A Post of Time, Thanks and More Meme

The email swamp is full and I'm WAY behind. I want to thank all of you who have reviewed "Solitude", I'll be responding within a day or so. I also want to thank various friends for emailing me or responding to my blog posts. I'm trying hard to catch up. Limited time is really difficult when it is compounded by even more limited time, and, unfortunately, that's my situation right now.

My introduction to "Lord of the Rings" was the original Ballentine
editions published around 1967. I remember first reading them when
I was in my first or second year of Junior High, when many of you
would be calling Middle School. That meant I was in grade 7 or 8 at
the time. I remember weeping when Gandalf died - absolutely heartbroken. 

On the plus side:

• My V-Day weight gain is already gone (huzzah and hurrah) and there should be a new SWG Challenge waiting for me to take a look. 
• Tonight is either the final or the first of two final episodes of Project Runway Season 2, and DH has a hockey game to keep him occupied tonight. AND
• I've been playing one of my lower-level characters in Lord of the Rings Online and am remembering once again how much I really enjoy wandering the lands of Middle Earth. In my own personal cycle of Tolkien adoration (since I first read LOTR in 1967-68), I'm heading back up the roller coaster of love and addiction again. Yes, I'm a Tolkien nerd, and I'm NOT looking for a cure. 

I think I'll continue on with the 365-day meme because I'd like to get more caught up. So here we go ...

Although I get stressed by a lot of things, I also operate
really well under stress, so I self-impose stress into my
life. Probably too often for my own good. 

What stresses you?

I get stressed by thinking about governmental paperwork (even though I deal with that monthly as a business owner), going to the dentist (2X a year without fail, but I don't enjoy it), and having outside forces scheduling my time (usually consisting of DH deciding we need to do X when I had planned to do Y).

Your relationship status and how you feel about it.

Married - usually happily. Are there things I would change? Sure. But people being people, you're just not going to love 100% everything about them all of the time. I shoot for 70%-80% good times, and I'm usually pretty happy.

Where you'd like to be in ten years.

Let's start by being alive and healthy with a sturdy roof over my head, money in the bank, and food in my refrigerator. Secondarily, let's hope I'm living in a nation where it is safe to venture outside of my home, where I have good friends and fun places to go, and where I am still active physically and mentally. That'll all work!

Your views on drugs and alcohol,

Drugs can be a problem, at least the heavier-duty ones. Alcohol can also be a problem for a lot of people, but I got over my problems with it long ago and just indulge minimally now. The hangovers weren't worth the high any more. Should everything be illegal? Not necessarily.

The Horse - yeah. That pretty well describes me. The
good and the bad, both. 

What is your Zodiac sign? Does it fit your personality?

I'm a Taurus - the bull - in the standard Zodiac. Of course, there are a lot of different Zodiacs and in some changes I become an Aries. In the Chinese Zodiac I'm a Horse with a Fire indicator. I can live with all of these. It's all fun.

So there we go, another five quick entries for the 365-day meme. Nothing deep and psychologically scarring - yet! I hope all of you have a wonderful Thursday. I'm going to try and catch up on some emails (about 100 of them) and clear my schedule so that I can watch Project Runway Junior tonight. Enjoy your day!

A New Month Means New Opportunities - Thoughts of May

Today is the beginning of a new month and what better time to look at your own agenda and to-do lists and do some prioritizing? May is a month of changes for us up here in the northern Midwestern states. Spring finally moves in, winter finally leaves, and summer begins knocking at the door. We are starting the month with temps that will be in the 40's and 50's but by the end of the month we can have 80's and sometimes even a stray 90! So May is all over the place.

I got a good laugh out of this card and thought
I'd share it with all of you. 

The astrological signs of May are firmly Taurus for most of the month, moving to Gemini on the 22nd. The most common gemstone associated with the month is the emerald and the flower is the beautiful and almost shy Lily-of-the-Valley. May is my month and I'm crazy happy about it - it's a special month of creativity and celebration.

I love these small little bell-shaped flowers and have them planted around
my house to welcome spring and May each year. 

May is a month for mothers - in the United States we celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May - the 11th this year. May will be a time of celebration for me - a landmark birthday, and at the end of the month, the Bead & Button Show will begin. I'll see the first flowers, the flowering trees of our short but stunning spring, and my egrets will return to my small area ponds.

These flowering crabapple trees are typical of the
flowering trees we get every spring.

I'll have the opportunity to see wonderful art at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, as well as wander and play with dinosaurs at the Science Museum with an internet friend. I'll listen to fine music (because that's a daily must for me), I'll read lots of books (because that's a mandatory thing in my life) and I'll hopefully get a chance to play with more than just mentally envisioning my next jewelry and art projects.

Go Wild! What a game it was! Every time we were behind, we
scored to tie it, and finally we won in overtime. Exciting! 

DH and I will close on his father's house this month, and we'll wrap up a family tragedy later this month as well - one of those strange things that crop up to allow closure. The Minnesota Wild will CONTINUE in their quest for Lord Stanley's Cup, progressing in an overtime game last night. We'll meet the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday for the first game of the next stage.

For the first time in eleven years, we're moving on to the
second stage in our quest for Lord Stanley's Cup. I love
the Blackhawks team too, so this should be a good
series of games to actually watch. 

And I'll continue to write, of course, as well as continue my weekly conversations with Aearwen. So, May is looking like it will be a great month. I hope it will be wonderful for each of you as well. As we move into this month, look around you to see what might be possible to improve. Can you help someone out? Can you plant a new plant, groom a pet, or bring a meal to someone to brighten their day? Gifts that lighten the heart don't have to be major, they just need to be heartfelt and given without strings attached.

Celebrate May Day in your own manner. These old-fashioned Scottish
dancers with their braided May Pole in the background might be
inspiration for your own celebration. 

Happy May, Happy Thursday.