Blank Mind

Today is my Thursday Thirteen. Unfortunately, I have been abit under the weather (damn Sarcoidosis), my joints and muscles feel like a ton of bricks and ache to high heaven. Anyway, I am suppose to do my post for today. And I am completely blank as to what to write about. I could write about the fact that I have been up since 3:30am, wide awake, yet totally exhausted. Or write about the summer holidays starting, and how long it will be before my kids say "I'm bored". lol. Anyway, I am taking this week off. But I will try to have a great post for you next week.

Caitlin's Graduation

Well last night was 'the night' for Caitlin. She graduated Grade 8. She will start high school in September now. I think she handled it pretty good. She is excited about going in September. Now me, I am somewhat sad. Another of my wonderful, beautiful girls is growing up right in front of my eyes. I can remember them so easily when they were still babies. Time flies by for sure. I am so proud of Caitlin. Her report card was awesome. Two "A's", and the rest were all "B's". She even received the French Award last night at the ceremony. She looked so elegant in her gown. All dressed up and looking beautiful. Now I know I am bias, but I do believe she was the prettiest one there. lol. But all the graduates were wearing their finest, and looking wonderful. There was a dinner before the ceremony. Which was delicious. Caitlin's Father and Grandfather joined us for dinner. And her Aunt Vicky and cousin Scott, plus her Papa and Grandma Mary came to see the ceremony. She was especially happy with her gifts. (which was mostly money). So now she can go shopping. One of her favourite past times. I am just so blessed with the children that I have. They are all intelligent, beautiful, and well mannered kids. So now with two in high school and only one left in public school, I have to make the best of everyday. Because before I know it, they will be out of the house, and I will be suffering from empty nest syndrome. Here are some pics of Caitlin and Chetasia and Matthew from last night. Enjoy!

Caitlin and her proud Dad

Chetasia

Matthew

All three of my kids

Gnostic Tenets of Novus Spiritus

Today's topic is about Sylvia Browne's Gnostic Church. It is called the Society of Novus Spirtus. There are actually 21 tenets, describing the beliefs of Gnostic Christianity. I am going to pick my favourite 13 tenets for this post.

