A Time For Everything

...play their first game of the season tonight. I can't tell you how excited DD and I are.

And yes, we'll be there. The Stars organization has implemented socially distant seating arrangements, one must wear their mask the whole time unless actively eating or drinking, and there's a COVID form each person must fill out before being allowed into the arena. I think there will also be temperature checks upon entry.

 

The Western Conference Championship banner will be raised and a commemorative mini banner will be handed out at the door. So yeah, we're going.

I'll have safety precautions in place upon my return home--namely going straight to the garage and changing clothes.

 

* * * * *

In other news, I'm in negotiations with a friend for an exchange of services. I'll get editing for the epic lowlander book. She has an extensive knowledge of Scottish history which I want / need before this book baby goes into the world. Plus she's a great editor. Win/win for me.

She'll get a series guide for one of her series which currently has four books.  She wants to write a couple more at least. She'll have details of her characters and her world (it's a fantasy series) at her fingertips rather than reading all the books herself... So hopefully a win for her. Plus my writing is pretty clean to begin with and this book has been gone over several times already, once by a beta reader way back in the day, and by me a couple of times, so it shouldn't be a time-consuming edit needing a lot of "teaching" comments.

Also--it's the weekend so extra writing time for me. I've started writing the missing scenes and the ability to just submerge and write without having to stop and get ready for work is much needed right now.

Have a great weekend.

Catch you Monday.

 

I don't really mind the work weeks that much, but I look forward to Saturdays and Sundays for the extra hour or two of writing time I get. :0)

This weekend will be focused on revisions and getting my book, To Linzer & to Cherish, as close to ready for submission as possible.

I'll also work on my goals list, since, as you can see I don't have those...but I've been thinking about them and working on the list and the action plans. Next week for sure.

Have a great weekend.

Goal reached and then some! My goal for the weekend's writing was 5600+. Final word count for my four days was 5909-- Mission accomplished. Total word count after this morning's work is just over 10K. I'm barreling down on the end of the book and I'm expecting to reach 14K or 15K. Not bad for a month's or so work.

* * * * *

DD and I also finished up a craft project. Instead of buying our annual Dallas Stars ornament, I opted to DIY it. She'd purchased an ornament for another team and I decided to replicate it for the Stars this year.

From this...

...to this...

I'm quite pleased.

* * * * *

Hope you had a lovely long weekend.

Catch you Wednesday!

I'm very excited for tomorrow-- It's Saturday, obviously, but it means I'll have a good 4 to 5 hours of writing time to get my revisions done. I'm not sure I can get them all done Saturday, but I'm hopeful that between Saturday and Sunday, they'll be completed. *fingers crossed*

The question becomes: do I let it rest and then re-read it myself or find a beta reader for the final set of eyeballs....

* * * * *

The office upgrades are coming along. The kitchen should be complete no later than next week, from what I hear. All the water-stained ceiling tiles have been replaced as well. Now we just need a fresh coat of paint and good dusting / vacuuming and my little corner of the office space will be as good as new.

* * * * * 

That's all I've got...

Hope you have a great weekend. Take care.

 Rest in peace Sean Connery and Alex Trebek.

Sean Connery isn't my favorite James Bond, but he was the first and made the character the icon he is. His and Daniel Craig's versions are the only ones I like.

As for Alex Trebek--game show icon for decades. The world will be a dumber place.

2020 has really kicked the crap out of us.

Hope you had a lovely weekend aside from the Trebek news.

Here's hoping the week is a good one.

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.

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.

 

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...

So-- Ice Cream. I attempted chocolate strawberry chocolate chip. It wasn't bad, but it needed to be sweeter. Next time around, I need to add a bit more sweetener to the jar. Also not terribly keen on the frozen bits of fruit. So I need to mash or blend the fruit up into more of a compote too I think.

From this:

To this:


The recipe makes a bit more, but I'd nibbled a bit before remembering to take a picture. :0) Add all ingredients to a mason jar, shake for five minutes, then freeze until done. Easy peasy.

More to come!

* * * * *

DD came home with a little tiny baby Stars jersey for the cat. Karma was not impressed.


Now we need to get one for the dog and take pet pictures of them together--ha!

* * * * *

How was your weekend? Mine was productive, especially on the writing front, as I had the house to myself Friday evening, all of Saturday, and half of Sunday. Since writing time starts pre-dawn, I was able to invest myself in writing sprints for as long as the write-brain would cooperate.

