magick musings…

Happy Easter to all!

Picture this:

Me. In grubby old shorts and tennis shoes with sweat dripping down the back and staining the front of my shirt, gardening gloves hiding the dirt beneath my nails while battling the winter weeds in the flower garden in the front yard. The wind briskly whipping my hair into a frizz ball and heat and exertion turning my face a unflattering bright red.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see a car turn the corner into our cul de sac and stop right in front of our mail box. A little gnome of a man opens his door and with slow deliberate steps, makes his way up the driveway pausing when he was about half way. (Not sure if he was out of breath or just being polite.)

Ever the hospitable me, I rise from the ground, a handful of weeds in one hand and a garbage bag in the other, thoughts of ‘I’ll never get this done and get back to my writing’ hopefully not showing on my face.

I drop everything and walk toward him while sizing him up.

Too old for a kidnapper and I could probably take him on easily in a fight.

Can’t be Publishers Clearing House. Forgot to enter.

No one in the family has passed on so can’t be an attorney searching for relatives for surprise inheritances.

So, to my surprise he introduces himself as Mr. Smith (name changed… yada yada) one of the board members of our Homeowners Association and he had something for me.

Now, honestly, my first thought was ‘what did we (meaning me) do wrong?’ GW tends to follow things to the letter and since I’ve never read the HOA rules, I’m not sure I do or don’t. I’m good at winging things and asking for forgiveness later.

But never in a million years did I expect what came out of his mouth next. “Your home as been chosen as the Yard of the Month for the subdivision and we have a gift for you!”

Do what?

Then never in a million years did I expect what came out of MY mouth next. “You must be kidding, right?”

Now, our yard is not bad. Not bad at all. But it is still a work in progress and we haven’t had it professionally landscape like a lot of them in our subdivision have been. We’ve added, we’ve subtracted, we’ve pruned, we’ve planted, we’ve rearranged, we’ve fertilized, we’ve even put deer urine down (ewww!) to keep the rabbits out. read here if you don’t believe it.

Nope, he assured me. The gorgeous green lawn, breathtaking knock out roses, beautiful accent bushes and the flowering plants all make for an eye catching symmetry of beauty.

Yep, he actually said symmetry of beauty.

I stood in shock before asking if he could wait there for a moment. Please don’t go anywhere. Just a moment.

I walked slowly with dignity to the front door but once inside ran all the way to the back of house yelling for GW. I told him there was someone outside he just HAD to meet. No, I can’t tell you about it, Babe, you won’t believe me. Just HURRY!

GW came out and met Mr. Smith and the first words out of his mouth were, “You’re kidding, right? Maybe you’ve mixed us up with the neighbors across the street?”

Hmmm… great minds think alike, huh?

But, eventually, we were convinced when a sign was posted near the mailbox and a $25.00 gift card was handed to us.

So, it ended up being a pleasant surprise and definitely an Easter miracle.

It’s raining today or I’d post pictures. Maybe another day.

~Sandy

I like a little banana pudding with my Cool Whip, LOL!

As promised, here’s a picture of the new recipe I tried for dessert.

It was good, but very different from my regular banana pudding and GW and I both agreed that we liked the regular recipe better. The carmelized bananas were delish, but a little too overwhelming.

Maybe over vanilla ice cream like Bananas Foster?

This weekend is a long weekend and looking forward to chillin’ out and just doing whatever we decide we are in the mood for. We entertained the thought of going to the Renaissance Festival, but it’s opening weekend and may be just a little too crowded for our taste. Have plenty of time and weekends to go yet.

Today turned out beautiful! Such a difference from Tuesdays severe weather North Texas endured. We were blessed not to have any in our little town, but the surrounding towns had enough that it was too close for comfort here.

I was busy working on the computer not even watching the weather going on behind me outside until I started seeing Tweets about DFW being under a severe attack of tornadic attivity. A few minutes after I turned around to face the window and saw the huge wall cloud in the sky, the phone rang and it was a recorded message from our city stating we were under a severe tornado warning and to take cover NOW! GW soon texted me to see if I was okay, but none of my texts back to him could go through. Until I thought of hard booting the iPhone which worked.

