Starry Glittery Goodness

I know I haven't been around here in forever.

Well, obviously new design on http://onestarrynight.com (awaits any and all praise...) which I like to think is a touch better than the green one.

I filed my taxes and was beyond shocked at the oh so glorious refund I shall be receiving in two weeks. I plan on purchasing the sigma 10-20mm lens, I want a macro lens but unsure of which one I like best although I know I want something in the 100-150mm range, the sb-600 flash, and a new camera bag, probably the Crumpler 6 million. What other photography gear would you suggest? Or what suggestions do you have for a wide angle lens and a macro lens?

I am also, finally, going to be in the market for a laptop so any and all suggestions would be nice. I fix them lol but I've always owned desktops so I'm not sure really what I even WANT in a laptop. Well, spec wise I do to a point... 2gb ram, AMD TL-60 or TL-64 processor, 250gb hdd, and at least a halfway decent video card. What I can't decide on is brand or size. I know I do not want a Sony and I have issues with Toshiba. I will admit I do want something pretty which falls into the HP area and I have used HP desktops for over 10 years now. I really would appreciate any suggestions or perhaps what kind of laptop you own and what you like/dislike about it.

I also plan on giving my sister $500 to pay off one of her credit cards, $150-200 for her baby (we find out if the baby is a boy or girl tomorrow!!!), some sort of present for her fiance, and naturally all sorts of stuff for my son. Although all he seems to want is a video game.

Well, naturally, here's a photo. Yay for glitter.

Well... today I put my two weeks in at my current workplace. I've been there almost 3 years (it's a small family owned company) and recently got a hired for the Geek Squad in Best Buy. I am beyond terrified. It's harder the older I get, to do these dramatic life changes. So in a way, to honor this, I shot a few self portraits to try and remind myself that I am stronger than I let myself believe.

Self

Self

Toothless

I really couldn't have predicted when I woke up yesterday morning, that by the end of the day, I would be missing a tooth.

The past three days I have been in agony. At first I thought it was merely a sensitive tooth, but then the pain was so intense, even when I was practically gargling with Orajel max strength liquid, I got no relief. I slept maybe 4 hours in the past two days. By 10:30a this morning, I was in tears. I called my sister and we got me into a dentist (in the same building that her dentist is in) by 11am. I left work, got to the dentist, and was seen within 10 minutes. Right away the dentist found the problem. My upper left tooth, #15 to be precise, right next to my wisdom tooth, well... part of it was... missing! How I never felt ANY pain before the past three days.... anyway, he gave me two options, have a root canal or have the tooth pulled. I chose to have the tooth pulled, I didn't see any point in keeping it especially since it's not a tooth you can see if I smile or laugh anyway.

So next door we go, within 10 minutes I'm in a chair getting Novocaine shots. My sister and I chat for 15 minutes... but the Novocaine was only 75% working so they gave me another round... they were just about to hook me up to the IV to knock me out when thankfully the second round of Novocaine shots kicked in. He then proceeded to try and get the tooth out, apparently, my tooth was stubborn, but eventually he got it out in one piece. I asked to keep it of course! After that my sister and I went to the store to fill my 3 prescriptions, even without my having health insurance, total it was $14.00 for an antibiotic, vicodin, and motrin. I then went back to work and had an interesting yet painful time in answering the phone.

Cost wise, it was just about $400 and my sister paid it all. I am so grateful otherwise who knows how long I would have suffered.

By all means share with me your dentist stories and any hints and tips on how to deal with my freshly removed tooth!

Recent photos of myself and a friend of mine, I would really appreciate feedback!

Ok the first three are of me, the rest are of my friend, located at http://kat.onestarrynight.com

Cranky

Self

Eh

Friend

Friend

Friend

Friend

After work today, I took Daniel over to the Cosley Zoo, the sprinkling thankfully stopped by the time we had got there and most of the animals were out and active. Then we came home and cleaned the bedroom, practiced riding his bike without training wheels, and my sister stopped by to give us food treats (which by the way it's pouring rain right now) and I gave her some cd's of what's on my oh so beloved podlet.

They actually dyed the water green! I thought that was interesting.

Now just pagany related photos, statues, crystals, altar, etc.

This necklace is carnelian.

This necklace is citrine.

Here we have apache tear, ametrine, yellow jaspar, and malachite. One of these days I should take a few photos of my box of crystals heh.

I'm still really worn out so here's a photo entry of Daniel playing in puddles and our altar. Am I getting too boring lately? I just don't want to bitch about my pain, migraines, stressful living situation, car accident crap all the time. Lately at night Danny has been listening to my podlet before falling asleep, his music of choice? Pagan chants my friend Crys recorded a year or two ago for the now gone pagan@osn. He especially likes "Earth Air Fire Water" and "We All Come From the Goddess", he also listens to Queen's "We Will Rock You" before falling asleep lol.

