crowdog66

This morning George and I went out grocery shopping in a serious way: $250 at Safeway and $95 at M&M Meats. We now have the satisfying feeling of a full freezer, fridge, and pantry. (The guy who carried our delivered groceries up 3 flights of stairs was also happy with his $10 tip. Hey, if I can avoid hauling a huge-ass box of cat litter to the third floor I'm happy to reward someone else for accomplishing the task.)

And guess what showed up in the mail today? The athame for the Full Moon Group inner court! I'll try to remember to post pictures of it here after we consecrate it on September 16th; it's not fitting that anyone else sees it before the IC group, but trust me, it's simply gorgeous.

Fanfic is still flowing from my overworked brain. And work is... work. Lots of it and not enough hours in the day.

Back to it, I suppose. Tonight we have M&M Meats Chicken and Dumplings for supper -- a new product, but I have high hopes given their track record of creating excellent dishes.

(And a mini-rant... remember Dennis Leary's famous routine about coffee-flavored coffee?



Why the fuck can't they make shampoo-scented shampoo? I tried to get a basic shampoo today and found myself confronted with almost a hundred different products, none of which fit the bill. Gah!)

Okay. Work. Really.

*limps over to computer and sits down carefully*

Ow, my arms. And my legs. And my back! Coffee is on, and as soon as it's done I'll be using it to chase down a couple of extra-strength Aspirin.

The cause of my misery is (a) my poor physical condition, and (b) the Wen-Do class I took yesterday at the University of Manitoba, along with eastpath and cockatiel_art. It consisted of three two-hour segments: an hour of discussion followed by an hour of physical technique and practice. Twelve students learned how to stand in balanced fighting stance, how to yell "NO!" from our belly with every blow, and various "soft" and "hard" techniques of attack. ("Soft" techniques cause injuries that are non-life threatening and will heal completely. "Hard" techniques cause injuries that are potentially life threatening and will not heal completely if the person survives.) We discussed the theory and legality of women's self-defense and found out how to slip free of various types of holds. And we nibbled on cookies brought by the instructor, who is Jewish -- delicious little folded creations filled with dates and raisins and poppyseeds.

(EDITED TO ADD: The cookies are called Hamantaschen. Thanks to nightdog_barks for providing the name and the link.)

When the lunch break came the instructor asked if she could come along with eastpath, cockatiel_art and myself. We had a nice meal and a very interesting conversation at one of the University restaurants. It turns out that the instructor has two cats, as did the rest of us, and that she owns all the Matrix movies and simply loves them. eastpath and I also told her that we might be interested in intermediate and eventually instructor training, which she was pleased to hear, since she's currently the only Wen-Do instructor in the city. (Training takes about two years. Yowza.)

I got home barely in time to greet people arriving for the Full Moon Group outer court ritual. (That's the third ritual in four days for anybody who's keeping count.) Usually I am fully present, aware, and engaged during rituals, but yesterday I was so tired and worn out after Wen-Do that I felt too fuzzy to really concentrate and direct energy properly. (I even placed the God and Goddess candles in reverse orientation while setting up the altar... *sigh*) I hope that others found the ceremony more fulfilling than I did.

After the ceremony, as we ate the post-ritual meal, we ended up watching The Matrix on A&E. We came in right at the beginning of the Neo/Smith fight scene, which led diamond_lies to remark: "Neo and Smith. TOTALLY hot." Heh. I'll have to send her some of my Neo/Smith fanfic.

On a more seriously note, one of the members of the outer court approached me privately in the kitchen and asked me to help her out with her self-dedication ritual into the Wiccan religion. I was pleased, honored, and touched. She and her husband are taking a "ritual hiatus" for the next six months due to baseball season (they both play), and during that time I'll be meeting with her about once a month to discuss her progress to date and suggest reading and resources to help her fill in any gaps in her knowledge. I hope to see her self-dedicate by next Beltane, which is a little bit over thirteen months from now.

So... the aftermath. Last night I was exhausted and vaguely achy. This morning the various aches have sharpened into pain, especially in my back and arms. (We did proper warm-ups and stretches prior to the physical training. I'm just not used to that level of activity.) And I'm very stiff, which I hope will work itself out over the course of the day. But I'm so glad that I signed up for the Wen-Do course and I'm looking forward to next week's session. I really do feel that if someone accosted me on the street, I'd now have a chance at fighting them off and getting away.

(EDITED TO ADD: eastpath suggested doing some soft stretches to loosen my muscles. And lo and behold, it has worked.

Ah, my... I don't know where my brain has been these last two and a half weeks, but I hope that it's coming home soon.)

Last night the Full Moon Group inner court held a dinner, get-together, and ritual for one of our members who's been having a hard time with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as the result of an armed robbery she suffered a few months back. I think it went quite well; everyone worked together with a pleasing rhythm, and I don't think I've EVER laughed that much in circle when, as the amulet was being passed around for each person to sew a token onto it, we started talking about very humorous matters. "Mirth and reverence", indeed.

After everyone had gone home I collapsed into bed and slept like the dead. This morning my back is hardly hurting at all in spite of sitting on the floor for part of the ritual last night. Perhaps whatever-it-is that's plaguing me is finally letting up.

News on the Mina front: About fifteen minutes ago I was sitting at the coffee table eating my breakfast, a bowl of low-fat vanilla yogurt with granola mixed in. Mina, who is usually about as observant and responsive as a stump, took a real interest in what I was doing. She came and sat in front of the table, looking at me intently. Then she jumped up on the table and sat gazing at the bowl in my hand. Then she slowly came forward and, with a tentative tongue, licked the edge of the bowl.

I shooed her away a little, scooped up a bit of yogurt on one finger, and offered it to her. She yummed it right up.

... my cat likes low-fat vanilla yogurt. The cat who NEVER takes any interest in human food. I guess I never noticed before because I've only recently begun to eat yogurt. I only gave her a little bit -- we'll see what it does to her digestive system.