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Loretta's Place

PLEASE REFER TO COMMENTS FOR NEW UPDATES TO THESE WEBSITES AS OF OCTOBER/ 09~

As I stumbled upon this great site I found a plethora of household cleaning and fine dinning recipes- all natural. The rest speaks for itself.

Cleaning: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/8088/clngrn.html

Veg-o-matic: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/8088/vgindex.html

The Holistic Medicine Cabinet: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/8088/medcab.html

A Place To Call Home

Finally we're settled in and now I can blog our excursion here. Although there are few videos you may have already seen of the hostel we stayed at here are few more portraits of our trip here.

This next video defines how tired we are- very short and really not much to say about it. If you notice how Kay reacts she seems jumpy at just about everything. We did not get much sleep on the plane ride in, and had a frantic and never ending train ride to Bristol.

****N.B.> The lazy perfectionist has surfaced. I am not too sure as to how this music video got here, and I do not feel like redoing this blog since it takes forever to upload videos. I hate being on the computer this long. Either way you can skip it or enjoy it*****PS Tammie, you sent this to me whilst I was blogging one day- who is this anyway?

Taking Risks

Making a sudden and drastic change in life can leave one feeling unsettled. It's not about age, money, or how adventurous you are, but when making a move away from a great home, a great job, and having turned down several career opportunities things become muddled. In the beginning when everything is murky you begin to think you've lost yourself, and as the seed of doubt sprouts within you start to feel like it's all one big mistake.
I wrote home to friends and family to see if anyone would reach out for one last time just so I know my launching pad was still nearby. A great friend who knows me more than any other replied and she helped me realize that home is where the heart is.

Hi Lisa,

As I read your note from Saturday I was heart broken to see you on your darkest day.

Believe me there's a light at the end of the tunnel. I was just thinking Saturday morning, a person has to be brave to leave with one suitcase for one year- so nice to be young. It's like when you up lift a tree with hardly no roots; when you plant it elsewhere its bound to find the sun and grow healthier and stronger than its ever been before. Knowing you, Lisa, I know you will make it, since you are a strong person when you put your mind to it.
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance with the rain .
Sending all my love and prayers to you.
Mom


I love you mom!

The Thousand Thistle Seeds

Ten years ago, I followed a lizard
Through a grassy, ruined amphitheater,
Quick as quicksilver,
But green, not silver.
The lizard darted,

Skimmed, froze,
Shinnied, insinuated like flame,
A pinpoint of pulse and flash.
The lizard knew
The Etruscan wall's cracks,

The downspouts,
The stone that blunts the plow,
The mortar's and stucco's flaws.
The lizard dwelt in a present
That extends, elongates, thins

Into a filament of consumed air.
I followed the lizard
From brick chink to olive grove,
Poppies to straw,
To sand and loam.

I knew, for a moment, the balance
Between the intimate and the infinite,
A word and what it reckons.
The sun on the hilltop
Flared upon the thousand thistle seeds,

The thousand virtues,
The thousand minerals,
The thousandth of a second
It takes the lizard to taste the moment
And change course.

by Eric Pankey • from The Pear As One Example: New & Selected Poems, 1984-2008 • Ausable Press

Earth Quake!!

June 12, 2008

Alright, it's been a while since I've written. I've been quite busy with graduation, working and getting things sorted out- like my career. Have you ever felt like your world has been turn upside down and inside out, and you're not sure where to begin finding yourself again? These feelings tend to compel us to think that we never knew ourselves to begin with.

