Coffee, Chaos and Cuss Words

Here we are, Monday morning, and once again I am bolstering my shields for a trip into the office. Sad that I feel I have to do that, but recent experience tells me I must. There are very few trusted individuals there with whom I feel like I can truly be myself. I am not alone when it comes to feeling this way. at my work place. I am not safe entirely being myself. Funny enough, it is not being a Witch that I must hide. I have been 'out of the broom closet' for many years. They accepted that easily enough, mostly out of curiosity and a desire to vicariously dabble on the Pagan side of life without the consequences of someone telling them they were going to Hell for it. What I have found I do have to hide, is my desire to improve myself and reach my goals. I am surrounded by people who accept the definitions and limitations others define for them. To me that is outrageous and abhorrent to my spirit, but for them, it is their mark of approval. I don't want someone telling me ...

I ran across a forum on Reddit (still don't get that thing) and the topic on whether those over 55 regretted not having children to look after them as they aged. Certainly this is not the first time I'd heard that issue brought up. In my own family, the pressure to breed or adopt was intense,  and it was always accompanied by a frantic query about how I would cope without kids in my old age. I've always thought it to be one of the most awful things to have children out of some need to make sure that someone has to be there to take care of you when you get old. Funny, I never thought that anyone asking me about this was truly inquiring about me and how I was going to be cared for in my golden years. I always felt they were asking for validation that someone would be looking after them when they got older. I never worried about it and had always joked that 'I planned to be a burden on the taxpayers in a nursing home' when I got older. Now that I'm 49, I am consid...

I was diagnosed with Diabetes several years ago. As it runs in my family, it didn't really surprise me. My Dad, youngest of 7 kids, was diagnosed borderline in his 60's and then ended up taking Metformin to control it during the last few years of his life. My Mom, also the youngest of 7 kids, was diagnosed with Adult onset diabetes at 38 and was on insulin within the first year of her diagnosis. My maternal grandmother was also a diabetic and was a double leg amputee due to her uncontrolled diabetes. Both my husband and I are Diabetics. He has been on insulin for about a year now, and I have been struggling with pills. We're not perfect, but we've been making changes in our diet and activity levels and have been doing better. In the past few months, despite making changes and being more active, my daily blood sugar levels have been increasing. Today at the appointment with our Endocrinologist, I was told that it was time-I needed to start taking insulin. I expected it, ...

[caption id="attachment_59" align="aligncenter" width="158"] Greek Goddess Artemis[/caption] What follows is a short submission I wrote back in March 2014 for a Pagan blog about my feelings of being a Childfree Pagan. It continues to be difficult at times in a child/mother centric world to be Childfree and not feel ostracized. Even when practicing Paganism / Wicca / Witchcraft / Druidism, etc....you'd be surprised at just how UN-accepting people can be at times. I wanted to share this here at My Crazy Childfree Mid-Life, because this is part of who I am as well. Not just Childfree by Choice, but also a woman who walks a spiritual path which has been difficult at times due to my choice to be and remain Childfree.  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I chose to be Childfree long before I came to walk a Pagan path. I never wanted to have children. I am not a child-hater (despite what many...

Choose your road carefully... Many years ago, I had a friend-we'll call her Jan-who struggled her whole life with various issues. She had one younger sister and her parents harbored an open disappointment that they never had a son. She had lots of hobbies and interests, friends, and strove to meet her parent's expectations. We met in a psychology class in our first semester at a community college. We were a couple of overwhelmed kids in our first few days adjusting to life in the grown up world. We started talking and became fast friends after that. We were both about 18 years old... Fast forward about 3 years and Jan began dating Dave, who was a nice, average, safe sort of guy. Jan's dad was thrilled when they planned to marry after they graduated college. Jan started to have some issues. She wasn't talking to her friends, but Jan had begun seeing a therapist. She had occasional spats with Dave but no one believed it was anything other than normal communication glitche...

Good Morning, friends! What a gorgeous day it is...and I'm in a fine and fabulous place today! I do believe it is a combination of things that has contributed to my good mood. At the moment, I am grateful for the sunshine out my window and the delightful dark roast coffee in the mug next to me.  So let me get going with my mental meanderings and see where it leads us.... Oh YES!!! It most certainly is Summer time here in my beloved NJ. I have been incredibly energized this past week.....could be because of the Super Moon that we should have this evening. Or, it could be because I am truly a Summer baby. I was born July 15 and this Tuesday will be my 49th birthday. Not a milestone but still, I have celebrated each birthday because it is truly MY day. I have only worked on one birthday as an adult and have otherwise taken the day off to be nice to myself. This year is no exception-the hubby and I are blessed to be going to Cape May, NJ for the weekend! I will be staying at my very fi...

hy·poc·ri·sy- /hiˈpäkrisē/ noun the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform; pretense. Already this morning I've been diving into various social media to touch base with the Childfree world. Of course, I've come across several videos and articles by Child-less women who accuse the CF folks of being ignorant, manipulative and selfish for not having children. Of these, several have proclaimed that they 'bought in' to the media hype that women can have it all and waited too long to have children. Now all they have are regrets... Here's the thing: There is nothing stopping an individual from becoming a 'parent' or 'guardian' to a child if they truly wanted to. Those who have 'regrets' have many ways to share their love with a needy child. The individuals who waited 'too long' to have a child have other options and I'm amazed no one has confronted these folks on their hy...