Stitching Lotus

Possession

Posted on August 20, 2003 by Heather

I admitted something to myself this week. I’m an addict. No, not of anything “bad”. I’m addicted to possessing things. I think that’s why I like to shop. I buy books all the time, yet rarely get around to reading them all. It’s just the pleasure of having them, of making them mine. Same for taking books out of the library. I’ll grab ten or so books, plow my way through most of them, but return several unread. I also hoard cross stitch patterns and supplies. And (as awful and illegal as it is), I hoard ebooks, copied video games, mp3s and DivX anime.

In reality, there should be nothing I want for. quanta and I live well. We have a beautiful apartment, nice furniture, and relatively new computers. We eat well, and go out often enough. We don’t have a car, but the bus is just fine. When we travel a long distance, it is nearly always first class on the train (thanks to his work letting him keep VIA points for personal use). My life is really good. Yet, I can’t help myself from wanting more. There is always another book I want, or a new movie coming out, or another game. And now that I work at a bedding shop, I want new bedding. What the heck is wrong with me?

So, since this blog is supposed to be about Wicca and my spiritual journey, I thought I’d look at this from a Wiccan perspective. What’s the Rede got to say about behaviour like this? Well, is my desire to possess causing harm, or is it a harmless activity that I am free to do? The fact that I am concerned about it shows that it is obviously causing harm, to my psyche at the very least, and to our long term savings at the most.

But, I try to rationalise to myself, I don’t buy things all that often, once a week or so, and when I do it is maybe $20 here and $50 there. And hey, we aren’t poor, we’ve got some money. Ah, but what about the dinners out, and the whining about wanting things? That takes a toll on both the pocket book and quanta’s sanity. And there is the wedding to save for, and a bunch of other things.

After a long talk with myself, what did I conclude? My addiction to possessing things is harmful, and therefor against the Rede. How I will make changes is something I’m not sure about yet. A little less coveting I think, as well as being a little more aware of quanta’s feelings. And maybe getting rid of that Amazon Wish List plug-in.

Comments Off | Posted in My Life |

Last Week’s Trip

Posted on August 20, 2003 by Heather

What with one thing after another, I never did get around to posting about my trip home last week. It went much better then I expected.

First, dress shopping wasn’t any fun at all. Wedding dresses are sized completely wrong. I generally wear a size Y or Y-2 (Where Y is a number I don’t care to share. A girl needs to keep some secrets). When I tried on dresses I needed a Y+2 or a Y+4! What the heck?! As if things are stressful enough, I’m made to feel as if I am a fat cow. Ouch! Anyway, I did find a lovely dress, Mori Lee 3843, and a veil to match. And oddly enough, the little shop I bought it in is owned by one of the two sisters who lived down the street from my dad when he was a teenager. Small world. Now all that’s left is some shoes (which will depend on where we get married), and my tiara. Perhaps this one.

I also took a look at five different ceremony/reception venues while I was home. Hamilton, being a… umm… city with a good deal of Italian influence, doesn’t have a lot of different choices for receptions. Everywhere we went was essentially the same Italian banquet. And what with me being of Scotch-Irish decent, and quanta being Chinese, it doesn’t really work. There were two places that are promising though. The first is Chandelier Place, which is the typical Italian banquet hall, but with many more options to customise (and a really nice chef). The second is Ancaster’s Old Mill Inn, which is very classy, and has a beautiful outdoor chapel. The Old Mill is a good deal more expensive then Chandelier Place, but it would be so much nicer. And since September is such a busy month for weddings in Hamilton, we need to book some place soon.

One other thing taken care of last week as the invitations. Yes, it is way too early to order them, but I have finally found one that I would like to use. I received some samples in the mail last week, and the one I thought would to far too red is actually the perfect shade of purple. It’s wonderful when things go right.

Comments Off | Posted in Wedding |

Darkness Falls

Posted on August 15, 2003 by Heather

As you may or may not know, a good chunk of Ontario, Ohio, New York, and Michigan are experiencing a blackout right now. The power went out about 4:15 pm EDT yesterday afternoon. Some places, such as Burlington, Ontario, were back up within an hour or two. Here in London, Ontario, there were pockets of power from about 8 pm on. My power wasn’t restored until about 4:20 pm this afternoon.

I am so very grafeful to have my power back, and my heart goes out to those without power more then a day after this blackout. I hope that we can all be back up and running soon, and that anyone trapped anywhere has been or will be rescued.

My local radio stations , especially the AM news channels, were very helpful in providing information to the public. I’m not a fan of radio, but I was glad to have it these past two days.

Updates to my blog are likely to be infrequent until the power grid is stablized. Hopefully things will go smoothly and it will only be a couple of days.

Comments Off | Posted in The Outside World |

Friday Five

Posted on August 15, 2003 by Heather

Now that the power is back (at least for a little while), here is this week’s Friday Five.

1. How much time do you spend online each day?
I’m connected all day, checking facts, reading sites and forums, and generally noodling about quite a bit. I’m not on the actually on the computer all day, but it is there when I want to look something up.

2. What is your browser homepage set to?
Right now it’s set to The Witches’ Voice.

3. Do you use any instant messaging programs? If so, which one(s)?
I use Trillian so that I am able to connect to ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo! messengers.

4. Where was your first webpage located?
My first website… that was so long ago. I think it was on Geocities, but I’m not sure.

5. How long have you had your current website?
I’ve had this blog and my main site, The Lotus Pond since July 7th, 2003. It has been in the works since October 2002.

Comments Off | Posted in Memes & Collabs |

Friday Five… a little late

Posted on August 9, 2003 by Heather

I thought I would give the Friday Five a try this week, even though I’m a day late.

1. What’s the last place you traveled to, outside your own home state/country?

The last time I travelled any further then my home province was my trip to Seatle about two and a half years ago. I went to Microsoft for a job interview. Sadly, I didn’t have any time for sight seeing.

2. What’s the most bizarre/unusual thing that’s ever happened to you while traveling?

On a trip to New Brunswick, the lady sitting next to me began to pray as we were landing. That sort of freaked me out, especially since it was my first plane trip alone.

3. If you could take off to anywhere, money and time being no object, where would you go?

There are so many places I would love to go – Japan, Egypt, Hong Kong, England, Greece, Rome. I think that I would go on a world tour, visiting all the ancient temple and city sites around the world.

4. Do you prefer traveling by plane, train or car?

Train, by far. I love going on Via One (first class) to Toronto. The meals are really tasty.

5. What’s the next place on your list to visit?

I’m going back to Las Vegas this fall. I’m looking forward to it, because the city changes so much so quickly.

Comments Off | Posted in Memes & Collabs |

Pixelitas

Posted on August 8, 2003 by Heather

I just wanted to say hi to everyone stopping in from Pixelitas. I’ve got a pile of hits that were refered through your site. I can only guess that you were pointed here by the designer of the template I am using (Quixotic Pixels). 🙂

2 Comments | Posted in Site News |

Can I Elope Without Him?

Posted on August 7, 2003 by Heather

I’m getting more and more frustrated. My mom was kind enough to call around to venues today to book appointments for us to go see them. She got an idea of the prices, about $70-$90 per person. Not bad. A couple of places will reduce the price to $30 if I book for sometime before the end of the year. What a steal! Getting a wedding together in four months would be difficult, but it would be do-able. Especially if it would save 1/3 of our reception costs. quanta won’t even discuss it. I’m getting the feeling that he really didn’t want to get engaged, or at least he wants a very, very long engagement. It would be nice if he would show even the slightest interest. I’m begining to think I shouldn’t waste my time.