TT #46: random things

Thirteen random things I have no idea what theme to choose for this week, so I'm doing a random TT! In this post DK Raymer introduced me to the oldest blogger in the world: Olive Riley from Australia, who is... 107 years old! A remarkable woman, as you can see in this You Tube video. I added her blob (as she calls her blog) to my reader. I want to keep track of her! I have ordered a wonderful Freya statue. I found it on Marktplaats, a second hand selling website. The statue is new though and comes from Mystery Gifts, a store in Groningen I'd love to visit. I can hardly wait until the statue arrives! The coming weekend I'll have a two-day workshop with Marian Green in Amsterdam, this time with a little private group about divination and past life. I'll post about it afterwards of course. The first workshop I did with Marian was in November 2006. What's wrong with Photobucket?? Everytime I use it these days, I get bugged by pop-ups to register or log-in, that make Internet Explorer go crazy and in the end shut down. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! I'm a cat-blog fan. I read a lot of them and I love it, especially the pics and videos. For example yesterday I found this splendid picture of Daisy the Curly Cat on her blog and this video & photo of Dragonheart while bird watching. Just a few examples of the joy of visiting cat blogs. :-) Holland is known as the land of flowers. Since May this year we even have stamps with real flower seeds! They are beautiful and have tips on the side. Look here (sorry, text is Dutch). Last Friday it was exactly one year ago that I went to my first Robbie Williams concert. It was fabulous! I haven't seen or heard enough Robbie lately, I really need to get a DVD in the player right now! Wonder is still over here at our home to recuperate from his fall down the stairs. His back is a bit better, but he can't do much. Some days ago he got Tramadol, but that did him no good: he was like a zombie, scary! I was quite worried, but he has other painkillers now and sleeps a lot. This is supposed to be midsummer, but the weather doesn't agree at all. It is cold, wet and windy. I don't want a heatwave either but warm, dry and sunny would be nice for a change! Wimbledon has started this week. My favourite tennis tournament! I don't have personal favourites at the moment so may the best player(s) win! The Tour de France will also start soon (July 7), although without Lance it's not the same. Did I tell you I love to watch sports? ;-) I'd love to go to the Concert for Diana. I don't have tickets though, but I'm trying to win them. :-) I've always been an admirer of Diana, so the cause is close to my heart. And the list of performing artists is interesting to say the least. Rumours are Robbie will join Take That on stage. We'll see... I'm currently reading Rises The Night, the second book of the Gardella Vampire Chronicles by Colleen Gleason. I loved the first book (The Rest Falls Away), but the second is even better! I'm still looking for something to give as a handfasting present. Any ideas? Please let me know! Pfew, coming up with random things isn't as easy as expected, but I found 13 of them... ;-) ~*~*~*~ Links to other Thursday Thirteens! ~*~ Robin ~*~ Dewey ~*~ Mark Caldwell ~*~ Courtney ~*~ PussReboots ~*~ Crimson Wife ~*~ Alasandra ~*~ Sue ~*~ Toni ~*~ Wylie Kinson ~*~ Susan Helene ~*~ Ben Clapton ~*~ Cheryl ~*~ Colleen Gleason ~*~ Tilly Greene ~*~ Chelle Y. ~*~ Daisy ~*~ Gattina ~*~ Lene ~*~ Darla ~*~ Nancy Lindquist ~*~ MommyBa ~*~ Gabriella Hewitt ~*~ Lesley Speller ~*~ Samulli ~*~ Mo ~*~ JennieBoo ~*~ Chris ~*~ Starrlight ~*~ Rowena ~*~ SlipOfAGirl ~*~ Danielle ~*~ Lori ~*~ Julie ~*~ Titania Starlight ~*~ Thomas ~*~ Get the Thursday Thirteen code here! The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Brookberg Litha

This weekend I celebrated Litha with the Children of the Circle on the Brookberg. It was very special, because Ron was coming too. We had invited Gaialynn to join us and Wonder took Amarinde (he and I met her at Litha last year on the Brookberg). We left very early with two jam-packed cars, so we arrived in time to pitch the tents. Ron and I had brought our tent, Wonder his own. Strange to sleep there in another tent! At night and half asleep I almost walked into the wrong tent after a visit to the toilet... ;-)

One by one everyone arrived while we were pitching the tents and unpacking the cars. Mostly well-known faces for Wonder and me; it was great to introduce Ron to them. After all you don't know me completely if you don't know Ron!

