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IMBOLC
High
Sabbat
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Imbolc
(pr. im'-bolk)
is also a "fire festival" marking the beginning of Spring,
midway between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox.
It somewhat corresponds to Groundhog Day, when tradition has it
that if a groundhog sees its shadow outside the burrow at dawn,
there will be six more weeks of winter. (Of course, the vernal equinox
is about six weeks away in any case.) This holiday is also known
as Solmonath and Candlemass, and to
the ancient Druids, it was Oimeaig (pr. im'-mo(l)g). |
Ways
to celebrate
and recognize
this Sabbat:
(1)
The tradition of "Spring Cleaning" came
from Imbolc. This is a time to clean your house from top to bottom!
(2)
Have Milk, or dairy products, with your meal and
in each dish. This tradition arose from times when farm animals began
to give birth and milk was plentiful.
(3)
Bonfires are a tradition which arose from the burning
of the greens (ie, Christmas trees, wreaths and boughs of Holly), during
the spring purification
Happy Birthday
Jodi Platt
Feb 4, 1970
Jodi's Fav...
In loving memory of my elisi, my materal grandmother, who we fondly called Néhna, taken from us this month, four years ago.
Mable Florence Helen (Dabbs) Watts
"Néhna"
4/21/1918 -- 2/27/2000
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FEBRUARY 2001 Kagali The moon of Kagali is traditionally a time of personal, family feasting honoring and memorializing those who have departed the world of the living. A family meal is prepared with place(s) set for the departed. This is also a time of fasting and other ritual observances. Before the Europeans decimated our people and destroyed our religions, a community dance officiated by a Didanawiskawi (Medicine-man) was performed to honor "The Bony Moon" ... called "Kagali". Imbolc Brigid is the Celtic goddess who in later times became revered as a Christian Saint. Her festival on February 1st was known as Imbolc (or Oimelc), heralding the return of the of Spring. Later, the Catholic Church replaced this festival with Candlemas Day on February 2, which is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and features candlelight processions. The powerful figure of "Brigid the Light-Bringer" highlights both pagan and Christian celebrations. Learn more. |
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Happy
Birthday Cousin Glorianna Goodwin (1979) Oklahoma |
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Typical day. Went to work. Stopped for a drink on the way home. Went To Talayna’s for supper (had 2 kinds of shrimp). Nothing interesting to report.
This is the first day out of my Probationary Period with Washington University! I can now take vacation if I want and be paid for sick time!
OLD DIARY - 1995: Promoted to CSSA-II and moved to the Help Desk
8:07 - We are supposed to have an Image Acquisition meeting this morning and at lunch we are ordering from Tomatillo's (a local Mexican food place). I don’t know what I am doing tonight, but I am sure glad it is Friday!
Well... the meeting was long, the food was good and the day was tedious. (None of us were terribly motivated work!) Went down to Nik’s last night where I met Tracy and Christa. Also, Pat and Barb that I met last week were there. I had a variety of drinks, including a... I can’t remember the name of it. Its purple with a lemon twist and served in a martini glass... (my mind has gone blank!). I also ordered Spanakopitas for the first time.
9:18a - Well... I got up, walked Kira and took a shower. Now... I need to see if I can get motivated. I would like to get a haircut to day, have breakfast somewhere and buy some new clothes. We will see.....
I ended up eating at Taco Bell in Clayton. This was after I went the to book store where I bought 2 books on DreamWeaver 3.0. After that, I went to Target and spent a chunk of money on various things, including a couple of new casual shirts, a new pair of blue jeans and a pair of dress slacks.
I also got Kira a new leash. It’s one of those kind that extend out to 16 feet and roll up on a reel in the handle. I love it! It makes walking her on long walks SOoo much easier!!
For the evening, I went to Casa Gallardo (again... I am becoming a regular) for beer and chip&dip. My waitress was Tracy... and she looks a lot like my supervisor “Tracy” at work. We got into a discussion about it, in fact, and I got her email address. I will have to email her. Then I went to my local bar and had a couple of drinks and played some video games. I did terrible! I haven’t been playing those games for a long time. Last thing I did for the evening was to go down to Nik’s and get something for supper. I had the Spanakopitas again, with a couple of glasses of cabernet.
Well... I never got a haircut, but it wasn’t a bad day.
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Happy
Birthday to Jodi Platt Deltona, Florida |
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8:24 am - Today I have to get laundry done. That is my main goal... we will see if I accomplish it. (I normally do).
