Time Slipping Away

You know how time can slip away from you? I realized this morning that it had been almost 3 months since I had written in one of my blogs. My first reaction was panic. This is a good blog. The material I put there is almost a cut above the material I use for my other blogs. I was appalled. Then, a wave of resentment crashed over me because work (my daytime job) has been absolutely frenetic. I mean it is insane. And, it just got more insane yesterday. I keep saying to myself, “I’m lucky to have a job. I’m lucky to have a job.” But, the focus of my attention has been there and obviously not where I would like it to be.

So, what to do? I think I need to devise better ways to calm down. I also need to loosen up on what I put in that blog. People are still reading it. It’s got a really nice page rank on it. But, as I’ve allowed more stress into my life I’ve also sort of frozen up as to my writing output. It’s got to be good or it doesn’t get in. Well, that sort of counts out 75% of what I’ve been whining about lately.

I fell back on the old adage my mother used to say to us, “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” That’s me. Clammed up these days.

This isn’t good. So, I’m not exactly coming up with a new resolution sooner than I need to…I’m just recognizing that I’ve let a good blog down, I’ve let people who are wanting to learn how to channel down, and I’ve let myself down.

I will make the time to come up with something of quality for Learn to Channel that I can post this weekend.

Cheryl Wheeler - Is it Peace or is it Prozac?

My 200th Post - About Cleaning

I’ve never managed the knack of how my mother kept house, though my husband and I did develop what we call Company Coming Cleaning in the early days of our marriage. It’s actually pretty simple. You start at one end of your place and work your way to the other end picking up things as quickly as possible. What you do with the stuff you pick up is you throw it into closets as you go. In 20 minutes you can get your house into a presentable position for company to come calling.

What do you do about dust? Dim the lights. No, I’m kidding. Get the canned air that you have for your computer and aim it at some of the book shelves. If there is time do a little vacuuming. Spray a little air freshener around. Before you begin the pick up empty the cat’s litter box of anything she’s left there. At the end of your whirl wind cleaning she will have left another deposit in the clean box that you can pick up too.

If you don’t have any air freshener you could sprinkle a little cinnamon into a saucepan half full of water. Set it on a burner on the stove and the house will be on its way to smelling better by the time you are finished picking up. If you go the cinnamon route you should probably dispense with the air freshener. Too many smells can be annoying rather than evocative.

By the way, this is my 200th post.

Musing

When tears rise up
they burn for a moment
or two
But, if the tears that rise up
are there because of some bittersweet
memory
or two
Think of the sweet part
If you can


Life is hard and
Life is cold
But, life however it
Turns out
When you share it
With those
You love
Is a life well lived

Logan

It's been awhile since I've posted here. I've been sort of down in the dumps. Coming out of it now. Bless Prozac. Some odd side effects, but I just tell people it's the medicine.

In any case, I wanted to share this video with you. I just saw it at d76blade and wanted to pass it along to my own readers. It really struck a nerve for me. Perhaps it will for you too.

Pick a Day....Any Day

This morning I got up at my regular time. I was a little off because Shelby, our smallest cat, didn’t make her usual foray into our bedroom to bat at the pictures and walk all over us. I figured she was still pissed off at me for putting her flea collar back on. Either that or she was having a reaction to it and wasn’t feeling well. I decided, first chance I got, to take it off of her.

Anyway, I have a doctor’s appointment Monday morning so I took an especial care with my toilet just because my mother always said you should when you are seeing your doctor. My second “off” for the day was when I tested my blood sugar and the date showed as 10/26. I thought to myself, “I thought it was the 27th. Something must have gone wrong with my meter.” Later on I was wondering how long it’s been off on the date, why I hadn't noticed before this and how that’s going to affect all my readings. Also, when I recorded my weight this morning I noticed that I hadn’t recorded it Friday morning, but then I did a lot of things different Friday because I didn’t go into work that day. Just a nice day off.

So, I got dressed, made my lunch and fixed a bite of breakfast for myself. I’m watching the clock because my appointment is at 8:30 am. Figuring on traffic, finding a parking place and anticipating a bit of a line to get processed at the doctor’s office I thought I would leave the house about 7:15.

Minutes before I was to go I sat down with a piece of toast and the rest of my coffee and flipped on the television. I wanted to catch the headlines before I left. I put it on channel 2 for the KTVU news and watched a man and a lady working a vacuum cleaner all over a rug with tons of crap to suck up. It went on and on; far longer than a normal commercial. This is where I thought I’d landed on the wrong channel. I hit the guide button on the remote and saw it was paid programming. It was channel 2 all right, but no news. So, I looked at the other programs. This wasn’t right at all. There should be news on the first 5 channels. You know what I thought? I thought there had been a terrorist attack and television programming had been screwed up. That’s what I thought. I mean, my heart was in my throat. I started looking at the other listings and the word “Sunday” caught my eye. That’s when it started dawning on me that maybe it wasn’t Monday after all.

