magick musings…

I adore you!

Let me count the ways:

1. Much cooler weather (of course, anything below 90 here in Texas is considered ‘not hot’). That delightful crispness in the air that sometimes surprises with a ‘bite’ to it. The wind whipping a kaleidoscope of fallen leaves around the neighborhood and the crunch of them under your feet.

2. Changing of the colors – brighter and more vivid with everything everywhere. Reds, golds, orange, yellows, browns. Just don’t blink because it doesn’t last long around here. But it does happen and it’s definitely worth the not blinking.

3. Fall decorations. At night, pumpkins and scarecrows and hay bales and ghosts just magically appear on lawns and porches.

4. The craving for my husband’s bean soup chunked full of veggies and ham. Or my chicken and sausage and okra gumbo. And don’t forget pumpkin pie, apple cobbler, banana bread and anything cinnamom. YUMmmm…!

5. My Starbucks order that changes from an icy cold, tall, skinny cafe vanilla frappucino to the hot, creamy pumpkin spice latte or the salted carmel mocha. Or whipped cream atop hot chocolate. Sometimes with a side order of a pumkin cream cheese muffin. So very decadent!

6. Sandals and capris, tennis shoes and shorts morphing into jeans and those cool boots that are so popular and never go out of style. Wearing socks around the house.

7. The sound of football game each Sunday. Notice I said ‘sound’ of. Not that I like to necessarily ‘watch’ the games, although I do pull for the Cowboys. But just having it on it’s so, well… fall-ish. And traditional. And who can give up tradition?

8. Snuggling together in front of the fireplace with hot chocolate or cider or a glass of wine, and watching TV, or reading a book, or just laughing and talking the night away.

9. Halloween! My favorite! The pumpkins, the decorations, the fall flowers, the trick or treaters, the costumes, the candy!

10. And last but not least, knowing that holidays are just right around the corner. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years.

Autumn! The best time of year. How can anyone NOT love you!

~Sandy

Had a wonderful birthday weekend! Couldn’t have asked for anything more! Not. One. Thing. More.

Thanks to all my friends and family who called, texted, emailed me…I so appreciate and love you guys!

Thanks to M & L for helping us celebrate that night. Always fun to be with special friends on special occasions.

Many, many thanks to my sweet, adorable, funny, brilliant husband, GW, for making the weekend so special in so many ways.

Loved the ‘pre-birthday’ card. Babe, you always make me laugh! REALLY loved the ‘real’ birthday card – will always treasure it. And the wonderful present! You didn’t have to, but glad you did. 🙂 Thanks for just vegging with me all day and doing what we never take time to do. Doing absolutely nothing felt so good all day Saturday. And the birthday dinner Saturday night complete with the 47,978,321 layer chocolate cake at my favorite restaurant totally rocked! YUM!

I love ya, Sweetie!

Sandy

It seems fall as arrived! After 68 days of over 100 plus degree heat, the long Labor Day weekend was a pleasant low 90’s.

Not much more to report. Staying busy. Staying good.

~Sandy

…was hot, hot, hot!

We have been in the triple digits for several days now and Texas heat can be miserable. It’s way too early to be this hot for the summer. Waaayyyy to early. Scary to think what August will be like.

Didn’t actually do much this weekend except run errands on Saturday and then come home and find ways to keep cool. Our subdivision has a cool pool with slides and other interesting toys, but we are just not much on sitting out and baking. Skin cancer, wrinkles, aging and all that, ya know. Not to mention the HEAT!

A week ago, we bought some more knockout roses to replace some bushes in our yard and only got two of them planted before we had to cry uncle. We ended up sitting on the front porch trying to cool down with water, vitamin water, popsicles, and other cool liquids to hydrate us. I think we may need to wait until midnight one night to try again.

For Fathers Day I was going to take GW to the Museum of Science and Nature where they have an interesting exhibit on Chinasaurs (were dinosaurs really any different in China?) and several iMax films he was interested in, but never made it there. Best laid plans and all that! We had an appointment with someone to give us a bid on landscaping our front yard, but he never showed up. Can you say ‘not too happy with that person right at the moment and wait ’till I see him again?’

