We are all still here, in spite of another dose of high-pitched drama. My nerves are frayed, in spite of my new pal Prozac, and sleep is as unrefreshing as always. In fact, after spending the entire morning at work nodding off in-between phone calls I left early, came home, and crawled into bed. My “cover story” with Mr Grumpy is that I had one of my bad headaches, took meds, and lay down for a bit. Not much of a stretch since later will probably find me taking said medications so that I can sleep in spite of my on-and-off nap.

Sad isn’t it? That at the age of 40 I am still accountable to my father for my work, sleep, and yes even my eating habits. Wait until he finds out that I need to go on cholesterol-lowering medication!!! But, I digress.

The home situation is at a stand-still and much of what is going on falls into the category of not fit for blog fodder. In fact, the bulk of it isn’t really discussed outside the home at all, unless we happen to be at the therapist’s office.

Work is the same, and while the official conversation has yet to occur I am well aware that my head is on the chopping block in terms of a pay cut. Granted, they could be “nice” and give me a warning and more time to get my stats up to their arbitrary levels, but my company is rarely nice, even more rarely fair, and is frankly most often dishonest and unrealistic.

But, again, I digress.

The weekend actually wound up being fairly productive.

Friday Gamer Dude and I had blood drawn at the Doctor’s office, went out for breakfast, and then had an hour long, fairly unproductive I.E.P. meeting at Miss Artistic’s school. I did the food shopping, ran Princess Nature over to Tae Kwon Do (where she participated in three classes in a row) and made a thoroughly unhealthy and in no way to be considered “from scratch” kind of meal.

I spent the bulk of Saturday (with Princess Nature’s help) tearing the girls’ room apart and putting it all back together. Translation …. every drawer, shelf, and piece of clothing was handled, sorted, and many many things where thrown away. And while I feel guilty about my additions to already overburdened landfills I am happy to have 3 huge lawn and leaf bags less clutter in my house.

When I wasn’t folding and hanging clothing or shaking my head at the things I found in drawers, and at the bottom of their closet I was cooking. This week we are alternating between two dishes (as opposed to my usual three). I made a monster-sized batch of my family’s recipe for Cream of Tomato Soup. I made so much that despite giving some away, and having for dinner a total of 3 times already I have no choice but to freeze a bunch of it. I also made a double batch of BBQ ribs and decided (yet again) that I need to find a really good (and cheap) recipe for BBQ sauce that doesn’t have any type of smoke flavor in it as I am tired of having to pay for the stuff.

Sunday, I took the girls out for a sharing of appetizers at the local Japanese restaurant and then to Walmart where I picked up some things we needed (itty bitty bras and underwear), some stuff so cheap I couldn’t pass up (4 Tshirts for $1 each by Miley Cyrus that are British themed and will be perfect as “disposable clothing” for summer camp) and the inevitable stuff I was either pestered or suckered into buying.

Tonight is belt testing at Tae Kwon Do and I am looking forward to going, watching, leaving, and then spending some quality time with my couch and my Hubby, though not necessarily in that order.

Blessings

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:family, kids, life

Last week, Keith Olbermann, on his news show Countdown, covered the devastation that one tribe has experienced this winter – two severe snow storms left them without heat, electricity and water.  Our government so far has done nothing.   He provided the links on website for  two funds that accept donations to help (the links are also below).  I sent my donation in this weekend to both organizations, and I hope to be able to donate a little each month.

Another way to help is to contact your Senators and Representavies, and even the President, to remind them of our national responsibility to live up to our promises to provide for the Native American tribes.

The Cheyenne River Sioux Disaster Relief Fund -  2 winter storms  have left the whole reservation without power or water. (Feb. 2010) – over 2,500 utility poles are currently on the ground in this remote, rural area. Power has been out in several communities and for thousands of residents for several days. Below zero temperatures and no electricity, heat, water or gasoline has created devastating results.

If you would like to make contributions of clothing and other non-cash gifts, please mail such items to: Wakpa Sica 709 Ft. Chouteau Road Ft. Pierre, SD 57532  (605-223-9099)

To learn more about the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and their recovery efforts please visit their website at CRST Disaster Relief.

Native American Heritage Association – donations help all Native Americans most in need.

