Awww... doggies like massages too, you know!  That can help the muscles relax almost instantly.

The paws, they'll heal.  Just keep her on soft surfaces for a while.  Or try bandaging them over the aloe, if she doesn't chew it off.

Jen, you are looking just gorgeous.  Adore that colour on you - & as always, the smile!

Heheeee... wringing out the socks, that's great.  I love getting soaked in the rain!  Glad you and the family are having great times, I miss you guys <3

I had a funny day.  There's no way I'm posting about it on the internet   But I was wringing out my socks too!

I've just ordered some Chia for the first time, fingers crossed they will be okay.
The hope for me is that they'll help with hydration when I'm going jogging in this heating up weather.

How did you take them Cee?

Would be worth experimenting with different soaking times, amount of liquid they are mixed with, amount of seeds used, and if they are consumed on an empty stomach or full stomach.

Hope it improves for you and you find your way.

Only Forwards - by Michael Marshall Smith. 
It's a quirky novel with some interesting ideas about dreams.  Seemed pertinent to me lately since I've been having really very detailed dreams of late.

Have been wanting to re-read Shataram, and to read Autobiography of a Yogi for the first time.  So I'll read both of those in November.  With a journal next to me this time for jotting down thoughts - I love to do that with provocative books.

Does reading a blog count as reading? hmmm.  I just stumbled upon the online journal of a favorite musician: Jason Mraz.  And, lo and behold, the man has 'gone raw' the week after I saw him play at a music festival last Easter.  So I'm avidly reading his blog because he's got a way with words and insights that I love.  And lets face it, some cute photos too.

He also mentioned working in a new age bookshop in the past, and has his own recommended reading list.  I've read half of them already but it's still a nice list to explore:

The Way of the Peaceful Warrior - Dan Millman
The Celestine Prophecy - James Redfield
The Alchemist - Paolo Coelho
Siddhartha - Herman Hesse
Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Persig
A New Earth - Eckhart Tolle
The Four Agreements - Jose Luis Ruiz
The Tao of Pooh - Benjamin Hoff
The 4-Hour Workweek - Timothy Ferriss
Conversations with God - Neale Donald walsh
The Secret - Rhonda Byrne
The Art of Happiness - His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Everything is fine.  Not finAL.

~ Jason Mraz

Welcome   I can understand the rusty spoons. 

Earlier this year I found myself in a warehouse shopping for bits and bobs for my mask-making,  and could not leave without randomly purchasing a rusty brass ring that I had drifted my fingers over while walking down the aisles.  It was in that moment when 'salad fingers' made complete and eerie sense to me

Mmm veggie cravings - I've been having those too... especially for green capsicum, while the bananas are going too-ripe in the fruit bowl because I just don't want them.

I wonder - perhaps food cravings change with seasons as well?  Spring is SUCH a fresh crisp veggie growing time of year.  Asparagus spears are popping up here every day now, yum! 

Summer is more of a fruits time, harvest wise, it'd be interesting to note if fruit cravings increase then too.

Hehee... felt like popping by and giving a hug, didn't realise I'd be trying to be insightful too, but there you go! :D

**hugs**

Oh wow... I just did the biggest sigh, imagining eating breakfast at From Earth and Water..... it was blissful just to think about it! :: love ::

Gosh, what a lovely three page catch-up read I just had.  You're all such lovely souls and it really shows through your writing.

My 'challenge' has taken a turn, and morphed into something completely different to a 100 day challenge, yet it suits me.  I'm thinking of it as my 'habit building' challenge.  I'm starting with just one thing at a time, and sticking to each thing for one or two weeks, to 'set' it in habit, before adding a second, third, fourth thing.  The idea is that these good habits will accumulate and take over my life, pushing the bad ones out because they just wont have room to fit anymore! :D

Habit 1: drink a green smoothie every day.  Simple to do, seems too simple because it's enjoyable, but that's not a bad thing at all! 

I start Habit 2 in a few days, and that will be to have fresh fruit for mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks at school.

Love to you all

I need to get back to eating Raw foods too. 

Where I'm at: I've pretty much completely stopped eating fresh foods with the cold weather, not even attempting smoothies.  All I've done is make a litre or two of fresh veggie & fruit juice each week.  Might have a side salad with some dinners too, but more often than not, cooked veggies as a side.  Been eating a lot of breads & unhealthy pastry vegetarian things too.  Have put on weight from when I was eating raw over summer.  Ew.  Am also having problems shaking off a sinus infection, that I've had for oh three months now, and am extremely frustrated with still being sick.  So there's my woes, plenty of reasons to start a challenge.

