I can’t believe I almost forgot to post today. I set a goal at the beginning of the year that I’d have a new blog every day, whether written by me or a guest author. I nearly spoiled my perfect record! I know, it’s a crazy goal. Why do it? Blogs are dead, right? I don’t believe that. Not really. We’ve seen how fragile our social media platforms can be. This blog is the only thing I can control. Plus, it does give me an outlet. I can share what I’m working on here, bore you to tears with tidbits about my life, and play games with friends.

Or, I can do like I am today and share something I made.

I woke at 4 AM this morning to finish up a set of edits before I headed out to sit at the art center today. I like acting as docent. We rarely get visitors, so it’s my excuse to paint. No computer, just me, a palette of watercolor paint, some pens, and my imagination. I laid down paint on several things, but this is the only item I finished. It’s a watercolor and pen postcard. The colors make me happy.

You all knew her, right? I mean, she was everywhere. A social media queen, a convention diva, a powerhouse writer with more projects going on than the Energizer Bunny. More energy than an octogenarian ought to have. I knew her way back when we were learning to be writers and were both members of a critique group in San Antonio—before we were both published by Ellora’s Cave (when it still existed) and we were on our way. In fact, I have this photo on my desk from an EC convention, not even sure what year, but there’s Desiree in the middle, me to the right, surrounded by lovely men, fellow authors, and having a high old time. And that’s the way I’d prefer to remember her—full of life and energy and hopes and dreams.

She wrote and played online, connected with her friends and readers, all the way up until the end. I’ll be forever proud of the work we did most recently with a series of connected stories inside my sister’s Brotherhood Protectors world. Desiree was our leader through several sub-series. She always had that strong, central vision of what the stories ought to be and how they should be “branded.” My sister called me yesterday while I was at my holiday craft sale to say she’d passed of the same awful cancer my mother had. I haven’t had time to process this yet, but I’ll miss her. RIP Judith/Desiree.

I’ve been pulling cards on Sundays to try to make it part of my planning process. Every Sunday, I update my work and personal plans to ensure I record what I accomplished and didn’t, then I turn my sights on the coming week. It’s not that I “believe” in the tarot, but because it centers me and reminds me of aspects of my life I wouldn’t otherwise consider when I set my plans. So, onto this week’s card…

Pentacles again. Hmmm. Well, first, I’ll study the art on the card. We have Daedalus, again, holding the pentacles close to his chest, like he won’t share them. Remember, he’s the father of Icarus. He’s also a skilled craftsman. Here, he’s observing his nephew Thalos as young Thalos crafts a gold bracelet. See that side-eye he’s giving the kid? He’s jealous of his skill and worried that he’ll surpass him. The child is engrossed in what he’s doing, unaware of Daedalus’s concern.

What does that mean for me? I’m not sure. I’m not here worried about another person surpassing me in skill. I write and I edit for other authors. I wish everyone well.  Truly. I don’t obsess over stats or even check mine often. A sin, I know, when writing is my business. I’m okay letting go of the worry of whether or not I write a bestseller. So, what else could this mean for me? I turn to the book…

It says that the card represents my holding too tightly to my possessions or things that represent my personal value. What could that be? Yes, I’m acquisitive, meaning I collect things. They’re things that bring me pleasure whether they hold value or not. Am I getting a little overwhelmed by my things? Yes. Simply put, I need to figure out what I want to keep and what I should let go of. In the near term, could this mean that I need to price my items for the coming sale so low that I can offload my inventory? Hmmm. Or does it mean I need to do some future planning for a huge clearing out of my spaces? Selling, tossing, giving away things? I’ll keep that in mind. I can’t do much about it until after next Saturday because I’m too busy trying to create inventory for the sale. I’ll put “weaning the horde” on my December To Do list.

In the meantime, I’m creating “stuff.” Here’s another Christmas card I painted…

Can you think of things I should offer to readers here in the future to help myself empty my bins and shelves?

Open Contests

1. My New Favorite Thing… (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Tell me a story… (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Tell me a story… (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!

I set my alarm for 5 AM. My daughter is rising that early to start the turkey, but she needs me for one vital task, and one only. She needs me to reach inside the turkey to pull out the “stuff” inside it because she’s too squeamish and doesn’t want to start her day gagging. So, yeah. Hero Mom to the rescue. After that I might or might not go back to bed. It’s 3:30 AM presently, and I thought since I’m already up with a lovely bit of insomnia, I’d go ahead and post today’s blog.

So, from my family to yours, I wish EVERYONE a happy, wonderful day, and for those celebrating Thanksgiving, hold your friends and family close, eat too much, nap through your turkey comas, then get up to eat those leftovers again. Yes, in our house, it’s all about family and feasting—and PIE.