But besides the driving rain coming down in silver sheets accompanied by hail, we didn’t get anything else.

My thoughts and prayers to those whose homes were destroyed or damaged. Thanks to the good Lord above there were no fatalities in a situation where there was so many tornadoes in the area even the meteorologists couldn’t keep up.

Back to work…

Have a great Easter weekend!

~Sandy

Have you ever bought brown sugar and once you get home, it’s not the soft, sweet, box of sugary goodness, but a solid, can’t even get it out of the box hard brick?

Well, sure you have. And so did I this week.

I found a super new recipe for carmelized banana pudding and thought I’d surprise GW with dessert. We normally avoid desserts for many reasons, some obvious, some not. Mostly to keep our youthful shapes from becoming not so youthful. Or not so shapely. But occasionally we (meaning me) decide that we’ve been good and deserve dessert.

But back to the story. While pulling the box of brown sugar out of the grocery sack, I dropped it and just barely missed my foot as it crashed to the kitchen tiles. I picked it up (after making sure kitchen floor not damaged, whew!) and wondered how I was going to use something that was so rock hard.

So I did what I always do when I have a question: I ‘googled’ it.

Here’s what was recommended:

Place one slice of bread in plastic bag with brown sugar...

…for a day or so. Um, no.

Try marshmallows in plastic bag with brown sugar...

Place a few drops of water in plastic bag with brown sugar...

…again, NO! Visions of mold flash through my mind.

…no damp towel either!

…Seriously?

Frustrated, I did what any exasperated, in a hurry, need it now cook would do.

The Behr Way

Of course, the pounding could be heard all the way from the back of the house where GW hollered, “Babe, what are you building in there?” If he only knew the trouble women go through for our desserts and our men, LOL!

And it worked! And after a trip to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, I now have a new friend that keeps my brown sugar soft and crumbly and ready for use when I need it.

I call him Sugar Behr!

Will let you know how the Carmelized Banana Pudding comes out tonight!

~Sandy

I’m a sucker for books. I love my new Nook Tablet – and yes, I still have my old Nook and no you cannot have it, ! But since I have my nook, I generally will buy them on the e-reader and not in print now.

So, one day I decided to make more room in the house (did I tell you I am totally hooked on organizing? I could be the poster person for how to organize your house. You really need to come check my closets, LOL!). So, I took a day and diligently and lovingly went through all my print books and categorized them into those into categories:

1. to be taken to Half Price books,
2. to be given away,
3. to be kept. You know the kinds: some written by super special friends of mine and several of my all time favorites. And, of course, the many, MANY reference books I have collected throughout the years. Those I put all in appropriate and labeled boxes and have stored safely away. Out of sight, but easy to get to. (the organizing thing again).

But, I discovered last year I don’t like journaling on the computer. I NEED something with me, at all times, that I can jot things down that I just know I will need at some point. Or thoughts that I want to remember and can refer back to. Or set some goals for the day/week and check them off. Or even some errands I need to do that day and want to plan my day.

Last year, I’d picked up a really neat hardback book at Barnes and Nobles that was perfect for me to carry around. The size was perfect, my special pen fit in the spiral binder (I have a special book so need a special pen, correct?) and it truly went almost everywhere I went. I actually filled it up during the year and when I went through it the other day, I was surprised at some of the things I’d written.

Some were profound, some were funny, some I’d forgotten about but needed. It also showed me where I was at the beginning of that year, and where I ended up at the end. And I realized I’d grown in some areas that I’d needed to and am pretty durn proud of. There were also some ideas on possible stories, some plotting ideas on the one I’m working on now. A few snippets of conversations I’d heard that would make good fodder in a story some time, and some of those really cute sayings that you think you’ll never forget, but always do.

Since I’m such a visual person, I thought I’d share a picture of it:

2011 Journal

So, I decided to do it again this year.

I gathered all the similiar books, I’d collected throughout this last year and put them all in a basket (that silly organizing thing!) and contemplated which was the one I wanted to use this year. It had to be the perfect one for the year as I’d have to live with it for the next 12 months.

