.... and I hope I've made them right.*

I just finished reading The Book Thief and I am gutted, and heart-broken.  I knew it was going to be sad - I was aware of that potential from the moment I put it on my wish list to buy, but I had no idea just how hard it would be to finish the book.

The author painted such amazing pictures with his own use of words, he created the colors that formed the people in this story.  In the  2 days it took me to finish it, I felt like I knew each of the people, which is why I felt like a knife twisted in my heart when I got to the second to the last chapter and lost it so hard, I had to put the book down.

Every aspect of Human Nature is touched upon in this book. From the extreme cruelty and ignorance to the love and comforting touch of friends and strangers, The Book Thief encompasses it all and then some.

I don't want to post any spoilers, but if you love excellent characters, word play and fabulous descriptions and a good story of course, then read this book.  As a warning, you will need kleenex, a lot of it. I haven't cried this hard since I watched the season finale of Fringe, so there you go. 

As Liesel says, "words are heavy," and so they are, but they are also beautiful and I am so glad I read this book.   I am honestly not sure I could handle watching the movie.



*Quote from Liesel's book

This little guy came for a visit today. He perched on my rose plant pot for awhile, stretching his wings out in the sun. A very adorable bird!  I wondered what he might have to say so I looked it up:

Black Phoebe:
Black Phoebe presents opportunities to socialize and be more active with others. She designates the balance between masculine and feminine energies; the power and strength of the sacred feminine as well as the delicate beauty of male expression. All is One. She demonstrates the art of timing for your emotional and spiritual nourishment. Black Phoebe illuminates underlying hidden knowledge and wisdom. This creates a more solid foundation to build upon. She aids in heightening the powers of observation in the stillness within. She teaches listening to the heart that attunes you with each beat. Listen, for it will propel you onward. Black Phoebe's medicine is about expressing yourself by balancing the heart and the joy it brings. She brings music to the soul as emotions are stirred. The time period for her lessons cover about a month with quick transitions. Within three to six days the process will start. The next two weeks sees the result come to fruition. Two weeks later her lessons are incorporated. Allow Black Phoebe to show you how to fly.

Which is pretty interesting as today's Animal Medicine is Hummingbird - and the two have similar attributes - Hummingbird. 

I am always happy when Nature comes to visit me. I don't get as much interaction as I did when I was in Boston or Ohio.  I miss it daily.

This one is taking a lot longer than the last two. But it is twice as big. Lots more teeeny numbers to hunt for. I am loving this - all those lush colors make my eyes happy.

The past few days the local animal population has been acting strange.  The crack cricket has been staying up until after sunrise, being just as vocal - which is odd since he usually goes to bed during the dark of night. Also, the bats have been super vocal - usually they make a few chirps and that's about it.  Neither of them predict earthquakes, so I have no idea what, if anything, this bodes, but I am keeping my eye on it to see if anything occurs.

I also had a dream that a chicken decided to adopt me.
Chicken Dream InterpretationIn general, a chicken dream is a message that you may have to re-evaluate your response to something in your waking life. Are you responding from your heart or out of fear? Are you backing down when you should be standing up for yourself? ( I tend to back down a LOT in my dreams which drives me nuts - I mean I used magic dangit, none of this victim crap anymore)
Be sure to take the time to work through things and see where it takes you. Usually, you can grow from it! One of these fowl in your dream is also a symbol of your vast potential. The vision is letting you know that to achieve your potential you must find the courage to overcome your fears.

  I just finished Time's Convert by Deborah Harkness and was so happy with it that I giggled loudly and many times at how happy it made me.  I knew it would be a great book, but it surpassed that level of great into the stratosphere. I loved seeing all my favorite characters from the trilogy again and learning some fabulous backstory too.

Harkness weaves such a good story and she knows how to detail it with her vivid historian background. *happy happy*

​Have you read these yet? Go - shoo - read - I'll wait!

Yep.... I am seriously addicted to Paint by Numbers.... and then I went to Hobby Lobby. I had never been in a Hobby Lobby before. Holy Crap!

This one is just up the street from me, potential problem, and it just opened 4 days ago. Still had that sweet new smell and it is HUGE. The parking lot was full but inside you couldn't tell there were a ton load of people in there.

I can see myself actually wanting to go back there... like daily.  Should I be worried about this?

Also.... this:  I mean, I cannot, simply cannot, stop laughing....
Remember fuzzy Jesus, restoration?

This is better... just click, trust me. And maybe, don't drink anything while you do!

Quote from WeeCubeMan: "What brand of synthetic neon green track suit is Jesus wearing?" and "Is that a plastic ball or a globe? Both being objects that were, you know.... around when Jesus was a baby."  " Also, was hot pink in style in the 0000s?"

