Angel Cards

….years ago my good friend AB introduced me to Angel cards

I love my friend AB. She was the first friend I made through teaching. She’s several years older than me and she quickly became a mentor for me when I started in the teaching profession. She was the art teacher and I was the family studies teacher and our classrooms were next to each other. That was over almost 40 years ago.

AB is like a sister to me and an aunt to my children. In fact she is my oldest daughter’s godmother but she has always called all my children her godchildren. She has an unusual but great sense of style and she has always been open to new age practices. She’s fascinated with astrology and numerology, tarot cards, meditation and natural cures for illness. Over the years we have received astrological readings, spirit cards, homemade bath products and interesting books.

A few years ago AB gave A and J a set of Angel cards. Last night I paid them an unexpected visit. I had spent the entire day at the hospital with our son and I needed a change of scene and a cup of coffee. They weren’t expecting me but they greeted my warmly and invited me in. On the table were the Angel cards that had been gifted by AB and they had just finished picking their cards for the year.

The idea with Angle cards is that you meditate on what you hope to accomplish or change and then look at the overturned cards. You’re suppose to be drawn to certain cards because of the energy they exude or how they present themselves to you. Based on that you choose up to five cards. Each card has a word on the reverse side and you interpret the meaning as to how it applies to you. Here are my five words:

Faith

Compassion

Creativity

Clarity

Purification

Over at Chris’ Journaling Journey, Chris has written a post about choosing one word to live by for the year. I like this idea so I’m thinking about choosing one of the words above and focusing on working on that aspect of my life to nourish and expand.

It is also interesting to me that I was thinking about my painting goals, personal health strategies and relationships with my family and friends before I chose the cards. I’m leaning toward the word ‘clarity’. I’m hoping this year I’ll come closer to being ready to retire and moving on to a new path in my life. When that becomes ‘clear’ to me I’ll be ready to make this life changing decision.

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Photo courtesy of: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pLhK1Bdg8bo/TyRVQ12Ym8I/AAAAAAAAAKo/IYyhEqfPNbA/s1600/angel+cards.JPG

2015 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 21,000 times in 2015. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 8 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge – #52

….for the last week of the year I just had to participate in one of my favourite photo challenges

Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge allows us to post any photo that doesn’t really fit into any other category. This past weekend when I walked through the neighbourhood I noticed these bushes that had been cut back, leaving only the base of the the plant. Sometimes they literally grew from the rocks.

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A Late Afternoon Walk – Now

…this week’s WordPress Challenge is Now

This week we are encouraged to embrace the ‘now’ and share photos of the present moment. This afternoon I took a walk through the neighbourhood. It was getting late and the sky was cloudy. It was also very brisk and I was glad that I brought my gloves with me. Here are a few things that I saw on my journey to get more steps in today and to capture the things we take for granted.

 

A Christmas First For Me

….the weather continues to hover above freezing and it’s almost the end of December

Today was our last official Christmas party with the extended family. I woke up early to put the turkey roll in the oven and then I started to clean up from the previous two days. Presents had to be put away, the table needed to be reset, the bathroom needed a touch up and a few more presents needed to be wrapped.

I don’t know why I always find more things to clean when I have a short time line to get things done. I think because people were arriving in the afternoon I felt that any grime I had missed would show up more in the day light. So I started to wash the glass ware and wipe down the shelves in the kitchen.

The weather has been so warm that the spiders have been unusually active and I noticed more webs between the windows and the window screens. I took down the screens in the kitchen and bathroom and started to clean them and I knocked the spiders onto the deck outside. I also took down the patio door screen to clean it but because it is so large I took it outside and leaned it up against the deck rail to wipe it down. As I was doing this I realized that I was outside in my nightgown with a sweater and bare feet. It was so mild that I wasn’t the least bit cold. I can honestly say that I’ve never gone barefoot outside on the 26th of December in Toronto before today.

