|
Carla’s Niche
Camelot Journal
Copyright © 2011 Carla L. Rueckert
2010-12-31
January 1, 2011 2:39pm.
It is New Year’s Eve! We had a lovely Eve, starting out after Morning Offering with my hanging out with Tommy until it was time for me to record chapter/class 12 for IMU. I did that and then wrote the test and forum question for that class. It feels wonderful to be done with this project. It has been a large one, and seemingly plagued with a lot of resistance. But we persevered! I hope the class may prove a solid resource for seekers.
Mick also had a very sweet day, finishing a big clearing job for a customer, and going far above his dollar-goal for 2010 today! We were both excited and felt a good sense of closure for our yellow-ray activity for 2010!
In the afternoon I wrote the Camelot Journal entry for yesterday and cleared the Inbox. Tommy had requested the words to my poem, “All I Discover Is You”, and I sent that to him.
I sent several reworked test questions back to Gary, as he requested when going through the questions to all twelve tests in order to put them up on the IMU site.
I responded to Dorita’s request for available meeting dates with four possible time suggestions. It is time for our yearly confab with Glenview Trust. We’ve had to cancel that meeting twice, once due to illness and once due to the ice storm.
And I let Janet D and Deb L of IMU know that my recording is done, and that Gary is now in the process of uploading all materials to their site.
Mick sank into bowl game football after he finished work for the day, while Tommy took me out to Limestone Restaurant for some delicious dinner. Tommy and I rejoined him in time for the Gaia Meditation, at which Mick offered the closing prayer tonight.
Tommy and Mick went to the cabin room to watch their football game while I spoke with Monica L on the air for our Friday-night Q&A show. It was not our best show. A caller took more time than I should have allowed while she went into great detail on a question I had already answered. She used up half the show, and I doubt the bulk of her complaint was fascinating to most listeners. We shall have to do better at limiting the time we let bad on-air questions continue.
Mick and I went back to the cabin room for a date and had a lovely time indeed, while Tommy dropped by his friends’ restaurant, L & N Seafood Bar and Grill, and got some New Years hugs. Tommy came back home about quarter to twelve and we turned on the Dick Clark New Years Show and watched the ball drop together. Then Tommy got out his guitar and we sang together until 2:00 or so. It was next year! Happy 2011! We had a very shiny celebration, in our own quiet way!
2010-12-30
December 31, 2010 3:36pm.
Mick had discovered that his truck, a 1990 Dodge Dakota named Sybil, was in need of a new right front shock, since the old one had fractured. So he and I started our day at the crack of dawn, ferrying the truck to Big O, our local repair shop. The sky was drenched with rain and completely overcast, and lots of water was on the ground because it had been raining softly all night. I think, finally, that we are over the serious drought we had last fall. Thank you, Lord.
I had a hard time seeing in the rain and half-light, with oncoming cars’ headlamps glaring on the liquid surface of all the roads. I was thrilled to get to Big O without incident, and put myself in the passenger seat for the ride home!
We made our Morning Offering and Mick did all kinds of house-husband chores while he waited for the rain to clear, which it did at lunchtime. Then he was off for the afternoon, finally making that last little bit of money to put him over his goal for 2010. Go Big Mick!
I recorded class/chapter 11 for IMU this morning and spent my afternoon, in part, writing the test and forum question for that class. Only one to go now, and only one day left in the old year. I hope I am able to teach the twelfth and final class, get that recorded and write the test for class/chapter 12 tomorrow. It would be sweet indeed to fulfill my teaching commitment this year!
I also wrote the Camelot Journal entry for yesterday, and cleared my Inbox of e-mail. Eli sent a sweet New Year’s card, Rick sent a Maine Report of unending snowfall, and Ba firmed up our date to talk on the telephone on January 9th.
I sent the IMU interview video and the text of Wynn Free’s November interview of me to Renée so that when she has the time she can make videos of any snippets of my responses to questions which she finds good.
Then Mick took me up to Middletown to have my nails tended at Absolutely Salon. I think Beth has about healed up the last of my badly ingrown fingernails! The achievement is notable. It has taken her a solid nine months since I went down after the neck surgery and curtailed all outside visits. Beth came here once a month for about six months, until I could travel there, which we found was not nearly enough!
I brought her Melissa’s Christmas present of pure white nail enamel and sparkles of rainbow-colored bits based on white to paint my fingernails with, and it turned out very nicely. I figured a new year is like a blank slate, and we’ll start out white.
Meanwhile, Melissa and Renée had a huge cooking day, socking away lots of food in the freezer for Mick and me to eat while she is gone visiting with her eldest daughter during her upcoming surgery. We are very lucky to have this food put back, and will greatly enjoy eating it!
A bit before nine, Mick, Gary and I made our offering of the Gaia Meditation. Mick said the closing prayer tonight.
Then we began having visitors. Fox and Smut came up from central Kentucky to see the Nebraska-Washington bowl game which began at ten. Nebraska bombed badly, but the fellowship was great! We also expected Tommy, my younger brother from DC, who drove in late. Mick and I had a full house tonight, with Melissa, Gary, Lex, Renée, Fox, Smut and Tommy all staying the night! I loved the feeling of it, and felt that we cradled invaluable treasure in the souls going to sleep under our roof tonight. Love is everywhere as the old year goes away!
2010-12-29
December 30, 2010 4:21pm.
Sunshine was with us today, only the third day this month that the daystar has been visible. It was a wonderful treat! Kentucky in the winter can be gloomy and sunless, and this last month has been solidly overcast and cold, so it was especially good to have Mr. Sun come to visit!
After Morning Offering I began my day with recording Class/Chapter 10. Then I wrote the test and forum question for that class. It feels so good to see the end of this teaching project come near! Two more recordings of only an hour each, and two more tests and forum questions to prepare, and my work will be done. It is the last commitment left to honor before this next surgery, and I will feel very relieved to have it done and done as well as I know how, and safely “in the can”.
I wrote the Camelot Journal entry for yesterday and checked my Inbox. The most interesting letter was from Paul S, who runs a satellite broadcasting company. He offered me a chance at a job as a talk show host. I could not take it, because of the upcoming surgery, and I am not at all sure I want to put my effort into asking other people questions about their work, but it was nice to be thought good enough to rate such a show. He wants to talk to me by telephone and I asked Gary to arrange that.