Laundry went smoothly. But I spent most of the day lazing around doing nothing. That’s not true.... actually, while laundry was washing, I cleaned up in the kitchen. I swept and cleaned the counters and the stove. I was going to mop, but the sponge on the mop is in bad condition. I have a new one, but I can’t get the old one off!
I went down to Talayna’s for supper tonight. I finally tried their “Cod con Pesce” which I have been want to try. It is backed Cod covered with shrimp, crab and scallops, with a cream sauce. I don’t think I saw any scallops in it. The shrimp were those little salad shrimp (probably out of a can). The crab was that imitation crab. They didn’t say “Immitation” ... nor did they spell it with a “K.” It was “ok” ... but for the price I paid, it was disappointing. Kenneth sent me a picture of our Aunt Betty Jewel (Jones) Terrell yesterday. I didn’t know he had a picture of her! I hope he has more of these “jewels” to send me!
7:57am - Well, its Monday morning... back to the weekly routine.
Sheesh!! Today was ROUGH! Everything was going wrong at work.
I joined my friend Terry for a couple of drinks after work. He had to tell me all about his new job. He is very excited and was talking 90 miles an hour. I am happy for him. It’s a good feeling to not only find a job, but one that you really like.
Went to Talayna’s and had Egg Plant Parmegiano for supper
I had a nice quite night at home today. Fixed some leftover eggplant parmagiano from the night before and had a Ginseng Tea.
I installed OutLook2000 tonight. I can send email, but cant seem to receive!
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Happy
29th Birthday to Chad Johnson |
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YAY! My email is fine... it was my POP server (as I suspected).
I did good today. Just had green beans and brussel sprouts for lunch with a side salad. I did get a big glass of (non-diet) Mr. Pibb, but I kept if full of water after drinking the soda. For supper I had 3 tamales (canned) and some seasoned rice. If I can keep this up I might get this weight gain thing under control.
It’s so nice out this morning. It’s not exactly warm, but it was almost to warm to wear my coat. However, there is still ice on the ground! Some spots are just so heavily packed down that its hard to melt. There were a lot of squirrels out this morning and Kira has a blast chasing them.
I went to the Galleria Mall after work this evening. I bought a couple of shirts on sale. Then went the the Casa Gallardo Grill and tried something new. A dish called “Taquitos.” It was made of Mesquite grilled grill chicken or shrimp wrapped in a corn tortilla and fried. (that description does not do it justice). It was smothered under a crumble of some sharp white cheese (maybe feta). I got both chicken and shrimp mixed... and is was great.
On the way home, I stopped by Talayna’s for a beer. Travis was working the bar on Wednesday and Thursday and I had made a promise to stop in on one of those days. I only had the one beer since it was getting late, but I kept my promise.
7:51 - Bless your heart Adam or Jack... whoever had coffee made this morning. Boy did I need it!
Lisa Z. tells me Laura’s (our director’s) father had a heart attack last night. He is hospitalized.
After getting to work, I learned he didn’t have a heart attack, but did have internal bleeding.
Walking to work this morning, it was warm enough to leave my jacket unzipped. But it was pouring down rain. I actually caught my brother, Skip, on line this morning for the first time. I mentioned to him that it was raining and he said, “at least it’s not snowing!” So guess what... when I left work it was freezing cold with wind and snow!
My eye is sore and getting puffy. I was thinking I was getting a stye, but I just remembered. Yesterday (or was it this morning? don’t remember) I accidentally sprayed hairspray in my eye. I bet that’s what’s causing it.
I don’t feel good tonight. I hate to waste a Friday, but I am just staying home tonight. My cousin (in-law) Colleen is on-line waiting for my cousin (Joe Frank) to get home for work. I sat up with her till after 11pm trying to get some genealogy matters fixed on our family tree at www.ancestry.com. I dawned on me during our conversation that I had a picture of Joe Frank’s grandfather, Lona Crowder. I found it quickly and scanned it in to send to her. We must have waited an hour and the picture never arrived on her end! I tried FTP’ing it directly to her with no luck. I sent it to bother her Yahoo address and her AOL address... no luck. I tried sending it again from my old email program (OutLook Express) to her Yahoo address...still no luck. She sent me an email with a picture attached and it arrived almost as fast as she could notify me she was sending it!
Well... we will see if she gets it tomorrow. I wonder if the snow will stick and we will have snow on the ground again in the morning?
8:55 am - I peeked out the window and it doesn’t look like the snow stuck. That’s fine with me! But it’s cold in here (I don’t know if the heat is even on). I bet it will be even colder outside. I will know in a few minutes as I have to take Kira out.
