Harvest Blessings and Happy Mabon To All

Today is the first day of Fall..... Mabon pronounced (May-bon).... or as we call it simply Harvest. It is a time of balance when both dark and light are equal. I'm sure you've noticed that the days are shorter and the darkness of night is coming earlier and lasting a bit later..... at this point the light and dark are equal. But now the nights will slowly become longer and the light of day will become shorter. We feel the air cool as the crisp leaves change color and fall to the ground. The gardens are filled with the fruits of our labors and it's time to celebrate the bounty that Mother Earth has given us. It's a time of feasting and celebration..... but it is also the time to gather those remaining fruits and vegatables and store them before the dark time arrives.

This is my favorite time of year because the heat of summer is cooling.... Mother Earth gives us such amazing colors to enjoy.... and to me this begins the times of celebration. We celebrate our accomplishments and give thanks for the blessings that we have received. Here in our home we celebrate many birthdays during this time.... my children, myself and husband have birthdays in the fall.... our wedding anniversary is later in the fall as well. We celebrate our ancestors.... and we remember those who have passed.... we celebrate their lives and the memories they left for us. And of course we celebrate the tradition of Thanksgiving and prepare for the long celebration of the winter holidays. So for me the holiday season starts here.... on this first day Fall... the Mabon Harvest.

I Wish you all a bountiful Harvest.... and Beautiful Fall.... and many bright blessings....

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Sick Again....

Not completely out.... but feeling pretty crappy. I'm so glad I got my laundry, vacuuming and dishes done yesterday. Around 11:00 last night the chills hit.... I snuggled up on the couch with my thick fuzzy blankie and tried to get warm and stop shaking. I finally took some Nyquil and went to bed. Today just brought the feeling of crap.... I've gone back and forth from bed to computer to couch several times. If there is some weird bug out there lurking it will surely find me! Steff isn't feeling great either. Hopefully tomorrow we'll both be better.

Everyone have a great weekend.... and hide from the bugs!

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Friday Frustrations - Random Frustrations

The last two days I've been feeling like crap... not sick... just tired and no energy... I'm sure you know those days... the ones when you just don't feel like doing anything. I also seem to have developed a pretty deep cough since yesterday... I hope I'm not coming down with something.....I don't have time for it. The things I wanted to get done this week are only about half accomplished.

I got my shopping done a lil faster this time but it still took 2 days and a day of planning... mainly due to unexpected events. I'm hoping next trip will go even faster. I did get quite a few freebies and lots of bargains.... so I can't be too frustrated about that! I just want to get the process down to spending less time doing it.

I haven't spent much time this week blogging.... dropping.... or visiting my favorites.... so I'm really sorry... I haven't forgotten you... I miss you terribly..... but time is just NOT on my side. I'm hoping to get caught up on everyone this coming week. It's been a few weeks since I've managed to drop 300 EC's... lately I'm rushing in here at 10:00 pm to quickly drop and click 100 EC's and Adgitize ads before midnight. Needless to say doing it that way feels more like a chore... I much prefer visiting my favorite blogs slowly thoughout the day... reading... commenting... and just relaxing as I do it... but lately it just hasn't happened for me. Let's hope that next week is a bit more calm and laid back.

I wanted to get the house dusted and vacuumed yesterday... dusting done!.... vacuuming still waiting. My main frustration is the dog! It's her shedding season and she doesn't just shed.... the dog drips HUGE clumps of long white hair with every step! You would think by looking at my carpet.... and my furniture... at this point she would be a bald dog.... but nope she still has fur... and she's still dripping. I swear I could gather up the clumps from my floor and have enough to make a whole nother dog! Now this dog knows she is not supposed to be on my furniture and my bed.... but as soon as I leave the house where does she go??? On my furniture and my bed! Does she really think I won't know???? Does she not realized she leaves a trail of evidence behind her with every step??? She hides under the couch and waits for me to leave so she can roll around on the couch... and then do the same on my bed. And if that's not bad enough.... she uses my floor for her potty :( She can spend hours outside and then come in and do her business on my carpet! It's like she saves it up just for me.... grrrrr

And speaking of potty training.... you would think that by this time Steffie would be fully trained. She turns 4 in a couple of weeks! She has weeks when she uses the potty great... and then all of a sudden she'll go for days and not make it to the potty even once. And not only does she pee in her panties all day.... she will poop in them too.... it's so nasty at this point. She's such a smart lil girl.... why does she just refuse to use the potty???? I really don't get it. Am I destined to clean pee and poop for the rest of my life???? Will this child be 6.... 8.... 10.... and still not using the potty???? Heeeeeelp! My couch and my carpet smell soooo bad from her and dog. How do you get pee smell out of your couch cushions??? I soooo want new furniture.... but it's pointless to even think about until she gets fully trained.