Unfortunately I got a blackout and fell down outside. It has been months since I had one. One of the newcomers, Monique, sat beside me and gave me a healing; that felt good. When I came round after a while, I was tired and had a headache as usual. It didn't last very long though. Ben2Bears said it was a blackout on a psychic level, not physical. In the sweatlodge I was able to let go some of the blockade and old remains.

We did the opening circle in a beautiful yellow rapeseed field next to the driveway. B2B explained the meaning of Litha and welcomed everyone. We were blessed with special oil and did an introductory round. The weather was wet and dry, sunny and cloudy in turns. The forecast for the weekend was very bad, but turned out much better than expected. It's a kind of magic...

The group split up into smaller groups for the workshops and sweatlodge. Most workshops seem to be very interesting, but I always choose the sweatlodge. I stood inside when the blankets were put on the lodge to cover it up. Quite the experience (if you're not claustrophobic) to see it get darker until you can't see a thing!
We each blessed two stones, one for ourselves and one for someone else. My first stone had a lot of cracks, so my wish was that my unnecessary resistance in life would crumble away with the breaking of the stone. With the second one I wished healing for Ron, who was standing right beside me. All the stones were piled up, we put wood around them and the fire was lit. We drummed around the fire. I was a bit nervous to use my drum, afraid to do something wrong. Ron is a great drummer, so I let him play it too.
The sweatlodge was very, very, very hot this time, one round with 24 hot stones from the fire. Not everyone could persevere until the end. Ron and Gaialynn left earlier too; Ron didn't have enough space to sit properly, so he couldn't relax enough. Pity! It was tough, but I made it until the end. I could only concentrate on surrendering to the heat and got in a trance. I put my hand on Wonder's back and was allowed to give him a healing. I also saw some of the images he later described. Outside the sweatlodge I had to acclimatize for a while, before I plunged into the lake. Wonder and I swam to the (artificial) swan in the middle of the lake and back. Ashore Ron was waiting with a big towel. It was an unusual sweatlodge session, but special as always.

It had gotten late, so we were quite hungry. Everyone had brought something; Ron and I three different quiches, Gaialynn a huge watermelon and Wonder had made a delicious rice dish. Unfortunately it took a lot of time to get it hot enough to eat, so there was a lot left over. After dinner we just sat and chatted with the others. I really feel at home on that place with that loving group of people, almost like a family. I have tried to explain that to Ron before, but now he was able to experience it for himself. He felt very welcome too.

Later in the evening we gathered around the remains of the fire. It was fanned until the flames burned highly again. Ron and Gaialynn were very tired and decided to skip the drum circle. It took me a while, but I finally got the vibe and played my drum without being nervous. Because Wonder is left-handed and I'm right-handed, the backsides of our drums were facing each other. It was as if they reacted to that and started to "sing" together, a magical moment! We call them brothers now, belonging together. I'm looking forward to the drum circle after the handfasting ceremony in two weeks already!

It was around 2.30am when we finally went to our tents to sleep. I sat outside for a while to enjoy the night. It's such a lovely place with a beautiful charisma, relaxing and soothing. I slept good, although I had to go to the toilet very early. When I went back I stood outside again to absorb the beauty of the early morning.

Ron was up early too; he wanted coffee and a hand-rolled cigarette! The breakfast was very pleasant. We even had caviar! No champagne, but I wouldn't have taken that anyway. :-) There were all kinds of bread and fillings, fruit, etc. Yummy!
After breakfast Francis played Phoenix (his electric guitar). He had warned us not to expect too much, but that was nonsense: he is fabulous! I was impressed and enjoyed it very much. Wonder has recorded some of it on his mobile phone. The music is enchanting, I'd love to have a real CD of it!
Meanwhile Sylvia showed us her selfmade oracle deck. She made the cards with encaustic art. She's trying to get the deck published. I really hope (think) she'll succeed, I will most certainly buy one of the first! Everyone that saw them agreed.

