Still in Vegas

Well, my daughter and her family left yesterday and arrived home in Arizona late last night safe and sound. My son-in-law's phone had a dead battery by the time they got there. He was texting me the whole way. I'll miss them all so much.

Christmas was awesome! Lydia isn't quite old enough yet to where it's really fun watching her open presents but it was still fun watching her rip into her gifts and then play with her new toys. Next year will be even better. I guess we will have to switch from coming in November to coming down for Christmas every year lol. This year my aunt got me the best present. She went to an occult shop here in Vegas and asked them what she could get a Witch for Yule and ended up getting me a Maiden, Mother and Crone incense burner. My aunt is AWESOME! I cried too. It's just so like her to do something like that just to see someone she loves smile. She absolutely loves to see her loved ones smile. She's such a loving person and I love her so much sometimes my heart just might burst open from it lol. My whole family is tight like that though. We're Irish/Italian/Latino we can't help it ROFLMAO!!

Parker and I are taking some time for ourselves this week before we go back home. We're going to enjoy the weather and spend New Year's in Vegas. Life is good. :)

Merry Xmas!

Sending love and warm wishes to all this holiday season!

Winter Vacation

If you follow my tweets you already know that we made it here safe and sound. Last night was the grand opening of the holiday festivities here, the annual ornament party. It was a blast. The living room was filled wall to wall with people. Old friends and good times. My aunt, as usual, had a beautiful buffet decked out with lots of Christmas treats and her infamous cheese dip. Great fun was had by one and all.

Road Trip

We are mostly ready to go. We're going to drive straight down there this time, no stopovers. This trip we're leaving the boy with a friend and taking two dogs and a bird. What an interesting trip this shall be. lol

I might tweet while on the road. It'll be easier to do that with my new phone than it was with the old one. I might even send pix in from the road. Stay tuned... ;)

Same shit different year...

I tracked Jimmy down again to turn him into the Atty Gen for Child Support enforcement. I put it off for a while because I knew that as soon as I did it that Psycho Piece of Cunt Chowder he's married to would start harassing me again. I told Audra that, told her that last year when she wanted me to help track him down for his mom since she wants to see him one last time before she dies. The only reason that Psycho still picks on me is because I'm on the internet, Audra doesn't get on the internet that much so the Psycho can't stalk her like she does me.

I've put enough energy in that drama. It was good for a couple of laughs but its just not that amusing. I've got packing to do for our Christmas trip and Parker is busy working on a couple of website jobs that came in yesterday so he can't help till they're done. Probably get done just in time to load the stuff in my truck. Thank goodness I've got that new truck or we wouldn't be able to get everything down there. LOL!! I forgot how much stuff you have to take with you when you've got a baby along.

On the issue of my craptastic excuse for broadband internet, I think we found a replacement, one where every customer, including the library, isn't sharing the same fucking IP addy and one that I might actually be able to load websites on without losing my internet connection. Or be able to take advantage of my Netflix account with the PS3 without being accused of hogging all the bandwidth resources of the other customers. *rolls eyes*

That reminds me, I need to get a replacement bulb for the projector soon or we will have to watch movies and play Rock Band on the TV instead of in the theater room. That would suck.

Snow, snow and more snow

If this keeps up we may get snowed in early this year...

Lydia's First Thanksgiving

Lydia
Originally uploaded by Gwen Wolfrose

Miss Lydia got her first haircut today. She also had her first taste of Ice tea and now there isn't a tea glass that is safe around her because she loves the stuff. If she sees the glass she reaches for it.

I will most likely be too busy to post tomorrow so I will go ahead and send out good wishes and blessings to all my friends and loved ones that live in the USofA. May you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving filled with lots of love and laughter.

Thanksgiving with the Family

I'll be out of pocket for a while traveling to have Thanksgiving with family. :)

Witches Among Us

Salt Lake's Fox13 News ran this on their 9pm broadcast last night.

The Social Event of the Year!

The Witches High Tea
Originally uploaded by Gwen Wolfrose

This weekend we went to the Fourth Annual Witches High Tea presented by the Utah Black Hat Society at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City and my granddaughter and husband were on the Fox13 News that night. :)

Gardnerians_all Yahoo!Group

*sigh* I made the mistake of turning email delivery back on for Gardnerians_all. There really wasn't much traffic going on. Wiccan Wade is in residence there so he posts every so often and Aiden Kelly has been posting some of his old poetry but not really any other traffic to speak of. Most people are on moderation actually.

So yesterday I was a bit peeved to see actual spam posted on there, not just something people don't care for so they call it spam, actual UCE. It was that post I'm sure a lot saw yesterday from a person pretending to have bought the free bos cd. That same tired post that has been being posted for years. It's not from someone who bought the cd, it's from the person selling it and she's been copy pasting the same post year after year, just using a different address.

Turns out Delia let it through for some inane reason but she doesn't want any one to say it is spam or say that the person posting that they received the cd will not be posting a review since if they hold to their ten year pattern they will have already abandoned that email addy. It's off topic to say that. Apparently she's worried about off topic traffic clogging up the list. *rolls eyes*

Over the years being on this list I've seen her derail on topic conversations because someone said something she didn't like. Is it any wonder the majority of traffic on that list now days is from one of the biggest jokes of the pagan internet, Wiccan Wade (the Morrigan is a nice mommy) MacMorrigan?

