Today being ‘G’s birthday, and ‘G’ being out at his grandparents….we decided to take the party to him. Actually, we would have had him over here, except I couldn’t make a cake here….our oven went ka-put. We need the igniter replaced and that won’t happen for another day or so.

Soooo, we went to K-Mart, bought him some Yu-Gi-Oh cards, some card sleeves, and a binder. (Yes, he collects them…has quite the collection already. ) He’s getting a bike when we can afford it next month.
Then we stoppped off at the grocery store and picked up a box of cake mix and frosting. If I can’t make him a cake at home, I’ll make it at my parents’.

Then out to my parents’ we went. We gave him the cards and he immediatly started putting them in the binder. Then I went about making the cake. We visited for a bit, and played with the kids (the boys’ cousins are visiting for two weeks, so they were there, too). Then ate cake, visited some more….and around 3:30 left for home.

Tonight ‘G’ and his counsins are spending the night at their uncle’s house (my younger brother). We shall see how he deals with 3 energized kids. LOL

Nine years ago today, my growing boy ‘G’ was born. ‘J’ and I were very young…barely out of high school…when we found out I was pregnant. It made for a very scary time in our lives….but a time we would never have any other way. ‘G’ was born full term, one day after his due date. The whole thing, labor and delivery, was just over 4 hours.

Cancer the Crab Ruled by the Moon
A Feminine Negative Cardinal Water Sign.
Polar or Opposite sign: Capricorn
Colour: Pale blue or Silver

Cancer is the fourth sign of the zodiac and lasts from 23rd June - 23rd July
Cancerians are the most family-centred of the Zodiac. Fiercely protective of their loved ones, they can be intuitively wise and zero in on a person’s frame of mind. They are not wildly ambitious once they become established. Cancerians are tenacious and hang on to a belief or a cause at the risk of hurting themselves. Being very emotional, they can be moody, withdrawn and secretive.

Physical Appearance:
Cancerians are small-made, with round faces and possess a tendency to gain weight. They have abundant shiny hair, expressive eyes and are economical with their gestures.

I got a call about an hour ago from my mother-in-law. She was calling to ask if I had felt the earthquake. Huh?? I told her I didn’t feel anything and asked when it happened. She said just a few minutes ago. Hmmm. I ‘ll have to look that up. And I did.
A 4.8 magnatude quake hit 5 miles from Tahoe Vista and Kings Beach, California. (Recent Earthquakes) Here’s a map to show the epicenter and where we are (Grass Valley). From reports, it was weak here….a level III. It was a level V at the epicenter.

Update (2:43pm): Yahoo News has picked up the story - Fresh temblor adds to California quake spate and Quake Rattles Residents in N. California
And from the latimes - Experts’ Heads Shake After Quakes

Well, finally…after 3 months of zero updates to my graphics site, I got it somewhat updated. Not a whole lot new, except for a whole bunch of sig tags and some stationery. Below is a sample tag I made just the other day…who doesn’t like Angelina Jolie?
If you want to check out my site and maybe order yourself a personalized sig tag, feel free! Go to RavenMoon Designs. Or you can join my tag request group, RavenMoon Tags.

More earthquakes soon? The earth is a shaking these days, but not only in California (where we had 5 earthquakes within a week’s timeframe).
Read more: New Madrid Quake Possible

My sister, her boyfriend, and her kids have come down from Oregon to visit for the next 2 weeks. Haven’t seen her and my nephew and neice for more than a year. The kids are getting so big! My nephew is 7 1/2 and my niece is 4…not too far apart in age from my 2 boys.
It’s nice to visit with her again…and her boyfriend seems like a really nice guy. I believe he’s Pagan and into fantasy, so we’ll get along just fine. It’s nice to see her doing better and having a handle on life. Last year she was so out there and didn’t really care about visiting with her family. This year she seems much more family orientated. She has definitely spent more time visiting here in the past 2 days than she did the whole time she was down last year.

And on another topic…we (’J’ and I) finally got to see Star Wars: Episode 3 last night! Oooo, what a great movie! So sad, though. Even though you know what happens, it’s such a sad story. But what a great movie!

Ready for a whopper of a tale? This is a camping trip gone bad tale. We wanted to camp up at the Redwoods in northern California for 3 nights/4 days…from Wednesday-Saturday. The following is our story:

We left Tuesday (6/14) afternoon for my sister-in-law’s (Crystal). Three hours later we - my hubby ‘J’, our 2 boys ‘G’ and ‘K’, my brother, and I - arrived. Heard about the earthquake in the area we were headed (Redwoods/Eureka) and tsunami warning. The warning was cancelled, so we decided to go ahead with our camping trip. (Side note: We should have heeded the warning and cancelled our trip.) Crystal and I stayed up late and only got about 2 hours sleep before getting up at 5am. Got ready, and headed out of town by 7am.
All was going great. About 3 hours later we passed through Redding (after stopping for a potty and snack break). About 45 minutes outside of Redding, after cresting a mountain and beginning our decent back down, our troubles began.

We took 2 cars - Crystal, her 3 yr old, my 3 yr old, and me in the lead car…since we had the directions and I’m the better one at reading them (as long as road signs co-operate) - and ‘J’, our 9 yr old, and my brother in the other (our) car.
We turned down a road we thought was right, then thought was wrong (should have gone with our first instinct…as it was right). We used a turnout to turn around, and that’s when our car (the one ‘J’ was driving) made a weird popping sound. Other than that, there was no problem. So we continued. A few mintues down the road, we realized the way were going wasn’t right and we should have followed the other road. So we pulled off into this huge turnout and went to turn around. That’s when we heard a 2nd loud popping sound from our car. ‘J’ turned off the engine, then went to start it. Nothing. It made a loud grinding noise, but wouldn’t start.