And the carpet is just hopeless.... 10 years of pet pee and poop.... and now Steffie's pee.... and drinks spilled.... etc... the carpet is ragged and coming apart from multiple cleanings.... it too is disgusting.... I can't afford new carpet or any other type of flooring.... if there was anything under it besides particle board I would rip it up and throw it out. I'm living in my own personal litter box.... YUCK!!!

So as you see I'm having quite a hairy.... pissy.... and shitty week. I need proffesional help for the dog.... the kid... and the carpet.

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Wordless Wednesday - Enchanting

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Music Monday - Dreams by Stevie Nicks

Dreams is another of my favorite songs from the Fleetwood Mac Rumours album... this version is again from the Stevie Nicks HBO Special. Can you tell that this is my absolute favorite concert of all time???

Here is the enchanting Stevie Nicks singing Dreams....




Lyrics | Stevie Nicks lyrics - Dreams lyrics

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. One simple rule, leave ONLY the actual post link here. You can grab this code at LJL Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.




PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!



A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Random Thoughts On The Coming Week

I've been busy this week working on some small scale fall cleaning... mainly decluttering. We don't have a lot of clutter but we do have areas that tend to collect some. So I worked on the bookshelves/entertainment center in the living room and the two areas in the kitchen that had accumulated clutter. I got my bills and receipts organized... something I've let go for almost 2 years... but now it's back in order.... and you know... it really didn't take that long.... and hour or so... why did I put it off??? And I'm working on getting my coupons reorganized. So I'm feeling like I'm making some accomplishments! I even cleaned a few areas of carpet....lol... well...ok... I did that because Steffie spilled her Coke.... but then I just kept going until I had a nice sized area cleaned... and then I started another.... I never finished that one though... not yet... maybe this coming week.
Speaking of this coming week... it's pay week and therefore grocery shopping week again. I vowed last time to have my coupons clipped and organized by the next time... so I'm working on it. We'll see how The Grocery Game plays out for me this week. I don't anticipate spending nearly as much time organizing my shopping plan as I did last trip. Although I think having a plan is key to saving more money... last time I spent as much time planning as I did shopping... maybe even more. But I'm learning as I go and getting faster at the game. A Lot of it is due to one of my favorite blogs and my friend Sherri over at Luv A Bargain... she really makes it easy to find great freebies and deals at Walmart, Walgreens, K-Mart, CVS, Target, Rite Aid and more! So if you want to shop for free... or nearly free... check out Sherri's blog... print out her current list and grab your coupons and go shopping. The other day I got $45 in items for $12 at Walmart.... Thanks Sherri!!!.... would have been less but I had to buy stuff Steffie wanted...lol

My goal for this week is to continue decluttering.... decorate for Fall/Harvest... get my shopping done... and start planning Steffie's birthday party.... I can't believe how close it's getting and I haven't planned the first thing yet except that there will be a party, a cake and gifts.... so I'm getting behind.

This time of year is probably my favorite. I love Fall and the colors it brings... the cooler temps... opening my windows and turning off the air conditioner(can't wait for that one!). But one really fun thing about the particular weeks we are in right now is that all three of my older children are the same age... for 19 days out of each year they are all 3 the same age... right now they are 20. I used to really love to have fun with this when they were small. We had a triplet stroller (bought used from a friend who had triplets)..... and they were pretty close to the same size... so people always stopped us to ask questions. "Are they triplets?".... "No".... "How old are they?".... "two".... "All three of them are two but they are not triplets?"..... "yes".... I would play with the questioners for a few minutes before finally explaining that Sarah would be having a birthday in a few days.... that the the boys were identical twins and Sarah was 11 and 1/2 months older. It was just fun to watch them try to figure it out... I know I'm a bit rotten :)
Sarah's 21st birthday is coming up.... of course she plans to party it up at the club... she keeps asking me if I'm going and I keep telling her no.... she'll have plenty of friends there to keep her distracted.... I doubt she'll miss her Mother....lol.... but for whatever reason she wants me to go. I haven't been in a bar in how many years??? I don't even know. A lot! And being in bar with a bunch of barely 21 year olds... just doesn't sound fun. I'll bake her a cake and I'll stay home while she parties.... she can show me pictures and tell me all the details after she sleeps it off :) She tells me everything.... even when I don't want to know....

