Noble @ MindSay 
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Well our plans changed up. DeLaney threw a straight up PMSING fit over not seeing a certain film and Coltin was throwing a temper tantrum about not being able to hit the arcade AFTER the movie. So we went to the mall theater.
After those lil fits, we were good to go! I dropped off the food I usually have left over from cooking when Randy isn't home to Father Mike, filled the van up, grabbed some cash and we got to the Mall in time to get tickets and go grab something to eat.
We hit the arcade where Coltin managed to get himself 80 tickets to cash in before the movie and we walked into a VERY packed movie theater just in time to grab the last few seats for Alvin and The Chipmunks. Coltin had already seen it with his Dad but was okay with seeing it again. After the movie we hit the arcade again so DeLaney could finish spending her last tokens and cash in her tickets. I cashed in mine too:P:D You KNOW I had to get $5 bucks to play the games also didn't ya!:P
After the last stop at the arcade, the kdis and I wondered down to Barnes & Nobles. I really didn't need anymore books, I have such a HUGE pile of to read books anyway. But I look at it this way at times, my to GET list is even larger!:D But I was a good girl, we walked out with 3 calanders. One for each kid and another one for me. DeLaney was "nice" enough to point out I already had a new Celtic Blessings calander what was I going to do with the new Celtic Mandala calender. I promptly told her you can NEVER have too many calenders in the house and I could put it in my computer room. She shut up then! I swear she is like her Daddy more and more every day with her logical thinking! I guess if she is the spitting image of her Daddy it is okay for her to think like him. As long as she doesn't get to logical and to prissy she and I will get a long just fine as she gets older. But her PMSing is going to get put to a stop FAST! I dont' give a rats ass she hasn't started her cycle, she has the acne already (yes my baby girl has started gettin facial acne!), and the tude. She was told point blank today after her lil fit, that there is only ONE BITCH in the family and that is ME! I also picked up the book Little Women.
My one and only New Year's Resoluation this year is for every 3 normal books (not counting smutt books-I can read an entire weeks publishing of those with out blinking in a day if you let me!) I read; I will read a "classical" book and then a "modern" book. My sister, pointed out my libary collection of books is more along the line of a History, Anthropology, Religious, Philosphy College level collection NOT to mention soft core porn collection of the certain smutt book series I keep! So if I want my kids to read other things, I have to show them Mommy can too. Randy is NOT happy for every "Classical" and "Modern" Fiction or Non-Fiction book I have to read he has to do the same thing and then we swap if we choose different books! He is saying he doesn't have time. He is findign out that when he is home I can find him the time!:D I can also find him time when he is on the road! Read one or two chapters before you eat. He eats then he sleeps, so he has to read before he eats!
After Barnes & Nobles and wenching a lil bit to the store manager about our store's crappy assortment of Address Books, we wondered down to Hallmark so I could pick up a new address book. I got one. I am not happy with it but at least Randy can figure it out if he needs to use it and I picked up extra inserts. When you have a LARGE family with the majority of them being either R's, N's, and L's you run out of space easily! I also wenched a bit to that store manager about their crappy assortment of address books also. She at least explained that the majority of them went bye bye the day after Christ Mas. Barnes & Noble's only comment was we have a HUGE selection of Journal type books!
So we loaded up and started heading down the interstate to cross the river and go home. And for some odd reason I said nope right at the first exit to So. Sioux! I took it! Coltin asked if we were going to stop and see Granny and I said nope that is tomorrow. We went right by her nursing home and I pulled up right in front of the Pet /Grooming/Boarding Place! Where DeLaney promptly reminded me of her father yet again!
"MOM! Your NOT allowed to go to any pet store or animal auction with out Daddy, because you have a bad habit of bringing home more animals! Daddy said so!"
I ignored her and said if I walk out with something your Father will get over it!
They had an adorable puppy selection and I was VERY tempted to get the one and only Male Sheltie they had left. But I didn't. See I am not a real big dog fan. I love them but they are sooooooooooooooo much more needier then cats. And if you leave for a weekend or a week you either A have to take them with you or B find someone to take care of them or C board them. Plus I dont' really like small dogs. They are so much more in need of care then bigger dogs. I looked at the kitties they had. They had two adorable fluffy orange tabby kittens about 6-7 months in age. Of course DeLaney wnated one of those. Coltin honed in on the 3 identical short haired orange tabby kittens about teh same age as our twin black kitties. I said NO MORE CATS! We have a female that will give us a litter or two don't worry about getting anymore cats. Their fish selection was pretty crappy but they get cleaned out for the holidays since they are on of two pet stores in the tri state area that carry exotic fish. Of course atticsmouse would have went for the rodent selection for her snakes:P:D She can have them. They carry a lot of feeder mice. I guess a lot of folks in the area have snakes:P Fromt here I wondered back to the front of the store where the birds where at. DeLaney wanted me to get finches. I hate those lil things. Plus they drive my cats batty. Not going to get anymore finches. Parkettes I have two. Don't want NO MORE!