I also took the broom and Swiffer mop to our bedroom. Last task in there is to dust everything on the walls. Dusting. Blech! My least favorite household chore.

I'm also debating on whether or not I'm up for re-painting my bedroom. It's been well over a decade and, with some of the spoils of our fireworks season, DH and I are getting a new bed. If there's ever a good time to repaint, I'd say that qualifies.

Not really going to change the Americana  theme, but if I paint, I'm going with a different set of colors. Right now, my walls are light blue above a wallpaper border and dark blue below it. So I'd have to remove the border for sure. When I move forward with this project, I'm pretty sure I'm going to paint the wall the bed is on some shade of burgundy and then go with a light beige/cream color for the other three walls. New mini-blinds are in order as are new window coverings. And that should do it.

I'll keep you posted...

Anyway, back to work. Have a great week.

Finally.

I went back to the number one tool in my writers toolbox and started reading. Again. Maybe for the dozenth time. Maybe the twentieth.

But things finally began crystallize in terms of one character's plot arc. I actually started with the latter half of the book and am now back at the beginning honing the beginning beats / scenes.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow morning's writing.

*

The county in which I live put a mask ordinance into effect starting today, Friday, at 6PM and running through 6AM Monday August 3rd.

*

Another wave of reckoning may be coming for the hockey world as a whole. Allegations of hazing, bullying and abuse are being reported at a startling rate and not just by adults, but by peers. A class action law suit has been filed.

If you're a parent or a grandparent of a child in any type of organized sports, keep a very keen eye on your child and the other children and the parents and the adults who have care over your children while they're playing.

It's heartbreaking to read these accounts.

On that happy note, have a good weekend.

*sigh*

The writing has been a challenge. I'm getting the word count until this morning, but it's not good writing.

On the other hand, you can't fix a blank page, so at least there's words and scenes, which can be improved upon and moved around as needed.

*

The keto-ing has been a challenge too. Sunday was reward day and, even though I went back on the food wagon as of Monday morning, as of this morning, my body hasn't gone back into ketosis. I didn't track it last time, so I don't know if it's taking the same amount of time or longer. But I'll keep testing and see what happens.

On a happier note, I'll get a reward day the week I go out of town. :0)

*

It's writers group weekend, and while we're not meeting in person, we are meeting via Zoom. I'm looking forward to seeing my fellow writers.

I do visit with my writer besties every Saturday morning now, which has been nice. We gab for a couple of hours and they've become accountability partners as well. We all proffer up goals for the week and then report back the following week.

I haven't offered up anything too challenging, but a couple of the others have really found it helpful to have to report in. It adds in just a little extra motivation for them.

*

And that's about all I got this week. Nothing exciting has happened and I'm not expecting anything exciting to happen over the weekend.

I hope you have a great one!

Take care--

It's a three-day weekend. And I'm so happy to have it right now.

I'm looking forward to all those available writing hours ahead of me as well as to my weekly Zoom chat with my writer besties. I'm still not sure I'll be able to tell them the book is finished though. I worked on it this morning and I have tomorrow's hours prior to our call to make it happen, but I'm not sure I accomplished enough today. Maybe I'll spend some time with it during lunch today...


Several months ago, my mother-in-law gave me a wonderful counter-top oven. It works great and I love it. Thanks again, Mimi! But it has lived on my counter since then and it's the size of a large microwave. So between it and my actual microwave, well, the counters are full. And I just couldn't take it any longer, so I made a purchase yesterday. A kitchen cart to put this thing on. And it's awesome. The main part of the counters are now free off all the crap that had been conglomerating on it.


It's a little taller than I realized, and I'm debating relocating it, but otherwise it's great. Those things on the shelf were also on the counter, so I was glad to get them a new home. And of course, I didn't grab a picture of my lovely, open counters. Ah, well. But every time I walk into the kitchen, I smile.


My carb fast is supposed to end tomorrow (Saturday). Meaning I can enjoy my reward on Sunday. Or all my rewards. I've wondered if I should keep going for another week... On the other hand, my original deal with myself was two weeks. I can set the next stint at three weeks, right? Right; okay. That's settled. :0)

I almost gave up / cheated last night. DD asked for McDonald's while I was out and about picking up my cart on the way home, and I was soooo tempted to buy something for myself as well, but I resisted. I only have today and tomorrow to get through and I can make it and enjoy all the junk I want on Sunday.

