Thursday This n That

I just stumbled across a British psychologist pimping his services in a FB book marketing group.  Sure, writers probably do need loads of mental help, and thus, it could be a brilliant strategy for this dude to gain more clients, but I blocked him.  Turd.  Those groups are for marketing books, not services.  Shoo shoo.

I've got cabin fever.  (Cue song from Muppet Treasure Island.) I really need to get my lard-ass outside today before I start dancing around in a turban made of fruit.

We found a neat new-to-us show - Touching Evil - with Robson Green.  I really do love Robson Green.  And those piercing blue eyes... :swoon:  The show only ran a couple seasons, but it's really worth watching if you're into gritty crime dramas.

Everything is covered in snow.  Which is weird for here.  We got about 9 inches worth and it's not warming up enough to melt it quickly.  Plus, it's supposed to be freakin' cold again this weekend.  Bleh.

On the upside, the cold is making all the critters so fluffy.  Cuteness overload.  The birds are balls with legs.  The deer look like stuffed animals.  I want to snuggle them all up.  I won't, but I want to.  Deer do not LIKE to be snuggled.

I'm at that point in my writing career where I'm doubting everything I've ever done.  woot.  It happens every now and then, and it will pass.

I've been blocking a lot of people on FB again.  Frickin' nutburgers.  

Last night, I made pizza for dinner.  It's been a while since I did pizza and let me tell ya, I can feel all that kneading this morning.  Derp.  It was worth it.  It always is.

Okay, I think I've run out of witty things to say today.  Anything witty on your end?

Marketing Monday - Natural Causes

Hello.  Welcome to Marketing Monday.  Since I am a little sore and a lot tired (or a lot sore and a little tired... it's hard to tell) from show shoveling, let's just get right to it, eh?

Starting today, NATURAL CAUSES is free.  (Always free with KU.)  Get your copy of this small-town, gritty, murder mystery today.  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y44BXTM

Sunday Update - 2026 Week 3

Who had Civil War II on their 2026 bingo card?  It's not north vs south this time.  It's law-abiding citizens vs law breakers.  Anyway...

I didn't do any writing this week and I did very little editing.  I think I got one page of notes which amounted to only 1% of the book.  Then my hand started to cramp and I set it aside for a while, which ended up being a longer while than I had intended. (Sno-pacalypse prep didn't help there.)

Marketing was done.  I moved 100 copies of EG and someone read the book in KU, so I have that going for me.

I'm about halfway through The Night Manager.  Maybe setting my goal at 35 books read for the year was wishful thinking.  

In baking news, I made a quick bread.  I started out to make that raisin-pecan bread and was about halfway through when I realized that the milk in the fridge had gone bad.  Since I wasn't inclined to hop in the car and drive to the DG at that time, I searched for a substitute.  I ended up settling on vanilla yogurt and water.  The loaf baked up nice and looked lovely.  It also tastes pretty good.  Cutting it was the problem.  I tried cutting it hot and it fell apart.  :shrug:  It cut fine after spending the night in the fridge, yay, so I sliced the whole loaf.  Now it only falls apart if we microwave it to warm it up.  And that's okay.  I may make it again with the yogurt and tweak it so it holds up better.  

On the activity front, I did an hour in the woods, throwing logs before the snow flew.  Yesterday, we shoveled snow.  I also did a double-load of grocery shopping, which was definitely exercise.  I haven't weighed myself - it's too cold to be naked in the bathroom right now.  My last weigh-in wasn't good, though.  Blerg.

Speaking of throwing logs, the newest pile I created ended up with a big empty spot at the bottom, next to a downed cedar.  I got the idea to make it a critter hidey-hole, so the last time I was in the woods, I reinforced that idea.  It has two openings and a windbreak, plus as many leaves as I could pack around it.  I hope the critters use it. I'd use it if I was a critter.  For his woods-work, Hubs moved the remainder of the wood he'd already cut, so it wouldn't be sitting there when the snow hit.

Speaking of snow, we shoveled about 2-3 inches off the driveway yesterday.  It was light, dry snow, so not that big a deal itself.  It was really COLD though, so that was a kicker to the proverbial nuts.  We weren't out there too long, but we accomplished what we set out to accomplish.  We'll see what daylight brings and how much more we'll have to do today.  The plan is to clear our driveway and, if necessary, get the driveway across the road.  Those folks are both in their 80s and he's not in the greatest of health, so we do what we have to.  That goodness I bought that new snow shovel last month.

