magick musings…

~Thomas Alva Edison

A new beginning. Fresh. Unwritten. Unchartered. A clean slate.

I love it.

I agree with ole’ Thomas’ quote. If it is not a victory then it is a learning experience toward said victory.

Instead of what I didn’t accomplish this year, I am going to list things I did in 2005 that I never thought I COULD do.

Never thought I could:

1. Become President of the best little RWA chapter in Texas (possibly in all of RWA) and not screw things up. It is extremely hard for me to get up and speak in front of people much less run meetings. And put out a monthly President’s column (thanks to the patience of Mik, and the kind editing of Carolyn. Thanks guys! And thanks to Mary D for being there with advice when I needed it. And thanks, Denise, for my scarf! Sorry I fogot to mention it in my Christmas post! I really love it.

2. Work for hours on our chapter’s contest and enjoy knowing it turned out to be success. Enjoyed Brenda too! (Not that I thought I couldn’t)

3. Submit and have accepted a poem with Circadian Poems and a short story, Murder in Manhattan, with The Scruffy Dog Review which will appear in the premier edition in January.

4. Survive another year of tuition with two boys still in college. Only one more year to go.

5. Survive three weeks with a house full of family refugees of Hurricane Rita.

6. Have a website.

7. Have a blog.

8. Invite and drive around town two best selling authors, Lisa Jackson and Nancy Bush and a major New York Editor, Cindy Hwang of Berkely and not: a) have a wreck or b) get lost. They were so enjoyable and comfortable to be with it made it fun! They are truly great people and a hoot to boot.

9. Develop relationships with new friends and deepen them with old friends. True friends really make your life meaningful. Okay, family will also.

10. Become more comfortable around people, with myself, and learning that everyone has faults and no one is perfect.

I know there are many, many more things but these are the ones that come to mind right now.

Tonight, as we welcome in another year, another chance, I will reflect on where I want to be this time next year.

~An Old Irish Blessing

~Sandy

It’s hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone. It’s also hard to believe that it has been a week since I blogged. But having a house full of company makes you spend most of your creativity keeping everyone happy, entertained, and fed. Not to mention the eight hours it took to clean house and take down the inside Christmas decorations once everyone left. Then worked beckoned and I had to put in 9 hours today, but tomorrow is only a half day so I will have another long holiday weekend. :thumbsup:

My oldest son, daughter-in-law, and the twin grandsons came to spend the holiday with us and it was fun seeing the magic in a little one’s eyes again. Brought back so many memories of Christmases past. Two year olds can really be a lot of fun. And a lot of work. But they are such good little boys and we miss them already!

While getting ready to open presents, we discovered that our video recorder wasn’t working. My dh, of course, blamed me and and I, of course, blamed him, and as we were ‘discussing’ this problem, my son and DIL started laughing and handed us a present to open together which turned out to be (drum roll please!) :

a NEW Sony Digital Handycam!

It records on those neat little discs that you can use in your DVD player without having to hook up all kinds of wires or just pop into your computer or portable DVD player! It totally rocks!!! Thank you thank you thank you to the DaniDuo!

Plus got Starbucks card (YUM!) and a gift card from my other two sons to my favorite scrapbooking store (Woo Hoo!) Among other things, I got a brand new complete kitchen knife set with a block holder from my hunny that I have always wanted! Those thing ain’t cheap!

I must have been a very good girl as Santa was so good to me this year!

Can’t blog long. Have to work on my president’s column (:evil:) so I won’t be derelict in my duty. Will work on my goals for 2006 later – one which will definitely be get my president’s column in earlier each month. Sorry Mik! 😳

~Sandy

Stole this from Mik and CeCe!

You Are a Bright Christmas Tree

For you, the holidays are all about fun and seasonal favorites. You are into all things Christmas, even if they’re a little tacky.

Christmas Eve already! The presents are wrapped, half the cookies are baked, and I am slowly getting into the spirit! I have promised myself that today I will concentrate on it being Christmas Eve and just enjoy the day to the fullest. I wish that blessing upon all of you also.

~Sandy

Stole this from CeCe

What Color is Your Soul? {8 results + artsitic pics}
brought to you by Quizilla

Your Soul is Purple – Artist, dreamer, creative. You are lost in your thoughts, and have a dislike of reality (probably finding it boring). You have to remember that every idea is based off the reality you know. Magic is everywhere, you just have to see it. Thinking, and creating things from your mind, are your top priorities (not to mention what your best at). Keep at it, a little imagination can take you far.