Mick got some work done today, as the temperature went above freezing and he was able to do some things that had been impossible with the snow on the ground. He is happy to have the chance to do a bit more work before year’s end, as he wants to reach his goal financially and has only a few dollars more to earn to make it!
Gary joined us for the Gaia Meditation tonight and I offered the closing prayer.
2010-12-28
December 29, 2010 2:05pm.
My goodness, the old year’s sand is running out fast now! After Morning Offering, I wrote the Camelot Journal entry for yesterday and at 10:00, turned to the recording of Chapter/Class 9, on the indigo- and violet-ray chakras. In the afternoon I cobbled together the test and forum questions for that class and sent those off to Gary. I only have three more classes to teach in this series, now. And Gary says that with the digital recorder safely placed away from me physically, in another room, it worked just fine this time. I also seem to drain batteries, and so he has started replacing the digital recorder’s battery before each use.
I asked Gary to check to see if I had missed editing any recent meditation sessions and he found two that need my attention, which he kindly sent me. I will work on them straightway.
Morris, L/L Research’s Vice-President, came by at one, and half an hour later we had our annual Board of Director’s meeting by telephone – a legal requirement of the IRS for non-profit companies – and it went extremely smoothly. We are in the black, as a corporation, our bills are getting paid, and we are slowly improving our ability to make money, with projects like the IMU teaching and the project concerning the digital download of Ra Sessions. Donations are generous. Our present contract laborers are doing a wonderful job. And insofar as I can, I am offering the public channeling meetings and the Gatherings that we normally offer here. All is well!
After we said good-bye to Morris for another year – he is off to Kuala Lampur, Hong Kong and points to all four quarters of the wind – Mick sat down and rendered the Minutes of the meeting. He sent them to me for editing, and I turned them around to him before the evening came. It’s wonderful to have that meeting done for another year.
Gary brought me a fine offer from a satellite radio corporation, who wants me to be a talk-show host for them. I declined. With the upcoming surgery, I cannot commit to spending six to eight hours a week finding guests, reading what they have to say and deciding on what to ask them. I asked Gary to respond, on my behalf, that while I greatly appreciate the offer, I cannot accept.
I also suggested that they keep me in mind in case they want to do a call-in show for seekers, sort of an Ann-Landers-for-the-non-religious-spiritual-seeker kind of show. I could handle doing that, even recovering from surgery, so I feel safe offering it.
Mick and I spent a very quiet evening, enjoying junk TV and then the Kennedy Center awards show, which was generously produced and fine. Mick offered the closing prayer at the Gaia Meditation tonight.
2010-12-27
December 28, 2010 10:16am.
It was cold and fair today, and after Morning Offering I opened and collected Gary’s e-mail detailing how to attend the annual Board of Directors’ meeting of L/L Research by telephone tomorrow, and sent an e-mail to all of our Directors with Gary’s instructions included. I am thrilled to have that notice out there. Hopefully we will have perfect attendance, and in truth I will be happy with all outcomes. The meetings are a requirement of the IRS for all non-profit corporations such as ours, and it will be good to have that honor-duty completed for 2010.
Mick spent his morning creating the first draft of the Agenda for the meeting tomorrow afternoon, while I wrote the Camelot Journal entry for yesterday and cleared e-mail. Ba wanted to talk by telephone sometime in the next week or so and I chose a day and time and sent it to her for her OK. Ba being deaf, we must arrange calls carefully, for they need to be made by relay operator. It is a wonderful service the phone company offers, where operators type out what the hearing person says, so the deaf person can respond to the text on her computer.
Then I talked with Chris S, who had arranged to have a counseling session with me. It was a most enjoyable conversation. I can only hope I helped him with his spiritual walk.
In the afternoon I created the ten-question quiz and forum question for Chapter/Class Nine of this teaching gig for IMU. I at first hoped that I could also record that class today, but Gary did not arrive back from his holiday until 6:30, by which time I was too weary to do the teaching. So I will plan that for tomorrow morning.
As I finished for the day I reflected upon the cooking Renée wants to do, to fill the freezer with good food for us to eat while she is gone to California to be with her daughter while she has surgery there after the first of the New Year. I let her know what main dishes Mick had requested, and then included a lot of attached recipes for vegetables that could accompany those entrees. Synchronistically, the menus to prepare were on her mind as well, and we ended up having a good talk about what to fix, and when. She settled on Wednesday and Thursday as cooking days, and I called Melissa and let her know of Renée’s plans. Melissa says she will come one of those two days for sure and help with the cooking prep.
Gary worked late tonight, while Mick and I folded our tents at Gaia Meditation time and went to the cabin room. I offered the closing prayer tonight. Then Mick and I had a marvelously refreshing date, dancing in the fields of the Lord with joy.
2010-12-26
December 27, 2010 1:32pm.
We had a lovely Sabbath, quiet and sometimes sunny outside, although cold, not over freezing today. After Morning Offering I wrote the Camelot Journal entry for yesterday and caught up with some friends via e-mail, although there was not much related to L/L Research.
During our lunch, Mick and I began watching our first of two films of the day, Disgrace, a 2008 Australian film from a contemporary novel. It is a successful transition to the screen of a hard and unforgiving book about human folly. The direction and production were without humor and rigorously artistic, creating an art film of complexity and subtlety, but to what end? It was a dreary film, and rather than offering some reason beyond the appreciation of beauty in the abstract, it offered no justification for itself, no moral, just a world of post-apartheid confusion and chaos that lasted for a couple of hours and then stopped.
Rather than criticizing Malkovitch or the film itself, I would criticize the screenwriter for finding no justification for putting the viewer through all the misery of Malkovitch inflicting himself upon female students, and men of color inflicting themelves on his daughter. I would have welcomed any coherent view! But there was none that I saw, and I was watching closely.
It was especially irritating to listen to a lot of opera arias which supposedly pointed up plot points, yet which were neither translated for the viewer nor referred to in any way. There oughta be a law!
Mick decided that he was not satisfied with this viewing experience and back he went to the video store, coming home this time with Salt, a spy flick of the most exploitative kind, easy to watch, full of the most extravagant action and just plain fun. Angelina Jolie was wonderful in it.