DYINGGGGGGG

First: A Quick taste of the Affogato Diaries - mini version... This one was done on the quick and it wasn't too bad.  Same supplies as the previous AD - read here.  The differences were small but I think made it slightly less tasty - The glasses weren't chilled and the espresso was pre-made and then heated in the microwave - WeeCubeMan totally nuked that espresso LOLOLOLOL

Affogato scale of awesomeness a 10 being the best
First affogato: 4 
Second affogato 7
Third affogato: 9.5 - there is always room for improvement but this was a solid awesome treat!
Fourth affogato: 8.5 - tasty but slightly nuked LOL
Fifth affogato: TBD

More paint by numbers fun in my artistic tab... these things are amazingly good fun.

​

Dream land:  Some really great dreams followed by a few fallow nights of not being able to wake up enough to write them down.  It's odd, but a night without recalling dreams is like waking up with no road map to what comes next.  That is the best I can explain it anyway.  Maybe it's because I have been trying to really work with my dreams to progress to whatever it is I am here to do and not having a recall after nights of great dreams, leaves me feeling out of touch the next morning.

​I do know I have much more to explore as my last dream had many doors left to open, although some were locked... but I will get there. 

Synchronicity of note:  many 8s in my dreams lately - along with pulling the 8 of wands with a higher percentage than one would think it would show up.  Combined with my dreams, it is a positive sign, forward momentum and progress is happening. I like that sort of thing!

Wow.  That was me upon waking up from several series of dreams this morning.  The past 2 days has seen a tremendous upsurge in dream imagery and I have been able to not only remember the last dream I have upon waking, but the dreams prior as well.

Upon first glance, they almost seem violent/sad/lonely but then you really get into the layers and find they are powerful, empowering and generally kick ass.  When one decides, in dreams, to stop letting things steam roll one, to join with the Shadow, Animus and Self, when subconscious and unconscious merges with Ego.... WOW.

This is the very first time I can remember using "magic," in my dreams. Most of dreams up til now have just been me being average and doing average things. Last night though, after dealing with trials and negative situations in the dream zone, I decided NO MORE. And duuuude, magic happens.

​

That, was actually an image in my dream - that sort of power I guess.  Wave a hand, door slams shut kind of thing.  It was awesome and amusing, mostly because I knew I was dreaming, it was kind of lucid, kind of letting it go it's own way to see what happened. 

There were some funny scenes, mostly taking place in a mall type setting during the xmas holidays - malls are good settings. Full of choices, things you want to add to your life. Even the little scenes within the big scenes were full of tidbits of symbolism that made me laugh. Dreams never stick symbols randomly, they all tend to mean something... it's remembering what they were that can be tough.

One of my favorite lines that I said was, "I've got weaving skills"  which actually cracked me up enough to slightly wake up before going back into the dream. Another tidbit was seeing a woman carrying the magazine, "Where Women Create," in her basket.  I am like, "OMG can you be more obvious and AM I PAYING ATTENTION?"

Deciding to own your power, to become the hunter, not the hunted, is a huge thing.  And once I quelled all the negatives in my way?  I had a lunch date with me, myself, and I, in the form of me, a female and a male, also, me... and we all sat at a table and the scene was happy and filled with love.

I have never had anything like this last series of dreams and it felt very awesome and empowering. And it gave me a lot of direction.  Dreams are good that way, if you listen to them.

I am a wonderful procrastinator. I am really good at it, which is probably a bad thing, but hey, it's nice to excel at something, right?

I tend to leave things in a pile until the pile gets scary. Then my dreams end up like last night - where I have a ton of laundry to wash and too many choices and then I wake up and realize I really need to get my act together and get. stuff. done.  (In dreams: Clothes needing washing: taking care of things, cleaning up a situation or restoring order to things)

So. I did.  Everything that I piled up is now done or scheduled or whatever. And as always, it feels totally good to have it all out of the way. And I tell myself I won't let it get that way again and look how awesome it is to have stuff done and go me and then of course, I will let it happen again because it is how I roll.  *blink blink*

After I got all my things taken care of, I pulled a card and got the Fool - a PERFECT representation of how things are right now. (the past week all my cards were about energy and movement and being creative and getting things done and don't be lazy LOL)

This card though, The Fool - a great flood of energy, a feeling of lightness - liberation. Whether it is a beginning or and end, there is a nice road to travel right now. Staying focused on objectives and traveling lightly is freeing. Let some of the baggage go and use your energies better.

I'd say that sums up my day quite well.