Rolling with the punches ~ Part 2

So, I said sometimes you just have to roll with the punches, right?  They're still rolling our way apparently. It's ok, and everything is under control, but there was a little moment when I wondered "how are we gonna get through it this time??".

The answer to that one, of course, is with as much grace as humanly possible, and I think we accomplished that.

NEW MEXICO 2006 RECREATIONAL VEHICLE plate (Photo credit: woody1778a)

Roommate has decided to move her boyfriend in, and for various reasons that I won't go into here, we have chosen to go ahead and bump up plans to fast-forward.  I'm going today to talk to the people we're buying the RV from about letting us get it livable and moving it up to a campsite in about a month instead of March. I think they'll agree since we'll most likely be moving it to exactly the place they used to live in it at, lol!

So, the full-time RV living is going to happen a little faster than we had planned, but that's ok.  It is what we ultimately wanted, so we're looking at it from a positive perspective.

Perspective is one of the things I'm going to be working on in the new year.  I have a tendency to be a bit of a hot-head at times.  Things hit me the way they hit me, and usually after I have time to calm down and think clearly, I'm able to work my way around it.  I need to try to learn to take time to think before I react because even though I'm a firm believer in instincts and gut-reactions, I'm mature enough to admit that my initial reaction is not always the right one.  Sometimes when you take the time to shift a problem around and look at it from all perspectives, your opinions change.

Have you ever reacted badly to a situation in the heat of the moment and later changed how you felt about it?

I'd love to hear from you!  Leave a message in the comments section below!

Blessings,

News From the Lair ~ Gearing up for the new year

I saw on Facebook this morning that there will be a New Moon on January 1, 2014.  Apparently this hasn't happened in a long time and most likely won't happen again for a while.

Of course, the Pagan community will be all a flutter over this (it's already starting), and for once, I think I may end up joining in on the excitement and planning.

I really think a clean slate is what I have needed for years.  The last few years have been particularly unpleasant, but I have managed to somehow work my way through them.  I have tried to see every situation as a learning experience, I have learned (a little better anyway) how to enjoy life's moments a little more than I once did, and not to stand around taking crap from anyone, no matter what they (or I) think I owe them.

English: New Year's Resolutions postcard (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

2013 did offer a few good things, but they are things I think I was preparing for 2014 with.  2013 saw Witchlet become pregnant, a thing none of us ever thought would happen due to a bad infection she had at 18 and our first grandchild is due the day after my birthday in 2014.

I became ordained this year, but I am still going to school to receive the title of Priestess before I really do much with it.  I won't receive that title in 2014, but I know this coming year will be filled with school.

I renamed, re-branded, and am in the process of reopening the business I inherited from The Puppet Master when she passed away 2 years ago and for once, I feel hopeful and optimistic about it.  The official reopening is scheduled for January 1st and now that I know about the New Moon on that day, I feel even more excited about the opening.

I have been asked over the years that I have been blogging, about New Year's Resolutions.  In truth, a lot of Pagans, including us, celebrate the New Year more on Samhain than on January 1st, but either way, I have mostly stopped making "Resolutions".

Sure, I have "wishes" for what the new year will bring, but I don't sit down and make a bunch of promises to myself about what I will and won't do in the new year.  The reason for that is multiple, but it basically boils down to the simple fact that I found that making Resolutions was rather depressing for me.  Most people make Resolutions along the lines of "I will work out 3 times a week this year" or "I will finally drop that last 10 pounds" or "I resolve to quit smoking this year".  I have found that those types of "Resolutions" often fall flat before February 1st rolls around and I end up feeling like I failed myself.

Instead, I use Samhain as a kind of banishing.  I try to resolve problems and let go of the past at my Samhain ritual, generally by burning scraps of paper with what I am banishing or releasing on them in my Samhain fire and then I feel better with ideas like "I will try to communicate with the people I care about more clearly" or "I will try to find balance in (insert area of life needing balance the most here) aspect of my life".

I know already that if I eat properly, dropping 10 pounds won't be that hard and if I get off my butt and move around, exercise will come naturally.  Chances are, if I haven't already been doing something, then the "New Year's Resolutions" isn't going to make me.

So, as I prepare to face 2014, I have a clear idea of the kinds of energies I'd like to focus on in my life and I have set in motion a few things that I hope to cultivate in my personal life.