I found her believable as a woman capable of putting men down with blows from her hands and feet, as she is a tall woman with good long arms and legs, and has the momentum in those limbs to get the job done. She did a great amount of smiting, and all for the good of our country… I think!
This was an entirely successful movie experience and we were very glad Mick had gone back and gotten it. I recommend it to all those who love a good action flick.
We lazed the evening away, dining on Christmas day leftovers and spending our night watching a block of NCIS episodes. Mick offered the closing prayer at the Gaia Meditation tonight.
Late in the day I tried to send an e-mail to the members of our Board of Directors about the upcoming annual meeting of L/L Research on December 28th, realizing only when I did so that we did not yet have a dial-in conference-call number. SO I called up Gary in Ohio and asked him to arrange for that from there. He said, most kindly, that he would have it done by tomorrow morning.
2010-12-25
December 26, 2010 1:56pm.
Merry Christmas! We had a lovely day, with the snow covering the grass and trees, but not the roads, and everything quiet all around. Our little spiritual family was together here – Melissa, Lex, Renée, Jim and me. We had Eggs Benedict for breakfast, thanks to Renée’s cooking, and then we opened presents. This took a while! But everyone enjoyed what everyone else gave, and we had a wonderful time tossing ribbons and paper aside with abandon and getting to the goodies!
Afterwards, we enjoyed a period of rest and cleaning up the mess, putting away our things and playing a game of Trivial Pursuit which went on – off and on – until 8:00 in the evening! We were feeling relaxed and lazy, and the whole bunch of us went to our beds for a nap in the noontide.
We dined on ham and all the fixings at 3:30 and then nap time came again for Mick and me. At about 6:00, we rejoined the group and played more TP until it was time for the public meeting. Melissa won! She said that was a first for her.
We welcomed Walter and Lynn F to the meeting and had a good talk around the circle and then a Q&A session, since both Renée and Lynn had questions they wished to ask, but none was general enough to rate treatment as the “main question”. It was a very interesting session. There was a palpable feeling of love in the circle.
I offered the Gaia Meditation prayer as part of the closing of the pubic meeting. Then we had cookies and conversation and the very enjoyable group broke up close to 11:00. Melissa headed back to Avalon Farm and we headed for our beds!
It was a fine Christmas!
2010-12-24
December 25, 2010 11:36am.
‘Tis the day before Christmas! Melissa came down from the country for a day of present wrapping and cooking and joined Renée, who was out at the market when she arrived. Meanwhile, after Morning Offering Mick did some errands and watched the weather, on guard to take care of the folks at St. Luke’s for several services today.
We had the radio on, listening to all the old seasonal songs while last-minute gifts got wrapped and placed under the tree. Gary took his stocking with him, and when he comes back he will stay with us while he apartment-hunts. He hopes to have new personal headquarters in the New Year.
Occasionally, Mick would go forth and salt as the snow began drifting gently down. By morning, we will have a white Christmas! But it was easy enough to keep the churchgoers safe, as the rate of snowfall was very slow. Monica and I did not do our show tonight, since she had family obligations tonight, and I offered the closing prayer at the Gaia Meditation.
Off and on all day, I edited, finishing the recent Wynn Free interview and also a session recorded at our Saturday meeting on November 20th. I sent those off to Ian for the archive web site.
2010-12-23
December 24, 2010 10:38am.
The day before Christmas Eve is generally a very active day, and it felt mildly dislocating to be so still today! It was a fair day, in the 30s F and dry, with the snow rapidly disappearing under increasingly sunny skies. But in my current circumstances the only work I can do is to lead those around me, and all of that was done for Christmas some time ago. Today I had only to have a word with Renée about Christmas dinner – she will pick up a small turkey tomorrow to satisfy my appetite for tradition – and find out what kinds of recipes she is seeking.
We have a fine time together, she and I, because she actually appreciates the recipes I send her. She herself is probably a vastly more skilled cook than I ever was, but I do have a nose for herbs and seasonings, and she loves my additions to the recipes I collect. I generally have at least one seasoning or herb to add to any dish that I see in the paper or a magazine, for most people are going for simple and quick. But it takes only seconds to add a bit of tarragon or thyme or whatever makes food better to the mix, and the rewards are big for tummy as well as for the palate.
In the end, she wanted appetizer recipes to use up the cheese from Gethsemane which we received as a gift from a customer, a pasta-bean soup for lunches and a pork-chop-sauerkraut-and-apples dish she wants to make for Mick AFTER Christmas. I found her several appetizers that would use up the cheese and she opted for chili-cheese dip.
She has the rest of the Christmas feast in mind – the classic green-bean casserole that will grace millions of tables come Christmas day, mashed potatoes, ham, the turkey I asked for and biscuits. She also got a couple of good-quality frozen pies, which she will doctor so they taste homemade, something she does really well.
Renée also wrapped presents for Melissa since I refused to allow Melissa to wrap her own gifts, and wrapped a couple of late-incoming gifts for Lex and Mick which had come in. She finished her day by cooking Mexican for tonight’s dinner, stretching our food to last until Christmas day.
I got lovely e-cards from Monica, Dianne and Rho, and saw with delight that Connie M had sent a card – she had moved since last year and we had lost touch, since she also had left her job, apparently, as the e-mail I had for her there no longer works. I adore Connie and count her as a BFF so this thrills me!
I also heard from Sydney S, another friend, all the way since college days. Syd will soon also undergo back surgery and I absolutely must get together with her before we both have these heavy-duty procedures. She and I are of an age where these things are fairly common, so it is not remarkable that both of us are due for repair. And I also want to see my beloved old friend, Linnie W, one time before I am housebound. We have been friends since 1975, a good long time, and if you knew her, you would adore her too, as she is a saint among women. Then there’s Dianne, who wrote asking for one more lunch together after the first of the year.
Oh my, I love my girlfriends!
I also got the sweetest note in e-mail from Aaron T, girlfriend and incredibly good transcriber for us for many years, which made my heart sing. Truly we are bathed in love here at L/L Research.
By nightfall I was exhausted and Mick was dozing too, so I asked a special favor and we went to bed early. I offered the closing prayer at the Gaia Meditation tonight.
