Tuesday-10:30pm

At this rate the blue suede cat bed just might overtake Karma's chair as her all time favorite place to sleep.

Since Karma "discovered" it she spends 90% of her snoozing time in there. She never even spent 90% of her snooze time in "her" chair--hehe! Ahhh! The little joys of life. :)

This is what it has looked like up here most days lately.

Have had a few hold-on-to-your-hat days when you walk outside, as this gentleman is doing.

Supposed to be between 15-20 below the next few nights and most times not make it above zero during the day. And snow off and on, of course. Quiet, stay inside where it is warm days up here. ;)

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JoAnn's had a fantastic online sale. I ordered a few small things--all of them were about 40-50% off--and they arrived today. Naturally, I took pictures. ;)

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I was surprised that the polka dot embossing folder is larger than the candy strip one--which is the same size as all the others? Hummm? I haven't tried it yet, but it's for the Cuttlebug so it should fit, right?

The Spellbinders small tags and ribbon holders!! I have been looking at these for like a year--and they were finally on sale when I had a little cash! Whoohoo!

Got a tube of 72 White Prima Flowers--awesome! We're always looking for white paper flowers so we can color and/or distress them ourselves. :)

Speaking of distressing...Got six cat's eye ColorBox chalk inkpads for super cheap. You could use them for rubber stamping, too, of course.

And then some superfine embossing powder in clear, black, silver, and gold.

Funny how much less was in the black jar. It's sealed and everything, tho. Maybe the black is heavier?

I've been doing all the prescribed activities for my class and enjoying the process so far. I've only had the TV on for just a few hours a day--me! The TV baby! LOL! Just have had so much to do: reading--journaling--meditating...and I promised myself that I would only watch an hour while I ate lunch and then not watch until I finished everything for the class and have also run thru my emails and blogs--and blogged if I am going to blog that day. I rotate around until I get it all done. Seems to be working okay for me.

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Speaking of the TV--Netflix announced a price increase in February, so I am going down from 3 DVDs at a time to 2 at a time. I figured this was the perfect time to cut back on that, too. :)

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I also discovered (could have been there for a very long time--am known to miss these things) that I could request on a youtube subscription that I be sent an email when they upload a new video. So, I did go thru and make that request of all the youtube sites I follow. I have been fairly out of the youtube loop for the better part of 2010--whenever it was that they stopped sending me the email with the current video updates on all my subscriptions. Long time. When I quit all the other things online, I had promised myself I'd stick with blogs and youtube. Now I finally will be kept up to date much more easily with youtube, too. :)

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Dagan and Leah switched our Sacred Circle to tomorrow night because they had a meeting to go to tonight. I always look forward to seeing my favorite people in the whole wide world. ;)

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My days and nights are still flipped, so this is about midday for me--hehe! And I am still rotating around. Time to get back to the class journal. Lots of heavy-duty thinking and evaluating going on up here, I tell you! :):)

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"I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship."

Louisa May Alcott

Saturday-1:30am

Been pretty quiet up here.

Miss Karma appreciates human listlessness--ROFL! ;)

Well, you can't blame a girl for trying. I just had to see if I pushed myself far enough would the knife pain would show up. Of course. It did. ROFL! So, I had some trouble sleeping for a couple of days and that inverted my hours--for now.

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I also almost thought I was coming down with the flu for a couple of days. Hard to tell when you have fibro--hehe! I am feeling a bit better today. :)

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Before the knife pain arrived, I did play with the new copic markers.

They are so bright and clean!

I didn't know anything about blending techniques or anything--just dove in. Already love these markers! You can blend and not worry about ruining a marker with a darker color. For some reason they don't absorb another color? Awesome!! I was a bit sloppy with these sunflowers, but had a great time with the newest toys.