I recently realized how many things I began to let whittle away. Things that were ever so fruitful in my life, especially in time of despair. I wondered how is it possible that I can get into 'auto pilot' mode and just keep going and not ever stop to think of how tired my body must feel. Whether after a long week, or long night/day. We are always saying how we'll catch up with our sleep sometime soon, and soon that day has come and past. I admit, these days I am resistant to change at times and know what is required in order to keep an overall balance. Yet, I still choose the path of oblivion because most of the time emotional laziness takes over. Ignorance is bliss, but then it catches up with you at some point. When we resist change we risk blocking areas of our body, mind and soul that later reeks havoc if left unchecked. I know this rather well, for the last sixteen years my experience with having Crohn's disease taught me that when I resist change of any kind- good or bad, my gut feels like it's tied in knots, the butterflies in my stomach circulate in a whirlwind, my entire body begins to shift into a tension mode. My shoulders and head become riddled with tension in muscles I never knew I had. I used to be oblivious to these 'simple' signs; signs my body told me it was time to sleep and rest my mind, my body and my soul.

My experience, and a truly genuine good friend, have taught me that I must keep an overall balance when running along any path, so to stay 'awake' and be alert. Otherwise, my body was on the brink of collapsing once and for all. It quickly became evident that I needed to learn that, although I have all this great energy and am full of ideas, I must learn to slow my mindful pace and poor out this bountiful energy with even-keeled. Learning to relax does not happen over night, and beginning to read the tell tale signs that your body is blocked somewhere isn't either. It's up to us to find out the cause of the blockage; is it emotional, physical or mindful. It's to be honest with your 'self'- that's not always easy. Denial can play a huge role in our lives; as we deny that we can't do it, or can do it. In the past my body was directing me to be awake and become aware as to what was causing my intestines to blow up in flames so to speak- it was telling me that something is blocked. I was the culprit- blocking something that needed to happen and it was going to be up to me to find out what assuages my 'troubles' and help me find peace and balance in my life. We need to do it for ourselves so that others may learn along side. Let's face it- we are always going to be faced with 'obstacles' that get in the way of our dreams, and it's a forever learning journey to figure out not what makes us tick. It's not exactly what makes us tick, but how we come out the situation we feel uncomfortable in or feel overly excited about.

This year I have made a decision that was bound to set off good/bad tension for both me and my family/friends. Leaving Canada to teach and travel Europe was something I have been wanting to do for such a long time that it began to seem like a lost memory, as I continued to live my drone life. And so I leave my friends and family, but only for a moment in comparison to the rest of my life.
Enjoy the blogs of my travels.
EarthBound

Bristol Day 5

Well it`s almost been one entire week and it feels like an eternity since I have been here, strictly because when you`re looking for something so bad thing don`t seem to happen quick enough. Sort of like watching water boil. I am taking things for granted, since we did find a place and our basic necessities within a weeks time. However, living the hostel life and beginning to work early mornings is not so ideal which is why I am so greatful for having found a place in a well-rounded area. The place we have found is in a very typically 'British' area, for the houses look like the ones you see in the movies and is situated in a round-about. I cannot wait until I settle in to my temporary abode and show you some pictures. Our landlord is also the typical British man; think of Hugh Grants' demeanor, yet he looks far better looking and with straighter teeth. (No offense to Hugh Grant fans)
In any case, I'm excited to commence work and that is on the 25th of this month, this up and coming Wednesday. I will be introduced to three children that I may potentially be working with for the next 12weeks. Two of which who have emotional behavioral dilemmas and the other has autism, to which degree I am not sure.

Nothing too drastic nor exciting has happened so far, but I will keep you posted with updates as to my whereabouts over the next three months and will start getting my daily OMs in as well.
I plan on going to Bath for a weekend get-away, for it is an amazing place for a spa retreat and super cheap for the amount of time you spend there. My ultimate goal while I am here, other than research for education, is to find out more about eating habits. Although for the first while I am a poor traveler who will be eating baked/canned beans and rice for the next while I will do my best in gaining insight as to their healthy eating. From what I gathered so far their eating habits here are far greater than my North American fast food counterparts. (and I don't only mean restaurants, but foods in your local grocers) Their grocery stores are very small compared to our own and even their sizing overall in regards to food items, places, and streets.
EarthBound

Bristol- Third Day In

Whoa! Where has the time gone? I wanted to blog before I forgot, but I got caught up in organizing my stay and eating arrangements. So now I would like to catch you up on where I am on my third day in Bristol.