On a side note – the reason I’ve been away from the blog so much is because my laptop is fried.  It got a really, really, really bad virus or trojan (or whatever!) that blocked all my security protections and all access to internet EXCEPT the fake site claiming to remove the virus.  I had to save up a bit and then took it into Geek Squad.  The cost is $200 to get everything removed (if they had come to the house it would have been $300) and will take 10 to 14 days to be done.   So my laptop won’t be home until some time next week.

Written by Lady RoseTags:disaster relief, Native Americans

Did I just say that things were stable? Big mistake … huge, even.

Things have returned to the upheaval and chaos that is all too frequent, and (again) is it related to Miss Artistic.

If you could please be patient as I await another calm in the storm and send some patient energy my way it would truly be a blessing.

Be well!

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama Kelly

I feel so very un-Witchy. Lately, my updates are focused on keeping you abreast of day-to-day life and little else. Of course, part of that is the continued lack of a laptop and the limited time I have to blog as a result. But, mostly this is because I am too busy simply putting one foot in front of the other to feel particularly inspired or spiritual. This too shall pass and hopefully at some point I will have a new baby to keep tethered to my lap in the evenings.

The snow is still here, and our snowman is still standing, but both will probably be gone soon as temperatures are hitting the high 30s during the day and rain is predicted by this time next week (though if another cold front moves in first we could get buried again … too soon to tell).

Saturday, Gamer Dude and I went out on an actual date for Valentine’s Day. Nothing extreme, just dinner out using a gift card Mr Grumpy gave us for Xmas (as well as a little extra he tossed us as we headed out the door). Our meals were wonderful (but then they generally are at this particular place) and our evening quite relaxing. As usual we brought our desserts home and ate them during our TV viewing.

Things are mostly stable. For that, I am most grateful!

Blessings

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:family, life, valentines day

Its amazing how a little bit of snow, or more accurately a whole heck of a a lot of snow, can through such a monkey wrench into an ordinary week.

The snow started late Tuesday evening and I woke up Wednesday morning to a world covered with white and the news that work was closed (without pay of course) due to inclement weather. For a while all we were getting was that lousy wintry mix, which made me grumpy, but then the white stuff returned, and returned with a vengeance.

I spent much of the day crocheting and watching TV but did manage to get outside and help the family build a 7′ snowman in our front yard. He’s quite the looker … big blue eyes (brillo pads), a well formed nose (sculpted snow), and a wide smile (red stones from our yard). Unfortunately, with the strong sunshine the last couple of days he is not long for this world.

I got to work Thursday thanks to Gamer Dude and my father using both shovels and the snow-thrower late Wednesday (while it was still snowing and blowing outside) and my darlin’ hubby waking up to use the snow-thrower again to get me out of a plowed in driveway.

The kids had no school on either Wednesday or Thursday and a delayed opening on Friday and so we’re all a little off of our schedules.

We weathered the storm well, overall. The irony was that as the storm snowed its last upon us, just as the official blizzard warning was about to be over, we lost power. We were without electricity from 11:30 PM Wednesday night until 4 PM Thursday afternoon. The girls spent the day at a neighbors house (on another part of the grid and still had power) and Mr Grumpy and Gamer Dude suffered through the boredom of no TV and the lack of heat (gas heat but electric thermostat).

The weather forecast looks pretty clear for a while, a little flurry action here and there, and I’m glad to hear it. Because, while normally I’m a big fan of the white stuff, this year I’m itching for Spring.

Stay warm and stay well

Blessings

Mama kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:family, life, snow, weather, winter

If the predictions are right, it seems that we are due to be pounded again with another round of heavy snow accumulation. According to weather.com we should start to see wet stuff falling very shortly and white stuff falling sometime after 9 pm.  The snowfall is expected to continue unabated (though stronger at times than others) until at least midnight tomorrow (though at time there may be some freezing rain and sleet through in to break the monotony), with accumulations that can range from as little as 10 to as much as 20 inches before all is said and done.

