Welp. This card isn’t helping me decide how my week will go, or am I wrong?

First, just looking at the card, what does it represent? This is the goddess Aphrodite. Her origin story is kind of grisly. Cronus castrated his father Uranus and tossed his testicles into the sea. The foam that erupted produced Aphrodite. You can see her stepping out of the foam. The goddess of Love is the embodiment of feminine beauty, but also the embodiment of all those stereotypical “female flaws” like jealousy, laziness, vanity, and deceit. Lovely, right? What does that have to do with me? Aphrodite is holding one golden chalice—the Ace of Cups. The Ace of anything represents the powerful “first” raw meaning of a suit. So, before I check the book, I think this means I may be looking at an emotional week. One filled with love, or the “eruption” of love, and one filled with events that will have me demonstrating all those feminine flaws. I have the kids heading to school this week, so I’ll lovingly push them out the door with their backpacks prepared and their lunch bags filled. I’ll feel regret that I don’t have them under my roof. I have a ton of work in front of me, and I may wallow a bit in my feelings while I try to tackle the stacked-to-the-ceiling tasks I have in front of me. So, I think that’s what this card means for me. I don’t like it, but I will embrace the positive meaning and hope I can tamp down my “weak” feminine faults to slog through the work.

Now, to the book. It boils it down, saying, it “heralds an outpouring of feeling” although “not yet differentiated” and can often be “overwhelming.” *sigh*

Why do I start my Sunday mornings with a tarot card? I guess I could just dive into my calendar, calibrate how many pages I have to write and how many I have to edit to get to The End, but I like adding an element of the divine to my day, whether drawing a card or placing my hand into my bowl of crystals and gemstones and pulling out whatever my hand finds compelling. The mystical and the pragmatic can reside in the same heart.

Open Contests

1. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Flea Market Finds — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Ava Cuvay: The End of an Era (Contest & Excerpt) — Win a FREE book!
3. Gabbi Grey: Falling Down the Regency Rabbit Hole (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Flashback: Strokes, Vol. 2 (Contest–Two Winners!) — Win a FREE book!
5. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: What’s he doing here? — Win an Amazon gift card!

This last week was such a cool one! Not temperature-wise, of course, but we did manage another movie day—we saw Haunted Mansion! It was a fun family-oriented flick. Strange New Worlds aired the “Subspace Rhapsody” episode, which we all watched and LOVED. It was a total blast. We swam multiple times, including two night-time swims with the tiki torches keeping the bugs at bay. And I did manage to get started on my new book and finish up one set of edits. So, it was a productive week. Today is the start of the last week of summer vacation for the kids, so we’re still trying to get ready for that and pack in some more fun—nothing big, but some “together” time. We’ll miss having them underfoot when they start school.

So, that’s the catch-up, here’s my Sunday Tarot card…

Sooooo…

Today’s the day of the week I always update my plans so I know what to hit hard and what’s going to get in the way of me reaching my goals (appointments, family events, etc.). I was shuffling my cards, asking whether I was going to “get my shit together this week,” and readying the deck to pull one when this single card fluttered to the floor from the deck landing face-down. So, I figured The Powers That Be intended me to have this card. I flipped it over and sighed.

It’s The Star. It’s a very pretty card, but it’s not the best to pull when you have a ton of stuff on your plate.

This card from the Mythic Tarot deck depicts Pandora. You know her, right? Zeus, being a bit of an asshole, had his smithy-god create a beautiful woman as a gift to mankind then had the gods give her gifts. Hermes, who I think understood the order best, gave her the “gift” of idleness and lies. She was warned by her husband (I forget which god, so I’ll consult the book once I’m done interpreting the card myself) to never open the chest that accompanied her. Pandora just couldn’t resist. She opened the chest and unleashed a host of unpleasant things out into the world; here they are the dragonflies and bugs flying away in the dark cloud. Also released though was hope, depicted here as the Star of Hope. So, while her own worst instincts had her open the chest, the Star of Hope is there, not to rescue, but to show Pandora that all isn’t lost. I think so, anyway.

Now, to the book. Yes! Her hubby was Prometheus’s brother, Epimetheus, who was warned by his brother not to accept gifts from Zeus. (Too late!) He did warn Pandora not to open the box. The bad things she released? Old Age, Labor, Sickness, Insanity, Vice and Passion. They all flew out into the world. Only Hope stayed. The card, according to the book, “portends faith in the midst of difficulties.”

All this means, I have my work cut out for me. I have to stay focused and not let my “idleness” cause me to muck up my plans.

Open Contests

1. Puzzle-Contest: Make a Wish… — Win an Amazon gift card!
2. July into August (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Word Seach: Back to School Supplies (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Krysten Lindsay Hager: Top 5 Favorite Comfort Movies (FREE Read!) — Everyone, pick up your FREE read in KU!
5. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Flea Market Finds — Win an Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Delaine McLafferty!
*~*~*

July

1. I finished writing and published Book #9 of Montana Bounty Hunters: We Are Dead Horse, MT — Jackson!
2. I completed 4 editing projects for other authors in July.