I fell asleep thinking of how lovely our Christmas tree is. With its burden of lights, ribbons, streamers, ornaments and Jenny, the treetop angel, it graces our living room and blesses it with scent and the powerful aromas of hope and joy.
2010-12-22
December 23, 2010 4:59pm.
As Christmas winds ever closer to us, the winter solstice is here. Happy longest night of the year! After Morning Offering I wrote the Camelot Journal entry for yesterday and cleared e-mail, then took up editing a recent interview done with Wynn Free’s Monday Night Conference Call. I got perhaps halfway through that before closing up shop.
Gary came by for one last clean-up of the office before Christmas and he set me up by tape recorder and digital recorder to have a fourth try at the eighth class of the IMU series on the Principles of the Law of One. The tape recorders worked! Sadly, the digital system failed yet again. I suggested that Gary send the unit back and request a replacement. Gary, however, wanted to work with it further, after Christmas. He also promised to help me record these last four classes in the week between Christmas and New Year’s.
I thought I had a counseling appointment today, but the man who asked for the time never called. These things happen!
Mick and I shared a luxurious and healing bath and then a quiet evening. He offered the closing prayer for the Gaia Meditation tonight.
2010-12-21
December 22, 2010 1:53pm.
We can color the day a washout for me, although it was fair, dry and warming well into the 30s F. Even before I awoke for the day the promised stomach flu was blooming. I felt dazed, headachy, queasy and utterly weary and went back to bed almost directly after Mick and I made our Morning Offering. It was a good move! I slept like a lamb most of the day. I was very happy to hear from Renée that she had the same symptoms last Sunday and it only lasted two days for her. So I’ll be fine after tomorrow! This is so good! Being ill on Christmas would cut into the giggle factor and we do NOT want any of that!
It turns out that we will only have family. Melissa, Renée, Lex, Mick and I will have Camelot to ourselves for Christmas. Gary will go to his sister’s for a sibling get-together with his three siblings, two sisters and a brother. They have been through a real rite of passage as they gathered as the younger generation to deal as a clan with their Dad recently, and Gary is looking forward to enjoying the company of the siblings of his birth family, all of whom he adores, under happier circumstances. And Romi will be with his Mom in Cheska. But there will be an ocean of love for those here, plenty to go around.
Before I napped, Mick and I first ferried Stanley to the Subaru dealer so their service department could replace some bushings and drive belts that were worn according to Stanley’s last check-up, the week before the Nebraska trip. That went very well and in the afternoon Gary and Mick ferried him home. Good as new.
Mick did some work for customers today and lay in supplies for the coming storm, predicted now for Christmas Eve. He had finally dug everyone out of their icy driveways, and today, the icicles which had formed on our “icicle” outdoor lights across the porch eaves finally started melting. Mick says he may even be able to see the leaves which he was unable to crunch before the last storm hit, before the new snow falls. There is not enough time actually to get them up, but he can at least wave at them!
I did eventually get the Camelot Journal entry written for yesterday and cleared the e-mail Inbox. Wynn wrote to thank me for a good show, and I wrote him back to say that I too had enjoyed being with him and Terry.
I thanked Renée for some stunning close-up photos she took around the Camelot gardens of the icy beauty of branch and berry.
I let Mark O’s secretary know that I could not read a document she sent due to this machine’s not having translation software for new Word documents.
And I wrote beloved Mish and sent a note for Gary to send to Baykal. There was so much love in those two letters, it lifted me up!
Then I signed a whole lot of tax-receipt letters for people who donated to L/L Research in our fundraising season. The attendant notes and cards and the incredible generosity of our seekers sent my heart soaring. We are bathed in love and light here, and we all feel so very fortunate to be able to serve at L/L Research.
I offered the closing prayer at the Gaia Meditation tonight.
Gary agreed to set me up for a new try at session/class eight tomorrow, if I feel well enough. I was thrilled with the day, for it was a difficult one, yet so much had gotten done, by me and around me! My work ethic was pleased indeed. I went to bed gratefully, early and happy.
2010-12-20
December 21, 2010 5:32pm.
I have mentioned before that the misfortune that follows my recordings of the classes on the Law of One for IMU has become notable. My efforts today in that direction were no exception! Gary got me all set up and I once again recorded class/chapter eight. Once again it did not record. This makes three tries and three failures on this material on the blue-ray energy center. That is the throat chakra, the communication chakra. Moses said to me, in 1971 in a séance, “Go forth and teach.” Humbly, I say, “I am trying!”
I am beginning to see the pattern to this particular instance of psychic greeting. Apparently it is about recording this class for IMU on the principles of the Law of One. The earlier woes connected with the trip to Nebraska stopped Mick and me from working at leisure on the teaching notes on the automobile trip out and back. We skirted that problem by doing the work in Nebraska instead. Then the laptop was lost, and with it my teaching notes.
So Mick and I produced a new batch of teaching notes when we got back to Camelot, marked in the hard copy of the book, and Renee physically typed those quotes out for me, so I was able to carry on teaching. I got seven classes of twelve recorded and then this series of failures occurred with class eight.
Today’s failure took Gary by surprise, since he thought for sure that he had solved the problem with the equipment. I was saddened but not surprised, since my energy has often fouled recording equipment before. I asked Gary to contemplate how to record the last four sessions of this teaching project on tape. He promised to give it much thought before tomorrow.
In a way it is always a compliment when the loyal opposition indicates that it would prefer that I NOT do something, as that means that it is worth doing, in terms of adding to the light on Planet Earth. So I thank the opposition for the compliment. And of course, I will persevere until this honor/duty is done.
I was a guest on Wynn Free’s Monday Night Conference Call show on BBSRadio.com tonight, and enjoyed the company and conversation as always. The theme of the show was the meaning of Christmas for non-Christians and I enjoyed sharing my thoughts with Wynn and Terry.
The rest of today was a bit of a challenge. My lower back and hips were having a tough day and I seem to be sickening for stomach flu. Fortunately for my morale and healing, Mick asked me for a date, and we had a wonderful time dancing in the fields of the Lord tonight.
I offered the closing prayer at the Gaia Meditation tonight.
2010-12-19
December 20, 2010 12:41pm.
