Hexed: Episode 8

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Shannon and I have a new home for Hexed, check it out! Shannon totally made a fabulous blog page for it complete with surveys asking you our listeners and friends what you thought of last week's episodes of Vampire Diaries and Supernatural. So please, feel free to vote! Do you like Elana's Mom's story or do you want Katherine to come back? Are you a Sam or Dean gal? Or both? Did you really believe Bobby would answer the phone when the sheriff called?

If you are looking for information about the latest full moon, we have added a little bit of supernatural information about the current cycle of nature at the beginning of the program. Learn how Shannon and I are plant-challenged and what we should be focusing on this time of year. And Shannon, you did not kill my bonsai. I promise!

Find out how Shannon and I REALLY felt about last week's Vampire Diaries. See if you agree. And Supernatural? All I can say is, "Brains!"

A fun week at Hexed!

Wishcasting: What do you wish to accomplish?

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Jamie is asking, "What do you wish to accomplish?" on Wishcasting today.

Well the timing could not be more perfect to ask this question. I think my sister is part seer for our Wishcasting collective, wouldn't surprise me at all. Recently I found out about Para X Vision's show Alone through their Facebook Group. (Patty, did you send that invite to me? LOL. Whoever did, thank you!) They are sending out a casting call for a brand new show where every day people are taken to a haunted location and left in the dark alone.

I know, you are thinking to yourself, "Is she crazy? This is her wish?!"

And I answer, "Yes, absolutely. I was born for this!"

My fibromyalgia may get in the way of them accepting me but I assured them that it is proof just how much of a sensitive I am, that I am a natural empath as a result. I am a walking divining rod. I pretty well live my life in isolation and I live in one of the darkest and most haunted areas of Canada. Ghosts do not scare me, in fact, they seem to like to contact me and I find that very exciting.

My life right now is dull and depressing. I need and want this opportunity. And hey, if you feel inclined to go to their Facebook page and tell them how much you want to see me decked out in ghost hunting gear connecting with the other side, I won't stop you. ;)

Seriously though, this is one of the first things to come up in my life that I actually want to accomplish since I got sick. I have been contacted by them and gotten past the first step. Help me step into the world of ghost hunting, help me make this supernatural wish come true!

Sensational Snap Society Ecourse Contest

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Shelagh from Alice in Paris Loves Art and Tea asked me to join her ecourse on photography. I had already been seriously considering taking this course but with my back woes, time on the computer right now is not a good idea for me but it would be a great idea for you! She said that I could give up my spot to an online friend and that is where you come in. Leave a comment here and I will pick a winner on Thursday. The course starts this Friday!

Shelagh is such a sweetie. She stopped by my house with this gorgeous daffodil plant for me to cheer me up. She is also ridiculously talented! Go here to see her photographs. Even Jamie oliver loves her photos, he is using one of her photographs from The Chicken Burger on what not to eat, LOL, (bottom right).

This is a uniquely fantastic opportunity to take a six week guided photography romp with a fabulously talented woman. You get weekly assignments, will start to see the world differently and you get to participate in discussions and have a weekly check-in. And there is a private clubhouse involved. How cool is that?!

So leave a comment and make sure there is a way for us to contact you OK?! Good luck to all of you!

Back from Staycation

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Last week my husband and I had a staycation. Since we were stuck here, we figured we might as well get stuff done that needed to be done. I am happy to say that we are now officially without a cell phone. No longer will Bell be getting $35 of our money a month for a cell phone we do not use. It was not easy. I almost lost it the last time I went in by myself when the incompetence of the employees almost blew my mind away. I even got "crazy eyes" at one point and the lady looked scared of me. Thankfully my husband and I made some decisions and finally closed the account and got the $0 bill proving that the Odyssey of cell phone idiocy was finally, FINALLY, over.

And we were plagued with bad weather. If it wasn't completely dark and rainy, it was dark and snowy. Yes, there is still snow in my backyard to prove it. We went out with friends on the weekend and it was so cold that we could not stay outside the restaurant to talk, running to our cars instead. The high that day was -5C!!!! There is no excuse for polar fleece, turtlenecks and down-filled jackets at the end of March.