Then it was time to take down the tent, do the closing circle and say our goodbyes...
Another unique, heartwarming and special celebration on the Brookberg...

TT #45: Litha

Thirteen things about Litha Today we celebrate Litha, also known as Midsummer, Summer Solstice, Alban Heruin, Sun Blessing, Feill-Sheathain, Vestalia, Thing-tide, All Couples Day, Feast of Epona, Saint John's Day, Ivan Kupala Day or Gathering Day. The Summer Solstice is the longest day and the shortest night of the year. It is a day to honour the sun as it is in its height of power. From now on, the light will begin to wane and the darkness will predominate. Since ancient times Litha has been celebrated with gatherings, singing, dancing and feasting. It is a time to celebrate in childlike joy and also to prepare for the coming time of harvest. On Midsummer, the Holly King defeats his twin brother the Oak King and begins his annual reign. On Yule, the Oak King will defeat the Holly King and reign until Midsummer. Our modern calendars are quite misguided in suggesting that ‘summer begins’ on the solstice. According to the old folk calendar, summer begins on May Day and ends on Lammas (August 1), with the summer solstice, midway between the two, marking midsummer. This makes more logical sense than suggesting that summer begins on the day when the sun’s power begins to wane and the days grow shorter. Midsummer is a time to absorb the Sun's warming rays and it is another fertility Sabbat, not only for humans, but also for crops and animals. Witches consider the Goddess to be heavy with pregnancy from the mating at Beltane - honour is given to Her. The Sun God is celebrated as the Sun is at its peak in the sky and we celebrate His approaching fatherhood - honour is also given to Him. In Nordic and Germanic traditions, this is a night for general divination and vision questing, a time when the power of the sun makes it easy for humans to access the unseen worlds. To this day Midsummer is a prominent Scandinavian holiday, and prophetic dreams play a large part of their folklore. The Danes used to place the toxic herb St. John's Wort under their pillows to induce these dreams. Mugwort is just as potent, and non-toxic, and used by Celts and the English in the same manner. Midsummer is also when the realm of the Fairies is most astir; Fairy Magick is very powerful now. So take care when performing spells at this time esp. at night. The Fairies can be very mischievous and unpredictable. Put out gifts for the Fairies: milk and cream, cakes and honey, coins, ribbons and colorful stones... Catch a jar of fireflies if you can. The green glow represents Fairy Fire deep in the heart of the forest. Make wishes on them and just before dawn set them free to carry on with their business and to carry your wishes to the Goddess. A curious Litha custom includes cutting down a fir tree and decorating it in ways similar to a Yule Tree. Decorations include ribbons, colored eggs, hoops, bows, garlands of flowers and bells. On the night of Litha, the summer tree was thrown into the fire and burned. Other Litha customs included carrying an ember of the Litha bonfire home and placing it on one's hearth and decking one's home with birch, fennel, St. John's Wort, orpin, and white lilies for blessing and protection. "Solstice" is derived from two Latin words: "sol" meaning sun, and "sistere," to cause to stand still. This is because, as the summer solstice approaches, the noonday sun rises higher and higher in the sky on each successive day. On the day of the solstice, it rises an imperceptible amount, compared to the day before. In this sense, it "stands still." Stonehenge is the one thing above all others which springs to mind when "summer solstice" is mentioned in Britain. Stonehenge is a perfect marker for the Summer Solstice - the midsummer sunrise dawns over the magnificent Heel Stone, and creates a shadow that reaches deep into the heart of five pairs of sarsen stone trilithons (two upright stones with one laid across the top) arranged in a horseshoe open towards the rising sun. It is watched by thousands from within the inner circle of the People's Temple - today as in the past. Litha is also a time of maturing and maturity. The maturity of the Sun's power, the maturing of the Child within the Womb of the Goddess and the maturing of the grain in the fields. It is our creativity and our fertility which has also come into maturity and we celebrate this as well. Fertility can also be celebrated at Litha as well as Beltane and many rituals include the plunging of a spear or lance into a cauldron or running water to enact the sacred union. Midsummer Eve is the evening of herbs. The herbs and flowers gathered this night are considered exceptionally potent. St John's wort, burdock, thorn, and nettle , harvested on Midsummer Eve are hung on doors and windows and placed around the home for protection. Houses are decorated with fennel, orpine (also know as Sedum, live forever, stone crop), St. John's Wort and birch branches. Royal Fern (Raithneach na Ri) seeds which are gathered on midsummer are said to make the possessor invisible. They who find Royal Fern blossoms on Midsummer's eve become wise, lucky, wealthy and and all around happy folk. Women wear braided circlets of clover and flowers, while men wear chaplets of oak leaves and flowers around their heads. In times past livestock were also decorated with garlands made of flowers, foliage, and oak leaves. A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of my favourite works by Shakespeare. He captures all the magic of the occasion in a fairytale setting. sources: Google, Wikipedia, Witchvox, Midsummer by Anna Franklin. ~*~*~*~ Links to other Thursday Thirteens! ~*~ The Gal Herself ~*~ pussreboots ~*~ Lady Rose ~*~ TopChamp ~*~ MommyBa ~*~ Mark Caldwell ~*~ Sue ~*~ Susan Helene ~*~ Joan ~*~ L^2 ~*~ Nancy Bond ~*~ Titania Starlight ~*~ Thorne ~*~ JennyMcB ~*~ The Merry Rose ~*~ Maleah ~*~ Crazy Working Mom ~*~ Mama's Moon ~*~ Mallory ~*~ Joy Renee ~*~ Nancy ~*~ Tilly Greene ~*~ Miss Frou Frou ~*~ Mo ~*~ Gabriella Hewitt ~*~ Nancy Lindquist ~*~ Tempest Night ~*~ Lara Croft ~*~ Gattina ~*~ Christine d'Abo ~*~ Fence ~*~ Lesley Speller ~*~ Julia ~*~ Darla ~*~ Callista ~*~ Chelle Y. ~*~ Get the Thursday Thirteen code here! The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

