Its Christmas again? That was a very fast 365 days.

Yes, that's me, Mark and Santa. I didn't ask Santa for anything. Well I did think of asking for Peace in the world, only I know that each person on the planet has the choice to be at peace. A choice to bring a sense of peace to our lives and the lives of others. Peace is something you can catch. Sort of like catching a cold. When others have it you can get it too. When I am peaceful Mark and Morgan are peaceful. I look forward to the world being at peace. Inspiring others toward peace-full-ness brings me peace-full-ness.
This year for Christmas I am giving invisible gifts. Love from my heart, a gentle smile to strangers, peace in my actions, joy in my voice, hugs for everyone and remembering that Spirit lives inside of me.
Blessings to everyone in other spiritual teachings. Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Taoism

Thanksgiving

Is it possible to write a blog while you are listening to FoodNetwork about cooking a turkey?
The Thanksgiving holiday is here and it is my year to cook the turkey.
This will be a first. Yes, I watched Emril Lagasse yesterday about soaking the turkey in brine. I mentioned this to Mark who said, “Do not brine the turkey.”
The turkey is sitting in the refigerator and each day I hear it saying, “What are you going to do with me?”
Last year we went to Mark’s cousins and had a great time. The year before that I odered a cooked the turkey from Whole Foods. The year before the Whole Foods turkey I ordered a cooked turkey from Paradise market. Before the Paradise turkey we went to my sisters. The year before going to my sisters Mark and another one of his cousins put the turkey on the BBQ rotisserie and cooked it. The year before that we went to Mark’s grandmothers and the year before that I can’t remember where we were I just know I didn’t cook the turkey.
I do really like the feeling of Thanksgiving. I also like the feeling of being grateful. I like being with the people you love. I guess I am just scared of the turkey. Besides purchsing the turkey, I bought the turkey lifters, the cheese cloth, the baking pan and the lifting rack. We have a thermometer. I have watched enough FoodNetwork.
I tell myself, “Remember it is a waste of time to worry. It will all work out and be perfect.”
The main dish I should serve right now is, “What am I thankful for that took place last year?”
I am so grateful that Obama was elected president. Morgan started kindergarten. Mark and I went to see the Madonna Sticky & Sweet tour. Our vacation in Mt. Shasta. I saw my first opera, The Elixer of Love. I cut off 10 inches of my hair to give to Locks of Love. The new level of deepness that has taken place in our marriage. I sleep thru the night. I spent the weekend in Napa, CA with my sisters. A great practitioner retreat. A new cell phone that works everywhere and is easy to send a text messages with. A deeper undertanding that the more I give away the more I get.

Obama

We must become the change we want to see in the world. ~ Mohandas Gandhi
Vote with your heart, as you can see I did. Blessings, Gaelen

31 blogs and never missed a month

Wow! I have done 31 blogs and have never missed a month. That is not until this September. I took the entire month off. Not only did I take the entire month off I quit my job. I missed Morgan’s first day of kindergarten! I was a mess.
I was sick. Not just sick but really, really sick. On the 1st of the month, Labor Day I had vertigo. Not having had that before I was really scared. Having the entire room spin is un-describeable. Mark took me to the hospital while I threw up in a small trash can in the car. I stayed overnight and the doctor fixed me up.
Two weeks later I had a cough and a stuffy nose. For the entire week I couldn’t get up. I couldn’t sleep and coughed all night. Mark started agreeing with me that maybe I was really sick. Him sleeping on the couch might have had something to do with that. On the 22nd I finally went to the doctor who said, “You have pneumonia”. Well that would explain why I couldn’t take deep breaths.
I am now waiting for my car to have an oil change and writing this blog in the Lexus waiting room. Anyway, all is well. I am feeling better and I have once again remembered that it is important to take care of myself. Instead of doing 10 things a day I have cut back to 5 things a day. This past Sunday I had a few things to do and I did none of them. I let myself relax while Morgan played with her toys on the living room floor. I gave myself permission to do nothing. I did nothing and it was ok. I do need to take a picture to put on this blog so I will give myself permission to not rush, take my time and know that it will work itself out in perfection.