This week, we also spent a lot of time getting ready for the winter storm, but I already talked about that.  I guess that means I'm done with the update.  Have a great week, wherever you are.  Stay warm.  Stay safe.  Peace out.

The Coming Sno-pacalypse

It's Friday and Sno-pacalypse is supposedly on its way.  It's supposed to arrive after 6pm tonight, so I've still got today to do anything else that needs doing.  Except I thought it was supposed to be here earlier, so we already did everything that needed doing.  

I did the grocery shopping - two weeks worth in case we get snowed in.  The state of MO does a good job of clearing the highways, but the county doesn't do so great on clearing the side roads, so we can be kinda screwed living back in here.  It seems to me that the last time we got a snow event, it was a week before we could leave the neighborhood.  

I gassed up the car.  It's probably not going anywhere, but if we lose power, we can stay warm in the car for an extended period of time.  It won't be comfortable - 2 humans and 2 cats in a Chevy Cavalier - but it will be better than freezing our asses off in the house.

I also picked up enough cigarettes to get us through.

Hubs put new insulation in our well-tap pit, so it won't freeze in there.  This afternoon, he'll go over and turn the heater on in the wellhouse, so that won't freeze.  (A neighbor who's on a different well has already had his freeze this season.)  

I moved all my garage plants away from the windows and also brought a few inside for the duration.  Cecil the Cedar is in the spare room with Seymour the Nephthytis and my green pepper plants.  

Hubs covered all the windows in the garage to help retard heat loss there.  He also drained the plumbing in the garage and made sure there's no water in the toilet out there.  Just in case the heaters can't keep up or we lose power.  (We've already had to replace one toilet because it cracked due to cold - from when the house was vacant before we bought it.  That was fun.  Not.)  The heaters will be turned on tonight.

I already have a towel along the bottom edge of the front door to keep the cold out and the warm in.  Today, I'll put a blanket along the bottom of the doors leading to the sun porch.  Yesterday, I took the cushions off my patio furniture and used them to retard the air leakage from the sun porch to the deck.  (That door is horribly gappy.)  I'll also use some towels along the window sills to stop cold there.  I have no proof it works, but I did it in Michigan and it seemed to help.

Which leads to the reason to our madness.  We both grew up in Michigan and we know what cold weather can do.  We also know that this is southern Missouri, and most people aren't ready for any kind of snow or cold for any length of time.  These homes aren't built for polar weather.  The people are woefully underprepared.

After our first winter here, which was so suckily cold our furnace couldn't keep up, Hubs re-insulated using R30, so we've got that going for us.  I feel bad for almost everyone else around here who get by with the R5 we had before.  Hubs also put insulation around a lot of the pipes under the house and in the garage.  He's handy that way.

Anyway, if you're reading this and aren't quite prepared, there's still a little time.  (Maybe not to reinsulate your home, but for other things to get you by.)  Go forth and get 'er done.  We're gonna hunker down for the duration.  Stay safe and warm out there, everyone.  :hugs:

Thursday This n That

They keep dropping the predicted temperature for this weekend.  Freakin' single digits and negatives.  And a possible up to 9" of snow.  Derp.  We're making plans for the snow-pacalypse, and crossing our fingers the power doesn't go out.  I did two-weeks worth of grocery shopping yesterday, got cigs, and filled the tank in my car.  Today, I'll hit the Dollar General for a few other things, just in case, and then move all my plants away from the windows in the garage so Hubs can put up the window coverings to retard heat loss in there (old comforters mostly).  He'll drain the hoses and bring them inside, and then we'll hunker down for the duration.

Speaking of the impending snow-pacalypse... Wallyworld was a zoo yesterday.  And yes, they were running out of bread.  (Which I didn't need, thank goodness.)  I didn't check the milk or the toilet paper, but they were probably getting low, too.  The poor cashier said the place had been a zoo since the first mentions of the storm, so like 2-3 days worth of zoo, and it's only going to get worse.  Today will be zoo to the nth power down there.  

To the woman shrieking that ICE should leave her alone because she has a head injury... People like you piss me off.  I am really sick of people using traumatic brain injury as an excuse for bad behavior.  And by the way, if your head injury was severe enough that you can't understand simple instructions, you have no business driving.  They made me prove I could drive safely after my head injury before they'd let me get behind the wheel of a car.  The same should've happened to you, if you have a head injury, which I suspect you don't.  Anyway, this is as bad as pretending you have a limp to get handicapped parking.  Knock it off.

