Michael and Jaspenelle

Dream: Snake Moon

Last night I had a dream that Raveness (I read her blog over on livejournal) was giving me a tattoo in Greg’s (my father-in-law) office, he has a CPA business. For some reason Greg’s landlord had rented out half of the building to a tattoo parlor. There was a glass wall down the middle. Though Raveness was present through most of the dream, I don’t think we talk about anything substantial. We were talking though.

The tattoo was bizarre to say the least. The central design of the tattoo was encircled by one of my sun designs but it seemed to be shifting around, as if the rays were real. Raveness was just finishing the centeral design when I came into the dream. It was a snake in the form of a waxing crescent moon. It’s tail was the top point of the crescent, the body coiled back and forth to make up the main middle section and the head was the bottom point. It was holding a lantern in its mouth. The tattoo was on my back, behind my manipura chakra (solar plexus.) I mention this chakra because I remember thinking specifically about that in the dream. The snake was a part of that chakra, that thought made more sense in the dream.

At one point I got distracted and when I looked back at the mirror the “moon” was full. The snake was coiled in a circle, head in the middle, it’s eyes made of stars. The eyes were more more then eyes though, they seemed to be holes in me and the stars were inside me, shining through. At the same time, the eyes seemed to be looking at me too. Not sure where the lantern was at this point, maybe outside the sun disk…

Though the dream was black and white, the tattoo seemed to shine like tarnished silver, but it hinted at gold tones too, the same hues as Mexican gold. The whole tattoo seemed to have a life of its own, but it was definitely drawn on my skin.

Michael came by to pick me up. We were living with my mother, or she was living with us, I think the latter. I was trying to figure out how to hide it from her because I was concerned the moving tattoo would freak her out. I also didn’t think she would approve and didn’t want to make any waves. Then in the middle of those thoughts, the roof suddenly collapsed, snow came pouring in (we have had over 60 roof collapsed from snow load around Spokane in the past week, so this isn’t as random as it seems, as it has been on my mind recently.) My brother was standing at the edge of the hole in the roof for some reason and saw my tattoo.

We all got outside safely and he came down from the roof and teasing me that he was going to tell mom. At that point I didn’t really care anymore though. Marko (my boyfriend before I was with Michael) was in the crowd outside, which I noticed only fleetingly then, but seems to be hanging on my mind now that I am awake. My thoughts were drifting at this point between being really pleased with my tattoo and being worried about Greg’s work. Everything felt so surreal.

At some point during these thoughts I woke up.

Just Stuff

In the past three weeks we have had nearly 60 inches of snow, that makes this the snowiest December on record for Spokane. Up until now it had all been dry snow but yesterday we had over five inches of heavy wet snow, we might have 5 more tonight. Three roofs around town collapsed today. Our roof was creaking on and off too, a little disconcerting, but I think it was just the wind since it has not made some much as a peep today. I called management about it though, not that they are going to do anything, I have been calling them daily about my busted dishwasher and still nothing. In February we are probably going to start to look for a house since our lease is up at the end of March I think. Hopefully all this snow will have given way to Spring by then.

I just realized that it is only 10 more days till my 23rd birthday (January 9th.) I don’t usually think about my birthday that much but for some reason it seems particularly exciting this year. Not that I have anything special planned. Maybe I will make myself a cake.

I have been under the weather for a few days, hopefully that will go away before my day. My back pain went away as mysteriously as it showed up, leaving behind general aches, pains and a scratchy throat. Can’t wait to feel better so I can get back to learning to bellydance. I still have to get out to the store to buy knitting needles so I can start working through my dvd about that. Learning to bellydance and knit are on my dreamboard for projects to accomplish this year.

Damian has been doing well, he decided he wanted solid food instead of one of his nursings today. My little guy is growing up! I have had two or three people ask me when I am going to wean him lately, or suggesting that I do so, which I don’t really get. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding for at least one year and as long as mutually desired by mother and child beyond that and the World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding for at least two years. I think they have more weight in my decision then someone’s uninformed opinion. So no, I am not going to be weaning Damian any time some.

I bought Michael a songbook called Songs for Earthlings and it arrived yesterday. I am really pleased with it. It is 390 pages of Pagan songs and chants for all occasions, including sheet music. There is a section on music theory in it so I am trying to learn to read music with it. I got Michael a keyboard a couple years ago so now he has some stuff to actually play with it. If you are into Pagan music, I really recommend it, it is the only one like it out there I think.

Anyhow I’m going to go sit with Michael while he plays Deep and Fallow.