Monday, it'll be back on the wagon. Gonna give it another go and add the additional targeted exercise back into the mix. I shouldn't have the side effects this time around.


And that is that, I guess. Y'all have a great weekend.

That is all...

It's spring in Texas, which mean you have to spend time outside while the weather is nice enough to do so. So I did.

I dragged the kitchen table, which is lightweight and on the small side, to the patio and sat out there for maybe an hour and made some progress on a cross stitch project I'd started last year. It was really pleasant and lovely.

And remember I mentioned that I used to feed the birds...? Well, DD asked me about it and asked me to check at WalMart during my weekly trip to see what they had. Well, they had 20lb. bags of wild bird seed for $7, so I bought some. :0)


So the bird feeder is back in place. I didn't see many birds yesterday, but it does sometimes take a day or two for the birds to realize it's there.

Now that pile of greenery behind it is a very large branch that broke off a very dead tree. It'll get chopped up soon and DH thinks he's going to get around to burning all the logs and branches and sticks we've got piled up around the yard--probably a summer long project...

In other news, the weekend was a productive success. I worked on my WIP early Saturday am as I'd planned and it was lovely! I had a Zoom chat with my writer besties and that was awesome too. And on Sunday, I spent some time working toward creating consistent types and looking files from book to book. Which meant some cleanup on aisles 5, 6, & 7! I didn't get far because of all the various things I found to tweak and then having to circle back to the books I worked on first to make sure they were they way I wanted them to be too.

Hope your weekend was relaxing or productive or whatever you were needing it to be.

Have a great week.

First of all--Happy Friday. We've survived another week. The news sucks and I hate it. I have no idea what to believe. At this point all I can do or not do is what the government allows. Otherwise, I really have enough to keep me busy.

Second of all--I'm keeping busy.

Things at work have calmed down and, for me, have almost gotten back to normal. As a result, I've turned my focus on my publishing company, Knotted Hearts Publishing, if you didn't know. I started making sure I have all files for all book and that all books are consistently formatted, have consistent information, and that older books are updated with all books I've written rather than the few that were out at the time. I'm at nine at the moment!


Anyway, cleaning house in that area--going through all folders and documents to see what's old and what's still in use, what needs a quick update, what's a duplicate. It's cathartic to complete these kinds of tasks, so I'm going with it as I prepare to get back into writing mode. My office at home might need a quick de-cluttering too.

Third of all--I'm still doing well at losing weight. Despite the banana bread and mini-chocolates I eat. I do stay within my calorie count though. The targeted workouts are an adventure, I must say. I look stuff up online--I have a list for each body area, glutes, abs, arms, right now--and then I try stuff.

And then I discover that some of those specific exercises are not things I can pull off. For example, I can't do Alternating Forward Lunges right now. I just can't get that leading foot out far enough so that my knee isn't bent our over my foot. I can't stay balanced either. So it's been a lot of trial and error with regards to things I can do--because I'm also not that coordinated--and things I can't. There are also things that don't seem to feel like they're working. If there's no aching the next day, did I work hard enough? Did the exercise "work"?

All that aside...the day is coming--I've already planted the idea in my head--where I go on a carb fast for like two weeks. No more tortillas, no more pretzels, no banana bread, no chocolate. If a food has more than say 5 grams of carbs, aside from veggies, I don't eat it. I see a lot of salad and vegetables in my near future. :0) By doing so and keeping my exercise routine in place, my body will really trove those fat stores for energy, especially during exercise after I've already been fasting for nine hours.

And there will be a good reward for that fast--like a whole pint of ice cream at the end of it or something. Maybe pizza with a lot of my favorite toppings goodies. Maybe a bowl of a favorite cereal. I don't know yet.

Anyway--have a great weekend. Catch you Monday!

Several people, and probably more, but including Bill Gates five years ago, predicted a pandemic.

Why was the United States, then, not prepared to handle a) testing, b) vaccinations, c) the needs of the health care system to handle those infected...at the very least?

Because politicians / the government are / is generally more concerned with their own wants and needs, as well as the here and the now issues of their constituents. While the government has a role in these types of extraordinary events, and while I'm disappointed in our preparedness, is it solely the government's responsibility to be ready?