I was so excited to have another day off where I didn’t have to go to work, but could do anything my heart desired. I’m still jazzed.

Yum....Coffee

Our coffee pot may be on the fritz. For some time now water would puddle on the counter. I had thought it was just us not being all that careful as we poured water into the well. Yesterday, after my husband insisted something was wrong with it, I watched water trickling from it as it brewed a cup.

My husband and I drink different brands of coffee. Our coffee maker is only a 4 cup job and once one person gets their coffee then the other person brews their particular brand. It might sound like a pain in the behind, but we’ve gotten used to this routine.

A long time ago I became entranced with using a French Coffee Press. They had one on an episode of, “As Time Goes By” and I thought it was really neat. I bought one. However, there were always a few grounds that slipped through. The advertised number of cups per pot wasn’t enough to fill our big mugs, the coffee cooled off quickly and eventually the carafe broke. I hadn’t gotten another because of all those problems, but I still considered it to be sort of neat.

Then, farting around on Amazon one day I saw that folks had started making thermos versions of the coffee presses.

And, this morning I purchased a cornflower blue version by Planetary Designs from Amazon. This looks really neat and if it works well I will get another one so we can both have our own.

Celtic Tranqulity Meditation

This is Probably Something I Can Work On

One of the things I like to do occasionally is to just pick up and leave. I think this feeling to flee comes from my years as an Army Brat when I could look forward to a move every year or so. What all this moving did was to allow me to run away from problems rather than to try to sort them out. Consequently there is a deeply bred abhorrence in me to face up to situations which require me to have some backbone. Sorry, I’m a wimp. Wimpy Psychic at your service.

So, yesterday I had a situation where I became absolutely furious at the fuckups at my HMO. Kaiser is switching to a more computerized, less paperwork sort of system. The doctor orders labs and the patient shows up in the laboratory for blood draws.

It actually didn’t work that way. And, not only that but I think they did the wrong tests for me. The results are in already and these are tests I’ve never heard of. I mean they could have changed the tests, but I think the lady just picked stuff out to do based upon me telling her I needed diabetic tests done.

So, not only was the trip to the lab all screwed up, but the appointment I thought was in place for Friday of this week was non-existent. Did I have the paper confirming the appointment? No. I didn’t think I needed it. I didn’t realize it would become so important.

On the face of it these are small potato sorts of things. I made another appointment for the end of this month. I’m figuring it will be okay for work. That way I go to the doctor on Monday and the dentist on Tuesday. Also, not something I’m all that thrilled about, but what the heck. It’s only a minor inconvenience that sort of flared up into something that had me livid for several hours.

Oh, and the day began with me spraying gasoline all over the side of my car at our local service station. I should have known better because this is the same pump that has done that to me before. Also, there is no getting a receipt out of that particular pump. Twits. A little Chinese lady came out to see why I wasn’t moving along and why I had pen and paper out writing down what I’d pumped, the price and how much it cost off of the readings of the pump. I tried to pantomime to her what had happened. She just smiled at me pleasantly and intimated that I didn’t know how to pump gas.

I should go check my biorhythms. I’ll bet something sucked yesterday. By the way, if you'd like to check out your own biorhythms I've got a link at www.talkingtospirit.com down toward the bottom of the page. And, I'd be honored if you'd stop by and see what I do when I'm being psychic.

My Left Boob

Well, this is a new wrinkle to menopause. My boob hurts. Sharp, shooting pains. Off and on. Lots yesterday. Not so many today. What gives with that? Doing a bit of research on the internet come to find out it might be hormonal. Lovely. What nex?

Caution - Funny Video (On the Raunchy Side)

Oh, funny. I'm looking for new videos for www.zdaily.com this morning and came upon this one. I'm not going to add it to the collection because it's a bit on the raunchy side, but I thought it was hilarious. Enjoy.

Toothpaste

Toothpaste can be used to treat your pimples. Zap the zit by applying a tiny dab of white cream toothpaste. Best to apply it in the evening or when you aren’t planning on going out in public.

Toothpaste can also be used (the white kind) to spackle nail holes in the walls of your apartment. When we were kids that was our job as we got ready to leave one set of quarters for another. Once things are dry you can paint right over where the holes were.

Using the baking soda kind of toothpaste apply to a CD or a DVD that’s got a scratch on it. Rub gently, wipe with a clean cloth and the scratch is repaired.

Relieve bug bites. Good for bee stings and for mosquito bites.

Use toothpaste and your husband’s toothbrush to clean your jewelry. Likewise, you can use toothpaste to clean the faucet and handles made of chrome in the bathroom. Only use your husband’s toothbrush for this job if you’re really ticked off at him. You can also use toothpaste to sparkle up the mirror. It’s got a nice side effect of rendering the mirror fog free when you take a shower.


Toothpaste really freshens up a person's breath. It stands to reason that it would do the same for your dog who has really raunchy doggy breath. You want to be careful, though, not to mask what might be a serious problem for Poochie. Could be they've got some bad teeth issues, or general health problems, so if their breath is knock you on your back bad do take them to the vet for a checkup.

