Turning 7

Morgan turned 7 and it was so much fun! I don't know what is more surprising that she's 7 or I'm seven years older.

2010 Predictions from ... Beyond.

I really love the positive energy of this message but I like it best with the sound turned down so I can read it.

2010 intention

Yes, I did write more but these words are the essence of it. Please be sure to set your intentions.

happy holidays love the coopers

Turkey With a Little Help

Its me holding the Turkey roasting pan. That is my friend Jo who stood in as a mother figure.

Jo really helped me as I have to say I had no idea how to cook a 22lbs. turkey. Other than putting the turkey in the over I think it was the last time I touched the pan. Jo grabbed the turkey and got it all ready to put in the roaster. I just watched her. Oh, I did hand her the string to tie it all up. I took a small nap while it cooked and Mark basted it every 20 minutes. At least that was the first hour. He quickly realized how fast 20 minutes goes by so he changed to every 30 minutes. I would have helped him baste it but there was no way I could lift the turkey across the oven. I got to be the "time to baste the turkey person" Morgan watched the dog show and parade.

We had 16 people over from our spiritual community. Each person brought a side dish so I suppose it was a Thanksgiving potluck. The turkey was great and it was a whole lot easier to just cook the turkey and make some stuffing than cook all of the side dishes too.

Everyone was gone at 6:00 to see a movie. Mark, Morgan and I just relaxed and watched something on Disney. Something about a mouse whose name I can't spell.

Usually I call my Aunt in Boston and some friends. I even send out a Happy Thanksgiving e-mail. I think the 22lbs. turkey and 16 people at my house spooked me. I didn't do any of those things. Oh yeah, I took some extra strength Tylenol. Even my 75 year old Aunt sent an e-mail on Thanksgiving. I don't think her son even helped her. Carrie sent me a text message. Colleen and I spoke on the phone. I guess it was a "just talk with your sisters" kinda Thanksgiving.

So this is your, "I Hope Your Thanksgiving Was Love Filled." e-mail.

YES THATS THE DOG PJ'S I MADE

Well, I really wanted to post a YOUTUBE video of me but I am running out of time to do so. I have a name for my studio, STUDIO G. I am even going to have a script sort of, thank you to my sister for suggesting that I need one. :)

Anyway this is a picture of Morgan making cupcakes and wearing the PJ's of dogs that I made for her. Baking in the winter is a ton of fun and Morgan loves it. Though I would have to say I do more of the clean up than she does. Autumn is a great time to retreat to quieter indoor pursuits relaxing, reading, listening to music, knitting, singing. Going to bed early. Drinking tea. Remembering to let go of worry and fear and to replace it with the knowing that all is well. Have a TV dinner without watching TV. The best thing for me lately is not watching any TV. Ok I do watch FoodNetwork but no news. I find myself feeling better by not trying to have any judgements so the less I watch what I don't like makes me feel better. Morgan just came over to me in the office and said to me, "Do know what NBT means?" "I said no I don't know what that means." "Morgan said it means NEXT BIG THING" Wow I love that. So what is your next big thing?

I skipped the month of September so I could have a blog break. Relax. Live in joy.

I know I am not the only one who has been extremely busy as I hear the same thing from a lot of people. It sure is time to press the pause button on the fast forward of my life.

I have been so grateful for everything I have lately. A friend of mine commented on how she doesn't like to be away from her Apple computer and I would have to say that is true for me too. As I work on this blog I am listening to the radio on iTunes on my laptop. So I guess my NBT is to continue to be grateful.

life with gaelen 8/3/09

well i sure do hope this works!

I am on YouTube :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PjchT5ikVs

Yes, now that you are at my blog I am asking that you click on the above link and see my video blog. This is just a trial until I can figure out what else I can do. It will only take a few minutes.