UM week 228

I say... You think... (respond with the first thing that comes to mind)

1. Riding - horses, linedancing
2. Actress -drama, Angelina Jolie
3. Flowers - Holland, beautiful in nature not in a vase
4. Making - love, creation
5. Robot - R2D2, artificial intelligence
6. Enjoy - life, smile, happy
7. Identify - body, passport
8. 22 - master number (numerology)
9. Busy - run, stress
10. Forward - mail, thinking

If you don't have a blog or website, feel free to play in my comments section!

Shopping

Wonder and I have got an invitation to join the drum circle at the handfasting of two of our friends, Molaris and Aphrodite Moira on 7-7-07. I always wanted to have my own drum. I'll make my own one day in a workshop with the Children of the Circle, but that's quite expensive so I'll have to save some more first! So for now I decided to buy a drum. We went to the shop where Wonder has bought his drum, The Celtic Shop in Bergen op Zoom. They had just had a festival, so the stock was a bit thin. I didn't want to spend a lot of money and narrowed it down to two bodhrans. One was fully decorated in vivid colours. Not my style, so the decision was easy. My drum has a Celtic decoration, which looks catlike: exactly my style. :-)

We made a stop near Breda to visit Wonder's special tree in the Mastbos. It was raining all day, but when we got out of the car it was dry and even a bit sunny. It is a special tree indeed, magical! A mighty beech, sharing his energy freely. I felt connected with him immediately. We stayed a while, walked around him and sat on the big roots against the trunk. The roots next to me formed a little basin with rainwater. In it I found a little branch. Wonder pointed out another branch, so I took that too. When I dipped it in the basin I knew it was for me, and the other one was for Wonder. We thanked the tree for his special gift to us.