Here’s a fun way to get your kids to brush their teeth. Kids learn by watching, so demonstrate how it is that you want them to brush. Now, for the fun part…really get a mouthful of foam going, like you’re a mad dog. And, for the next few weeks, every time they brush their teeth you brush yours with them. That way there won’t be any backsliding or wetting of the toothbrush for show like we used to do when we were kids.

Christian The Lion - Video

I guarantee there won't be a dry eye in the house after you've watched this one. In addition to the clip below you can go to YouTube and watch an entire movie in 9 parts about Christian the lion. There is even a 2 part interview of the original owners, John Rendall and Anthony Bourke 35 years after. The interviewer asks them towards the end of the clip, "What are we supposed to learn from all of this?" Someone in Spirit said to me right then, "That animals have souls too."

Apply Heat and Then Shake

We have been having hot weather around here. I’m not sure exactly what, but night before last I went out to our patio around 10 pm and it was 80 degrees F. That’s hot. The only time, though, that it really bothers me is in the late part of the afternoon at work. I just slow down and get really stupid. Sorry. Can’t help it. It’s hot. We all try to do as much of our work, the work where we really have to apply ourselves in the cool of the day. Anyway, it won’t last long.

And, last night we had an earthquake. You’d think after having lived here all these years I’d have gotten accustomed to them, but every time I’m like a deer in the headlights. DeeDude was off covering a ball game. He was there to write a story and take pictures. He’s got a new job at The Alameda Sun (shameless plug!). He said nobody there felt it. I sure felt it here.

It was a 4.0 centered about 10 miles deep about 3 miles northeast of Alamo. I suppose that’s about 15 miles from here. I went to the USGS site for quakes just now to see that 11,112 people have reported their experiences with the quake. It was classified as light to moderate; I’ve heard both terms used. I, as noted above, was scared shitless. And, do you think I did the proper thing for an earthquake like run to a doorway? No. I got up and I sat down again holding onto the table. Our two parakeets had gone ballistic just seconds before it started. I remember wondering what the hell was wrong and then it hit. Early bird warning.

It seemed to last most of 10 seconds. Rolling. Lateral movement. Jolted. The whole house moved. Yikes. I know me. I’m going to be washing my hair in a hurry for the next few weeks. That always happens. Where’s the worst place you could be during an earthquake? Lathered up, soap in your eyes, buck naked in the shower. Right, I can’t imagine a worse place. Unless you’re taking a dump.

Today is my Birthday!

Hey, today is my birthday. I'm 53 if anybody wants to know. I decided every day of our extended weekend was going to be a celebration. That's the new rule in our house....everybody gets more than one day to do neato stuff for their birthdays. DeeDude has his coming up next month.

Here is the bouquet of roses I got this morning! I was so surprised! We had steak last night and went out for Chinese dinner the evening before.

I'm putting off my birthday present. DeeDude has promised me that he will help me get the study organized so I can work on my crafts. I'm really looking forward to it.

And, lovely, lovely, I had a birthday dream this morning: I was in a house, a new house and locked myself out. I was really irritated at myself because I’d always been the one to caution people against doing that and here I went and did it myself. It was an apartment and I wandered downstairs to tell my story to some people there. They weren’t all that sympathetic. I looked at the clock and could see that my sister would be getting home in an hour’s time, so if I just waited around for a little bit she’d let me in. But, I thought I might check in the management’s office to see if they wouldn’t let me in. The problem as somebody told me was they were going to be asking to see some photo ID and not only had I no key I also had no identification on me.

So, I wandered away from the commotion of the folks there at the apartment, at my home.

I found myself at the top of a really steep hill. It was covered with snow and there were kids sledding and flying down the hill on the seats of their pants. I thought I might do that too. The attraction was a huge carnival or amusement arcade at the bottom of the hill out on a wharf. So, I slid partway down, but came upon two large pipes sticking out of the hill that I was likely to crash into. So, I stopped and carefully made my way past them and went on down the hill.

At the amusement place there were tons of people. All over the place. I was a little uncomfortable, but soon became used to having them all near me. I wanted to put my hands up against the back of somebody’s head. They were a little taken aback, but I asked them if I could try it. They said okay and as I took my hands away from their head I could see this wonderful light green light and stars sparkling on one of my hands. I wondered what it was. I showed it to them. Then, I said to them, let me try it again, but this time I want to do your shoulders. They agreed and I spent a bit more time on their head and then their shoulders. They turned around and said that they felt a little better.