Yesterday we got together all of the donations I had put together and dumped them off at the local charity. Feels so much better! My husband's sister also inherited some great goodies from us, letting go of a TV, a unit for the TV and a desk that has been sitting in our furnace room that was the previous owner's, just taking up space.

The last time we moved we were given a week's notice and did not have a chance to go through our ritual of letting-crap-go before moving. We brought all of it with us and also inherited stuff we did not want. Well a lot of that stuff is gone now! We know that we will have to downsize in a huge way when we go back west. This is our first official step at preparing for it and boy, did it ever feel good!

Last year we went to a lot of movies on our week off but this year, there was nothing playing around here I really wanted to see. We only get the pop culture movies here. We did go to see Hot Tub Time Machine and my eyes still hurt from seeing Rob Corddy's ass over and over again. What a horrible movie. John Cusack, I trusted you! You always make fun movies and this one was pathetic. At least I got to come home and see Julie & Julia again which was a joy for me. We also rented Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant which was pretty good. Not quite the movie-fest we had last year though.

Wish I could say I feel all relaxed and refreshed from my time away but I feel more exhausted than ever. I do look forward to future foodie adventures, my food blog is coming up to its one year anniversary. Next Monday I am going to have a little contest there so I hope you stop by and celebrate. I have a hard time doing anything for a year, it is kind of amazing to me that I am still inspired in my kitchen. Hopefully I will get inspired in other areas of my life when and if the sun ever returns to Nova Scotia.

Hexed: Episode 7

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Episode 7: Escapism continues with Escapist TV

Hexed Podcast's Podcast

Yes, we have two episode of Hexed available this week! Hexed Episode 7 is all about escaping through our five favourite escapist television shows of all time. I love how Shannon and I have similar lists but also very different. We have lots of other info on there too for you to check out. For a detailed list, click here so you can just listen to what you want to hear.

Currently I am on "holidays" and taking a bit of a cyber break and loving escaping through TV, now that our favourites shows are back. Tonight? Supernatural and Vampire Diaries return! Woohoo!

I know a lot of people don't like TV and that's fine. If you listen to our podcast you will hear why I love escapist TV so much. There are some things in life that require escaping. It is a miracle I am not glued to the TV 24/7 these days.

So far we have had mostly gloomy weather this "holiday" which is mostly being spent getting stuff done that we need to get done. I think I am going to need a vacation from my vacation. Hope you are all doing great!

Hexed: Episode 6

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Episode 6 of Hexed is now available to listen to! Since there was ZERO TV on last week (ugh!) Shannon and I talk all about escapist movies and some with a paranormal twist. Find out how you can look at Alice in Wonderland from a paranormal perspective. Shannon and I talk about why we found Paranormal Activity so scary and yet other people didn't. Find out why Shannon's experience of The Fourth Kind and my experience were so completely different.

Episode 6: Escaping from TV to Escapist Film

Hexed Podcast's Podcast

If you want to skip past certain movies you can do so thanks to Shannon breaking down the episode here. We did our best to avoid spoilers, just talk about general themes and ideas but just in case! We would hate to spoil anything for you. You can also listen and hear me nag about not using a ouija board!!!!!! And I talk about why they don't burn.

I love talking to Shannon about movies, something we have done since we were wee ones together! We had a few moments of lots of giggles and Shannon shares this crazy dream which gets me cackling my ass off! Shannon is the Movie Moxie and always has fun stories and is so passionate and insightful about movies. She is my sister so we always have fun together and I love connecting with her online about TV and movies. I hope you have as much fun as we did recording it! You even get to hear us howl like werewolves at the end!

What I learned from The B52s

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On the weekend my awesome friend Kelly scored some tickets to The B52s concert at the casino in Halifax (you rock Kelly!). I grew up with the songs Love Shack and Rock Lobster but I did not know much about this band and was I ever blown away by them. They have been performing for 30 years together and nothing is slowly them down.