My workplace has decided to hold the expectation that they will be open tomorrow, regardless of predicted road conditions and advisories that recommend that people only drive if absolutely necessary.  If they are closed tomorrow, or if I simply cannot get out of my driveway (or if Game Dude forcibly bars the door and forbids my departure), the plan is a day in front of the fireplace, crocheting in hand, and a marathon viewing of an old favorite, The 10th Kingdom, if I can get anyone to watch it with me.

We have more than enough food.  We have plenty of milk and bread (and ice cream).  I picked up bagels for the morning as a treat.  In other words I am as prepared as I can be for a good old fashioned blizzard.  I may even pull out my old dogeared copy of The Long Winter (Little House series) and read it just for the sake of nostalgia.

Stay well, stay warm.
Be Blessed

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:life, snow, storm, winter

We woke this morning to a world covered in white.  Since both Miss Artistic’s art class and Princess Nature’s flute lesson were canceled due to the inclement weather it was a lovely lazy morning.

After my period of becoming one with my couch and the TV remote, the bulk of my day was spent cooking and crocheting.  I made two large meatloaves (for later in the week) and a batch of chicken and dumplings.  The later was my first attempt at this dish and it was well received by all, even Mr Grumpy who rarely has a compliment to offer.  And, best of all (in my opinion) there is enough left of the chicken dish to be served another night (so long as I make another batch of dumplings and boil up more egg noodles).

Tomorrow will find me whipping up a batch of mashed potatoes (to go with the meatloaves of course) and a pot of vegetarian chili (with TVP in place of ground beef) and probably doing more crocheting in front of the fire.

There is so much that needs to be cleaned, tidied, or organized around the house.  There is so much work I could be doing in terms of working here on the blog or even the book project that I’ve been playing with for the past couple of years.  But, lately, both seem to be insurmountable tasks.

I can only hope that as my depression wanes and my health improves my energy and inspiration will return. In the meantime, I am off to do more crocheting (and the never ending task of weaving in those cursed ends).

Blessings

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:cooking, crochet, family, life

Well, I finally made it in to the Dr today. I went without my check list of issues, but managed to remember most of them.

He is starting me on Prozac for my depression and is strongly recommending therapy.  I don’t have a problem with the idea of a therapist, it’s more the finding room in the budget to pay for it on top of other ongoing medication bills and frequent Dr co-pays I am already juggling.

He is ordering a sleep study, not only because I am having multiple issues with getting any significant amount of restful sleep but because Gamer Dude says that I choke and stop breathing in my sleep.

He is ordering a bunch of blood work (including hormone levels to check on my ovarian remnant situation and tests for rheumatoid arthritis because of the crunchy joints) and has me scheduled for a follow-up visit with him in 6 weeks to go over all results.

Additionally he gave me a muscle relaxant script for my all-too-frequent headaches that don’t respond to anything over-the-counter, told me that I have to get a handle on the stress because its starting to affect my blood pressure, and was very firm in stating that I am in no way to sign up for Tae Kwon Do at this point and simply work on using our Wii Fit to gradually work on getting in shape.

When I go back just before Ostara I will address the other issues that I forgot to mention today.

So I may have failed to honor Imbolc in a circle or with a coven but I did honor part of my goal for myself this year which is to reclaim my true self – my health, my spirituality, my dreams.

Blessings

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:anxiety, depression, health, pain, sleep disorder

This year I will be celebrating Candlemas by attending an open circle ritual this weekend on the 7th in a town very close to where Mama Kelly lives.  I’m looking forward to meeting fellow wiccans and pagans and enjoying an evening of ritual, drumming, and good company.

Later in the month I have a healing session appointment with a couple who teach qi gong.  I have been visiting their website for a couple of years now and planning to take their qi healing intensive class, qi gong therapist intensive classes and other classes they offer.  This year I am finally going to take the plunge.   The first class, qi healing intensive, is being taught in July.  In order to start learning now I have scheduled a healing session with them and afterwards I will be attending a basic class that they teach.  It is an introductory class that is held weekly.  I have also bought several books on qi gong.  I am very excited to finally meet the instructors and looking forward to learning some basic qi gong that I can do daily to improve my health and energy in preparation for the more in depth studies I will be taking later and working on getting my certification.

Wishing everyone blessings, love, light and creativity, Lady Rose

Written by Lady RoseTags:Candlemas, qi gong