So

Starting the second round of staying at home for a week. Things I'd like to do differently:

1. Work on my mental health. Work sent out something from our EAP about a service/app called Whil with all sorts of educational resources for mindfulness, anxiety calming, meditation, and stress release. I went ahead and signed up at work (as it required the work e-mail) and now I'm set. My goal is to spend an hour a day on these. They include video and audio programmes, and it's free with our EAP up to June.
2. Try to actually read. Again, an hour a day is my goal, whether it's an audiobook, e-book, or physical book.
3. Finish 'Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance' with my friend on Netflix.
4. Survive my bread cravings from Pesach/Passover since I can't get something and bring it home until Thursday after sunset.
5. Do almost no travelling out of the house, with some planning. Today I do have to go out to two pharmacies, one of which is Kroger, so I'll try to do a grocery run in and out at the same time.
6. Do some writing, whether it's on my blog or other things. Something to keep me from being on Facebook all day and feeling that I accomplished something.
7. Get my brakes fixed, as my mechanic is only open on weekdays and I'm off. Also, I'd be supporting a local small business.

That's a start, anyway. I'm off through Tuesday before I return to work this time.

Drat!

I did a major no-no for someone with diabetes--I walked out onto our porch to water the windowboxes and apparently stepped on something incredibly small, like a sliver of glass or something else sharp. It's on my big toe, and I can't find anything in order to pull it out, so every time I step, it hurts. Not good. At least it's a fairly minor annoyance, and hopefully won't get infected or anything. I need to remember to at the very least wear my sandals (although those aren't ideal either, but I love letting my toes 'breathe'). I'm technically supposed to wear something inside, too. My feet have always gotten hot very easily (I hated footed pyjamas as a child, and wandered to find cooler areas as a result).

Today I'm thinking of a young girl half a world a way, the daughter of a Facebook friend, who has a terrible degenerative genetic illness and is having a lot of trouble the last few days. Here's hoping things get better for her and her family.

I've been on Facebook for at least an hour, catching up on my newsfeed. I was sorry to hear Doris Roberts died. I loved her even back when 'Angie' was on. And I found a Passover parody of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' that I'm a little afraid to watch. :)

It's a little late to start tonight, but I'm thinking that the game notes shouldn't take long at all this week. I'll try to do them before Saturday for a change.

What I think I will do is a little reading, especially a couple of books I have on intuitive eating. I'd put that on hold, and while, granted, I went a couple of days without my Lasix, which may mean I may have some extra water weight on me, I weighed myself this morning and topped out at my highest weight ever, 307.2 lbs. That scares me. I don't feel healthy at this weight, and I want to be healthier, but it'll probably mean some major lifestyle changes--exercising, ditching processed food for the most part, being mindful in my eating, and drinking water as my drink of choice, rather than diet drinks. Dieting itself doesn't work for me. I'm fine during the structured part of my day, then binge later in the day when I'm home, because I feel deprived of the food, which I eat emotionally. I need to make peace with food, finally.

A convergence of observances

Thursday is the first full moon after the vernal equinox, so naturally tonight was the beginning of Pesach (Passover), the Jewish holiday commemorating the deliverance of the Hebrews from slavery in Aegypt under the leadership of Moses (Jewish holidays begin at sunset). Observant Jews celebrate with a seder, or ritual dinner, that includes a narrative of the Exodus story, amongst other traditions.

Coincidentally, this year there was another rite to be observed today--one that only happens once every 28 years. The Birkat Hachamah is a Hebrew blessing of the sun, a prayer to G-d as thanks for creating the Sun (many Jews do not pronounce the name of G-d, YHWH, preferring 'Adonai' ('my Lord') or 'ha Shem' ('the Name'). In English, 'G-d' is a way to reflect this taboo.) The blessing, in my understanding, is recited in years when the sun is thought to come back around to the position it held at Creation, a cycle of 28 years.

Here is the text of the blessing:

"ברוך אתה ה' אלהינו מלך העולם עושה מעשה בראשית"
'Blessed are You, LORD, our G-d, King of the Universe who makes the works of Creation.'

According to Wikipedia, the 'same blessing is recited upon experiencing various natural phenomena, including lightning, comets, and meteor showers; as well as upon witnessing wondrous natural topography, such as great mountains, rivers and vast wilderness.'

