Growing pains

Who knew you could have growing pains in your 30's? I have learned so much lately about myself and others. It hasn't been easy but I feel I'm a better person for it.

I recently had another health evaluation which led to some new diagnoses. Without getting into it, I can just say that at first, I was upset. But I found peace within. I really believe that everything happens for a reason, and it's up to us, as individuals, to decipher what that is. At times I am defensive, and also, a huge pain in the ass. But my heart is always in the right place. I always want to do right, to ensure the happiness of my family and friends, and to be true to myself. No matter what happens each day, I pray to try to understand my purpose and actions when something negative happens. At the end of the day, I have to answer to myself and the big JC.

So here I am, a day older and a little wiser. The hardest thing to do, sometimes, is to forgive those who don't ask for forgiveness. And even harder yet, to forgive ourselves. Forgiving others is not for the sake of anyone but yourself. That isn't a bad thing at all, despite how it sounds. I think we need to admit our misunderstandings or mistakes and those of others so that we can move forward, for our own well-being. After that, you can let things go. My mistake is always trying to get others to see my side of things, hoping they will understand my intentions and my heart. When that doesn't happen, I keep pressing the subject, hoping for them to suddenly understand. That is my mistake. I need to stop after the first try and move on. If something is meant to be, it will be.

Here are the things that give me joy. These things are worth fighting for.

I put a print of this in EK's room. It is part of the "Voyage of Life" series painted by Thomas Cole. This one is "Youth." I know, the Romanticism period is a bit much, but I kind of dig some of the works that emerged from it. This series is in the National Gallery of Art.

I apologize to my atheist and agnostic friends who may find their way to this post. However this is part of me. It doesn't take away from my horrible sailor mouth and I certainly do not think I'm holier than thou. I do believe in a higher purpose and to trust in the higher being to lead me through the storms. Well, I've been working on this post over three hours, so it's time for this addled brain to bring things to a close. Have a wonderful, great fucking Saturday night. Tschus.

PS. If anyone has been deleted from my Facebook page, I apologize. I am trying to cut ties to an online group that once was my support network, but now fills me with a lot of pain. Please message me if you feel you've been deleted in error. I am sorry in advance if you get upset by this.

Grow baby, grow!

My plants have done really well, despite the heat. I'm so glad! My flowers are beautiful and the herbs are awesome. I love being able to walk to the garden and clip off what I need to spice up dinner. I will definitely hang some more herbs to dry soon and make some pesto to freeze. I just got a few photos today to show you my progress. I didn't photograph some of my herbs today because the heat has wilted all the leaves. After a nice soak tonight they will be plump again. So in the meantime, I can show you some of the other plants.

You can see my lavender is huge, my coneflower has finally bloomed and my sage plant is doing well. Even my dianthus came back! I love the mums too, even though you normally see them in the fall. Sorry the photos are so small. I will also post them on Flickr later today.

My lovely grape tomatoes need to be picked every day. I better get munching on some salads!

And here is our compost heap. The cage was sold by the county to help residents go green after the county forbade grass and plant clippings in the weekly trash. We already had a heap but it wasn't contained and it was too close to the house. So here it is! I want to put some flower bulbs around it or something so it's not such an eyesore.

I also dried out some lavender and made some bath salts with the dried buds. I used Epsom salts, baking soda, dried lavender buds and lavender essential oil. I mixed them together and read that you should continue shaking the jar for a good week to get the oil to evenly mix with everything. And a little oil goes a long way, in my opinion. I like a hint of lavender and this smells nice. And the jar looks pretty too.

So that's all I have to show for now. I have a cross-stitch finished that I need to mount and frame. And I'm working on a new gamer pattern. I'm also trying to make EK a little dreamcatcher which has been an effort of trial by error. I'll be sure to link those posts from my crafty blog to this one, once they are finished and online. Stay cool friends! Tschus.