100 days seems an amazing number.  I'm going to start with a 1 day challenge.  Then see where I'm at tomorrow.  Will tackle this one day at a time to not get intimidated, and perhaps make it a 'ooo how many days can I go without stopping' challenge.  Then keep trying to break the personal bests

I'll be aiming for 80% raw for my personal challenge.  The remaining 20% can be for salad dressings, some condiments like tahini, some 'i'm not sure if they're raw...' nut type things etc. As well as steamed or lightly cooked plain veggies if I want them that way, which will hopefully make re-transitioning easier.

Heya Sach,  was thinking about you today!  Then tonight I got my internet back on so can pop by to say hi   Hi!

Hmm reading over the recent entries brings a line from a favorite song to mind:

"I reckon it's again my turn, to win some or learn some.."

I had an interesting thing happen yesterday.  I'll be vague on the details so we can talk about process!

I'd made a pretty specific 'wish', stating it to friends, the night before last.  Yesterday morning I had a bit of a mental breakthrough, via an enlightening thought - about what was stopping me from attaining it. 

I then knew how to change my thoughts and stance on the matter.  This would make room for that wish to occur in my life, or enable an accepting outlook on receiving that wish, rather than being closed to it all along.  The mental shift was pretty immediate after realising it.

By afternoon.......... wish came true / manifestation.  Shocked me how fast that happened! 

But it's a good reminder how people can be closed to what they think they want, and by having the mixed messages within themselves might be holding themselves back from attaining things they want.

Not much of an update to give on the story...

The teachers talked to the kid.  Delivered the information and the seriousness of it, letting him know that if he didn't modify his behaviour, was complained about again, he'd be expelled.

He came back to class very very quiet.  Stayed that way for an hour or so.  Then he let the people around him know what happened... there was laughter from his peers and he went along with the joy of notoriety for a bit.

But his normal inappropriate comments were missing for the rest of the morning. By afternoon they were back, but subdued... he was matching his 'level' of jokes to what the rest of the class does.  Improvement.

During break he asked the other girl in the class if it had been her who made the complaint, asked her to her face.  I love her guts: she just said... "no, but I'd thought about it!"  To me he asked "did you know I'd been accused of sexual harassment?"  to which replied "Really - what did you DO?".  I thought it would have been an interesting question to be answered... but he didn't answer.  So he eventually decided in his mind that it was a teacher who had instigated his trouble.  Which means that noone is getting the effect of his intimidation, probably safest that way.

I didn't see him much for the rest of semester, he skipped some classes, and only showed up for an hour or so here and there this week.  Again, he made some gross comments, but nothing targeting me or other specific people.  More just gross comments about himself.   So, no complaints.

Meanwhile, to update my journal as my journal again, hehe: I've been silly and neglecting my health with this all encompassing study and stress thing,  paid for it today with a big dose of endometriosis pain: worst in 3 or 4 years. 

So, have been making myself rest.  Haven't rested this much in years.  Took a long and lazy bath, even.  I've felt like writing about the experience, but even that is too tiring.  The pity is, once I get my energy back the experience gets dulled in my mind, or smoothed over as 'it's not that bad', which takes all the power out of the story.

But, back to resting... I have a litre of juice to sip through.... which reminds me,  if tomorrow I panic about having pink pee, someone please remind me that I had beetroot in my juice for the first time today!  lol

Gosh, that market sounds amazing!  I want to go there!    Just another thing to add to the list of many reasons I must get to Byron :D

I can't make it to the De-Jah gig  
My friends decided to throw a party in my house that weekend.  They were nice enough to invite me too

Thanks Jen for your story there.  It's cool that you think these days you would have said "probably because I just dobbed you in for sexual harassment" to his face, I like that.

I plan to do something similar if this situation goes further and I'm confronted with something similar.  Actually, even today I was considering emailing him to tell him to expect a talk from the teachers, and to detail to him which parts of his behaviour are unacceptable, in case the faculty does an awful job at delivering that information.  But I'm too curious to see what they'll do on their own.

OH and I figured out my major point of confusion today......

I've been raised to see tolerance as one of the big virtues one can have, and have certainly adopted it into my persona.  Going against tolerating another's actions, even though they are abusive actions, was/is difficult.