Then I honed in on the Cocketiels and Doves! They had FANCY cocketeils! Guess what we have in the house including a new bird cage! I got myself a Fancy cockteil! Yay me! They were hand raised but like most pet stores even a smaller one they don't get to handle the birds like they should. And our new addition to the family is really scared at the moment. I made them clip his wings for me. Usually I dont' clip my cockteil's wings but that is how I lost the first two! One escaped from his cage while hanging outside and the other one escaped out the door thanks to DeLaney and Coltin's lil friends in TX! So he was pretty pist when I got him home and pretty scared. I took him out of his home cage, had his wings clipped, and put him in a brand new cage. Then I introduced him to the dinning room on top of the sewing table before I clean a spot off for him in the computer room! Shadow and Socks the two older cats could have cared less. Pisser, Brothers, and Grimm were extatic! Another cage to climb on and bounce off of! Sin Kitty is outside hoing around again so I can't wait to see his reactoin to another bird in the house. Spud the dog is a jealous creature and is barking at the bird periodically! Tweek and Tweeter the parakeets are happy over another bird in the hosue! They are twittering a storm up and trying to get otu the side of their cage to go visit the new baby!
And yes, before atticsmouse can ask me, I told Randy. My reasoning for buyin another animal is: He is getting 150-250 dollar boots in January for work, plus I am paying a good chunk of our defeered payments on HIS truck off with his bonus in January so HIS truck is paid off on time this year! My bird and cage is a LOT less expensive then his boots could ever be!:P:D His comment was:
"So, do you have a place in the barn ready for me to sleep since you keep bringing in more animals?"
Smart ass man I tell you!
I cooked dinner, worked on laundry ( I swear I am always working on laundry!), and the kids and I sat down and played dominoes. They are in bed and I am rambling on and on and on again:D:P:D
"It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers."
-- James Thurber
Am I happy? yes... no... yes... no... Why can't I give myself a straight answer? Maybe if I narrow the question: Superficially, am I happy? I'm doing well in school, I enjoy classes, I have friends, I have a boy friend that loves me, I appear healthy, I go out, I'm comfortable with my body, I had a wonderful birthday, I have a sweet dorm, haha! Yes, to the outside world, I am happy. Internally, am I happy? I love and am loved, I eat/sleep enough, I miss my wife and sisters, I wish I was more committed to piano, I am a bad girl friend, I'm having problems being honest with myself, I'm not happy with my current relationship. It has been going down hill for at least a month and a half now. We don't talk much, and when we do, well... and this weekend alone with him was just plain uncomfortable and slightly awkward. It got to the point where I didn't want him to kiss me. I think we were closer before we started dating. I need to talk to him... soon. So, internally... is being half happy possible?
Winter is coming... I need to have shit figured out before winter...
I hate winter.
Damnit I missed class.
Again, this applies (why am I just a lyric whore?):
Well I don't have the answers
can we just sit quietly
let the sound of the rain wash the doubt away
just start over
to hold your hand
to have your fingers in my hair
as I watch your mouth
tell me how you really love this
Oh love
I am not above
the fear of changing
the fear of failing
I am not
a solid rock
sometimes I have trouble
believing in me
believing in me
If I could see through you
everything you see in me
maybe I would cry
maybe I shouldn't try
'cuz no one's perfect
I would like the chance to breathe
to fill my lungs with grace
rest of letting go
I don't have to know all the answers
Oh love
I am not above
the fear of changing
the fear of failing
the fear of leaving
I am not
a solid rock
sometimes I have trouble
believing in me
believing in me
~Keri Noble
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DISCLAIMER: This is not intended to initiate anyone into Druidry. This entry is for informational purposes only. If you have additional knowledge, questions, or constructive comments you are welcome to post them.
All argumentative comments will be annihilated.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hail!
The word "Druid" comes to us from another time and place. The Druids are mysterious and shrouded in the mists of ages, a dream of times and place's ancient and forgotten. There are as many dreams concerning the ancient Druids as there are dreamers. Many of these visions are wild and fanciful, even romantic. To some, the dreams are of wise old men, wearing white robes, worshiping beneath an oak tree, or parading around a stone circle at the Summer Solstice. Other dreams are a little more realistic. They were men and women of high intelligence, versed in all the arts and skills of their people. Priests and doctors. Teachers and warriors. The Druids carried all the knowledge and history of the Celtic people. They were advisors to kings and commoner. They were judges and poets. This is who the Druids of old were.