1. Tenet I: "The way of all peace is to scale the mountain of self. Loving others makes the climb down easier. We see all things darkly until love lights the lamp of our soul".The whole meaning of this first tenet points to climbing the mountain of your own ego, or the false self that can fool you and lure you into believing that your're more than you are. Climbing the mountain is difficult until you come to the understanding that you're a spiritual being who came here to experience for God and yourself. You'll float down the mountain and realize that loving others really does light the lamp of our soul.
2. Tenet VII: "Know that each life is a path winding toward perfection. It is the step after step that is hard, no the whole of the journey". Keep in mind that you've had many lives, and in each one you've learned a different facet of yourself. We can take detours, but we always live our charts and our destiny. We are what we are and what we're meant to be. We all end up taking the steps we must complete to finish our journey. It takes time, and it's quite a journey, but you're perfecting by the sheer fact that you come here to Earth in the first place.
3. Tenet VIII: "Be simple. Allow no man to judge you, not even yourself, for you cannot judge God." We are God, because we're the genetic part of God, made by God, and we carry that spark of the Divine within us. So we don't have the right to judge someone who doesn't measure up to what we think our standards are. Even our Lord said, "Judge not, lest ye be judged" and "You without sin cast the first stone."
4. Tenet XII: "The body is a living temple unto God, wherein we worship the spark of the Divine." Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, and other religious leaders have all stated that the body is a temple. We believe that the body houses the soul, and what seems to be so temporary and fragile is probably one of the biggest miracles that God has created.
5. Tenet XIII: "God does not create the adversities in life. By your own choice they exist to aid in your perfection." We are homing our souls and learning to ascend to God with knowledge. Earth is the only 'hell' there is. There are millions of planets that are inhabited, but this is the only one that has evil and megativity in such abundance. Only the bravest of the brave incarnate here to face this planet's adversities. Earth is the toughest school in the universe, which is why so many of us come here. We wonder why, if God is all-loving, why is there suffering. When esus went to the garden of Gethsemane and asked God to remove the pain of the crucifixion that he knew was coming, God essentially told him, "No--you chose it to be this way in your contract, so you have to see it through. We pick a contract with God to learn and grow our soul to bring back information to God. We choose which negative aspects to have in our life.
6. Tenet XV: "God allows each person the opportunity for perfection, whether you need one life or a hundred lives to reach your level of perfection." Just as we choose different themes or lessons that we're going to learn, we also pick the number of lives (even the years, months, days, and hours) that we're going to exist on this planet in order to complete our mission or education. There is also the explanation for why some seem to be taken before what we feel is their time. Their charted time may be entirely different from our own. The Gnostics have always believed in reincarnation, but kept silent because they were afraid of being branded heretics.
7. Tenet XVI: "Devote your liefe, your soul, your very existance, to the service of God. For only there will you find meaning in life." In all the major religions, the basic themes of love, giving. and peace are pervasive. So if we go through life as the various messengers have told us to, then we've devoted our existance to the service of God.
8. Tenet XVIII: "Death is the act of returning Home; it should be done with grace and dignity. You may perserve that dignity by refusing prolonged use of artificial life-support systems. Let God's will be done." Medicine is marvelous, but sometimes we keep peoplk ealive when there's no life left. It is a loving wonderful thing to pass on, and go home to be with Jesus and God and all our family and friends that have gone on before us. Do not fear death for it is not the ending, but the beginning.
9. Tenet XIX: "We believe in a Mother God, Who is co-Creator with our all-loving Father God." The fact is, pure logic dictates that if there is a male principle, there has to be a female counterpart. Although the Christian movement has taken great pains to hide the truth for so many years, little bits and pieces are coming out these days, and the media is taking notice and picking up on the feminie principle.
10. Tenet XX: "We believe that our Lord was crucified, but did not die on the cross. Instead, he went on to live his life in France with his mother and Mary Magdalene, his wife." There are many facts to back up this truth. I can't put them all down here now, but will do a post strickly on this topic. And show path that Jesus took.
11. Tenet XXI: "We Gnostics kept the knowledge hidden that Christ's lineage exists even today, and the truth long buried is open to research." This is also another topic that could be written about extensively. I suggest reading Sylvia Browne's book "If You Could See What I See". It explains the truths much better than I can and the facts that go with it.
12. Tenet XVII: "War is profane; defense is compulsory." We Gnostics do not believe in war, for through the ages it hasn't accomplished much except death and destruction. We do believe that we must protect our lives and homes, but to have most of the world in turmoil is ridiculous.
13. Tenet VI: "In faith be like the wind chimes: Hold steady until faith, like the wind, moves you to joy." Faith to us Gnostics is synonymous with knowing, and truth, which is really important during a depressed or negative time in your life. If you hold on to your beliefs in a loving God, you'll find that your faith turns into an unshakable knowing.

I am sure some of these tenets have got you thinking, and questioning me. But these are my beliefs which I respect as well as respecting yours. I do recommend reading Sylvia Browne's work and you will see that we have an all-loving God that wants us to grow with love and knowledge.

Relay for Life

What a wonderful, emotional, inspirational night. Relay for Life is a fundraising event for the Canadian Cancer Society, where groups of people raise money and spend the evening walking around a track. There was over 1300 people there. Over 100 just of survivors. There was food, music, and games all night. Our team alone raised over $1200. What a moment when all the luminaries are light in memory or in honour of those people that have been affected by cancer. Not a dry eye in the house. Just feeling the overwhelming love and support, you couldn't help but feel like anything was possible. I am not sure what the grand total raised was, but last year was over $100,000 and we have more teams this year. I think they said 119 teams or something like that. I can't wait till next year. Of course we weren't prepared for this year. Who knew that it got so cold out during the night, that you could see your own breath. Next time I am bringing a sleeping bad and toque. Unfortunately Mike had to work Saturday morning, so he could only stay until 11pm, but hopefully he will be out there walking the track all night with us next year.

The start of the Cancer Relay

The survivors lap

Team Name

Our Team

Memory luminary of Mike's Mom

Lighting the Candles

The lights are a glow

Our path of luminaries to walk by at night

Hope sign

The team is wearing down

4:00am, only 3 more hours to go

My blistered toe, man my feet hurt!

What an experience. Can't wait till next year!

13 Pet Peeves

Today's subject for my Thursday Thirteen is all about my pet peeves. Everyone has them, and some may not bother others like they do certain people. That is what makes pet peeves fun.