So, instead, we went grocery shopping, cooked ribs (yum, the smell drove me nuts all day), watched movies, and generally vegetated. Even got a tiny bit of writing on my angel story (very tiny) and some on a short story I’m working on. Not a bad day at all just not what I had planned for GW for Father’s Day. Oh, well, he seemed happy enough.

Keep cool…

Sandy

Last summer, my stepdaughter became engaged. She is such a fabulous person and I love her dearly. When we got the invitation back in March for her shower, there was no way we were going to miss it so we booked our tickets and off to Chicago we went. The weather was cold and rainy, but it didn’t keep us from having a fantastic time. The shower was held at a wonderful restaurant with an upper floor that was made just for this kind of celebration.

I met GW’s mom and my stepdaughter’s mom and her side of the family. Everyone was super friendly and we had a great time visiting and eating and getting to know everyone. GW actually saw people he hadn’t seen in 20 years.

Soon, May rolled around and it was time for the wedding. My husband surprised me and flew us first class and from the moment we took off the to the second we landed, it was a blast. We arrived Thursday evening and spent the night with the kids and then Friday we drove the couple of hours to the Lodge where the wedding was to take place.

The Lodge and the Canyon was absolutely beautiful and a perfect setting for the nature loving bride and groom. We stayed in log cabins that were delightful and, since the place was quite a drive from the nearest town, we ate our meals at the Lodge restaurant where the employees were super friendly and the food was to die for!

Friday night after the rehearsal, we had a cookout and I got to visit with GW’s mom again and meet his two brothers. They were all funny to watch because they share the same sense of humor. Very funny men!

Saturday was wedding day! They were married in the canyon not far from a beautiful waterfall, and even with it being a little cold (okay a LOT cold to this Texas), you couldn’t ask for a more perfect setting for them. The bride was truly beautiful and radiant and I say that not because I am prejudiced or biased. She truly was. Elegant, relaxed, and I honestly believe she had as much fun as all the guests were having.

We partied with her mom’s family, my husband’s family, and the groom’s family with dozens of friends thrown in for good measure until the wee hours of the morning and all too soon it was Sunday morning and time to go. But first we had to have one more meal at the Lodge dining room.

Can you say best breakfast buffet ever? Yum! Everything from pastries to meats to all kinds of eggs to fruits to pancakes, waffles, and french toast to desserts. Yes, I said dessert. And that IS a whole different group from the pastries.

Trust me.

So, after stuffing ourselves silly, we headed back to the kids home. They soon caught up with us and we took them to the airport to head out for the honeymoon and then we went back to their house to rest and catch up on much needed sleep.

Monday, GW played tour guide (he lived there for over 20 yrs) and showed me his old stomping grounds. Places he worked, places he lived, played softball, played darts, and everything in between. I loved being able to see the places and things he has talked and told me stories about. My favorite was going to Woodstock, ILL where the movie Groundhog Day was filmed. I’ve always thought it cool and fascinating that while Bill Murray and Andie McDowell were filming a scene in front of the bowling alley, GW and his friends were actually inside the bowling alley playing darts and having a few beers. So, I guess you could say they were ‘extras’ in the movie. Silent, unseen extras, LOL! Once we got back to Texas, I made him sit through the movie again so I could compare the pictures I took with the places in the movie.

I am so easily entertained.

One of my mission while in the Chicago area was to try some of the foods that friends from the Chicago area say are much better up there and sucks in Texas. Mission accomplished. I ate an Italian Beef sandwich, a Gyro (pronounced ‘Euro’ up there), and an original Chicago Hot Dog. All were excellent! I totally forgot about the Chicago pizza! Oh, well, next trip!

Back at ya later…

~Sandy

Thanks to Denise for providing these!

A best friend is like a four leaf clover: hard to find and lucky to have one ~ unknown

May the saddest day of your future be no worse than the happiest day of your past ~ Irish Blessing

~Sandy

So how did everyone spend their Valentine’s Day today?

