Is Hypochondria Hypochondria If You Really Know Your're Not Sick?

Okay, so I got several mosquito bites about a week ago and now I feel crappy, so of course I have West Nile.  Do I need a doctor to tell me this, of course not.  WebMD has walked me through the symptoms, I've checked my glands thanks to the electronic copy of Bartlebys online reference books, my neck hurts, I feel weak and even though I feel like I have a fever, I really don't because I'm on Advil three times a day for my wrists and neck to stop hurting.  Of course it's going to spread to meningitis, encephalitis and eventually massive brain damage because of this new plague that has started to sweep the world.  Maybe this is where zombies come from.....Watch enough of The Walking Dead episodes and you begin to believe it can happen here....and it could be spread by mosquitoes and ticks and all the other little creepy crawlers that wait until we are sound asleep to infect us with the equivalent to a toxic viral stew. 

Okay, on some level, I know I'm not sick.  At least I hope I'm not.  I'm just tired and the idea that I would have to stay in bed for a few days and just sit still in the silence and shaded light sounds like heaven.  No offence to those suffering from West Nile, reading about it today makes it sounds almost unbearable (for those that survive) and it takes quite a long time to get over and I wouldn't wish that on myself or anyone else, but the silence...the bed rest....the darkness....to me in my wound-up state sounds like a slice of heaven.

So, was I bit by blood-sucking vermin, yes at least six times.  Was it one carrying the West Nile Virus? Who knows.  The only thing I do know is that if I don't start perking up I'm going to see my doctor to make sure I don't and maybe talk her into a B-12 shot.  I joke, but no one wants their spinal cord or brain to swell up and become irritated.....that would be like having an itch on your brain that no matter how far you push in the knitting needle, you can't scratch it.

Okay, I'm done whining now.  I just needed to get this down and out so I could sleep without visions of hospital food dancing in my head.

Addicted to Addictions

Someone stop me before I go broke(er)!!!

I've known about eBay, I mean seriously, who hasn't heard about eBay?, for a while now.  I have a friend that works there and she does a great job finding tech deals which I check daily, but what really, truly draws me in are the BEADS.  I found this necklace to the left and instantly fell in love with it.  I won't pay the price for it, not when I can make it myself.  (it probably won't be this nice, but it will be me).  So, I set off looking for a labradorite pendant that flashes the blues and greens like this one does.  Labradorite can range from a dirty gray crystal with flecks of color to something this sumptuous and ethereal.  What I truly love about this stone is that it looks like a drop of water with a world frozen inside.  The wire is oxidized sterling silver, which I learned you can put shiny sterling silver in a bag with a hard boiled egg and it will oxidize it for you, they caution you not to eat the egg afterwards.  The smaller beads are 4 or 6mm faceted garnet.  The other findings I can make up as I go along, which is exactly me.

Here's the rub.  Do you know how many beads, pendants, crystals, necklaces and other doo-dads that are on eBay for a remarkable price?  I could die a happy little addict if I hadn't tallied up my costs of what I've paid for so far....$107!!!!  I could have bought the necklace for that price!  Now, don't get me wrong, most of the money is coming out of my allowance, which I can spend anyway I see fit, but still that's a lot of money for four or five labradorite pendants that I purchased and then found what I thought was the perfect one on a Buy-It-Now vendor.....and then I found the ultimate bead for my necklace, and it isn't labradorite at all....It's amethyst.  I don't think it shows well here, but if it has everything I see in it, it should suit me just fine, and amethyst has an innate power of, get this, self-control.  Boy do I need that.  I plan on putting the other pendants to use too, who know, I might inspire someone's addiction in the future with eBay being the dealer of all addictions. After all, a good addiction is a shared addiction.

If I just bought labradorite it would be one thing, but I bought more amethyst, ruby, emerald, ruby in fluorite, druzy, sea settlement jasper, jasper, and peridot and so much more....the only thing bad for the addict is the waiting for it to ship from all over the freaking world!  What addict has that kind of patience, I ask you?  I have to keep my ruler handy too, because it looks HUGE on the screen and it arrives in a flat parcel and you realize it would best fit Barbie and her skinny little friends. Grrrr.

(For those of you wondering why I've been so quiet it's because I've been so internally dead from a tsunami of emotions I was barely keeping my head above water to do my jobs.  My mom is still alive and just turned 85, my parrot is doing fine, and I am getting my creativity on.  I'm even writing again.  I'm stockpiling all these elements for when my mom goes on vacation with my sister in June and I can take over the kitchen table so I can luxuriate in the creative juices.  I'm hoping this won't be the end of the imagination train.)

