A Time For Everything

 

Image courtesy of IMGBIN.

As the title says...it's a new month and it's a new quarter, and it's time to get moving. Literally and figuratively. :0)

Physical therapy for my hip is just about complete--one more PT appointment then I'm on my own. "PT" at home needs to continue until I'm dead. PT has been primarily yoga-type exercises, so no problem.

DH and I have started a new exercise / eating plan known as carb cycling. Instead of going full throttle on Keto, you cycle through days with higher and lower amounts of healthy carbs to coincide with higher and lower intensities of workouts. A quick Google search will bring up a bunch of articles if you're interested.

Carb cycling seemed like a good next step in our constantly morphing plan for weight loss and good health. DH was plateauing on Keto. He researched why and found not only the answer but a solution in carb cycling. We'll see how it goes.

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It's also finally spring and we should have tolerable weather, at least, going forward. We've hit that part of the weather cycle where it's not warm and it's not hot, but because it's spring, there's a lot of moisture in the air and everything can get sticky.

That also means that my house partners will want to run the AC more...which I get, but there's a delicate balance between not sticky and too cold in the house for this time of year.

Conversely, there's been lovely mornings with the windows open and the breeze flows in over the bed and it's delightful and delicious to snuggle with Karma.

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Getting physical books that look professional is a chore. Every time I made a change in the Kindle Direct Publishing site, I had to wait three days for the proof copy. And then when I finally got everything situated and I hit the official "go live" button, the book had to go to review which was supposed to take up to 72 hours. Luckily for me, each book took less that 48. So now I'm waiting on the delivery of my first ever physical books! They should arrive between the 8th and 10th--two different shipments, one for each book.

That's cutting it a bit close, since my author event is the 15th. There's nothing to do in regards to books but hope and pray. Now I can focus on setting up my table. Finding my swag. Prepping for panel discussions or whatever programming I'll be tasked with. I've reached out to the librarian for questions in advance so I can prep for those in advance. I'm not good at off the cuff kinds of things.

And in preparation for selling physical books...I finally got around to setting up a method for accepting credit cards. For things like this, I definitely appreciate technology. All I have to do is plug the card reader into my phone, open the app, ring up the sale, and swipe. Easy peasy. I hope. I should probably do a test sale, huh?

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Image courtesy of DepositPhotos.

I've started yet another fiction book. I think I'm gonna blow right by my purported six books. Not that I mind. My current title in progress...

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill originally published in 1937.

I'm only a few chapters in, but it's very motivating so far.

What I find truly amazing--and I believe it's the universe at work here--is that it echoes other messages I've received from books and one of my YouTubers. So certain tenets are being reiterated. And I have to believe that that's my Angel Crew reinforcing the message they have for me and telling me to get after it.

I'm gettin', I'm gettin'...

* * * * *

And last but not least, while my Dallas Stars haven't officially clinched a spot in the playoffs, it's been a given for months that they're gonna make it...

Thank goodness for the loser point, otherwise we'd be nowhere near the playoffs according to one of my pod casters. :0)

* * * * *

Have a great week!

 

 

Our sweet Karma enjoying the fresh air and sunshine yesterday. Spring has officially sprung here in North Texas and thank goodness for that. We'll have more rain and storms, but the cold temperatures are a thing of the past for at least six months.

Another thing of the past...hockey playoff hopes. My hockey boys lost on Saturday to the team they needed to win against. They haven't been mathematically eliminated, but the climb into that 4th place spot is now all uphill in the metaphorical snow. I'm not holding my breath.

But! I'm finally writing. These words may or may not be keepers. I'm just trying to get into my main characters' head spaces right now. Honestly, it's fine with me as long as I'm making progress some way some how.

Also this weekend, I hung out with my best girl friends for hours and hours, and it was wonderful to be with them in person rather than just across a computer screen, although being able to do that was a blessing over the last year. We're going back to gathering in person monthly despite our writers group not doing so yet.

Hope you had a lovely weekend and have a great week.

Finally, it's officially spring here in Texas.

