Monday, March 31, 2014

Sunday shopping and sake!

Belle and I enjoyed a well deserved Sunday afternoon out.  I invited my friend Justine over for coffee.  Justine invited Belle and I out shopping on Park Street.  Belle got a few new (to her) dresses in size 2T, a set of magnetic numbers, triangular crayons, a jumbo coloring book, a prism and a bubble wand that makes large bubbles.  I got a refill of a lotion we both use for our eczema.  We had a lovely Indian dinner, complete with....chilled coconut sake!  I couldn't have asked for a better afternoon.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

What would happen if...?.

Belle and I make a food run most Thursdays.  I aim for a low key Wednesday evening to accommodate an early Thursday morning.  Belle fell asleep before seven-thirty last night.  She stayed asleep exactly three hours.  She woke up when I got up to refrigerate leftovers.  Belle stayed awake until two this morning, making an early morning impossible.  I woke up at six-thirty, cleaned Polly's litter box and gave Polly some much needed attention.  Then I went back to bed and dozed off when Belle latched on.  I didn't wake up again until ten-thirty.  Belle woke up after eleven.  We missed our usual errand.  Interestingly enough, I answered the question, "What would happen if...I went back to higher end, natural grocery shopping?" before I went to bed after three AM.  No wonder I ended up missing my now usual food run!

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Cooking with Coconut Cream!

Belle and I annihilated a pound cake I baked within hours of eating the first slice.  Belle tripped and dropped the cake pan trying to bring it to me for a second slice.  I took some risks baking this cake.  For starters, the Betty Crocker cake mix "expired" last September.  I didn't want to use my butter on an unsure thing.  I used fatty coconut cream instead.  I also used low fat yogurt instead of the water or milk the recipe called for.  I added chocolate chips, freshly grated ginger and spices to give the cake some pizzazz.  Once baked, I squeezed the juice of one orange on top of the pound cake and sprinkled it with powdered sugar.  What a success!

I used some of the leftover coconut cream in a pumpkin pasta dish.  I didn't like Trader Joe's chicken asada meal once I nuked it.  I diced up the chicken breast and added it to a pan of sauteed red onion and let it simmer in four cups of water for twenty minutes.  Then I added dry spaghetti and a generous bowlful of frozen collard greens.  I added a fifteen ounce can of pumpkin and several dollops of coconut cream when the pasta finished cooking.  Belle added whatever spices she could crush with a mortar and pestle while I wasn't looking.  Of course I had to finish crushing the spices because she didn't really know how.  This tasted amazing.  I uncharacteristically added more sea salt to taste because it needed it.  I also used lots of cinnamon.

Who is my market?

The average person I meet as a pedestrian has no knowledge of, trust in or use for a hypnotherapist, life coach or spiritual mentor.  It isn't their reality.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Making New Friends

I am just meeting my neighbors in these houses since having Belle.  How might life have been different had my neighbors in these houses appeared approachable right off the bat?  I probably wouldn't have taken abuse by the people walking around the neighborhood  if I had made friends within my community.

Monday, March 24, 2014

I enjoy my cats!

I enjoy sharing my home with two cats.  Years ago, I tried to adopt a cat through a humane agency temporarily set up at a local shopping mall.  The agency rejected my application because I said I would remove my cat's claws.  I said I would remove my cat's claws after hearing bad advice from a family friend.  That misinformation cost me companionship and kept me at status quo.  How might my life have been different had I been allowed to adopt a cat almost immediately after my grandmother died?  I probably would have avoided many useless romantic entanglements and lived a richer life.

This week with The Fairies

Healing With The Fairies, Themes for This Week:

New Opportunities, Problem Resolved, Financial Flow

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Life with meow

I am curled up on the love seat with a sleeping Polly.  I treasure these rare moments with her.  I can't be near Polly for very long when Belle is awake.  Belle thinks she knows how to care for Polly, even down to brushing.  Belle moves my hand away when I try and touch Polly.  Then she aggressively kneads, lifts and massages Polly until the cat runs and hides under the love seat (at best), or in her covered litter box (at worst).

I left Belle sleeping upstairs with Krishna while I am downstairs with Polly.  Belle is my sweet little pill.  Krishna is a furry creep who lives under my bed.  I had to move his bowls and his litter box upstairs because Polly literally scares him shitless.  Polly still hasn't ventured upstairs.  I bet she would if I moved her bowls and box upstairs.  She and the creep would be forced to get along.  Until then, I have an upstairs cat, a downstairs cat and a toddler everyone runs and hides from.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Self-sufficiency

I would like to help women achieve self-sufficiency.  I moved to Alameda with an education, a home and a future.  Almost immediately, I started meeting women and men who balked at me for choosing to enjoy myself in my home without a man.  Men traditionally provide women with homes in marriage.  I had proactively sold a property I had inherited in Los Angeles and used its proceeds to buy a home and establish myself in Alameda.  I hadn't waited on a man to marry me and give me this life.  This angered, confused and perplexed many people.  I also filled my home with art, books and music, which also goes against the grain.  Knowledge is power.  I learned through experience how black women aren't expected to be intellectual or educated.  Many black women I meet today barely finished high school, if even, and started families young.  Now that I am a black woman with a child, and without a man, it is often assumed that I, too, aren't as educated or savvy outside of a bedroom or a nursery.  I would like to change that.  I would like women to be financially independent and free, despite the absence or presence of male support.   I would like to keep enjoying the life I have without anyone assuming I am being deceptive or dishonest for being an educated woman of color with a home and a child and without a man doing anything for me.  I lead a magical life that many people haven't been able to stomach because women haven't been allowed to make choices and be free.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Scenes from Mama Alameda