Day 1. Kay and I left Bristol about noon-ish on Saturday and was driven to the Toronto airport where we began our long expedition of sitting and waiting. We played cards for about 1.5hrs waiting to check our luggage, and then we waited another 2.5 hours to board our plane. We went through security rather quickly, but I did have to remove my belt and my shoes to not have the metal detector go off. It made it quite odd as my pants kept slipping off my hips a little as I tried to gather my things. The cherry on the cake was when the security officer walks up to me and says "You good girl with shoes off." Boy, if I had a dime for every time I heard that. I would have a dime!

We board the plane at 9:45pm and settle into our seats by 10pm only to find that the young married couple sitting in the next aisle to us are about to embark on the most heated discussion- ever! For the next two and half hours we're subjected to the woman's loud whisper, as she tares pieces off her husband. She asks him to move so she can get something from the overhead compartment and she is throwing things around like she was two all over again. What is more is that she thought she was inconspicuous about the entire deal.
Finally after the second movie began we all began to sleep. My sleep was interrupted seeing that my dandy-long legs were confined to the inside of our seating area and I had no room to stretch. Breakfast was finally served when I woke, and as I glanced over to the infamous couple who kept me up during the peak time of my insane tiredness- I see she is still infuriated!
So enough about them- let's back to some real excitement! We finally arrive in London, England at noon their time. We make our way to find a booth so to purchase a train ticket that will leads straight through to our destination; Bristol. It did not go as smoothly as planned and we had to board a few different modes of transportation. First it was the train, then an underground railway, and then another train that finally would take us directly to Bristol Temple Main.
YEah- well our day is not done. By now it's 4pm and we're taking a taxi to our hostel. We get to our hostel and to shorten the story up there's a video shown below of our temporary stay, and another shows you the stair case to the third floor. FOUR flights of stairs to the third floor- tell me what is wrong with this pic! Wish I actually had the camera of us training our luggage up these stairs! Talk about a daily workout.

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Day 2. It's Monday, our second day in Bristol and we are getting used to where we are staying, but getting to eat regular(North American) food is next to impossible. Most, if not all of their restaurants are geared toward a specific demography, but then again it's really hard to describe. So, now we decide we need Groceries!! Where the heck is Tesco?! It was suppose to be a 10 minute walk, but with very little directions we turned ourselves around and finally found it almost an hour later. It was right under our noses the entire time. Nothing too exciting has happened today, and yet it went by quickly. Off to bed to wake early for Orientation Day.


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Day 3. Our third day, and it's Orientation day! Yet, I spent most of the night awake due to a girl who coughed all night. Then early morning she has the audacity to let her phone alarm go off at 7am in the morning and not even get up for it! Our roommate from Paris stormed out speaking what I think was the 'coughing girl's' language, because I heard no French words come out of her mouth. Then the coughing girl leaves the room two hours later leaving her phone in the room and it went off again at 9am. That in essence if living the hostel life, unfortunately.
As for my Orientation day, it went rather well. We are well taken care of here and there is no doubt in my mind we chose a good company to work for. I cannot wait until I begin work, not only because I can use the cash flow, but because I am thrilled about the variety of experience I will gather while I am here.
So far, there is no drastic change and no real excitement- except for remembering which way to look when crossing the road. That can become sheer excitement.

Well, much like them I'm off for a brewsky!
EarthBound

Astronomy Cast

Upon researching numbers and attempting to find an overall meaning to them I found 'Astronomy Cast'. Here are a few things that I have found most interesting. ____said that

Randomness of numbers that guide our universe, but by no means dictated by anything we know of. They speak of first, the 3 dimensions of space in the universe. She says there is no reason, within the realms of physics, that states there has to be only 3 dimensions. We as humans cannot see beyond three dimensions because it is hard for us to understand where it plays a role around us. String theory says the higher order of dimensions in a non-spacial area
and we can only see the tips of the strings we would more than
second: