Well, I eventually dragged my ass off the internet for a while & managed to celebrate (quite joyfully, I might add) :)

Well, I don't look particularly joyful here, but I assure you I was :D lol

I spent quite a bit of time with the plants around my yard. (Dammit!! I forgot to get those 3 leaf clovers again!!) I picked one of each of the flowers around to place on my altar, and a couple more of each to press for some crafts.

While I was outside, my lil angel kitty from next door decided to check up on me every so often. Hes' such a darling. He has several names (if you don't care, just skip past the pic LOL) ~ His given name (from my neighbor, his owner) is Muffin, which Nick & I think is too lame for such a handsome boy lol. We were calling him "Bo-dy" for quite a while because he loves to wander up to us whenever we're outside. Nick named him "G3", as in Garfield 3. I named him "Angel" because he is such a darling lil guy; and I also named him "Imbolc" until I can find a more attractive male name with the same meaning because the first time he ever visited us was on Imbolc ~ he randomly found himself outside our dining room window, illuminated by the candle inside, which was quite startling & quite beautiful at the same time, hehehe. Here's a pic from Imbolc of the very window, & then a pic of the lil guy on Lammas

Here are my tomato & basil plants. My tomato plants suffered a bit of wind damage the night this pic was taken, & my biggest plant may be ruined, unfortunately. However, I did finally make the popsicle stick & hot glue trellises I've been meaning to make (yeah, I'm ghetto - LOL) and they seem to be doing their job properly. Hopefully the big plant can recover with its crutches hehehe.

My basil plant is still happily thriving ~ I even picked a few leaves to put in the bruschetta I made :D I made it with toast, chopped homegrown tomatoes (obviously not my own, heh), olive oil, black olives, basil, & a bit of salt & pepper. Twas delicious!!

And, as for my last pic, my altar with a new cloth & some freshly picked flowers ~ sorry that it's a bit blurry, it looked fine in the viewfinder...

Hmm... what else did I do??

I spent a bit of time outside trying to meditate while the sun set (which is pretty difficult in the city with Imbolc starting beef with neighboring cats, car horns, & loud, drunken neighbors LOL). I wrote a list of regrets from the past season, burned them & set the ashes free to the wind. I started my own version of the gratitude bottle out of a snazzy looking Snapple bottle with "fire" on the front (it was dragonfruit) & the logo "elements" on the cap ~ I started filling it with the flowers that our cats had maimed & stones found in different places over the season. Aaaand...that's about it for now. I have to wait for the flowers to finish pressing before I can make an ATC or page in my scrapbook. And I was pretty exhausted after doing all that I had managed to get done, so I took a nap immediately after, hehe. Perhaps I shall do more sometime soon <3

I haven't been feeling very "witchy" lately. Or crafty. Or much of anything but gamer-nerdy :( hehe. Hopefully this holiday will help me out a bit.

It took me forever, but I finally just narrowed down some ideas for celebration. Here they are, taken from the boards at Every Day's A Holiday (well, everything but the 'paint nails' part, hehe :) )...

Decorate w/ harvesting tools, & harvested fruits, veggies & flowers; change altar cloth according to suggested colors below
~Yellow, Orange, Green, Brown, Red, gold, bronze, citrine and gray, white
Sandalwood incense
have a fire (candle)
Make sun tea!!
Spend time in your garden ~ Relaxation and being at one with Nature
meditation on the abundance and blessings within your life; appreciation
Have some juice & beer
Take some garden porn; Harvest some basil
Make bruchetta w/ basil
libation
Seeds from fruit are ceremoniously given back to the Earth to keep the cycle going.
Paint nails w/ August-y colors

Now is a great time of year to work on honing your own talents. Put on a play, write a story or poem, take up a musical instrument, or sing a song.
Do Magick to help you finish long-standing projects by the fall
commit to nurturing our talents
Gratitude Bottles
ATC, SoS page

Think of the things you meant to do this summer or this year that are not coming to fruition. You can project your regrets onto natural objects and throw them into the fire, releasing them
reflecting on the past year and what I've accomplished, and making plans on what to sow for the upcoming year
sacrifice, transformation

To everyone out there, here's wishing an absolutely lovely holiday for you

Well, I've been spending the majority of my online time on *Gaia*, a website I'd heard mention of on Craftster & decided to check out. I'm pretty sure I came across it & was playing for at least a couple of days some odd months or years ago, but I'd completely forgotten about it.

Now I'm obsessed LOL

It's quite a bit anime-based, but not every user is a fan (including me, hehe).