In Tilburg we visited De Malle Heks (the silly witch), a great shop specialized in witchy stuff, fantasy and the like. It was wonderful to look around. We didn't find something for the handfasting, but I did find a little wooden chest. I just couldn't leave it there! :-)

At 4pm Wonder had an appointment with medium Margot Lit of Healingpraktijk Sirius in Eindhoven. She is the wife of Benjamin2Bears and works with drawings and healing. I was allowed to stay during the session and it was very interesting!

Ron had been at Gaialynn's place all day to do some odd jobs. Wonder and I joined him after we had been in Eindhoven. Gaialynn had made dinner and we stayed for a while. Around 10.30pm we drove home after a very tiring but wonderful day!

What a day..!

Yesterday was a strange day. It was exactly a year ago that mum died. A week later I wrote down what had happened. I read it again while listening to the music of her funeral. I can hardly believe it has been a year already; seems like just a few days ago that she breathed her last... Memories remain forever...

In the afternoon Wonder called. He had tumbled down the stairs and hurt his back pretty bad. He had managed to get into his bed. I looked at Ron and we decided to drive to The Hague. When we arrived an hour later the doctor was with him. She didn't trust his pain completely, so she called the hospital to make x-rays. He couldn't be carried down on the stretcher because of the steep stairs, so the fire brigade was called to get him through the window with a tower waggon. He is afraid of heights, but luckily it didn't take long. I stayed with him in the ambulance; Ron followed with our car. Thank goodness the x-rays showed no fractures or other severe injuries. He got an injection (pain killer) and we took him home, our home. We arranged a bed for him and he'll stay here for a while. Today it felt a lot better, but it will take some time to heal completely!

Something completely different: Wednesday evening Laura and I went to see Tarzan The Musical in the Fortis Circustheater in Scheveningen. We had great seats with a perfect view to the podium. The show is fabulous!!! I loved it and enjoyed every minute of it. The music by Phil Collins is beautiful, the scenery and costumes amazing, the cast marvellous; all simply the best!

TT #44: online communities

Thirteen online communities I'm an active member of the Blogger community, but there are so many online communities! I can't list them all, so I'll give you a selection of what I'm part of. MySpace - a place for friends Hyves - always in touch with your friends Netlog - formerly known as Facebox Tagged - get tagged and find others Wayn - Where Are You Now BookCrossing - catch and release books LibraryThing - catalog your books online Windows Live Space - connected to my Hotmail / Windows Live ID Bebo - social networking site Second Life - my SL name is FairyTink Homewood MyBlogLog - connect, get widgets and reader insight Technorati - the leading monitor of the world of weblogs Care2 - sign petitions for good causes, make a difference Feel free to contact me or add me as a friend/buddy/etc.! ~*~*~*~ Links to other Thursday Thirteens! ~*~ Mark Caldwell ~*~ Dewey ~*~ Crimson Wife ~*~ Lene ~*~ Mama Kelly ~*~ Susan Helene ~*~ Cordia Amant ~*~ Thomma Lyn ~*~ Wylie Kinson ~*~ Michelle Pillow ~*~ Raven ~*~ Nicholas ~*~ Darla ~*~ Mo ~*~ Lara Croft ~*~ Tempest Knight ~*~ anonymous ~*~ SciFiChick ~*~ Starrlight ~*~ Tilly Greene ~*~ Gattina ~*~ Candy Minx ~*~ Dane Bramage ~*~ Janet ~*~ Julia ~*~ Lesley Speller ~*~ Danielle ~*~ pussreboots ~*~ PJ ~*~ Nancy ~*~ julia ~*~ Debbie Mumford ~*~ Get the Thursday Thirteen code here! The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Unconscious Mutterings

Some days ago I was playing a free association game with Wonder. Today I stumbled into a meme, based on the same principle: Unconscious Mutterings!

Free association is described as a "psycho-analytic procedure in which a person is encouraged to give free rein to his or her thoughts and feelings, verbalizing whatever comes into the mind without monitoring its content." Over time, this technique is supposed to help bring forth repressed thoughts and feelings that the person can then work through to gain a better sense of self.
That's an admirable goal, but for the purposes of this exercise, we're just hoping to have a little fun with the technique. Each week LunaNina will post ten words to which you can respond to with the first thing that comes to mind.
"Rules are, there are no rules." There are no right or wrong answers. Don't limit yourself to one word responses; just say everything that pops into your head. AND you don't have to have your words up on Sunday. Take all week if you want! Read the FAQ for more information.

