THIS is what I have to live with

I found this on the kitchen bench when I was cleaning up today. Not entirely sure if he was joking. If you asked Steve if he was, he'd say 'No' with the straightest of faces.

I can't ever win.

Bad Mother Alert

I have no idea how many teeth my child is "supposed" to have by any given age.

What's more, I haven't even looked it up now that I am aware I don't know. Haven't asked anyone. Don't know if the LGBB is currently cutting her 2 year-old molars, or.... do they get molars at some other stage? Is it 6 year-old molars? I seem to remember this phrase.

Oh, I don't know. All I know is, I am right proud of myself for working out (no thanks at ALL to the GP we saw on Tuesday) just what has made my little Blissbomb turn positively atomic since last week. I had the presence of mind to check her teeth. She's done that telltale give-away: sticking not just a finger or two, sometimes her whole fist, into her mouth and gnawing it like she used to when she was a baby. Dribble and all. After the umpteenth, "Get your hand out of your MOUTH, please" the penny suddenly dropped. Oh, cack. It wasn't an ear infection she had on the weekend that was raising her temperature and making her drop, perpendicular to the floor, and whimpering, "My eeeear!" Teeth coming through are pretty darn close to ears. It was probably something to do with her teeth. I wondered if she had some sort of infection in her jaw from an uncleaned tooth or something then. I never expected it'd be teething/more teeth coming, I thought that was all past.

When I took her to the doctor, he was as useless as they always seem to be whenever I tell myself I'll feel better and less guilty if I take her... to a doctor who always, always ends up doing jack *sorry, off my high and mighty soapbox now* And he said, "Well, if she had an ear infection, it's all clear now, I don't see anything wrong with her."

Yeah? YEAH, buddy? Well, we'll invite you to come to our place when we have a listless daughter flaked out on the couch, holding her neck behind her ear, TELLING us for crap's sake that her ear is hurting and generally being unwell in herself and an absolute terror to approach and do anything with - oh boy, didn't we have a lovely family weekend cooped up inside because of the rain, the sleet, the snow (ok, that was a bit far), getting all tetchy at each other with Mummy and Daddy taking it in turns being the soothing/good cop (but most of the time both of us considered the bad cops). Never before have we cowered, half-giggling, half-shocked, in another room while our little girl flailed about during yet another tantrum, where we'd look at each other wide-eyed and mouth, "Oh my GOD, I think she's broken, she gets this from you" like we did this past week.

So then, later that day after visiting Dr Useless, I decided to make a game of looking in her mouth to count her teeth. Lolly thought it was great. Thank God! I counted ten on the bottom, ten on the top. And then, saw two more bottom molars and one top molar just breaking through.

YEEEEOUCH!! I don't care what anyone says, babies feel their teeth coming through, how could they not!? Perhaps some don't register the pain or the sensation/s. But I cannot accept they feel "nothing".

So. How many teeth and by when? (approximately of course) That is the question.

Mandala Meditation Monday #1

Finally, I've had a brainwave (not that I was trying) for a kitsch little theme day all of my very own. Ha-ha!

Little did I know, when I vowed to myself sitting there at my second Energenetics class last Wednesday that I would make Monday mornings my study/meditation/connection time, that M stands for ... Monday and M...andala and .... Meditation! Brill!

Seeing as what I work with is a collective consciousness (well, we all do, really, but how aware are we that the "fitful night's sleep I had last night" has also happened to our neighbour, the butcher, the kid up the street, the elderly lady in the next suburb..... etc.), I have decided that whatever general public/consumption mandala meditation stands out at me from the morning's work is the one I will put here on my blog.

I am figuring, if it is pertinent to me, odds are on that at least one of you reading will also gain some support from reading/seeing it. I find them such upholding things - geometric shapes aside, it's the words that I find such a great comfort when the mandala is "the one" for me at that particular moment - that I can't just sit here with them all to myself and not share them!

I've been waiting for a way to open up where I'm not forcing the exchange on here. And it seems, after this morning (when I was working on opening up the first gateway of my awareness to try and shed some light on the virus that is impinging on my health - I believe it entered last August during the hand, foot and mouth fiasco last year and hasn't properly left either myself or the LGBB), I have been given the nod from somewhere upstairs.