The *Wikipedia article* explains it better than I can, for those who have never heard of it, though the article only begins touching on all the fun things you can do.

So, I thought I'd write a quick blog about it on here for those of you who get as bored as I do & wanna try something new.

If you decide to join, or if you're already on, I'm *Ska Hippie* :D <3

Here are 50 questions (well, there's a few missing) for the people who are a little more "mature"...

1. What bill do you hate paying the most?
I'm pretty sure that, starting November, it's gonna be our heat/electric bill. We're on "the budget plan", so we've been paying the same since last November, but the person who lived here before us wasn't home most of the time. So, starting November, I'm pretty sure we're gonna be f***ed!!

2. Where was the last place you had a romantic dinner?
Hehehe, we're not very romantic the vast majority of the time. Though, we always have a good time every second we're together!! The most romantic (& expensive!!) thing he's ever done was take me to Canada for my birthday last year, which included the Casino buffet :D

3. Do you regret losing your virginity to who you lost it to?
No, not really. Though, I do regret being attached to him for so long...

4. If you could go back and change one thing what would it be?
I would've spent even more quality time with my mom, especially while she was ill

5. Name of your first grade teacher?
Mrs. Winter

6. What do you really want to be doing right now?
I'm pretty content at the moment, though it wouldn't suck to be in Maui right now LOL ;D

7. What did you want to be when you were growing up?
I had a lot of aspirations ~ writer, rock star, actress, teacher, & psychologist to name a few

8. How many colleges did you attend?
One, & haven't *YET* completed

9. Why did you choose the shirt that you have on right now?
I wore it to work, under my work shirt. I chose it because it has holes in it & you can definitely see through it, but it's still serves its purpose as a shirt *LOL*

10. GAS PRICES?
Pretty low at my work (well, low for the area). They seem to have been going down very slowly & steadily over the past few weeks. Hopefully they continue on this trend.

11. If you could move anywhere and take someone with you, where would it be, and who would you take?
Somewhere warm but not sweltering, preferably near a large body of water. And, of course, Nicky & my daddy :)

12. First thought when the alarm went off this morning?
"F*** OFF!!!" *hits snooze about a half dozen times* lol

13. Last thought before going to sleep last night?
Damn, I'm still stoned!! (Don't smoke much anymore, but when I do...*WOAH!!* LOL)

14. Favorite style of underwear?
Girly boy shorts / briefs. Why? I don't know, heh. All I know is that I despise thongs with a passion!!!

16. What errand/chore do you despise?
Cleaning the bathroom!!!

17. If you didn't have to work, would you volunteer?
Probably. Not sure where, though. Probably with kids.

18. Get up early or sleep in?
Sleep in!!!!! I loooove to sleep!! Though, I do kind of miss working at 8am, because it is nice to see the sun shine for an entire day, as opposed to the 6 hours that I'm used to. Seriously, though, when I was unemployed a few months ago (well, during the winter), I would sometimes sleep until 5pm & stay up until 10am!!!

19. What is your favorite cartoon character?
Stewie from Family Guy ~ seeing a baby try to take over the world is just too funny!!

20. Favorite thing to do at night with a girl/guy?
Cuddle & watch tv :)

21. Have you found real love yet?
I believe so. Well, he's definitely the best thing that's ever happened to me, & he always tells me the same. We've still never had a *real* fight, in over a year of being together. And he far exceeds anyone else I've ever been with (& I must say, I've dated a handfull of eclectic guys in my past!! hahaha)

22. When did you first start feeling old?
I don't feel old. Are you calling me old?!?!?!! *LOL* I do feel like I'm getting older now that I realize that my metabolism isn't quite what it was a couple years ago, lol

23. Favorite 80's movie?
Return of the Living Dead, Army of Darkness!!!, Evil Dead 2, Back to the Future(s)!!!

24. Your favorite lunch meat?
I have a sammich for lunch every day. (Yes. I said sammich. I say it like that offline, too. Am I mature enough to be taking this quiz?!?!?! LOL) I love ham. And roast beef. And tuna (yes, it can be considered a lunch meat). And I kinda like turkey, but so so much since I had to slice it at my old job (slicing that stuff is disgusting, & seeing it in the deli as I was putting it on people's subs & sammiches... EWW!!)

25. What do you get every time you go into Sam's Club?
Sam's Club!! Man I not paying them money for a membership just to turn around and go there to give them more of my money..... I'll find it just as cheap on sale somewhere else.... <<agreed!!!

