Thursday, May 31, 2012

Fitness update


As I was once a part of the Get Off Your Broom Challenges I am happy to see that the Get Off Your Broom Blog is going to stick around for a while. I have been plugging along on my Get Healthy lifestyle changes this year and while I haven’t lost any weight I have gotten much stronger and I am finally starting to see the muscles in my arms – which is so cool!
I had to switch from the weight training class that I was taking to a gym membership due to my crazy work l schedule, it was painful to pay so much for a class and then have to miss ½ of the sessions… so I now go to the gym that is a 2 minute walk – yes WALK – from my house. It is awesome! I meet with a personal trainer 2 times a month and I am finally following the Weight Watchers program so I may actually lose a few pounds.  My goal is not to be skinny. I want to be strong and healthy. So I get up and go to the gym in the wee hours of the morning. I love it!
I have been working out on average 2 times per week since January and while my weight has not changed my energy level has drastically changed. I have more energy now. This past holiday weekend I spent no less than 6 hours each day working in my back  yard – seriously, weeding, planting, weeding, helping my man build a roof for our deck, weeding.. you get the picture. The thing that I find amazing is that in the past I would have been exhausted after 30 minutes, now I am happy to work all day out there. What a difference steady exercise makes!
I’ll update in a month or so, we’ll see how the addition of some directed cardio to the weight training changes things up!
One more bennie of switching to the local gym, my youngest son asked for a gym membership too, he likes to go there with me and with his buddy!

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Prayer Flag Project




When I read about this I was intrigued. I love the idea of a prayer flag and I have always wanted to make some to hang in my yard. This project has gotten me out of the “want to” stage and into the “heck yeah, I am making some flags” stage. I am making several to hang on my deck and this is what I am working on right now. Hopefully I'll have some pictures to post next weekend.
1)      For no longer keeping my opinions to myself and listening while others spout off, now I find that I am much more likely to offer an opinion which either shuts them up (bonus I no longer have to suffer through), or we have a discussion over the topic. I don’t debate my beliefs, I believe what I believe and I am quite comfy and happy with my beliefs.

2)      For my kiddos and the kids that grew up with mine who are part of my heart. Half of them are spread out over the country right now, the other half are still home, at least for a little while. I am always thinking of them and want my love and strength to flow to them no matter how far from home they are.

3)      For me and my boyfriend. Our relationship has been tested in the last several years (we were married for 16 years, divorced for 3 months and got back together – story to follow sometime in the future J) and we are so much stronger now than before. So one is for us. For love, for strength and for the future.

4)      For my garden – to welcome the fairies and keep the birds from eating too much.
I have some other ideas I am kicking around. These are addictive little pieces of art. Something that I can whip out quickly, try new techniques on, or just play with. I’ll show you more once they are complete.

Project Updates


As you read this you’ll probably be able to tell that I can’t just work on one thing at a time. I need several things to keep me occupied, otherwise I get board or worse, when I am challenged by a project (usually when my blood sugar is dropping) rather than move on to something else, I quit – I hate to quit so I always have at least 4 or more things going on at once. Having another project to go to when one is frustrating me helps me reassess the issue and eventually I come back to it refreshed and with new ideas.  I like it and it usually works for me. So…. an update
Alice is still naked and without hands but she is being very patient. I have the fabric to clothe her and the clay and clothing for her friend the White Rabbit so hopefully I’ll get back to her soon. (her hands freaked me out so I had to take a break)
The prayer flags are planned (I’ll tell you more about that soon)
My garden is planted and now I am making some sculpted birds to decorate it.
The materials for my garden creature have been purchased and plans are underway for his/her design. This one is something that I have wanted to do for a while. I am making a door to attach to the bottom of our deck, and a creature to place near the door, maybe peeking out from behind a rock or something. I am working on the size I want and then I’ll make the creature then finally the door. I hope to have this finished by the end of the summer.  
My studio is a mess- this is usually a good sign but since the mess is from things just being dumped in here so they’ll be out of the way it is a bad thing. I have been busy with work and the yard and the garden and the deck – yikes!
The inside of the house has been neglected the past several weeks so that we can spruce up the outdoor area.  It is looking good, my arms are tired, my body aches and my legs are wobbly by the time I collapse into bed at night but the new roof we are putting on the deck is almost done, the weeds are almost gone and my gardens are planted and looking good! I have 2 whisky barrels that I will be planting this week and then I am done!
Whew - I love the warm weather but I sometimes want to go back to work so I can relax!

Monday, May 28, 2012

Happy Memorial Day


To all the men and women who have served and are currently serving our country, for their sacrifices, their bravery and their dedication, I offer my sincere and humble thanks!

Saturday, May 12, 2012

And the Winner of my 100 Post Dragon and Chopsticks is...




Congratulations to Kat of EMKatCreations. She is the winner of the Dragon statue and chopsticks I brought back from Chinatown last month. Thank you to everyone for hanging out with me in this corner of cyberspace!

Autumnwind

Friday, May 11, 2012

Goodbye Maurice Sendak...




When my children were small I remember stumbling upon Where the Wild Things Are in a little bookstore in Phoenix. It quickly became the bedtime story of choice in my house and even now ranks up there as one of the top ten books my children remember me reading to them.

Farewell Maurice Sendak, thank you for all of the amazing stories you wrote for us and the stunningly beautiful illustrations you shared with us.

We will miss you

Autumnwind

Friday, May 4, 2012

San Francisco

My trip to San Francisco was amazing. I visited China Town, Japan Town, Fisherman’s Wharf and more. We took an evening tour of Alcatraz and strolled along the pier to watch the sea lions. I love San Francisco. Here are some of the things we saw:
Sea Lions at Pier 39

China Town

Cherry Blossom Festival in Japan Town
These drummers are amazing. I could have listened to them all day.
Such energy and skill!