So that's my random what's going on in the world of LaShan.... everyone have a great week!!!

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

My Answer

It is a hard question to answer because you can't really know what your first gut reaction will be... what your first thought will be.... unless you are put into the situation of being told.... and believe that it is true..... that you only have a certain amount of time left to live.

Now let me tell you why I asked the question. My son showed me a web site that answers questions... any question.... he typed in the questions and it gave the answers... of course I was very suspicious... but I couldn't figure out how it was answering every single question with perfect accuracy. But the more questions we asked the more amazed I was at the accuracy of the answers... some were even really funny. Then my son said "do you want to know when and how you are going to die?".... I said NO... but he typed in the question anyway.... and it said "in 3 years from cancer". Now after answering every single question accurately to this point of course I had some smidgeon of belief that this might actually be true.... wouldn't you if every other answer had been spot on??? Of course I'm still trying to figure out how it was answering my questions accurately! Anyway when it said that.... my heart completely dropped.. as did my mouth... I was frozen in fear and shock.... my first thought was of Steffie.... she would not have a Mother to teach her things a Mother teaches a daughter.... all of the things that I want to teach her as she grows up.... then sadness for myself that I would never know what she would grow up to be... all the times in her life that I would miss.... nothing else truely mattered to me at that moment... nothing except the time and the moments that I would not have with my baby girl and how I could possibly change it to have more time with her.

Thank goodness the whole thing was a trick! He finally came clean and showed me how it worked.... but how could I not have a tiny bit of belief after it answered over 20 questions with complete accuracy??? I was still shaking from the thought of it even an hour after he told me it was a crock. It really made me think about what is important.... and how I spend my time...

So now I know what my reaction would be.... what my first thought would be.... what I would feel.... what is the most important thing in the world to me..... It's a horrible feeling thinking you might only have 3 years left to live. I hope none of you ever have to experience that paralyzing and devastating moment. But now I ask myself throughout the day "what if it had been real... what would I be doing right now instead of what I am doing?"

Of course we can't live every day like it is our last... no one would ever go to work... I know I certainly wouldn't want to spend my last day alive working or doing laundry.... but I hope I never forget to stop and ask myself occasionally "what if I have only this much time left?.... what would I be doing differently?"

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

What Would You Do???

This is a total hypothetical question... but give it some thought...

What if you were given the knowledge that you will live only 3 more years... there is nothing you can do to change it or prolong it... how would you feel?... what would you do differently?... what would be the first thought that went through your head? How would you spend those next 3 years? Would you treat people differently?.... those that are a part of your daily life... and those that you meet in passing....

Just having a bit of serious pondering for the day...

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Wordless Wednesday - Kiss The Cook!

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

All About Kids - Happy Birthday Justin and Jordan!!!!

What great timing on the new meme created by Stacie at Super Mommy To The Rescue. If you would like to participate as well just click on over to her blog and grab the button.... then add your own blog to the list.

Yesterday my boys Justin and Jordan celebrated their 20th Birthday!!! Now of course they are not kids anymore.... but they are still *my* kids.... lol.... and Steffie had an exciting time making their very small and simple birthday party. She is all about the birthdays! So we made them a cake.....












And of course licked the beaters.... bowl... and spatula!












And TADA!!!! We have a cake!


Now of course I had to be tricky and buy the candles that relight after you blow them out... right??!!... Cause that's just the kind of Mom I am... ;).... and yes they were suspicious... they always ask me if I did that and I never have before... but this time I really did it.... of course I didn't admit to it....

Here are Austin and Steffie practicing singing Happy Birthday....



And here are Justin and Jordan blowing out their candles and the kids singing again... Jordan is in the plain shirt and Justin is in the stripped shirt...



Happy 20th Birthday Justin and Jordan!!!!

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~