I looked at my hands and both hands held more of the green light and sparkling stars. I said, “Here, let me try this. Let me play with this for a minute.” I cupped my hands as if I were making a snow ball. I then drew my cupped hands apart, put them back together again and drew them out farther and farther each time. I could feel the energies I had cupped in my hands growing stronger each time. Finally, I paused with my hands held maybe a foot apart from each other, one on top the other on the bottom still cupped and I was able to see things in the green light. The first thing I saw was a dollar bill sign: $. I said to the person: “You will be able to make a living here.” Then, I saw other things, things I don’t remember now, but I said them to the person: “You will be happy here.” Then, I saw all sorts of animals, all sorts of wonderful animals and I said, “Oh, look at all these animals.” I was so pleased to see them. It was delightful.

Went to the Zoo

We went to the Oakland Zoo over the weekend. It was a terrific visit.

It's a Miracle - Video

Old Dog

I’ve never been a person to learn everything there is to know about something in one sitting. On the one hand I thought for years that I must be dumber than dirt. On the other hand I’m sort of coming around to the idea that I think I just learn in stages. Same thing goes for healing.

So, what sparked this line of thought? I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how to intersect two things in either Photoshop or in XaraX. Both of these are nice graphic software programs and I’m a ditz in either one I’m working in. So, rather than get the book out….God forbid….I surfed around on the internet thinking somebody has put something out there into cyberspace about the topic at hand. Well, I got a bit. Except, I’m working with older versions of these program and maybe that’s why the directions won’t work? Who knows. I’d had enough and figured I’d go online to see what’s interesting at Costco since DeeDude and I are heading that way on Friday. It’s a few days before my birthday and maybe we can pick up something nice for dinner and maybe, just maybe, something interesting for my birthday too. Otherwise, DeeDude has promised me that he will help me to organize all my craft things in the study. Right now they are scattered all over the house and I just don’t have a good handle on what I’ve got in the line of craft supplies.

The other thing that sort of intersects into the one hand dumber than dirt other hand slow learner is my jaw. Or, rather what is being called my TMJ. It still hurts. My bite is back again, but it’s a pretty hard bite. My back teeth really, really meet. More so than any of the others. Which is why I sort of come to during the day with me rocking them back and forth. I’d better watch it or sure as shit I’m going to crack them. Anyway, I got impressions made on Friday for upper and lower teeth for a bite guard. Or, it might be a splint. I’m not sure if they are the same or different appliances.

The other advice I’m getting:

Relax more
Deep breathing
Touch tongue to roof of mouth when at rest
Don’t open mouth wider than a thumb’s width when yawning, laughing, coughing, sneezing or singing
Valium only for a little while
Alternate hot and cold
Massage affected area
Eat soft foods
No chewy stuff
No hard crunchy foods like nuts or popcorn
No food that requires prolonged chewing like hard crusts of bread, tough meat or raw vegetables
No chewing gum ever again
Cut down on caffeine
Do not bite your lower lip
Do not bite your fingernails or on pencils
Do not rest your jaw on your hand
Advil or ibuprophen is okay
Sleep on back
Try to avoid stressful situations whenever possible

My sister told me she knows one lady who must wear her bite guard while driving. I got a vision of a croakie attached to the bite guard…sort of like how glasses hang around your neck when you’re not wearing them.

I Love Saturday

Ascribing to the belief that the universe will provide for you, right up front, in your face and on your doorstep that information you need to carry on (providing, of course, that you are paying attention), then everything that I read is of benefit to me in one way or another.

So, why did I just now open that book (about losing weight) and the first ding-donged words are, “Read this book cover to cover.” I couldn’t slam the book shut fast enough.

Which brings up my own personal credo. I like to be able to read a book that purports to teach and instruct, after the first few necessary basic chapters are out of the way, in a random fashion. It’s just my style. I want to be able to write that way too.

I am going to write a cohesive book. It will flow from one chapter to the next. But, if somebody were to just flip the ding-donged thing open at a random place whatever is staring them in the face will be helpful. You might ask what book I’m writing. Well, ask away. I don’t currently have one going, though the way I’m writing this morning I’ve got a feeling there’s certainly one in the works.

I had started one November before last which was totally channeled information about creativity. That one was actually pretty interesting. Took the wind out of my sales because writing a book in the best of times is an exhausting proposition. Doing it while you are channeling is doubly so. But, there is that book.

There’s also the book I’d like to write about learning how to channel. My Learn to Channel Blog has a lot of information in it. So does Talking to Spirit. But, it hasn’t been pulled together. So, I could do that.

And, there’s the book where I just want to rip loose. Fiction. Just rip loose. That sounds to me to be the most fun one of the three to do.

Anyway, I’ve got some errands to do this morning. Curves has taken too much money and I need to go talk to them about that. We’re having a company picnic tomorrow and I haven’t yet figured out what I want to bring. I’m thinking fruit would be a nice healthy thing to do, but it’s not going to involve too much time and effort. A plus when you don’t have any time, but I’m thinking I really should put a bit of thought into it. Peanut butter. I’ve got tons of peanut butter. I could make cookies. That would be a good thing to do. Something to think about. I’ve got books due at the library, so I want to go drop them off. And, I really, really should write the articles for September’s newsletter at Talking to Spirit. Busy day.