I took Kira for a walk in the park today, then around 3:30 I went down to the asian market on Grand Avenue; called Jay’s. They also have a good selection of other ethnic foods, including Mexican. I was able to get a big jar of nopalitos (which are cactus strips). My Aunt Marlene used to cook with them when I was a kid. The stockman was surprised when I spoke Spanish with him. I told him (in Spanish) that I had many Mexican relatives. He asked me what part of Mexico they lived in and I told him, “The Texas part!” He thought it was amusing. Then I went to buy a new rice cooker and ended up speaking Thai with the manager. When I got in line to pay, I asked the cashier what language she spoke. At first I couldn’t understand her... I thought she said Gaelic! Finally I understood her to say “Thai.” So I spoke to her in Thai. She just giggled (she had no idea what I said). The lady bagging my stuff (possibly the manager’s wife), laughed and complemented my ability to speak Thai, then told me she (the cashier) didn’t understand me because she was Vietnamese (I don’t know why she didn’t want to tell me). Well, my Vietnamese is MUCH better than my Thai anyway, so I turned back to her and spoke to her in Vietnamese... she was visibly shocked (I love doing that to people). Finally, on the way home, I was walking to Pershing and a man of Asian appearance inquired of me if I knew the prices for rent in the area. I had a short conversation with him and (as I am prone to doing) asked him what his accent was. He (as is common) was hesitant to respond, but I dragged it out of him. He was Korean. So I spoke Korean to him... again the person’s entire attitude changed and he got a big smile and seemed very impressed.
This evening I spent some time and created a CD with my graphics and photos on it. I am going to make copies of it for other family members.
Then I went down to Nik’s and had some cocktails and chatted the Christa and Tracy, went home, cooked a bite to eat and went to bed.
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Happy
29th Birthday to Billy Meyer |
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I started off the day doing laundry, but after getting one load washed, the dryer broke down! Then Jack suggested I join him for a trip to “Fontenac Plaza.” He had never been there. So we ended up doing that. We ate at a nice little restaurant called Canyon Café, and then went to a movie, “House of Mirth.” It was really a good movie, though not my usual style.
When we got home, I tried to finish my laundry (the dryer was fixed), but other people were using the machines and I had to wait. Finally I hung some stuff in the bathroom to dry. I home it is dry by morning!
My clothes were mostly dry this morning, but I still took them and a few more wet items out of the basket, downstairs to throw in the dryer. And someone (again) left clothes in the dryer!! I wish people would not do that! Have some consideration for the other tenants who have to share the machines. I had to put everything on top of the dryer. I hope the rest of the day doesn’t go like this!
Today was rough at work. We were hit by a virus. I call it the Anna Kournikova virus, or a “vbs” virus. Terry did not email all day long... which was not like him. Turns out *he* too had a tough day dealing with the virus. We met after work for some well deserved drinks to relax. I picked up a burrito from Tomatillos on the way home.
I also made copies of my Photo CD that I created last Friday that I am making for my family. I discovered there were some pictures on it that I really did not intend to be included, but there is nothing “x-rated.” There is a picture of “Hoppy” ... a funny little phallic toy with feet. It winds up and jumps around until it winds down. Its “cute” ... but I really did not want to include it on my family’s photo CD! There are also pictures taken on New Year’s Eve when we were watching the QaF marathon. I took pictures of the TV screen. If you don’t know what it is, you could get the wrong impression. That was another set of pictures I would rather had not been put on the CD.
I saw Scott Kuhr on line last night. Got his email address from him before he vanished again.
8:03 am - Well... my laundry basket is STILL sitting in the hallway with wet (or moist) clothes in it! I hope they don’t go sour on me. I would throw them in the dryer this morning, but I have to hang the clothes as soon as they come out of the dryer. I guess they can wait just a little bit longer til I get home tonite.
I still need a haircut too!
Well, Finally got my clothes dried, hung & folded last night! I thought I was going to have to wash them over again, but I think they’ll be ok.
Ate supper ate Talayna’s.... eggplant parmagiano. Alyose, y’inkT’ y’Av’ ey’ uSkr’ Any’ Ith’ eitwerte uuz’ eimne Se Corey. y’inkth’ Ihe S’ os’ Athe!