State of Emergency

We are listening to the news on the radio right now. The power is out downtown, apparently an underground vault blew up, they are talking about huge plumes of smoke and fire. Avista (the power company) says it is probably not because of the snow, but definitely bad timing. People are not stopping at the lights (which are out) and that is causing even more problems. No numbers on how many are without power, Avista’s office lost power too (ain’t that ironic?)

My prayers go to the people now without heat on this Christmas Eve.

Mayor Verner declared a state of emergency for Spokane today. Snow is still falling, still breaking records, over 40 inches here since last Tuesday, which is unbelievable for this area. Still more expected tomorrow, maybe 10 inches, and it is wet snow now, so much heavier. A local businesses roof collapsed yesterday and I have been seeing people shoveling roofs off since. Spokane Valley also declared a state of emergency. Sounds like the governor just declared one for the whole state too.

Suddenly my UPS packages being two days late doesn’t seem so bad.

Merry Christmas?

Snow Angels in Spokane

I ran across this video on Anibunny’s blog.

It is exactly what I needed to boost my spirits this evening!

Oh the weather outside is frightful…

…but the baseboard heater is delightful!

I am looking for any excuse to turn on any heat generating appliance today. The oven, the stove, a hot sink of dishes, my laptop. Windigo is of the same mind and sleeping on top of Michael’s old monitor, which nearly puts the baseboard heaters to shame. I don’t like using extra power (or rather I don’t like paying for it) but today it is excusable to turn up the heat a little. It is a balmy 65F inside.

And 6F outside! With wind, so make that -10F.

We are to expect it to be at or below zero by Tuesday with windchills of -25F. When it is that cold does it matter if we are taking Fahrenheit or Celsius? I think Damian and I will be skipping our morning walk for a few days. When I took the trash out yesterday the wind was so cold it made my chest hurt.

Look at this: (more…)

My First Hockey Game

On Saturday I went to my very first hockey game, Daddy got tickets from work. We saw the Spokane Chiefs at the Spokane Arena, they played the Tri-Cities Americans (boooo). It was fun! I liked Boomer the Bear (the team mascot.)

I loooove the color red so it was so cool watching the Chiefs since they have bright red jerseys. Mommy even bought me a Chiefs onesie, it is size 12M and fits! I am not even 4 months old yet! They had baby sized jerseys (which were all red) too but Mommy thought $40 was an insane price.

This was the home opener. Last season we won the Memorial Cup (sorry Kitchener, bwahahaha!) so they showed that off, lowering it from the roof with cables, it was sooooo shiny. The arena was sold out and it got really really loud. It was a little overstimulating after awhile so I fell asleep in the wrap with Mommy.

We won the game! 4 to 0! People went really crazy when the Chiefs scored with horns and cow bells and screaming. Some people are really passionate about their sports.

Mommy and Daddy say they are going to raise me with the Chiefs so I expect to go to many more games. Sounds fun but I hope it is a little quieter next time.

Man’s Web

A Question for Spokanites

I ran across this postcard on PostSecret:

Does it look like the Valley View Fire to you?

Spokane Valley is on fire

Michael and I have been fixated on channel 2, I hope everyone got out of the homes safely and that the firefighters stay safe too.

Hello fire season (and the arson psychopaths that come with it…)

SPOKANE VALLEY — Fire crews are battling a fire that is spreading east on the outskirts of the Dishman Hills area. (read more…)

We had our handfasting in the Dishman Hills Conservation Area if that puts it into perspective for anyone. Guesstimating using google maps it is about 3 miles from our place but it is burning in the opposite direction. They have evacuated 15 blocks west of Dishman-Mica so far and that area keeps growing. The fire is spreading really fast, it is 500+acres at the moment (edit: now its 1000 acres.)

There is also a three alarm fire at the Ugly Duck too, which is in Spokane. It is a furniture liquidator, that one was arson (…again, this would be the seventh arson there in the past 4 years.)

We have a red flag warning today so this is really the worst time possible for these fires (and the others burning in the Inland Northwest.) The winds are starting to die down enough that they can get a tanker plane up to help get the Dishman fire under control though. It is amazing seeing the pine trees go up like match sticks, and homes too (we just watched one burn down in under 10 minutes.) It is so important for people to make defensible space around there homes, if you don’t the firefighters will have a tough time protecting your home if they can at all.

[video] Spokane River

This is some of the video Michael and I recently took along the Spokane River. The first clip is from Bowl and Pitcher in Riverside State Park and the remaining ones are from various parts of Riverfront Park in downtown Spokane. The river has crested though it is expected to stay at or near flood stage for awhile, especially with the hot weather and rain still in the forecast.