Cynnara Tregarth

I’m doing edits for my upcoming Changeling release– Dragon Chef: Pixified.  Do you see the happiness? But to celebrate– they’ve given me a coupon code! That’s right– go to Changeling Press and use the coupon code CTMAY for 5% off your order until the end of May. *grins* Go… shop….enjoy. *grins* I dare you.

That’s right– today, I received word that my submission to Changeling was accepted! I was a runner up in the Shamrock Challenge with my Savvy Author’s pitch. What this means to me is something unique and more importantly– something I’ve desired for a long time. I’m thrilled with this new development and more importantly, I can’t wait to work with Changeling. Thanks to M and everyone. *sniffles*

Today is beautiful outside where I live. It’s not too warm, not too chilly, but a perfect day for me and Shango, my Siberian husky to go walking. We walked around the 6th hole of the golf course we live on twice today, which is good exercise for us both. While doing so, I reflected on what it really means to celebrate this holiday for me. Being a pagan, it’s not always easy to reconcile Christian holidays with pagan holidays, though I try to respect them all. Last night, my male and I had our Valentine’s Day meal- marinated steak, mashed potatoes, peas, green beans, homemade bread, and some Keel and Curley wine- Strawberry Riesling. *grins* We exchanged gifts- we normally keep it simple by getting each other chocolate. (It’s the best way to keep us both happy!)

For me, Valentine’s Day has been a day to celebrate love for love’s sake. It means telling my family I love them with all I have. It means spending time with my male showing him how much I adore him. But it also means not forgetting the other 364 days a year that love needs to be shown often. I laugh when people talk about not liking Valentine’s Day because of the gimmick, and yes, in fact, the original ideas that we do today stem from Victorian times when postal rates were cheap and sending love notes was simple and easy! But more than that, this is one day you can reiterate whole souled about your love for someone and no one will accuse you of blathering or trying to get into his pants or what-not. Today is a day where love comes first– something we as individuals, as groups, as nations, as a world– sometimes forget to do. It’s a day not about hatred, but about loving ourselves and each other– regardless of beliefs or where we stand on the political fence.

So Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you! May Cupid hit you right on the butt cheeks with the love of your life!

So, I’m doing Around the Word in 80 Days and I’ve been writing. With both my Morning Pages (ala The Artist Way by Julie Cameron), writing Se’s story, and handwriting– I’ve done over 4k this week. It’s not completely what I wanted to do, but it’s good. Really good. I even did my work’s newsletter. (I deserve bonus points for this.)

How does this put me for the coming week? I’m working to try to make the same or more for this week. So feel free to cheer me on, kick my butt, or send me inspiration. In fact, the male and I had date night Saturday  and we went to see Season of the Witch. I really enjoyed the movie. It really helped to push some serious creative mojo in the well and also got my mind thinking in various ways in regards to medieval times, witchcraft and how times have and haven’t changed. Really helps when it comes to the fact I write a lot of pagan themed books.

Do I recommend seeing the movie? Yes, if you want to see some cool CGI, some battle scenes, and something that will make you think. No, if you don’t like to spend money and if you know a lot about the medieval times and how the Church viewed witchcraft and women in general. There are a couple of surprises I won’t spoil for you as they really helped to move and develop the plot along, let’s just say– they do really well with some of the red herrings. Oh yeah, Nicholas Cage looks verra nice in the movie and the young Kay looks very roguish himself! *grins*

The holiday season has started. I’m actually trying to be in the holiday spirit as well. It’s not easy with everything I’m going through. But I’ve made myself a promise– 2011 is the year of little joys. This means honoring and enjoying the little things in life that make us happy and provide us smiles while hitting our emotions. I urge everyone to make this new year as the year of Little Joys. Why? Because it’s important to remember the little things in life that bring pleasure and to remember the first times in life. You know, the first time your child walked, the first time you realized you were in love, your first snow storm you can remember. Those first are things to celebrate. So the coming year is going to be the Little Joys Year– where you enjoy the little things that bring joy and emotion to your heart.

I prepare this holiday season with a heavy heart because things haven’t gone as I wanted them. But I’ve realized the past couple of days that it doesn’t mean I can’t make things better as I go. I can. I just have to believe in myself and those who love me to do so. I’ve been making some jewelry for those I love and I’ve been working hard on getting some other things finished as well. It’s not been easy trying to get things done with all the extra medication and tiredness I’ve been experiencing the past month. I’ve not said anything to those who know me, but I agree with my specialist– my lupus is active again. I should be getting my test results shortly– okay, right now, and yeah, we’re right. It means some prednisone time on top of other stuff, but I’m hoping I’ll be feeling better over the next month or so.

Right now, I’ve got my slow cooker pork veggie soup cooking. It’s fun, easy and colourful. It’s also good for you and really healthy as well. I’m debating on thickening it up once it’s done, but maybe I will. So how do you make this delicious treat?

Pork Loin and Veggie Slow Cooker Soup

1 pork loin, about 2lbs. diced if not frozen, or cut into chunks if frozen

1 box chicken stock

5 stalks of celery, deleaved, cleaned and diced into bite size pieces

10 baby carrots, diced

3 small white potatoes, diced and parboiled in boiling water for 10 minutes

1 small onion, peeled and diced

1 can diced tomatoes

2 ancient red peppers, deribbed, deseeded, and diced

1 tbsp chicken soup base

2 cups water

2 tbsp blueberry promengranate red wine vinegar

2 cloves garlic, diced finely

Mrs. Dash, Garlic powder, basil, Italian seasoning mix, and salt (amounts to taste)

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In slow cooker, layer all the veggies in first. Then mix thoroughly with the stock, soup base, red wine vinegar and seasonings. Add in the pork and cook on high for 4 hours. An hour before serving, add in the 2 cups of water and shred pork to bite size pieces if you’ve not done it in the beginning. Add more seasonings like salt and pepper to taste at the table.