And since I was kind of laid up for a while, I did go online and watch a few videos on youtube about how to use the copic markers. Have been learning a lot. I still want to watch a lot more of them, but I have picked up some useful hints and techniques already. :)

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What I have been mostly concentrating on is the upcoming online class. I read my homework--and guess what? She wants you to limit computer, TV time, and such. I don't text or have an XBox or anything like that, but I do play computer solitaire sometimes--so I guess that's out--hehe! She wants you to remove yourself from as much of the worldly activities as you possibly can, so that you can really focus on this process for the three weeks. ??

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Soooo.....well, I am not sure yet how much I will cut back. I can't even imagine not blogging or answering email for three weeks! That's out of the question--LOL! But I might give myself a computer time limit each day. And TV!! Home 24/7 and a TV-baby...hummm? I also think that is out of the question--LOL! But--again--I might give myself a time limit on anything that is not of a spiritual, creative, or health nature. Deep cleansing breath!

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My goodness. I know it is only three weeks, so I shouldn't be feeling so panicky, right? I have a ton of uplifting books I can read, endless creative things to do, lots of calming music to play.....

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Well, the class starts on Monday. If you don't hear from me as often, you'll know what I am up to, anyways. Trying to cleanse my consciousness. ;) It really appears to be about all levels--spiritual, emotional, physical. The first week is about dealing with your past. I'll have to, at least, pop in and let you know how I am progressing, right? Wish me luck!

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Hey! Maybe if I am talking about the lessons, assignments, and such that won't count against me on computer time? ;)

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Well, have a great weekend!! I'm going to go watch me some TV. :):)

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The quote for today is especially for me--LOL!

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"God is not attained by a process of addition to anything in the soul, but by a process of subtraction."

Meister Eckhart

Tuesday-11am

This is actually a big stretch and yawn from the top view--hehe!

After the yawn--a comfortable collapse. Karma's naps are not interrupted for long. Not if she can help it--hehe!

Seems to be a familiar sight in the parking lot this winter with all our below zero weather. They pushed the car on the left backwards out of the parking spot so that they could get nose to nose with the car on the right so they could jump it. Didn't take them very long and the little car was up and running. You really don't want to travel around up here in the winter without jumper cables. There are even a lot of kind strangers who will give you a jump.

The last book came yesterday!

All these new books and craft supplies and I have not gotten going on any of them. Been busy with the books I had already started and the spiritual journal and meditation and such. Been organizing spots here and there around the apartment. Where do the days go?!

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Leah got the pictures uploaded and I worked on postings last night. So we finally got some of the new "Blank or Pick A Sentiment" cards up on the etsy shop--tada! Takes us forever sometimes, but we do get to things eventually--hehe! I think the only thing we really move quickly on with the etsy shop is the mailing, but you have to get up new things in order to be mailing anything out--ROFL!! :)

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Anyways, the etsy shop kept me busy for a while yesterday. I did stamp up a few images so that I can play with the new copic markers. I got that far, anyways. ;)

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Caroline comes this afternoon. We may have snow off and on for the next four days. Oh--and I enrolled in the online class that goes along with the Debbie Ford book I ordered. It starts on the 17th and goes thru Feb. 7th, I think. I have homework--hehe! Pages 1-77 is the preferred reading before you start the course. And I need a journal for this class, too. Maybe after I have read the first 77 pages I'll have a better idea which journal to pick (have a few never been used journals).

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Haven't been feeling too badly--just have been very tired. Moving in low gear. Not in a bad way. Very mellow and tired and happy, if that makes any sense. Might be the dark, cloudy days, too. Exhaustion is just a part of the fibro, too, tho. Chronic fatigue. Noodle days. But I am in very good spirits. :)

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Happy Tuesday! Don't let the world get you down! :):)

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"The hope that is left after all your hopes are gone--that is pure hope, rooted in the heart."

David Steindl-Rast

Saturday-11am

Books! Been so long since I have purchased new books! :)

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I have liked Debbie Ford since reading her book about the shadow self years ago. She has this new one that I thought sounded like a good new year book--the 21-day consciousness cleanse. And then I had heard about this American who spent many years translating these old documents from the Vatican about the story of the Magi. Sounded most interesting! Revelation of the Magi.