Yes, my head injury is 32 years (and 11 days) old.  They don't go away, you just learn workarounds to deal with your deficiencies.  Or you don't.  Whining about it doesn't help.  Trust me.  I tried that early on and it didn't help.

I sometimes think about writing a book about my TBI experiences, but I can't remember a lot of what happened in any great detail, so a book probably isn't the way to go.

I recently started following Josh & Jase (two Brits who love America) because they're touring Michigan right now.  These guys are hilarious.  And they've just reached the Upper Peninsula.  This should be fun.  I spent 4 years up there and I really do miss it sometimes.  (Not now.  Now it's cold and snowy and just NOPE.)

Okay, I probably should go.  I had other things on my mind to talk about today, but they're gone, so... 

Have a great day!

Marketing Monday - Early Grave

Good morning!  It's time again for another Marketing Monday.  Today, we're doing Early Grave - the third book in the Serial Crimes Investigation Unit series.  It's a third book, but like all the SCIU books, it can be read without reading the others.  (Although reading the others does enrich the experience, imo.)

Starting today, EARLY GRAVE is free. Come along on this suspenseful hunt for serial killer before it's too late. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CGYBSST

Speaking of marketing and free books, I am actually ahead of the game and have set up freebies for the next three weeks.  This week, it's EG, next week will be Blink of an I, and then Natural Causes.  Enjoy.

Sunday Update - 2026 Week 2

Well, here we are again at Sunday morning.  I wanted to sleep in today, but my bladder had other ideas.  Derp.

No writing this week - it's editing time.  Unfortunately, not a lot of that was done either.  I think I'm at 13% on my edit notes, which works out to like 2.5 pages worth of notes.  Better than nothing, but I need to get my act together if I want to reach the goal of being done with this by the end of the... oh crap, it's the 18th.?!  Really? Well, crap.  It would take a miracle to get this book finished in 12 days.  So, let's say this book's deadline is February.  Sometime in February.  Before March?  

I did marketing.  UWC was free and it moved 38 copies.  I also moved 2 copies of WIOH at regular price, so there's that.  I also moved one copy each of DE and of FG, which I assume is from previous marketing.  Yay.  And someone's been reading PH in KU.  woot.  I'm up to like $9 for the month, which isn't gravy, but it's better than a sharp stick in the eye.

I'm still reading The Night Manager.  It's slow going because I'm also trying to read my book for edit notes.

This week, I made beef stew, which turned out awesome, and biscuits to go with that (also awesome).  Then I made a pineapple upside-down cake.  Yummers.

On the activity front, I did a couple days out in the woods throwing logs.  Those kicked my ass, which led to not doing anything for a day or two (or five) after each session.  I'm not as young as I used to be and I keep forgetting that.  So, doing nearly 2 hours in the woods hits me like a 200-pound boxer hits a weakling with a glass jaw.  Derp.  Let's not talk weight, eh?  It was 177.8 last Sunday and I don't expect it's gone down any since.  Did I mention the pineapple upside-down cake?  Yeah.

Speaking of throwing logs, Hubs is most of the way through moving the piles of firewood he's already made with the chainsaw.  And I'm making good progress creating other piles of not-firewood - better known as taking all the crap lying around and moving it to centralized locations.  (Can also be known as creating wildlife habitats, but that's tertiary.)  The hope for me is to create a glade down there in the woods, with wildflowers and pretty trees.  Maybe a gazebo... you know, if I win the lottery or something.

We're trying a new high-protein food for Lumpy.  I think she's looking better, but that could just be wishful thinking on my part.  This cold snap could be the deciding factor on whether she lives through this winter.  It's 10 degrees out there.  :shudder:  

Speaking of 10 degrees... Umm, yeah, I won't be going in the woods until the air can't hurt my face.

I went to the thrift store this week.  No books, but I didn't find a really nifty posthole digger for $7.  Woot.  Yes, I am a redneck who gets excited about cheap tools.  We'll be using the posthole digger to make holes... naturally... which will be used to plant trees.  Or at least to get the ground here broken up enough to maybe plant trees.  We have a plan.

And on that exciting farm implement news, I think that's it for me.  What's been up with you?

Amusing Myself

Here's a little sea-shanty I cooked up this morning.  Sing along with me...

What do you do with a slothful writer?

What do you do with a slothful writer?

What do you do with a slothful writer staring at a blank page?

