Well, it's been a couple of weeks since I did one of these, but here we are. And I'm still hungover from the trip, so bear with me.
As I said to Hubs, "Oh, wait, it's Sunday, isn't it?" I'm all messed up on dates, days of the week, and time. I've been on Eastern time for a week, doncha know, and dragging myself back to Central is proving to be a bear. Jet lag sucks.
Anyway...
Obviously, no writing, editing, or marketing while I was away. I did sell some stuff while I was gone, so yay. Starting tomorrow, Ugly and the Beast will be free for 5 days - ending this month and starting next month with a bang. (I hope.) I do have plans to get back to writing. Maybe do a Halloween WriMo or something. We'll see. I haven't been very good at setting writing goals and achieving them this year.
I didn't do a whole lot of reading while I was gone either. I did finish one book on the plane on the way there. Woot. Sadly, I'm way behind on my goal for the year. :shrug:
No baking. I meant to make a cake for Mom, but cake was purchased. I thought about doing a homemade pizza for her, but pizza was also purchased. :also shrug:
I did get in quite a bit of activity. I started out by lugging luggage and walking airports. Took a few walks at Mom's place. Ended with more lugging luggage and walking airports. I figured out I walked about 3 miles, altogether, which puts me at 58.55 miles for the year. I didn't feel like I ate that much while I was gone, but I gained weight, even after the walking. Blerg. Weight: 173.0
While I was gone, Hubs watered my garden. I have a bunch of tomatoes in various stages of ripening. I also have tomato hornworms. Rat bastards are getting fat munching on my plants. On the upside, I also have Braconid Wasps - which prey on hornworms. So the fat bastard caterpillars are covered in white eggs that will hatch into their bodies and eat them from the inside out - a fact both fascinating and grotesque. The trees mostly did fine in my absence, so yay.
Okay, I think that's it for me. What have you been up to lately?
I know, I know... I didn't tell you I was leaving. I'm a staunch believer in the 'don't share with the internet that you won't be home' thing. I mean, Hubs was still here, but I wasn't, so there ya go. Anyway...
In the wee hours of the 18th, we made the drive to the airport, where Hubs dropped me off in the parking lot (he would've walked me in but, much to our dismay, the airport and its parking lot are under construction), and off I went to Michigan. I spent 7 days hanging out with Mom, my middle sis, and sis's dog. Oh, and other Michigan fam showed up on Saturday for a surprise birthday thing for Mom, who turned 85 while I was there.
It was a nice and mostly relaxing week. Mom and I ate stuff we don't normally eat and we watched a lot of TV. I took some walks, so it wasn't all lazing about. I also rented a car, which gave me the ability to drive out to the old homeplace. The place was barely recognizable. (Who paints an old farmhouse candy-apple red?? Derp. And they cut down all the maple trees. Turds.)
I got back last night. I haven't downloaded the photos I took yet. I unpacked (mostly) and then flopped into a chair to watch an episode of Doc Martin before crashing into bed.
The cats were not pleased with me coming home smelling like dog. They're over it this morning for the most part. Finn is still displeased with me. Sawyer was up in my lap this morning like I never left.
Anyway, I'm spending today decompressing and nursing my aches from carting my carry-on luggage through O'Hare and from the horribly uncomfortable seats on the airplanes. (Never sit in the last row. The seats don't have any give in the back and the lavatories are problematic... i.e. they stink and the flushing device is LOUD.)
So, I'm home again with Hubs. Sleeping in my bed, driving my car (rental cars... blerg), eating my food, and playing with my cats. I still need to evaluate my writing, so I didn't accomplish that, but I did spend the week not angsting over it all, which was nice.
How are things in your world?
Well, it's Sunday. It was a hell of a week. No, not personally, but I guess it all does have personal ramifications. I've been blocking people like mad this week. Blocking saves my sanity - what little is left - and keeps my blood pressure down. Anyway...
No writing this week. I'm not blocked, per se, but have you ever had so much to do that you're frozen? Like you look at all the stuff and can't do any of it? Well, that's part of the problem. Not all. Hell, I don't even know what the whole problem is. I'm going to ponder it all over the coming weeks and see if I can come up with an answer. Maybe October will be better.
I did manage to market. Not effectively, but better than nothing. To that end, I moved 29 free copies of IDW and 1 purchased copy after the freebie was over. I won't be doing any marketing this week, I think.
Reading was okay. I finished one book and started another. I'm going to try to read more this week. I'll never make my goal, but I'll live.
There wasn't much activity this week. I wandered around the yard one day. I did a hard-target walk another day. I did some negligible stuff otherwise. Miles walked: 54.9 / Weight: 171.0
Nothing baked. I think I'll do cinnamon rolls today. If I muster the will.