And then The Disappearance Of The Universe just sounded intriguing--and it had a deck of cards to go with it called Enlightenment Cards.

I still have one more book coming about healing illnesses with macrobiotics. Can't remember the title, but I'll show it to you when it arrives.

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I couldn't believe the length of packing paper that came crumpled inside the laptop stand box! I tried to straighten it out--all the while Karma was attacking it. But, of course, when I got the camera out all she did was find a spot to lie on it--hehe!

Let's see. Been doing the SC/meditation sessions almost every day. Working on accepting and allowing the energy to be for me, too. Sounds easy? Well, not for me. One of my issues in this life is feeling unworthy on a deep level. It's something that the mind can grasp but the heart cannot. I am working on it.

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GA got my attention by telling me that the energy will work better for others if the straw is also included. That motivated me. :) Yes. I am a work in progress.

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Five below at the moment with the sun shining. The washer and dryer are going. I've been sleeping at night for a while. Have new books to read. Life is good! :):)

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"In the dew of little things, the heart finds its morning and is refreshed."

Kahlil Gibran

Friday-9am

Since I'm always giving you the bird's eye view from third floor, I thought I'd show you how deep the snow is from a human's eye view--hehe!

This snowbank by the front door is taller than I am, that's for sure.

I went off to my Federal Housing meeting, as I said. Was very slippery. Saw a fender bender on my way there and two on my way home. One guy slid right into the back of a Moorhead city bus! In general, people were driving slower--but there are always some people who refuse to use any caution.

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FedEx did come yesterday. I ordered a laptop holder.

Why, you may ask? Well, I am so used to my rolling wooden reading/bed table that I use to hold my laptop by my chair where the laptop is at an angle that I can hardly use the laptop when it is flat on the table. I feel like I am falling forward. Silly, I know. But I end up grabbing this and that to prop it up when I move it over to the craft table--and then it slides about. Now I have something that I can even take with me when I go over to Dagan and Leah's with my laptop, too. :)

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When I first pulled it out of the box I thought--oh no! I have to put it together? Where's Leah when I need her! ROFL!

But apparently the extra pieces are something to do with the cords? I think. Which I don't care about. I don't even bring the power cord when I bring it to Dagan and Leah's because the battery lasts so long on my Mac. ;)

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So, I was able to fold it and adjust it to the height I want. And the base has a mesh screen to keep the laptop cool. Awesome!

I have some books coming, too. It's still Christmas in Fargo, eh? LOL!

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I dropped my heavy glass butter dish on the counter yesterday--chipped the butter dish in a couple of places and broke a big hole in my cookie jar. :( The cookie jar was one of those clear glass kind that looks like it is sitting at an angle--kind of like the ones they have in restaurants--that I've had for years and years. Maybe it's the universe trying to tell me not to eat cookies? (As if that would stop me--LOL!) Or maybe that I need a more airtight cookie jar? Yup! That had to be what it was trying to tell me. ROFL!!

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Well, I now have an even better spot for the new oil decanters. ;)

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Another dark, cloudy day. Which means it is supposed to warm up to about 10 degrees today again. R&R day for me after being out and about yesterday. (Yah. I'm only feeling so much better. *chuckle*) I'd better go walk down my envelope for my Fed Housing worker Debbie so it will go out in the mail today. Later gator! :):)

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"There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of the people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will have truly defeated age."

Sophia Loren

Thursday-1:15pm

By the time I remembered to switch to video (still does not come immediately to mind) Karma was settled into the packing paper and bubble wrap. She had climbed under...

...pushed the paper up and smelling it really well...

...smelled under the bubble wrap...

...and then I started teasing her...

...about the bubble wrap popping--ROFL!

Karma was pretty sure it wouldn't pop all by itself, but her tail was a dead giveaway that with all her apparent nonchalance...she was still waiting for a pop.

The plows were busy.

Wasn't my FedEx order, BTW. Maybe today?

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The big yellow plow left a part of a front piece in the yard before it started. Must be a more movable scoop, because I saw him using it later to lift and pile snow on top of high snowpiles.

