More Snow

We are expecting more snow this evening. Hooray! It has been cloudy all day and rained a little. Hopefully it will get colder and turn to fluffy flakes of white.

Holidays

My Christmas table substituted for a tree this year:



Christmas Eve was a little lonely, but I tried to make the best of it. I didn't really have anywhere to be. So I went to the shelter and passed out some gifts to the men who were there. Then I debated about going to an evening service at church. I wanted to just watch people at the service and not have to interact with them. Since that wasn't possible, I skipped it altogether.

Drove around looking at the farolitos. Those are still magical and stunning. Walked around Old Town for a bit and then retired at home.

Had a good Christmas day, spending the morning with my landlord's family and the afternoon at a friends' open house.

I'm at work today (Tuesday) and taking tomorrow off for a movie (Charlette's Web) and a doctor's appointment. Will take advantage of house sitting to host dinners Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Planning to work on the new year holiday.

Mmmm...Dinner

The Snow Did Arrive

Here was the view driving home on Tuesday.



The path to my house.



My backyard. (Notice Sola, our chicken, who is busy pacing back and forth unsure how to leave my porch and get to her coop without touching the ground.)

Hunkering Down

Weather reports indicate 4-8 inches of snow tonight with gusts up to 45 mph. I hope they are right but will believe it when I see it.

Volunteer!

Every third Saturday of each month, I have an awesome group of volunteers who come to the shelter. They tackle anything and everything that needs done. They are a virtual tornado of cleanliness.

It is fun, too, because they are an interesting group: socially conscious, spiritually grounded, good-humored. I enjoy the conversations as much as getting so much work accomplished.

The 6-12 persons who come each month are acquainted with one another through a philosophy class that most of them are taking.

Here's the challenge:

• Identify a group of which you are a part;
• Choose a non-profit organization;
• Volunteer as a group to help that organization;
• Share what you are doing by posting back here.

You will make a huge difference!

Another vigil was held in Santa Fe. Others were held across the country in many cities.

Vigil for Homeless Persons Who Died

Yesterday I attended a vigil memorializing those persons who died this year in Albuquerque who were without a home.

• 200 - number of persons present at the vigil.


• 50 - number of the deceased.


• 11 - number of those who had been resident at our shelter at one time.


• 0 - the number of political leaders present.

Would You Like Fries With That Face?

I just learned that my cell phone can communicate through the ethers to my telephone company, which can communicate back to my computer where I can transfer pics onto my desktop and upload to this blog. Whew! Now no one is safe.

For today, I have my friends Wendell, Odette (who comments on the site), A Man (about whom I've previously blogged), Bill and a couple of dogs.

I'll leave it to you to decide who is who.

Free Dance

Discovered a group yesterday who meet each week to enjoy 2 hours of free dance. It takes place in an old theatre space with a big open floor. They play a wide mix of music and folks just spin and cavort and twist as they feel the urge. Very spontaneous.

Afterwards, my hypno-friend (no that's not an imaginary friend...but that might be a good business angle: create your own hypno-friend and never be alone again!) and I ate at the funky Java Joe's and then spent the afternoon brainstorming our own personal futures. Ended with a Reiki session, my first and certainly not my last. It was great!

Shop & Stroll

Went last evening with friends to eat sushi in Nob Hill. It was the annual "Shop & Stroll," a holiday event with music, dancers, farolitos, free foods & drink while stolling down Route 66 which was closed to traffic.

Best Purchase of the Night

A bumper sticker that reads:

I don't mind straight people,
as long as they act gay in public.

Working on a New Look

(Compliments of J. Sadler.)

Actually, with my mustache shaved off (which it now is) the bald face balances better. Jury is mixed on the absence of eyebrows. Funny how accustomed we become to seeing things the same way.

Kind of like over here we don't eat dogs, but over there they don't eat cows. Equally grosses all of us out. Just a matter of what we're used to, I guess.

I'm may start a new group for "Americans Without Eyebrows" to change everyone's restrained expectations of each other. Then all will be free to be themselves: with or without. Just think of it!! Like Dr. Seuss's "The Sneetches" who had stars on thars and those that did not.

Join me and we can call ourselves an institute.

2 AM

Overnight staff failed to show up at shelter, so I am working from 12:30-7 AM. Most of the stress of this job comes in scheduling. It is difficult to find quality people willing to work 5 hours in the evenings, during the night and/or weekends.

I'm wondering what it means that I am one of those people whose life allows such irregular work times.

25 Days

Although technically Advent began last Sunday, my two godsons begin counting down on December 1st. I love the role of godfather. I get to celebrate with them in different ways.

For example, instead of a big Christmas gift, I give them 25 little gifts. Each day they can open one. This year it is a bunch of science projects with components making up the gifts. After three or four days of getting parts of the project and trying to guess the project, they get instructions. I hope they have as much fun as I had wrapping.

Meanwhile, a fellow hypnotherapist who was in school with me is visiting for a few days. He arrives downtown by train at noon and I'm going to use that as an excuse to leave work early. It will be good to have someone with whom to process some of these past weeks.

And I get my own hypnotherapy session!