Tagged by Mik to tell all – well – actually only five – weird random things about me. Here ya go:

1. Rod Stewart literally ran into me and almost knocked me into the water on the San Antonio Riverwalk. The sad thing is that I didn’t know it was him until a little while later. I saw him doing a promo in front of a camera and had to ask someone in the crowd watching.
2. My favorite dish is a macaroni and sausage recipe I found years ago. Can practically eat the WHOLE thing!
3. I was told years ago that I would be blessed by always having men in my life. A husband and four sons and two grandsons later…
4. I would love to be on ‘Survivor’ only to lose weight.
5. I really, truly, deeply care for my friends and family and want all their dreams to come true. Even if mine never do.

I hereby tag the following people:

Dennie
Carolyn
Sandy S

Today was my last day of work for a week and it turned out to be really a great day. I was not happy about having to drive to an office the furthest in our system, but the traffic was light, the day turned out beautiful, and they sent me on two errands around lunchtime that turned out to be exactly where I needed to go to buy two of the last gifts I needed to buy!

And they fed me lunch when I got back! :banana: A good day!

Christmas is only two days away! Hope all of you have your shopping done and can sit back and relax and enjoy the season!

Your Christmas Song Is

Baby, It’s Cold Outside I simply must go – Baby, it’s cold outside The answer is no – Ooh baby, it’s cold outside This welcome has been – I’m lucky that you dropped in So nice and warm — Look out the window at that storm Christmas is nice and all… But being snowed in is icing on the cake

Being snowed in would be so nice! But here in Texas we are expecting 70 degrees on Christmas!

Bah, Humbug!

Pilfered this from Daisy Dexter Dobbs who is one hysterically funny lady. I weep with laughter reading her blog so I will definitely be purchasing her books.

1. Finding empty wrappers in the candy dish and no one will own up to it. I. Will. Find. Out. Who. You. Are.
2. Light turns green and nothing happens. Green light means move it, move it, move it!
3. Grocery carts left in the middle of the parking lot. Wind come along…dings, dents and scratches on your car. Worse – on my car!
4. A car speeding up as you try to pass it. If you would have done that earlier, I wouldn’t be passing you!
5. The phone rings and no one is there. Why waste yours and my time?
6. Rude people. Life is not all about you!
7. People who believe they are the only ones that do anything right. My evil twin loves it when you screw up.
8. Hitting every red light when I am in a hurry, but it’s all green when I drop my cell phone on the floorboard. Need I say more?
9. Slow moving lines. I need a t-shirt that says ‘Don’t get behind me, I am always in the wrong line.
10. Narrow minded people. Give it a chance, will ya?

~Sandy

Every year my sons love to decorate for Christmas. And I don’t use the word lightly. Every Christmas decoration we have is proudly displayed in every corner of the house. Doesn’t matter if it is a handmade item from school (four sons equal many handmade items) or a souvenir from our travels, it ends up either on the tree or or laid out somewhere.

This is not to mention the outside decorations. Think Griswalds! Think electrical box spinning like a top! Think street lights need not come on at night!

And every year I complain about the mess, how I feel so claustrophic (I don’t do well in disorganization or clutter) and probably take their joy out of the holiday.

Well, of course, this year has been no different. After warnings of ‘There will be NO presents for you if you burn the house down!’ and ‘The electrical bill has YOUR name on it this month!’ and ‘If you fall off that roof I am NOT taking you to the hospital!’ they just ignore me and do the work anyway.

Last night there was a knock on the door and a young man was standing there with a piece of paper in his hand. My first thoughts were that we had broken the law or some kind of city code, but he proceeded to tell us that our house had been selected as the winner of the “Breathtaking Decor” category of our city’s neighborhood decorating contest.

My ears are still ringing from all the whooping and hollering! Not to mention the smug looks! They told me this was the best Christmas present they could get this year. Hmmm, does that mean Santa can spend the rest of the Christmas money on things for herself? Works for me.

For a wonderful heartrending Christmas story, visit Mik’s blog. But warning, get your kleenex ready! Shows what the TRUE meaning of Christmas really is.