Sunday Update - Week 30

Mornin', Folks.  I totally forgot to write this up last night and schedule it, so you're getting 'first thing in the morning, not enough coffee to think or type' me.  Hi.

I already said I started Cinder Ugly.  And I did write some more words on it this week.  But it was kind of patheticful.  I need to stop thinking about whether the beginning works and just keep forging ahead.  I can fix the beginning later, but I can't fix blank pages.

I'm marketing my little fingers off.  Today and tomorrow are the final days of July Sales Month and AD and NC are still on sale.  There'll be some kind of sale next month, but I'm not sure what.  A 4th anniversary of Wish in One Hand maybe.  As for how this all went, I'll be doing a post on OTB about it - maybe Wednesday, but probably Friday.

As for reading, I read two books and DNF'd three.  Then I spent the rest of the week reading a paperback thriller by a well known SF author.  I decided this morning to DNF that.  I can't tell where it's going and I don't have any characters I care enough about to keep reading.  200+ pages in and all that time wasted, but I guess it better than wasting time reading the other 300+ pages.

I tried Pinterest this week and I've been pinning like crazy.  But I have no followers, so basically I'm amusing myself.  I also tried Parler.  Meh.  And I've been more active on MeWe, which may be the way to go once I gain followers there.  I'm working on it.

On the baking front, I went a little crazy.  I made oatmeal cookies, oatmeal muffins, and granola bars.  All winners.  The granola bar recipe is below - underneath the asterisks.  I'd post the muffin recipe, but I haven't typed it up yet and it's too early to do it now.

In activity news, I did 5 our of 7 days.  Four days of 'hard target walk*' in a row and then the fifth day I did the loop+ walk.  Last Sunday and yesterday were days off.  The weight didn't change, of course, because I still am not decreasing my food intake.  Food is so good, though.  Wah.

I can't think of anything else to say about last week.  How did your week go?

* Hard target walk - wherein I walk straight out on the paved road at the same pace regardless of incline until I can't walk any farther, then I walk back at the same pace.  Each time, I try to go a bit farther than the last.  I did 1.4 miles in 25 minutes the last time.  The goal is to reach the farm - .8 miles away - and then make that a regular walk.  Hubs goes all the way out to the highway, which is 1.2 miles out, 2.4 round trip.  I'm not that ambitious.  Oh, and the walk I call loop+ is 1.1 miles during which I have an approx. 100 foot change in elevation** - up and down and up again.  It's a corker and I can't do that at one pace.

** Just discovered that by using Google Maps, and their walking direction thingie, you can see both distance and elevation changes of the walk you're taking.

Recipe:

Yummy and Easy Chewy Granola Bars

3 cups quick oats

1 cup flaked coconut

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup dried fruit (cranberries, cherries, golden raisins, etc.)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 T butter (melted)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray 9x13" pan with non-stick cooking spray. In a large bowl, stir together oats, coconut, walnuts, and fruit until well combined. Stir in melted butter. add condensed milk and stir (with your hands works best) until thoroughly combined. Dump into prepared pan. Wash hands and spray them with cooking spray. Press mixture evenly in pan until flat. Bake 20-25 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars. Cool until you can safely handle them, then move to cooling rack or paper towels and cool completely before serving or storing.