Dogs, cats and husbands - a conspiracy to deprive me of sleep!

I haven't been sleeping well lately. Normally sleep is hard to come by because my mind is sifting through a thousand thoughts and nurturing the negative ones. But once I am asleep, things are usually pretty good and I get a solid 8 hours (read 9 or 10 hours). I still wake up grumpy and tired, but that's just me.

However, lately, I think the household has been conspiring to deprive me of sleep. The only things not waking me up in the middle of the night are the houseplants, and I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

First it was Shae, our doberman/greyhound/wussy. She decided that she realllllly needs to go outside in the middle of the night. Seeing as she is quite old and can possibly become incontinent, I prefer not to take chances, so I get up in the middle of the night and put her outside. I then stand by the patio doors, my forehead plastered to the glass as a way to stay upright and awake while doggy does her thing.

Second, Smokey the cat has decided that the Cd's stacked on the bedroom floor need re-arranging, you guessed it, in the middle of the night. I have since removed the Cd's. And perish forbid that I leave a book laying around, because she will proceed to flip the cover back and forth until I wake up.

Thirdly, Mephistopheles (aka Derek) my husband, my love, my soul mate...snores. Most of the time, I can prod him to roll over to his side and the snoring stops, but by then I am awake enough that my brain decides to do some marathon thinking and I can't get back to sleep.

This is not good. When my thoughts are on a run-away mission, I get no peace. My angels don't seem to be helpful (of course not, it's the middle of the night and they are fast asleep). So what to do.

Brilliant idea. Pop a Cd into the player and listen to it till I fall asleep. It works every time!! I am currently listening to "The Secret" . Rhonda Byrne's voice is pretty soothing, I can use all the positive messages I can get, and my sleep, though interrupted resumes pretty quickly. I'm so brilliant...or...maybe it was angelic inspiration. Naw, I'm brilliant (I kid, I kid).

Family get-togethers

Held Easter dinner on Good Friday (yesterday) That way the whole combined family, except for 2 grandsons who were at their mom's, was able to gather at our house. My three young adults Rob, Laura, and her boyfriend John, and Julie; Derek's 2 sons, Dave with daughter-in-law Kim and grand-daughter Avery, Stephen and girlfriend Jen. And Derek's mom and dad. Full house. Good times.

Now, though I may be good at many things (I'm a champion napper) there are certain things that I don't consider myself to be that proficient at. Cooking is one of those things. I always worry that things will go wrong. In this case - would the ham be too salty? Would the scalloped potatoes cook on time, would my coleslaw be too moist or worse too dry.

So I asked my Angels to help me out. I needed energy, I needed a good sense of timing (remember to put the rolls in the oven to give them a chance to warm up- but not too soon because we don't want giant croutons), I needed to remember to serve the coffee during dessert, not 15 minutes after dessert was eaten as is my usual way. I called on the cooking angels, the organizational angels, the angels of calmness. And you know, I think they helped me. I had way more stamina than I should have had, I didn't get overly confused, coffee was served on time, and all my cooking was actually delicious, well at least edible. Thank you angels.

Good Books are Sometimes a Pain

I'm a busy woman (some would say I'm exaggerating but I choose to ignore them). Anyway, I'm a busy woman. I have a store to run (while a lot of fun, still time consuming), I have a blog to maintain, I have a very neglected website to update, I have to deal with this high self-importance I have bestowed upon myself, I have to shrink my head so it will fit through doors, because I have received wonderful compliments about Moonstone Path. Like I said, I'm a busy woman. Kinda hard to squeeze in nap times, but I still manage, of course.

Anyway, with all this work and naps, the last thing I need is a really good book that I can't put down. Some nefarious author of said book (2 actually dammit) gave me her autographed books as I had politely expressed an interest in reading them.

OK, so now I feel obligated to read them. No problem, read a bit now and then, express my appreciation next time I see her and all is well.

The book is of a fantasy genre geared to teenagers and young adults. It is titled "The Princess Pawn", written by Maggie L. Wood. Her second book is "The Princess Mage". I have just started reading The Princess Pawn, I'm on page 18 and I'm hooked. Normally this is not the kind of book I read. I'm more of a Dean Koontz, John Grisham kind of fan. This might change.

Maggie's book got me from the first page. This is a problem. Remember, I'm a busy woman. I have to get things done. Do you know how hard that is to do, when there is a fun-to-read book over there, just taunting you. "You know you want to read me" I can just hear it say. "You know you want to be entertained" "C'mon, you know you want to see what that spunky kid, Willow, will do next". I need a big dose of will power for the next couple of hours so that I can work on the Website. I don't know if I can do it. THAT book is just over there...waiting....NO NO I must do my work.

Thanks a lot Maggie.

Asking your Angels and Guides for help works--really

As I have written previously, I just recently opened a body,mind and spirit shop called Moonstone Path. It's a tiny New Age store with lots of neat things in it. For more details go to www.moonstonepath.com.

Anyway, we opened in Byron, Ontario in January of this year. My clever marketing plan was to open in the slowest retail season possible because it seemed like such a good idea. Actually, a lovely space came up for lease, and since it was available for January, we bit the so-called bullet and plunged in lock, stock and barrel.

I had high hopes coupled with high anxiety for several weeks. Especially when sales were not balancing out the expenses. Very worrisome.

Well, you know how they say that when the student is ready the teachers will appear. It's true, even though, in my case, I didn't really know that I was ready. Maybe desperation means you're ready, I guess.

Rambling on...

I was getting worried financially, and I wasn't feeling that I was making connections with customers. There were some that I felt that way with, but not that many. Where were the long conversations about spirituality, and the laws of the Universe that I so looked forward to?

Well, as it happens, my friend Judy dropped by one day and lent me Sonia Choquette's CD on connecting with your Angels and Spirit Guides. After I got used to Sonia's super perky voice, I found myself really relating to what she was saying. I actually looked forward to my evenings when I could listen to her giving advise on talking to your Angels and Guides.

Then, I began implementing her advice. First in my head, because I felt self-conscious saying it out loud in front of hubby. I said things like "Angels and Guides, I need you front and center to help me with my day. Help me rekindle the joy that being in my little store brings me. Help me make sales and have a wonderful connection with my customers. Joy guides, I need joy today. Smart business guides, I need to make sound purchasing decisions. Angels move through me and speak through me so that I can be of service" and so on.

Bet you know how this story ends. Sales have increased, but more importantly I have met the most amazing people who share my enthusiasm about healing crystals, the law of attraction, help and messages from the other side and all these wonderful things.

We are all connected, us humans, Angels, Spirit Guides, we are all connected through God. It makes sense to me.

By the way, I now talk to my Angels and Guides out loud in front of hubby, and he doesn't give me funny looks or anything. Gotta love that man!