I see more intuitive healers and readers promoting themselves in Alameda lately.  A store front psychic with a neon sign has even opened down the street. When I introduced myself as such in previous years, I had to practically leave the cafes, parties and stores where I gave readings, running.  Now it's out in the open.

I am still a hypnotherapist and intuitive life coach.  I aim for an internet radio show as well.  Here's praying Belle, Krishna and Polly ground and motivate me to launch and thrive.  I failed at this before without any support.  I drank and fooled around to cope with the lack of career success, familial love and peer support.  I can do this.

I also see more fashionable women.  Women didn't always dress well when I first moved here in May 2007.  They dressed like they didn't care.  Some people were being outwardly hostile toward me for daring to dress well and go out .  Now I chase after Belle in seasons old clothes while so many look so good.

In other news, I feel my immune system may have finally given me whatever I need to live and breathe with two cats.  My skin is still reactive in spots, nothing severe.  That smear of eczema behind one finger came after the first night we played with finger paints, about ten days before Krishna came.  I am healing.

I separated the wobbly wooden bookshelves downstairs after sensing it might prove hazardous to Belle or the cats.  Two bookcases became four sets of three shelves on legs.  Cooking and entertaining books are downstairs.  I alphabetized and shelved fiction "A-L" upstairs before running out of shelves.  

I found white metal "over the toilet" storage on Freecycle.  I am only able to use the top shelf to hold spare toilet paper at this time.  Belle accesses the bottom and middle shelves by climbing the closed toilet lid.  I might be able to store baby wipes if I can keep her out of them.    Such is life!

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Success

 I pulled the Nine of Pentacles in World Spirit Tarot several months ago.  I instantly recognised myself as this woman, standing in the window of my island home.  I immediately pinned the dream catcher I'd kept over my bed for years above the window to match this image.  Today I remembered the woman on the card had a tabby cat.  I have adopted two tabby cats since I pulled this card (and misplaced the deck trying to keep my card collection away from Belle).  Weeds in my garden aside, I am this woman, right now, today.  I will be her here tomorrow too.  I feel I have finally solved the riddle called my life in Alameda.  I even met that butterfly on a walk earlier!

Friday, March 14, 2014

Happiness comes from within.

Years ago I found myself with an income property, lots of money in the bank and nary a mentor or guide to help steer me in any direction.  I did as well as I could do for myself under the circumstances.  I immersed myself in hobbies and travel.  I hoarded books, clothes and cookware that I am finally using now.  I lived for the moment.  While I wish I could have planned ahead for this moment, there was really no guarantee I would be here anyway.  I am not sure what I could have done differently.  I do wish some folks would have made themselves available when I found myself without living siblings, parents and grandparents at twenty-two.  Maybe I wouldn't have sought happiness outside myself had I known I had people.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Bast is fast!

We now have a Drinkwell pet fountain for Krishna and Polly.  This fountain fits perfectly in my wealth bagua.  I've heard for years how beneficial running water in this area of the home can be.  Even an image of a flowing fountain placed in this area symbolizes abundance and prosperity.  Now I finally have this fountain.  I also have Bast, an Egyptian deity with a cat's head, visiting this area  in the form of these two cats.  Let's see what manifests!

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

I am Polly and Polly is me.

I feel I have finally made this house a home.  Alameda is the perfect spot for me.  Unfortunately,  I met too many angry, hurt men at the bars on my initial quest for acceptance in my new environment.  I had a home, an education and a future, which slapped the faces of most single men I met in my early years in Alameda.  Many men I came in contact with found it easier to brush me off, call me crazy and defend their turf, like Krishna did this morning when he first became aware of Polly.  I eventually felt as fearful as Polly does right now, hiding in a new house from hissing, territorial males.  The women  I kept in touch with on either side of my family weren't helpful when I turned to them for moral support.  No one had ever given them anything after all.  I found myself all alone and very scared without anyone to relate to.  Of course I reached out to the wrong man, fell pregnant and am now going it alone with a toddler, two cats and a home I am finally making my own!

Along came Polly

We are now a two cat, single parent household.  Denise listed Polly on Freecycle one day after Suzanne listed Chris (now called Krishna).  Polly had been found abandoned and injured in her carrier by one of Denise's students.  Now fully healed, but with a partially amputated tail, Polly needed a permanent home.  I ignored the plea initially because we had just taken Krishna in.  Polly's story stayed with me.  Strangely enough, no one on Freecycle answered the listing of this cat on offer in the six days after the offer was made.  I made inquiries when I didn't see any followup messages listing the cat as claimed.  I quickly followed my instincts and had Polly and her food and things delivered last night.