So. Today, this is what has jumped out at me. I hope one of you at least finds it a timely read :) Do let me know if it has any meaning for you! (you can always email if you prefer not to comment). You may wish to obtain some coal and sit with this - put it on your work space or tuck it in a pocket, etc. - if you feel it might give you added support. It is as simple as reading the text below, but sometimes it helps to consciously ask for the energy of that particular stone essence to be "placed in" your pattern.

Enough with the getting-confusing-now talk. On with the first Mandala of the day!

10. The ANCESTRAL SHIELD

the colour of ...RICH MAGENTA
the sound chord of …D suspended 2
the essence of...COAL...'to kindle'... As an Earth-reliever, COAL acts as a capsule to contain toxins and cleanse pockets of hurts which have loaded the Earth’s energetic fields. It filters and draws emotional residues and toxins that have dammed and created blockages. COAL, then, may encourage you to work through the communication levels of feelings rather than storing them. It helps to eliminate the false majesty of the ego, bringing the ego into the more responsible stance of accepting your service to a cause. For those working within the broad service of cultural prejudices, COAL helps to promote the suspension of judgement and comparisons and so allows you to walk freely with your own ability. Encompassing a broad energy for bringing through expansive understanding, COAL allows for the peace and space wherein your own needs may be met. It assists in easing the stress on your nervous system. COAL may be used for genetic alignment in order to dissolve past persecuting patterns which hinder your seeking of spiritual productivity (particularly that which pertains to the ancient knowledge and lost civilizations). It also treats the mental restriction relative to your opening to the perception and understanding of such lost wisdom. Relieving depression (for whenever the body is under assault and there is a need for tissue regeneration, depression always ensues), COAL stimulates tissue regeneration throughout the body especially when exposure to radiation has occurred. COAL improves your self-esteem and inspires you to experience higher spiritual truths. It temporarily aligns all subtle bodies which makes it easier for vibrational remedies to work more effectively. COAL may also be used for the fear of bringing the feminine into a more androgynous state.

This Mandala is the Gateway that will link you to the force and magnitude of your past. It also represents the encompassing of all that you are to carry into the future. The perception represented by this Mandala will aid you in toting the load of your passion and uniting it with your ideals so that you can create a shield of form for today’s reality.

This Mandala is about learning prudence through the advent of wisdom. It is about reworking your own perception from one of seeming disadvantage and turning it into an advantageous perspective so that you can recognise the scheme of an experience.

This Mandala is about turning weakness into worth—gathering medicine in order to perform, or create, a form that can transform vulnerability into sustaining strength. Although you should heed the call for discretion, you should not hold back but instead use wisdom to pave your way. Rather than using brutal force, or physical endurance, to beat the path to a solution, now is the time for you to stay quiet and use your sensitivity. Listening to your own sensitive view of a situation will allow you to be guided through the twilight and preserve the structure of your energy.

Meditating with this Mandala will greatly help you while your survival instincts gather the strength to become more reliable to your changing self. Such meditation holds the key to your visions and teachings thus far. This Mandala is your wisdom personified—the ability of your wisdom and worth—and your shield of preservation and possibility. This Mandala will anchor your vision quest to attain your heart’s true desire.

Do not create adversity through conflict. Instead, face your quest with discretion and prudence and walk the path of peace through wisdom. The state of your memory will remind you that your wisdom is embedded in links to your “ancestral home”. Be still, therefore, and call upon your Ancestor-hood to gather your tools of change for the new.

I would just like to acknowledge...

Four horses have been destroyed since last Thursday, the most recent at Yarra Valley on the weekend.

Why?

Because they broke a leg during a steeplechasing (or jumps) race. In the name of greed, they are being flogged and raced and pushed. And so many are being put to death, every race season, for what use is a lame horse, of course?

I just cannot accept that the industry has to keep going for the economy. In the name of entertainment of humans, what's a few dozen horse murders every year? Far OUT, people.