Health-related:

1. I’ve been swimming almost every day. Sometimes, twice a day.
2. Through medicines and some diet tweaking, I’ve managed to get my blood pressure down to 130-155. There’s been an occasional spike, but it’s so much better.

Happiness-related: 

1. The family and I have returned to the movie theater! We accepted the “Barbenheimer” challenge and watched Oppenheimer then Barbie in theaters! So much fun! And I have the T-shirt. 🙂
2. I have been working on and making more great progress organizing my art room, getting ready for the next push for art shows and reopening my Etsy store. I have accumulated the supplies I need to begin painting in encaustic wax.
3. I DID NOT finish the fodder challenge. In fact, I only managed to get through the first day’s challenge because it was too time-consuming and I didn’t like the daily challenges. I did so little art, I only have these items to share…

I also did a little Gelli plate work…

August

1. To complete writing Hard Knox, the next in my We Are Dead Horse, MT series which releases on September 12th!
2. To complete 4 editing projects in August!

For health related, I plan:

1. To swim at least once a day!
2. To keep counting those points for my Weight Watchers diet and hopefully shed at least 5 pounds, remembering, as always: Slow is good!
3. To continue to reduce salt, processed food, and incorporate foods good for blood pressure (spinach, broccoli, bananas).
4. See my heart doctor for a progress checkup!
5. To begin walking and counting my steps.
6. To do more housework because my art room isn’t finished! Cleaning is exercise, too.

For happiness-related, I plan: 

1. To spend quality time with the family—movie nights, swim-time, making fun meals together!
2. To get the kids excited about the return to school!
3. To participate in and complete a free art workshop, the Inchie Challenge!

Contest

Comment on anything you’ve read in this post. Tell me what you’re doing to make yourself happier and healthier. Tell me what you plan to read in August…
Like I said, comment on anything for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Beverly!
*~*~*

Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
~ St. Francis of Assisi

I’m working on updating my plans today. Trying to re-jigger them to fit in everything I have to accomplish. It always looks so…possible, until real life intrudes.

After finishing my #the100dayproject (yay, me!), I feel like I can do anything once I focus. My priorities this week? I need to write some chapters! I have an editing project to wrap up. I want to complete organizing my jewelry-making station in my art room. I haven’t made jewelry in a while, in an organized fashion, because it’s such a jumbled mess, but I’m making progress. I don’t want to get mired in indecisions about where everything should go/how can I make some space/what I should de-stash, etc. Plus, I want to leave time for family fun, too.

The jewelry station feels like the most daunting thing, and it shouldn’t be, because it’s not a money-maker gig. However, I feel less stressed overall as I make improvements in that room. So, health-wise it should be a priority, right? Okay, so maybe I’m trying to justify focusing on it to the detriment of the “real work.”

I’ve accomplished a lot already. The areas underneath my worktables where I have boxes/bins stored, have all been cleaned and only “necessary” stuff was kept. I completed organizing my ink/glasswork station. What’s left? The jewelry station. The art table which has to be cleared/cleaned/and space made for painting. The rolling bins need to be cleaned out and organized, but I am trying to finish one big task per week so that by mid-summer I’ll three stations free and be able to find what I need when I start a project.

In case you don’t remember or haven’t been following this blog for a while, this is what my art room looked like shortly after my mother passed and ALL HER ART SUPPLIES were dumped in here for me to sort through. I barely had room to navigate the aisles on either side of the art table to the left here—standing sideways! It’s nothing like that now, but it helps me to remember where I started. Now, I know my goal is possible. When I finish, I’ll share pictures. It’s not anything fancy. The room itself is painted concrete block walls with 1980s industrial tiles on the floor. The furniture is a mishmash of things. But I will share. A workspace doesn’t have to be stylish to fulfill its function!

And none of that has to do with books. However, I should let you know that while I clean and de-stash, I work through story issues in my head. I have a notepad always ready for ideas. I can’t complete any editing, but I can be working on my own stories, so it’s not wasted time.

I’m rambling. And no doubt you’re bored. So, I’ll close with a contest!

Tell me about any huge organizational challenge you faced and how you overcame it for a chance to win a $5 Amazon GC!

UPDATE: The winner is…Mary Liz Wilson!
*~*~*

Well, National Clean Off Your Desk Day was actually yesterday—the 2nd Monday of January—but it coincided with National Word Nerd Day, so you know which day took precedence with me!

Let’s not worry about being late though. I took a picture!

No, that’s not the BEFORE picture.