Not much happened today. Installed a CDRW on MIR 9th floor. Went out for drinks with Terry after work... actually I went out and waited for him but he didn’t make it. We passed each other as I was getting on the train to come home. Then I went to Talayna’s where I had a couple more coctails and some Jalepeño Poppers for dinner. I realized I have not eaten any meat since Monday night when I got the burrito. That’s a good thing |
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I had my interview today with Ms. Hwang from the Federal Labor Department. She was not interested (unfortunately) in my problem with not getting any medical coverage since I’ve been employed by Wash U. I am still sticking to the vegetarian thing. I had rice for breakfast and broccoli for lunch (with cheese sauce). Well... I had meat for supper. Not much. I had some of the soup/stew that Jack made and it has bacon in it. It’s mostly vegetable though. Skip is supposed to leave today for Texas where he will be working on a sprinkler job for a while. |
I woke up feeling sick this morning. I low grade fever, achy, stuffy head and a sore throat. Lisa is on vacation today, so I can’t call in sick. That would leave Tracy to handle it all by herself.
Found out that Skip’s car caught fire and is sitting on the side of I-4. Bummer. That’s the second car he has literally burned up! Apparently he did not catch his flight to Texas until this morning as a result.
We ordered out today. I forgot the name of the place. I ordered the Philly Cheese Steak sub/sandwich. I was very good. But I was still feeling sick. As soon as I finished eating, I went home. Tracy and Laura were both insistent. I couldn’t argue.... I felt like crap.
I came home and spent like 2 hours preparing myself some chicken noodle soup. I was very good. I thought I was feeling better there for a while, then I started to feel worse and went to bed. I couldn’t sleep so I got up and fixed the remainder of my soup. Went to bed again... slept very badly.
10:21a - Well... I didn’t get out of bed till 10:00a. I still feel like crap. Poor Kira... she normally gets taken out side no later the 8:00a, but I just could not get up.
I did not eat all morning. I finally got up the energy to give Kira a bath and to bathe myself. Then I was weak and shakey and had to lay down again. When I got some strength back, around 3:00pm, I got dressed and went down to Union Station. I went to Casa Gallardo and had their “Ultimate Chimi” ... This was a HUGE chimichanga! I didn’t know it was going to be so BIG. One third of it was beef, one third chicken and a third pork. I only ate part of it and took the rest ot go.
Then I went to watch a movie at 4:30; “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” It was okay. The special effects were quite impressive. What I did not know, however, was that the entired movie was in Mandarin! With subtitles. (Actually, I heard them speaking Cantonese in one scene, but most pepole would never know the difference).
After coming home and walking Kira, I went down to Nik’s and got Angie to make me some hot toddies. She did a wonderful job (they don’t normally serve them). She served it with lemon slices and a small dish of honey on the side. I help for a while... cleared my sinuses a little. Helped me to sleep better than the night before, that’s for sure.
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8:12a - Well... still sick today. I am coughing a lot more now, which is beginning to get painful. And my sinuses are distressing me greatly. Well... did nothing all day, basically. I made a pot of Mexican rice and tomales, which I ate throughout the day. Watched TV and of course did a little work on the computer. I am trying to get my ideas together for the St. Patrick’s theme on my web site, but it hard to concentrate when you don’t feel good.
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Happy
Birthday |
February 18, 2004 Oh.... I did not mention that last Wednesday, a neighbor down the road lost his little black French Bulldog, “Eric.” This morning while walking Kira, I saw a big sign in front of the little coffee shop down stairs that said, “Eric Is Home!” I was glad to see that... I see him and his owner every now and then and he is a cute little dog. I had really feared the worst had happened. OLD DIARY - 1999: Went to court in New Smyrna beach for DWLS. Got it reduced to an infraction and had to pay $76.00 |
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8:07a - I am still sick! I feel terrible. I was up half the night due to my sinuses and my coughing and a fever that kept coming and going. I called in sick this morning. I really hate doing that. I finally have sick time available and I am having to use it in the first month! I really did not intend for this to happen. I just hope I am feeling better by tomorrow. For now though... I still have to take Kira out for her walk <sigh>. I managed to get up the energy to go to the store this afternoon. I had to get a few groceries and some medicine. By the time I got home I was shaking from weakness! I got home and rested, then got up and cooked a big pot of collard greens & pork neck. I ate them all evening and I noticed I was starting to feel better! I am sure I will be able to go to work tomorrow at this rate. The weather had turned out so nice today! This is the warmest day this year. I actually went to the store with NO coat! And then I opened up the windows and turned off the heat when I got home. I figured I would have to closed the windows when it started to get dark outside, but I left them open much longer than I expected. Maybe spring is really on the way (please hurry!) |
I worked on my St. Patrick’s theme for the March edition of my web site. I just about finished it. Just need to finish up a few details.