Chain her to the keyboard until she writes words.

Chain her to the keyboard until she writes words.

Chain her to the keyboard until she writes words until she gets to THE END.

Yes, I am a slothful writer.  Although, to be honest, I'm editing right now not writing.  Still, the song amused me.  I hope it amused you, too.

Thursday This n That

I went to Wallyworld yesterday.  They've already put out a bunch of gardening stuff, including seeds.  It's too early!  Oh, and I got an email from Tractor Supply about it being time to start planning my garden.  No.  (Okay, yeah, I've already been thinking about it, but it's too early to actually do anything about it.)

Wow.  You can really see the dark side of the moon this morning.

I love the internet sometimes.  Oh, sure, it's rife with misinformation and morons abound, but it's pretty cool, too.  For instance, Hubs and I were talking about something the other morning and I mentioned how I babysat 3 kids when I was 13.  Which got me to thinking about those kids.  Which led to me running a search on them, starting with the oldest.  And well, shit, he's a clinical psychologist now.  Good for him.  He was a good kid and pretty smart at the time.  And now he's 50 and life seems good for him.  Yay.

What we were talking about is, on the off chance we have to both go out of town at the same time, we should get the neighbor girl (age 13 almost 14) to watch the cats - give her a key and instructions, etc.  He was worried that she was too young to cope in the event of an emergency, which was when I pointed out that I watched 3 children ages 8, 6, and 4 when I was 13.  Of course, times have changed and 13 ain't what it used to be.  Hell, in the olden days, some girls were married at 13.  (Jerry Lee Lewis married a 13-year-old, for instance.  I mean, ew, but it happened.)

Mom and I were talking the other day about swearing.  She never swears.  (Okay, every rare once in a while, she'll say ass or bitch, but that's it.)  She feels it shows a certain amount ignorance and laziness, and if you're smart / not lazy, you can find other words to use.  My standpoint is to use the best word for the situation and sometimes a swear word fits better than any other.  She had to admit my point, but she's still not for it.  For the record, Hubs doesn't swear much either.  Although, if certain situations arise, he can belt them out with the best of us cursers.  (Yeah... about that... I'm a foul-mouthed chick sometimes.)

Night before last, we were just falling asleep when something in the backyard started barking.  LOUD.  And it wouldn't shut up.  Even after I went to the window and banged.  Even after I walked into the bathroom, opened that window and told it to shut up.  It was only slamming the window shut that encouraged it to move off - but not to stop because I could still hear it barking as it moved off into the night.  We think it was a fox.  After doing a little research, foxes bark for three main reasons - defining their territorial boundaries, alerting others to a predator, and looking for a mate (which generally happens in late winter... which is now, I guess.)  

Okay, I think that's enough out of me for now.  Anything good in your this-n-that basket today?

Marketing on a Tuesday, etc.

 First off, UP WISH CREEK is free starting today.  

Starting today, UP WISH CREEK is free! (Always free with Kindle Unlimited.) Get your copy of this snarky, paranormal suspense today. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LVU03BV

Now that we have that out of the way, what should we talk about today?  World news?  Nah, you get enough of that already.  The woods?  You've probably had enough of that.  Personal shit?  I don't have any drama llamas hanging out here.

I guess that's why I don't post that often anymore.  Nothing to talk about. My life is pretty boring and the world doesn't need my input on its events.  I write books and try to sell them, I have cats, I get my jollies throwing logs in the woods, I read a little, and I watch way too much TV.  There's me in a nutshell.

I did get started on editing DN3 (tentatively called Justice: Past Due, although I'm also kinda attracted to Taint in the Blood - which may or may not also be a Bones title*), so yay.

So, I put it to you this morning... is there anything you'd like me to talk about?  

*Nope, not Bones.  It's the 14th book in another popular suspense writer's series.  Derp.  There's no book called Justice Past Due as far as I can tell, though, so yay.)

Sunday Update - 2026 Week 1

Well, we wrapped up the first week of the new year and lemme tell ya, I didn't have this stuff on my bingo card for the year (i.e. the Venezuela stuff, the Iran stuff, the Minnesota stuff).  Wow.

Anyway... Writing didn't happen, because I just finished a book and I took the week off.  Editing was supposed to start yesterday but, while I did email the book to my Kindle, I didn't do any.  I did write a short blurb.  And I think I have a title - JUSTICE: PAST DUE.  (Sucks, doesn't it.  Titles suck.)  I do hope to have this book done by the end of the month, so I'd better get cracking.

