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Things I noticed on the bus in DC

Angel Ackerman 1 Comment

Today M and I went to Georgetown for Falafel, more exciting adventures in Washington DC with forty-something friends from their university days.

  • A little girl with a sequined backpack and pinstripe pants dancing
  • A woman with big snowflake like costume jewelry stones on her knit ski cap
  • A 20-something lanky young man with crisp jeans rolled above the ankle, extra tight
  • a young boy in the back of a crowded bus while his mother had other children and a baby in the front
  • A young couple holding hands, both of Asian heritage with baggy black pants and colorful hair. She wore thin but enormous gold hoop earrings. Emo, maybe?
  • A lot of people with very similar winter coats
  • Most people absorbed in their phones
  • construction
  • Live music (Music on the way into Georgetown DC)
  • Bell bottom sweatpants
  • An obese woman in crocks with her feet on the seat in front of her
  • A hauntingly beautiful woman with a life’s worth of luggage surrounding her, looking a tad scared, taking pamphlets with maps from the info display
  • A young white woman with a canvas bag and a yoga mat
  • A couple hugging sadly outside a hotel on the edge of a flower garden pretty much standing on the “Keep off the Grass” sign

Sunday Funday paperwork

Angel Ackerman 1 Comment

Day 2 of my Washington DC mini break.

I slept so well that when I woke I had forgotten I wasn’t at home. M had a glass of water and a clean coffee cup waiting for me when I emerged from the bathroom. Then, as is custom, we chatted for a couple hours

PJ and Princess

I brought my other traveling companion with me, many of you may remember PJ the bear. He brought his girlfriend, Princess.

So while PJ and Princess are lounging in bed, doing whatever naughty bears do, M tackled some of his upcoming travel arrangements and I filed not just federal but ALL my taxes.

I win adulting for the day.

I rewarded myself with the oatmeal cookie M bought me last night at the 7-eleven. Which turned out to be a very tasty cookie.

Poached eggs with the hottest sauce ever

So now that our big adulting tasks arrived done, M has made the perfect poached eggs and offered me some killer hot sauce.

Death by Wings

Saturday mini-break in DC

Angel Ackerman 3 Comments

My day started early when I couldn’t sleep past 5:15 am. I tossed and turned in bed until I finally got up at 6.

I spent some time with my Goffin’s cockatoo, Nala, before pretending to head to work. I was really going to get my nails done and going to visit my traveling companion, M, in Washington, DC.

The teenager is caring for the menagerie in my absence.

Beth trimmed my nails and filed off the old nail polish and gave me a fill on my acrylic manicure.

I went with a dark plum with a cat eye for my farewell to winter nails.

Beth was running a little behind so M mentioned not to worry he was occupied doing his federal taxes. So after my appointment I stopped home to get my tax forms. I grabbed my divorce paperwork too.

I was on the road by exactly 10 am and I arrived here in DC at 1:30, with one potty break. I had forgotten how much I enjoy driving, blasting my music, singing and thinking. Traffic is not so fun.

M and I then sat on the couch drinking coffee for FOUR HOURS. I laughed hard and often.

Then at 5:30 we hopped onto the bus and headed to Taqueria Habanero. (Taqueria Habanero) I had a lovely sangria with tequila.

And I ordered the pork and pineapple taco and a salmon taco, which was a really nice piece of fish, and ate M’s mole chicken for him. (For food photos, see instagram.)

The two men beside us at the restaurant were very old and very loud and I think they were meeting for the first time on a Tinder date.

Then we went across the street to the 7-Eleven because M wanted to buy me these chips…

… which I ate on the bus ride home. They start out smooth and ranchy.

I also asked M to buy me cookies, which he did. So now we are relaxing in his living room with cookies.

Rainbows & unicorns, part deux

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I never finished my “point” with my post earlier today, Rainbows and Unicorns. I meant to use that post as a reflection on goal setting.

But I got distracted talking about the state of the world.

So, as my friends and I talk about our first world problems, it’s easy to feel bogged down thinking about taxes and the medical system (I owe about $700 for a breast ultrasound right now. Sigh.) Etc. That was when we took a minute to exchange philosophies on goal setting.

I struggle with big picture goal setting. I do much better if someone suggests various big goals and then I can break the goal I select into smaller pieces.

I’m really good at deciphering steps to make a clear larger goal a reality. I do really well with baby steps.

So it was a nice discussion and reminder that sometimes we need to approach our lives and our problems by picking the steps we can bite off and chew, not rush all the way to the end goal.

When you find yourself overwhelmed, break the problem into the very next small step and move slowly forward with each success.

Rainbows and Unicorns

Angel Ackerman 1 Comment

Some of my friends are grouchy. I remind my grouchy friends of their curmudgeon status, if only to remind them that not everyone sees through their crunchy exterior.

One of these friends likes to remind me that the world is not rainbows and unicorns.

We were discussing how overwhelming basic life situations can be. Medical care and the associated bills. The job market and, while unemployment is low, there isn’t much opportunity for professional employees and living wages. Through in some politics. The rising cost of food. The lack of healthy options in our food supply. The exploitation of the developing world.

You see how easy it is to get bogged down?

So this friend reminds me the world is not rainbows and unicorns.

And I reply, probably in the most unflattering whine, “I know the world isn’t rainbows and unicorns, but I want it to be and that makes my heart hurt.”

In other news:

Several of my friends are enjoying my witchcraft series. One walked by something sparkly on the ground, stopped after a few steps and remembered my theory of finding powerful things. He reversed course and found a necklace. The shape and color of the stone appealed to him. So he picked it up.

Friday night & Valentines

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This is going to be a crazy lil bit of everything post. I’ll try to divide into topics with subheadings; I want to be good to y’all.