Mt. Shasta Vacation

I sit here at work and look at ical on my screen. I notice it is already the 19th and that means its Blog time.
This past year most of the time I find myself busy, busy, busy. Not until last weeks vacation did I realize how tired I was. I was tired but couldn't sleep thru the night. I would wake up and be tired. At 6:30am I would be tired. At 3pm I would be tired. At 5pm I would be tired. OK writing about being tired is sort of making me tired.
Anyway, we went to Mt. Shasta in our Airstream trailer. Mt. Shasta is a 14,179 ft. mountain and is one of the earths healing vortexes. On day one of the trip when I went to sleep I awoke at 3am and looked up at the sky. I can’t remember when I have seen so many stars. I went outside and sat down and looked at the stars. They were so beautiful. I felt so empowered and inspired. I wanted to wake up Mark so he could look at them. I had the feeling that nothing would ever go wrong. A feeling of full trust in the universe sat there with me.
When at Mt. Shasta we stay at an RV Resort located in Lake Siskiyou. Mark brings his kayak, puts Morgan in the front with him and rows down the lake. It is beautiful to watch them in the lake and besides it gives me time to sit and watch the mountain.
I think of any unnecessary baggage I want to give to the mountain. Any hurt feelings? Any anger? Anything I need to forgive myself for? Who else do I need to forgive? Any guilt to let go of ?
All of this can be given to the earth but while at a special healing vortex why not leave my unwanted stuff at Mt. Shasta.
On N Mt. Shasta Blvd. there is a small water fall and if you bring something that will hold water you can step into the fall and fill up your water container. The water comes down from Mt. Shasta and flows into the Sacramento river. We had brought 6 Crystal Geyser gallon containers for our trip and had drank all the water so we filled them all up with the most delicious cold water I have ever tasted. I even filled my “Think Green” sigg container, sat down and drank the 32 oz and refilled it and drank more. Morgan loved stepping on the wet stones to get the water. I was amazed at how graceful she was. Unlike me as I stepped slowly on each stone being careful not to fall into the cold water. There were tarot card readers, people making beautiful beaded necklaces, people relaxing, and lots of people getting water. People filling large containers of water. Not only 1 large container but 8 large containers. Lots of good cold free water.
I guess water was our vacationing theme. We went to McCloud and saw the middle water fall. We didn’t walk down to it we just stood at the view point and looked at it amazed at the running water.
Then we drove to Berney Falls. We did walk down to the falls and it was amazing. The sound of the rushing water was hypnotic.
Then we went to Dunsmuir. The water fall there is almost like a heavy shower. Mark and Morgan walked down to it but I stayed in the forest because it was too hot and I didn’t want to walk anymore. A man walked by and said, “Why aren't you heading down to the fall?” I said, “I am too hot to move” He said “You can stand under the fall and it will cool you down.” I thought, I think I am too scared to stand under the fall. I did remember I was wearing my bathing suit and Mark and Morgan were down there and it might be fun. So I walked down and slowly got closer to the fall and eventually went under the water and it was so cold that I was instantly cool. Morgan was interested but didn’t go under the fall. The week went by quickly and it was time to go. We said good bye Mt. Shasta, good bye German brown trout, good bye friends, see you next year.

What to blog about?

Why is it that when I start to think about what to blog about I can’t remember what went on this month? I am thinking about what is going to go on next month. We are going to Mount Shasta to visit with friends at Lake Siskiyou and I am quite excited. I guess I shoud tell the whole truth, I am excited but I will be missing a great event. The event is called “Spend a day with Three Modern Mystics” Neale Donald Walsh, Jean Houston and Joan Borysenko who will be speaking on the topic of renewing your appreciation for life on earth.
10 years ago I heard Neale Donald Walsch speak at Agape and I just loved him. I am sorry to miss this. And anyone who says, “Accept yourself the way you are” as Joan Borysenko says in her book, “Your Souls Compass” is a winner with me.
If you have any interest in hearing each of them speak you can watch a 4 minute video on YouTube. Paste this link into your browser:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij7Yt3Lwe44
Ok, I shouldn’t focus on what events I am going to miss, as the universe is presenting me a beautiful picture of the environment at Mount Shasta and I am excited to be arriving there in August. I hope you find yourself arriving at a place of happiness this summer too.