What I really need to do is some deep-dish evaluating of my work and my life and what the hell I'm actually doing with any of it. Is it all just Hubs, and cats, and Roku from here on out, or am I actually going to stop being a viscous pool of warm pudding? Tune in next time to find out... Which reminds me... I have some personal stuff coming up, so I might not get a chance to do a Sunday Update next week.
Catch ya on the flip side of all this.
It's Saturday the 13th. Which isn't unlucky or anything, but I'm weirdly pointing it out. Anyways...
Not a lot to report this week. I didn't pick up any new books since the last update.
Books Read:
31) Tales from the 'White Hart' by Arthur C. Clarke (9/11/25) - SF - 5 stars. Neither new to me nor underappreciated. Picked this up for 25c from a thrift store.
No review.
No DNFs.
Currently reading... the one new-to-me Agatha Christie I bought the other day. I wasn't sure I was going to read it right away or save it, but I needed it, so I started it. Sometimes a gal just need a little Agatha to make things seem better, ya know?
What have you been up to reading-wise?
I don't have the heart to do a 'this n that' today. Frankly, I'm sick to my stomach over the assassination of Charlie Kirk. There is no other word for it. He was assassinated. You can call it a horror or a tragedy - it's certainly those, too - but that doesn't change the fact that he was assassinated.
From all I knew of Charlie, he was a good man. He advocated for discussion over violence, and they killed him for it. He was trying to get people to talk about issues and to think for themselves. Well, we can't have any of that now, can we? Feh.
There's a lot of crap out there this morning with people saying vile things. Those people can wither up and die for all I care. If you're one of them, please go far, far away from me.
I'm not sure what this will mean for our country. Hopefully, it'll be a watershed moment and those following the advocates of violence wake up and see that theirs is not the side to be on. Hopefully, freedom will win this battle.
Right now, though, I'm heartsick. And yes, it's the anniversary of 9/11 - don't think I haven't considered whether Charlie's assassination wasn't planned to coincide with this. It probably was.
'Never forget' turned into 'only remember on 9/11' and then ignore the causes altogether.
I'm gonna go watch TV. Something totally not involved in any of this until I can stomach being online again.
Peace. Out.
Well, it's another Monday and I'm marketing. I decided to let loose with Natural Causes because it's been like 6 months since I marketed it. Thus, it's free starting today. Have at it.
Personally, I think this book is really underappreciated. But I'm the author, so what do I know?
Anyway, it's free right now, so if you enjoyed ACCIDENTAL DEATH and haven't read this yet, you're missing out.
Welcome to the Sunday Update. I think it's Week 36. These days, who knows? LOL Anyway, sorry last week was a dud, but let's see what I can do to amuse you today.
I did some writing this week. Not nearly enough, but something anyway. I managed 1709 out of two days. :sad trombone: This week ain't lookin' great either, but we'll see.
Marketing was accomplished. Unfortunately, still being hamstrung by FB, I moved only 29 copies of IDW. I did sell a copy each of the other books in the series, though, so I've got that going for me.
Nothing got finished on the reading front, so no post yesterday. I'm in the middle of reading a collection of inter-related short stories by Arthur C. Clarke. They're okay. Nothing really exciting, but fun.
In baking news, I made oatmeal raisin bread with a cinnamon swirl. What can I say... I was inspired by watching The Great British Baking Show. Plus, I got a new to me cookbook with this recipe in it. It's pretty yummy, but the swirl part was a bust. It's falling apart at the swirl line. :shrug: Better luck next time, I guess. Except it took all day to make, so there might not be a next time. We'll see.
On the activity front, I was more active this week. Yay for cooler weather, eh? I did two walks, two days of cleaning/yard work, and a big grocery trip. I'm up to 53.7 miles walked for the year. Weight: 171.4
Thanks also to the cooler weather, I guess, my tomatoes are bearing more fruits and more flowers, too. I have like 5 more tomatoes. Yay. I also found this show on gardening. It's out of Ireland, but plants are plants and dirt is dirt. I just need to adjust their advice to Missouri climate. The episode on growing tomatoes was very informative. I found out I'm not feeding nearly often enough and that I should've pinched off the excessive shoots. :shrug: Next year's garden should be way better. Live and learn.
This morning, I heard a strange sound coming out of the woods. When I did some research, I discovered it was the sound of an Eastern Screech Owl. Yay. In other nature news, the fawns are getting big and their spots are fading fast. We named Sissy's fawn Scout and it's a big fawn. It's probably a buck fawn, but I haven't seen any antler nubs yet, so the jury's still out.
Yesterday, I wandered the yard with stakes, plotting out where we're going to be transplanting some of the deck trees. Hubs checked out my placement and agrees, so we'll proceed with that in a month or so. I'm trying to put them in the ground when they have a better chance of surviving the deer (i.e. when the trees are leafless and less likely to attract attention.) I hope it works. Otherwise, there's always next year.
Okay, I think that's probably enough out of me. Have a great day and a lovely week.