How I adore that at no matter what age you are, you can still get away with glitter dresses, feather boas, wigs and wild sunglasses!

The performance was filled with a chronic sense of wild humour. Toys were used not only as props but as musical instruments. My favourite part was when Fred tried to blow us away with his rocket guns.

We were constantly laughing and amazed at how creative the band was, not to mention how loud the music was getting belted out. I was in good company at the end of the night, not being able to hear anything people were saying. It was a small venue and yet the music was belted out to blow away an arena. This was the first performance in Halifax I saw people running to the front, unable to contain themselves and dancing their asses off. Bravo Halifax! By the time Rock Lobster was performed there were not many people left seated, I certainly wasn't sitting down.

Glamour, music and fun are for everybody. This band is all of those elements and then add on a dash of wildness. It amazed me that they are still going crazy on stage all these years later and are still absolutely fantastic. It taught me that it is doing what we love that keeps us young and inspired. Being who you really are, no matter how eccentric, will always be cool in my world. Whether it be because you are crazy about ghosts or about baking cookies. It's all good.

The Happy Book

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My husband is home on holidays for a while which makes me very happy. We rarely get leisure time together at home and yesterday was the first day and I baked us treats like this cinnamon swirl pecan loaf and experimented with a green smoothie to celebrate the coming of spring this weekend, which also makes me happy. A change in pace, time with my honey, actually getting out of the house and when we're home? I play in the kitchen. Love it!

Wishcasting: What do you wish to pay attention to?

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Jamie at Wishcasting asks this week: What do you wish to pay attention to?

I wish to pay attention to my instincts. My instincts told me the first time I came to visit Nova Scotia that this was not the right place for me. No, I do not live in downtown Halifax in this industrial area but these kinds of areas scare me. They always have. Even when I was a young girl and we would sometimes drive in downtown Toronto and I would see the factories, smoke stacks and burned out buildings... I was terrified. They are everything I am not about. Even out in Nature here, I can never feel her. I thought that would change over time but I was wrong. As the snow melts away all the trash is revealed once again. I want to be happy spring is here but then I see all that garbage and I want to weep.

The other day I was walking home with my groceries. It was chilly but the sun was shining. I tried to lift my face up to the sun in appreciation. A car drove up right behind me right where we had our car accident and a guy screamed in my ear. I jumped so high I almost landed in the ditch, where I surely would have broken something. It is a miracle that my lower back did not get pulled again. I called him a "fucking asshole!" as he drove away, completely shaken once again.

My instincts? I think they're screaming, "Get the hell out of here!" Don't get comfortable. Don't make this a home. You don't belong here, you never will. Get out as soon as you can.

And I will. As soon as I can jump ship, I will do it. Until then, I cleanse my home. I light candles. I avoid crazies and garbage. I won't get comfortable. I will bake, cook, save money and then get the fuck out of here.

Hexed: Episode 5

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In episode 5 of Hexed Shannon and I explore what we liked and did not like about Destination Truth's Big Foot episode. We also discuss issues around "real life" paranormal shows as well as going over Medium's latest episode where Alison appears to go back in time to her pre-wedding days.

Episode 5

Hexed Podcast's Podcast

It is a shame that I chose a not-so-exciting Destination Truth episode for us to watch because the show in general is very entertaining and I have grown to like Josh as a host and alpha explorer very much. I highly recommend the Bermuda Triangle episode and the Chernobyl one too, freaky! This week on Medium Alison teaches us the importance of trying to make a difference with the gifts that we are given.

Next week, since everything seems to be in repeats this week, we will explore the joys of escapism through film, Shannon's big passion and obsession. We will talk about Alice in Wonderland, Paranormal Activity and The Fourth Kind while trying to avoid major spoilers.

Please feel free to join our new Facebook Page for Hexed! Hope you all have a spooky day!