Regardless of if you make Resolutions or not, I hope that 2014 brings you all of the best things in life and I look forward to getting to know my community a little better and seeing where the year takes us!

Blessings,

How to Clean with Food From the Food Network Kitchens!

Saw this video on You Tube tonight and thought it was definitely worth sharing!

Personally, I've used salt and ice to clean a coffee pot that had coffee burned into the bottom of it ~ old waitress tip ~ (little known fact, I spent over 20 years as a career waitress).

What tips do you have for cleaning with food?

Blessings,
Fae Moon

Roll with the punches

We just never really know what may be around the next corner, and sometimes, even when we think we have things all figured out, we realize that we don't.

Our holiday visit to Tiger's brought exactly this situation.

English: Jayco slide out kitchen area (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Naturally, we didn't think our family would be overjoyed about our plans to travel extensively, but what we didn't know was that Bear had already talked to his job about getting Draco hired on.  I'm still not certain why he did that in December, when we weren't planning to do anything until February-March, but he did, and what was done was done.  Tiger informed us shortly after we arrived that Bear was very upset that if Draco decided not to take the job, that it might make him look bad at work, and I can understand why.  We discussed the situation and decided to split the difference between our original plan and the new plan.

We are still buying the RV, still intending to live in it full-time, but we will be settling down close to where Bear and Tiger live and Draco will try for job welding with Bear and we will travel when Draco gets vacation time.

I'm really not as upset about this most recent change in plans as I feel I should be.

It's true, I was excited about living a more carefree life and seeing the world, but I suppose as I've gotten older, my ability to roll with the punches life sends me has improved.  It's probably a good thing, because the last few months has felt like a damn roller coaster!

Honestly, I was also looking forward to finally being closer to my sister and the rest of my family and it was a sacrifice.  One I was willing to make for Draco, but still a sacrifice.

Honestly though, he seems to be content with the idea and as long as he is happy, I will be happy as well.

So, Draco spent part of the holidays parked in front of Tiger's computer (we didn't take one with us), daydreaming about future RV upgrades, and even found us a few we both liked that were fairly reasonable.  Looks like once we get this RV set up and ready to go, we'll be saving our asses off to upgrade to something nicer, and bigger!

In other news, Christmas with family was a smashing success and we had a blast!  Even though I'm sure most, if not all, of our Christmas was bought before we decided to buy the RV, most of our gifts will be perfect for the new place!  I'm so excited to get it paid for and all set up!

Of course, it will be a little bit of an adjustment going into such a small space, but honestly, we've been traveling light for about 4 years now, so we really don't have a whole lot.  Most of our possessions seem to be in the form of craft supplies, and that's only going to get worse, lol!

Well, I think that about catches things up for now other than our roommate had her phone stolen last night at work.  Hopefully she'll come home with a replacement phone since she's gone to the police department to file a report and on to her phone company to report it stolen.

Blessings,

Finding inspiration

English: A pair of recreational vehicles for sale by owner displayed on North Roxboro Street in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This morning, I Googled "is full time RV living for you" and in my search, a website popped up called Homestead Living - Little House Living.  I've been at this lady's site all day looking around and reading about her journey.

Somehow I knew that there was more to this whole RV living thing than simply moving in and propping up our feet.  Turns out, I was right.  Full time RV living is a lifestyle, one that full-timers seem to take pretty seriously.

I must admit, my concerns about things like storage have gone up since reading her blog.  Granted, they were RV-ing with a small child, and we won't be, but as I look around my room here at my roommate's house, I can see, now more than ever, how "stuff oriented" Draco and I have become - and how much of it is utterly useless.

I'm still reading her site, and still trying to get it straight in my mind that I will be able to do the things I wanted to do and still live this life that I have thought about for years.

There are a lot of different things to take into consideration, such as it will just be the two of us, and it sounds like we will mostly be stationary (Draco has a potential job waiting on him after we get the camper and we've found a site that seems like it will fit our needs).  Those things will make it a little easier to have that lifestyle, but we will still be looking at space as an ongoing issue.

For instance, the frugal life appeals to me in all ways except giving up eating out.  That is my one small weakness in life and I don't see that changing, but I have given thought to other ways to cut our costs, such as making a lot of other stuff homemade/handmade, canning, etc.

I know that there has to be a way to combine RV living (which honestly seems like a necessity if we are ever going to have anything to amount to anything) and having the other things in life I want.

