Count to Ten ...

Hello All!

Hope this week's been good to you -- I've been busy busy busy.  Guess that's better than the alternative.

Some fun this weekend -- there's a huge gem show twice a year in Houston.  It normally coincides with a huge gun show (they're held in different halls of the same convention center).  I really enjoy both of them.  The gun show is more of a historic show rather than the conventional gun show (although they have the normal stuff).  Lots of historic uniforms, vehicles, gear, etc.  They even have historical celebrities -- a few years ago, they had one of the crew of the Enola Gay.  I get off on that kind of stuff (I'm a big History Channel and Military Channel buff), so really look forward to this show.

The Gem show is just about as much fun -- they have stuff ranging from a couple of dollars to thousands of dollars.  You can pick out rare stones from one dealer, then go to another booth to pick settings -- they'll then set your stones for you.  Really enjoy talking to the dealers and learning the story behind the sources of the stones -- some gems are only found in one particular mine in the world!  Best part is that once you purchase something, the dealers will then send you coupons good for free admission to the next show!

The food is pretty terrible at both shows, though.  Can't have everything!

Let's get on to the reading -- and then on to the weekend!

Our first card this week is ... The Devil!

As I tell everyone, this isn't the guy in the red suit with horns and a pitchfork.  This is that little Devil each one of us has inside ... the one that tempts us to do things we know are wrong -- but we do them anyway!  These things normally reflect poorly on us -- and might even get us in some trouble.  It's kind of a situation where we're own own worst enemy.

Maybe we're feeling short-tempered, so we snap at our spouse or a co-worker.  Maybe we're late, so we drive a little faster than we know is appropriate.  Maybe while we're driving, we answer our cell phone when we really should be paying attention to the road.  Maybe something doesn't work out -- and we blame someone else rather than taking responsbility ourselves.  Things like that -- if we reflect on them later, we'd probably honestly say "I shouldn't have done that -- that's not me".

So not a whole lot of positivity comes with the Devil -- but it's really easy to become ensnared!  What might help us avoid these situations?

Our second card is .. the Four of Swords.

This is an interesting combination -- the Four of Swords suggests taking time to rest, recharge, and revitalize yourself.  I think the key phrase here is "taking time" -- not reacting spontaneously, but waiting a moment, taking a breath, and then calmly reacting.  Remember the old saw about "count to ten before you act"?  That's something we can do whenever we're tempted by our Devil to react inappropriately.

Waiting a little bit gives our responsible self a chance to take over -- and that's who we need to be making decisions!

Have a great weekend -- I'm off to Las Vegas next week and will talk to you then!

Woodsong