Hmmm...lots of possiblities.....

They are all so pretty! How to decide???

But, eventually, I had to make the decision and the winner for the magical Journal of 2012 is…

Journal 2012

So, do you journal and, if so, what do you like to use?

~Sandy

GW (from chair in family room): What are you doing, Babe?

Me (in the other room):Who, me?

GW: No, the people down the street!

Me: Huh?

GW: Of course you. What are you doing in there?

Me : Nothing.

GW: I can hear you doing something. Is that a tape measure I hear? It better not be a tape measure I hear.

Me: Um…of course not. Why would you think that?

GW: Because I know what a tape measure sounds like. What are you measuring?

Me: Nothiiiing. (Much). Why?

(I hear a long suffering sigh)

GW: Because every time you get the tape measure out, you get into trouble.

Me (as indignant as I can):I do not. I know how to measure. I’m just measuring the floor in the foyer.

GW: Why?

Me: So I know how big of an oriental rug we need to buy to replace the other one.

GW: We need another oriental rug?

Me: Yeeeessss. When we moved the one we had in the foyer to the other room, we now need another one to replace it.

Silence for a long moment

GW: I was wrong.

Me: (trying to hide my grin. I’m not right very often.) Oh, yeah? Why is that?

GW: Because whenever you get the tape measure out, it’s not you that gets into trouble. It’s ME!

~Sandy

Last night GW reminded me that it’s been several months since I last blogged. October 11 to be exact.

There was a time when I wouldn’t go to bed at night until my daily blog was completed and scheduled to be published come morning. Now, there is always so much to do, that I put it last – which sometimes means never.

When blogging first became popular, EVERYONE was blogging. To gather a following, you’d visit other blogs, comment on them and most of the time, they’d return the favor. It became like a community of friends. You’d have the ones you’d read without fail every day and some you visited on a weekly basis. You’d have your favorites, from the humorous to the serious to the educational.

It was a way to discover new authors. Or new people with the same interests as you. Or a way to learn something new. It was a window into other people’s lives.

It became a journal for me. A way to express and share what was happening in my life. I’ve said many times, I love to laugh and I laugh at myself as much or more as I laugh at others. Through the blog, I could share the silly things as well as the philosophical and the serious.

But soon, as all good things do, a fad fades into the sunset.

It became difficult to find the time to read them like before. You could spend all day reading blogs and get nothing else done. And always, newer and faster technology become available.

No, blogging is not dead. There are still hundreds of thousands blogs in the cyber universe. I still read a few of my favorites along with recipe blogs and crafting blogs.

But the world is different. Other social media was soon born onto the cyberscene.

First there was MySpace. Which didn’t last long. And, of course, I had a My Space page. It really was fun designing and easy to keep up with.

Next came Facebook. At the present time, it’s still popular and easy to use to share your life and even play games with friends and family.

Twitter became hot (and still is). It was a way to reach thousands and not have to write but a few lines at a time. Faster, concise, shorter, time saving.

Now, I don’t get twitter that much. It may be because I don’t quite understand it and it’s hard to keep up with it. If you don’t keep a constant eye on it, you could miss a tweet from someone you really wanted to read. It reminds me of the ticker tapes at the bottom of screens (sort like news flashes, stock quotes, etc). It goes way too fast and I don’t have as many of the followers, some into the thousands, that a lot of tweeters have. How they keep up is a mystery. And, again, you could spend hours glued to your computer or smartphone.

But that’s just me. And maybe there is a way to group it or categorize it or something to make it easier to read and keep up with so you don’t miss your favorites.

There is also Pinterest which is a major time sucker (or again, is it just moi). I could literally spend hours and hours on that site.

Don’t look for it! I guarantee you’ll be hooked also.

Blogging is still my favorite. Although a lonely avenue sometimes, it’s still a more personal one for me. Even though my blogging takes mini vacations, I probably will never completely stop.

Speaking of mini vacations, that brings me to the original question.

Next post I’ll let you know where I’ve been.