Food Poisoning

Its hard to believe that here I am at work (with nothing to do, which is not so hard to believe) and its blog time once again. Last month I had food poisoning! Food poisoning was a first time event for me.
I have heard many people say, they had just gotten over food poisoning. I felt sorry for them. Not having had it before, I was just kinda sorry though. Now I know better.
I do believe that with every expierence there is a lesson to learn. I really do not mind learning a lesson, but this lesson was a hard one to go thru. I had no idea that my stomache could put me thru horrible vomiting. That my body could be so sore. I felt like someone had beaten me up. I was surpized to think, if I died right now I would be OK with that.
I guess it was the lesson of surrender. The lesson of feeling so very horrible that anything to take me away from the pain was OK. Having watched the news (which is something I never do) I thought I might have salmonella. Even my sister Carrie asked me if I eaten any tomatoes. She thought I might have salmonella too. I heard some people died from tomato salmonella. I thought maybe that I would die from it.
I remember after having Morgan, I thought child birth was painful. Food poisoning was way, way, more painful than child birth. After throwing up for 4 hours Mark thought I might want something to eat. He made me steak and green beans. Yes, it was nice he made me something to eat, but steak and green beans? Chicken soup is what I wanted. Nothing else. Just chicken soup. Well, even toast and tea would have been OK. I learned the lesson of surrender and Mark learned the lesson of giving someone chicken soup after being sick is a good thing.

Behind on my Blog

Today is May 27th but to me it feels like summer time. It must be summer. I am behind on my blog and usually I am not behind on my blog. I ask myself, “Why are you behind?” I hear myself saying, “Well you were busy” I think, “Yes that is true, you are doing your blog while at work.” Not just thinking about my blog but typing it an my MacBook while I am at work. NO soothing music, no cup of tea, just sitting at my work desk waititng for the phone to ring and doing my blog. I sit here and feel myself breathing, relaxing my shoulders and listening to my heart about what I should be writing.
Anger. All people feel anger. I feel a bit angrey even writing about anger. I try to send my anger back down to the earth. Release it down to the ground. When I do that I feel grounded. Lighter. It feels so good not to carry angry feelings around. To just drop them. I love giving things away, and I think when I give angry feelings back to the earth it helps me to feel better.
For me finding a private safe place to let my feelings go really helps. I like having the power to heal myself at will. What I love the most though is remembering to heal myself right away. To leave the negative feelings of anger behind forgive my self. When I can sleep thru the night and wake up in the morning with a smile on my face I know all is well.

Earth Hour

This months blog is a suggestion from my friend. I got an e-mail from a friend alerting me about Earth Hour. After reading about Earth Hour I e-mailed it out to all of my friends too. In my earliest childhood memories I can still hear my grandmother Elsie saying, “Turn that light off, were not the Edisons.” My sister Carrie is a water person. The kind of person who as a child would always turn off the water when brushing her teeth. She would say to Colleen and I “Turn off the water” when we would brush our teeth. Maybe she got that from our grandmother too but I have never asked her where she got that from. It could possibly be from something on TV. Though I have always been a turn off the lights person. I was excited to participate in Earth Hour at 8PM on March 28. I was excited to share with Morgan that we were helping out the environment and speaking out for change. I was happy to have her in bed by 8PM with the lights out. Sort of selfish but that’s Ok too, isn’t it? I was really happy to hear from my friend that she and her family had a fun time telling stories in the dark. I love candle light. Its cozy for me. I also like going to bed early. Ok I like going to bed early when I wake up early, which is most days as my body says to me, “Time to wake up, its 6AM.” Now I don’t always get up I just lay in the bed until the alarm clock goes off at 6:30AM. I am thinking why wait until 2009 for the next Earth Hour day, why not turn out the lights early every night.

Saol Fada Chugat

Saol Fada Chugat is Irish for, Long Life To You. Today I could say Happy St. Paddy’s Day. Well I did wear green but my black down vest mostly covered it up. I really do not like wearing green. I am remembering as a child if you didn’t wear green on St. Patrick’s Day people liked to pinch you. Now I don’t wear green and I haven’t been pinched for what seems like forever but what is it with people whom like to pinch you?
What has happened in the last 30 days? Is it OK to say I really don’t remember? Oh yes, spring is here. Or will be this Thursday. Though it doesn’t feel any warmer. It does feel sunnier though. I would like it to be sunny in the morning. At 6AM it feels like winter and by 6PM it feels like summer. Which I suppose is a good thing. Now I feel the need to get things done. Faster. With a sense of urgency. The need to get things done NOW.
Observing the flowers grow is saying something to me. It is something like, “Don’t be so lazy. How about getting some things done? Now. Not tomorrow, NOW.” I am not sure where my patience went. I think it went to the same place things go when you get sick of them. I’m sure it will come back when I really need it. Patience is in a vacation mode. The earth is saying, “Get up and get going!” I am saying to myself, “Get up and get going.” I think many people are saying, “Its time to get up and get going.”

