Friday, October 30, 2020

Happy Halloween

 My masterpieces...


Sadly, DD's broke at a critical place and was unfixable with toothpicks. I was hoping she'd buy another one and try again, but she hasn't yet. I however bought her one, so pics on Monday of her creation.

* * * * *

I'm not looking forward to the time change this weekend as I'd planned to get several hours of good writing in. I'm not sure how the loss of an hour is going to affect me. Might have to hit the sheets early tonight.

I'm close to finishing, but there's a section I'm not sure how to tweak. It's only a couple of chapters and if I knew what to do, it wouldn't be an issue. But working through the dilemma takes time I don't really have. I might have to enlist the brain-trust that is my writer peeps at our weekly chat tomorrow morning.

I have one week from Sunday to upload a final file to one retailer and two weeks from tomorrow for another. None of the others specified a due date, so the day before will work if necessary, but I don't want to push that boundary if it can avoided.

* * * * *

And I did the thing--I voted... Please oh please oh please let my candidate win....


Anyway, have a great weekend. Catch you on Monday!


Wednesday, October 28, 2020

CONGRATS to the LA DODGERS

 

 

For the first time since 1988, the Los Angeles Dodgers have won the World Series...

My oldest child was seven months old and I still lived in Los Angeles! I was also a Dodgers fan and still am to a degree, so congrats to them.

And the fact that they beat a Tampa team...icing on the cake. ;0)

* * * * *

Jack-o-lanterns are coming along--one down, one to go. Pictures on Friday I promise.

Tonight though-- Benedict Cumberbatch as Frankenstein's creature. Can't wait.

Have a great rest of your week.

Monday, October 26, 2020

The Greatest Showman

 

First of all--Happy Birthday to my Dear Husband whose birthday was this weekend.

One of the things we did was watch The Greatest Showman starring Hugh Jackman, and musical drama and based loosely on the life of  P.T. Barnum most famously known in my lifetime as the founder/creator of Barnum & Bailey's Circus.

It's not a film I especially wanted to see, but DH wanted to watch it and so we did. And I greatly enjoyed it. So if you're looking for something fun to watch, give it a try.

* * * * *

Remember, about a month ago I said I had a hankering to carve a pumpkin? Yeah. And then I decided I had no desire to do so...Well, DD put pumpkins on the grocery list this weekend, and so... I bought pumpkins. Here are the pre-carved pumpkins:

Unfortunately, DD's had an unfortunate accident and a part that needed to remain connected accidentally broke and there was no repair for it. One of my pumpkins is not yet complete and the other hasn't been started. And I may offer it to DD anyway.

But pictures of at least one completed jack-o-lantern coming later in the week.

The cold front finally arrived in our neck of the woods and we've had gloomy drizzle and rain along with chilly temps. Not the fall I was hoping for, but this may pass and our Indian Summer may yet show up.

Have a great week.



Friday, October 23, 2020

Hello Cold Front

 

 

I didn't dress for this kind of weather!

 

In other exciting news--yet another encore of National Theater's Frankenstein starring YOU KNOW WHO--that's Benedict Cumberbatch if you really didn't know--is playing in theaters. I might have a date if a gal from my writers group can get her hubster home on time. Yee haw.


Tonight's my Facebook Live Spotlight for my conference and I'm about as ready as I'll ever be. I've got a cue "doc" (rather than cue cards) ready to go. I have to set up the laptop when I get home and put in my pretend teeth, but otherwise...yup. Ready. I'll let you know how it goes--


Anyway, have a great weekend. See you Monday. :0)

 

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Virtual Conference

 



My in person conference didn't happen last week, but a virtual version is going on this week, starting today. I won't participate in most of it because of work, but I'll try to attend some of the online live author presentations after work.

I've got my own scheduled as well for Friday evening, so I've been preparing for that along with Saturday's promo opportunity.

So all was not lost since I published this last book to actually coincide with the conference.

It's going to be interesting considering the condition of my mouth at the moment. But I have a temp appliance, so I guess I'll wear it for the first time. The surgeon told me not to unless absolutely necessary. And I haven't, so I think I'll be all right for my allotted thirty minutes.

Have a super rest of your week.

Monday, October 19, 2020

Little Bit o' This, Little Bit o' That

First--new WAY MORE self-check stations at my Walmart with large "counter space" for bagged groceries. Check it out. I'm very excited for this. At least there's a bright spot while the rest of my store is topsy turvy and I have to hunt down the new location of my groceries.

After umpteen years we have also finally gotten rid on non-running vehicles--gaining a little pocket cash as well as valuable space in our warehouse!

Before:


After:


Aaaand... I finished the birdfeeder bed. Almost. There are no flowering trees for sale at the Home Depot this time of year, so that will have to wait. But the rest got done.

Before:


During:


After:


Hope you had a good weekend. Here's to a productive week.


Friday, October 16, 2020

Happy Fall Y'all

It's gorgeous and cool in the mornings now and I feel the draw to be outside and puttering in the yard.

SOON.

I'm still knee-deep in edits and they're going well. But there's still a long way to go and I can't take the mornings off to putter.

But IF the afternoons start being cooler, then one of these Sundays, I'm going to get the bird feeder / birdbath area fixed up like I've been wanting to since the deep heat of summer and it was tooooooo hot to work outside.

Here's the way it looks now:

There also used to be a weed growing to the right of the birdbath, offering it some shade, but it has since died off and chopped down.

Eventually, these...

 ...will get placed back around that area. I'd dug them up this summer, but that's as far as I got with the project. I have three bags of mulch to make it look neat and tidy, and I'm contemplating buying some sort of flowering tree (hibiscus, maybe?) to plant in there to provide shade and possibly draw humming birds next year.

I'm feeling a trip to Home Depot this weekend coming on... :0)

Have a great weekend.


Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Home Retreat...

Had COVID not caused the havoc it did, including the cancellation of conferences across industries, I'd be headed for St. Louis this week to participate in my annual GRL conference.

 

Instead, I tweaked my time off request to half-days this week so I could get some quality writing time in while I attempt to finish the latest Work In Progress but not get behind at work.

It's been great. I've gotten in five focused, quality sprints every morning before turning my attention to lessens for an online class I'm taking.

The time spent on writing has been great. That being said, I'm not sure I'm going to be ready to publish on November 18 as I'd hoped. I'm gonna keep working hard to make it happen, but I'm not feeling confident at the moment. We'll see where progress stands by the end of the week. I'm not overly worried about it, except for the fact that I scored a Facebook Group Takeover slot for November 19 and I don't want to have to release it.

But in other book news, today is release day for two other books. :0)

Rookies at Love is book 3 in the Face Off For Love Series. (the book I'm trying to finish is book 4)

The Face Off For Love Box Set is the first three books in the series in a single volume...

Hope you're enjoying the weather. Fall is descending on North Texas and it's wonderful.

Take care and have a great week.


Monday, October 12, 2020

The end of an era...

 

My 6th Gen iPod has finally kicked the bucket once and for all. I can't tell you how bummed I am about this. I've had that thing for well over a dozen years, and it works great--when I can get it to show the contents after I've charged it. Problem is I can't get past the "lock" screen (I guess) which shows the (incorrect) time and the battery charge level.

It has my writing music on it as well as my thunderstorm white noise for when I travel, along with some random videos I like to watch every once in a while.

New iPods--devices that look like phones just without the phone parts--cost $200. I have an old-iPhone dealer, so I'm gonna see what he's got in stock for cheaper.

Could I use my current iPhone? Sure, I could. Most people do, which is why iPods have gone the way of the dinosaur. But I prefer to have a separate device for my music for various reasons, none of which are that big of a deal.

* * * * * 

In other news, my Dallas Stars re-signed our 1B goalie to a new three-year contract.


This is great news as we've had the best goalie tandem in the league for two years now but our 1A is, unfortunately, a bit fragile. Without this guy, we wouldn't have gotten to game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.

As bummed as I am about the iPod, I am about 1000X that thrilled that Dobby is back. :0)

* * * * *

And now that the mouth is about as good as it's gonna get aside from continued healing in the graft area, it's time to eschew the soft foods and the carbs that I've allowed myself to binge for the last couple of weeks.

No guarantees I'm not going to fall off the wagon, because I've allowed my body to develop its sweet tooth again. I've allowed myself the Greek yogurt and a carb-light tortilla in my daily diet and not going full Keto again yet because that would def be a recipe for failure. I'm going to struggle enough as it is.

I am going to reward myself at the end of the week, though, if I can get through and stick with the diet plan.

Hope you had a great weekend-- Hope you have a great week.


Wednesday, October 7, 2020

Rest in Peace...

We've had some big-name deaths in the last few weeks. The last three that I heard are all from the music industry: Helen Reddy, Mac Davis, and just yesterday, Eddie van Halen--a rocker icon from my childhood.

Of course, Ruth Bader Ginsberg passed a few weeks ago.

It always hits a little too close to home when celebrities from your childhood--no matter how much older than you they might have been--pass away. It's even worse when they're not that much older than you...






Monday, October 5, 2020

And so it begins...

 

The dental work, that is.

Sorry, no pictures are forthcoming. Last Thursday I had three teeth pulled, the right side canine and the two just to the left of it, and then a bone graft put in. It'll be left to heal for 8 to 12 weeks, at which time I'll have posts put in, and then at some point after that a permanent bridge will be attached. Oh joy. But I'll have permanent teeth and a new and improved smile.

Once I get past the necessity of soft foods--most of which seem to involve carbs unless I eat a lot of eggs--I'll get back on track with my diet plan.

I started my yoga practice again last night and it felt good. I've been missing it.

Now that hockey is over and the dental work has begun, life can get back to a measure of normalcy. I have a book due in a month, so time to get crackin'.

Hope you had a great weekend...