Ok, to make a long story shorter……my brother and ‘J’ sat on the sat of the road for about 6 hours, trying to get a tow truck by using my ‘J’s mom’s (who, of course, was out of town for the day) AAA insurance to tow for free…since we didn’t (and don’t) have the money. (Good thing my brother brought his cell phone.) Meanwhile, Crystal, the boys, and I went back and forth to the nearest town…about 5 miles away…talking to the tow truck place and mechanic there and bringing food back for everyone. The car started leaking oil real bad…in places it shouldn’t be leaking from. ‘J’ said the engine was shot…as did the mechanic when Crystal told him what happened with the car. So much for our camping trip.

Anyway, we were finally able to get the car towed to Redding…for free. Once in town, Crystal tried to get a rental car, with no luck. Not only no camping trip, but we were down to one car with 7 people and a shitload of camping gear. We found a nice (cheap) motel and decided to stay the night there (by now it was getting dark) and try to get a rental car in the morning. Once inside the room, we let the kids run around, since they were cooped up in the car most of the day (all except the hour we spent at a vistor center park area just outside of Redding). Us adults then talked it over and came up with a new plan - Crystal, the boys and I drive back to her place that night with what camping gear could fit in her car. ‘J’ and my brother stay the night at the motel and Crystal will go back in the morning to pick them up with the rest of the camping stuff.

So, that’s how we worked it and we all eventually got back to her place. Found out it was a full out storm happening up in the Redwoods area…not just a day of light rain that had been predicted before we left. Maybe it’s better we didn’t go. Just wish the car engine hadn’t blown. Either we have bad karma among the lot of us (lol) or we really weren’t supposed to go camping last week. Seems to me (and Crystal…as we talked about it on the way back to her place from Redding) that a higher power was indeed at work here.

Boy was I bummed. We had been planning this trip for 2 weeks (and buying all the stuff we needed) and I was so looking forward to it. Oh well….we did try to make the best of it. Who would have thought that there’d be such severe storms in northern California in the middle of June (this is very odd weather for this time of year, here).

Oh yeah…ending of the story…we were able to get the car towed from Redding to Crystal’s house on Monday (6/20). And they (she and her husband) have an extra car that we are buying from them…since we no longer have a car. So it all worked out…and we didn’t have to pay too much out of pocket.
Even got to use my new hiking boots on Saturday. Crystal took the boys and I to a lava tube in the area (they live in Lassen County, near Lassen volcano) and then we went to Burney falls…an awesome waterfull with hiking trails around it.

School’s out…so no more getting up at 7:50 in the morning to get my 3rd 4th grader off to school…at least for 2 months anyway! Finally get to sleep in….not that I didn’t go back to bed once I got ‘G’ off to school, but now I will have uninterrupted sleep. Ahhhh! And since I stay up so late (like now) this is good.

We’ve been busy lately packing. No, not moving yet….but we’re going camping this week! Four days, three nights out in the wilderness of the California Red Woods. We’re taking with us Crystal (my sis-in-law if you forgot) and my nephew, and my younger brother. It’s fixing to be a blast! We haven’t been camping in about four years…so we are way overdue!

One thing that has always scared me, probably my biggest fear…is losing one (or both) of my boys. It would be horrible if I were to outlive either of them. It would be especially hard now, with them being so young.

I heard from ‘J’ yesterday that an old friend of ours (sort of his step-cousin) lost her daughter on Saturday. (Article here.) Her and her daughter and some other kids were playing at a nearby lake and the girl slipped in and drowned. The little girl was about the same age is ‘G’. We never knew her as we haven’t stayed in touch with this old friend, (I may have seen the girl once or twice as an infant, but that’s about it) so I don’t really have a connection with her. It’s really sad and upsetting when a child loses their life. My thoughts and condolances go out to her family.

I have faith that she is off in the Summerlands, playing happily, waiting for her return to earth. She is at peace.

Most Americans Believe Alien Life is Possible, Study Shows
While most depictions of extraterrestrials are confined to science fiction, nearly two-thirds of Americans believe that some form of alien life exists somewhere in the universe, according to a new survey.

“It is quite likely that there is life elsewhere in our galaxy, and there’s a real possibility that we will find evidence of intelligent extraterrestrial life by the year 2025,” said Seth Shostak, senior astronomer for SETI, who appeared in ‘Extraterrestrial.’

The poll also reported that belief in alien life did not split across political lines, but did vary depending on religious practices. Democrats and Republicans were equally likely to believe in life on other planets, while regular churchgoers were less likely to believe in extraterrestrial life (about 46 percent) than non-churchgoers (about 70 percent), the poll stated.

I watched that show ‘Extraterrestrial’ yesterday. It was quite interesting. It gave a view on what aliens and the planets they inhabit could look and act like. And yes, I believe that there is alien life out there.

Archaeologists Find Hoard of Celtic Coins
Archaeologists have uncovered 17 ancient Celtic coins in a field in the south of the Netherlands, the first hoard of such coins found in the country.

Amsterdam’s Free University excavated the site in April and will display the coins, which are made of silver and mixed with copper and gold, in the Limburgs Museum in the city of Venlo on Saturday.

They are estimated to date from 20-50 B.C., shortly after Julius Caesar began the Roman conquest of the region.

Leaders of local Germanic tribes “probably used these coins to reward their followers for loyalty,” researchers said.

Similar finds have been made in neighboring Belgium and Germany.

More ancient findings. Interesting stuff!