26. Beach or lake?
Both are equally as lovely <3

27. Do you think marriage is an outdated ritual?
it should be $1,000.00 for a license to marry them, and $25.00 to be rid of them if you have to.... <LOL, agreed!! Except, maybe not quite 1K. We're pretty poor, & it doesn't look like that'll be changing any time soon, hahaha.

29. Favorite guilty pleasure?
Shopping. Because I can't usually afford to do it, but it happens once in a while anyway *grins*

30. Favorite movie you wouldn't want anyone to find out about?
Don't think I have one of those...

31. What's your drink?
White Cranberry-Strawberry juice, green tea, black tea, lemonade, grapefruit juice; Iced Cappucino/Coffee; Kahlua, Labatt Blue, Corona, red wine (any!!)

32. Cowboy's or Indian's?

Indians. I guess. 

33. Cops or Robbers?
Robber :)

34. Who from high school would you like to run into?
No one, really LOL. I run into most everyone all too often. I live in too small of a town.

35. What radio station is your car radio tuned to right now?
One of The Edge stations ~ 102.1 or 103.3

37. The Cosby Show or The Simpsons?

The Simpsons!!!! :D

38. Worst relationship mistake that you wish you could take back?
Being so devoted to my Steve-O, even when he didn't feel the same. What a 4 year long tug of war that relationship was!! :/

39. Do you like the person who sits directly across from you at work?
I don't have one of those. I do like my coworkers, though, despite being emo & gossipy

40. What famous person would you like to have dinner with?
I think that Billie Joe Armstrong would be best for me to sit & share life stories with <3

43. Have you ever had to use a fire extinguisher for its intended purpose?
Not yet, haha. Nick's stove in his old apartment did catch on fire last summer while I was trying to make some soup, though, LOL. That was scary.

44. Last book you read for real?
Oh shizzle... I don't read much, so I'm not sure. I think it was probably my bible ~ Bus 9 to Paradise by Leo Buscaglia

45. Do you have a teddy bear?
I'm sure there's one at my dad's house. Here, I have a stuffed Stewie that Nick won me last year at a carnival :D

46. Strangest place you have ever brushed your teeth?
Can't think of anything strange...

47. Somewhere in California you've never been and would like to go?
Hmmm... anywhere in California!! hehehe ~ I've always wanted to go to Cali!!!

49. At this point in your life would you rather start a new career or a new relationship?
New career. Something that pays a LIL (aka LOT) more than 10 cents over minimum wage... hmph!

50. Just how OLD are you? 22, 23 in mid-October :)

A couple of "paranormal" experiences, from a very skeptical family...

So, I'll try to make this as simple as possible. My boyfriend's mom's name is Lisa. Lisa had 3 sisters, one who passed away a couple weeks or so ago. As stated in my previous blog, her mother just passed away the other day.

First paranormal experience, which, when Lisa was telling us this stuff today, this very skeptical woman shed a couple tears. Apparently, one of her sisters was at the sister who passed away's old apartment, helping to clean. A couple of their kids were there with them, & they were out in the backyard playing "ring around the rosy", & someone was taping it with their camera phone. Afterwards, they were watching it on the phone, &, apparently, you can see a perfect image of a woman all in white come into the center of the circle & touch everyone's hands.

Second, Lisa & one of her sisters were at their parents' ouse today, cleaning out some of their mother's jewelry & such. They dumped absolutely everything out & reorganized it. The whole time, they were searching for one specific piece of jewelry ~ a small white heart on a very thin chain, which was once given to their deceased sister. They couldn't find it anywhere. So, they came upon a photo album, & the first picture they happened upon was a pic of said sister with the necklace on. So, this fueled their drive to find it. In the first drawer that Lisa had opened, there was the necklace, in plain sight. This is completely boggling their minds.

Lastly, everything that Lisa's mom had divided up between the sisters was determined by herself in a letter, which was written in 1995. The interesting piece here is that everything was divided up between three of the four sisters ~ the three who remain today. Also, as far as pillows & picture frames & whatnot, everything is in sets of 3. And there was no way that their mother would have been able to alter all of this in the short amount of time between the sister's passing & her own; also, there were absolutely no harsh feelings between the deceased sister & the rest of the family that would have caused nothing to be left for her.

So, I've been dealing with some very confused family today, hehe. They simply don't know what to think of what's going on. I, on the other hand, am just sitting back with a smile, basking in how beautiful these experiences are, as I'm sure Lisa's mom's & sister's spirits are as well. (Does this make me weird??)