A welcome sight on a sunny day after the storms. :)

Here's what it looked like when they were done. They got done right before Bob arrived for my Federal Housing Apartment Inspection at 2pm.

I filled my cool new oil decanters with organic canola and extra virgin olive oil. Haven't used them yet.

This morning there was a red sun...

...but I only got a peek as it rose up behind the blanket of clouds that have graced us today. But--because of the cloud cover it had risen to a balmy 11 degrees by the time I was coming home from my Federal Housing meeting this morning. :) I wonder if that means we have another snowstorm coming?

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Wouldn't you know. In the past online I had been able to click on checks I had written and they would show copies of the checks. Now that I need copies of all the checks I have written to the collection agency for Merit Care...can't get anything to come up at all. Which means I will have to go over to the bank and ask them to make copies so I can mail them to my worker, Deb. *sigh* Not today. Too sore. Have to go out again tomorrow and do that, I guess.

Note: I kept searching and found the copies!! Hurray!!

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Aha! FedEx arrived while I was talking to you. :) Show you next time.

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Anyways, I have phone calls to make for copies--to the dentist and pharmacy...better get busy. :)

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"When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around."

Willie Nelson

Wednesday-noon

Two blizzards in a row. They are finally getting around to cleaning up the parking lot today. As you can see, they never even cleared off the sidewalk that runs in front of the cars.

And some cars have never been moved since the storm. The notice said everybody had to move their vehicles by 9am this morning or they'd be towed away.

Considering the roofers are still not done--as you can see there's still no siding up there on the one roof thingamajig...

...I am hoping they will tow away their equipment that has just been sitting around our parking lot taking up a lot of space. Bet they don't touch them.

Somebody had their dead car towed out of here yesterday.

Anyways, Dagan and Leah came over last night. I got a late Christmas! Surprise!! Leah wrapped them in separate packages so it was like a huge windfall. :):) Pur water filters, oil decanters (is that what you call them?), a Misto (never have to by a spray can of Pam again), a big smell-good candle, a small container with snap top sides for Karma's food (easier on my arm to open every day), and a package of wet food for Miss Karma (with lots of juice because she loves that). And it is all sitting on an awesome new cutting board--that won't slide around on me, either! My old wood ones are looking pretty bad these days.

Leah remembers things I would love to have. :):) Delighted with all my goodies! And they really surprised me because I had said that since we need to by wood for the shelving for the bookcases...that would be fine with me for Christmas--a trip to Lowes. So I wasn't expecting anything at all!! Many thanks to my favorite people in the whole world! :) :) :)

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The sunrise this morning was golden. Caught the sun as it was just coming up from behind the clouds--which have apparently scooted off for the day.

Some bunny evidence across the snow this morning, too.

Karma was playing around in the packing paper from the presents.

The bubble wrap is from the craft delivery. I have been freaking her out by stepping on the bubble wrap. Here I was telling her to "watch out--the bubbles might pop!" She usually avoids looking at me (deliberate cat snubs) but her head whipped around on that one--ROFL!

The plows are here working away. I missed seeing if the last three cars holding up the plowing time were actually towed or not, but plows are a very good sound to hear up north. ;)

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Have a great day! And may plows precede you when your path is deep with snow. :)

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"You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you."

Brian Tracy

Tuesday-8am

Miss Karma is not impressed by any of my human delights. She finds excess human energy to be rather annoying.

My order from http://www.stampingscrapping.com arrived yesterday! So exciting!! The Ciao Copic Marker Set, some ScorTape, Small Spellbinder Rectangles for the Cuttlebug, black Momento inkpad and reinker, and some smooth paper to use with the copic markers (white and cream).

Since it was below zero and UPS came late in the day, I haven't tried them yet. Had to wait for them to thaw...you can see the frost on the container.

After the box warmed up a bit I took a shot of all the colors from the top. Lots to play with and techniques to learn. :)

Speaking of learning...

