off day

today, dear reader(s), was an unprecedented day off. on a MONDAY, no less. it is also a new moon, so remember to write down what you need/want to happen and place your order with the Universe.

did you have a nice Thanksgiving? yes?

T-day here was lovely. E came over around 10am, just after the tart crust came out of the oven. the parade was going on, so we had coffee and snuggled for a bit before i got down to (more) business in the kitchen. once all food was completed, we had a nice lunch with my Mom, cleaned up, and spent the rest of the day hanging out and doing whatever.

on Friday, we went to E's parents' for their Thanksgiving dinner. E's baby niece was there (squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee the cuteness!!!), and before leaving, we drew names for Christmas. i got E's mom, which is causing no small amount of panic! i have NO idea what to get her, and E is no help at all, lolololol. guess that means a nice browse through the mall, hoping that something jumps out at me...

Friday afternoon, we drove downtown to the Renaissance Center (aka GM building) to see Amma! if you're not familiar with her, i highly recommend clicking on the link. she is known by many as the "Hugging Saint" from India, and her mission is spreading the unconditional love of God/the Divine Mother. she hugs you. seriously. she's hugged more than 32 million people, and it's an experience you will never forget!  Amma also has many charities, and is one of the most important peace activists of our time. she comes to Detroit pretty much every year, usually in November, but this was the first time i got to attend. it was...wow. just, wow. there really aren't any words to describe it, but i'll try, lol!

 the peace ceremony was supposed to start at 7, so we arrived at 5:30 to make sure we got tokens for Amma's darshan (embrace). the volunteers seated us at 6, and we had a good hour to read through the program booklets, chat with our neighbors, and puzzle over the tiny plastic lids we'd been issued. at 7, Amma arrived, and the place pretty much exploded with love. She blessed a vat of water, and it was passed out to the attendees in small plastic cups (aha!). i took a sip, and found it slightly sandalwood-y and very...intense. i don't know how else to put it. E's lid didn't work, so we poured her water into my cup, and i had to take another sip so the lid would fit. right about then, Amma's translator told us not to drink all the water right away, but "if you have already consumed it, don't worry." *laughter from crowd* he told us that it was holy water with healing properties, and to take it home where we could share it with friends and family or add it to other water to make more of it. then Amma gave a spiritual talk (in her native tongue - she would speak at length, then her translator would read from a pre-printed transcript), mostly in parables, of which i don't remember very much because i was so enraptured. after the speech, we meditated and chanted for world peace, and then we waited our turn for darshan. there was plenty to see and to do - E and i had a very detailed astrology reading done, but didn't learn anything too profound (we think because we're both pretty happy, and so didn't have any burning questions), bought some snack food (the Indian version of falafel and a peanut butter cookie bar), browsed the different vendors (i got an Amma calendar, and E bought us each a single rudraksha prayer bead, previously worn/blessed by Amma, on a black cord), and of course there was music and singing and watching Amma live on the several large screens in the ballroom. finally, finally (after 1am), it was our turn to join the line for hugging!!!

we agreed afterward that the darshan process was very much like Ralphie's POV in the Santa Claus scene of A Christmas Story - bright lights, loud music, people physically placing you where you needed to be, plus being struck speechless. volunteers moved you through the line and up to chairs on the stage. there was a line on either side, and they alternated so that you were kneeling and ready when your turn came. my turn went like this: "Ok, now you kneel...no, don't sit on your heels, you have to stay up. Ok, take off your glasses. NO, don't sit, stay up!! (i was juggling flowers for Amma, my two little roos for her to bless, and trying to save my glasses) Ok, move forward!" i was gently guided to Amma, who took the flowers and the roos and pulled me into her embrace. Amma smells like roses. there was some confusion about where my head was supposed to be, but eventually someone got me straightened out, lol. then she held me for a few seconds, crooned a blessing into my ear, annointed my forehead with a rose-scented balm, and i was released - shaky and staggering a little - to take my turn sitting near her for a little while. I was shaking and grinning like an idiot, and i got to see E get embraced (she did better than me, i think). after i rotated through the chairs on stage, i went back to our belongings and waited for E, and then we drove home. three days later, i am still riding the wave of love and peace, and i think E feels it, too. she wants to go back next year, and we want to be hugged as a couple (yes, Amma does that), and also receive a mantra from her. Thank you, God, for putting Amma in this world to give us a tangible experience of your love!!!!!

the rest of the weekend was quiet - lots of crafting and resting. i slept in a little today, ate breakfast with E, and then ran errands before coming home to Mom's. i hit my target craft quota, brewed new tea for my scoby, ate some leftover maple tart, solved a serious cross-stitch dilemma, and am headed for leftover turkey and green beans very soon.

i also applied today for a job admitting patients at a local hospital. it's full-time with benefits, and day shift, which means i would probably be out in plenty of time to keep three massage appointments (per day) in the evenings. not ideal - i'm not one for corporate-ish jobs - but it's work i've done before, and as much as massage feeds my soul, i also need something that doesn't leave me wondering if i'll make enough that week to cover my bills. it wouldn't be permanent, but it would help me get out of debt and get things taken care of...so...yeah. if it's meant to happen, it will happen.

keep my high-school friend L in your prayers/thoughts - she had to take her mother off of life support this afternoon, less than two weeks after finding out she had extremely advanced brain/lung/breast cancer. her mom was able to get out of bed two days ago...what a rapid, shocking decline. losing a parent before the holidays is beyond horrible.