Happy Halloween!

This is my very favorite Holiday though it's been hard for me to get in the Halloween spirit this year. It's been years since I had a costume or an excuse to wear one. I think next year we need to have a Halloween party so I can create a cool costume and have somewhere to wear it. I've wanted to be a pirate for years but have never managed to pull it off.
Today is not only Halloween but it is also Samhain, the pagan new year and a very powerful night for magick. We are participating in a ritual put on my our local community. I am looking forward to participating in traditional Samhain activities to get me ready for this next turn of wheel. Looking behind me at what I've accomplished this last year, at the present acknowledging who I am at this very moment, and at the future and what I want to accomplish this next year.

My *Current* Favorite CD

The Tragic Treasury: Songs From a Series of Unfortunate Events
The Gothic Archies
Once I became aware that this was going to exist I knew we had to have it. Currently we own #1-#6 from A Series of Unfortunate Events and will eventually own them all. I adore them and am already looking forward to reading them to our future children. Cindi and I are huge fans of Stephen Merritt and I can't imagine a person more suited to create music for these books. The first time I listened to it I thought of all sorts of witty things to say and now I've forgotten them all. If you like the books, Stephen Merritt, and especially if you like both, go buy this CD right now! Preferably from you local indie music store.

Coming Out Day!

Today is National Coming Out Day, one year since Cindi and I announced our engagement in my home town newspaper officially coming out to everyone. I'm so glad we did it and amazed it's already been a year. It was very difficult immediately following but it feels so good not to hide anymore. Since then we had a commitment ceremony, changed our names, and are now starting to plan for a baby. Amazing progress in my opinion. :)

Columbus Day Weekend

I've never been one to celebrate Columbus Day but I decided I might as well take the day off. I'll just say it's for Indigenous People's Day instead to sooth my conscience. I stayed home Friday because of cramps so I had a four day weekend, though most of Friday was spent in the bath or in bed with my hot water bottle. We had a nice weekend at home. I got caught up on reading several issues of The Week and bookmarking fun stuff I found in Bust. We managed to watch some old episodes of Ellen as well as Sunday's football game. The 49'ners finally managed to win a game. We also made a yummy Almost Irish Stew in our crock pot Monday, a perfect meal on a cool fall day. On Saturday we did manage to get out for a bit and visited our local alpaca farm, West Valley Alpacas, for their yearly event Fiber on the Farm. You can see a picture of one of the alpacas on my lady's blog. After that we headed up the Capay Valley to Full Belly Farm to check out their annual Hoes Down Harvest Festival. It was a bit overwhelming at first, but once I got used to the crowd I enjoyed myself. It's a very family friendly event and I'm looking forward to returning when we have children. We were able to see a day old baby goat that was just adorable!
We had planned to join the Ritual Planning Cell for our local pagan community to help plan Samhain but decided over the weekend to back out. Part of my personal Mabon magick was to make sure and devote time to the things that are most important to me and unfortunately that doesn't include the RPC right now. I'm excited for the ritual but a bit unhappy with the community as a whole. As I told Cindi recently it seems the life of the community is coming to its end or at least reaching a low point in its fluctuation. People come and go and I'm getting better at excepting that since I have that consistency of our relationship.
I need to focus more on having balance, changing my career and planning for and making a baby.

Progress

Our Blanket

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So I've made some pretty good progress on our blanket. I finished the first skeins of all the colors making me over halfway done. I've made a bit more progress since I took this picture, but it's still a pretty good representation of my progress. The colors look beautiful and I'm excited to have the finished product to snuggle up with during the cold winter nights.

Beloved Pets

RIP Cinnamon

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This was my family's beloved dog Cinnamon. She joined my family in 1993 as an adorable puppy. I was in high school then. Even though I've moved away and started my own family she was still my dog. She was euthanized yesterday in the arms of my mother, surrounded by family and by the hands of our loving, gentle and compassionate vet. I know my papa was on the other side of that very thin veil waiting for her. We will miss her so much but it helps knowing she had a long and happy life and died in the most compassionate way possible.

RIP Tabitha

Our beloved Tabitha was also euthanized yesterday. She was the most amazing cat I've ever had the pleasure to know. She'd been through so much in her short life. When she was a kitten she was stepped on and then left at a shelter where she was rehabilitated. She become a spokes-kitty for adoption services and visited the kindergarten where my aunt works. My aunt fell in love with her and decided to adopt her. My aunt has three small (very naughty and untrained) dogs who she couldn't trust to be alone with Tabitha. My sister had recently made an adoption plan for her daughter and was still very sad at her loss. Tabitha became the comfort kitty and quickly became a member of my mom's family. She was nosy, sweet and affectionate. A shoulder kitty who gave kisses and was always involved in the action. She learned how to get out of the dog door and was hit by a car. Her tail was broken and had to be amputated. We breathed a sigh of relief hoping all would be well, but her nerves around her tail suffered damage and she unable to control her bladder. My mom tried the many suggestions by our vet but none of them were able to fix her problem. Because she was otherwise healthy and young it was heartbreaking to witness her death. Even though I never lived with Tabitha, she still found her way into my heart where she will always remain. When I was saying my goodbyes I told her if her spirit needed to return I hoped she'd find her way to me.