Watery Ride

Puddle

Altar

Altar

Shells on Altar

Altar

Danny at our Altar

Altar

It's not even Monday and already I've had a long and fun weekend!

Yesterday (Friday) I went over to Mary's where we enjoyed nummy chinese food and reveled in the joy that is Robert Plant's ummm pants. Glistening, hands on hips, tossing hair back... oh yes. OH YES. We had a ton of fun! Even if I did completely eat a ton of chinese food.

Today I took Danny and we trekked over to Stone Embrace Gifts which is a fantastic little shop in Wheaton. After getting utterly lost and having to call my sister (yet again) to guide me, I finally got to the shop (which is crazy because it took me all of 30 min to get home and it was a straight shot) and spent two hours giggling, shopping (photos below), and talking with the awesome shop owner! I felt completely comfortable and my naturally perky self unlike the other store I shall not mention but is located in Hoffman Estates... anyway. I bought some stones, a fabulous necklace that will go well with my spiral goddess earrings, and finally after five years, a new bag!! I am seriously in love with my new bag. Anyway, Daniel had a blast, really interacted well, and actually chose a citrine and sodalite! Usually he gets very... cranky in certain stores.  She also let him pick out an arrowhead and he was SO excited the whole way back, when we finally picked up my sister to go to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner. He showed her right away his new goodies, so freaking adorable. So after we all had dinner we went to Border's where I got Danny an art kit (yay for sales!) and I got myself the book Raising Witches and magazine New Witch. Then to Meijer's where I got a few items and some daffodils.

Right now he is watching the Power Rangers disc my sister made for him and I'm chilling with my coke zero. Tomorrow I am going to Trader Joe's to get a few items and depending on the weather, I need to do laundry.

Blue Calcite Hosted on Zooomr

Sunstone Hosted on Zooomr

Sodalite Hosted on Zooomr

Citrine Hosted on Zooomr

Rock Hosted on Zooomr

Spiral Goddess Necklace Hosted on Zooomr

New Bag Hosted on Zooomr

I'm very blah lately, can't seem to focus enough to write what I want! It's a February thing. March will be my posty month I swear. Anyway, here are a bunch of recent yet random photos.

Smoky Quartz Hosted on Zooomr

Rose Quartz Hosted on Zooomr

Blue Lace Agate ? Hosted on Zooomr

Lapis, Peridot, Lepidolite Hosted on Zooomr

Amethyst Hosted on Zooomr

Peridot Hosted on Zooomr

Turquoise Hosted on Zooomr

Jade Hosted on Zooomr

Red Tiger's Eye Hosted on Zooomr

Goldstone Hosted on Zooomr

Lapis Hosted on Zooomr

Snowflake Obsidian Hosted on Zooomr

Lepidolite Hosted on Zooomr

My desk shelves above my monitor, obviously the bottom one has my photography books and gear and my workout podlet. The shelf above that has my tarot decks, (thanks Melissa and MJ!) and my crystals/stones.

Shelves Hosted on Zooomr

Prism Hosted on Zooomr

Mary gave me this utterly perfect notebook. Anyone that knows me and glitter... oh yeah. Almost as perfect as naughtry.

Awesome Notebook Hosted on Zooomr

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This is my magnetic white erase board. It my mom's RN (registered nurse) photo, a photo from the lovely Laura, a drawing from my son, and my dragonfly ornament.

Whiteboard Hosted on Zooomr

What used to be my BOS (book of shadows). I did the cover back in 2002 when Danny was just a wee tiny baby.

BOS Hosted on Zooomr

I haven't been around much... February just isn't my month emotionally.

I've been reverting a bit musically and reveling in the 90's. Kris Kross - Jump and Marilyn Manson - The Beautiful People are the newest to my "classic" 90's collection. I also really like the Music and Lyrics soundtrack, especially Haley Bennett - Buddha's Delight!

Ostara is coming up in a few weeks, not sure what I want to do. Daniel could care less about coloring eggs. Any suggestions? What are some good gemstones for Ostara? I reorganized my desk so that the shelf above my monitor has all of my photo gear and photography books and the shelf above that has some gemstones and my tarot decks. What are some of your favorite pagan websites and blogs? I signed up and got myself a CovenSpace over at StarryMom (of course!) after seeing Steph's covenspace. The closer it gets to spring the more I crave renewal and farmer's markets lol.

My hostee Kat has started blogging again so go check her out! I am always open for hosting if y'all know of anyone interested.

I'm debating once again, should I use Flickr or Zooomr for my photography (especially for what I post on OSN). I deleted imagine entirely due to massive amounts of direct linking which sucks. Speaking of, here are some recent photos.