The first couple days I was doing the SC sessions before I went to bed. Not the best time for me--hehe! I was either dozing off or ended up all energized and up till 3am--or both! So yesterday I switched to mornings. Much, much better. :):) I think I need to be doing the sessions during the daytime hours--or when I am wide awake, put it that way. (Which can sometimes be at night--hehe!) BTW--I am just starting to get some of the tingly, zappy stuff. :)

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As you may have noticed in the background in the photos above, I have not put everything away yet off the table since New Year's Eve. I'll have to do that today because Dagan and Leah plan to come over tonight. Leah is going to cut my hair and we are going to do Sacred Circle after dinner.

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Then, after tonight, we plan to meet every other week over the winter--and mostly focus on spiritual stuff instead of craft stuff. Leah does want to work on making some more cat toys, tho, sometime soon. :)

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I have my monthly CashWise grocery delivery coming this afternoon, the Federal Housing apartment annual inspection tomorrow, and the annual meeting with my Federal Housing lady on Thursday. Dagan and Leah are going to shovel by my garage door tonight. There was a "get out of the parking lot by 9am Wednesday so we can plow" notice put up last night. But I should be able to back over any snow they push back in front of my garage. ;)

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Been taking it pretty easy. Still feeling pretty decent. It really physically feels almost like I jumped back 8 years to how I felt when I had to switch colleges so I could continue part time (couldn't get funding to go part time at Concordia and had to switch to the public college-MSUM). Back to when I was more semi-functional--ROFL! ;)

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True--I already couldn't work & go to school, was having a difficult time making it to classes and getting homework done--but with people letting me know what the homework assignments were when I missed and teachers allowing me many more missed days than "legal" because I still had good grades and they knew I wasn't playing hooky...I was still able to push thru for another two years. Granted--I went steadily downhill--and then the third year at MSUM was a total disaster--never completed one single class--even going part time--but I feel right now more like I did when I was over at MSUM. Okay--I know I'm still worse. I'm not doing all the things I was doing back then. Sitting in classrooms, riding the buses, doing homework for hours...I'm just saying that with what little I do do here...I am doing more than I was and am not as painfully sore afterwards. And it is wonderful!!! And I am thinking positive. :):)

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And there is sunshine this morning!! Whoohoo! ;)

Have a great Tuesday!!

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"All beauty of this world is wet with the dew of tears."

Theodor Haecker

After the first blizzard on December 30th...

...the porch was pretty snowy...

...and you could see where the wind had popped up the tacked down carpeting on the balcony and made these interesting clumpy tracks.

I am always surprised at how much snow makes it thru the screen. I shouldn't be. It is windy up here. ;)

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After a short break, we had a second blizzard on New Year's Eve. I made a quick little video to show you how it had drifted in the parking lot. I had to stand on a stool to aim from the top of my window because there was so much snow plastered on the windowpane and screen below.

Took a few snapshots. Do they call them that anymore?

There is glare ice under the snow and this person had been trying to get into their garage, I take it--gave up, and left the car sitting kittywompus. Possibly out celebrating the new year?

Our snowplow mound of snow between that set of garages is already above the top of the garage doors...

...and, with all the drifting, the sidewalk to the main door is developing snow walls. :)

Yesterday I finished the thank you cards. I guess I made a dozen and not 10. Got carried away stamping the bare trees and had to make a couple more bases--hehe!

Was fun adding the white Flowersoft snow on the tree branches. :)

About 11pm I sat and wrote in my newly dedicated spiritual journal (have had it for a few years).

Red leather--and refillable! Feels like a new beginning, so this will be called my spiritual journal number one--and not a continuation of the "Angel Books".

I had already gathered up all my "stuff" in the afternoon--as I have been doing for several years now.

New Year's is a perfect time to dust and clean everything off and kind of recharge them all with good energy. :)

My Tibetan bowl~chime~pendulums (the wooden one has some of the monk's sand inside)~crystals~stones...

...tingshaws~more crystals clusters...

...an oil candle this year~the inlaid box Dagan bought me in Turkey filled with stones (the brown one is from Sedona)~Tibetan bell...