Yesterday I received the results of my vaginal biopsy. I had a hysterectomy in the spring of this year, followed by a Pap Smear six months later. That test came back abnormal which meant I needed a biopsy to determine what was happening. I admit, after my mom dying of lung cancer and my male’s sister fighting and beating breast cancer, I really didn’t want it to be anything serious. Our families have been through enough the past few years. Yet, I was informed that I have precancer. This means, left untreated– it will become cancer– and not in years, but in months.

There are scores of feelings and other things running through my mind right now- some good and some bad. Part of me worries on the treatment because they basically must treat this to being similar to cancer- there is no other way to treat it. That scares me- there’s no way around it. Luckily the type of precancer I have is fairly slow growing. It means I’ve got months to worry before it becomes cancerous. I realize that doesn’t sound good since in some instances that it can take years to develop. With vaginal tissue, the time frame is shorter due to the thinness of the area and because of the possibility to spreading to other areas. Of course, I’m dealing with the past of my family which is scary because everything happened at this time of year.

Overall, I’m adapting and I’m learning to accept what’s going on. I’ll be able to handle more once I know what the plan of action is, what the side effects are and how I need to handle the day to day stuff as I handle the after-effects. I am honoured by having good friends and family who are by my side and are keeping me going as I handle these things that have hit me this year. Without them, I’d have crumbled and faded away. But now I need to reflect upon the truth of the Celtic New Year and what I need to get rid of in my life and what I need to work on. Things are going to be slower for me now. I’m not the fast writer of the past, but a slower, richer writer now. I’m relearning how to outdo my ADD and how to handle the challenges thrown my way this year physically. But I’m still losing weight, I’m still trying to exercise. The hard part now is learning how to integrate things so nothing gets left behind– just rotated in turn.

I bought a pedometer the other week, finally getting it to work on Sunday. So, I wear it thinking I’ll be amazed at how many steps I take every day. Here I am thinking I’m doing at least 3k a day. At the end of the first day at work, I look down at it and blink. It’s almost to 3k, but it’s not as many points as I thought it’d be worth. I was seriously disappointed to find out that I need to add more walking into my day. It’s not that I’m lazy, but honestly, with the hot weather and high humidity, I’m not one for being outside to increase my likelihood of having an asthma attack. Yet…there’s this part of me that’s wanting that 4k mark badly.

So, I’m plotting out my strategy for this weekend at work. I’ll stand more at my workstation, doing my walking in place to get more steps in. I’ll do my stretches, which my doctors are requiring of me anyway for my fibromyalgia. Those stretches count as they add up over time. Then on my breaks, I’ll walk a bit more instead of sitting and talking the entire time. That should help too. Perhaps I’ll even go for an afternoon stroll once I get home from work. There’s got to be a way!

Me and the pedometer. It’s an evil thing– and now I’m addicted to making that number go up!

As many of you may know, my male’s sister was diagnosed with breast cancer late last year. It’s been one reason we’ve been quiet and why you’ve seen me talk a lot on cancer, besides that my mom died from lung cancer. Well, his sister is going to be doing the 2 Day Walk this year in October in Atlanta. One of the things that this walk has done for her is given her a paid exercise program that helped build up her strength during her chemo treatments. Because it was completely paid for, it saved the family money and it helped researchers put together some more information in the battle against breast cancer.

Why am I telling you this? Because she’s part of a team who will be raising money for this fantastic walk. And we’re hoping to surprise her and possibly get up there to also take part in encouraging her with the walk. So, please if you can– contribute this fantastic charity. http://www.2daywalk.org/2010walker/beckyd

For all of you who’ve had family who has had breast cancer, you know what it’s like wanting a cure and knowing there’s not one out there. For those struggling, it’s a challenge some days to keep strong for the one who is suffering from this terrible sickness. But we do what we can to help find a cure each and every day. So please join me in this!

I’ve been struggling with the EDJ and trying to get my life in order. So on top of losing weight by being part of Weight Watchers, what do I do? I sign up to get my college degree. Part of it is because I need the motivation. I need the push to better myself and it’s something I’ve been lacking when it comes to my writing. I need a push from the outside to get my writing up to where I want it to be. Scary but true. On the other side of the coin, I’ve lost over 28 lbs since my hysterectomy and I’m feeling great.

So, I’m trying to go the distance. I’m trying to put my life in order- working my day job to go to college. Learning to get into a writing habit to make my writing better. And learning what it’s going to take to be the best me I can be. Scary but true.

Happy day to all of the mothers, mothers-to-be, male moms, and those who are moms again. I know for some people today isn’t always the happiest day. For others, it’s just another day like any other. For me- I’m missing my mom, wishing I could call her up and wish her a happy day and tell her I love her. Sometimes a holiday like this isn’t just a reminder of the people in our lives need to be told their loved, sometimes it’s a reminder of how much we love those people that we don’t always get a chance to tell them how important they’ve been.

So to all moms– may today be blessed and may you be shown how much you’re truly loved and adored.