Bring on the divination

As regular readers know, I'm a fan of my horoscope. I don't let the "stars" guide me, but I do like to use the horoscope as a jumping off point for thinking about my life.
Same for the daily "lover's tarot" email I get in my inbox each morning.

Today, it really mirrored what has been going on with me lately, so I thought I'd share:

The Ten of Chalices card suggests that you should celebrate the completion of a journey, transformation or commitment. It's time to back up the ones you love while giving them roots and wings. You can expect the collective sensation of having finally made it as one big happy family. Perhaps the most important lesson to be gleaned from this sense of fulfillment is to simply enjoy being in the moment.

Honor and recognize your inner child through spontaneous and passionate expressions. You know that home, happiness and family are where the heart is. This sense of pride and joy may come from a focus on common values, a romantic desire sated or a dream achieved. Either way, you have an opportunity to share the love, express gratitude, expand your relationship and appreciate the stormy road that might have led to this renewal and wholeness.

Moving in with the boyfriend has been a long and sometimes arduous process, but I feel the beginnings of settling in and being a good family unit (that last part is really difficult for me, as my family of origin was good at picking fights and being unhappy with one another. I want to avoid that).

Right now I'm drinking my coffee and watching Twin Peaks (halfway through the first season). I've got some chicken poaching in wine and spices, and I'm making a chicken salad later on today with said bird.

Later today the "cable man" is expected to come and hook up our super high speed internet, which means I can cancel my DSL (although, honestly, I'm not sure I want to, with the outages Charter has been having 'round these parts as of late).

Back to coffee and a few more blissful, child-free minutes of morning solitude.

Leap Day Festivities

Here I am, bleary eyed and wondering what exactly I'm doing awake. I have an appointment later with my dreaded (and soon to be former) meds nurse. But I could have slept another 15 minutes, or even another hour! Sometimes I like to go to those appointment without the brave face I put on for all other occasions. It probably helps.

So first thing on the day which occurs on our calendar only once every four years?
A cup of coffee.

Or, more honestly, 15 minutes back in bed.

Okay, here I am back in bed (but blogging isn't resting, I call foul on myself), waiting for the water to finish boiling so I can make half a pot of coffee in the french press.

The rest of the day shall include: baking leap day cookies, eating breakfast and/or lunch and/or dinner, brushing my teeth, going to a party (maybe), wearing a dress I got for $5 (people, there are some great deals to be had at department stores this time of year if you are willing to dig - I got a great party dress at JCPenney a couple of weeks ago for less than $10, as well as two really nice cotton sweaters for the boyfriend for 4 bucks each!)and driving on the newly fallen snow (we have gotten record snow fall this year, and seem on track for 100 inches total).

I can't be the only one who LiveBlogs their life, can I?

Now I'm in the four minute waiting period between pouring the water into the press and pushing down the plunger.

And coughing. I really hoped my cough would go away by now, but alas...

And I'm thinking about things which I cannot discuss here.

And searching for how much snow we have had this month, because it's insane (but here's a link to a National Weather Service page talking about Wisconsin's worst snow storms)!

You know, now that I'm sipping my perfectly made cup of coffee (not too strong, smooth and not bitter, locally roasted fair trade beans from Nicaragua no less, with a splash of half and half), things feel a lot better. Thank you, coffee.

Okay, the coffee and the hunt for the exact info on snowfall totals are waking me up for certain.

Although I try to be an island (a lonely, barren island), I finally return to the social networking site where I know I saw the information, and found it! 31 inches of snow in February (which may or may not include the couple three we got last night). We had something like 28 inches in January, and have 12-16 inches of snow depth right now, and a total of 89 inches of snow for the season.

Wow.

We've have more later this week it looks like, but who knows... maybe 100 inches isn't in the cards for this season.

I'm thinking about making chili con carne today, with chunks of stew meat, and fresh jalapeños and... oh, those big green ones. Damn, my memory is useless lately. And onions and lots of garlic and ancho chili powder. I went shopping at 10:30 or so last night because I discovered it was snowing when I was on my way home.

I found some great deals on my brand of tampons and bought $25 worth, so I'm set for months (I really wanted to tell somebody that - they were at least $2 less a box, that's a good price). There was a group of young men there and one of them kept trying to get my attention. I'm tired, cranky, frizzy haired and have social anxiety. Plus I was at least 15 years older than he was. It was funny, because I just couldn't even do the thing women do when they don't want attention, which was be nice. I just hid behind the People magazine.

We left at the same time and he rolled down the window and yelled something at me, not anything rude or scary, but just a final plea for attention. I smiled and shook my head. And the snow fell on my hair, and when I got my stuff into the car, I looked up at the sky and felt very in the moment, being pelted by snow and buffeted by wind.

So, if you've gotten this far, happy Leap Day.

I gotta go get dressed and go see the evil nurse. More coffee is needed.

Not so smart

I'm really swamped right now. Because I've been spending so much time throwing things away (and trying to be thoughtful about how I put things back together - like with like), I haven't PACKED a lot.

Also, because I am giving/throwing away a good 30% of my belongings, packing is taking longer than I'd thought. My solution? Donate what I have organized, and take the rest at a later date.

Because I needed to finish a test for which I was woefully unprepared, I drank a small cup of coffee around 9:30 and now I'll be up until at least 2:30 because of it. I've been tired and overcaffeinated for days, by Monday I'll be psychotic. Okay, not PSYCHOTIC, but really strung out.

Bf has been a superstar during this move, and tonight he snapped when I was equivocating yet again about getting rid of something. The most wonderful thing was that it didn't turn into a fight (he was right, after all, and so was I), I didn't feel like a stupid jerk, and we moved on. That exchange feels very natural and monumental to at the same time.

I wish I could try out a new life instead of creating it - seems so much simpler, doesn't it?

Please send me all of your good housing vibes this coming week. I talked to someone today about what amounts to a phantom apartment (may or may not be available on the 15th of Aug) and I want it to be a tangible place by Monday when I call her back. I want to live in a certain neighborhood, and the almost 8 year old and I were in that neighborhood today looking at a "meh" apartment. My goal is someplace fantastic, cheap, and with a good 'vibe'. On a busline, close to cool stuff (cafe, park), and in a real, lively neighborhood.