Besides Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, that is…

~Sandy

Over the summer, I bought one of my favorite plants, a beautiful flowering plant that loves the hot Texas sun called purslane and planted them in our front flowerbed. The way our house is arranged, we’re still learning which areas get sun for how long, and which areas need what kind of plants. I decided to plant only one to see how it does.

Found an area that gets sunlight most of the day. After digging through the hard dry Texas clay, (remember we had a million days of over 100 degree heat and no rain) I got that puppy in the ground and sat back to watch to see how it did.

The next day, it looked a little puny. I chalked it up to being in shock after being transplanted so I just watered it and talked to it nicely and made a note to check on it the next day.

Come day 2 and the flowers seemed to have fallen off and disappeared into the wind. Okaaay….let’s water it again and surely by tomorrow, it will have settled in, perked up and be blooming with new growth.

Not so. Day 3 – no flowers, no perking up, and the plant seemed to be a lot smaller than when I’d planted it. Weird!

Day 4? No frickin’ plant left in the ground! There was actually a small hole where the plant had been!

I happen to look across to the neighbor’s yard and among their bushes I detected some long ears and a twitching nose and, I swear it’s true, the rabbit was grinning at me!

We had seen rabbits quite often in our yard, but it never occured to me they’d eat my flowers. What was I thinking!

So, fast forward to last weekend. I also love pansies and like to plant them in the fall because some will last until spring even with snow and frost. One of the nurseries was having a sale on them, so off we go and loaded up on several plats of colorful flowers. We trek home and cleaned out the containers in front and planted some and was pretty proud of how they looked. Still having lots of plants left, I got all my gardening supplies together and started an assembly line all the way across the front flower beds.

Scoop away the mulch, dig through the now WET, heavy clay, throw a little potting soil in hole, add a bit of fertilizer, plant flower, fill in hole with more potting soil, respread the mulch.

Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat.

And GW helped. Since it was supposed to rain that night, he spread fertilizer in the yard and then watered the plants as I planted them. And then lay in the grass next to me until I’d say something like, ‘Babe, I need more potting soil in the bucket.’ or ‘Babe, what’s this gross white worm I just dug up?’ or ‘Babe, rabbits don’t eat pansies, do they?’

Of course they do. So GW gets up, goes to the garage and comes out and starts spraying something near the first flowers I planted. The wind had been gentle breeze, and being upwind was very comfortable while I labored over a hot flowerbed.

Until I smelled something that reminded me of a wet diaper, but stronger and stinkier.

‘Babe, what’s that smell???’

He remembered we’d bought a can of Rabbit Repellent. Smart man.

So far, the rabbits have left the pansies alone. Smart rabbits.

~Sandy

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

Did you know worry can kill you?

I hear the gasps in the cyber crowd now.

I worry… you worry… we all worry. We can’t help it. It’s in the genes. We worry about our family, our careers, our finances, you name it and we can find a reason.

But according in an article written by C. S. Clarke, PHD:

‘Worry as a stressor is a direct source of headaches, insomnia, ulcers, and other gastric distress, paranoia, generalized anxiety disorders, depression and phobias. Most stress experts believe that it is an indirect source of disorders involving the immune system, such as cancer. We can literally worry ourselves to death. For example, when worry leads to depression and the depression becomes deep and unrelieved, our immune systems break down to the point where even a cold virus could become a killer.’

Gasp again!

Whether this is a medical certainty or not, those of us who worry (hello, my name is Sandy and I am a worrier…), can relate to the physical manifestation constant worry can bring. Just ask anyone who developed problems like mentioned above. Or worse. Most can attest that worry played a big part of the medical history.

How does this pertain to writing?

Worrying means having a lack of faith. So when it comes to my writing (since it is on my list of top ten things to worry about) it implies I have no faith in my ability to ever be published.

Webster’s dictionary defines worry as ‘a mental distress or agitation resulting from concern, usually for something impending or anticipated.’

Bottom line: I’m killing myself by worrying because I have no faith in something that hasn’t happened yet.

Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?

So go forth and write without worry. Save your health. Save your life.

Besides, I also heard worry causes wrinkles.

Gasp!

~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