Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Well, the viruses love me...

Ir's nice to be popular... this virus leaves me slouched like Quasimodo, neck and shoulders in spasm, and unable to look in any direction without nausea and dizziness. This has been going on about 2 weeks, so I hope it departs for warmer climates any day now... Brian is sick with a cold, and Angeni is complaining about an earache... These are all viruses that seem to love the Lovelady's. Like that distant relative that's overstayed their welcome, these can shove off anytime...

Today I finished an article for an anthology, and shipped it off a mere day ahead of the final deadline. It is an aboriginal anthology based on life in the Guelph/K-W/Cambridge area. I understand the Ontario Arts Council is involved, so I hope it turns out well for all participants.

We are working with Angeni on cleaning up her room for the holidays. Instead of being happy with our help, she is cranky and obnoxious, worried that we're throwing out something precious. The unfortunate thing is she's a hoarder... garbage is precious to her. Not things we consider garbage, like old school drawings from 3 years ago, but actual garbage like pop cans, and cookie package liners and broken toys. I think this may be why Brian is now sick - the dust and crap on her floor is overwhelming. As her room evolves to a livable space, she is sleeping better. My parenting skills get reduced to threatening to take away her scheduled weekend activities and sleepovers for the holidays - it's the only thing that works anymore. Hopefully a couple hours tonight, and again tomorrow night, and we'll be done... Sigh...

Poor Pooky continues her decline, and I find myself grieving. We experiment with dosages of the meds from the vet, but still she coughs. Nothing shamanic is working for her, which tells me that it's soon her time... We had to put Ethol down on our 10th anniversary last year, which made for a horrible weekend (along with Brian breaking his ankle) and I hope Pook doesn't check out on our 11th anniversary, which happens Dec. 9th. 2 years in a row is too much for me, so I hope the Creator keeps her around past Christmas. She seems to breathe better with the cold air outside, like a baby with croup. Poor little thing - she's been with me almost a third of my life, and whenever she goes she'll be missed...

Time to clean up the post-dinner kitchen mess and prepare myself - actually steel myself - for the cleaning extravaganza part #3 upstairs at 6 PM.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

A Shopping We Will Go!

I started some vague Christmas shopping Monday, without expectation, and today we are done. Wow, that's some kind of record...

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

When Good Banks go Bad

In the past I've sued a bank, threatened to take one to the supreme court, and generally have not been impressed with their monopolistic empires... I have worse opinioins about insurance companies, because I was engaged to someone in that industry and the stuff I learned horrified me... That our government allows these two forms of usary and highway robbery to exist IN THEIR PRESENT FORMS boggles my mind.

As the divide between the wealthy and the poor increases, so does the pressure for the poor on having simple, day-to-day necessities. I need my van for work, and because we live in the country. To be without transportation would be suicide. Yet there are many people who cannot afford their vehicles. Farm families around us can't depend on public transit - that doesn't exist out here. The poor can't afford house insurance, or the horrible fees per transaction for the priviledge of having a bank account. Bank records are a form of personal identification, so become a must-have, a paper trail, and a label.

My hackles rose even higher when I heard these two institutions were allowed to merge, and banks could now offer insurance. My bank runs an ad several times per hour, on several channels, stating they can drop your insurance fees on average $350 with one 12-minute phone call (did you catch that fine print?). They can do this, they say, because they've streamlined the application and delivery process, saving us consumers money - so who is paying for these TV ads, month after month? Right.

Banks need to exist, and so does insurance. However, the gross misrepresentation of what's going on in these industries is costing huge amounts of money to those who can least afford it. Private business, in a free market economy, has to pare the fat off operations or die like the dinosaur. Government needs to step in and create the same incentives, and apply them legally, to banking and insurance. ING has the right idea, in terms of cutting out expensive capital costs like having buildings - has anyone noticed the mammoth, often gothic megastructures that house the insurance companies? The upkeep on these buildings must be gargantuan in scope.

I know I'm rambling - I'm annoyed at injustices today. Just don't get me started on credit card companies - eeeeek!!!!

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Wedding Bell Blues

As a minister, I'm frequently asked about my perspectives on marriage gone sour... this is an interesting place to speak on because I am divorced. People assume that, because I am a minister, I want couples to stay together until "death do them part". Nothing could be further from the truth!

Over the years I've worked in a prison, psychiatric facility, literacy centre, nursing homes, a hospital, group home for adolescent girls, and community college. I've dealt with people in drug rehabilitation centres, hospices, palliative care centres, and on reserves. I have observed that people in a bad marriage, who stick in a lifeless marriage, often perpetuate abuses on themselves, their partners and children as a real side effect of their hopelessness and frustration. This creates a sense of futility which for some people escalates into violence.

