Halloween Lantern Walk

Halloween is so much more fun when children are involved! The entire education system here gets together to create a lantern walk. I transformed myself into an Undine (Water Fairy) for the evening. We stood on wooden platforms in the middle of the stream that runs through the school campus and moved very very slowly for the evening. The children loved it! Afterwards we had warm soup and danced and watched a Halloween Movie!

Gnomes

I have been felting little Gnomes........They live in my dorm room.

My visit to the NYC Metropolitan Museum of Art

So I finally made it into NYC. Chestnut Ridge (Where I live) is a small town about 40 minutes North of the city...but it has taken me over a month to venture into the big apple. These pictures are the highlights of my trip to the met. Hope you enjoy them!!

New York

I have arrived in NY!!!!  I left home sunday morning early and drove straight through to PA until I reached Hickory Run State Park.  By the time I arrived I was weary, extremely exhausted, and it was getting dark.  I found my campsite, set up my tent snuggled in and went to sleep while the guests in the neighboring spaces continued their labor day parties.  I woke up some time in the middle of the night to extreme quiet...and cold.  So I pulled out several sweat shirts and piled them on before drifting back off to sleep.  I woke early today (labor day) and hit the highway which put me to my destination before 10.  I was one of the first to arrive and I took my time bringing my things in.  I've felt pretty overwhelmed by the move and had a couple of moments where I just really felt home sick (already).  But I unpacked my things, found my storage area, aquainted myself with the kitchen, and went grocery shopping.  It feels as though I have been here for several days.  

My very own Kombucha baby

A few weeks ago I put an add in Craigs' List looking for someone who would share their Kombucha Culture (or Scoby) with me so that I can start to ferment my own Kombucha. I've drank it for years and enjoyed the benefits, but it's really expensive and I'd heard it's pretty simple to brew. Soooo, amazingly there was a women close by who said that she would share hers and as of yesterday afternoon I am the proud owner of a little Kombucha baby (soon to be a Kombucha Mother!) I am so excited!!!! I took it home and made it sweetened green tea and gave it a home in a large gallon glass jar. I can bearly wait to go home and see if it has changed at all. I've only just begun and I already love the process. YAY Kombucha!!! I'm giving a link below that shows how to make your own Kombucha...let me know if any of you become inspired, I'd love to share notes on the experience.


For those of you who aren't familiar with Kombucha it is a tasty fermented drink that you can buy at your local health food store. I'm posting a list that I found on a Kombucha site listing all the amazing ways Kombucha has affected so many people.
This "Benefits of Kombucha" list was compiled by Bev Ferguson, owner of Kombucha Manna International. These results are from a survey she posted over the Kombucha Mailing List. The Kombucha mailing list is a group of over 600 people from all over the world who share their experiences with Kombucha on a daily basis. These benefits are based on their own experiences.
1. Great beverage
2. Sense of well-being
3. Helps to relieve congestion in airways
4. Thicker hair (whoopee!)
5. Energy boost
6. Straightens hair out!
7. Helps osteo arthritis
8. Great conversation piece! :)
9. Licked Calcifying tendonitis
10. Helps with asthma
11. Has brought people together
12. Stress buster
13.Very calming
14. Increase sex drive
15. Regulates Intestines.
16. Cured Candida Overgrowth.
17. Aides digestion - especially on top of diary.
18. Addictive taste.
19. Eliminates or reduces heat rash.
20. Improved circulation/controlled venous stasis in shins
21. Clears and Improves skin
22. Makes a good hair rinse
23. Redundant 'Momma's make good brass cleaners!
24. Helped take the "scales" from a friends Skin disorder
25. Makes a wonderful, soothing foot soak.
26. Shrinks large fatty tumors.
27. Flattening and fading old age carotene patches on the face.
28. Stops severe menstrual cramps
29. Makes a wonderful facial.
30. Makes you much more mobile with gout.
31. helps reduce light sensitivity.
32. Reduces / stabilizes blood pressure.
33. Prevents and helps heal bladder infections
34. Eases carpal tunnel syndrome
35. Heals boils and staph infections on skin.
36. Prevents oral canker sores
37. Prevents eczema and psoriasis
38. Household Cleaner: cuts grease, cleans stoves, bathroom tiles, windows, copper
39. Hair and nails grow faster
40. clears eyesight.
41. More energy
42. Clears nail fungus
43. Improves the sense of well being for people with liver Cancer
44. Helps an older woman feel and look younger
45. Helps Arthritis sufferers
46. Cleanses toxins from the system
47. Soothes burns and sunburn
48. Takes the sting and swelling away from Bee Stings
49. Good underarm deoderant
50. For some people; eliminates desire for alchohol, & helping to relax
51. Smashes flus and colds
52. Significant progress healing chapped lips from topical application of KT
53. Kombucha Colony makes a great poultice
54. Removes rust
55. Returns grey hair to it's natural color for some people
56. Improved eyesight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi4TZ6aTUg4

Mooooving

I'm usually pretty good with moving. I don't drag things out, I just pick a day, pack up and move on out. I am moving from my apartment by the end of the month and I'm temporarily moving in with my folks through August before I head out to NY. This shouldn't be a big deal, but I'm having a hard time getting started. I have three categories when organizing my stuff for moving. The first being things I am giving away, the second, stuff for storage and the third, things I am taking with me to Spring Valley. The things I'm taking with must all fit in one car load and so far consist of clothing, bathroom stuff, a couple of pots/pans, a small keyboard, my laptop, a sewing machine and an iron, my massage table, a couple sheets/towels and a house plant and a bag of books. I have no clue how that is all going to fit. I made this little diagram of my car (It's a ford escort station wagon) and everything fit quite well when I drew it in, but I have yet to really do this in reality. It should be quite interesting. The stuff I'm storing is probably going to be the easiest of all. I have tuperware bins that consist of all my books and research material that I've collected over the years relating to my massage practice as well as my Waldorf training and teaching experience. Along with this I have a few nice pieces of furniture, two lamps, kitchen ware, kitchen chairs, art supplies/material etc. The things I'm giving away are my couch, a comfy chair with ottoman, two side tables, a kitchen table, books, clothes, etc. So far so good right??? It's all in the imagination phase, I'm still grazing in the field, chewing and digesting the whole thing so will see what comes to pass. Outside of this I am trying to wrap my head around all the good folks I'd like to see before I go and the logistics of how that will happen. So right now if you're in Chicagoland give a shout.

