Lunar or Loony?

All morning I've been in a really weird head-space, and as soon as I logged into FB, I saw this & it was like the clouds had parted and the trumpets sounded.

Well, not really, but it's the only plausible thing that seems to explain the charge in the air & the turmoil in my brain...

"The full moon with a lunar eclipse is Wednesday, November 28 at 6:46 AM PST (Pacific Standard Time). This is a very potent moon and the eclipse is a marker for deep change. Celebrate. Do something higher centered and involving art or music or nature or love. Engage in physical life fully and appreciate every moment. This is a good moon to pray for what you want. There is a window of manifesting something of the heart, something new you never thought you could have.

"This moon launches the final stretch of preparation for a new cycle to begin. Between now and the winter solstice on December 21 is a crucial time of letting go, revisiting priorities, separating yourself from what is not in your best interest, and reaching for a higher vibration in all things. Think of this time as the final exams before graduating from whatever group of lessons we agreed to as represented in the current cycle.

"The new cycle will be like starting a new school; a lot of unknowns and some degree of excitement, anxiety and uncertainty as well as a commitment to do your best. Meet it with enthusiasm and openness instead of fear. And be as prepared as possible." (Lena Stevens, shamanic astrologer)

  The second paragraph really stands out to me, since I've been doing A LOT of self / life evaluation thinking, lately. 

Pulling off the "cool, calm, & collected" facade is exhausting, when I feel like I inherited my mom's trait of wearing emotions on her sleeve. I tell myself "Casey, get it together. Reign in the crazy & sort it out inside before you open your mouth."

Steering yourself toward the life you want, while juggling the life you have, takes strength that sometimes I question whether I have. 

The first few steps toward my path, thus far, seem to be (1) Get my own bank account & budget it closely (2) Buy a vehicle (3) Start paying off my student loan debt (4) Get back in shape

Getting the ball rolling on these, is yet to come, but if the astrological prediction (above) is remotely accurate, now is the time to make it happen.

The first thing I decided last week, and have already began implementing, is a healthier diet & the beginnings of an exercise regiment. This is something I have complete and utter control over & it affects me, and only me. 

I told you, weird head-space kind of day...

 

Rant-tastic #1

It has been almost a week since the David Petraeus affair scandal hit the news.

It has, also, been almost a week since I thought, "Who gives a shit? What other relevant news is going on in the world, that I should be knowledgeable of?".

The fact that officials in high-profile positions, are expected to lead by example & exhibit a tight moral fabric; is not lost on me.

I feel the same way about this media frenzy as I did about Clinton's Lewinsky faux pas. Are we (Americans) so desperate for the media to entertain us, that we will spend more time listening to news reports & reading articles about a CIA Director's sexual indiscretions, than we do learning all we can about the newly unveiled leaders of the most populated nation on the planet; or making an effort to understand why there is conflict in Syria & how that affects the USA?

I fully understand the need to investigate the situation, be certain no national security secrets were whispered as sweet-nothings into this biographer's ear; but seriously, after that has been cleared...give it up.

Let's move on.
He put his tail between his legs, and resigned.

I'm not trying to condone what he did, but I don't feel his inability to keep his dick in his pants makes him incapable of being an asset to this nation. The only difference between him and most other people in these offices is that he got caught.

To err is human. Has it come down to how expensive of a lock you buy to make sure those skeletons in your closet never see the light of day?

Don't act like you don't have a few, yourself.
Everyone does.
Whether it's your experimental drug years in college, your current fetish of having someone shove packing peanuts up your ass, or your lackluster home relationship that leaves you unexpectedly seeking out the missing pieces with someone else.  Everyone has something that they regret or are ashamed of. 