What about the health care system itself? What abut the pharmaceutical companies? What about private companies and organizations? How much falls on an individual?

I don't know the best answer, of course... No one wants to prepare (i.e. spend money) for something that seems so unlikely to happen.

Being prepared aside, it's satisfying to hear / read about how people from across all manner of industries are doing what they can.

For example:

The family distillery who switched to making hand sanitizer and offering it to their community for free; they did ask for donations, if they could be spared, but they are not refusing to give out their product.

Bauer, a sports equipment manufacturing company, who switched to making face shields for health care workers instead of hockey masks.

There are more, but you get the idea.

Anyway, it's the weekend again. So here's to that. here's hoping my local grocery store won't look so bare Sunday morning. And here's to writing time, which I will have an abundance of tomorrow morning.

And finally...the last of the cruise pictures.

From our stop in Belize:





Next time we cruise and have a stop in Belize, I'm gonna spend the day on the beach. It was incredibly beautiful there. For the rest of the Belize pictures, click here.

From our stop at Costa Maya:








I might consider swimming with the dolphins on my next trip to Costa Maya--that looked like fun. So one of those dolphins was playing catch with those people up on the walkway in the background. For the rest of the Costa Maya pictures, click here.

 Have a great weekend. :0)

This was the view from the dining room of the rental house we stayed in for the retreat. It rained Thursday afternoon and drizzled or rained most of Friday. We don't complain much about that in Texas in January because we always need rain in Texas no matter the time of year. But Saturday and Sunday were bright and sunny though chilly. But--January.

My goal for the weekend was to plot out the next anthology entry, write its synopsis, and come up with a title. While plotting is still a skill I feel insufficient at and need to work on, I still need to do it. So...I used one of my favorite tools after utilizing various other ones prior to the weekend and came away with decent story arc. I also wrote a new synopsis based on the plot points I came up with. As for the title...well, those are trickier. And sometimes (most times for me) the book needs to be written before the title becomes clear. And it's not written, so titling fell by the wayside.

* * * * *

In other news, I hadn't realized how anxious I was about my writers group meeting until I was staring down the barrel at it. As president, I run the meeting, so I was worried about the conversation in terms of what's going on with our parent organization getting heated and out of hand.

I mean--no one had sent angry emails asking us (the board on behalf of the chapter) to protest or make demands or anything of that nature, and I tried to send out periodic reports so they knew the board was aware and following the goings on. But you never know. The one person who I was unknowingly worried about the most didn't attend the meeting, so there was that whoosh of relief at not seeing her.

On the other hand, several other members expressed their appreciation for the board's lack of a knee-jerk reaction and that our first priority was our members and our group. So a very big WHEW for me.

* * * * *

Today I'm back to work and business as usual, both from a writing perspective--up early to exercise and write--and from a day job perspective.

Have a great week.

Super Nintendo and Mario and the gang were a part of our lives for many years, especially when Sonshine was much younger. I have fond memories of the one video game I learned to play and the time spent with the kids making my way through the worlds of Super Mario collecting coins and stars.

The other day I read that a Super Mario theme park will be opening up in Japan this summer and that eventually we'll have them in Hollywood and Orlando as well. I'd love to go there with my boy some day.

In other news, I heard this little tidbit, which I thought was quite interesting as a person who grew up in California but now lives in Texas:

California would be the 5th largest economy in the world if it were its own country (after the US, China, Japan, and Germany — the Golden State's economy is bigger than the UK, France, and India).

Texas is six positions lower on the list. :0)

Anyway...have a great weekend no matter what state you live in.

There's not much going on really, either at work or at home, but after the holiday last week and my travels I missed three days of work at busy juncture of the month and I spent most of the week getting all caught up. So whew.

I'm just ready to be home for a couple of days,futzing around with this, that, and the other, cleaning house, putting out whatever other Christmas decorations I can find.

Have a great weekend!

I'm not feeling quite this out of gas, but I can't deny I'm pretty run down. As I mentioned Wednesday, I've been feeling meh and I have a lot of stuff on my plate.

This weekend, I'll be able to make some progress on writers group things without having to stuff them in around the day job or be interrupted by the phone or pulled into a meeting as I find a groove on something.

And after a way-too-long passage of time, I'm having lunch with my dear friend N tomorrow. Can't wait to see you!!

Have a great weekend y'all!