A Sunday smile

Greetings, friends and Blessed Ostara!!

Yesterday, I purchased an HP Elitebook (laptop) ...

Butterscotch gave me a HIGH FIVE!! lol ...

And, for a Sunday smile, the comedic genius of the late John Ritter!! ENJOY!!

Special Birthday Lunch!

Greetings, friends and Blessed Sunday! Today is my 61st birthday and I am enjoying a rare winter day here in Reading, PA. The sun is shining and the temperature is 46 degrees outside. I was treated to a special Birthday Lunch at The Railroad House by my sister, Aurora Skye! ... 💗

Along with the delicious food, she surprised me with these very awesome presents! ...

A large "Strawberry Bunny Shortcake" scented Yankee Candle! It smells sooo good and I can not wait to burn it. It actually smells like Nestle's Strawberry Quick! YUMMY!! ... 😘

And a matching Luma Lid to go along with it for Ostara!!

Also, these beautiful Mother of Pearl earrings just perfect to wear with my mermaid studs!! ...

On the way home from lunch, I stopped off at PetSmart to pick up some more kitty litter when I saw this gorgeous guy ...

 

"Toby"

One of our local cat rescues was at the store trying to get some wonderful kitties adopted. THIS is "Toby" their model/calendar cat who is only three years old! ...

"One By One Cat Rescue" (no kill shelter) 

 

Have a great rest of the weekend all!!

First Day of Spring

 

This and That ...

Greetings, friends! No, I am still not emotionally ready to discuss the events of the last few months yet as it is far too painful and difficult. However, I will update you on the current situation. My mom is back at Mifflin Center after several bad falls and TRYING to rehab there. She had no choice but to change her current Medicare third party insurance (Geisinger Gold Advantage Plan) to regular Medicare because Geisinger would not approve her stay at Mifflin Center until April to continue her rehab! And at $400-some dollars per day, she can NOT afford it! I HATE insurance! Especially when it is so damned complicated and confusing thanks to our Government!! I have no freaking idea WHAT I am doing I feel so lost. I spent four hours at Mifflin Center yesterday making phone calls with my mom lying in a bed aside of me because even as a legal P.O.A., there are some things I can do to help my mom and some things I can NOT - dealing with changing my mom's address with Social Security (and the million questions they ask of an 84 year old woman) is one of them, and, dealing with the IRS and taking care of her taxes is another! Both the State of Pennsylvania AND the IRS DO NOT recognize a legal document such as a Power of Attorney. In fact, the IRS has their own way of doing things and require you to fill out all kinds of ridiculous forms in order to accept you and your legal P.O.A.  In other words, my mom's bank and her insurance honor it, but the IRS and State do not. My mom owed money this year and after contacting the IRS via telephone, I was advised to pay her Federal taxes owed from her modest annuity by cashier's check. Oh God how I hate taking on my mom's responsibilities. It scares me TO DEATH! There is A LOT more to this story , but I will spare you the ugly details. I swear I am losing my mind!!!!!!

In other news, while I was getting ready for work on Tuesday, I received an IM via Facebook from The Mint Leaf that I won a bunch of tulips. It was a rather nice surprise ...

Have a good everyone.

Getting ready for Spring!

Yesterday, my sister Aurora Skye and I ventured out for a bit of Spring shopping. We went to our local Yankee Candle Store and I found three large jars, a new Luma Lid for them, and a Spring Bunny votive candle holder ...

Another place we stopped off at was Barnes & Noble Bookstore. We are always looking for what clearance books and such that they have on sale. I picked up this really GOOD Chinese Astrology book for only $5.00! 

I was born in the Year of the Dragon - specifically, I am a Wood Dragon. I found it QUITE interesting that a lot of the information regarding my sign aligned almost perfectly with my Western Astrology sign of Pisces!

I could not resist buying this adorable Game of Thrones bookmark!

 🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉

Another really cool book I bought was, "The Essential Dream Journal" ...

This journal has lots of pages filled with detailed questions and great ways to keep track of your dreams!

My left-over cheesesteak with Old Bay Chips and a pickle from our lunch at "Ganly's Pub" (today's lunch) ...

I still have to finish decorating my house with my Spring things, but for today, I am still working on my Spring cleaning. I finally bought a set of drawers at "Staples" to replace the three small ones I have been using for my office supplies.

Before ...

After ...

That will have to do for now. I will post more Spring pics after I have finished getting them down from the attic.

Have a good week everyone!