8:01a - Well... I don’t feel as good this morning as I had hoped, but I am going to work. I will feel better later (I hope).
8:18a - I was cold outside this morning but not too bad. I may warm up later today (I hope).
It was good to get back to work today. Not much happened, except I learned that our Network Administrator, Joe Bowles, has submitted his resignation effective March 2nd.
7:55 - I am starting off the morning cooking breakfast for me and Lisa Z. again.
My breakfast turned out great... but so much! More than I expected!
I got my letter off to Marlene today. A 4 page typewritten letter with pictures on it. Plus some address labels with my address and the family photo CD. Oh, yes... I FINALLY sent her birthday card to her! (with a little surprise slipped inside).
Y’entw’ aoche thwe Terry uutaitne. Iih’ aakt’t’ iime ny’uute tleingy’ imh’ aave $40 eyenge! Aon’ iih’ ozy’ iime $120. Iih’ eds’ iihe sh’ ogeingy’ uut’ eip’ iim’ aany’ iith’ ekstn’ Aifreide. Y’Oph’ iih’ aasde!
7:56 - I washed a couple of shirts last night and hung them to dry. Happily, they are not only dry, but don’t look like they are going to need ironing or even a tumble in the dryer.
Tomorrow we are supposed to have a Marti Gras luncheon. I am going to try to make a couple cheese cakes to bring in. I bought a couple of pre-made piecrusts last Monday. (One is “Hershey” and one is “Oreo”!)
After work I came home and got all my planned chores finished, including fixing my email, loading ink in my printer, making the 2 cheese cakes, installing Norton SystemWorks, walking & feeding Kira, doing dishes and preparing supper.
Well, our Marti Gras luncheon is planned for today. I am armed with the 2 cheese cakes I made last night. I hope they cooked all the way through.
I am still not completely over my illness of earlier this week. I have some head congestion and am coughing a lot.
Y’Entw’ aoche thwe Terry uutaitne. Aatg’ uut’ iise “Clementine’s” aanje “Alibi’s.” Y’’Aad’ ey’ aatl’ aavy’ unfe.
I just stayed home all day today, recovering from having too much fun last night. Put on a crockpot of chili beans.
Terry got me to go with him to some place called Rainbow’s End today. I took Terry some of my chili, which came out pretty tasty. Later, at Rainbow’s End, I ate hot dogs and mixed nuts. All that, plus drinking beer really did a number on my digestive system. I slept terrible. Had so many weird dreams. Something about the Marines, getting dragged between two trains, a giant white cat, and other bizarre things. I could have been a dream by Lewis Carol!
I got to work this morning and had a piece of cake waiting for me. Laura (my Director) had apparently made my “Better Than Sex Cake” recipe and provided me we a sample. I was a very LARGE sample.... but of course I ate it!
Calisa sent me some corrections to make on the MyFamily.com web site, but that web site has not been working right for quite some time now. My cousin Colleen and I have been working on it, but are just getting so friggin’ frustrated with it. I sent them a letter and they responded saying they are working on it. Basically the same response they gave Colleen when she did the same thing.
After work, I joined Terry at Landry’s Seafood Restaurant and had supper with him.... then realized I would have to go all the way down town with him to buy some dog food. I finally got home and walked Kira about 9:00 pm! Poor thing... she had to wait longer than usual. But poor me... my evening wasn’t over yet. I had to do laundry. I was up to midnight doing that... then didn’t get to sleep till about 2:00a.
I had an acquaintance over last night. I walked Kira, then Brian and I went down to Nik’s and had a drink. He was wearing a lot of beads, so I threw on a couple of strands too (for Marti Gras).
I also got some new shoes, then came home and touched up my roots. I feel like a new person. If I could just have lost some weight overnight I would probably be unbearable now!
I was coughing so much this afternoon. I think I have bronchitis. I went to bed at 8:30. I was supposed to go to Talayna’s ... but just had no energy.
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Happy
Valentine's
Day!
Happy
Birthday to
Glorianna Goodwin
Feb 1, 1979
Happy
Birthday #29 to
Chad Johnson
(Now in Daytona Beach?)
Feb 7, 1972
Still looking
for
My Valentine....
Happy
Birthday
|
February 11, 2004
Happy 29nd Birthday
to Billy Meyer
WOLF PACK RULES!
Happy Birthday
Billy & Marty