karismar

I’m bedding down for fall/winter and will not be around for awhile. My gardens/yards need attention as does the house so that we’re ready for fall and winter weather. Also, my teenagers are in a high emotional needs time right now and I want to be completely available to them.
I’ll be posting again in a month or two depending on how things go. I hope you all enjoy the fall season.

the longer I live the clearer it is to me that life is not a finite achievement to be accomplished. It is what I breathe, see and feel every minute of every day. There is not finish line, as I used to think when I was a young mother/wife.

Emotions and "hits" are difficult to maneuver through, as my oldest is experiencing. Heartache and struggles are inevitable despite our good intentions. The phone rang Saturday morning at 2am. It was the call we all dread and hope we never get. "    " is in trouble and I need your help, said his roommate. Many factors were involved and none of them safe or good.  Then call number 2 came this morning for child #3.  My youngest has had his drivers license less than a month and had his first collision this morning. I’ve been on nearly no sleep the past several days from what is going on with my oldest and after receiving the phone call this morning about the collision it occurred to me that this is life. Messy and unpredictable, reminding us to stay on for the ride. It’s always risky and vulnerable to love so many and so much. It puts us out there on a tightrope with no net but when we do take the risk, the reward is so fucking great. Like a beautiful piece of textile with different textures and colors.

 

I took a short walk, cleared any pressures I had for myself to accomplish anything today and will just "be"….nourishing myself today so that I can nourish those who will need me when they arrive home. 

and yes, both children are safe and relatively unharmed physically.  

for any parents out there not wanting their child/children to receive propoganda from the armed forces, go to this site and print out two copies to sign. One copy is sent to the Pentagon, where our children’s school information is sent and then passed on to the armed forces, and one copy is sent to your local school superintendent. This is an opt-out form that tells them you do not want any contact between them and your child!

 http://themmob.org/lmca/

Many people do not know this but our public schools(which I stand in strong support of) are required to send student information to the Pentagon and in turn, our fucked up current government sends money back to the schools. Quite a trade, eh?   Thank George Bush for that in the No Child Left Behind Act

 

 

 

did anyone catch the NFL pre-game show tonight?  Bono and Green Day, wow!  The words they sang were so emotional, I cried through the whole show. Bravo to Bono as he is a true humanitarian. He has brought attention to serious world matters….

 

Of course, I wanted to vomit when they brought out George Herbert Walker Bush to watch the coin toss. Nice play on the part of our administration. Bring out Bush right before elections, to try and fool us into thinking the republicans are doing the job. Choosing GHWB over Bill Clinton, whom is the real President fighting for New Orleans.   sickening!

Here is the picture of the finished felted bag I mentioned earlier. I meant to take a picture before the felting process to show you the vast difference before and after. I did remember to take a shot of the felted slippers I’m making for my so and when they’re finished I’ll post both photos.
the color seems to be off…..the bag is really an orange and chocolate brown, not the pinkish/red it looks like

The White House is currently pushing for a new law to allow torture of detainees in the “war on terror” — a law that would violate the Geneva Conventions and contradict our United States Constitution.

The proposed law would allow evidence to be withheld from defendants in terrorism trials, and severely restrict the fundamental right of habeas corpus. It would apply retroactively to 2001 — thus protecting Administration officals for illegal acts they may have committed. Most notably, it would allow the use of coerced testimony in military tribunals — even though this information has been shown not to be reliable.

In contrast, Senators Graham, McCain and Warner have recently defied the White House and helped pass different legislation out of the Senate Armed Services Committee. This bill has very significant flaws - but is a great deal better than the Administration’s proposal.

Their legislation would bar the U.S. military from engaging in “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment” of detainees, from hiding prisoners from the Red Cross, and from using interrogation methods not authorized by a new Army field manual. These principles should be taken as a bare minimum for any detainee policy that Congress passes into law.

Tell the Senate — the President’s torture proposals are simply unacceptable, and must never pass the Senate.

Go to www.actforchange.com and follow the appropriate links.