Hope your day is productive too.

Relax Already

Being busy, productive and interested in things evidently is not enough. Seems that I need to learn how to relax. Used to be I relaxed by smoking and by drinking and we ain’t talking Diet Coke here either. The deal is that I no longer smoke and I no longer drink. This morning I lay in bed and my guide said to me to begin a meditation. Like a ditz I really don’t know how. Much as I tell people how all the time when it gets down to brass tacks I really suck at meditation. But, since I need to know how to relax now (ding-donged TMJ playing havoc with my life) I was willing to give it a whirl.

They said imagine yourself on a path. Right away I could see this fine, baby fine green grass. I could feel that it was so soft to the touch and I marveled at it. But, it wasn’t a path, so I jerked myself back to being on a path. Lost the grass. Actually, lost the path. Start talking to the guides. I said, “This isn’t a path. That was a meadow.” They didn’t say anything. I turned my attention back to the meadow and decided maybe that’s where I was supposed to be. Then, I became aware of tears streaming down the sides of my face as I lay in bed.

And said, “I relax a little bit? Just a little bit and I start crying? What is going on with that?” Nothing. Nobody said anything.

So, I have something to think about now about how I must always be in some sort of constant state of alertness, constantly on guard, constantly busy, constantly held in such a rigid state of mind that the least little bit of relaxation sends me into tears? Yikes. I'll work on it.

Psychic and in the Dentist's Chair.

Can’t get out of it. No different than anybody else. Damn jaw has twisted around and I am now diagnosed with TMJ. So, after having sucked on peanut and butter sandwiches for 2 weeks I sat in the dentist’s chair today to be fitted for a splint.

Shoved a gooey mess in a metal tray into the lower part of my mouth for an impression of that set of teeth. When that had hardened up enough did the same for the upper part. Anyway, this goopey mess squishes out of the tray and shoots into the back of my throat. We’re talking gag reflex here. I’m thinking if I start counting maybe by the time I get to 200 it’ll be finished. I start counting. This is when Spirit steps in. The guides are telling me now that it was my mother who was helping. I couldn’t tell at the time. But, she says to me, “Say a Hail Mary.” So, I did. Over and over and over again. I don’t know how many Hail Marys I cranked out. After awhile I sort of drifted into them and away from what was going on in my mouth which was a blessing, I have to tell you.

Once all of that is over I’m ready to leave. At this point nothing has changed with the way my teeth are meeting. They still only meet in the front. It’s like I don’t have any molars. They’re no help at all. It’s just my two front uppers meeting my two front lower teeth. That’s it. Just like a chipmunk.

But, we’re not done. The technician says, “Bite real hard on this.” I said, “What for?” She said, “Bite real hard and tell me when your first teeth touch.” I said, “Which teeth?” (Psychics are not known for always intuitively figuring out their own health matters.) She said, “Whichever two back teeth meet first.” I said, “It’s not going to happen biting down on that thing.” (It was a little cotton roll.) I said, “Here, this is what I’m going to have to do. It’s going to hurt like hell, but I’ll do it if this is what you want to have happen.” Impassively, she stands by waiting to see what I’m going to do.

So, I fisted up my hands and pushed my jaw back into alignment. I didn’t think they would want me to do that. She was all for it. I’m thinking she’s probably got a sadistic streak somewhere. I managed to squeak out the F word while I was manhandling the lower part of my face. Do you remember watching Mel Gibson in the first, “Lethal Weapon” movie when he put his dislocated shoulder back together again himself? Yeah, it felt like that. After I’d relocated my jaw I bit on the little cotton roll. The intention was to really wear out the jaw muscle so that they could take an impression of my mouth the way it was supposed to be.

But, magnifico, for the first time since the beginning of August I was able to experience a normal bite. My jaw and head hurt like the dickens right now, but hey, isn’t that what Advil is for? Also, we got the Valium going on too. I had to apologize at work to the ladies I work with today about all the inappropriate comments I’ve been making lately. There’s a reason I don’t drink anymore. Evidently, Valium might be right up there with making me a party animal.

Anyway, the Kaiser nurse told me to alternately apply heat and cold to my jaw. She said to do upper body stretching exercises because I’m so tense. She said to practice relaxation techniques and the last thing she said to me was to rest my tongue on the roof of my mouth. I had to puzzle that one over for a day or so before I figured it out. If your jaw is so screwed up that you can’t even close your mouth properly (which is what had happened to me) then keeping your tongue stuck to the roof of your mouth will force you to breath through your nose. If not you are in real danger of sucking in stray bugs.

Anyway, I figured since my jaw was realigned, even though it hurt like hell, I was going to splurge and have something I didn’t have to suck on for dinner. I made us a chicken salad with diced celery in it.

It’s interesting, but the technician at the dentist’s office told me that I could continue to push on my jaw when it went out of alignment. I’m thinking there’s something wrong with this advice, but will be returning in 2 or 3 weeks for my splint. What the difference is between a splint and a bite guard I’m not too clear about at this point. Will also be meeting with my regular doctor on Monday just as a precaution. If anybody has any stories to tell about their experiences with TMJ I’m all ears.

