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! :-)