Polly is a tabby cat, like Krishna.  Krishna is six human years old.  Polly is between two and four human years old.  Both cats are fixed!  Polly has been in hiding under the love seat since Denise left.  Krishna has finally emerged from under my bed, his preferred spot.  I went downstairs long enough to witness Krishna peering under the couch at Polly.  Denise gave me three varieties of dry food for Polly, including several cans of wet food.  I mixed in what Denise says is Polly's favorite dry food with the brand of dry food omy friend brought in abundance for Krishna.  Denise also left Polly's litter box intact, poop removed, so she has an easier transition.  Here's to a peaceful coexistence all around!

Monday, March 10, 2014

Cat poop

Belle is potty trained.  Krishna uses his box when he can access it.  Today I found dried cat poop in a pile in my loft.  As I disposed of it and sanitized the area, I remembered that one night when Krishna stayed upstairs to avoid a grabby Belle.  I remembered a night when either Belle or I shut the door on the litter box out of habit.  We are adjusting to life with a litter box and food and water bowls.  It isn't always easy with a curious toddler, but we manage.

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Dinner guest loved cats

Dinner guest loved cats.  I remember him saying, "Belle needs a cat" during one of many nights when we couldn't get Belle to sleep or distract her long enough to be alone.  Now Belle has a cat and I no longer have a dinner guest.

I didn't take the cat in because of the former dinner guest.  I took the cat because he was healthy and I didn't need to jump through hoops to adopt him.  Maybe dinner guest and I would be bonding over cats now had I not presented myself as dessert.

My decision to bond intimately with dinner guest wasn't a decision I took lightly.  I knew he was a "special occasion, non-returnable item."  I made an investment and lost.  My heart hurts because it ended suddenly and with false rumors I can't clear up at this time.

I wish dinner guest could meet Krishna.  My friend Justine met Krishna his second night here.  We had fun that night.  The mood in the house has brightened.  Suddenly I am a cat person who likes lilies (Dinner guest gave me a bouquet with lilies for Valentine's Day, the last night we met.).

Scared cat or just polite?

Krishna likes Belle best when she is sleeping.  Belle adores him regardless.  She pursues him and he hides under the bed.  Krishna wouldn't drink, eat or use his box in front of Belle.  I couldn't distract her long enough for him to sneak off and care for himself.  Krishna eventually came out from under the bed when Belle shut down.  Now I am too tired to join him downstairs.  We like to hang out after Belle goes to bed.  It's too late for me tonight.

Friday, March 7, 2014

Krishna and The Higher Taste

Chris (named after a cousin of the tabby cat's original owners)  has become Krishna, also known as KrisKat.  This reminds me that I read The Higher Taste approximately three years ago this month or last.  I found two copies of this very enlightened vegetarian cookbook with my maternal grandmother's things.  Now Lord Krishna sashays around our house.  Those were dark days in 2011.  I never would have dreamed I would have a child and a cat now.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Melted crayons are awesome!



Tonight we melted Belle's bucket of broken crayons down to twenty-four solid round colors.  I lined muffin pans with cupcake cups, filled them with broken bits and melted them in the oven.  The liquid wax cooled into solids resembling peanut butter cups of varied hues.  Belle's instincts led her to take a bite.  She eventually realised these were for rubbing on paper and followed suit.  This doesn't mean Belle enjoyed the experience.  I had more fun coloring than she did.  These round colors mimic those scented finger paints we loved to death.  I am finding them easier to blend than singular, traditional stick crayons.  I can find so many colors in each solid.  It all depends how I hold and apply them.  Now I need more broken crayons so I can create more unique combinations.

Altruism?

A trip to Discount City yielded a scoop for the litter box, herbal flea and tick powder, a cat teaser and a ball with a bell inside.  Belle got a sketch pad and crayons.  I didn't buy anything for myself.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

KrishnaKat

This morning we were delighted when twenty-eight pounds of chow, a large bag of litter and a bag of treats showed up for KrisKat.  This helps us so much.  KrisKat would have gone to a pound, his fate unknown, had we not taken him in.  Unfortunately, this meant his original family could only provide the last of his food and litter.   While I know of a place that provides free pet food, it's only once a month, and I had missed them by two days.  I put out some feelers and got all this.  KrisKat isn't eating at the moment though.  He is using his litter box without taking food.

Monday, March 3, 2014

KrisKat



Now we have a tabby cat called KrisKat, originally named Chris.  He is six years old.  We got him off Freecycle.  His owners had to find a new home for him by tonight, lest he be taken to the pound.  I answered the listing an hour after it was posted.  I quickly threw a five-card Lenormand spread for guidance.  I didn't get anywhere with my reading.  I just had to chance it.

Chris is now hiding under my bed.  I had planned on keeping him in his carrier and allowing him to emerge on his own, per the suggestion of his former owners, but Belle couldn't wait.  She started pushing toilet paper into his carrier before I could stop her.  I guess she thought she was feeding him.  Chris didn't mind coming out and exploring his new home though.  He seems nice.

There is no Andy.

There is no Andy.  You were told a lie.