TBT: A Matter of Faith

 

As a Wiccan, I faithfully celebrate Ostara and the Spring Equinox. As a daughter; however, I still spend the Easter holidays, church aside, with my Christian family. There may be a few of my fellow Wiccans who might believe that in doing so, I am in conflict with my Wiccan beliefs. As I see it, I, myself, am not celebrating Easter - I am merely respecting the fact that my family does.  I love spending time with my family and friends and since that does not interfere in any way with the fact that I am Wiccan and celebrate the sabbat of Ostara, I certainly do not see any problem with it. 

For example, my husband is agnostic, but he has always respected my decision to be a Wiccan. Even though he does not actually participate in our circles and sabbat celebrations, he is still there with me and he helps me in any way he can.  He has always stood by me and supported me throughout these many years. The fact that he does not follow my own personal religious beliefs, does not mean that he can not be accepting of them.

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As a Wiccan Priestess and teacher, I am also a strong advocate of religious tolerance, and as such, I truly believe in “practicing what I preach.” After all, it is a road which runs both ways.  It is important for us to remember that, ultimately, we all breathe the same air and we are all a part of the same universe – regardless of our various faiths and diverse religious beliefs.

A Trip to New Hope

Today marked the first day of spring. The weather was cool, windy, and in the 50's, cloudy and overcast, but did not rain. So on my only day off, my husband and I decided to "get away" for a day. We drove to New Hope, PA.

We always have lunch at Fran's Pub before walking along the main street. Their homemade pizza is awesome!

The below pics are of what was once a church turned into a fine dining restaurant & bar that keeps changing owners. We have enjoyed visiting the Villages in New Hope since we began dating back in 1994. It is so sad to see exactly how much it has changed. So many stores are now  GONE! Among my favorite shops were "Gypsy Heaven" (closed the last two times we were in New Hope) and, unfortunately, it looks like "Mystickal Tymes" has also closed it's doors! 

And, what was once, a few years back, a really cool strip mall called "The Four Seasons" ...

 ... is now nothing but a big food market. The only thing I like there now is the delicious macaroons from "Sciascia Confections" ...

I found this cool mermaid bag at one of the stores which is thankfully still open ...

One of the reasons I wanted to go to New Hope was for the beautiful clothing stores. Since gaining so much weight from my job, I needed to find at least ONE dress that I could fit into. So I bought these pieces at "House of India" ...

On the way home, we stopped off at one of our local "Chili's Bar & Grill" for a steak dinner. All in all, a pretty good day and not a bad way to spend the first day of spring.

Happy Spring & Blessed Ostara!

Holiday memories are made of this ...

HAPPY SPRING ALL! I thought it might be fun to share a few cherished spring and holiday pics from over the years.

When I was a child, my mother, brother, even my dad (one of the few times of the year that he ever attended church services with us), and I would get up bright and early on Easter Sunday. My mom would dress us up neat and tidy and clean us up nicely before leaving the house. But, before we got ready for church, my mom would always fix up an awesome Easter basket for each of us filled with LOTS of candy - Hershey Kisses, Reeses Peanut Butter cups, assorted jelly beans, yellow and pink marshmellow peeps, a large SOLID (not hollow) chocolate bunny. And, along with our goodies, she always found a cool little toy or stuffed animal to place inside a large plastic Easter Egg (mine was pink - my brothers was purple). 😃

This pic was taken back in 1976.

This is a pic of my brother (far left), my cousin, and me - circa 1974.

My brother and I riding our bikes around the yard. Notice my bare feet - Yes, folks I was a flower child even back then ... lol!

Me, my grandfather (whom we called "Pappy"), and my brother as a baby. He really was a cute kid!

The only Easter "gifts" which I still have saved from my childhood Pink Easter Egg.

These pics were taken back in 2002 from one of our many group Ostara celebrations. Part of the ritual was painting and decorating our own Ostara eggs ...

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And finally, a little holiday humor if you will ...

My very own special holiday bunny, Butterscotch!  lol

Speaking of Butterscotch, this month marks his third anniversary since joining our little family. I must say that of all of the kitties we shared our lives with, this sweet baby was the most adamant about wanting to be a house kitty.  Every night, he slept at the foot of the garage steps and cried to come in the house. It was not long after we brought him in and got him to our vet for a good bill of health that he settled in purrfectly. We love him so much - he is the best little boy! 😻

And, a little heart-shaped spring cake to make you smile!

And, perhaps a cupcake or two!

Have a Blessed Weekend, friends!

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