I went to my Facebook Fanpage this morning to post a status and noticed I had almost a dozen new peoples. Usually I glance at the total “likes” but I didn’t this time around. And so a little while ago I was checking in on my phone and noticed that I broke 1500 “likes”!! WOW! Who knew that I would ever have that many?

So I got to thinking and I feel like I should do something special. I know that other pages have way more likes than that but I am not those other pages. So yea, the need to do something cool to celebrate reared it’s head. But what? I glanced around my house in all of it’s cluttered glory and my eyes rested on this one thing that I never could figure out what to do with.

It’s my most favorite blanket that I have knit but I knew that I couldn’t just keep it on a couch or snuggle up under it. This handmade beauty was destined for something else. Someone not me and someone not in my family. My hubs wanted to give it to someone at the holidays but my gut said “NO!”. And what a good thing because it’s going to one very lucky reader!

How to enter:

Simply leave a comment here telling me about your favorite hobby/past time. It can be anything. Even staring into space. Just share it! Be sure to include your email in the comment form so that I can email you if you are the lucky winner (you don’t have to post it in the comment if you wish to keep your email private!)

You can leave only one comment per day but you can enter every single day until contest closes.

The contest will run from January 13, 2013 to midnight EST on January 31, 2013.

Unfortunately at this time, I can only open this giveaway to those in the US. *sorry!*

On the evening of February 1, 2013 I will email the winner. Winner will have 48 hrs to respond to my email before I move to the next person in line. Winner will be publicly announced once I have received an email response with mailing information.

Winner will be chosen by Random.org.

Good luck!

I am very much in a place of how to make everything into a ritual. It’s just TOO easy to allow the mundane to interfere with my spiritual path. At work I have a lovely mini altar set up. Most everyone notices it and comments on how pretty it is. They don’t know what it is (as far as I can tell) so it’s pretty cool to get compliments. I have also got the option to take off for Ostara (or any other Holy Day) in exchange for working on Good Friday. I wanna do Ostara but then again, I might save it for Samhain.

A while back I was at the gym doing my duty of exercising my heavy and tired body. Sometimes it really feels like hard work and sometimes I love it so much I don’t want to stop. I have also started hitting the steam room post workout because it helps with the next day soreness I often experience. I can’t wear my glasses in there and so I am pretty blind. But I wasn’t blind to a very intense moment I experienced in there.

I sat in this steam room with about 4 other people. We all leaned back into the wall and heads back to really breathe in that Eucalyptus Steam into our lungs (which often makes me cough). Relaxation crept in and I noticed how very close to a sweat lodge this was. Now, mind you, I have not done a sweat lodge before so I could only compare it based on my book learning. As I looked around, people were relaxed. Almost joyful and blissful. Hints of half smiles and deep thoughts were on the faces closest to me. There was no talking. And I have since discovered that I actually hate it when people are in there carrying conversation because it disturbs that relaxation that takes place. But that’s another gripe for another day!

I went home and really thought about this and have begun a bit of a Gym Rite. No circles cast but I make an offering before I go to the gym. I ask for patience, commitment, and diligence in exchange of the gifts I leave. I let Freyja know that this is in preparation of being Her Warrior Woman. Then I work out and I try my hardest to exceed what I have done the week prior (even if that means one more crunch or 1 more minute on the elliptical). Most times I succeed and on occasion I don’t. Then afterwards I go to the Steam Room and sit in quiet reflection. I give thanks for the strength to do what I have done. I imagine the toxins leaving my body as I sweat. I imagine a deep physical and spiritual cleansing in that room.

I think that this is part of what has been keeping me going. Other than the fact that I have become quite addicted to working out. No really, if it’s been more than 2 days I get real cranky and aggressive. But having that spiritual connection, what gets me a wee bit closer to Her, is my biggest motivator. To love my body as the gift that I have been truly given, that is what matters most at this time.

So I have been very unhappy as of lately. My job is not the ideal one. Sure it’s something that pays the bills and I am honestly not very bad at it, but my job makes me hate people. Customer Service has never been my forte. I get a lot of compliments on how well I am at it but I have to really ground and center between each and every call so that I don’t go insane. Sometimes one call gets through that irritates me in a way that I forget my manners and I am not very nice (but not near as mean as I can get).  And let’s not even discuss how much I have been sick over the last month. That place is a hotbed of germs and I have been affected in a bad sort of way.