Over the past decade many people have set out on a great voyage to understand. As the understanding grew, the desires changed into recreating and reliving the past of the Druid. People seeking spiritual growth and inner peace began to worship the old way, they sought out the beliefs and practices of the ancient Celt and began to call themselves Druids and their new spiritual path Druidry. Even many of the old Druid orders which have existed for a hundred years or more, began to find the roots of the tree they called Druidry. These orders had functioned for years as fraternal organizations and charities. They eventually began to look to the pagan past for fulfillment and a sense of purpose. As knowledge and understanding of Druidry increased, people flocked to fill the Groves and Orders all across Europe and the United States. Yet, this growth has been both a bane and a blessing.
What has drawn people to this path over the years? It is the mystery or secrets that are now lost? Is it the word "Druid" in and of itself? What kind of image comes to mind when this word is spoken? And more important, what feelings are stirred in the heart, unspeakable and elusive, but real and strong? Many people come into this path seeking understanding and answers to long unanswered questions. They seek understanding of the world and themselves, others are looking for something, they don't know exactly what that something is, all they know is they are looking. Most come into this path with open minds and hearts ready to learn and grow within and without. These are the goals of people walking the Druid path in our day, reaching an understanding the inner universe.
Our modern culture is fascinated with the mysterious past, and the Druid past is shrouded in the mists of a thousand years. Things that are hidden, secret or mysterious must be solved, there must be an answer to the question "Why?" It is the nature of mankind to ask questions. The never-ending quest for knowledge is buried deeply in the human psyche. It was this desire to understand the world that first brought mankind out of the caves and into the brightness of the world. The desire to understand so that survival would be assured. Not much different from modern man, you might say, but there are many differences which must be observed. We are engaging in that same ancient play, the quest for knowledge which can enlighten and empower. Modern man knows the reasons the ancients sought to understand their world, it was a means of survival. What is now different, are the reasons and goals.
We have forgotten the reasons why we seek to understand our world. The differences lie in the reasons for understanding. The ancients sought to understand their world by living with it, by becoming one with nature. They understood the importance of all the forces of nature, their survival was dependent upon living with the world, in the right way. We on the other hand, tend toward seeing the world as something that should be controlled and conquered. Modern humans have forgotten something which our ancestors knew, the controllers become the controlled and the conquerors become the conquered.
Many of us who have walked the Druid path, wouldn't change the lessons we've learned or the experiences we've had for all the treasures in the world.
The Quest of a Druid
The quest of a modern Druid is an internal quest, to find the self and understand the connection we share with the rest of the universe. It is the breath of the spirit that enables us to learn our place in the world. Through the breath of the soul we are able to reach out with our senses and touch the world around us. By interacting with our world we not only add to the knowledge and experience we have collected through our countless lifetimes, but also add to the experience of the whole of creation.
When we open our hearts and allow our spirits to reach out into the world we learn how the universe works. We find within the abstract understanding of our universe that we are connected to it in a vital and beautiful way. An ancient Celt viewed his physical self as existing at the "center" of the world. This view is not based on egotism, or by placing the person ahead of nature. By being at the center one automatically admits that they are connected to everything around them.
The universe exists around us and within us. In order to understand our existence within the universe we need to set aside our linear thought patterns and begin to feel the universe in a different way. Feeling involves using all the senses. Use your senses, feel the changing patterns, feel the life. Watch the animals, smell the myriad scents, and listen to the song of life. Reach out and touch the land, embrace it and allow it to embrace you.
Through ritual and learning we work in two directions at the same time. Delving into the depths of the soul and at the same time working to understand the outer world. Because everything is interconnected we reach understanding of the outer world more easily if we understand the inner world. This is what we work toward as Druids. When we have learned how our own inner universe operates we come to a better understanding of how the world outside and around us exists and functions.
Druid ritual takes many forms, it can be simple or very ceremonial. It can involve one solitary Druid or a whole group of like minded Druids working together to reach a common goal. The learning of a modern Druid attempts to mirror those subjects that our ancient forbears would have studied. We know that Druids filled many roles in ancient Celtic society and our studies attempt to mirror those roles preparing the student of Druidry for a lifetime of growth and service to their tribe. The Druids of old were lawyers, poets, theologians, philosophers, magicians, healers, craftsmen and much more.
Those who walk the path of Modern Druidry call ourselves Druids in honor of those who taught and maintained the knowledge of our Irish ancestors. We understand that we cannot reclaim or recover most that these ancient men and women believed and taught, but we can attempt to mirror their duties in our modern society and build upon the knowledge they did leave us. Druidry needs to be interpreted and made useful and available to modern people. We cannot be the Druids of old, but we can try to be like them and use the knowledge and wisdom left to us for the betterment of our society.