While spring doesn't bring terribly warm temperature in general, it does bring wind and rain.

Along with the rain comes...humidity.

Unless it's really hot, humidity doesn't bother me all that much.

Unfortunately, DH and DD have a much lower tolerance for humidity and, so, between now and June when the heat really starts to ramp up, the thermostat wars will wage.

They'll kick on the AC to remove the humidity from the house and I'll kick it down once I start freezing. They don't realize that it really doesn't take much to reduce the moisture levels right now, but they kick the temperature down too many degrees and the AC runs and runs and runs and then my teeth are chattering.

*sigh*

Spring is my least favorite season...why, you ask?

Well, in no particular order:

1) rain
2) soggy grass-->muddy paw prints & delayed lawn mowing
3) up and down temperatures
4) fast-growing grass

There are things I like about spring of course...

1) flowers
2) new leaves on trees
3) beautiful new growth grass
4) warming temperatures
5) sleeping with the windows open

You'd think the pros would outweigh the cons, but they don't. Not enough.

How do you feel about spring?

I haven't had any this year. Usually by now I'm chomping at the bit to do some small project in my yard, but funds have been a little tight, so I didn't even plan anything beyond scrounging up the money to pay the yard guy who was due to start upkeep again after a months' long hiatus. Of course the spring rains have kept everything soggy, which is made worse when the grass is overgrown and the sun can't reach the ground as easily. But we finally had a few days' grace and Lawn Guy came buy yesterday afternoon.

Before:








And after:





There's still some work to do to get it looking like I want it to, but some of that's on me. We've still got large branches down and leaves in the corners. So between now and his next visit, I'm going to get out and enjoy what's left of spring.

Anyone doing any fun yard projects?

The grass is growing, trees are budding and much to my delighted surprise, my Chinese wisteria is blooming like mad. I say that, but looking at it, it's rather pathetic. Compared to previous years, however--yes; yes, it is blooming like mad! Look! And it smells wonderful. If only I could bottle the scent.


Are things blooming in your neck of the woods?

Spring has definitely sprung here in North Texas and while it might get a bit humid during the day sometimes, the overnights are simply perfect. I have my bedroom windows open and it's delightful to snuggle under the covers and feel that cool breeze wafting over you.

It's been hard to drag my butt out of the bed in the morning for the last two mornings (but I've done it) because of that cool air/snuggle factor. Tomorrow is Saturday, however, and I'm gonna sleep like a baby until I wake up on my own.

Hope you have a super weekend!

So the weather's been lovely and I've had the windows open. Of course, it's spring and the west Texas winds blow heavily across the northern plains, so by the time summer hits, I'll have a fine layer of dust in the house.

But oh how I love hearing the birds chattering and chirping all day, and I enjoy enjoying the weather, it being, as Goldilocks might say, just right. It's such a short window here in Texas, so I try to take advantage of it as long as I can. Or until the family starts complaining that it's too humid or too hot or both. I have a higher tolerance for both than the rest of them.





Have a super weekend!

Dear Rayna is back home with us. She had gone back to her daddy, but due to some technical difficulties, she couldn't stay. DD took her, but that wasn't working out either and so DH decided we'd rather have her back than see her go live with strangers.




She's settled back in quite nicely and is enjoying having a yard and sticks to chew up once again.

In other news, my azaleas have started blooming.



Happy Spring!

There are few pleasures I enjoy more than the smell of my bedclothes after they've been washed and line-dried. Now that spring is here and I had a good weather day yesterday, I was able to hang my sheets, blanket, and bedspread outside to dry.



And last night when I snuggled into bed...smelled the fabric softener and fresh air...ah, heavenly!

At the March meeting of my writers group, I was presented a hanging planter for my work on the contest I coordinated (and am still coordinating). I joked that it was something else I could kill, but here we are a month later and the little guy is hanging in there--literally and figuratively--and finally looks as if I'm going to get some blooms.



The initial burst of azalea blooms are wilting and falling off, but the Sweet Williams are now starting to open up.



Hope you had a super weekend~

Last week I mentioned I was going to clean out the flower bed. And I did. It looks one hundred times better!