I've Found Heaven On Earth.....Still Heart Institute

So, I'm cruising Skyline on my birthday as a mini-no-money kind of vacation and I passed the gates of the Still Heart Institute.  I passed it, like I did the other places I saw and was mildly interested in. Only the calm and peace spilling over like a gentle waterfall from the property made me stop, turn around and ascend up the driveway to the beautifully naturally manicured front of old Lodge.  The parking lot was empty save a few of their shuttle vans and it intrigued me.  Was I coming upon private property, like a country club?After parking I walked up, I saw the maintenance workers cleaning things in what looked like a dining area and maids working on a balcony.  The entrance was around a man-made waterfall, the laughing water splashing on the rocky bed.  Carved stones marked the path with a simple message, reminiscent of the Bermashave signs of old, "How far down the rabbit hole are you willing to go."  At this point I though it was a rehab center.  Luckily, I was soooo wrong. 

Still Heart is a non profit institute for learning.  Any kind of learning.  The have retreats, they have guests speakers, they have food demonstrations. Anyone willing to take on the responsibility of creating a retreat is able to.  I had no idea we had such a bounty hidden in the hills.   I wished I knew about it when I was doing silent auctions for Make-A-Wish(r).  I would have bid the crap out of this item.

I sought out the administration office and got more information.  With the pictures of Buddhist monks in a the lobby and the absolute peace you feel when you walk through he doors, hell, I wanted to see if I could move in.  My heart has been searching for a non-church place like this.  I've only ever felt it in the temple.  If you take away the sacred significance of the temple, this would be the gentile counterpart.

I met Joanne Brohmer and she was kind enough t take me on a tour of the facilities.  They have in in-door pool filled with saline.  What that means is you have a slightly salty warm pool of water to swim in.  The salt is a natural chlorine that doesn't kill everything it come into contact with.  Next to the pool was an alcove here he bubbly hot tub was.  There is a dry sauna and changing rooms.  Up the flight of stairs there was the great room, where you can sit and look at the original Chihuly sculptures floating above you.  There is a piano,  circle of pillows, a balcony and 180 degree view of the misty trees just outside the building.

Though the accommodations were elegantly appointed, nothing prepared me for the guestrooms!!  Goodness gracious were they unbelievable.  Okay, maybe not the bedroom area, but the bathroom.....it was unbelievable!  It had a stall shower, a commode and then a bathtub I want to live in....and I could live in it if I had to.  It's that huge.  It goes above and beyond what a soaking tub should be.  Being 5'9" tall and almost as wide, you can see why a large soaking tub would be so desirable. (I didn't think to snap a pictureor two with my camera....dumb bunny)

Joanne and I talked numbers.  If there isn't a group of people there staying, anyone can stay without having to have to live up to the mandate  of education.  The price, again a shocker, $150 per person.  Considering what you would pay for a B&B that didn't have half the amenities as Still Heart, it's a bargain.  You can bring you own food or patronize the local hangouts  Two reservation-only continental restaurants and Alice's Restaurant aren't that far from this little bit of heaven on earth.

Why am I going on like this you ask?  Well, like I said they are a non-profit and are trying to stay afloat in this hellish economy.  By the time I get my money saved, it might be gone.  So, I'm asking, nay begging, if you want a place for peace, if you need a place for a corporate off-site, you need to call Joanne and see what you can arrange.  To loose something this perfect would be a sad, sad waste.

Yosemite Memories I

This is one of my favorite pictures that I took when I had a break and went to Yosemite...ALL BY MYSELF. It was glorious. I got to watch TV when I wanted to, I ate what I wanted to, and surprisingly enough, it was actually good-for-you food. Mostly just meat and frozen veggies. (The fresh ones freak me, it's like I can hear them cry out in pain when I cook them.....Not really)...But I digress.

I took a tour with one of those bus tours and this is one of the places we went. I'm sure it's one of those pictures that every tourist has in their album, but I think mines special. It was at the beginning of April, a time when I thought it would be rather clear, and according to the weather, it was supposed to be, but instead it snowed. For those of you who don't know me, I have been in the snow maybe three times before this picture, and never when it was actually snowing. That is the freakiest thing I had ever seen. I bought a special hat to wear so I wouldn't get sunburned on this trip, instead the brim worked as a snow catcher and the cute festive cherries on the ribbon ended up with their own little hillocks of snow on their cheery red sheen. I think this picture really shows that. It shows the water running, the green of the trees with the snow heavily sprinkled with confectioners sugar. The bare tree, it's fingers stretching in the spring is starting to show it's green finery for the coming Spring. In the background, if you look closely you'll see the stone masonry work of the footbridge, adding just a touch more of texture to the picture. At first blush you might miss it because it's obviously made from local and natural materials, but it just sort of sets off the picture. Well, in my humble opinion.