Pause for a Moment of Gratitude

Gratitude is a powerful vibration. It is my intention to focus my attention on things for which I am grateful. I don't always remember to do this, but I have found that more often than not my thoughts are focused on what is good. Of course, being human I do have moments or periods of time that I get a bit off track.



I am very grateful that I have a job that I love. I love running The Crystal Garden and all that it entails. I recently sponsored Dr. Eric Pearl and had an off site event which was very successful. Everyone who attended really enjoyed it! It is my intention to manifest more speakers of that caliber. I would love to use the second floor of the Boynton Women's Club as their Grand Ballroom has a stage and can seat up to 300 people lecture style. Wouldn't that be great for our spiritual community? Who would you like to see come to our area? Send them or their publicist to me or let me know and let's make it so!

Here is a running list of all that I am grateful for:
I am grateful for my family - my parents, my sister, my brother and their families, my aunts and uncles and all my cousins. I am especially grateful for my cousins who live here close to me in Boca. They are the best!

I am grateful for my sweetheart, Vincent. He is the love of my life. There are so many endearing qualities about him that I could list here - but I think I'll just keep telling him!

I am grateful for my good friends. I have some really authentic fabulous friends.

I am grateful for my business colleagues, including COVR (http://www.covr.net/), fellow retailers, my bankers, my CPAs, my attorney, my real estate broker, my staff at the various businesses and all that help me make my businesses run well.

I am grateful for all of my customers for all the various businesses.

I am grateful for my home and the trees around my home. I am grateful for the iguanas, the bunnies, the neighborhood dogs and cats, my cat - Gabrielle and even the raccoons who poop by my pool.

I am grateful for the food I have available to eat. I am grateful for my bed, running water, flushing toilets, hot water and electricity.

I am grateful for my Blackberry!

I am grateful for the caregivers who take care of my Dad. Dad will be 95 on November 13th. His caregivers are extraordinary!!!

There are many more things for which I am grateful and I live in gratitude always!

Thank you for reading this!

What and who are you grateful for? I would love to hear/see your list!

Blessings,
Margaret

Celebrating, relaxing and catching up

This was a weekend of celebration. I loved having that celebration for the 20 years of The Crystal Garden. Wow! It was so wonderful. It is wonderful that The Crystal Garden continues to bless all of our lives.

We built the Medicine Wheel from 1 - 3 PM. We had a really nice crowd there. Pam Elliott and Vickie Mitchell and I facilitated the ceremony. I surprised myself when I found myself all choked up for the opening prayer. I am overwhelming grateful for all the blessings that this store and center has provided for me, my staff and so many people. It's wonderful how may lives have been touched with our love and I am so grateful for being able to be an instrument for that.

The Medicine Wheel is something that Vickie, Pam and I have built for many years, at least once a year. We used to go to the 4H Camp in Ocala where I facilitated the Sacred Circle Gathering. But the interest in that waned after 13 years. But, 13 years of doing that is actually quite a long time, isn't it? The rocks we use have been part of our lives since the mid-90s. They really are beautiful. They are river rocks that I shipped back from Hermosa, CO which is in the valley near Durango, CO. I love that part of the country. I must go back and visit my sweet cousin, Maria.

Most of the wheel was built by the time this photo was taken. Most people couldn't stay the full 2 hours it takes to build the wheel. Ceremony takes time. Anyway, the wheel stayed up a full 24 hours. The energy was cooking that whole time holding all the prayers and good wishes for many more years of sharing Love and Light at The Crystal Garden!

I un-wound the wheel this afternoon around 3:30 PM after the store was closed. It was nice to be with my store in the sacredness of the Medicine Wheel in the Angel Room. So many sacred ceremonies have happened there. I know many more will come along with more love to share.

Here is to 3 generations of The Crystal Garden - Vickie, with her daughter, Becky and granddaughter, Celeste. Will The Crystal Garden be around for 4 more generations of Love and Light fulfilling 7 generations of bringing Spiritual fulfillment, love and personal growth into the lives of many? Only time will tell!

Angel Blessings,
Margaret Ann

It's been a while since I've written

Many bloggers blog daily. Now that is a nice discipline. I just can't seem to fit it into my day.