1. People who don't put on the signal lights (oh this one is a big pet peeve)
2. People who don't say "thank you" after placing their order in the drive thru. (even worse are the ones that don't say it at all)
3. Litterbugs. (this has to be one of the worst, not only does it bother people, but it ruins the planet as well)
4. People who blow out their cig smoke as they are walking into a place, right into your face
5. People that ignore their crying, tantum throwing children in a store (does ignoring really make them stop, I don't think so, just makes them louder)
6. People who are cruel to animals (this is more than a pet peeve, it is an all out hatred)
7. Pestimistic people (don't they realize that depressing thought will only bring on depressing thoughts, not to mention they are very draining people)
8. Skinny people that can eat anything they want (this one is pretty self explanatory lol)
9. Getting woke up, only to have the kids ask "are you sleeping Mom" (it has taken some training, but I may have broke them from this habit)
10. People who use fowl language every other word they can (really is it necessary to swear like a sailor, very unattractive)
11. The dizziness feeling when you stand up to fast (we used to take stuff to get this feeling, now I just want it to stop)
12. Whispering (when I hear this, it just makes me more anxious, it is rude to whisper with people around)
13. People who don't appreciate all that they have (be thankful for food and water and room and board, or you could go live in Africa to really learn what you have)

Well here are the first 13 that came to my head. I am sure I could think up some more. But having too many pet peeves, it really a pet peeve.

A New Set of 10's

I am doing really well with my weight loss. I have lost 2 more pounds this week. Putting me at 209 lbs now. Single digits. Only 10 lbs more and I will be under 200 lbs. That will be a great obstacle reached. And will only motivate me that much more to try hard and continue. I can't remember the last time I weighed under 200 lbs. I think atleast 3 or 4 years. So exciting. I am continuing to go to the gym. I really believe I am at that point where you want to go, and are sad when you miss it. I wondered when I would feel those feelings, so it is a surprise that I actually got there. I miss yoga. I keep forgetting to get the yoga cd from Kathie, to do it at home. But I miss the social aspect of going to yoga. I felt more a part of the world when I was out in a group setting. I do need to incorporate more activity into my days though to help the weight come off faster and easier. We try to go for a walk in the evening after the hubby comes home. This is easy to achieve in the nice warm summer days. It is beautiful and refreshing to walk down the main street in town, with all the trees full and lush and all the birds singing. You can't help but feel optomistic with a free mind. All this talk has me ready for a walk tonight. We have been doing 2 miles at a time. Maybe we are ready to up that. Of course our middle point is Timmies, so we reward ourselves with a coffee and a cookie for the walk back. Oh well, I can't wait till next week's weigh in.

My Busy Day

As most of you know, I have a hard time with getting out of the house, out into the real world. And don't even mention having to drive the truck. That puts me into a panic in a flash. Well, none the less, my hubby has a new shift these days. He is working from 7:30am to 8pm everyday. So guess who is left to do the dirty work. A scared, anxious person that hates the public. So today is payday. There are about 6 places that I have to go to today. And in Chatham (fairly big city) for goodness sakes. So I am up with the kids before school, and the whole thought of having to go to town sickens me. So what do I do. I go back to bed and stay there until 11am. Hoping that when I walk out of my bedroom, the plans have changed. But to no avail, I still have all the running around ahead of me. So I bravely get into the truck (which most of you know is a monster big truck) and do my stops here in Ridgetown. There is going to the doctor's office for a script, then to the bank, post office, and Mac's Milk for lottery. Then I realize that I forgot an important piece of paper at home that I need, so I drive back home. Then I go to Timmie's for a much needed coffee. By this time I am already stressed out and I haven't even left town yet. So I drive to Chatham, and try to map out which way I have to go through the town. First stop is the Car Dealership for a part. So all is going pretty good. I get in and out of there with no problem. Next stop is Bank of Montreal. So since I am still on Richmond Dr. There is a bank just up from the car dealership. So I have to wait and turn cross 4 lanes of traffic, and go and park at the bank. I sit in the truck for a few minutes trying to cheer myself on. "You are doing a great job, everything is going well" Now I go into the bank, and if is closed. I am in disbelief. But they closed this branch because I new branch opened in a different place. So out of the bank I go, back on to the busy street, and make my way to where the new branch is. I get to the bank and I am in and out fairly quick. So I am fairly pretty proud of myself by this time. I carry on my way now to Canadian Tire. Well this place always wigs me out for some reason. But I have to pick up something and the sale ends today, so I have no choice. Well of course they don't have what I am there for, so I get a rain check. Yay, I get to come back. I live Canadian Tire and get in the truck to cross the parking lot (where there are alot of people that don't know what they are doing) and go to Zellers. (another place that wigs me out) I glance at all the nice clothes that I want to buy but can't cause I only have money for what I am there for. Underwear, for everyone it seems. So I pick up 3 different packages of underwear and go to the till. And that total nearly floors me. $48, for 3 packages of underwear. I can't believe it, but it is true. So I pay for them, as I see my bank account getting smaller. I then have to cross town and go to a health food store. It is at this time that I realize I don't have my sun glasses. I look all over, and have to come to the sad realization that I have lost my clip on sun glasses. I droop my head in shame at my foolishness. I will have to deal with that another day. So I have to menover(sp?) this big truck into a small nearly full parking lot. I am not so good at parking.....I know you may have thought different but it is true. I can't back up to save my life. Some how I get into a spot and get in and out of the store. I am drained and sweaty and my hands are shaking, and I need to go home. So I drive myself to the Timmie's for another coffee to keep me alert, and I drive up over the curb, monster trucking, which startles me. I am now finished with my work in Chatham. I get to drive home now. But once I get to Ridgetown I have one more stop left at our mechanics. I go in and get our transmission oil and go to pay with debit and guess what. For some reason the machine is not working right now. Weird, it was working a few minutes ago. So I hop back in the truck and drive up town to the bank again, and get some money. Come back to the mechanics and pay my bill. I am now free to go home. I get into our drive way, and stay there for 5 minutes, destressing myself. My busy day is over. And I made it through. But I am not looking forward to the next time, but maybe I will be a little more at ease.