• Acoustic - guitar
• Sanity - lost, insanity
• Mambo - Jumbo, dance, no 5
• Session - jazz, radio
• Hound - of the Baskervilles
• Cat - me, love, familiar
• Coward - hide, afraid
• Trunk - tree, mess
• Hold me - hug, love, safe
• Psychological - disorder, trauma

If you don't have a blog or website, feel free to play in my comments section!

Ara Lowlands

Last Saturday there was an Ara Lowlands meeting at Sorcha's place in Amsterdam. Unfortunately not everyone was able to attend. Pity, because we don't see each other that much anyhow.

We met in the afternoon to make a start with our own robes. We all bought 4 meters of unbleached cotton. Most of us never made any clothing ourselves; we'd better use cheap fabric the first time. Liza offered to help us; she is trained and has a lot of experience, so we gladly accepted! Sewing isn't (and will probably never be...) a hobby of mine, but through making my own ritual robe by hand I'm putting my personal energy into it. That's valuable and important to me. The process is a great way of team building too. It was fun to be busy with it together. Liza helped us measure and cut the cotton and told us how to proceed. At the beginning of the evening the robes were put together with basting-thread. At home we'll do the stitching and hems.

All the work had made us very hungry! We got ourselves Indonesian takeaway at Murni Permai on the other side of the street. I had a lot of food with beautiful exotic names for just € 8,- and it was very yummy!! I couldn't even eat all of it, so I gave Sorcha my leftovers to put together with hers for the next day.

In the evening we cast the circle from hand to hand. We sent energy around the circle and although we were only with five it was very powerful. By doing some exercises we worked towards creating a "Cone of Power" by dancing around, chanting and drumming. We directed the energy into a bowl of water in the middle of our circle. Then we each drank some of it and offered the rest to Mother Earth. After grounding and opening the circle we did some scrying (water in a dark bowl). I couldn't concentrate myself fully because of some back pain, so I'll give it a try another time.

Afterwards we discussed other important stuff about the group, the next meeting, etc. I agreed to set up a Google group, where we can mail and file things. I did it yesterday, but it will need some additional fine-tuning.
Close to midnight we said our goodbyes and left. I travelled by public transport and was home around 1am.

TT #43: Google services

Thirteen Google services I use This blog is powered by Blogger, owned by Google. I use a lot of Google services, so I thought I'd list them for this week's TT! Google Search - the basis, the start of everything. I use it every day multiple times. Gmail with Notifier - webbased mail with very good spam protection, 2.8 GB free storage and other great features. Google Reader - easy feedreader. I use it to keep up with all the blogs I want to read. In the BlogRolling widget in my sidebar you can see which blogs I added to my reader. Google Earth - "Explore, Search and Discover" is the slogan and that's exactly what I do. Very addictive, before you know it hours have passed! Google Toolbar - It has a lot of very handy features, which are well worth exploring. Google Groups - groups and electronic mailing list service. Of course there's also Yahoo and MSN, but Google does it better. Bonus: it is also possible to access Usenet newsgroups dating back to 1981, to read and post. iGoogle - personal startpage. Easy to adapt, add stuff, choose a theme, etc. Google Page Creator - an online website builder that allows you to create web pages known as “GooglePages” and publish them directly through your web browser. It's WYSIWYG, but you can also work in HTML. ~*~Tink's Niche~*~ is my Google Page. Google Video - based on YouTube, a lot of people have found this service too Google Alerts - An alert is an aggregate of the latest results from one or multiple sources into a single email to provide maximum coverage on the topic of your choice. You give a search term, the sources you want (web, news, blogs, etc.) and how often you want a mail. Google Notebook - makes web research of all kinds easier and more efficient by enabling you to clip and gather information even while you're browsing the web. All findings are gathered into one organized location that you can access from any computer. Google Book Search - searches the full text of books to find ones that interest you and learn where to buy or borrow them Picasa with Web albums - software download that enables you to find, edit and share all the pictures on your computer. It also offers the Web Albums feature, which enables you to easily upload photos from your computer to the web for sharing with others. If you use Blogger, the pictures you upload to your blog are automatically stored together in a webalbum. The great thing about Google services is that they integrate perfectly with each other; one account covers it all. Can you tell I'm a Google fan? :-) (TT-Google graphic again courtesy of Emily) ~*~*~*~ Links to other Thursday Thirteens! ~*~ Samulli ~*~ Burnt Offerings ~*~ Christine d'Abo ~*~ Alasandra ~*~ Samantha Lucas ~*~ Gabriella Hewitt ~*~ Joy Renee ~*~ Mo ~*~ Darla ~*~ Lesley ~*~ ladynred ~*~ Nads ~*~ Julia ~*~ Tempest Knight ~*~ Lori ~*~ Crowwoman ~*~ Stephanie ~*~ Starrlight ~*~ SciFiChick ~*~ The Rock Chick ~*~ L^2 ~*~ Emma ~*~ SusieJ ~*~ Mark Caldwell ~*~ Miss Frou Frou ~*~ Susan Helene ~*~ Titania Starlight ~*~ Julia ~*~ Crimson Wife ~*~ Fence ~*~ Lara Croft ~*~ Get the Thursday Thirteen code here! The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