Forgiveness

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D4VMZb8wLY

Yum

Last night I was faced with the decision of what to throw together to eat. Normally this is really fun for me to see what's around and make up recipes, most of the time they are pretty good, although sometimes they miss the mark. Last night I came up with something that was so good. I stumbled upon the idea of adding an apple and it ended up giving it just the right touch.

What you need:

1 bunch of kale or chard
1 can garbanzo beans
1 large apple
2-3 T Tahini
1/4 C Miso paste
bit of Honey
1/2 lemon (juice)
2 onions
bow tie pasta (wheat-free or regular)

Start by slicing onions into thin half moons and saute them in a bit of oil under med heat until they carmelize.

Mix Miso paste with Tahini, honey and Lemon juice then add Water to thin the sauce until you get a consistancy of a dressing.

chop apple into cubes.

Wash and chop greens so that they are in small pieces (about the size of your palm).

Cook your noodles.

Once onions are carmelized add apples and greens. let them cook down, apples should be soft and greens should wilt, but still be a nice bright green color.
Add garbanzos and noodles.

Add the sauce to taste.

Weekend Freedom

Last weekend was the first weekend I've had free in a long long time since school had (joyfully) taken up my Friday nights and Saturdays. So of course what did I do?? I filled it. It turned out that Shining Rivers, the school that I taught at last year was having their end of the year Silver and Gold picnic Saturday morning at a farm in Batchtown, IL. Saturday (very early morning) I set out for Batchtown, a small town a short distance from St. Louis with directions that resembled those of the early settlers. I was to head toward Alton and take the Hwy to the end of the road where I would see a ferry. I was to take the ferry across and head straightforward until I saw a two story White House, where I would veer left. Then I was to come to a T in the road, turn right and follow the signs to another ferry until I arrived at my destination. Despite my tendency to get lost, the directions were amazingly correct and clear, except I took the wrong ferry. I had one of those moments as I approached the loading dock where I knew it was wrong, but instead of listening to the wizened voice inside, that was telling me to pause and ask the ferry man if this indeed led me toward my destination I just rolled right up onto the ferry, took out my money and rolled my window down as it floated away from the dock. The ferryman came to my window and I paid, then I asked if all I had to do was follow the road to reach Batchtown. He smiled at me slowly and told me what I already knew. I was on the wrong ferry. After further questioning I determined that I would have to float to the other side of the river, then turn around and float right back, head on down the road to the right ferry and continue. Luckily they waved my return fee, and 35 minutes later I was back on track. In the end it was a nice ride, and I didn't miss too much of the children's end of the year performances. The farm is picturesque. After following a quiet winding road that snakes around a stream and is lined with cows and horses, I turned and climbed a steep hill that opened up to the farm. There is a great big barn, a sweet little fence, and a beautiful White House with a porch. It was a bit strange to return to the Shining Rivers community and to see everyone whom I had been deeply connected with only a year ago. It was great to see the children though, as well as the faculty, seeing as I will be in New York for the next 4 years and won't have a chance to see them. Midday I left and headed to St. Louis where I picked my sister, bro in law and nephew up from the airport. (They had just come back from Florida). I hadn't seen my nephew in a few months and it was so awesome to see him!!! I spent all day Sunday hanging out with him and playing. We played a lot with his trucks and I got to be the red gee gup (pickup truck) He makes the most authentic motor sounds. I gave him rides on his train and chased him around with his popper, which seemed to both delight and scare him a bit. He would hide behind Mommy and I would put it down, then he would point to it and say my name and I'd pick it up again. Great fun. Monday, Memorial Day we went to the zoo and rode the carousel. He picked the elephant to ride on, which was next to the horse, which prompted him to make a horsy noise throughout the ride. Through the ride he had this cheesy grin. I think I had more fun than he did!

Here are some more pictures from my graduation. Besides the Eurythmy performance we also sang, played recorder, and displayed our handwork...not to mention had cake and snacks and had an amazing speech from our Eurythmy teacher.

Graduation Eurythmy

I graduated May 17 from Arcturus (waldorf teacher training). I started the training 4 years ago and have had the most amazing transformations. The pictures above are of the performance we gave of our Eurythmy work, I had a solo that I wrote a poem for and created the movement for (pictures of me in white). (I've included the poem below.) In Eurythmy we came together and worked on listening to eachother as a group. We were able to create space together and we had so much fun in the process. With the class sizes so small we grew into a community that felt like a family. I miss them all already, but I feel excited for the next chapter in my development!

______________________________________________________________________

As wise men brought gifts

My soul rises up to my Spirit

And lays down this life.

So vivid in my waking

I remember each moment

Full of feeling.

In this world

In this place

In this incarnation

I am called to action.

That which calls is veiled

Distant memory of what must be

This is my Destiny.

Filled with fates

I've placed before me

Again

And again

I find Myself peering down at the midnight hour.

From beyond I will once again enter

With arms filled with ripened fruit.