulty air conditioning and a damp bottom.

no matter that when she's hugging us tight, our water bill climbs to the rafters cuz there are three of us in here and we need at least two showers each per day. or that our 'lectric bill goes into triple digits cuz mr. bliss can't sleep without the air running full blast.

it feels wonderful to sit by the pool and allow myself to be lulled into a solar-induced coma while baby bliss swims to her heart's content.

i love waking up and heading out to the patio for an up-close-and-personal sun salutation, then plopping down on a lawn chair with the laptop or a good book for a warm and sunny lie-in. (or should that be "lie-out"?)

what would i do if--at least twice a week--i couldn't wake up to golden rays of sunshine gently coaxing my eyelids to open?

i think i would go mad. i'm already suffering from withdrawal symptoms and september's not even over yet. i swear i can remember the exact night when it got cool. the next day we woke up and it was cool then too. yeah, it warmed up that day but our heating time was very limited.

and there's something intoxicating about being outside at night in summer...

i get a thrill out of standing on a hot sidewalk, feeling the day's heat dissipate as it sneaks up into the soles of my feet, knowing sister sun has been baking the pavement all day to give me this pleasure.

the weatherman said it was 80 degrees today and 60 degrees last evening. but it sure does feel like 60 today and last night felt like 40. :0(

don't worry y'all. i won't shrivel up into an icy ball of sunless moss and roll around all fall and winter, pining for the days (and nights) of summer. however, every day i see sista soleil without feeling her full power will be one of melancholy for me.

but i'm a strong woman; i know i can handle it.

and on the day she comes back to me, i'll be waiting with open arms.

hopefully my heart won't be covered in tiny icicles.

230: dreaming my life away

hey y'all.

i was supposed to blog about this morning's dream. i had it all written out in my head, composing as i brushed my teeth and rushed baby bliss to get dressed so we could head out to the library.

now we're here and the dream blog post has poofed its way outta my head. lemme think on it for a while...

in the meantime, i'll write about something else.

we're in the library right now. (what else is new, right?) i'm sitting in the kid's section, my favorite location for undisturbed working. i know it sounds weird but despite crying babies and shushing mommies, it's easier to work here than in the adult's section. maybe it's because i know i can make as much noise as i need to without having to worry about being too loud. (right now i'm making lots of phone calls for the project i'm working on.)

what is disturbing though is the book on tape that's been playing for the past hour or so. i'm not sure why it's even being allowed. it's clearly an adult book cuz i've heard more than a few curse words and several gruesome descriptions of people being assaulted and killed.

ahhhh. it sounds like it's over. ooh, no. the guy put on headphones. maybe he got the message when i put on mine.

he appears to be the caretaker for a young man who is here with him. the young man is laying on a half-bed/stretcher on wheels that has all kinds of wires attached to it. he can talk but has a speech impediment of some kind.

initially i thought the book was being played for him. now i know differently. so now the caretaker -- who has been trying to catch my eye for the past 30 minutes -- is entertaining himself while the young man sits/lays there talking to himself and passersby.

oh my. the caretaker has gone off and left the young man here alone. hmmm... i wonder what the sitch is with this dude... okay, lemme mind my business until i see something that really requires my attention. like dude isn't back in 10 minutes.

* * *

the dream... parts of it have come back to me.

baby bliss and i were in the apartment i grew up in.

mr. bliss was there too. but he wasn't the mr. bliss we know and (usually) love. he was an "ike turner".

a mr. no-bliss, if you will.

i remember that he was enraged. ranting and raving outside our apartment door like a mad man. baby bliss was terrified, crying and wanting to hide but afraid for me. there were two dog leashes attached to the wall by the front door. they were bright orange. in dream-inference, i understood that mr. bliss had previously used them to punish me.

baby bliss was afraid he would do it again if she ran to hide. she thought she could stop him by staying.

i guess we were communicating by telepathy cuz i don't remember hearing anything in the dream. everything seemed to be pantomime but not overly exaggerated in that way.

i told baby bliss that i would no longer submit to the leashes. then i snatched one from the wall and we ran to hide it in the hall closet. i remember feeling frantic, searching for a place where i knew he wouldn't find it, no matter how hard he looked.

then i woke up.

* * *

a long time ago, someone told me that dreaming in color means you're crazy.

i don't know if that's true but i do know that i can recall two dreams where the color was noticeable enough to be memorable. only two...

this dream was one of them. the leash was very orange. bright. like almost red.

my thoughts upon waking were chakra-based. we learned about chakras when i studied Reiki. western thought is just beginning to recognize the concept of chakras but many eastern cultures have embraced the idea for thousands of years.

"chakra" is a sanskrit word that translates as "wheel". chakras are centers of energy that line up in the body from crown (top of head) to root (between the genitals and the anus).

there are 7 chakras and each one is associated with a specific color, among other things.

when i re-played the dream in my head, the color orange stood out. i'm not saying there was no other color in the dream. just that it's the only color i remember.

so now i'm looking up the chakras and colors in another browser window while i'm writing this...

here's what i got:



Orange:

Sacrum: svādhiṣṭhāna, स्वाधिष्ठान

Creativity, sexual energy (for women), desire, pleasure, stability, self-confidence, well-being,
taste.

Water. The lower belly.

Sexual healing, try new ways of expressing yourself creatively, dance, move your hips, practice yoga.

Sweet fruits, raw honey, nuts, spices.

since the orange was so bright, almost red, i'm checking red too. here it is:




Red or coral red:

 Root: mūlādhāra, मूलाधार

Survival, grounding, sexuality (for men), stability, smell.

Earth. The base of the spine.

Spend some time each day sitting directly on the earth. Dance!

Root vegetables, protein-rich foods, spices.


do y'all see a theme here?

my official interpretation (as an amateur dream interpreter): mr. bliss and i need to go out dancing, come home and eat all the special foods, then have crazy mad sex until we pass out.

.