New Moon Cleanse

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It is the new moon and the sun is shining here! We are supposed to get a warm day today (well not above 10C but I will take what I can get) so that inspired me to do some extra magickal stuff today. I went through the house, in each room I used my weird-looking white candle that definitely seems to be fighting off darkness and blessed each room in the name of the God and the Goddess. I banished the dark, filled it with light and once each room was done I went to the kitchen and opened the window and asked the power of air to fill my home with new and happy energy and to push out the bad energy.

Just down the steps in a straight line from my kitchen window is my front door so I envisioned the dark energy getting blown out the front door. Thrice I said, "Be gone!" and then shut the door.

Then I got out my protection incense and went through the house fortifying it against dark energy.

I got out some rose water and blessed each window and door of my house, inviting in good energy while keeping out the bad. I want energy to flow in, not just lock myself up against all energy. We need to breathe and spring is almost here, time to breathe deep! Roses are very significant for me and my husband so to have each room smell like roses is wonderful. A sprinkle of aromatherapy in with all of this magick!

At the end I went to my crafts room and got out my silver bell and rang it to call on my spirit guide and friends. I proclaimed the house was cleansed, protected and blessed. That I was ready for a new phase in my life. Time to let go of the old and let newness into my life.

I am already feeling much better. It feels good to say to the universe, I am a child of light and deserve happiness and protection from the dark. I hope you say it too.

Spiritual Housekeeping on Monday!

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Nope, this isn't my house, this is the tree-killer house, they just cut down more trees in their backyard, the freaks!

On Monday it is the new moon so if you want to do some spiritual housekeeping, bring out your candles and your brooms. What have you been aching to remove from your house that does not feel right? Stuff holds energy. Maybe there is something you need to let go of that is more symbolic? How can you cut the ties?

Me? I am going to open my windows and let in some fresh air! Then I will close them (it is still freezing here, -2C ATM) and go through the house with a white candle and tell each room I am a child of light and am protected from the dark. Then with my cinnamon broom I will sweep the crap energy out my front door. Then I will use incense to bless each room.

My only rule is you have to talk out loud! You have to say something to the universe so it hears and resonates with you. This is not prayer, this is you standing up for yourself with your words and actions. It may feel weird to say the words at first but please try. If you just can't, then meditate with a candle and say, "I am a child of light" to yourself. But please try to say the words out loud OK?

During the week I will work on physically cleaning my house, carefully and slowly, my back is still hurting. The week after that my husband and I are going to go through the house and getting rid of all the stuff we should have gotten rid of before our last move but didn't because we were given a week's notice that we were moving. I need a fresh start and there is so much stuff dragging me down.

If you can not participate on Monday, don't worry about it. It is not about doing something at a special time, facing a certain direction. It is about participating when you can, how you can. The important thing is to be aware of the cycle, the timing that this is when it is best to let stuff go: physical, spiritual, mental, emotional... Do it your own way. What would feel powerful? What do you no longer need?

Let go with me during this cycle so we may all begin anew.

The Happy Book

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This week what has made me happy is sunshine and spiritual insight. I am freezing as I type this, the warmth has not found me yet, but it is a miracle to see sunshine in my kitchen! Soon the leaves will come out and obscure light in my north-facing window but for now, I will cook and bake and take lots and lots of photographs.

Cheddar Cheese Biscuits

Lately a lot of things getting have gotten in my way of spending time in my kitchen. This led to a complete breakdown and the frightful release of a creature I call The Kitchen Banshee. I took two days and spent them in the kitchen this week and just played with food and feel much, much better. Having sunshine keep me company and help make my food photos pretty made me feel like Nature is saying, "Go for it Suzie!"

I watched a video on Jamie's blog about Gabrielle Roth and in it she says something like, "The way out, is in." How that resonated with me. For a long time I had zero interest in staying inside, until I moved to Nova Scotia. I have worked hard at making my inside life a pleasant one since I really do not care about going out. I have in a way found freedom in food. I go on adventures, I travel the world through spices and I do things that scare me all the time so I am growing and becoming more courageous.