No, I am not a Christian minister with what are perceived to be fundamentalist Christian values, and no, if all avenues of help have been sought and the marriage is over, honour that awareness. Thank the partner for what you have shared and what they have taught you - especially about yourself - then move on. Love them from a distance, but move on. Staying in a marriage because of the financial ramifications is one of the worst reasons to stall - it leads you nowhere. Seek help for yourself to move on, be it spiritual, financial or material. There are myriad supports out there for divorce survival.

Know that your journey is one of learning, and we may well have many partners on this life walk.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Sparkling in Varney

I love when a plan comes together... There are so many times when patients have left their illness for too long, and we can't do anything. It's sad when people don't care enough about themselves to look after their ill health - there's karma in those thoughts. Yet, when someone feels ready to deal with something, and it isn't too late, the joys of returning health are a sight to see. I marvel at the strength and resilience of the human anatomy. I cherish indomitable spirit. Would that I could wave a magic faery wand and do the work for people, but that just doesn't work. No, it is the co-creative synergy of plant, human, crystal and energetic symbiosis that marks the marvel of healing.

The penultimate day is when I get to facilitate healing AND do something artistic. A little dash of finished project, and I daresay MY endorphins escalate. Today is just such a day, and I'm riding the wave. I'd like more days to be like this!!!

Did I say my husband looks very cute today???

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Art & Spirituality Show

I'm very excited to be asked to participate in an art and spirituality show of textile works in Toronto next month. Each artist gets to hang two pieces of their work - this is really a great step forward for me in actualizing my dreams of returning to the art world in a significant way.

Here is the information:
The gallery is called It's Not a Deli Art Gallery and is at 986 Queen Street West. This is a few doors east of Ossington on the north side. Phone number 416-532-4748. Name of the curator is Eduardo DelaForesta.

We are having an Opening Reception on Friday December 8th. Because this venue is part restaurant, the receptions generally start around 8:00 and go to whenever.


Bright lights, big city and no husband - woo hoo!!

Friday, November 10, 2006

Time for a Change

Wow, i changed to Blogger Beta and got offered the opportunity to update my blog design - this is a bit brighter, and I think easier to read in the long run. Fickle female that I can be, this is a bit funky!!

I enjoyed the episode of "Most Haunted" from earlier this evening. I get miffed at the cautiousness of the parapsychologist, and the scaredy-cat, yakkety yak nature of the hostess, but I love the show. I'm sorry however, that the W network changed the Friday night lineup. I miss "Rescue Mediums" and "Ghostly Encounters" in this line-up
. Shows like Medium and Veronica Mars just don't do it for me.

Looking forward to my first weekend off since Labour Day... yippee!!

Remembrance Day

I saw a rather dapper, spritely octogenarian sporting his soldier's uniform, myriad medals and poppy sales bucket, braving the doorway of a local McDonalds. We were there for an urgent bathroom trip, or I'd have stopped to chat. I always feel emotional at this time of year, because my dad was a veteran, as was Brian's dad (Ken died the year we got together, so I never met him, unfortunately).

My parents met in a vet's hospital in Montreal, where my mother nursed my father for over a year, as he lay badly wounded. Had they not met, and braved the hue and cry over their cultural and religious differences, my sister and I would not be here... and yet, my dad was a changed man after the war, becoming alcoholic and abusive. The relationship issues I still have with family are a direct result of those abuses. Many men and women were changed by the war, suffering obvious physical atrocities, but less obvious mental and emotional ones - and the same applies for those soldiers in spirit, still haunted by their past, still asking for prayers. Many generations of Canadians will deal with the intergenerational ramifications of these traumas.

Tomorrow is Remembrance Day. Whether you can stomach the thought of war, or disagree with out country's involvement in the Middle East, please pray for our soldiers living and deceased. Prayer is an active, live action of positive intention, and will do wonders here and in the beyond.

Tomorrow is also the last "official" day of the Festivals of Spirit. I hope you've enjoyed your contacts as much as I have, although some rather tragic murder victims made their situation known to me in the night, and I feel if they can continue to chat, I'll follow up on their demise.

Tonight is "Most Haunted" - a show I love to watch - pass the popcorn, eh. I support these wonderful programs.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Ah, Motherhood

Here we all are... Angeni started some more antibiotic today, and so did I... in some ways she is sicker with this virus and ear infection than she seemed to be with the pneumonia 6 weeks ago. For all the kinds and types of illnesses we've treated here, from lupus to cancer, nothing tugs at the heartstrings more than a sick child. To hear her moaning every minute in fractious sleep, crying out in pain, gurgling in her sinus mucous, is heart-wrenching. She is a tough little girl though, and tried some eggnog today, because one of the characters in the "Liitle House" series drank eggnog. Her 8-year-old suspicion over adult food was waived because she trusts Laura Ingalls. At least the eggnog will help to revive her fluid levels a little. I pray these illnesses abate soon...