Better yet, sign up for their email notifications to stay on top of baby bush’s unthinkable actions

I haven’t had acupuncture for 2 weeks now and I can really feel it. I’m having a horrible bout of rapid heart beat/surge of adrenaline. I hate it. Somehow I have got to figure out a way to acknowledge the shit that comes in and then let it roll right off……. how the hell am I supposed to do this?!! Someone has to juggle the bills, keep everything and everyone running smoothly and keep myself walking down the rosy path. How the fuck do we handle the stress and not remove ourselves from the mainstream of society in the process? I really don’t get it. It seems to me the only way to remove the stress is to really draw myself inward and focus only on my family and myself. I’ve never been good at taking care of myself(great at nurturing everyone else) and I guess now I’m feeling the affects.
Just putting this out there into cyberspace hoping if I put it in “print” perhaps I’ll take my own advice and figure it out……

I meant to take a before picture but forgot. sigh Anyway, I’ve been knitting a purse/bag for myself and today is felting day. Felting is a knitted project that is washed in very hot water turning it into a form of fabric/textile.
The knitting is done on large needles and knitted in an oversized manner. During the felting process, the stitches are meshed together and disappear, creating a single piece.
I’ll post a picture when it’s done.

The rains have arrived in great force. Friday we had the storm of all storms. Hail came pounding down and the winds brought it in sideways. It was quite a sight!  I had just lit candles and tossed the match into the fireplace, not thinking about all of the papers and wood that was in there…..in a matter of seconds it had ignited and was on its way to a beautiful fire. It was magical being inside with the candles and fire with the storm brewing outside.

I finished putting up the lattice on the garage so the ivy can take hold and go to town. I’d like to get the garage painted before winter so I have one less thing to tackle next spring. My tree mallow had gone crazy wild in growth so I cut it way back in hopes for even more heighth next spring. They grow so well and fast that they are fast becoming one of my favorites!  They give such sought after privacy from the neighbors yards.

Firewood will be delivered this week in preparation for winter. K is putting up new gutters above the new back doors to redirect the rain away from the basement. This is the pnw after all and there is no denying the rainfall. I’m heading over to a local farmer later in the week(providing it isn’t pouring out) to pick apples for canning. I’ll can the applesauce and freeze apple slices for baking throughout the winter. I find that the apple slices are much better for baking if I freeze them…..canning them is just too much heat with the baking and they are too mushy for our tastes.

I pulled out the winter clothes box to exchange the summer clothes for winter. With a family of 5 it is a week long project for me but I’m always excited to see my sweaters and heavier pants……like opening a present. 

This fall I’m determined to tackle many of my sewing projects. I have plenty of flannels and warm fabrics to make some pajamas and blankets for us and I would feel so much better having them finished.  Maybe I’ll post some pictures when I get them made.

 

16 years ago I gave birth to my 3rd child…….a beautiful boy. He was born at 9:01am on 9/11/90.
Jump ahead 11 years…..9/11/01……as we were getting ready for school that morning, the reports were filling in. Most were uncertainties as no one really knew what was truly happening. We continued in our morning routine and I dropped the kids at school. As the day progressed the horror and sadness filled up and over. Schools were locked down and the children were unreachable. I could hardly breathe.
We were finally allowed to reach our children and seconds later I was handed a note from the birthday boy. This is from my teacher, he said.
As I read it, I wept. ” Dear Garrett, Today will be a day that will forever be remembered as a painful, horrible, sad time in America. However, most importantly it is a day your mother celebrates and will always celebrate. The birth of you. Never let what happened today overshadow the celebration of your life. Love to you and your family, Mrs. “M”
This young man of mine has something very important in store for him……his future is uncertain but all we need to do is look at the number significance in his birth, time of birth, and how old he was when the towers came down(11) to know he is meant for greatness. I don’t mean fame or fortune, something much deeper.
I will be spending the day in yoga breathing and meditation lighting candles for all who lost themselves on 9/11/01.
Happy Birthday Garrett