Jamie's interview with Keri Smith (Wreck This Journal Queen) got me thinking too. Keri talks about going into the scary wilderness, being brave. Well, I am not scared of the wilderness. I always felt safe and loved and cared for there. It is my true home. Perhaps that is why I am in the ugly suburbs? Here is where I fear to be? It is not easy being a witchy woman without kids or health enough to work in working class Nova Scotia suburbia. I am the weirdo. I talk to the trees (a tree talked back to me the other day, now that's progress), I sometimes feed the crows and sometimes they eat my food, I carry my groceries on my back dodging my neighbours driving by... No, it is not easy for me to be here at all. If I want to get out of here, I have to stop being scared. Fine, I can do that.

So lots made me happy this week and I learned a lot from my sister Jamie. My happiness will continue to grow because we are chatting this afternoon together, I always love talking to her.

Jamie is sunshine.

I am getting a healthy dose of Vitamin D this week! For my body and my spirit.

Wishcasting: What do you wish to say no to?

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This week for Wishcasting Jamie asks, What do you wish to say no to?

I wish to say no to all the crappy energy out there that loves to come and find me and gloom my life. As an empathic person, I pick up on everything. As a result, there have been years of my life spent in solitary confinement, fighting hard to keep the bad energy at bay.

Right now my depression is my own but it makes it all the more difficult to fight off the negative energy out there that loves to come for me. So I say no! On Monday March 15th on the new moon I hope you join me in cleansing your life and home of dark energy. I have done basic spiritual maintenance since we did a group cleanse on The Night of Hecate but after a long and difficult winter I am pulling out the big guns to do some spiritual spring housekeeping. You can find cleansing information here.

I do not have a lot of energy or strength right now so I will probably just be going through my house with a white candle and fill it with light. I will probably also put out small bowls of vinegar to soak up the bad vibes and then dump them down the drain.

I wish to say no to everything making me feel bad: sadness, health problems, bad weather, the cold, bad luck, a sense of doom...

I am taking back my life by fighting off the dark. So no to bad vibes. Light a candle on Monday and remind the universe that you are a child of light. You can banish the dark.

Ostara is just over a week away, spring is almost here. For those in the northern hemisphere, on Saturday March 20th it is time to celebrate the return of the light and the balance between the light and the dark tips towards sunshine once again. Before Ostara gets here let us kick out the spiritual baggage of a long and difficult winter together.

Blessed be.

Hexed: Episode 4

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This week on Hexed Shannon The Movie Moxie and I discuss last week's brutal episode of Medium. I am the regular watcher of the show and Shannon, who hasn't watched since the show started, asks me all about Medium in this episode. We also discuss how Medium is a more real-life supernatural show dealing with dark entities in our real world, not to mention it is based on a real-life woman taking on evil with her dreams and visions.

If you are in Canada and get the Outdoor Living Network, tonight on Destination Truth will be the Big Foot episode which Shannon and I will be watching and discussing in our next episode of Hexed, along with this week's episode of Medium. If you haven't watched Destination Truth, I personally highly recommend it if you love adventure and mysterious creatures and phenomenon. It will be the first time Shannon has seen it and I can not wait to find out if she likes it!

Episode 4

Hexed Podcast's Podcast

You can also go to our site and listen to it from there.

To make this post a little more light-hearted, I hope you enjoy this MadTV clip that parodies Medium and is one of my favourite MadTV parodies of all time during the golden age of MadTV.

Sometimes I wish you could see me and Shannon talking because you never know what Shannon is going to do, always unpredictable, fun and entertaining, oh Shannon, I miss you! I am so glad that we get to chat and have fun talking all supernatural TV, all the time with you.

Happy International Women's Day

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I am one lucky woman and I know it. I have fantastic women in my family. My sister Jamie on the left, our Mom is next, then Auntie Laima, me and last but definitely not least, Shannon! Here we are waiting for our names to be called at The Mandarin in Burlington, Ontario, for lunch.

I find it interesting how so many women have said to me that to not have children means you do not have a family. What complete and utter bullshit. I have family. LOTS of family. Family I love and cherish. Even if it were just me and my husband, we are still family.