Marketing happened.  I moved 30 copies of PH.  I also sold a copy of DE and someone read pages of both TTW and PH, so yay.

I finished that book I was reading, so I have a new Books Read post for 2026, and I'm currently reading The Night Manager by John LeCarre.  It's pretty gripping.

In baking news, I made Raisin Pecan Quick Bread.  It's super yummy.  Yesterday, I did a vat of pulled pork.  Also yum.

On the activity front, I did three days of woods work and one day cleaning.  Woot.  Hang on, I have to go weigh myself...  Ack... never mind, you don't want to know.  I know I didn't want to know.  Weight: 177.8

Speaking of woods work, I moved the summer clean-up pile to the permanent pile.  (Summer clean-up pile is for any crap that falls in the yard during the hot months when we don't go into the woods due to ticks and snakes.)  Hubs went through all our old firewood and threw out anything that was roached, then reorganized the pallets for more efficient wood use, which gave us a couple of empty pallets for the newly sawn wood.  That black cherry tree is probably going to be a couple cords alone.  (Don't ask me.  I never did figure out how many chucks a woodchuck could chuck or how many logs are actually in a cord.)

The Boyz are currently fighting in what I've begun to call The Box Maze.  Some days.  Ugh.

Other than that, not much going on.  It's pretty same-same here.  How are things in your world?

Oh.  It just occurred to me after I hit Publish that this is the 11th, so I had to come back to add this.  It's my accident anniversary.  32 years today.  :shrug:  Ya know, this used to be a bigger deal, but now I'm kinda over it.

Thursday This n That

Working in the woods yesterday, moving one pile of crap to another pile of crap, and I went to move a rather large hickory limb.  I stood it up and tipped it over to get it out of the way, but I neglected to account for the way the limb was weirdly twisted, so when it hit the ground, the thick end bounced up and hit me in the thigh.  Talk about ouch.  It's going to be a glorious bruise once it blooms.

You ever have a dream so happy that you were sad when you woke up?  

I'm driving myself crazy trying to think of a title for DN3.  I mean, I had settled on The Deepest Cut, which would be right for the MO of the killer, but all wrong for the timeframe (plus, it's been done to death).  Maybe that's why every other title sounds lame by comparison.  I need to get over it.  I'm laying in bed running the Title HamsterWheel and not getting any sleep.  I thought I had a good title - Green-Eyed Murder - but the next morning, it was lame.  Then I came up with a couple last night which I got out of bed to write down, but they seem lame this morning.  The best one out of that lot is JUSTICE: PAST DUE - I think the colon helps.  :shrug:  (And a big hug to Silver, who sent me a list of suggestions.)  Oh, well.  I'm in the between place right now, so I have time to ponder it.  I'll start editing probably this weekend.  We'll see.

I had a neat idea for a SF short story.  Whether I write it... eh.  

I think I need to bake a cake.  I've been jones'n for baked goods lately.  I really don't need the calories or the carbs, but mmmm.... cake.

I also want pizza.  I made a passable substitute for lunch yesterday, using leftover spaghetti sauce, rolls, and mozzarella.  Still, it wasn't enough to get rid of my craving.  I'm going to have to bite the bullet and make real pizza soon.

The bird of the day is a Great Blue Heron.  Love those birds, but they do make the most unholy of noises.

The other day, I found a neat new-to-me show called Exhibit A with Graham Green.  It's a half-hour show where they go over a true crime, present the facts, and give you the solution.  I like that I don't really have to think too much about it.  Wham, bam, thank you forensics.  I am all about the crime sometimes.

I'm almost out of ice cream, which is a crime in itself.  Yay for Dollar General being like 3 miles from the house now.

Well, that's it from me.  What's on your list today?

The Bad Review Blues

Every so often, I check my reviews and ratings.  (Yes, I have a spreadsheet for that.)  Yesterday, I went through the Amazon listings for each of my books, noting the number of reviews vs the number of ratings, and the rankings.  Nothing really new.  Some nice new reviews, some crappy ratings - the usual.  But one review has left me feeling a little blue*.

They said they liked the book, but then they said something about the plot resolution that showed they hadn't really read the end, and then they went on to say that the book was rife with errors in grammar and spelling, hinting that I should've edited better.  I, of course, was shocked.  You know me - I work really really hard to clean up all that stuff before I ever hit publish.  

