Friday, December 31, 2010

Happy New Year Everyone!

I hope that the holiday season has treated everyone well. Ours was lovely but has ended on a sad note.

This Christmas my husband and I traveled to his hometown where his grandmother was celebrating her 100th Christmas!! The grandkids had all pooled money and donated 101 gifts to the fireman's toys for tots program in her name, and the family gathered from all over North America to party with Lily. There were 18 great-grandchildren present, as well as all the grands plus spouses, and her own children and their spouses. It was a lovely way to honor a lady who I personally feel embodies the true spirit of Christ and Buddha - loving everyone equally and having compassion for all without judgement.

After a few days of happy familial chaos, we returned home. Being from a very small family myself, large family gatherings really wear me out - so I was happy to be home and able to unwind. My waistline was also grateful to be relieved of the constant temptation of mountains of freshly baked cookies and candies that my mother-in-law always has piled on every available surface of her home during the holidays!

The next day was very sad, as my elderly bearded dragon, Little Man, began displaying troubling symptoms and was obviously uncomfortable. That trip to the vet ended up being his last, as it was determined the most compassionate option was to let him go. Although he did not actually display any symptoms of being towards The End until then, I had been intuiting for the past few months that he was ready to move on - just a very subtle shift in his energy and demeanor. When he showed those symptoms I knew in my heart it was his time.

I'm very sad to have lost him, but happy to have been able to release his spirit. I know he is being well taken care of on the other side. He was almost 12 years old, which was quite an advanced age for a bearded dragon (the vet says on average they live 6-8 years, though of course they can live longer with proper husbandry). So, he did have a long life. He will be missed dearly. However, he is on a very exciting adventure for this New Year and I will think fondly of him often.

So, for our own celebration, we're just going to sit down with some Guinness and some movies to make us laugh. I can think of no better way to ring in the New Year than cuddled on the couch with my husband and my pup, Voodoo.

One of the movies we will be watching tonight is Sita Sings the Blues! It's a fantastic and unique film that is freely distributable...so I will be embedding it here as a New Years gift to you!



On the business front, readings, consultations, and product orders will resume starting on Monday!

Thank you so much for reading this past year, and I hope to see more of you in 2011.

4 comments:

  1. I loved Sita! Such a wonderfully creative film. I especially enjoyed the unscripted banter between the narrators.

    I'm sorry to hear of your loss. Little Man was a lucky creature to have had such a caring home. I hope you and your family have peace.

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  2. Happy New Year Devi!

    Thanks for the link. I just watched "Sita" with my wife and four of my children as a way to mellow out on New Year's Day. We had party at our house last night with families with children. Lots of dancing and food and booze. Now I'm getting ready to be ascetic and disciplined like I usually am the first few weeks of the year. Signed up for Jason's course, by the way. Should be an adventure.

    Again, Happy New Year.

    Little Man led a good life for a bearded dragon.You did well by him.

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  3. I'm glad you guys are enjoying the movie. The shadow-puppet narrators are my favorite part, too. Well, that and the great blues music. :)

    Thank you for the condolences, they are appreciated.

    @Scribbler: you'll enjoy Jason's class very much! Make sure to blog all about it. ;)

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  4. 101 gifts to Toys for Tots is an amazing feat; they do wonderful work and really don't get as much attention as they should.

    Blessings on the year ahead of you =)

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