This year for International Women's Day I want to express that I am a child-free woman without shame or guilt. I want to tell off the woman in a class that I went who told me I was going to die alone, to screw off. I want to stand up for other women who are feeling pressured to have kids when they do not want them, tell them to hold strong. There is nothing wrong with you! I want to say to all the happy Moms out there that I am happy for them but leave my uterus alone.

Today we can live whatever way we want to live. We have the power to choose who we are and what kind of family we want or do not want. This is a hard topic for me to write about but I am a die-hard feminist and for this International Women's Day I want to be bold. I want to be loving. I want to really be me and say, I am happy being child-free.

However you want to live your life, go for it. I am behind you. Please, be behind me.

The Happy Book & Hexed

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This week for Jamie's book club The Happy Book I would like to share that I am Happily Hexed. Me and my sister Shannon The Movie Moxie have our own online talk show about paranormal television shows called Hexed: the Sisterhood of the Supernatural. We even have a Facebook fan page!

Shannon does all the work with recording and editing (thanks so much Shannon!). I just show up via Skype and chat with her about TV. The hardest part for me is remembering the names of characters so for this week for our third episode where we discuss why we love True Blood so much I made sure to have a visual cue for the faces and names of characters which worked great!

Coming up with the name for the show was the hardest part. We wanted something pretty original that was not used like crazy and we were surprised to find out that the word hexed is not a super popular term. My sense is people are too afraid to use it which made me want to use it all the more. We are not afraid!

Hanging out with Shannon once a week talking about spooky TV makes me so happy. Shannon is always fun and insightful and even though we disagree on whether or not Eric is indeed sexy and charismatic, we still appreciate each other's opinions and laugh a lot. OK, I actually cackled this week! Shannon, I am so grateful you corrupted me into getting On Demand so I could fall in love with True Blood.

Episode 3

Hexed Podcast's Podcast

Every week our topics change. Right now there is a serious TV lull going on right now so this week we talk about the death of the show Past Life (although I thought there was hope that it would re-show in the summer but that is looking less and less probable now) and introducing people to the show True Blood. Shockingly in Canada the channel Space will be showing this radically violent and sexy show uncut beginning March 14th! We tread lightly around True Blood for those who have not yet been introduced to this kick-ass vampire show. We avoid big spoilers and discuss what we love about the show without, hopefully, giving too much away.

So make a tea, put up your feet and hang out with us as we talk about why True Blood is so freakin' amazing as my spooky house creaks and groans and I answer the question, "Do I believe in vampires?"

Invite: New Moon Cleansing Monday March 15

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I am thinking it might be a good time to organize a group cleanse? Anyone else interested? The new moon is just under two weeks away. It will be on Monday March 15th. The moon will be going void at 8 pm Eastern so if you want to participate, do try and do so before the moon goes void. What void means is the moon will not be in an astrological sign and is considered a time not to do any magick. I like working with the moon but if you have no other time, the void moon is fine. The universe is willing to help any time of the month, LOL.

The winter has got me down and I can no longer tell if what I am feeling are just my winter woes or am I taking on crapping energy. In the last five years I have felt significantly better when I have cleansed my home and myself but since I moved here, well, the oppression from being in a place I do not want to be stays with me. Still, it is good to do spiritual housekeeping on a regular basis.

For techniques and ideas, check out my cleansing links here. I have so little energy I think I will keep it simple and just do a white candle lighting ceremony. Do what feels right for you.

I hope you consider joining me. There is exponential strength in numbers! We all deserve to be free of darkness. We sensitive souls pick up on other people's energy so much. Let's kick it out the door together!

Wishcasting: What do you wish to make time for?

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This week at Wishcasting Jamie is asking what do you wish to make time for? As always, perfect timing Jamie! I am sitting here rushing because I have to go out to an appointment and have a million errands to do and I am all stressed because I have to rush but I wanted to take the time out and say thank you. Thank you to my readers and supporters. Thank you to my family and friends. Thank you to everyone who has helped me get through so much.