Where I Take a Valium

So, I took a valium for the first time in my life. That was last night. Because my jaw really hurts and right now they’re thinking it is stress related. I’m thinking it’s probably something else, but for now I’m willing to play along with it.

What I’m thinking is that somehow I’ve got a trick jaw now. On the darker side there’s something growing in there that doesn’t belong, but until somebody x-rays my head or does an MRI we’re not going to know.

Until then, there’s valium and Advil.

Why I think I’ve got a trick jaw is that sometimes my bite is off and it really, really hurts to try to force my teeth to come together in the way they usually do when my mouth is shut. Easy, right? Wrong. It hurts.

So, the dentist said to me don’t take the valium on a weekend. This was because I took the day off yesterday and magically the horrid pain I was experiencing went away by the time I sat my sorry little (big) butt down in the dentist chair. I said, “It’s so strange. I mean, this really hurt yesterday, but when I woke up this morning it had gone away. Go figure. But, if I do this….(proceed to push my lower jaw in)….it hurts. And, this is where it did hurt….(shoving a finger into the latch system beside my ear where upper jaw bone meets lower jaw bone).” After I did those demonstrative moves the pain did return and I left the dentist’s office hurting. So, they told me to have some time for myself and try to relax more.

Now, my ear hurts too. Crap.

So, last night I took a valium. Even though it was the weekend I wanted to see how I reacted to it. I didn't want to be taking one Tuesday evening and then not be able to see straight on Wenesday at work.

My father used to take lots of valiums for his bad back and for his shoulder pain. He’d come home from work and take one and then we’d see him an hour later taking another one and so it would go all evening long. He also drank and it used to worry us, but he’d get mad at us when we said anything.

The valium I took didn’t seem to do a damn thing for me. I took it an hour ahead of when I took my nighttime meds and the only thing was that I felt a little sleepy.

Today, however, is an entirely different matter. I’m still in pain, but I’m loopy. And, I’m sleepy. I slept longer this morning than I normally do and I even went back to bed after breakfast for another couple of hours. It’s 2 in the afternoon and I still haven’t gotten dressed. I have had a shower, though and did manage after some effort to balance my neighbor’s checkbook. I still have our checkbook to balance and I may leave that for tomorrow when I’m a bit more on the ball.

Thank goodness I don’t have hemorrhoids or I’d be telling you about them.

Now, who wants a psychic reading?

An Engineer's Guide to Cats

Can Spirit Hear You Grieving?

I was poking around in my statistics for Talking to Spirit just now and had a look at the words people were using to find the site. One search stuck out like a sore thumb and I figured I might talk about it.

The person had asked the question: Can Spirit hear you grieving?

The answer to that is yes, but they don’t really care. Not in the sense that they want you to stop grieving for them. Just that those sorts of things are no longer important to them. They still love you, don’t get me wrong. But, they’re not all that worked up about you grieving.

How long you grieve for the person who has passed on is your business. You’ll work it out in your own time. But, think of how a parent feels when they’re watching their 3rd toddler learn to walk. The kid is all over the place like a drunken sailor. Many times they walk into walls and fall down. And, cry. Can the parents spare them this learning to walk thing? No. Just gotta keep walking into walls until you don’t do it anymore and can make your way across the room without running into something.

So, for those of you who are grieving? Your loved one can hear you. You can’t hear them, but they can hear you. Tell them how you feel. Do it quietly in your head or holler the walls down. Write to them in your journal. Letters to Mom or something like that. All the stuff you never thought to tell her. Tell her now. She can take it. And, she still loves you.

Work out your grief in your own way. For most people it takes time and even 15 and 20 years down the road when you figure you’re past it the grief will come up out of nowhere and blindside you, so in that sense it never does go away. But, you learn to cope with it. And, those blindside hits don’t happen as often as they did when your grief was a raw thing.

If you're interested I've got a page at Talking to Spirit about Grief. It might help and I'm sorry for your loss.

Oyster Stew for Lunch

Waiter. There's something in my soup.

Part of the Process

When you’ve got a recipe you have a bit of this, a bit of that and a nosh of another thing that when combined in a certain and specific way makes something. The order you put things in matters. What you do to them matters. What you put in the mix matters. Like if you were to make chocolate chip cookies, putting onions and garlic into them would be horrible. So, when you’re learning to be psychic, when you are encouraging that little wisp of psychic awareness farting around with things that have no bearing on being psychic just doesn’t add much. Like, you love to watch Jerry Springer: Jerry, Jerry, Jerry. Is this helpful? Does watching a lot of pain and embarrassment on television contribute to making you a more psychic person? I didn’t think so.