UPDATE: The winner is…Brenda Anderson!
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My art room (I’m not yet ready to call it a studio, because artists have studios, and I don’t feel like one quite yet!) is a work in progress. It’s very utilitarian—industrial tile on the floor, tables and work benches on each wall, a large table in the center, which is my workspace. When my mother, who was a true artist, passed, I inherited her multitudinous art supplies. When I tried to cram them into my room with everything I’d already accumulated, I couldn’t walk around the tables without standing sideways because there was so much “stuff.” It took a super-human effort, and the help of my daughter, to get it pared down so I had floor space. I’m not kidding. I could’ve been on the hoarders TV show. Over the nearly two years since then, I’ve donated and tossed items. I’ve also looked for good storage solutions. I’m making great progress, but until recently, working on my central art table was hard because even though it’s a banquet-sized table, it was covered with the art supplies I use most. I needed a solution so I could clear the table before considering working on larger pieces.

After scouring Pinterest and other artist’s organizational tips, I found this:

It’s an IKEA Raskog rolling cart. If you go onto Amazon they’re around $100. When I went straight to the IKEA site, I found it for just $35 plus $10 for shipping. And luckily, it is one of the items they do ship! When it arrived, my SIL assembled it—it’s super easy to assemble by the way—and I began to offload my many cups and bowls of supplies onto the cart. I’m giddy over how much space I have (I’m still clearing the table, so I’ll take a picture of the finished table another day.

If you’re wondering about what that pile of stuff to the upper right of the photo is, it’s tea bags I’m drying that I’ll cut open and empty, and then paint on. I know. My daughter thinks it’s super weird, but tea bag art is awesome for collaging. That wire thing tucked in the near corner of the top rack is a large, vintage flower “frog”—an Ebay find I thought would be perfect to gather all the scissors into one place. I need more scissors!

But look at this! Here are views of the second rack:

See that wooden compartmented box? It’s a $8 flea market find and fits perfectly! I know, me and my flea marketing… And there’s a little bit of space left to fill. 🙂

Here’s the bottom shelf:

Yes, I should find some containers that take up a bit less space to maximize what space I have in the cart, but all that crap was on top of my table, and now it’s not. I can roll that sucker next to my chair when I’m working and have everything I use the most right there.

I’m beyond thrilled.

My daughter loves the cart, too. She wants one for her bathroom to hold her multitudinous beauty supplies. I bought her a white one, and it’s coming on Wednesday.

So, I shared. Now, I’d love to hear about any organizational items you use or want, or tips for how to organize smarter. Include links if you can. One commenter will receive a $5 Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Charlene Whitehouse!
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It’s Saturday! I chose today’s image at random and thought it would make a good conversation starter.

It’s not something I’ve ever done, although I almost did when I was in ROTC. They decided they couldn’t waste a slot on a girl… Huh.

Anyways, solve the puzzle. Then let me know if you’ve ever or would ever do this. Or perhaps tell us about some other risky thing you’ve done for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

Open Contests

Enter these contests while there’s still time!

1. Storm’s coming… (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Saturday Puzzle Contest! — Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Word Search: Things I love about Thanksgiving! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Genevive Chamblee: Memory Keeping (Contest & Giveaway) — Win a mystery stationary gift!

There was no escaping this card today. When I shuffled the deck, it fell off the bottom, so I quickly stuffed it back into the stack, reshuffled, cut the cards, then fanned them out before selecting a card—and wouldn’t you know it? This is the one I was meant to pick.

My question while I shuffled was, What will this week bring?

Now, Death doesn’t necessarily mean an actual death. It represents the end of something that you acknowledge—just like the supplicants in Hell offering gifts to Hades as they acknowledge his power over them. The Death card definitely indicates the end of something, but also the beginning of something else.

I’m not a Debbie Downer. Folks who know me think I’m more like Pollyanna—always sunny and optimistic. Trying to see the good in most people. I also don’t sweat the small shit.

What was foremost on my mind for the coming week? Well, my dd and I had just discussed our plan to hit the voting center on Tuesday, so maybe this card has something to do with that. Me being Pollyanna, I have to hope it means the outcome will not be…not sure of the word I should use here…catastrophic? Maybe I should use my own personal definition of the Death card—a change that has to be acknowledged before moving on to a new beginning.

There. Done. I rarely pull that card, but to have it happen twice this morning—I had to acknowledge it. I’m a little superstitious that way.

Here’s hoping you all have a less portentous week then it looks like I will have!

So, do you own a deck of tarot cards? Have you ever had your fortune told?

Oh, and just a note. I like the hills and the sun in the background of this card. I need to think about them when I pull out my paints…