While I'm on this bored-at-work fueled rant, can I just say that I am also completely burnt out on the articles rehashing WHY Romney didn't win the election? If Romney is a dead horse, every wannabe political annalist wants their kick. The only benefit I can see, is the reoccurring theme that most Republicans are out of touch with the changing demographic of American voters. Whether they absorb this & it manages to change any of the current core politics of the GOP is doubtful, but just cut it out w/ the pity party, for christ sakes! Just let me go back to my efforts of explaining population density  to the brilliant folks on Facebook who look at the pretty election results map & just can't figure out how Obama won if there's so much red. (sigh)


...whew...I think my red tent time is fast approaching.

Fuzzy Balls

With the onset of fall, my brain has told my body that it's time to hibernate.

 That is my most plausible excuse for my lack of posts, lately.

Just do me a favor, and go with it...Trixy agrees with my logic.
Hibernation is her favorite activity.

Is it a sign of the times, for one to sit and think "What the hell have I been doing over the last couple months?" and have to revert to the pictures on my not-a-smart phone to jog my memory?
Well, maybe so. You can thank me later for taking you with me on this photographic journey.


After 2 mornings of having to scrape the frost off the car windows, while my freshly showered hair froze solid; I hightailed it to Menard's to pick up a better scraper....and ended up coming home with this pink, plaid, prize of awesomeness: 

I had reached a point of drastic necessity, where my procrastination of making any sort of doctor's appointment had reached epic proportions. This apparently worried my mother, because she felt the need to sneak a few crisp bills in my wallet during her last visit, with a post-it that read :

"Make a fuckin eye doctor appointment! Love, Mom :) "

Being the responsible, 31 year old that I am; I did as I was told.

My prescription had long since expired, which prevented me from purchasing new contacts. This left me with the last pair of "2 week" ones that were over 2 years old & my gigantic Bono glasses that won't stay on my face & who's lenses appear to have a coating that is wearing off, leaving them permanently spotty looking & difficult to see through. 

Is it a bad sign, when the optometrist assistant gasps when she sees the state of your glasses?

While killing time in the waiting room, I picked up the closest piece of reading material within reach, and after several minutes of flipping through, I found myself repeatedly thinking to myself "How did this happen & I haven't read about this anywhere in the news?!" Then, I flipped back to the front cover to check the date...

I wasn't sure whether to laugh & appreciate my Optometrist's sense of humor, or be very concerned at his lack of attention to detail.

My fears were confirmed when he entered the waiting room to fetch me, casually asked if I was catching up on current events; to which i answered, "Yeah, from when my parents were 'doing' it". After witnessing his puzzled expression, I explained my remark; to which he replied, "Oh. I just grabbed a few from home. I guess I should have checked the dates."

"Who keeps 30 years of Nat Geo's sitting around their house?! Is this guy a hoarder?", I thought to myself.

Regardless, of my initial panic, the rest of the visit was quick and painless. Except for the other assistant who nearly killed me with anticipation, trying to adjust the eye-air-puffer machine. It's bad enough knowing that you're going to get shot in the eye, but waiting for 10 minutes while you're in the line of fire, and the operator really seems clueless as to how to operate it; is a bit nerve-racking. I was in and out in less than 30 minutes, with a crystal clear pair of contacts.
It was like seeing a whole new world!

This is Bella. 

She's my office buddy.
We have long talks about life, boys, and fuzzy balls.
Mostly she just hangs out under my desk and farts, while I pick eye goobers off her face.
It's a special relationship that we share.

This is a lop-sided prototype for the centerpieces I'm making for the Holiday Party I'm in charge of for work, this year. My goal here was classy, yet rustic, & very, very "budget friendly". I'm changing a few things, but I still think I can keep my total cost under $3/centerpiece; which I am quite proud of. 

There's a full blog post in the works w/ details of the party planning & pictures of the final set-up to share with you all. The party is about 4 weeks away, though, so be patient.

Until then the last picture I'll share is regarding my revived love of motorcycles & sidecars. This one might be the coolest one I've ever seen.

P.S. I couldn't be happier that this man is still my president.