Everyday Celtic scholars, translators, archeaologists and modern druids are rediscovering lost pieces of ancient lore. There are thousands of manuscripts awaiting translation from Gaelic into English. Though all of these documents come from the Christian era, there are tantalizing bits and pieces of ancient knowlege hidden throughout the tales, legal tracts and genealogical records. Finding those bits and pieces of thought and belief and finding ways to incoporate them into modern Druidry is an on going task. The true student of Druidry will be a student for many lifetimes.
And so, we embark upon this noble quest to learn, to discover and to grow.
Adieu.
| I wanted to put this in my Blog today so folks can read about this absolutely amazing young Canadian man. I have just finished his book "Me to We" (Turning the Self-Help Movement on It's Head). It is a brillant book written by Craig and his brother Marc, both who have acheived more in their young lifetimes than some of the most powerful people in the world. This is a young man that at the age of 12, YES 12, saw a problem half a world away from his safe, good life, and decided to make a difference. One has to wonder which "old soul" inhabits this young person. I give thanks that I am blessed to live on the earth at the same time as him.
For those of you with some teens in middle school, I introduced this information to some teachers and they now have grade 7 & 8's do projects on this young man, his life's work, and also come up with ideas of how they might take on small and big projects that make differences to our world. What they come up with is fascinating, the minds of youth can be beautiful things when chanelled. My daughter's class did clean up projects on beaches locally and they raised enough money in returnable bottles to use to buy school supplies for a classroom in Africa. Some local Staple's stores kicked in matching funds and products, a trucking company offered transport and off went a truckload. They were very proud at what the achieved with some hard work and a good idea.
Of course it doesn't have to be this big. Some of the smallest things make the biggest differences, a kind word, helping someone that needs bags carried, a small donation. If you read the book you will read of a young man that became an philanthropist with $20.00.
This week, through meditation and prayer I found my way through the challenges I have been struggling with recently. I realized I had to do 2 things. First, increase my daily self care, and second increase my compassion and positive energy and give more out. I started this yesterday by taking time to take care of a nagging sinus infection. Then to fulfill the second part i commited to tell at least one client a day something positive I see in them. In my program there are about 50-100 people a day here for various education sessions, therapy groups, acupunture treatments, workshops, or indiviual sessions. It is easy to pick someone out and just say something positive about them, even if it is that they always remember my name, or that they are looking rested today, or that they have a kind way about them. Since I started to do it, just a day ago, a shift started. This shift is not just in me, but I noticed that a few others are also doing this. There is a kind of "pass it on" energy happening. I plan to keep it up and watch it grow and see what happens with the rest of the challenges.
Please read the article below and if you Google "Free the Children" you will find this young mans website.
Have a great weekend all!! |
Craig Kielburger
At first I was just going to flick through to the cartoon strips, but I happened to see a headline on the front page about a 12-year-old child worker who had been killed,' says Craig, who is now 22.
“At first, everything that happened to Iqbal seemed unreal to me. I had never heard of child labour or debt slavery, and I got really upset.
I asked my parents if it was really true. ‘Read up on it’, they answered. I went to the library and contacted different organizations that work for human rights, and soon I had found out more.'
Free The Children
“After a week, I asked my teacher if I could tell the class something. ‘Go ahead’, he answered. Then I told them about child labour and about Iqbal. After school I called my classmates. Twenty of us met at my house. We held an exhibition, and decided to start Free The Children. We held a garage sale and sold juice and other things to raise money for the fight against child labour. That was how it all started.
One of the people I had contacted to find out more said that if I really wanted to know more about the lives of these children, I had to visit them.'
Children set free
During his trip, Craig met a boy who had been seriously injured by an explosion in a firework factory, where he carried out dangerous work without protection. He also met a little girl who worked breaking up old syringes without any protection. She climbed over them with bare feet. “She had no idea about AIDS or that the syringes could spread disease.'
Text©: Magnus Bergmar, magnus.bergmar@childrensworld.org
Photos©: FTC, Tom Hanson/Canapress, J.M. Carisse & Anders Kristensson
Craig Kielburger is being nominated for the WCPRC 2006 because he has fought for ten years to free children from poverty and other violations of the rights of the child. But he also wants to empower children to feel that they can contribute to a better world for children. Craig founded Free The Children (FTC) in 1995, when he was 12. Since then, FTC has built more than 400 schools for 35,000 pupils in 21 countries, and sent 200,000 packages with materials for healthcare and schools, as well as medical equipment worth 9 million US dollars. FTC has given gifts of cows, goats, sewing machines or land to 20,000 women, so that they can earn money and their children don’t have to work. FTC has also provided 123,000 people with clean water. The children themselves have paid for most of this. Over 500,000 children and young people in 23 countries have learned, through FTC, to help other children, and that they have the right and the power to demand that the rights of the child are respected.
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