What if...

I got out of bed this morning with a sore back. I couldn't move without pain. Ron had to go to work so I struggled through the first hours. Then Wonder came (that was already planned) and he massaged my back. It hurt a lot, but afterwards it felt much better. It still hurts though; I hope the pain will be gone tomorrow!

Today a year ago was the day of my mother's surgery. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I remember it like it was yesterday. I talked to her very early in the morning, then the waiting, the surgeon's phonecall, the dismay I felt... well, everything.
The "what if..."-question started bugging me again. What if they hadn't done that surgery, would she still be alive today? Her condition was severe. The valve had to be replaced and they had to do it a.s.a.p. because otherwise her lungs wouldn't be able to withstand surgery. We were told there was no immediate danger of life though... What if... *sigh* Nobody knows the answer or will ever know it... And when the answer would be yes, how would her quality of life be..? I've really got to stop making myself crazy with those questions.
Miss you mum..!

Weigh In

The 10:4 challenge is well over a month on its way; time for an official update...

• Apr. 3 (my start): 110.2 kg - 46% fat - BMI 36.8
• May 1 (10:4 start): 104.9 kg - 45% fat - BMI 35
• June 5 (1st update): 99.3 kg - 43% fat - BMI 33.2

Yayyyyyyyyy, I'm under 100 kg!!!!!!!!!!!!! ***happy dance***
It hasn't been easy. It still isn't, but then again no-one promissed it would be... I try to exercise as much as I can on my Health Walker and outdoors. I watch what I eat, although I don't have 'forbidden' food. If I really crave 'bad' things I allow myself to take some, but most of the time I take something healthier instead.
My goal for June: at the very least stay under 100 but aiming for 95!

(1 kg = 2.205 lbs)

Skype ritual

Friday evening Wonder and I did a ritual together while we were both in our own home. We were in contact by Skype. Ah... the wonders of modern technology! ;-)
Wonder is loved by his friends, but he hasn't found his significant other yet. He misses her before he even knows her... It hurts to see him this lonely, so I decided to ask the Gods for help. I meditated on it and got the answers I needed. I wrote a ritual from the heart with a love spell. I don't do spells "to get a lover back" or "to make someone love a certain other" or something like that. I think love spells are okay as long as nobody is forced, harmed or binded to anything though. It's a challenge to find the right words. I added some beautiful images and printed the file for myself.
Later I was talking with Wonder by Skype. I sent him the ritual and he was touched. We decided to do the ritual together. We each made arrangements on our own side. I forgot to take pictures of it, but luckily Wonder took this one. I was a bit too far from the microphone. Therefore we didn't perform completely synchronous, but that's fine. It felt very powerful, I think the universe got our message loud and clear. Let's hope we'll see the result soon...