It hindsight it might not have been a very wise thing to do. You see I’ve been suffering with a head cold and laryngitis for the last three days and I may have made it worse. As I write this I’m drinking my Neo Citran and I hope that it will relieve me of my headache and stuffy nose. I’m sure a good night’s sleep and no more pressure to entertain for a few days will help. Oh did I mention that on the 30th my twins will be celebrating their birthday? My son is here from London, England so we’ll probably have another family get together on Wednesday.

As much as I love Christmas and having family get togethers I’m glad for a few days of rest. The temperature also looks likes it’s dropping a bit so there won’t be anymore trips outside in bare feet.

Cheers!

Christmas Delights

…while many of you are busy preparing for Christmas dinner I’m having a little down time

Our big Christmas celebration took place last night on Christmas Eve. My husband has long enjoyed the German tradition of opening gifts on the 24th since we first met 42 years ago. Now that our children are grown and have significant others we only prepare Christmas dinner every other year and this is that year. Later today we will be driving to Hamilton to enjoy a dinner prepared my daughter and her husband.

I thought I would take this time to share some of the highlights of this years Christmas season. As many of you know I’m a teacher librarian/art teacher. I essentially teach every student in the school for library and I have four classes that I do art with.

The week before Christmas I started receiving gifts from students and their families. There’s always one gift that stands out for me and this one brought a huge smile to my face and I couldn’t wait to share it with my colleagues and friends.

One of my grade one students brought me a small box that he had clearly wrapped himself and very proudly handed it to me. When I unwrapped the paper I discovered that the box was from Juicy Couture. IMG_7136 When I read the name out loud, T very quickly declared that the box had nothing to do with what was inside. When I opened the lid I couldn’t help but smile for inside the box lay an angel that he had clearly made himself.IMG_7137

He used masking tape, paper and marker to create this little gem. Today it sits prominently  on my Christmas tree, just below our angel tree topper. Aren’t kids wonderful?

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Hopefully I’ll have more stories to share throughout the week.

Merry Christmas to all and happy holidays.

Carol

Tonight my heart and thoughts are in Syria

Please read this very insightful post about Syria. Peggy from Where to Next? has lived and travelled through Syria and knows from personal experience the devastation that Syrians have encountered over the last several years.

leggypeggy's avatarWhere to next?

indoor campfire Damascus Syria Christmas around a campfire in a tent in Damascus, 2009

Christmas always makes me think of Syria, and this year the thoughts are stronger than ever.

Today my heart is breaking for Syria and her citizens, but it wasn’t always that way.

I first visited Damascus in 1977, and then moved there in 1980 after Poor John and I married in Jordan (must tell that story one day). Our first daughter, Libby (who lives in Paris now), was born in Damascus in 1981 and had her first Christmas in that once beautiful city.

That year I bought an artificial Christmas tree and a variety of simple decorations at the small shop that was around the corner from our flat. I still have all the decorations but, a few years ago, I gave the tree to my dear friend, Maggie.

We were back in Syria for Christmas in 2009. That was…

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Daily Post: Three Wishes for Our New Prime Minister

…..today’s Daily Prompt is Generous Genies

Remember those lovely genies who grant wishes? Well, you’re one and you’ve just been emancipated from your restrictive lamp. You can give your three wishes to whomever you want. Who do you give your three wishes to, and why?

My three wishes go to our newly elected Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. Even though he won a majority government he has his critics and many are watching and waiting for him to make a mistake.

  1. My first wish is that you keep your promise to bring 25 000 Syrian refugees to Canada. If you can’t keep your promise to have them here by the end of February I’m okay with that as long as they arrive no later than May.
  2. My second wish is that you stay cool and calm under difficult and stressful situations, because you will face many in your term as Prime Minister, and not make hasty or rash decisions when under pressure.
  3. My third wish for you is to maintain a normal and loving relationship with your wife and children while you are in office. I know there are times when you will be apart but make the best of the times when you’re together.

 

 

Sunday Trees – 214

….every week Becca Givens posts beautiful photos of trees…check it out

The weather continues to be mild but the temperatures did drop in the last two days. Today was brisk but sunny. The forecast calls for more mild weather in the next week. No white Christmas this year.

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