So, what does? Well, we’ve ruled out excessive watching of Jerry Springer (can you tell I’m not a fan?). What could you watch on television? Hauntings? Again, I’m not all that certain that’s a really terrific idea either. That’s low level stuff. Aim higher. Okay, let’s watch them say the rosary on channel 12. Nope, not that either.

Well, then what? What can I watch on television that is going to help me be more psychic? Actually, there’s not much. You could watch those psychic detective shows and sort of get an idea of what the psychic sees, what they do to encourage a psychic vision, stuff like that. But, even more than that I think is you addressing your spiritual nature. Your psychic nature and your spiritual nature are as much a part of you as the color of your hair. It’s there. It’s always been there. Pay attention to them now.

And, what do you do? Well, you do what you are moved to do. Dabble if you want. Go to the new age section, which abuts onto the religious section and the help self section of your library or local book store. Pick something out and read it. How do you feel? Now, do some journaling to sort it out. Now what? Are you psychic? Are you spiritual? Are you going to Hell or Heaven? Go pick out another book. Quit sweating it. Trust that your teacher (in the form of a book or of an interview on some talk show on television or on the radio) will appear. Just keep reading. You’re going to get a whole lot more out of doing it this way than if you park your butt in that familiar rut on the couch night after night.

There’s a lot of what you read that really won’t be all that helpful, that isn’t haute cuisine, but it’s a whole lot more on your path than watching mind-numbing television night after night. Unless, of course, you need it to unwind. Personally, a little bit goes a long way for me. Like the guides say: moderation is a good course.

Neti Pot Nasal Wash

When I was a teenager and into my young adult years I used to do a mild salt water wash of my sinuses. You'd cup a little water in your hand or in a small cup and sort of inhale it into one nostrul at a time. I remember as I would do the other one I'd have to stopper up the nostril I'd already loaded up otherwise it would all leak out. Once I'd loaded up both nostrils I'd bend over and hang my head down for a little bit. Presumably, this allowed the warm saline solution to wash into my sinuses. Then, for the really dramatic part I'd bring my head up and holding one of my nostrils shut would hose out the most disgusting crap out of my nose. Then, I'd switch sides and honk out the other one. It never failed to amaze me the stuff that came out of my nose.

It goes without saying that you'd have to clean the sink out afterward.

Anyway, breathing was great for many years and for some reason I stopped doing it. Can't quite remember why other than I might have felt I was getting addicted to this manner of cleaning or got tired of having a drippy nose for a few hours after every treatment. That, was the only downside that I can remember.

My sister recently extoled the virtues of her own Neti pot. I asked what the hell was a Neti pot and she began to tell me how she and my brother-in-law now regularly clean their nasal passages using this little gizmo. She said she met with a bit of resistance from my brother-in-law but was finally able to convince him to try it too. He told her that he hasn't felt this great in years. She said she's had a decrease in the frequency and severity of the sinus headaches she suffered from for years.

So, I bought one.

You should have heard DeeDude just now when I told him to come watch. I almost choked he was so funny. He said I should take a movie and put it on the blog. I think I'll pass on that one and instead just tell you how it went.

Luke warm water and a tiny bit of salt. Stir it up in the pot with your finger and pour. Breathe with mouth open and as you pour into the one nostril IT COMES OUT OF THE OTHER ONE! So, this is a slightly different procedure than the one I used when I was young. The advantage I can see right now is I'm not dripping all over the front of my shirt. The one thing I'm thinking, though, is that disgusting crud did not come out. So, it's cleaning my nostrils and not way up deep into my nasal passages.

And, it was funny to see DeeDude's reaction.

Hmmmm

There’s that old saying that variety is the spice of life. I too am easily amused with some of the email newsletters that I’ve signed up for. My favorites are the craft or the recipe of the day. I might not read every single one of them that hits my mailbox, but I know that they arrived.

So, if I like it why could I not do something similar I ask myself? Well, the first thing I think of is that it’s too much like work and I’ve already got a job. The closest I come to something sent out on a regular basis is my own Talking to Spirit newsletter. I’ve been doing it for 3 years and it has slowly evolved into something that I’m comfortable with…on a monthly basis, but not on a daily basis.

I believe I need to get back to basics. Intellectually I am familiar with the concept of garbage in and garbage out. I need to refresh and renew a bit more than I’ve been doing lately. All that floats to the surface right now are a lot of whining excuses: I’ve been sick. I’ve been under a lot of pressure lately. My back hurts. I have diarrhea. I suppose if I thought hard enough I could come up with some more. But, right there, I’m putting effort into whining that I could just as easily put into doing something more creative. So, maybe I should look into why I’m whining. Oh, and my stomach is hurting. I forgot that.