What a good Sunday this was! For one thing, the temperature crept up to all of 33 F today, breaking the icy enchantment of the past week and heralding the possible slight thaw of all the icicles and patches of ice on the roadways here in the village of Anchorage. Hazelwood, the street cattycorner to our house, has deep and unimproved ditches on each side and we have felt all too adventurous driving down its treacherous length to our turn.
After Morning Offering Mick set out on Sunday errands and brought me back a treat while I did the puzzles. We enjoyed spending some time together and eventually had a nap before lunch.
At noon I had a short interview with K. Weary, who does interviews for the IMU radio show on the internet. It was a very pleasant conversation and I think all went well.
In the afternoon we watched Knight and Day, with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, a charming light adventure-comedy that succeeded unassumingly and completely in entertaining us. The two work wonderfully together and look well as a team. I thought Diaz had a grand way with the inevitable squeals of fear endemic to such a role, and under-squoke beautifully, saving all our ears and being perfectly in tune with her role. Tom Cruise was delightfully diffident and low-key as he smashed and smote at will amongst the bad guys and saved Dias again and again from mayhem and murder.
I recommend the film for anyone who likes action or romance or the stars. Its action is very well-paced, its romance is believable and sweet and its stars are worth their hype.
Gary came in this afternoon, his emergency handled, and we are thrilled to have him back! I was also jazzed to hear his report that the first seven recordings are OK for IMU. He found what was wrong with the recording device. A switch had got thrown that was not supposed to be thrown. It is now taped over and that cannot happen again. I can begin recording again tomorrow. Whee!
At 9:00 Gary came in to join Melissa, Renee, Jim and me for the Gaia Meditation. Mick offered the closing prayer.
2010-12-18
December 19, 2010 6:51pm.
We finessed Morning Offering this morning, since we were having meditation tonight, and Mick did some chores around the house before heading out for his Saturday chores.
I wrote the Camelot Journal entry for yesterday and then wrote Renee to let her know that I was coming to a full stop on the teaching until she had uploaded all my previous classes to IMU and could tell me what we really had “in the can,” and what was still left to do. I will also wait to record again until Gary has fully checked out the recording device and vetted its use.
Auna sent a request that I add to the Minutes of this last meeting of the Wagner Park Committee that something had been said about limitations wanted on building in the park, but I responded that if something was said, I had not heard it. I encouraged her to write directly to Mark, the Wagner Park Committee chair, and if he recalls it too, ask him to make the addition.
After clearing the e-mail, I took up a recent meditation session that Aaron had transcribed with her usual skill, and edited perhaps a third of that, between afternoon naps. This back trouble is wearying, and I welcome the chances I have to sleep for a while and ease things.
Renee ran to the post office this morning with some late packages, and in late afternoon cooked fried chicken, which made the house smell wonderful. After dinner and the meditation meeting, Mick and I headed for the cabin room, where we spent a lovely, quiet late evening talking and watching TV, including the Austin City Limits show on KET. Tonight we saw Annie Clark and her band, Saint Vincent. She really was wonderful!
Meditation was great tonight, with Renee, John and Alen joining Mick and me. The question was, “What would you like to say about the opportunities for spiritual seeking at this time of year?” I know I will enjoy editing the Q’uo group’s response to that when the transcript arrives. I offered the Gaia Meditation prayer at the end of the public meditation meeting, and then we enjoyed brie and crackers and some of Renee’s cookies, and conversation, until the guests had to leave.
2010-12-17
December 18, 2010 10:24am.
Difficulty seems to be dogging my attempts to record these classes. After Morning Offering Mick went off to do ice removal for customers and I wrote the Camelot Journal entry for yesterday, cleared the e-mail and then went upstairs to re-record chapter/class eight. Again the recording balled up some 17 minutes into the session.
I no longer trust the recording software, after two failed attempts to record my teaching session on chapter/class eight. And Renee has not yet uploaded any of these sessions to IMU. In effect, I have, as yet, no idea whether or not any of the sessions recorded properly.
Gary will be back on Sunday or at worst, Monday and I believe I shall cease recording – or attempting to record – teaching sessions for IMU until Renee has uploaded what I have done and found any problems, and until Gary is here to work the recording equipment. Why do more work when it seems clear that something is seriously wrong with my equipment? I am not so stubborn that I cannot wait a couple of days and check my facts!
I did much better today at being disappointed in failing to record myself. At least I am getting better at something! And the rest of the day offered me much cheer! This was my day to color my hair navy blue for the winter months. I spent some hours at Images Salon getting blued, and emerged a person ready for a blue, blue-blue-blue Christmas, a la Elvis! I love the look of it. It makes me smile!
Mick had dropped me off at the hairdresser’s in between ice-removal jobs, and was ready for a treat when he picked me up at 5:30. He used a Christmas bonus check to take me to KT’s Restaurant, just around the corner from Images, where we had steaks and baked potatoes with coleslaw, our mutually favorite meal and one we never have at home. Largely that is because steak is expensive, so we have ground beef or cheaper cuts at home for every day. But also it is because I like rare steak and Mick likes well-done steak. Making food all at once for eating over a week’s period, I could never expect a rare cut of meat!
We came home with just enough time to take a bath together in our newly fixed big bathtub before it was time for Monica’s Q&A show. That went smoothly, with excellent questions from our seekers as usual, with lots of meat on them. This time I responded to questions about hidden codes, Christmas and the feeling of not being able to speak from the heart.
For the rest of the night, Mick and I romped in the fields of the Lord, the Creator, he and I collaborating on creating some sunshine for us all! Mick and I passed the peace before our love-making, and went to sleep in the afterglow.
2010-12-16
December 17, 2010 11:25am.
Misfortune seems to be dogging me as I try to complete the teaching on this class on 101: The Choice. Today, after Morning Offering and writing the Camelot Journal entry for yesterday, I went upstairs to my office to record class/chapter 8. However, after only 19 minutes, the green light went out on my recorder, which I was not watching today, and I finished teaching a class that did not record. When I saw that the light was out I basically saw the handwriting on the wall! Renee later confirmed the loss of that class. I shall have to re-do it tomorrow.
Fortunately I did go ahead and create the test and forum question for the class/chapter, so at least the beastly part is done for number eight! Yay! I really do not like tests, but I must produce them for this school, and inflict them on my students as well.