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Sleepy Sunday

I wish my sinuses would let me sleep in, on this sleepy Sunday... got up early and made breakfast of the remaining fry bread from Brian's birthday dinner, and covered it with bacon, eggs and cheese - YUM. We had errands in Hanover, and Brian found his birthday gift, a wonderful wood lathe. He got it for a song, so he's really happy. I found a mechanics magnet suitable for my canning pot - it has a long flexible handle. We are having a quiet weekend eating leftovers and tidying up after the angel class. It was an intense teaching day, to be sure.

Tonight I am attempting to teach a friend how to knit. This should be interesting. It would be a great evening to curl up by the fire with a good book, as we are all under the weather, but we'll share some time with my friend and watch a bit of TV - I have to see what's out there in the big world sometimes. We're getting a reprieve from the snow and cold of last week so Brian plans to do his winter prep for the barn and house.

I'm looking forward to a week of art and design. Here's hoping that comes to pass.

Friday, November 03, 2006

Miraculous Masterminds

The calendula florets didn't get rescued until today, and went straight into the crock to make the skin cream... this batch will yield about 16 jars, enough to get me through the Christmas season orders, with what is there on the shelf. Brian felt like helping, which is a HUGE boost to me, so we made the hummus together - also 16 jars worth, and enough extra for a little TV snack tonight. I've decided to pull out another crock to make a big load of native-style chili to serve at the angel course tomorrow. With a few minor additions, and some fry bread, we'll have a festive supper of Indian Tacos tomorrow night... some friends are staying after the course to help Brian celebrate his 60th birthday, which is Tuesday... It is hard to believe he's going to be 60.

All the prep for the angel class happened yesterday, and the house is tidied (if not perfectly clean), so I have little left to do, except some reading review. I like to review my notes thoroughly before teaching, because every version of a course, especially where channelling is involved, differs every time I teach it. This is a good thing - keeps me on my toes, and stops a sense of complacency among my students. Life circumstances change, so the angels have different things to say, especially with the acceleration of spiritual vibration on the planet right now. I find their assistance so helpful when I teach - gets me over the worthiness bumps.

So we're off shopping for birthday dinner ingredients and back in time for my ghost shows! It's been a wonderful, productive day.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Walking in the Garden

Found myself outside, attempting feebly to minister to the dying plants. My husband is picking some of the last calendula today, in the snow, so I can make a batch of calendula skin cream... He'll grab a few violas to put in an available ceramic pot so a few of them can be "rescued" from seasonal death. They may also die inside, from the shock of warmth, but at least I will have tried. Brian doesn't pander to many of my idiosyncrasies, but this is one of them...

Spent the day looking at some updated material on angels... timeless as angels are, research can be current or not, even in the realm of the theological. Found a book I'd bought a year or so, penned by another medium who works in bereavement. It was a day I needed to do many other things, but instead I inhaled the words written. I seldom find written works from mediums who work as I do, and think like I think. This medium's name is George Anderson, and the book is "Walking in the Garden of Souls". We agree on just about everything to do with the intangilble world of spirit, although his methods differ a little from my training. Needless to say, I felt directed to read this book, inspite of the fact it has nothing specific to do with angels... but it does have helpful perspectives on dealing with suicide, accidental death and divorce, so I have some different things to mull over, in my client work this week.

All Souls Day, and I have to channel the spirit of a teenager for his parents. I pray for support and that the connection is clear... Hope you're all having a wonderful spirit time - thre are still another 9 days of the feasts of the dead.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Post Hallowe'en Observations

I found Hallowe'en evening to be quiet in the physical dimension, but rife with spirits. My father, dead since 1989, joined Angeni and I in the back of the van for about 10 seconds. She was impressed, and introduced herself to "Mr. uh.. Grandpa". The weather was marvelous, she got her annual picture taken at the grocery store, and we had a great time... The teenaged son of a client appeared in her healing yesterday. He committed suicide earlier this year, and wanted his own appointment for help into the dream time - this took me by surprise - but we are dealing with him tomorrow, in a scheduled ceremony. Tomorrow is "All Souls Day", and therefore it should be easy to get him help.

Today is "All Saints Day", and I received an email from a person who sees themselves the victim of spirits. I am amazed by how many ways people can play the victim card, including using the spirits. In reflection, I've seen myself as a victim in the past, and work hard not to perpetuate that old tape from childhood. But dealing with "victim of spirit" card is another matter, and I cannot reinforce the opposite perspective too strongly. We are mightier than any earth-bound spirit, as a part and parcel of God energy, so nothing should cause us fear. Certain spirits require prudent handling and specific prayer rituals, but these are low-level, 2-dimensional spirits who prey on, and use our fear to give them strength, because they are projections from us. All souls go to the Infinite Light and after their Life Review, have that epiphany - there are no "evil souls", just people who did evil things, and now learn from them.

We are not separate from God, but a part of God, and therefore, nothing untoward can harm us unless we let it.

Should be an interesting day, as I prepare my angel channelling course for Saturday.