It's Me Live

DON'T HURT A SPIDER

Yes, I've heard stories about people who don't kill animals, don't kill humans, don't kill themselves but to speak the truth I have killed spiders. I am not for killing anyone or anything, yet I have killed spiders. I hook up the hose to the vacuum and suck them up. Before I play executioner I say, meet your maker. I started to feel bad about killing spiders so I asked Mark to kill them for me. Myself being just so afraid of creepy, crawly spiders I did not see the need to have them hang around the house. When I heard Morgan say she was afraid of a spider on the ceiling I new that my fear of spiders was what had sunk into Morgan.

In an attempt to be kind to spiders I put on house cleaning gloves and would have Morgan open the back door and then I would take the dust pan and chase the spider onto it and run out the back door and set the spider onto the deck. We would then celebrate how we were the hero's that saved a spider. I remembered that our house spiders don't really live that long and aren't always around the house although when I walked around the house to take today's out of focus picture I did see a few. Now that I've tried to make friends with house spiders I am not as scared of them as I use to be. I just leave them alone and they stay away from me.

In thinking about war today and the many people being killed across the globe, why is it we choose to not to be kind and loving? Why not choose peace? I have chosen to make peace with spiders and it feels great. Why not choose peace today?

The Future is here NOW

Well, I changed the type face thinking if I could see it better it might help me to think of something to write about but as I am typing this I am putting a CD in iTunes so I can sync it with my iTouch. 

The iTouch is great. I remember in 1983 when I would listen to music with a hand held Sony CD player. If I wanted to hear it on the radio I would hook it up by inserting a cassette into the radio. It was large but worked. 

Now 23 years later not only can you put music on the iTouch. Not just one CD but all of your CD's and all of your phone numbers, your calendar, photos, check the weather, look at todays stock market, check your e-mail, see what time it is, check out the web, look at travel maps, watch YouTube and my favorite listen to Podcasts. 

By the way it is so small. You can put it in your pocket. 

The future is here NOW and it is great.

Yes, I do believe that right now there is plenty to be grateful about. 

My heart has been opened to compassion. I don't watch the news but people I know have lost their job, people I know have lost their home, people I know have lost their hope. I have sympathy and concern for others misfortunes yet I know that everything encountered has a valuable lesson. 

Once long ago I was released from a job that I really enjoyed. I was scared and hurt. I was confused. I was living in a dark night of the soul. 

I listened to my intuition and acted on it and began to follow my heart. I began to release my resistance to losing my job. The more I let go of my unhappiness the more room I had to fill myself back up with happiness. 

Learning how to deal with healing myself in difficult times was indeed a large lesson and I am I am so grateful for it. 

I remind myself that God is in this experience and only greater good can come from it and I rest in that Truth.   

As Emerson says "Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen."

I am watching deers outside of my window and getting distracted, which is where I don't want to be.
So far in 2009 I have been distracted, hopeful, busy sewing Morgan an Easter dress (look at above picture), knitting a red scarf, (I will post a picture when I am done working on the scarf) and poking around on Facebook.
Yes, I was doing Internet poking around. While checking things out I came across a family picture where one member of the family was crying and it looked like no one noticed. 

I thought, what would I do if someone was crying? 

Then I thought, what would I like if I was crying? 

Understanding, Love, a Hug, Kindness, Forgiveness.
So while thinking about this I learned that forgiveness is a great thing to think about but a difficult thing to do. 

I focused on forgiving people who I felt slighted by.

I focused on opening my heart for safe passage of hurt feelings. 

I realized the more I opened my heart the better I felt. 

The more I remembered, "The God who caused the question to be asked is the God who has the answer" (Doris Jones) 

Gradually, I felt better and didn't feel like I was riding an elephant. (Morgan's drawing)

I do Love the way all things work out if you have patience and trust. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Wow it's 2009. Time sure is moving rapidly. Of all the things I would like to write about this month, I figure I should start with the inaugural address.
"On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord." (if you would like to read the inaugural address visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/inaugural-address/)
Yes, I cried during most of the address. Yes, I printed it up and offered it as reading material for parents at Morgan's 6th birthday while their children did gymnastics. Yes, I am more than excited to have Barack Obama as the president of the United States of America. Yes, I am crying now even thinking about it.
As Emerson says "Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen." It is with confidence that I know where ever my travels lead I have chosen hope.

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.