La Boulange French Toast - I'd drive to San Francisco just for this!

Out building on Alcatraz - I am framing this for my travel wall.


This trip was amazing. My boyfriend and I went with my friend Kathy and her husband to celebrate my and Kathy's birthday. We were born on the same day in the same hospital and finally reconnected when we were in 6th grade. We've been friends ever since. We currently live on opposite sides of the country but hopefully one day we'll live closer. Right now, we plan to continue taking trips like this.

I took my first ride on a cable car - much more fun that I thought it would be.
Kathy and I were on the back and got to talk to the guy working in the brake.


One more yummy breakfast place!



While on our way to the city we stopped at the Michael Mondavi winery. Yum! I joined the wine club so we are heading over to Sonoma in June for a BBQ there. They make my favorite wine - Spellbound. So far I've tasted 3 of the Spellbound wines and all of them have been fantastic. These wines are something else I would make the drive for. They are that good!

So those are the highlights of my trip. It was fantastic and definitely magical.

Be sure to enter to win the dragon goodies I brought back from Chinatown in celebration of my 100th post. Check out this post for more details.

I is for Intuition – A Pagan Blog Project Post


in·tu·i·tion/ËŒint(y)o͞oˈiSHÉ™n/Noun:
1. The ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning.
2. A thing that one knows or considers likely from instinctive feeling rather than conscious reasoning.

My uncles were both in professions that required trusting your intuition – one was a fireman and one a policeman. Growing up we used to spend a lot of summers together as a family and during those hot summer nights, after the sun had set and the dinner dishes had been washed and put away, my grandmother would break out the cards and she, my cousins and I would sit on the screened-in porch (which was the length of the house), play cards, eat Breyers Butter Pecan ice cream and listen to the adults tell stories.

My uncles loved to tell us stories about their exploits on the job. Sometimes I think they were trying to make a point about safety but we were too enthralled in the danger to get that point, at least back then we were. During the telling of these stories both uncles referred to the gut feelings they got as just another tool at their disposal. They didn’t think it was unusual, of course my mother’s family is gifted, most of them don’t acknowledge it but just about all of them have heightened senses, a stronger intuition if you will.

One story really stands out in my mine. One of my uncles also served in the military and was deployed overseas during the Vietnam War. His unit came under heavy fire and the soldier carrying their radio was killed. Despite that they were in a dangerous area and could be attacked again at any time my uncle KNEW he had to retrieve the Radio, even though it was heavy, it may not work and would slow him down, he had to do it. It was a gut feeling. So he took the time to retrieve it, strapped it on his back and kept moving on. About 15 minutes later their unit was attacked and suffered major casualties. The radio strapped to my uncle’s back saved his life. It took the brunt of the attack and he survived. When the attack happened, my grandmother was doing the dishes and saw my uncle in the window above the sink in her kitchen which faced the back yard. It was a brief glimpse of him in his fatigues and she heard him say “Ma, I’m OK”. She didn’t officially hear about the attack or that my uncle was OK for quite some time.  

Listening to my uncles taught me to trust my gut/intuition and my intuition has saved my hide on more than one occasion. Sometimes I feel silly, driving home a different way than normal, crossing the street sooner than I had planned on, or any number of things that may seem like a waste of time to others are common place to me. I have no idea why I get the feelings I do but I trust them. Who knows what could have happened had I not crossed the street based on that gut feeling. I could have been bitten by a dog who would have crossed my path, I may have tripped over something because I wasn’t paying attention, or any number of things, all I know is that my intuition is one of my senses, just like my sight and my hearing and I am going to use it just as I do them.


I believe that our intuition is just one more sense that we can use, just like our sense of taste, hearing or sight. If we listen to it, I believe our lives will become richer because we are using more information to make the decisions that affect our lives and the lives of those around us. If you are not used to trusting yourself, start slowly but start now. The more you trust in yourself and your intuition, the stronger it (and you) will become.

I missed a couple of PBP posts but I am back on track now! Check out this post, my 100th for a chance to win a couple of dragon related things I picked up in Chinatown last month.

Autumnwind


Thursday, May 3, 2012

Yippee… 100 Posts!

I can’t believe this is my 100 Post on Beneath the Witch’s Moon. As I have mentioned before, I started this blog to become a part of the online Pagan community, to meet like minded people and to generally just have a little piece of online real estate. So far it has been a huge success.
I have met amazing people, learned so much, won a few cool things, met amazing people… I am really enjoying being a part of this world. Thank you, for welcoming me, thank you for listening to me and for sharing with me. (OK, before I start getting really sappy I’ll stop :0)
To celebrate this first (I hope of many) milestones for my blog I picked up a couple of fun things while I was in Chinatown in San Francisco last month.

 

In honor of this being the year of the Dragon I am celebrating my 100 post by giving away this wooden dragon and 4 sets of wooden chopsticks. I’ll also be throwing in a surprise trinket or two. The dragon measures 3 inches long, 1.5 inches wide and about 2 inches tall. He is so cute!
 For a chance to win this sweet little prize all you have to do is be a public follower of me and comment on this post. You have until Friday, May 11th. I’ll be randomly drawing a name on Friday. Make sure you include your email address in the comment OR you can send me an email (autumnwindreno@aol.com) AFTER you leave a comment with your email address in it if you prefer not to post that information online.
For additional chances to win refer a friend to my blog, have them post a comment and mention that you sent them.
I will be catching up this weekend on lots of things. I can’t believe April is gone and May is well underway. Check back soon for lots of pictures from my latest adventures, a Pagan Blog Project Post and more.
Autumnwind