It started to snow around here during the night but that quickly changed to sleet and freezing rain, which all coalesced on the ground as ice. We got between ½” and 1” of ice on everything! Mick and I got up well before dawn this morning and made our Morning Offering very early so that at the crack of sunrise he could get out there and salt, sand, blow or otherwise clear his customers’ ice. He worked all morning, then we had lunch and he took me to Dr. Lee, who is checking my kidneys. I got a clean bill of health from him!
When we got back, off went Mick again to do more salting and blowing, and he worked until full dark. He was still getting calls for help from customers and relatives of customers at 9:00 p.m., when we offered the Gaia Meditation, with Mick praying at the end.
Although the plumber promised hot water in the big tub – again – that did not happen, so Mick showered upstairs again this evening and we hope against hope for tomorrow’s visit to produce results!
Around the edges, I saw that Auna had indeed found the five minutes needed to vet the Minutes corrections, and Mark sent us both a thank you. Whew! I am glad to see that done.
2010-12-15
December 16, 2010 7:42am.
Melissa and Renee powered through an enormous pile of cookies and gift tins today, readying all the packages for mailing to friends and family far and wide. It was a real triumph! Now we only need one more big push, to make cookies for our friends who live here and those who will share Christmas Day with us. I am most thankful to Mel and Renee for making this big Santa’s elves effort on behalf of the house!
The plumbers were here all day and at the end of it they had delivered to us … cold water, still, in our big bathtub. They will be back tomorrow.
After Morning Offering I wrote the Camelot Journal entry for yesterday and cleared e-mail. Except for a huge load of spam, with which this computer seems to have been amply provided, all was well in my Inbox, although I dread to think what Gary’s Inbox must hold by now. His absence, while necessary, is timed very inconveniently, since there are few days left in the year and much to do. I hope his emergency is over soon, and he can return to his honor/duties here.
I also tackled all the editorial revisions to a couple of the sessions of Minutes from previous Wagner Park committee meetings. I was vastly irritated to discover that both editors of the Minutes 1) had chosen to take the opportunity to cover their amplitudes rather than make substantive changes, one woman actually changing her vote, and 2) had not bothered to do the simple task of putting the revisions in the Minutes. Instead they gave me that job. Obviously, laziness is a trait of my shadow side which I have not altogether forgiven and accepted in myself!
Having done this task with painstaking attention to detail, I sent the document to Auna, who was supposed to work with me to be sure the changes were made correctly before handing the Minutes back to chair Mark O. She informed me that she was Very Busy and would not be able to spare the five minutes needed to vet my work until the weekend. I told her that Mark wanted these changes today, in order to turn them around to the committee members. She indicated that Mark would be forced to wait.
Ah well, my work for the committee is done, and in a timely fashion. With that I shall be satisfied!
In the afternoon I returned to my teaching, Renee having dealt with putting in new batteries and charging everything in the recording set-up until it was ready for me. I concluded Chapter/Class Seven of Twelve in this teaching series on the principles of the Law of One and wrote the test and forum questions with which this university insists we accompany each class. It is good to have gotten further than halfway with this project. Five classes to go! Barring incident I should conclude the work by Christmas.
It had been too long since I bathed, and so Mick and I went upstairs to get me a shower in the upstairs tub. I was able to accomplish this only with his help, for which I was most thankful. This was tough duty for me, having a stair climb up and down bracketing time spent off-balance and ever shorter of breath as I got myself cleansed and dainty again. It really made me appreciate the downstairs tub, and its easy proximity to my bed, where I can recline and have Mick go through the series of maneuvers which it takes to get my skin moistened, powdered and so forth. I can’t wait to be in that big tub once again!
Mick and I enjoyed a quiet evening and sought our beds early since Mick will be up to his earflaps in snow removal at dawn tomorrow. We passed the Gaia Meditation peace at 9:00 this evening.
2010-12-14
December 15, 2010 10:00am.
What a goofy day it was for me! It was good and cold outside, and Mick went out after Morning Offering to wind up and store some hoses for a couple of customers. In the afternoon he spread mulch for a third customer. He had to put the mulch on top of the snow, but Mick says that will not hurt anything, as eventually the snow will melt and feed the ground. He also said it was the only dark color in the landscape, with the snow covering everything with a winter coat of ermine-white.
As for me, I was blocked from finishing my seventh class because a battery ran out of power and the green light went out on the recorder. Fortunately I saw it go, and did not keep talking into an empty mike. I marked where I stopped, and once Renee lets me know that the first half of the class recorded all right, then I will get her to reset the recorder and get me going again on the class tomorrow.
I came downstairs to do work on my substitute laptop only to discover that it had decided to hibernate. I desperately tried to stop it, but to no avail. Thank heavens Renee was right there to get me going again.
I got the Minutes from last night’s Wagner Park Committee meeting rehashed to my satisfaction and sent those to the chairman, Mark O, and asked him for the files of all other meetings, as he wanted me to incorporate some changes. He will send them tomorrow morning.
Mick and I tried the bathtub one more time, but all the repairs were to no avail. We must stand the expense of a new water heater, in order for us to be able to keep taking our daily and very therapeutic baths together. Now isn’t that just what we need before Christmas! Ah well, no one ever said owning a house was cheap! What one owns, one must maintain. C’est la vie.
Melissa blew in from Avalon in the morning, cleaned up and pitched in for the day and into the night with Renee, baking cookies. We will have wonderful gifts to send everyone! Chloe was all too interested in the foil-covered baked cookies, for unlike almost all cats she actively likes foil. So we had to put the cookies elsewhere again.
Mick and I passed the peace for the Gaia Meditation tonight at 9:00, and enjoyed a couple of new episodes of NCIS and one of Criminal Minds while we were relaxing tonight.
2010-12-13
December 14, 2010 10:53am.
I felt almost drugged today, and sank down into sleep with the irresistible pull of weariness again and again. I really cannot explain it, but I imagine that it is being very good for me. I imagine I am probably still recovering from the disastrous Nebraska trip.
I wrote the Camelot Journal entry for yesterday after Morning Offering while Mick spent the morning digging his customers’ driveways and walkways free of snow – well, digging, blowing, throwing and salting! He was delighted with the work.