You sorta got a glimpse of how bad it was in the picture of the Sweet Williams. Remember...


Here's a picture of the whole thing before...


And after about twenty minutes of work, here's how it looks now...


Huge difference, huh? Of course, there's a pile of leaves and weeds just outside this shot. I didn't have any yard bags, otherwise they'd have been bagged while I was out there.

Best of all I discovered that one of the Double Shasta Daisy plants *and* the Gerber Daisy plant that the Brown Eyed Girl gave me are still alive! Look...




The Gerbers are nothing more than tender green shoots at this point, but I was very excited to see them.

I'm very glad spring has finally arrived. How about you?

Today, I'm just going to dump a bunch of random stuff -- I haven't done that for a while, because there's been one thing or another needing posting, so, in no particular order...

My oldest daughter, aka the Brown Eyed Girl, moved out a week or so ago into her own apartment. That was the week that threw me a few curves. It was stressful as hubby was/is really worried about her ability to pull it off. Her biggest challenge is that she doesn't have a car. I hadn't posted before now partly because I hadn't talked to my mom about it and I didn't want her to hear it here first.

Anyway, the Brown Eyed Girl came home for a visit on Tuesday and brought Kitty with her too. It was good to see them both.(Kitty's grown.) And BEG wanted mashed potatoes. She bought me some flowers when her and DD went to the store for said potatoes. So now I have a pot of beautiful pink Gerber daisies in my writing room. She said she bought them because I always buy flowers or a plant when I go to people's houses. Nice!

Speaking of the writing room... because BEG moved out, I got it back. I don't have the big screen, high def TV since that's down at the fireworks store, but I'm not missing it too much. It's been so nice to have a place to go and close the door to work and not be bothered or distracted. Since the loss of my writing room, I've only had my bedroom to work in, except when DH is home. Then he comes in and wants to watch TV and snack and chuckle and move around and talk to me. Can't you see me working here?? I can concentrate better in the living room while Sonshine is playing Xbox. Argh. And, sure,there's the garage, but until recently it's been too cold to be out there and soon, it'll be too hot.

Spring is pretty much here in north Texas, but last year's drought took its toll. I'm seeing A LOT of dead trees. Surprisingly, the three trees in my back yard are still alive though a bit worse for wear. I thought for sure the one farthest back near the shed was a goner, but it's sporting some greenage on the lowest limbs. They all need some serious trimming too.

I don't remember if I mentioned our most recent trip to the vet and Sammy's diagnosis of some sort of spinal/neuro degeneration--basically not all the messages are getting from her brain to her legs. And because I'm such an awful dog owner and wasn't walking the poor thing hardly ever, her muscles have begun to atrophy. So the vet prescribed some mild pain meds even though she didn't really think Sammy'd reached the pain stage yet. She thinks she was probably just uncomfortable more than in any pain. The vet also suggested some carpet runners for the house along the dog's usual pathways since we have flooring and no carpet. I also asked about walking her and was told absolutely.

So Sammy and I started walking. First just up one half the block (we live dead center) and then up and down both ends. This week, we graduated to actually going around the block. Between that and the carpet runners, Sammy's doing so much better, so I'm very relieved. So far, we've walked every day for probably two and a half weeks. Another week and it should officially be a habit. :)

I haven't talked about Sonshine too much of late, so let me just say he cracks me up. The other night he had a sweet tooth and I told him to get a bowl of cereal. And he said 'damn skippy' as an affirmative response. It's a funny little phrase and he likes to say it and I like to listen to him and watch him when he does 'cause he gets such a kick out of it.

So that's me playing catch up...

First off, Marching Band Boy is now a wearer of glasses. Turns out he's near sighted. Maybe his grades will average a little higher. :)

Second, it's pretty much spring now. It's interesting that some trees are taking longer to leaf out than others. Same species, same place. It'll soon be apparent how many we actually lost from the drought last summer.

Third...um. No third I guess. Nothing exciting is going on around here. It's been very slow/quiet around the office and I've been fighting boredom by writing or playing Zoo Tycoon. Fun, eh?