The Month of June

THURSDAY THIRTEEN

Since my birthday is in the month of June, and it is a great month. I decided to list 13 bits of information about June. Enjoy

1. Pearl is one of the Modern June birthstone. 2. The Gemstone Alexandrite is the color changing variety of the mineral Chrysoberyl. The June Birthstone, its color varies from red to green depending upon the light source.

3. Moonstone is one of the modern June birthstones and an accepted gem for the 13th wedding anniversary. 4. June's flower is the rose or honeysuckle.(the rose being my favourite flower)

5. According to the Celtic calendar this is the second month of 'Beltaine', (also Beltane) a time associated with healing, within nature, of the body and of the spirit.

6. June is the sixth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with a length of 30 days.

7. The month is named after the Roman goddess Juno, wife of Jupiter and equivalent to the Greek goddess Hera.

8. The first Monday in June is one of the public holidays in the Republic of Ireland; in the Irish Calendar the month is called Meitheamh and is the middle month of the summer season.

9. The solstice called the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere and the winter solstice in the southern hemisphere occurs on dates varying from 20 June to 22 June (in UTC). In the pagan wheel of the year the summer solstice is the time of Litha and the winter solstice is that of Yule.

10. June 19th is the birthday of Garfield, a comic strip created by Jim Davis.

11. Mellissa was born on June 5th, this year she celebrated her 37th birthday.

12. Father's Day is celebrated in Belgium on the second Sunday in June. In the United States, the United Kingdom, Mexico, the Netherlands, Ireland and Canada it is celebrated on the third Sunday in June.

13. O my Luve's like a red, red rose. That's newly sprung in June.- Robert Burns

Happy Birthday to Me

Well today is my birthday. I am 37 years old. I know to most people that doesn't sound too old, but to me it does. When I was younger and would think about people being in their late 30's, I thought they were ancient. Of course my sister will turn 40 this year so I will always be younger than her. But at 37, there is only 3 years left till 40. Am I where I want to be at this point in my life. I think I am. Of course it is changed up a bit. I don't have that great successful career that I thought I would. But I do have a wonderful husband and great kids. So that makes it all worth while. The best part about my birthday is being a Gemini. We are a special breed all to ourselves. But that is what makes us a lively, flighty all over kind of person. So what should be my gift to myself. I am very actively thinking of a new tattoo. Plus I would love to get over to the slots and play for awhile. I also want to have a chemical peel and microdermabrasion down on my face. I am hoping I can get all three things. But they may have to be spaced out. We are having a family day on Sunday to celebrate my birthday, and then dinner out. I can't wait. Well I guess I should go carry on with my day, and wait and see if I feel any different, or just another year older.

Weight Loss Again

Well after more than a month of no activity on the weight journey. I have now had a really good week. I have lost 4 lbs this week. This is wonderful. Only 12 lbs more and I will be under 200 lbs. I can't wait to start seeing more and more change. I have been trying something different this week. I won't say what it is as of yet, but if I continue to see such great results, I may pass on my secret. Lets just keep hoping for more weight to come off. I am excited for next week to come.