I keep forgetting to post on Thursday. Derp. I also keep forgetting to visit other people's blogs. Double derp.
Deer have nannies. About this time of year, the mom deers are busy getting ready for being pregnant in a few months and they don't have time for their fawns, so one doe will take over the mom duties for several other does. Yesterday, the nanny deer brought her four charges down for a drink at the water pan. It looked like two sets of twins. They drank their fills and off they all went.
My tomato plants are producing more fruits now that the weather is cooler. I have like 4 more tomatoes out there than before. Woot. I also saw a hummingbird visiting one of the plants that has flowers and pollinating as it sipped, so fingers crossed for even more tomatoes. Woot.
We've been watching a lot of British shows lately. :shrug: It's stuff we haven't seen, so yay. But they have a much more casual take on nudity over there. It's unexpected. We'll be watching a mystery thing and SURPRISE... boobs. Or buns. Or the occasional humping scene. I don't think it's for shock value like it would be here, but we're just not prepared for it.
Also, watching a lot of British shows has given me new phrases to say. Like 'fiddly bits', which is when you're working with something small. (Small screws, tiny parts, etc.)
Sawyer's being obnoxious this morning. He's had three time outs in the bathroom in the last couple hours. Silly cat. On the up side, he didn't wake us up last night. Whew. Two night in a row. If he goes one more night, it'll be a record.
Okay, that's all I've got this morning. What this-n-that things do you have today?
Welcome to At the Movies with B.E. This week, I'm going to try adding a ranking system using a 😻 (smiling cat face with heart-shaped eyes emoji) or a 🙀 instead of stars. Hokey or not? :shrug: Anyway, let's get on with it...
Murders in the Rue Morgue (1986) - starring George C. Scott, Val Kilmer, and Rebecca De Mornay. I remember watching this when it was on TV way back when, so I loaded it up for watching. It's a little "80s" but still a good treatment of the story. 😻😻😻😻
Ladies in Lavender (2004) - starring Maggie Smith and Judi Dench. I found this while searching through various Roku suggestions. I admit I was a little hesitant, but we went ahead with it, hoping it didn't turn out to be shitty. I'm so glad we did. This is a lovely little movie about two spinster sisters in Cornwall in the 1930s and what happens after they find a young man washed up on the beach. They take care of him until he's well and care for him afterwards, until he becomes a part of the town. The ending was awesome and we really enjoyed the movie, despite the fact that they never really delve into why he washed up on the beach. I think he was trying to get to America, but the exact nature of his problem was never addressed. :shrug: Oh, well, I can live with that. I can always make something up in my head to cover that. 😻😻😻😻😻
Toast (2010) - has Helena Bonham Carter, but she wasn't the star. The only other person I recognized was the guy who was in that one series about the young surgeon with Asperger's. This movie started out okay and then got tense and then was okay and then got weird and then sucked. We didn't finish it, but we watched most of it, which was enough of it to adequately give an opinion. I was really bummed because it held the promise of being a really good movie and with some tweaks, it could've lived up to that promise, but it didn't. :sad trombone noise: 🙀🙀
My Family and Other Animals (2005) - this is based on a book by Gerald Durrell (as was a TV series called The Durrells on Corfu - which we watched on PBS years ago). It's a goofy and funny show about a family who leaves dreary, rainy Britain for the sunny life on the Greek island of Corfu, and all the things that happen to them. It was fun to watch, even if it did star the gal who played Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter movies. Definitely not a movie with anything major to say about anything, which is a nice change. 😻😻😻😻😻
I found several more movies to watch that I'm really looking forward to. One in particular is called The Hippopotamus. It looks like loads of fun, so fingers crossed.
Marketing Monday has been pre-empted in favor of this post. In Deep Wish is free now through Friday, though. Jus' sayin'.
Labor Day... I don't celebrate it. Don't get me started. But it's a day off for a lot of people, and when I was working, it was a day off for me, too, since the businesses were usually closed. As a writer, I don't have holidays or days off or whatever when I'm working. Every day can and sometimes is a work day. (Not right now. I've been a toad.)
I did get a good deal on some clothes this morning, so thanks for that, Labor Day. I have two new pairs of pants and a shirt that should be here Friday. This is for a trip I'm taking down the road apace, but I couldn't turn down 40% off. I'm a sucker that way.
So, basically, Labor Day is good for shopping. It's also good because it marks the end of summer, which means, for me, the summer people go home. Yay. Of course, it also means that this weekend is seeing my neighborhood full of strangers in strange cars and someone has been shooting off fireworks and firecrackers. :eyeroll: Tomorrow... Ahhh.
I can't see much purpose in having this national holiday otherwise. Another day for government workers to take off, I guess. Oops, I said 'don't get me started' and yet, there I go.
Anyway, have a great day wherever you are and whatever you celebrate. And if you're on vacation somewhere, be courteous of your fellow humans, eh? The world will thank you for it.