So, I opened the last file and ran my spelling/grammar checker.  It pointed out some things, but everything it pointed out was a stylistic choice.  The book in question is, after all, written in a looser, more-dialogue oriented style.  It's entirely possible that is what she was talking about.  Unfortunately, I can't explain any of that to the reviewer.  So, that review sits there, hinting to potential readers that my books are poorly written and crappily edited.  (And yes, the above sentence is grammatically incorrect. It's how I write when I'm talking to you here.)

This might explain why the last freebie I put out for this book did so poorly.  Who the hell wants a crappy book?  If I read that review, I wouldn't download the book.  

So, yeah, I'm bummed.  The writing life is hard enough without stuff like that.  

*Yes, I know, you're not supposed to read your own reviews, but I do it anyway.  I'm a sucker for punishment, I guess.

Marketing Monday - Project Hermes

 Hello!  It's time for Marketing Monday!  :muppetflail:  This week, we're hitting my one medical/political thriller - Project Hermes.  Enjoy!

Starting today, PROJECT HERMES is free. (Always free with Kindle Unlimited.) Get your copy of this medical/political thriller today.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017Y6G0EW

It's the little things that kill.

2026 - Books Read

Well, it's time again to create another Books Read post.  This will be my 18th year of doing this on this blog, so I expect my regular followers to know the drill.  For everyone else, here's how it goes:

The books are listed from oldest read at the bottom to newest read at the top.  There'll be Title by Author (Date) - Genre.  Title only, no series info because I'm lazy.  The title will mostly be linked to the book's Goodreads page.  If there's then an asterisk, it's an ebook.  If it's new to me and underappreciated (less than 50 ratings/reviews), I'll put a hashtag.  

I set my reading goal at 35, because I was such a toad of a reader last year.

Okay, so here goes:

2) The Night Manager by John LeCarre (2/8/26) - Thriller

1) The Dead Will Beckon by Jason Chapman (1/4/26) - Suspense*#

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 52

Time to wrap up the last week of the year.  All in all it was a good week, so here goes...

Writing:  Last night, I finished the first draft of DN3.  Yay!  It's just under 49K words right now, but I expect to add a bunch in editing.  And I hate the end, so I'm guessing it'll have a rewrite.  I also came up with a title last night when I was supposed to be falling asleep.  How does Duke Noble, P.I.: The Deepest Cut strike you?  :half-shrug:  I loved it last night.  Now I'm not so sure. (Updated 8:20pm - The phrase 'the first cut is the deepest' wasn't coined until way past when this book is set, so NOPE.  Back to the drawing board.)

I did marketing.  Thicker Than Water (DN2) was on the block.  I moved 129 free copies, one full price copy after the freebie, and someone read it in KU.  Here's hoping that those freebies turn into sales of Rumor Has It (DN1) 

I did reading.  I finished my first book of the year.  (And I totally forgot to add it in Goodreads, or make a 2026 goal for the year, so don't go looking over there.)  It wasn't bad.  Actually, it was pretty good.  Different.  And not what it was billed as... hard boiled crime? Not.  Anyway, it was good, so that's a win.

In baking news, I made stuffed pork chops yesterday.  Those were yummy, so yay.

On the activity front, I did 3 days of woods work - hauling deadfall and cutting it up and raking it up - for about 2.75 hours.  I haven't weighed myself to start the year yet.  I'm a little leery because I've been noshing quite a lot lately. (ETA: I did it.  Weight: 177.4 - well, at least there's a starting point to go down from.)

Speaking of woods work, the big fallen black cherry tree is mostly cut up now and all the top branches/twigs have been moved to a pile that's out of the way.  So yay.  We have several stacks of firewood laying out there that have to be moved, but they'll be fine out there for the time being.  We're both feeling pretty good considering what we've done and our respective ages, so we've got that going for us.

My Christmas tree is still up.  I have to take that down and get back to normal.  

I located my 2026 day-planner.  I bought it in early December and put it somewhere I wouldn't lose it (and the cats wouldn't eat it), then promptly forgot where that was.  I looked in all the obvious places, but nope.  Then I noted a spiral binding peeking out from the top row of books on one of my bookshelves.  Huzzah!  

Since I was a total spazz last month, I didn't get my spreadsheets prepared for the coming year, so I did a lot of those last week.  I still have a couple of personal ones to do, but those can keep.  

Other than that... Welcome to 2026!  May it be a banner year for us all.

How was your final week of 2025?

Happy New Year!

 May 2026 be awesome for us all.