I am reminded of Gloria Steinem's book Revolution from Within and how she recommends not only writing letters of complaint but letters of thanks and appreciation. I write many letters of complaint all the time, it is one of my hobbies and ways of trying to change the world and make it a better place. This morning I wrote an email to a company who makes a product that seems to have changed the life of a loved one of ours so positively I just had to let them know. I can not go into details because of privacy issues but am so grateful to see how one thing has changed the life of someone we care about so much, so quickly. It truly is like a miracle and verifies to me that the joy of food and delicious flavours helps us thrive.

OK now I really gotta go or I will be late! Thanks to all of you for sticking with me through the darkness.

The Moon is a Tricky Beast

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Friday night we had a giant storm. Thankfully it was not a snowstorm or we would have been screwed. No it was a wind and rain storm and it was powerful. There are still people without power. Luckily I made it through with just a few scary moments of lights flickering but most people lost power. In the afternoon at the beginning of the storm I opened my kitchen window. I needed to feel that air. To breathe. It almost felt like spring. How my heart yearned for that to be true.

I asked the wind to bring good and positive change to our lives. To swoop through and remove the old and bad and stale energy and replace it with positive. To bring good changes to our lives and help us move forward. I closed the window and went on with my day.

The next morning I felt different. Lighter. Like I did after Samhain last year. It is not as though everything is perfect and fine but I no longer feel as oppressed as I once did.

Then the full moon came and when I choose a card from the Pagan Tarot Deck I got the moon card. I know this card well. Anxiety. False visions. Nightmares. Sure enough that night I had a crazy nightmare that my husband and I were standing on snow and ahead of me was the ocean. I could see sharks swimming in the water which was terrifying enough. Then I realized that the snow we were standing on was like an ice flow on top of the water. My brain almost exploded with fear. I screamed at my husband to run. I saw these sharks heads popping out of the snow, freezing in place as they tried to kill us. So terrified, I woke up.

Amazing how quickly a sense of peace can be replaced with fear. The good thing is I know enough about the full moon to know that she likes to play with fear, bring it up from the deep darkness and make us look at what we do not want to see. I am terrified of sharks and have been since I was a little girl and read the book Jaws. The movie only made it worse. I guess I am scared that this sense of safety I am feeling is just a clever trap to get me out into a dangerous place only to be devoured and murdered.

But is it true? Or is this just an anxiety dream?

I care more about feeling better than I care about indulging scary thoughts. I will focus on the less oppressive weight on my heart and hold on to that little bit of emotional freedom than getting lost in terror that may all be just one big fat lie.

The moon is a tricky beast and she loves to play with my brain. I choose instead to thank the wind for this spiritual breakthrough. I am an air sign. I will focus on my strength and not my fears.

Canada, my home

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Last night I got sucked into the hockey game between Canada and the U.S. The stress was unbelievable. When Canada won, I think I could hear a crack in the Canadian psyche. So used to being crushed in the last second by our neighbours to the south of us, we finally won. And at the Olympics, we won big. Not because we hosted the games but because our athletes were the fastest and played the best games. I will admit I did not watch most of the games but I always watched the news and felt so proud of our athletes and our country. I would have been happy for them no matter what but to do as well as we did warmed every Canadian's heart.

As William Shatner came out to do his rendition of the famous (well at least in Canada it is famous) I Am Canadian monologue I wondered how many Americans knew that Captain Kirk was Canadian? Yes, we are everywhere and it is all part of the Canadian Conspiracy.

If there is one thing Canadians do well, it is poke fun at ourselves and we do it all the time. Last night the closing ceremonies pulled out every single Canadian stereotype with glee as Michael Bublé sang The Maple Leaf Forever. Sadly I think this is where many broadcasters ended the evening but in Canada we continued to kick some musical ass:

Nickelback, Simple Plan... and my favourite performance of the evening, Alanis.

How amazing is it that the world finally sees us? Not just for being nice and polite but for all the talent that comes from here and spreads across the world. My one worry is all the people with lots of money who loved it so much they now want to move to British Columbia I ask that you save a condo for me.

For I really am Canadian and that is my home.