I'm waiting to see if she is going to kick me off, I've already put myself back on no mail. As long as she has a strangle hold on the list there will NEVER be any serious conversations about the craft. No one likes highly censored lists. Once upon a time it was a good list. *shakes head* Now I have to say don't bother, there are much better lists out there for serious craft discussions.

Lydia Oleen Stringer-Lund

2009_06190045
Originally uploaded by Gwen Wolfrose

June 17, 2009 at 7:59 am my granddaughter came into this world weighing in at 7lbs 8oz and a whole 20in tall.

Just look at all that hair! I'm very proud! :)

Mom and baby are now home and doing well.

just a small update

Just thought I would post here to say I'm still alive. Having a nicely horrid fibro flare at the moment. Been busy since it's Pagan Pride planning season. Also DraigSidhe is putting on the Aspen Grove Midsummer. Since my grandchild is due to arrive around Midsummer we've scheduled that for early July instead of in June. So, fibro flare + Pagan Pride planning + Midsummer + OMGBABYCOMING = busy and tired me.

LA Times

Here is the article from the LA Times on my grandfather: http://tinyurl.com/d5zvst

He was a vibrant and jovial man. That is how I remember him and will hold him in my heart forever.

*sighs*

Last month I posted about my grandfather being in his last days. Today around 1pm PST he crossed the veil. He's not suffering anymore, trapped in a body that doesn't work and unable to communicate with the rest of the world. He is now at peace. I grieve because I loved him but I celebrate that he is now free and that his dash was well lived, well lived indeed.

Goodbye Grandpa Frank, you'll always be in my heart.

Frank Charles Ashby Jr.
March 22, 1932 - February 16, 2009

The Dash
copyright 1996 Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
from the beginning...to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth
and spoke of the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all
was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
that she spent alive on earth...
and now only those who loved her
know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own;
the cars....the house...the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
and how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard...
are there things you'd like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
that can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough
to consider what's true and real,
and always try to understand
the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger,
and show appreciation more
and love the people in our lives
like we've never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect,
and more often wear a smile...
remembering that this special dash
might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy is being read
with your life's actions to rehash...
would you be proud of the things they
say about how you spend your dash?

It was ten years ago today...

January 27, 1999 I found my oldest brother dead. He had been there for about four days. His heater was on 80 and in Texas they don't tend to have cold winters for days on end, it had been in the 80's during the day for those four days. Needles to say it wasn't a pretty picture. I knew before I unlocked his door what I would walk into, it is a distinct smell. Basically, I shut my self off so I could do what needed to be done. I got the door open, visually confirmed what I already knew would be on the other side of the door and then looked for his phone, a cordless and not on the charger. When I found it, I walked outside, for obvious reasons, and called 911. I then called my friend Audra to come sit with me while I waited on the police and coroner etc. to come. Then I called my mom, told her what happened and asked her to go over to my grandmothers house because she was home alone and I didn't want her to hear about this while she was alone. Best laid plans always go wrong... my grandmother called my brother's house. I had to tell her over the phone that, "no Grandma, nothing is ok". She asked if he was dead and I said yes. I did find out later that she called one of her friends to come sit with her. Meantime, the coroner had gotten there and he told me that the cause of death was obvious, auto erotic asphyxiation.

My entire family was just devastated naturally. I felt I had to keep it together, plus I couldn't go through one of the basic steps of the grief process, denial... I was smacked in the face with reality the moment I walked in his house and saw him. I did keep it together, hell I was numb, post traumatic stress will do that to ya, so I made sure he got cremated like he always told me he wanted.

Thing is, I did not grieve at all really, not for years and even now I still have issues because I've not completed the grieving process. This year it's been really hard. Started a few days ago, just bursting into tears for no reason except that he crossed my mind. Even now writing this the tears are flowing. I can't even reminisce about him much because it hurts so much still. I would love to be able to talk about him and remember his humor without feeling like my heart is being ripped from my chest.

My whole world was turned upside down that day. I did not know what post traumatic stress really was or how devastating. Everything about my life changed that day. None of my friends even understood that something was actually wrong in my world except that I had become withdrawn.

A few months later Parker flew down from Washington State and literally saved me from myself. Parker became a safe haven where I wouldn't be self destructive and a few years later when I had my first meltdown he knew exactly how to handle it. Parker is the best thing that ever happened in my life aside from my children.

I should post an update eh

I'm still in Vegas :D and loving my extended visit with my Aunt. Do not miss the snow at all. :p

A few things are going on right now that are a bit stressful.

I'm trying to get my oldest daughter to transfer out to Vegas to finish up school. She would be somewhere that her dad and I could come see her every so often or vice versa and we wouldn't worry as much about her.

My last grandfather is about to die. He has alzheimers and is in the last stages where he is doesn't want to eat much. In this stage they start losing the ability to swallow so they start refusing food. He is long past the point to where he even knows who anyone is. Very sad and very heartbreaking. My Aunt is dealing with letting go now. It's hard, really hard. He may last another month, six weeks at best. I'm very thankful that I can be here at this time and that I got to see him one last time as well. The man lived a very vibrant life. He knew Roy Orbison, they were friends growing up. That man had some good stories.

It's tax time...