The blogs and the tweets ran rampant on the pros and cons of celebrating this particular holiday. My only opinion is that it depends on how you and your special loved one views it. Sometimes compromise has to come into play, but isn’t that what life is all about? Me? I’ve found my Prince Charming and not gonna share, LOL!

In fact, the Prince (GW) surprised me again (don’tcha just love surprises? I do) and fixed a special dinner of pork ribs and sauerkrakut and stuffed mushrooms. Yum! I’ve never had them before and they were fabulous, Dahling, just fabulous! I tried to eat like a Princess (which equals not much), but everything was so good! And we still have enough for leftovers!

Here’s a picture of the stuffed mushrooms!

My card was beautiful and meaningful and made my day wonderful! Hmmm…maybe I need to promote him from Prince to King, LOL!

On the writing front, I finished the chapter I was working on and hope to start the next tonight. Kicked around a few ways to start it with Brenda this morning, so going to see what works. Brenda is so very funny and can come up with great ideas. Brenda is hilarious and makes me laugh alot. Brenda also needs to get busy on her writing!

~Sandy

…is my new mantra.

I keep thinking things are going to slow down, but no cigar.

We had a wonderful busy, busy weekend.

Saturday, GW took my car in and had the oil changed. AND got it washed. What a guy!

And then he took me shopping for clothes! Yes, girls – for clothes! We actually had fun doing it! There was no whining, no griping, no ‘are we done yet’?

And GW never complained either, LOL!

Yep, I can hear all the women out there gasping with jealousy. Sighing with envy.

Sorry, girls. But he’s mine.

After shopping and having lunch, we rented a few movies and piled in our chair the rest of the night to take a rest. Trekking from one end of the mall to the other is rather quite taxing you know.

Movie #1: Whiteout
Don’t waste your money. Premise was good, but couldn’t carry it off. Boring.

Movie #2: Legion

***Spoiler Alert****
Okay movie. Did not EVER explain why the child was the chosen one to save humanity. GW and I got into a debate about it. He related it to the Terminator movies. I debated back saying that at least you knew John Carpenter had to be saved because he was going to lead the rebellion against the machines, but in Legion it never said why the waitress’s child was THE one. No clue whatsoever. I personally think that God was testing both Gabriel and Michael. But what do I know. If you see the movie and figure it out, please enlighten me.

Movie #3: Paranormal Activity:
Okay movie. Had some scary moments. Predictable ending.

Sunday we went grocery shopping and then to Lowe’s where we bought a trellis and a pink mandeville. Had a special place in mind to plant it and if it covers the area I want, it is going to be beautiful. I so love tropical flowers.

Monday, I had to bring my netbook to Comp USA for some work on it. It became so sloooowww that it was driving me crazy. I almost cried as they pried it out of my hands so they could take a look at it. I am not sure what was wrong with it, but now it works at the speed of light.

loveit, loveit, loveit.

I had to purchase a new Norton internet security program for it because it was expiring in a few weeks, but Symantic offered a $50.00 rebate so I got the newest and greatest for only $29.00. Not bad.

While my netbook baby was at the shop getting a check up, we were invited to some friends for the rest of Memorial Day where we swam and cooked sausage and veggies on the grill. GW grilled the corn after I got those puppies all lathered up with my special herbed butter and they were the hit of the party! He didn’t have any charred spots like yours truly seems to get occasionally and it was so crisp tender and tasty. Yum!

Yesterday, I was like a cleaning machine. Moved the furniture around and swept and mopped and dusted and scrubbed and laundered and now the house is rockin’ clean. Cooked a pork tenderloin on the grill with roasted asparagus. I just love days like that. Clean house. Great dinner. And then watched 2nd day of America’s Got Talent tryouts. Gotta love that Howie!!!

~Sandy

Thank you to the millions who have died so that I may live my life in peace and safety.

(Sorry this is late. Had it set to post and it didn’t).

~Sandy