Oh, alright, since, this has morphed into a blog entry, let me just detail what I did yesterday. I replaced my destroyed keyboard (cat threw up on it…see blog entry about that here) with a really snazzy Microsoft ergonomic cordless 7000 version that came with an ergonomic mouse. I’m really liking it. You can position it 3 ways: back end higher, front end higher or flat. I’m using it flat right now. It’s got a zoom button in the middle that I’m using more and more. It’s got 5 programmable Favorite keys running along the top that I’ve already configured: one to open the folder I put current photographs in, one to see how much money I made on Google, one to go to Blogger.com and one to go to Netflix.com (I love to watch the on-demand movies). The last one has not been configured. There’s also a button to push so you can see how you configured them just in case you forget (I have). I’m thinking about labeling them. I also got a $20 mail in rebate I need to prepare. Total on the keyboard and mouse was $119 or $99 once I get my rebate.

The other thing I did was to happen upon a terrific sale at Beverly’s down at Southshore Mall in Alameda. $1.97 a yard for a huge pile of calico prints. I busted the bank on that one. Came home and told DeeDude I’d gotten my birthday present. The minimum purchase on most of the yardage was 3 yards, though there were at least 2 more where I told the lady to just keep measuring until we came to the end of the bolt…generally about another 2 yards more. I figured I might as well just use it up rather than leave a weeney piece for somebody else to regret more hadn’t been left. Funny, I tend to use the same approach as I eat. Anyway, I’m thrilled with the purchase. Figure I might even be able to make myself some gowns. Also have plans for some sit-upons for the cats and some of the chairs they’ve been using as scratching posts. And, of course, the insides of some tote bags. Notice in the picture an inquisitive cat coming in from the right. That's Shelby. She helps out with the various projects people do in the house.

The things I want to do today are to do a bit of ironing. It shouldn’t take more than half an hour. Also, I want to clean up my study. I got a set of terrific plastic storage boxes (large shoe box size) yesterday at Office Depot that should assist with organizing my craft stuff. Barb will come over for a computer lesson in the afternoon and that will be about 2 hours. Last week was really productive. I’ll have to look at our list to see what we can focus on today. And, I need to update my Spanish blog. Actually, I ought to spend about an hour with my Spanish lessons. That might be more productive. I’ve started listening to Spanish language radio broadcasts when I’m in the car just to get my ear better tuned. Don’t understand but one word in 20, but you gotta start somewhere.

So, that’s it. Off to the races.

Tossed Up and Tossed Out

Well, there went my lovely ergonomic keyboard. Somebody, we're not naming names, but I think her initials are Fluffy Drawers, threw up a hairball sometime during the night on my keyboard. Actually, the blame for the damaged computer component lies squarely in Mommy's lap because somebody (probably the same cat) threw up the night before too. Except that hairball hit the floor and missed the computer equipment. This is one of those deals the universe hands you sometimes where you go, "Oh, shit. I should have seen that one coming." Big fluffy cat isn't going to just throw up one hairball. I hope she feels better now.



Luckily, I had another keyboard. So, after swearing a bit. And, being saved by Spirit because I turned on the computer without thinking and they said, "Not a good idea." I turned it off real quick. That would have been worse to short the whole thing out with cat throwup inside my keyboard.



I wiped off the surface of the keyboard and then left it upside down on the kitchen counter. Looked underneath after a couple of minutes to find more cat throwup. So, I decided to open it up. Yuck. It was everywhere. Also, there was the usual crud that you'd find inside a keyboard after a few year's worth of use....wet from the cat throwup. It was really gross.



I decided then to just toss the whole thing. Fifteen years ago I cleaned off another keyboard that a cat had thrown up on. It was tedious work and it only lasted for 6 months after that before it bit the dust. I learned my lesson. Don't bother. And, close up the keyboard drawer at night so it isn't in the way of flying hair balls.

Where I Lose My Voice

Well, I have no voice. Nothing wrong with my fingers, so I can communicate well enough to the world at large, but to my family and at work? Nope.

Started Wednesday afternoon at work and I wasn’t feeling very good. Woke up Thursday am feeling like crap. Diabetes numbers were way up there too. Double crap. So, for the first time since I had a kidney stone years ago I called in sick. That was Thursday. I spent the day in bed, just like when you were sick when you were a kid. Had to stay in bed. Except, no comic books for me. I coughed and wheezed. My chest hurt and I couldn’t breathe. I spent the day taking Nyquil that I found out later had expired in January.

DeeDude made 2 trips out to buy me stuff. I’d told him on Thursday when he’d called me that I wanted SPT that night. That’s Sick Person’s Treatment.

Friday I went to work. Still sick, but able enough to join the workforce. Figured if I was to give this to everybody in the office they’d already had the opportunity to get it. In fact, when I called in Thursday am to tell them I wasn’t going to come in my co-worker said she wasn’t feeling good either. Based on what’s going on this morning I really should not have gone in. My voice was doing really strange things yesterday, up and down, squeaky and froggy by turns. I should have seen it coming and clammed up.

Today, I can’t talk. I spent some time upon awakening coughing up a storm and blowing my nose a lot. I didn’t realize anything was wrong until DeeDude woke up blowing his nose. I went in to say good morning and nothing came out. Figure it’s just a temporary thing and it will come back eventually. I’ve got two days to get through this.