So with my unhappiness at the job, I continued to search for something in the financial field. Something that I would look forward to doing (like I feel about tax returns). I have continued applying and applying, hoping something would come through. I am very happy to announce that something did. The day after Christmas I had to go to Urgent Care. That same day I interviewed for an Accounts Payable position. The hubs thought I was crazy and that I would sabotage the interview with my incessant hacking but I couldn’t pass the opportunity. So I interviewed and I felt very good about it. I was told they would let me know by the 28th if I made it to the second rounds. I did. Then I sent in my references and those came back on a very positive note (bless my references!). So I was called to see about meeting my coworker this morning. I went out and met the most loveliest woman. I also spoke with the VP of Finance for the second time. He let me know they had one more person to talk to and then they would make their decision. I was a bundle of nerves for 5 hours. And towards the end, I convinced myself the other person was going to be Superman and hired on the spot. Except I got an email with the offer. I have accepted it and I am seriously on cloud 9000.

This is a job I wanted so badly. It has wonderful benefits and an increase in pay. But really? That doesn’t matter. The environment is one that I love. It’s quiet (the occasional loud noise but overall quiet). It’s number crunching. It’s Quickbooks. It’s money. It’s a set schedule with no overtime and weekends off. I love everything about this job. So much that I would do it for free if they asked. It’s going to feel good having a job I love again!

Sitting back and I am trying hard to avoid news media and social outlets. It’s just too much to take in that children and teachers were shot at school today. I know that when my kids come home, I will hug them tight. And I will worry every day for a while. Only until my life becomes complacent and I become sure that it would never happen here. But for now, my heart aches.

I have to stay away from social outlets today because the knee-jerk reactions are equally as painful as the events themselves. I can almost hear enraged screams from non-Christians that God is cruel for “allowing” such things to happen. Sometimes those screams come from Christians themselves. There are screams about tighter gun control and screams that tighter gun control won’t stop. The particularly frustrating  screams are from those who yell about “how can we give people the right to carry such weapons?”  all the while ignoring that the right to bear arms does not include the right to mow down innocent children and teachers.

Once again we become divided in a time when we suffer from crazy events that do truly effect us all. It’s that divisiveness that shows how far we haven’t come. Every time something happens, we become more divided. What good does it do? It doesn’t. But we rely on those knee jerk reactions and the media leading us along in the direction they want. I can only imagine Bill O’Reilly spewing on that this happened because we are a “Godless” country. And the CNN will go on about the oppressiveness of our society. Divisiveness.

I don’t know what we should do anymore. But the divisiveness has to stop. If it doesn’t, we will destroy ourselves.

I forgot what it meant to work full time. I mean really forgot. It’s been a struggle to get online in the evenings. I have been trying to make sure I spend time with the chillens, squeeze in workouts at the gym, stay on top of laundry, cooking dinner,  and knit to de-stress from my day. Then I have temple work to do and I try hard to maintain some healthy sleep habits.

So as of now my days off are my catch up on any laundry that I might’ve fallen behind on, cleaning house, temple work, blogging, and email. Because email is almost impossible for me to do on a work day. I have become addicted to the to-do list to help me stay on top of things and not get far behind on my duties. But some days, I really miss perusing the internet. However. This is probably a blessing that I am not on here as I am quite busy and don’t need distractions. I also find that I can’t sit for very long without a need to get up and do something (courtesy of the gym!).

Last weekend it was my eldest’s birthday. She is now 13. It’s insanely crazy to me that I have an official teenager in my home now. I never once thought that any of my babies would actually be teens. And I don’t mean it in that crazy mom sort of way of “I assumed I woulda killed them by now”. I guess I just never looked into their baby faces and expected that they would actually grow up. For her birthday all she wanted was dinner and a movie. She got money from the inlaws and she very excitedly made the plans. I took her and her bff to Carrabba’s so she could dine on her favorite, Steak Marsala. Afterwards, we went to the movies and watched The Collection (not bad but not near as good as the Saw series). Gone are the days of balloons, cakes, and party games. She just wants to have fun with her bff and her mom (which I find amusing because isn’t she supposed to be anti-parent?).

Also? We are prepping for the Yuletide season. I have the Solstice off and so I plan on picking up our tree then. I have gifts ordered and on the way so the evening of 21st will be tree decorating and a big meal. On the morning of 22nd will be gift exchange between the family members and a country breakfast. We are saving Santa for Christmas Day.

And finally, it feels like baby season! I know of several people that are newly pregnant and several that are almost at the end of their pregnancy. Now I know why I have been having the urge to make baby stuff lately LOL!

So what say you? What have you been doing in your neck of the woods???