Saturday is writers group day, so yay. Gonna hang with my critique partners after our meeting. Can't wait.

Hope your week is going well so far.

Three things, actually.

1) spring. Which I adore. Mostly. Not as much as fall, but I usually receive the lowest electric bills in the spring, so yeah. Things are turning green again. Green is my favorite color.

On the flip side, wind. We get the winds in spring which means more dust and dirt in he house as I like the windows open as often as possible.

Dogs, blowing coat, shedding the thick undercoats that kept them warm all winter all over my house.

Rain, usually, which means dogs track in mud, too.

2) the chorus of "It's hot in here." begins. I am the most warm person in the house, so as we transition from early spring to late spring and the humidity levels rise, the whole family begins whining. My response remains, "It's not hot, it's humid, take off some clothes." For many years I resisted turning on the A/C before May 1st. I mean really, A/C in April? No, just, no. As I am getting older I don't resist quite so hard.

3) my body's griping at me again to get up off my duff and use it. I lead a very sedentary life...well, you all have heard the story. So I will be walking or something soon since I am tired of aching all over, all the time.

On a side note, I spent just over 2 hours at Care Now last night. DD has been sick since Monday and hubby was paranoid she had strep, to which he is highly susceptible, and asked that she go to the doctor. Arg. Well, not strep, but severe tonsillitis and the beginnings of pneumonia. Lovely. So she got two shots while there, one anti-biotic and one steroid. And then four prescriptions. Whoa! Yep, $123 dollars later. I know, I know, we don't want to mess with pneumonia, so it's a good thing we went. But still. My own throat has been giving indications... Lots of hot tea for me. I'll scald those germs right out of there.

All right, that's it for me for now.

Enjoy the weekend.

Hot dang, I wish I were on the lake in the boat!

It is a gorgeous day here in North Texas. It is 81* degrees here. Perfect boating weather, I might add.

I wish I had a picture handy, but I don't.

Spring

Spring is okay. Not my favorite season of the year, but I do enjoy watching the grass turn green, the leaves bud, the flowers bloom. I enjoy that I don't have to run the heat any longer, and I can enjoy a month or two of low electricity costs.

I don't enjoy the rain--well, I enjoy the rain--what I don't enjoy is the warm/cold/humid/warm/cold/humid roller coaster that is Texas spring weather. It wreaks havoc on my poor knees.

I don't enjoy the mud that comes from all the rain that my big dogs are determined to bring into the house.

I don't enjoy the sticking doors from the humidity. I don't enjoy my kids whining that it's hot when really it's just humid and how many times do I have to tell them it's *NOT* hot, it's just humid and to go take some clothes off because I am *NOT* turning on the A/C just yet.

I'm really not crabby, it just seems like it. ;)

On the other hand, I went to the library on Saturday and found a series of books featuring men in uniform--my very favorite kind of hero. And these guys are hot, hot, hot!

Read any good books lately?

The week and the day was to start off on a pretty promising note.

We were going to pick up a sizable check from a client and our immediate pressing financial worries would be temporarily checked.

The weekend was beautiful *and* productive. Our backyard jungle was returned to it's state as a backyard with a lawn--well, lawn is a relative term as any real grass has been taken over by weeds. But it looks fine when it's mowed, and as long as it's green...

Our patio was cleared of all the random debris and weeds, and hubby and I tried to enjoy an al fresco breakfast but it was a might too chilly for him.

Huh? What? He was too cold? That's an amazing turn of events as it's usually me trembling with bird-chillies. I must be approaching "the change."

The weather in general is bright and sunny, but still cool. Perfect camping weather.

But this morning at 6:45 we get a call from one of our best clients--their building was broken into and their server and five of their PCs were stolen. So now we are on high alert to turn around a new server, five PCs, and find their data from backups and get them up and running.

Chaos! I hate chaos. Meanwhile, all our other plans get pushed to the wayside. On a positive note, we're making a decent chuck of change as we can charge priority rates, and insurance should pay for it all.