The Healing List

I just wanted to post the link to the Colorado Cultural Arts Society website that posted the winners to the 1st Annual Holiday Story Contest.

Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts. ~Charles Dickens

No word yet on when the story will be posted on the CCAS website, but as soon as its up I will let you all know. :)

So I thought I'd do an end of year blog update. I started this blog a little over a year ago and wanted to share a few fun stats:

Total number of pageviews to date: 1,001
Most hits in one day: 61 on December 26, 2010
Most hits in one month: 294 - November 2010 (although December 2010 is only 12 hits behind that as of today)
Number of hits per country:
United States: 842
Germany: 55
India: 24
Russia: 24
Peru: 12
United Kingdom: 8
Lithuania: 5
Canada: 4
France: 3
Poland: 3
Nigeria: 2
Morocco: 1
Netherlands: 1

Isn't that amazing?!

I also want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year! I thought I'd share this fun poem a friend sent me. Thank you all for your support and encouragement this past year and lets bring 2011 in in style!

My Wish For You In 2011

May peace break into your home and may thieves come to steal your debt.
May the pockets of your jeans be magnets for $100 bills.
May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips.
May happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy.
May the problems you had forget your home address.
In simple terms, may 2011 be the best year of your life!
Happy New year!

BE SAFE EVERYONE!!

Speechless

QUOTE OF THE DAY: The secret to success is to be ready when your opportunity comes. ~Benjamin Disraeli

I received this notice on Christmas Eve. Best gift I could receive this year. :)

Celebrate!!

QUOTE OF THE DAY:Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards. ~Vernon Law

I am celebrating today.

Celebrating Christmas and the birth of Jesus.

Celebrating that I am healthy and so are my friends and family.

Celebrating all that I have and all that I've been blessed with in my life.

And I'm celebrating one additional thing. So far the BEST gift I could get this Christmas. But I can't tell you about it ... yet.

Merry Christmas everyone. Enjoy all that you have and all that you've been blessed with.

I'll keep you posted!!

Take A Break

QUOTE OF THE DAY: The secret to success is to be ready when your opportunity comes. ~Benjamin Disraeli

I blogged before about my need to read to feed my creativity. I've been reading a lot lately. I've revisited Sidney Sheldon and Nicholas Sparks. I read THE CHRISTMAS SWEATER by Glenn Beck and was reminded of the true meaning of Christmas once again. What are you reading? Please give me some suggestions!

I belong to a writer's group (the best group in the world if you ask me), NoCo Writer's Group (I know, a little generic - name to change soon - leave suggestions if you have any!) and NoCo is sponsored by Colorado Cultural Arts Society, an non-profit organization that supports a variety of the arts. CCAS sponsored a Holiday Story Contest, and I took the leap! It was fun and challenging as the story could only be 1500 words long. Do you know how hard that is? To put together a full, detailed, engaging story in 1500 words or less?

It was a good exercise as it forced me to focus, edit and revise. I will keep you all posted as to how it does. The winners will be posted on CCAS and you can read all about them there!

I hope all your holiday preparations are going smoothly!

Give me just one more minute ...

QUOTE OF THE DAY: It isn't best that we all think alike; it is difference of opinion that makes horse races. ~Mark Twain

I missed my weekly blog post this past weekend. My days have all blurred together since last week and today I am feeling the pressure. Self-imposed pressure to get it all done. The struggle comes from what to do first. Time Management. Ugh. I get so stuck on the things I HAVE to do (i.e. wake up, go to work, take kids to karate or school or choir, do the laundry, WRITE, pay the bills, etc.) and the things I WANT to do (i.e. read, sleep, play with my kids, WRITE, have coffee with friends, etc.) that I lose my ability to prioritize. Throw in the fact that its DECEMBER and that adds an entire new list of things we HAVE to do and things we WANT to do, and its no wonder the woman in line at the grocery store goes postal on the clerk. Why do we put such added pressure on ourselves?


I love Christmas. I love celebrating with my children and watching the wonder in their eyes as they decorate the tree, or help bake cookies, or put money in the can by the guy ringing the bell. But I also breath a sigh of relief when the holidays are over and we can pack everything up and move on with the new year. One day, I want it not to be that way. I want to feel like a kid again, sad that Christmas is over and I have to go back to school.

So tell me, how do you handle the stress of the holidays? How do you manage your time and not go insane?

PLEASE leave your comments! I would love to hear from you! I also found this great site that measures your Time Management abilities. Wow. I won't tell you how I scored. :)

Happy Mananging everyone!