The blog I've been reading has really inspired me to think about these things and to try to find a way to do it.  Surely there is someone out there that has had the kind of life I want and figured it out already...and if not, then I guess I might have to be the one to figure it out for the rest of the world!

Have you ever found yourself wanting a lifestyle so different from the one you have that you don't know where to begin?  How did you manage it?

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• RV Living

RV Living

I mentioned yesterday that Draco and I were looking into buying an RV.  It would seem that we may have found the one we'll end up with.  Chicklet has a best friend that found themselves in possession of one during a hard time in their lives last summer.  They have a 25 foot pull-behind camper and now that they have moved past that hard time, they have had the camper sitting in their front yard for several months gathering dust and leaves.

I messaged her yesterday (we're also Facebook friends via our connection with Chicklet) and asked her, on the off chance, if they had any intention of selling the RV.  Turns out they do, and they're only looking at getting a grand out of it.

After talking to my Aunt, who is a landlord and has owned several campers herself, she told me that even if we had to completely gut and remodel the RV to suit us, that we weren't going to find a 25 foot camper for that price anywhere else and it was her opinion that if we were going to purchase one, that we jump on that deal.  A phone call gave me a heads up on what all she knows is wrong with it (there were some things they just never used, like the stove or heating system) and pretty much sealed the deal that we will be buying it.

Last night, I got on Google and found a really nice RV park that's only about 20 minutes from where Tiger lives, which means it's about 20 minutes from the job we are hoping Draco will be getting as well.  Considering his job now is about 20 minutes from where we currently live, I'd say that's not too bad.

The site will cost us about $300/month with metered utilities, but with a camper that runs on propane for most things, and it just being the 2 of us, I don't see the power getting that bad.  Internet is $10/month and accessible from every site and there is a $50 deposit on the power, paid to the park itself.  They even have laundry facilities, although Tiger has a washer and dryer I could use, so I don't see needing that service.  They even offer a propane fill service.  You put your tank by the road, they pick it up, fill it, and bring it back to you. 

So, our bills there will actually stay around what we are paying here, but with more income to pay them, and the job won't be weather conditional.

Honestly, I'm looking forward to this in a lot of ways.  RV's have their own maintenance, but we'd be looking at that if we were buying a house or a mobile home, and honestly, I think it'll be a lot less maintenance in the long run.  I know that it'll be a lot of work in the beginning, but even if we decided later to do something else, this is something that will belong to us, that no one will ever be able to take away from us.

Baby Bump 1 (Photo credit: faemoon)

I mentioned this morning that we could always hitch it up and bring it down here for the weekend if we wanted to and Draco said no.  He said that when we come down, it'll either be for the day, or whoever wants us to stay can give us somewhere to stay while we're here.  Otherwise, we'll go home.  He said that our kids are grown and living their own lives, making their own choices, that don't have anything to do with us.  That is as it should be, but he said that now that they are, it's time for us to do the same.

He's right, and I know it.  We have lived our entire relationship for our kids.  Everything we've ever done has first had to pass thorough the filter of how it was going to effect our kids.  That was as it should be at the time, but that time has passed.

The truth is, he's 40 and I'm heading closer and closer to it.  We've never really lived just for us.

I look at Witchlet and her life and there are so many things she's doing right now that I wish were different, but the truth is, she's grown now and I can't control her life or the choices she makes.  I will always love her and I will always be there for her to call me if she needs a shoulder, but she is going to have to learn to live with the choices she's making, for good or bad.

I feel like I have spent 20 years competing with my ex's family, especially his mother.  Her relationship with Witchlet is toxic, and always has been, and I've expressed my concerns to Witchlet over and over, including my concerns where Little Witchlet is concerned, but she's not hearing me.  Again, I suppose this is a lesson she's going to have to learn the hard way.

I know that for myself, I can't deal with them any longer and with the upcoming birth of Little Witchlet, and Witchlet's inability to remove them from her life, that it's going to be the same thing all over again with the baby.  I thought if I came back here that maybe I could be there for Witchlet in some way that I wasn't before and she wouldn't feel the need for them anymore, but that's not how things have gone.  No matter what I've done, or how much I've done, she still goes over there everyday.  I can't stop her and it's time I stopped trying.

I suppose every parent goes through something like this.  Even as adults, we want to protect our children, especially from the things that hurt us when we were raising them, but the truth is, Witchlet is going to make her choices and there's nothing I can do.