To the money-men:
When are you going to wake up, you f@&*ers, and quit this cruel "sport"?

Let me just reiterate: Four horses in four days. Whether you like horses or not, or racing or not, is not the point. How the hell is this allowed to happen??

Please help to END steeplechasing in Australia...better safety rules are NOT enough"

Bye bye, Bea

Love her or be grated by her, she was one inimitable woman who provided decades of entertaining lines in three long running series.

She was my favourite Golden Girl and I wished (now) I had seen her when she came out and did her comedy shows only a few years back. What an amazing and long career. I didn't necessarily follow her and wasn't an all-out fan, but - just as with any classic long time entertainer - it's kind of like losing someone you've always known. Because she's always been on the tv, somewhere, sometime, in something.

'Golden Girls' Star Bea Arthur Dies at 86

Her first word!

The LGBB and her Dad surprised me the other weekend by inviting me outside to see what they'd been working on.

My "name"! (see her version written there on the left in yellow?)

Lolly was so proud that she had spelled out "Mum", from copying what Daddy had written. And I have to say, I was surprised at how full to bursting I felt, once again in her short life so far, that we have created someone who writes now. My God! She can do something new! Again! *sob*

I find this all so amazing. Please let me never stop thinking this is all so amazing, what we have been blessed with.

Kickstart a sluggish metabolism AND help your TTC??

Here is an easy way to get a few extra healthy minerals and goodies into your system. The smattering of chilli power, to taste, gives the added health benefit of triggering a slow metabolism. Boo-yah!

This recipe is from one of my dearest of the dear. Basically, a good egg, if ever I was blessed enough for a brother to marry one....


Yummy Seeds!

1 pkt sunflower kernels
1 pkt pepitas
Dash Tamari (wheat-free soy sauce, and the more healthy, certainly the more superior in quality and taste, for mine)
Dash sesame oil

1. Heat a frypan on low heat. Add the seeds and gently cook until browning, stirring continuously.
(do NOT leave them alone, not only do they pop - so be warned! - but they all of a sudden start to brown instantly. Takes a while to get to this stage if your pan is not very big, and sometimes it's easier to brown them in batches, but you need to stand with them, stirring frequently).
They'll be done when you notice your pepitas are puffed out and not flat (mmmm and then they melt in your mouth when you're done cooking this recipe!).
2. Keeping the heat on low, add a dash of sesame oil (don't overdo this part) and stir through thoroughly so that a light, even coating on all seeds.
3. Switch off the heat.
4. Add your dash of Tamari sauce. It'll sizzle and smoke impressively, basically it will mostly be burned off by the heat - splash the sauce in sparingly and stir through, add more drops to desired taste.
5. Dust with chilli flakes/powder (but flakes work best) - start sparingly with this too. Taste test. Add some more until desired hotness is reached.
6. Allow to cool and store in glass jars.
7. Eat often and enjoy!

These are sooooo more-ish. I cook up a big batch every few weeks and they make great nibblies if you don't feel like fruit or some other healthy substitute. They taste like they're an indulgence (to me, anyway) and nobody else in this house likes seeds - ewwwww, seeds and nuts, pah pah, says Steve - so I feel like these are even more of a treat, just for moi.


Here are some of the benefits of the pepitas:

Lower Cholesterol
A Rich Source of Healthful Minerals, Protein and Monounsaturated Fat
Anti-Inflammatory Benefits in Arthritis
Protection for Men's Bones (from the zinc found in these super-seeds, which also has links to aiding in prostate health and sperm function/motility)
High in protein, along with some valuable minerals such as magnesium, manganese, copper and iron

And the sunflower seeds are just as fantastic:

High source of folate
Rich in the antioxidant (and natural blood thinner, all you ACA girls!) Vitamin E
Contain mono- and poly-unsaturated fats, which bind to bad cholesterol (I think? I flunked Chemistry pretty badly) - or at least, assist to keep it away/down
High in selenium and copper, a natural way to prevent cell damage

I reckon these may just be the ideal baby-making/preparatory snack, I've just realised!!