This last period of 3 weeks has been pretty intense for me. I have a tendency to try to do too much. I have so many ideas and ways to assist myself and other have a happier life, that I try to do it all - at the same time! Jeez Louise! Not happening. I have many plates spinning and I don't want any of them to drop.


My Dad was brought by ambulance to the hospital 2 weeks ago. He was home after 3 full days on the Infectious Disease floor at Bethesda Hospital in Boynton Beach. The nursing staff at Bethesda is very good. I am also so grateful for Dad's primary caregiver, Hyacinth. She does an phenomenal job taking care of him. During the hospital visit, Hyacinth stayed with Dad at night. In the past, that was something I always had done. 24/7 care. What a relief to have the help and support this time in caring for Dad.


He's home. He's recovering. He had bronchitis. They thought it was pneumonia but thank goodness it wasn't. Man - they sure did pump him with antibiotics though. At 94.9 years old (he turns 95 on 11/13) it's really wiped him out. Then our other fantastic daytime caregiver, Vern, got the bronchitis, so he was flat out for 7 days. Poor Baby!


I managed to do day care and Hyacinth did the night care. The staff at The Crystal Garden as always handled everything. They really are the BEST STAFF IN THE WORLD! Thank goodness! I am just now beginning to catch up. I'm not as stressed either. My body was trying to get something - like a sinus infection - but I think I was able to get rid of it without antibiotics this time.

I finally heard back from my acquisitions editor at Llewellyn Worldwide - my publisher. I now have direction on how to edit the book. (this info came around the same time Dad went into the hospital.) Yesterday, I finally sat down and started the editing process. I believe the book will have the title of Crystal Consciousness: Heal Yourself using Color, Aromatherapy and Gemstones. At least that seems to be the new working title for now. That could change.


At the same time that I'm trying to edit, I am also excited about the Angel Messenger Practitioners (TM) who will start their training with me and Archangel Mikael tonight! I believe that we'll have a phenomenal experience. I actually pumped out a Power Point presentation for the program and for the Gemstone Oracle training. It will really improve the ability for those learning to integrate the information. I know we'll be laughing a lot this weekend. I'm a bit comedic when I do this training. (OK - that's an understatement! Ha!) I'll probably offer another training in the first quarter of 2009. So let me know if you are interested.

And next Saturday, Sept 20th, we are celebrating 20 Years of Sharing Love and Light at The Crystal Garden. How cool is that? Very Cool! Here is an excerpt from the most recent email I've sent out:

"Our gift to you is 20% off EVERYTHING IN THE STORE ON SEPTEMBER 20TH! Come by and take advantage of our thank you to you for your many years of support.

Also, The Crystal Garden continues to get greener as we now premier our Green Bags with our beautiful angel meditating logo. Our bags are only $4.99 and quite large and sturdy. Between now and September 20th we will be giving you a free bag with purchase of $50 or more. One per customer please. Of course, you can buy more but the free one is a one time gift! So, if you can't make it on Sept 20th, stop by before Sept 20 and get your gift with purchase of $50.

You may have noticed the 36 stones that are stored in the front of the Angel Room. Those are the Medicine Wheel rocks. Join us for the ceremonial building of the Medicine Wheel. We'll be building it between 1 and 3 pm on Saturday, Sept 20. It's a prayerful story-telling experience. Come at any time between those hours. We've loosened up the ceremonial rules a bit so more people can come and go to experience some of this wonderful event. It's free."

Then - on Thursday, September 25, Dr. Eric Pearl will be presenting a lecture on The Healing Connection - an event created by The Crystal Garden to be held off-site at the Boynton Woman's Club. Read more about that . . . .


And then . . . Mama Mia. . . . really - is there more? Yes! The Crystal Healer Certification Level 2 will be on Sept 26 and 27th. So if you've taken Level 1 - sign up now!



I'm looking forward to all of these good things. I also am very involved in the Coalition of Visionary Resources. COVR is a national trade organization and I am now the president. With the fabulous help of our administrator, Sandi at Soul Journey, I am able to actually fulfill these duties. If you are thinking of creating a store, or go out on the speaking circuit - or even manufacture something that is within the visionary business trade - then this organization can really help you be successful. Check out their website at http://www.covr.net/.

So - that's what been happening in my world. I still find time to sleep, eat, laugh, enjoy my love, Vincent, and breath!

Many Blessings,
Margaret Ann