I eventually recorded the class for Chapter Six of 101, which involves the yellow-ray chakra or energy center and its work. Then I created a test for that chapter as well as a forum question. I am now halfway through the work for this class.
Mick came in quite sleepy too, and we napped together at the end of the afternoon. I talked a couple of times to Melissa up on Avalon Farm. She wants to come help with cookie baking, but she could not get out today. She will try again tomorrow.
Renee spent her day baking, making a ton of cookies and then whisking them out of the cats’ way. Chloe especially is not daunted by any amount of aluminum foil and was hard to discourage. We ended up taking the cookies downstairs to the basement, where cats do not go.
Mick and I had another committee meeting for the Wagner Park Committee, which property abuts our house in back. I was again asked to record the Minutes, so took my laptop along. It is a frustrating thing to watch the folks deliberately going off topic and I greatly sympathize with committee chair, Mark O. His ability to remain patient and civil under constant duress has come to impress me a lot.
Gary called in the evening from Georgia, letting us know that his dad is recovering from a sudden emergency, but still has a breathing tube and is heavily sedated. He and his three siblings will try to stay there to make sure he is OK before Gary returns. He has our full support for whatever he needs to do. Family is family!
Mick and I passed the peace for the Gaia Meditation and then tried out our bath, which the plumber had again tried to supply with hot water. He failed! Tomorrow, they say they will be back out here to rig us up a new water heater for our big bathtub. I look forward to that!
Mick and I ended the day with a delightful date, playing with sacred energy like otters frolicking in the water, and going to sleep in the afterglow.
2010-12-12
December 13, 2010 8:05am.
Sunday was more of a resting day than I had originally intended. I never did get upstairs to record any teaching all day. Mick rose at the break of dawn and cleared snow for eight customers before coming home and making our Morning Offering. He felt irresistibly sleepy after that and all day, he tended to sink down into naps. So I waited for him to declare a “break” figuring I would record my next class during that time.
However that time never came! Romi came over in mid-afternoon and got my computer rigged with the latest back-up of Traveller we had, so finally I had a list of my appointments. I was thrilled to see that I had not missed any of them! Given that it was snowing on and off all day, I was enormously grateful for his help! Thank you, Ro Man!
Mick and I finally watched our movie, Eat Pray Love, over supper. I was relatively bored with this movie despite the lovely production values of the piece. It was a silly, self-involved vehicle of a film, such as one might have expected for Doris Day and Rock Hudson. Only the diva in this case was Julia Roberts, a lovely and talented actress whose skills were underused here. She had a nice lot of lovers – Javier Barden chief among them – and a couple of spiritual teachers who spouted clichés. And she ate, prayed and loved.
I will bet the cast and crew had a great time filming in Rome, Italy at large, India and Bali! It was fun to see the scenery. Here’s a question no one needs to answer: why is Rome called the Eternal City when it has so many ruins?
Mick and I shared the prayer for the Gaia Meditation tonight.
2010-12-11
December 12, 2010 5:17pm.
It was fairly pretty this morning, and Mick got up early, had the Morning Offering, and headed out to get done all the leaf-crunching he could before the bad weather started in. Gary joined him in early afternoon and by the time darkness fell, Mick had made every yard except one or two of his customers’ all tidied for the year and put them all to bed. He worked for nine customers today! It is not a record, but close! He was very elated by getting that all done, as well he should, for there was only this one tiny window of opportunity between one snow storm and the next. By bedtime it was already snowing again.
As for me, fighting exhaustion all day, I managed to record two more classes – I now have five of the twelve classes recorded – and wrote the tests and forum questions for each class. And I cleaned out my e-mail. I deleted a huge number of forwards, at which I normally would have looked, but with my current prospects of doing these classes, I knew nothing was going to give me a chance to enjoy them. So they went. Bye-bye, forwards!
After a nice rest, Mick started to offer me a hot bath but discovered that the plumber who had come earlier today to fix the hot water heater that feeds our tub was producing only cold water. Disaster! I can only bathe in that big tub, because of my right foot, made of glass, which has suffered a couple of stress fractures when I tried to rise from a tub in which not enough water was run to afford me a good floating start up. So I forewent a bath tonight.
Renee made a delicious artichoke heart and spinach dip for the meditation meeting tonight, to which Mick and I welcomed Lynn and Romi. No one wanted to have a channeled meditation tonight, so after our talk around the circle we had a good silent meditation, and then lots of conversation. The party broke up around 11:00 p.m.
Romi had to take this computer home, as he discovered that it had Word 2002 installed, while the backup he wanted to install on it was in Word 2003. He will install Word 2003 tonight and bring the computer back tomorrow ready to take that back-up and reveal to me what appointments I have next week. I greatly look forward to knowing my schedule again!
I offered the Gaia Meditation prayer at the end of the silent meditation.
2010-12-10
December 11, 2010 9:27am.
This was one busy day! After Morning Offering, for which Debbie L of IMU joined us, there ensued another hard session of body work, where Debbie was instructing me to breathe deeply and pant like a dog, over and over. She felt that this would reprogram my body to be healthier. I gave it my best shot. We had four body work sessions in all today.
Debbie also spent some time showing Renee and Gary how to work the IMU web site. However, she said that when anyone posts to that site, the posting is permanent and unable to be further edited. Given that both Gary and Renee are extremely busy doing other things, I will write Debbie tomorrow and explain that we will send all materials into IMU staff through her, and they will be responsible for posting to their own site.
I will also request that this be the end of the body work she undertook with me. She wanted someone here to continue with her seemingly endless protocols, but I have not experienced any changes, good or bad, in my condition, which is par for the course where body work is concerned for me. So I am ready to let that go.
Debbie had said she would stay and aid me with the work until the end of Monday, but in the afternoon she decided to leave and let me do the rest of the class teaching on my own. She is correct in that I can do this on my own. However I would have appreciated her aid over the weekend, and felt somewhat under-supported when she left. She had been here only a bit over one day.
I can only hope I am doing an adequate job, and that the future IMU students find my teaching style a good one. Debbie mentioned in passing that I was “brilliant” and that she wants to engage me to teach other courses, so she apparently thinks I am doing well. In fact, I will assume so, as I have no other comfortable options!