In other news, Spirit nearly broke my arm last night.  She has a thing for my roommate's cats and she tried to dart after them with me holding her leash and it caused my arm to hit the porch post and almost snapped it at the elbow.  I've got more use of it so far today than I thought I would, but it sore and it hurts, so I'm going to call this one a day and go.  I have 3 days worth of meditation journaling I have to do for school and life has been so busy that I even let last night's full moon get away from me.

Blessings,
Fae Moon

School, Ordination and the pursuit of domestic bliss

So I found a place online called Universal Life Church.  They are non-denominational and they offer immediate online ordination.  I decided to go ahead and get ordained through them.

I also started taking classes at a different school, called The Magical Circle School, that offers a degree program.

I am undecided about what I'm going to do about my witch-school classes.  I'm still enrolled there as a basic free student, but I really like this other school.  I'm not sure what I want to do.  I don't know if I can pull off both schools at the same time or not.  I've been trying to decide.

I do know that whatever classes I take, where ever I take them, I think I'm going to be talking them some here on my blog.  MCS offers a student blog, and there will be things I'm required to journal there, but to me, that journal feels more like the notebooks I had to keep for specific classes in school where you turned in the entire notebook for a grade and that makes me feel a little more formal with it than I am here.  I think having an outlet to talk about what I'm learning will be a good thing, that will ultimately help me to grow even more in my studies.

Also, there has been major changes on the domestic front.  We seem to have inherited a dog that was left her by our roommate's boyfriend when he moved out the last time.  Her name is Spirit and she is a Catahoola Leopard Dog.  She is around a year old, but has never been trained, so we've really been working with her hard to establish ourselves as pack leaders and get her to follow basic commands.

I have to admit, she's been more of a challenge to train that what I'm used to.  She is responding to "sit" and "lay down" but that's about it for now.  The good news is, her time outside seems to have her mostly housebroken on her own and she is a very loving girl.  Her favorite thing to do is to curl up with you for snuggles and love.

Jayco 1006 Pop-up Camper Trailer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We have also decided, due to a combination of reasons, to move closer to Tiger and Bear after taxes.  We had been thinking of trying to rent a place close to them, but today Draco mentioned something I hadn't thought about since last summer.

His boss is talking about selling  his camper again.  I'm thinking how perfect that would be!  There are a number of camp sites close to Tiger's house.  There would be no big deposits to worry about, most of the camp grounds are pet-friendly and come with all the utilities included and even though my home would be highly mobile...it would still be my home and I could fix it up however I wanted!  I'm so excited about this idea again that I could bust!

I mean seriously, Draco and I can't have 2-legged kids anymore.  Witchlet was our one and only and she's 20 and pregnant with my first grandchild now and out on her own.  What do we need a huge place to have to clean for?  All the furniture usually comes with them (and is bolted to the floor lol).  All we'd have to really worry about a lot is where to put our altar and getting like maybe a TV and microwave for it.  Beyond that...they have heat and A/C in them already and we don't have a lot of stuff, so I think it'd be perfect!  Besides, we'd be on the lake pretty much all the time, which Draco and I would both love for our own reasons!

Can you say year-round vacation??

OK, that's it for me today.  I've got so much on my mind now that I don't know what to do with it all!

Blessings!
Fae Moon

Holidays

Thanksgiving Dinner (Photo credit: chuckwaters83)

I see it's been a little over a month since the last time I posted here.  I figured I better get to work on changing that.

I'm still having time-management issues.  I discussed with Draco this morning how overwhelmed I often feel and he says he's going to start helping more.

I changed schools, kind of spur-of-the-moment last week.  I think I like the one I'm using now a lot better.  I'll let you know how I feel as time goes on.  I started going to the Magical Circle School and I'm actually really excited about it.  I like the way the school is put together a lot better than the other one.

I did get ordained the first part of the week as a non-denominational minister (Reverend) and I've been pretty excited about getting that part of things done.  I will still be moving through the degree program with the school I joined this week, but that is a process that will take years to complete.

I managed to pull off a Thanksgiving dinner for 12 on the spur of the moment and we have our dinner with the kids planned for the 21st, which gives me 2 weeks to pull that one together.

The holidays will be a little skimpy this year, but it's a rough year financially and I think Draco and I have developed a better game-plan for pulling them off next year.

Things have been stressful, but we're managing to maneuver our way through the holidays.

How are you surviving the holidays?

Blessings,
Fae