...purple glass pyramid box with a rose quartz stone inside (for love)~three rock and crystal spheres~ couple of little white angels...

...the glorious red angel (from Lynnette)~the huge crystal rock (gift from GA-long story)...

...the red crystal ball~the green angel of roses (from Lynnette)~the amber jar with the silver lid (under the red glass ball) filled with the blessed sand from the Tibetan monks destroyed sand painting mandala...

...the two cloth pouches that have two different sets of rune stones~and they all sit on the square brightly-colored quilted cloth made by Tibetan monks.

After I wrote in my spiritual journal for a while I put on MTDI and had a great meditation/energy work session. I suppose I should have a name for these sessions now, too. Maybe Soul Comfort sessions? (I just went and changed that on my goal list.) Anyways, was a very peaceful, special New Year's Eve night--safe and warm against the storm. Saying goodbye to the old year and greeting the new. :):)

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After that (being a little energized) I went and drug a box from my bedroom closet floor--the one with the old angel books stored away. This one says "Angel Book 37", but I actually found 38.

I haven't been in here at all except to throw another calendar in here for...well, I can't remember the last time I read anything in here. My guess is a decade or more!

These three stacks are the Angel Books. Kind of like chaotic diaries written to GA that I started after I turned my life over in 1993 (or was trying to--hehe!).

There was also a stack of calendars from my refillable old red suede--what would you call it? holder?--that I bought when I moved up here and started college. Yup! I counted--11 years I've been up here now. Levenger quit making the calendar refills last year, so that's why the top one looks different. I found a Barnes & Noble one that fits in the old holder. The folded pages sitting on top is a copy of the "Soul Comfort" sheet I handed out to people I did energy work years ago.

And I found a stack of steno notebooks I used to keep by my bed and write dreams in at one time! Seven of them, I think. Don't want to get up and look. ;)

Oh--I think I can see in this next picture--looks like seven of them down in the front stack there of everything on the table.

And I found five more spiral notebooks that I had used back when I was doing Morning Pages, too.

I should have had the flash on--but I got all the Angel Books in order and stuck them on the bookcase shelf last night--for now.

I couldn't resist reading the first one before I went to bed and had a really good laugh. Remember I said my brain was always going 90mph? Well, I think it has slowed down over the last 17 years--ROFL!! I was just throwing things out questions and ideas all over the place...and sooo very impatient! *she giggles*

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Oh--and I made out my Goal List for 2011, too. Last year's was much more detailed. I never finish half of the things on my goal lists, but I love having them nearby. Now that I have my new Mind-Body-Spirit weekly checklist that I started in December--well, I have a lot more of the very specific goals on that list, like for certain books to read, spiritual CDs to listen to, kits with workbooks, etc. Anyways--shorter list this year.

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Goals for 2011

1. Keep up with youtube videos for both accounts
2. Keep up with the Mind-Body-Soul weekly checklist
3. Keep up with the Art blog
4. Keep up with the new spiritual journal
5. Bookbinding--make a journal with the 90 lb. paper
6. CBP--finish bird and flower paintings
7. CBP--try gongbi
8. Watercolors--wildflowers and botanicals
9. Watercolors--paint paper for journal and bookcard covers
10. EDM--sketchbooks
11. Polymer Clay-finish the rose bouquet
12. Handmade Paper--set of red Christmas cards with white snowflakes
13. Handmade Paper--try new techniques
14. Cards--set of birthday cards
15. Cards--set of Christmas cards
16. Cards--do some sewing on cards
17. Cards--learn how to use copic markers
18. Cards--try some new techniques from StampTV
19. Bookcards--make some with handmade paper covers
20. Bookcards--make some with painted watercolor paper covers
21. Soulcomfort--establish a regular practice
22. Sacred Circle--at least once a month
23. Organize the two bookcases in bedroom and living room

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I guess that's it from frigid Fargo for now.

Happy New Year Everybody!! :):)

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"Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach."

Tom Robbins