At 9:00 Monica and I collaborated on the Q&A show, which seemed to go very well this time. We had excellent questions on astrology, 2012, WWJD and other fine topics.
By that time I was entirely exhausted, and embraced the hot bath I shared with Mick with open arms! We passed the Gaia Meditation peace at 10:00 and then had a delightful time of relaxing and enjoying together.
2010-12-09
December 10, 2010 6:53am.
After Morning Offering I set about writing one entry for the Camelot Journal which spanned Mick’s and my trip to Nebraska and home again. I got that finished by the time I heard from Debbie L around noon. Mick had just finished having lunch with me and headed out for an afternoon of log splitting as she arrived.
Debbie and I ended up recording the first two classes on 1o1 today, plus writing the course syllabus and introduction. I wrote out ten questions for each class, as the IMU likes to test the students on what they read. And I created a chapter forum question for each chapter.
After we had dinner, Debbie worked on me for a while and then at 9:00 or so, I went in to Mick, who was waiting in the cabin room, and we passed the Gaia Meditation peace and then had a bath together. Afterwards, we enjoyed the thrill of a date. I fell asleep in the afterglow.
I find that doing the recording of the classes themselves is fun and easy for me. But the creating of the test questions, typing them up and so forth, is much more stressful. All in all, it was an exhausting day!
Gary tried once again to talk with United Air Lines about finding my lost laptop. They advised him to have me fill out the claim form which is on line on their web site. He did that for me and asked me to write up a description of the incident, which I did between recording class one and class two.
United told him that their “lost bag guru” would not be at work until next Monday, at which time he would take on my “case”, in this case, a backpack! Perhaps in the fullness of time, Traveller will be returned to me. I hope so! I have no idea what my appointments are in the future!
2010-11-28 to 2010-12-08
December 9, 2010 7:22am.
Dear ones, I imagine you have wondered where I was! It is a long story! Suffice it to say that the trip to Nebraska was challenging in many ways, and the dial-up connection at Mom McCarty’s house was not competent. I could not post journal entries from there. Then on the way home, I lost my computer. This is a substitute laptop. United Airlines ate Traveller whole and it has not yet given the laptop back. I have been unable to post until this very day,
I did keep the Camelot Journal in Nebraska, and if I ever get my laptop back, I will post the entries I made. However at this point it looks dim for this happy outcome. So I shall look back over the trip and share what I can recall.
This trip was, from first to last, of the nature of a psychic greeting. All efforts were resisted. The first thing that went awry, before we got out of town, was the computer hook-up for the car. The fitting did not match the size of the USB ports. Nor did it match any other plug-ins on my laptop. So our plans of making teaching notes in the car, on the way to Nebraska, were at naught.
We’d gotten an iPod hook-up for the car so we could listen to Mick’s very full array of music. It did not work. Further, in hooking up the iPod, somehow the CD changer was compromised and also would not play CDs.
Worst of all, my bladder went mad and demanded a throne every ten or fifteen minutes the entire way to Nebraska. We at first thought seriously of driving back to Louisville and dropping me off! But as we discovered the thorough nature of this greeting, we felt we needed to meet it fearlessly, so we persevered.
We eventually pulled in to Mom’s house. I was glad to land and pretty much collapsed, that first night. The place was very uncomfortable. Mom has gotten very cold-natured and the house was almost at 90 F, so warm that Mick and I would sit there and wipe the perspiration off our faces with a handkerchief. It was also very dry in the house, causing both our noses to start bleeding. My chair was uncomfortable, though adequate in that it was a recliner and had good arms. However it did not feel comfortable. Nor did the hospital bed Mom had rented for me. That was one inexpensively made bed! The mattress was 2” thick, and hard as a rock.
So there was no comfort for me there at all. Mick fared little better.
We celebrated Mom’s 93rd birthday and kept her company for that week. And we got the teaching notes made that needed to be done, so that I would be ready to teach the class on 101 for the International Metaphysical University when I got back to Louisville. Our Christmas letter was written, and the card-calendars sent out. I gained eight pounds, since eating was my only source of physical comfort. And we decided that I would fly home, to avoid the two days of constant bathroom stops waiting for us on the road. Mick put me on a plane in Omaha. In Chicago I had to change planes, and my carry-on, with my laptop inside, did not make it to the second plane.
On it were all my carefully made teaching notes!
We had kept up our Morning Offerings in Nebraska and the Gaia Meditations, in a way – with Mom’s TV on all the time in the evening, we had no space for meditation, but passed the peace each night faithfully.
Even with the laptop missing, being home at Camelot was a joy. My own bed, my own mama chair, and my own blessed bidet! I began to heal. Melissa came into town to make sure I was OK, and she got me undressed and into bed that first night, and dressed in he morning, and fed. Mick arrived home the next afternoon and we celebrated by going out to the Red Lobster, our traditional last stop on each Nebraska visit.
The next day, I received a telephone call from Deborah. She said she would be here Thursday rather than Friday, a surprise to me. And I had no teaching notes. So throughout the day, Mick and I marked all the places in the book, 101, for teaching notes. Then I attempted to start transferring the notes to the computer. It was an impossibility. From the PDF Gary had of 101, nothing would copy. So Gary made me a Word version of 101. It also would not copy.
Finally, Renee sat down with the hard copy of the book, which had my markings, and physically began typing out my teaching notes. By nightfall she had come halfway through the book. So I shall be able to teach as planned, thanks to Renee’s huge rescue. All hail Renee! I am demanding at this point that I be allowed to do something good for her and Lexy. Dining out, seeing a film or going anywhere they like. Renee deserves a huge thank you for this.
Mick took me to a doctor’s appointment this afternoon, and also to the manicurist’s to have an infected finger treated. When we got back, Melissa had finished decorating the tree and the downstairs, and everything looked wonderful. She had also repaired some water damage to the hall ceiling before we got back.
She spent most of her afternoon today trying to repair our electrical system. We had some incompetent repairmen, back ten or twelve years ago, who did not do the right things when adding to our electrical system in the house. She and the electrician got perhaps halfway through the needed repairs and had to quit because of lack of time. But it is good to know she’s on the job! Thank you, Melissa!
The teaching for IMU starts tomorrow! Wish me luck!
|