I know you minimalists are likely hyperventilating, thinking about trying to work with all that clutter, but it’s organized and decluttered quite a bit from how it was. I have SPACE in the center front of my desk now. I tore apart my desk yesterday and dusted and rearranged, discarded, etc. Yes, I have too many candles and a huge wax warmer in the left corner next to my monitor. More candles in the far right of the picture, tucked behind my notebook stack. I just have the essentials, you know. And truthfully, my desk is more crowded in the winter than the summer because of all the plants I bring in from the patio that line up at the back of my desk. I can’t leave them out in the cold. And doesn’t everyone have jars and coffee cups filled with pens and markers? Maybe four large containers is a bit much, but I like having my tools. And I have a medium-sized bowl to the left of my desk’s working space where I dumped all my Halls and Ricola cough drops, plus prescriptions for the respiratory infection I’m trying to kick, so I thought putting them all in one container was “neater” than the having them lined up around my working space. I’m trying. I only have one water container for painting on my desk, and I trimmed down the number of palettes cluttering up the sides of my working space. So, much better than it was. There were stacks of things. I moved all toys and figurines into the shelves above my monitor. That round tin in the front right of the picture is a single bracelet kit, so I don’t have beads cluttering up everything, everywhere.

And voila! My desk is clean and orderly (according to my particular needs!). A pristine, spartan surface is like a blank page—it offers me no inspiration whatsoever!

So, are you going to take up the challenge and clean your desk or workspace? Are you a minimalist or do you need inspirational clutter all around you? Answer for a chance to win something. I’ll decide what later!

UPDATE: The winner is…Debra Guyette!
*~*~*

Hello, everyone! I want to start by thanking Delilah for letting me come play here with you all again. I always have a good time when I visit.

So, about that title…my countdown to the new year isn’t in hours or minutes yet, but I am counting down the days. I love looking forward to a new year, don’t you? It’s always so full of possibility and opportunity, and all kinds of good things we can’t even imagine yet. It’s almost like getting ready to start reading a new book by a favorite author or seeing a movie you’ve anticipated for months.

I don’t make ‘resolutions’ for the year. I quit that a long time ago, but I do work out goals for myself every year, personal things I want to get done, and writing goals (still working on the new goals as I write this). ‘Resolutions’ seem so…inflexible, I guess, like passing a new law or something. Too daunting that way.

If I call them goals instead, they become something I want to do, not have to do, and I can break each one down, and figure out the steps and time needed to accomplish them. For example, most authors have a general idea of how long it will take them to write a book, so they can break that time frame down—if it usually takes someone three months to write a 90,000-word story, they can figure out how many words they need to write each week, each day to make their three-month goal on time, and if there is an off-day, they can adjust to make up for the words they didn’t get done that day. That sort of goal-setting feels to me more achievable than simply writing a list of resolutions for the year—ie, for the next year, I have to lose X pounds, organize my life, look for a new career, etc.

Besides getting my goals finalized this week, we have a family dinner to start the new year, so while the basics of the meal are always the same, I do need to figure out dessert. Something else I will do to wave the old year goodbye is write down a few wishes for the new year, and then near midnight on New Year’s Eve, I’ll burn that list and send the wishes to the universe. If our weather forecast for this weekend is right, I may have to improvise to avoid the rain, but I have time to figure that out.

I would love to hear how you bring in the new year…do you set goals or make resolutions? What other traditions do you enjoy? Everyone who comments between now and the start of the new year will be entered into a drawing for an eBook copy of one of my three books, winner’s choice.

Happy New Year to you all, and may all your New Year wishes come true!

About Elizabeth

Lifelong book addict Elizabeth Andrews fell in love with romance novels at an early age and now writes her own, full of sexy heroes and strong heroines. Her stories range from paranormal to contemporary, to who knows what her imagination might come up with along the way, but happy endings are a guarantee!

She is a married mother of two who’s got a room overflowing with her book collection and a garden full of herbs and veggies that needs occasional attention between writing and reading binges.

You can find out more at ElizabethAndrewsWrites.com

When I worked in the corporate world, I underwent all kinds of efficiency training. To-Do lists are supposed to be small, with the most important things at the top to tackle first. However, life doesn’t work that way.

Some things have to happen first before you can get to the highest priority things. Plus, once you finish something that requires a brain cell, you need something that requires less of the gray matter to follow in order to rest your feeble aging brain, right?

I’ve already failed to follow the order of my list that I made last night. I started at #1 because as soon as I’m up, I make kids’ lunches so that they can get out the door to school. But #2 felt like too much exercise before my first two cups of coffee, and I didn’t yet know what I was going to blog about, and #4 requires too many clicks, so I skipped to #5. Now that I finished #5, I’m trying to get back to the “proper” order of my list, and I’m doing good with this blog, right? That list was top of my mind, so I’m typing word-vomit while I’m sort of complaining about the fact my list is too long and I want to blame that piece of paper, but it’s all my own dang fault for committing to too many things this week… And on, and on.

And now, I’m ready to turn the list over on my desktop and just do wtf I want to do. What’s the worst that can happen besides two clients having heart attacks because their edits are due and me missing a book deadline? I’m turning it over….slowly…I haven’t yet laid it down…

Fuck. On to #4.