See more at: Jews observe sun ritual for first time since 1981: Worshippers around the world pay homage to God with rare blessing

My favourite part of the article was the relation of a story from the 19th century where hundreds of Jews collected in a park for the ritual without a permit in New York City, and two rabbis tried to explain things to a policeman:

'The attempt of a foreign citizen to explain to an American Irishman an astronomical situation and a tradition of the Talmud was a dismal failure,' the Times reported, adding that the officer, wondering 'whether some new infection of lunacy had broken out ... seized the rabbi by the neck and took him to Essex Market Police Court.'

Ah, the years before diversity awareness classes. :)

[photo of the seder table by Gila Brand, used under the GNU Free Documentation and Creative Commons licences]

Have a good Pesach (Passover)

Listening to: The Bravery - 'Believe'
Reading: Grave Peril by Jim Butcher

should you celebrate it. My favourite seder moment: when my best friend, who is Jewish, introduced T, another friend, to both gefilte fish and horseradish. T put the horseradish on the fish in a fairly generous proportion instead of to the side. I loved her face when she bit into it. That was the dinner where we chopped vegetables for hours. Now he has a food processor, yay!

Strange Christian thing of the day

Okay, I have trouble remembering when Easter is, since it's not one of my holidays, but for a wonder I remembered not only that Easter is Sunday, but today was Good Friday. But even so, I was not prepared for what I found as I was cruising down Chinoe this afternoon. I looked in my rear-view mirror and the woman in the car behind me is holding a large (10-12 inch) crucifix out of her window. My first reaction is that she somehow recognised the Hekate figure on my car and was calling upon God to smite the evil idol-worshipper. (Not that I worship idols, but that's another topic). My second thought was that she was just going along with a literal 'Jesus is my co-pilot' thing. Weird, but there are weirder things in the world. She turned at Gainesway and kept it out, so it wasn't aimed at me. Let's face it, 9.5 out of 10 Christians would not recognise Hekate even if She were blatantly shown. So, later I realised that this might be some sort of cognate to the pilgrims who go to Jerusalem and carry life-sized crosses (or some other places where they go through mini-crucifixions) along the path Jesus was reported to have done so they can better understand what he did for mankind. I could see where driving a similar route could at least make you more mindful of your Saviour's trevails, but I don't see where toting a 2 lb cross whilst behind the wheel is really going to get you into the mindset of the suffering he reportedly endured. You just look silly. And what if you drop it and some car runs over it? Or worse, what if you're in an accident? That's got to be pretty distracting, especially if you're praying as well. People, this is something you do whilst *walking*.

Just my musings. I hope I haven't offended anyone. I don't mind if you believe that Jesus was the son of God (there were many in the ancient world...my favourite was the whole Zeus appearing as a shower of gold story). I don't mind if you believe he resurrected (again, several cases reported). But the whole one-hand-on-the-wheel-one-hand-on-the-cross is a little creepy. Next time, just put it on your grille like people do wreaths at Christmastime.

Anyway, for those who are sane who are merely marking this important holiday of your faith, happy Easter. And for those of you who have thrown this sadness followed by joy thing to the wind and just gone with the very pagan theme of coloured eggs and chocolate bunnies, happy Easter too.

(I didn't say Happy Spring (my holiday, known as Ostara to some, Alban Eilir to others)--Eilir being rather recognisable to readers of this blog as it is my middle name and means spring, rebirth, or (as a different but related word), butterfly. Anyway, Happy Spring!)

Also, the full moon tonight is very pretty. That's why Easter is as early as it is. It has to fall on the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring (note the word 'after'--if the full moon is on the first Sunday after the vernal equinox, then Easter is the next Sunday. Got it?) Passover, meanwhile, begins on the 15th of Nisan (at sunset, as the Jewish day goes from sunset to sunset, the month from new moon to new moon). This year it's much later than Easter, beginning at sunset April 19th this year. (Note: In Israel and amongst Reform Jews, the holiday is seven days long...amongst the Orthodox and Conservatives outside Israel, it is eight, to be on the safe side and make sure the whole period is commemorated, as days are based on the moon and not on some clock.)

Okay, there's my splurge into spring holiday lore.

Oh, and good Pesach/Passover for those of the Jewish persuasion

It's first full moon since the equinox, so tonight is the beginning of suppers in remembrance of the Exodus. I must remember to wish a co-worker a good Pesach tomorrow.