Nala

I bought her some new toys. Anything paper, like the one above, is a hit. But she seems to be afraid of bigger toys of heavier materials.

This is a photo of everything I got her:

As for plucking, it gets worse and better day by day. I’ve noticed three main triggers:

  1. Change in routine
  2. Overstimulation
  3. Desire for attention

Misty and Fog

The kittens certainly get more tired out since we let them run through the house. They pull they towels off the racks in the bathroom. They scatter the wash in the laundry room. They steal Oz’s food and he’s too big and dumb to stop them.

Some of my past kitten posts:

Kitten update

The third kitten

Nails

Tomorrow I get my first fill on my nails. They still look pretty perfect and I can see my natural nails growing in!

For more on my nails:

Nails

Road trip tomorrow!!!!

I joined AAA last weekend specifically because I’m traveling to Washington DC alone this weekend.

My temporary cards haven’t come!

I’m super excited and mostly ready.

I told my work colleagues and they asked if I planned on touring any of the downtown DC sites. I said no, I plan on sitting on my friend’s couch drinking coffee most of the weekend.

The teenager is going out with her dad so I’m on my own tonight for Valentine’s.

Enough is enough! (Take that, Tupperware cupboard!)

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I’ve been stressed. There’s a lot going on in my life between relationships and work. And for weeks, if not months, I’ve wanted to clean the Tupperware cupboard.

When my husband moved out in late June, I encouraged him to take more of the storage containers in the cupboard. I honestly don’t remember how much he took. But I do know I look at the cupboard and think I have too many containers left.

Purging and organizing makes my soul feel free and light.

Today I finally did it…

I ate way too many pierogies for dinner and then I tackled the abyss.

My heart celebrates order over chaos.

The Power of Symbols

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In my recent discussions of spirituality and witchcraft, a comment from one of my followers (Olivia) pointed out that it makes sense that items that are on an altar should be very personal.

That got me thinking about what makes a symbol powerful.

Items on an altar are symbols of the energies we wish to attract.

So, sure there are certain traditional masculine symbols if you wish to attract that type of energy: phallic symbols and the sun for example. Just like the bowls and the moon are traditionally female.

Those symbols are based on associations most people understand and to which they can relate.

Other symbols retain their power because people imbue them with collective thoughts. Think of the cross; it’s a powerful icon because a massive amount of people having agreed on its meaning for centuries.

For some, the cross inspires hope and love and a promise. Others might associate it with guilt and bigotry.

But most people on this planet know it.

The American flag also evokes such strong associations.

That’s why, when considering what you believe and what symbols hold power, and what that power is, the most important part of the equation is what you hold most dear in your heart.

That will carry the power.

21st Century Witchcraft: if you need it, it will come

Angel Ackerman 3 Comments

Part of an informal ongoing series.

To read previous segments:

21st Century Witchcraft: Why I’m no longer “Christian”

21st Century Witchcraft: Magic in the Everyday

21st Century Witchcraft: Books

Today was not an easy day. But I feel like I’ve climbed a hump for right now and I can’t worry about what comes next.

My favorite Bible passage, and the one read when I got married was Matthew 6:25-34.

Verse 6:26: Look at the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them.”

34: “So do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will bring worries of its own.”

The universe will provide.

In its own way, in the right time.

My daughter has recently delved into my treasure trove of hand-me-down witch/Wicca/spiritual books. She wanted tools, candles, and to create her own rituals. She wanted to go to a witchcraft shop.

I quickly told her no.

Your tools, I said, will be more powerful if you find them. A piece of wood from a hike with friends. Trinkets from travels. I touch stones constantly to see if they speak to me. I found an unopened pack of cigarettes once and tobacco and fire are both good for ritual.

My bedroom altar is an old Crayola stock box used to carry crayons around the factory for a hundred years. I use the inside as a bookshelf (messy now because I have the Bible in my lap).

On top:

  • My cauldron is a small bowl I fell in love with at the Asian gifts store.
  • My daughter’s favorite book from her toddler days and her first mouthpiece from her baritone which just broke this year.
  • A “nameplate” I bought from a friend’s country gift store because it happened to have my name on it.
  • The pen I used to write a novel in middle school.
  • My old silver ring of Jesus on the cross. I used it to remind me not to lose my temper.

  • Sea shells
  • An amethyst
  • A sun candle holder
  • A necklace from I believe Iraq

So look for those items that speak to you.

Why you should always be nice

Angel Ackerman 3 Comments

Today I kept my head above water, but I often still feel like I’m drowning.

Physically I’m still struggling a bit so that makes it a little harder.

Dinner tonight was Little Caesar’s deep dish.

I ordered it for 5 pm so the teenager could come with me to pick it up, but she had a kitten pinning her down and we all know how hard it can be to escape kittens. 

I arrive early since I didn’t stop home. The person staffing Little Caesar’s front desk is super apologetic that my pie isn’t ready. I said it was fine, and told her that my daughter being held hostage by kittens.

She gave the only response she could, “Awe…. you have kittens?! Like little kittens?”

And as she drank her Mountain Dew I told her the story of trapping the kittens and how I don’t have the heart to separate the remaining siblings.

Next she asked, how old is your daughter?”

“Almost 16,” I replied.

“You don’t look old enough to have a daughter who’s 16.”

“I’m going to be 45 in a couple months,” I told her.

“You look damn good for 45,” the woman said as she handed me my pizza.

I thanked her. And then she told me to wait and she gave me big bag of cookies, for my daughter, even though my daughter was too old for cookies, she said, but everyone likes cookies.

It made me think of all the times I used to give out things like popcorn.

But who knew Little Caesar’s had cookies?

Anyway, those cookies felt like winning the lottery.

In closing, enjoy this photo of the teenager exploring the cookies and Nala, the cockatoo, and I, eating pizza.