March 17, 2008 9:59 PM

ANSWERED PRAYER-ISH

Wow Morgan is asleep and its 8:00 PM. I should be happy that I have some time to write my blog but truth be told I’m kinda tired and I don’t really know what I want to write about. Humm. I guess prayers being answered would be a good thing to mention. Well today I decided to go home a different way. What I mean is, I drove a different way home from where Morgan and I were. Usually I just get back on the freeway and drive home. This time I decided not to turn around to get on the freeway but to drive down the street and go thru Sausalito instead. As I was driving down the hill I saw an officer but I kept driving down the road. I remembered why I hate driving thru Sausalito. The streets are SO narrow. Anyway, driving down the road I saw the traffic was being ushered by an officer to another street. So I turned on the GPS in the car to look for a different way to get out of where I was. The GPS tried to send me a different way, but by then I figured out there was a BIG bicycle race thru town. Hence all the streets were blocked off. So my trusty GPS was of no help. Morgan and I were sort of lost/stuck. By this time we were up in the hills on the kind of street where ONE car going ONE way can drive down the road. I kept thinking, I need some help. So I listened to what my mind was telling me (yes I had turned the GPS off) and we headed down the road. I kept seeing the partitions on the road to the freeway, but the roads were still shut down and at least 1,000 people were biking down the closed roads. At this point Morgan began to point out which bikes were her favorite color. I need help was the only thing on my mind. I actually wasn’t looking at the bikes. Well I was looking at them so I didn’t hit anyone and it was then when I actuallly saw someone I knew. Out of thousands of people on bikes and hundreds of people walking around I saw someone I knew. I called out to him and he came over to the car and said it was just a few minutes until the city opened the roads. All I really needed was someone to tell me what was going on and what was going to happen. Help does come when you need it. I didn’t need to search for it, the help was just there. Yes, I suppose you do have to ask for help when you need it, maybe or maybe not. I guess it depends on how much you trust the universe. I’m not saying I always trust the universe. There are times when I want to do everything ALL BY MYSELF. It reminds me of Morgan when she was 2 and wanted to do everything ALL BY MYSELF. Could it be opening myself up to possibility that helped me? The idea that all things are possible? Instead of having my fist closed I opened it? I don’t know. Maybe or maybe not.

February 18, 2008 8:54PM

IS IT 2008?

Wow is it really 2008? In a weird way that sounds like a big number to me. It is the day of the future. I use wikipedia all the time on my laptop to look up things. I use google daily. I hear people saying, “Just google it” if they don’t know an answer to a question. I think maybe I am feeling older. I want to say smarter too, yet I feel like I am remembering long forgotten information. I am typing this listening to my ipod. YIKES. I am not sure that I like being in the future. Actually I am unsure about being in the future. I know I am not the only person feeling like this. I spent 2 hours Saturday morning figuring out how to down load a ring tone to my cell phone. It’s the Led Zeppelin, All My Love song. I think many teens could have figured out how to change the ring tone on their cell phone in about 2 minutes, not 2 hours. I remember when I was a teen asking my Dad a question about high school math, and he didn’t know the answer. I feel like one day soon Morgan will ask me a question about the internet, or down loading or up loading or what is a DRM? (digital rights management) and I will have to say, “Well, why don’t we google that and find out.” I guess I should feel good about that but somehow I don’t really. I am even using a software program that Mark bought me called Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. I am learning how to type on my computer. Not on a type writer but on my computer. Yes, I took typing in high school, but I was messing around mostly and not paying attention. Now that I use my laptop all the time it helps if I can type quickly. Wow is the future about doing things way faster? I’m not sure if I like that. Is it because I feel alittle older? Just a little bit older? Unsure. While typing this I hear the computer alerting me that I just received an e-mail. I click over to the e-mail just to see what it was. Woe. I wonder what that says about me. My intution is telling me, “Its winter. Time to go to sleep and get some rest.”

January 21, 2008
9:04 PM