Mother’s Day is fast approaching…and if anyone is like me, you haven’t gotten your mommy anything for that special day just yet.

http://www.cafepress.com/ravenmoondesign

We got our first snow of the season yesterday! It started snowing just before 2:30 am on Saturday and was still snowing when I got out of bed at quarter to 10 Saturday morning. It snowed on an off til later in the afternoon, then the clouds broke up and cleared off…to make for a very cold evening. We got about 2-3 inches total. The boys enjoyed bundling up and playing out in the snow…and the dogs loved runnning around and playing it in as well. The weather forecast said rain/snow…so I didn’t expect to get a couple inches…but it’s great, I love the snow! And we’re supposed to get more snow as another storm moves in the beginning of the week. Yay!

Yeah, I know, I haven’t been around in the past month. There’s a reason for that: no internet access. Long story made short…don’t neglect to pay closing bills from other phone companies. But my internet is back now…woohoo!

Ok, it’s almost summer, right? So does anyone want to notify Mother Nature and let Her know? Because we were getting snow here in northern California! The trees and flowers are in bloom and last night they were covered in a layer of white. And not only that, but the branches were falling everywhere with the weight of the leaves and snow. We have a huge tree branch in the front yard that had hit the roof on the way down…kind of freaking the boys and I out. And one out back that is still connected to the tree, but is almost touching the ground. Not to mention the many other branches, big and small, that lay all over the back yard. We had about half an inch of snow on the ground last night. I love winter, but May is generally not a wintery month…until now apparently.
Here are some pics of what the yards looked like this morning. Take a look: http://www.ravenmoondesigns.com/photo_album3.htm.

Happy April Fool’s Day! Get those pranks out and wreak havoc!

Ok…onto other stuff. I have created a couple web pages for my puppies…they are kinda like MySpace pages, but for dogs (and cats). So if you wanna view pics and learn more about my huskies, you can do that here for Cheyenne - http://www.dogster.com/?289962 and here for Dakoda - http://www.dogster.com/?289972. If you have a dog and/or cat, why not add them?

In my post before last I advertised a group I was in. Since then, there have been some changes and one member (the one who thinks she started it) had a falling out with the rest of us. Needless to say, she is no longer with us and we decided to change the name and mission of the group. The new group is BackWoods Investigations in which we research the paranormal. The group is just us friends, but the forum is open to anyone who has an interest in the paranormal, after free registration.

Oh, and I also forgot to post about our puppy. He came home on Monday and is doing much better. He’s on a special diet of food and medication for a week, but otherwise, he’s all better. Yay!

We’ve been looking for a playmate/companion for Cheyenne (another husky) and we were about to get one from a guy in the Bay area when ‘J’ found a husky pup at the local animal shelter when he went in to register Cheyenne. This little guy is only about 6 months old and is adorable! We figured he didn’t have any of his shots, so as soon as we got home, I called a vet to schedual an appointment.

 In the meantime, the pup (whom we named Dakoda) and Cheyenne got to know each other and played almost mercilessly the whole day! We noticed Dakoda had some loose teeth and realized that he was loosing his puppy teeth and growing in his adult set.

So, got the appointment all set up with the vet for the next day. Dakoda was eating, drinking, and playing like normal. All he had was a bit of diarreha, but we thought that could be due to the stress of adoption. Wrong!

That night, he started vomiting. I noticed he wouldn’t really drink too much. I still thought this could be due to the adoption. Once I woke up in the morning, I realized he wouldn’t really play too much with Cheyenne or with us. And he wasn’t eating or drinking. Parvo was the one thing that I kept coming back to that he has all the symptoms for. When ‘J’ tried to get Dakoda to drink some water and he ended up vomiting it up, too, it was time to up the time for the vet appointment.

‘J’ took Dakoda while I stayed home with Cheyenne and the boys. Turns out, he tested positive for a mild case of Parvo. No vaccinations today….just treatment for this deadly doggy illness. Dakoda was admitted to the vet hospital and will remain there through Sunday. Hopefully he’ll get better by Monday and we can take him home. Just one day here and everyone fell in love with him.

Please help me send positive healing energy toward Dakoda, so he fights off this disese fast and recoveres just as quickly.

I have been getting behind on my posting…I know. And my sig tag making, too. I apologize to those who still need tags made.

I have been spending a lot of my time making a web site for a group some friends and I started…a ghost hunting group. We’re all interested in the paranormal and one member has a sister who does ghost hunting in the southern US. So, we decided to start our own group for here in the sierras of northern California. We’re looking for those who share this interest in the region to join us. Have a look at our site here: http://spiritsofthesierras.ravenmoondesigns.com/.

In his book, God Against The Gods: The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism, Jonathan Kirsch does an excellent job of showing the reader just how much tolerance the early polytheistic belief systems had before the onset of monotheism. Even during the time of One True Wayism, the ancient pagans accepted the monotheistic beliefs. It wasn’t until the early Christians disrespected the pagan beliefs (smashing alters and statues, ect.) that things began to sour. The pagan tolerance wore thin, and the Christians suffered for it. Through the next few centuries Kirsch takes us through the tug’o'war of polytheism with monotheism…where in the end, monotheism wins out and we see the biggest purge of non-”orthodox” Christians and pagans yet.

This is a wonderfully written book on the history of when and how polytheism was overtaken and outlawed by the rigorist monotheists and their One True God and how it connects with the way the world is today (holy wars, religious intolerance, terrorists).

I bought the book, The Sacred World of the Celts, at the last minute while looking for rune books (found one by the same author…The Complete Illustrated Guide to Runes). The illustrations (something my other Celtic history books do not have) really drew me to this book.

The book itself is basic, but wonderfully done. It is a great intro for those just starting out in Celtic studies - the chapters being quick and to the point, as well as a quick reference for those more learned in Celtic history.
The illustrations and photography are beautiful, and coupled with the descriptions, just took me right into the world of the ancient Celts. I wanted to visit the British Isles before, but now, I’m aching for it!

Ooo, how I love stormy weather. Today…well yesterday…it was cloudy and drizzly. The fog rolled in about 3:30ish pm and didn’t roll out til later in the evening. I had to do laundry and since the laundry room is down the drive (apartments w/o washer/dryer hookup suck), I got to walk in the fog. Oh, it was so nice. It was cold…but the fog and the slight mist made the place seem magical. I heard the dripping from the trees, but that’s about it…the fog just enclosed everything. It was beautiful….Mother Nature in her dark aspect.
Speaking of stormy…November was very warm and very dry this year…and right after Thanksgiving…the day after, no less…the storm moves in and it even tried to snow! It’s been rainy since. I’m hoping for snow this year…my fingers (and toes) are crossed.

How many have gotten their Christmas shopping done? For the first time in….well, actually the first time…we are almost done before December even shows up! Last year we did all of our shopping the weekend before Christmas. This year, we bought most everything online…a couple days ago!
Let’s see…I can’t say what I’m getting my sis-in-law…cuz she reads my blog (sorry sis ), but I can post what we’re getting the boys…since they don’t read it!
Both boys are getting a Furby from the man himself…. Santa. ‘G’ really wants one…and we can’t get one without getting the same for ‘K’. That’s a fight I can avoid. Then they’re both getting a scooter (’G’s broke and ‘K’ just loved it), ‘G’s getting a bike, and ‘K’s getting a Darth Vader Mr. Potato Head, a “suitcase” full of Potato Head parts, a Crayola art set (he loves to draw), and 4 small dinosuar puzzles that come in one box.
We ordered everything but the scooters and the bike…too much in shipping, so we’ll get those at the store.