Friday This n That

 Yeah, I'm a day late.  I had intended to type up a post yesterday, but I was running late and then I got distracted, and well, you know what my father always said... "Intentions are for shit."  So, here I am on Friday again.  And I was doing so well last week.

I just saw a post on FB coming from someone who works at a university.  He recently received a letter from a university administrator, telling him that keeping books on his shelves is 'the unnecessary storing of combustible material.'  Think about that for a second  You can't keep books on your shelves AT A UNIVERSITY.  I'm seriously losing hope for this world.

Last night, I went to bed on time.  I've been really good about staying up to write every night, but last night I was tired.  So tired.  And guess what?  I still rolled around in bed like a damn gas station hotdog for hours.  Hubs keeps trying to fix my insomnia by giving me suggestions, bless his heart.  You know the ones - past a certain hour, stay away from the sugar (check) and the caffeine (check), cut down on the TV before bed (well, I'm writing before bed, so there's that).  I've tried listening to gentle music, nope.  It gets added to the mental jukebox that plays every song I've ever heard while I'm trying to sleep.  Mom has suggestions, too, and I've tried those.  I don't know what to think about it all.  Maybe my brain is just overly active lately.  I am writing a new book, after all, and the neurons are firing like Independence Day up there due to that.  Of course, the heat doesn't help.  If I could just get cool, I could get comfortable, and if I was comfortable, I could shut my brain up.  Maybe.  Eh, it's a theory.

I need to go grocery shopping while it's still cool.  It's supposed to get ungodly hot next week.  Problem is, I don't want to go grocery shopping today.  Meh.  I probably will, but I'd like it on record that I went under protest.

We have two yearling bucks hanging around the yard.  One is Scout, which is Sissy's fawn from last year.  The other we have named Ranger.  

Okay, I think that's it.  It's after 8 and I need to get my ass in gear.  Have a great day wherever you are and whatever you do.  :hugs:

Thursday This n That

 You know how people say they can predict the weather by the body parts that hurt?  I've decided it's not the weather, it's the barometric pressure that causes previously broken bones to ache.  Yeah, I've been thinking about this because the ankle that I probably broke (but never went to a doctor for) a few years back is shrieking at me.  Oh, and my broken bones scream at me in reverse order - newest to oldest - which is why that ankle is taking the stage ahead of the foot, the pelvis, the thigh, or the collar bone.  Actually I'm kinda thankful the pelvis breaks are being quiet.  When those hurt, it feels like someone kicked me in the crotch.  Not fun.

Potatoes.  The package of seedling potatoes I bought says 90-120 days from planting to harvest.  Several sites online say you harvest potatoes after the green parts turn brown and die back.  I need to research this further because why would they die back if they're happy and well-fed in the greenhouse??  But if that's not the key indicator, how will I know if they're ready at 90 days or at 120 days or somewhere along the way?  It's not like I can see the potatoes growing under the dirt there.  I told Hubs I need ground-penetrating radar, like they use to look for bodies, but small so I can look for potatoes.

I've been procrastinating about going shopping, so I really have to go today.  I have Old Mother Hubbard's freezer.  There's one chicken breast and one container of soup.  Oh, and a boatload of frozey-pops.  This does not bode well for a yummy dinner, so off to Wallyworld later this morning.  The cats are also down to one can of food, which is tragic.  Or will be if I don't get them more food today.

Hubs just came in with the coffee pot to refill my mug.  I picked it up and hovered over it like Golem, saying 'my precious'.  We laughed... well, I laughed anyway.

Roku 'monsters' channel was having an Abbott and Costello marathon yesterday - A&C Meet Frankenstein, A&C Meet the Invisible Man, A&C Meet the Mummy.  I watched part of the first and part of the last.  (The Invisible Man one was never my favorite.)  I used to have the mummy one on VHS.  I do love me some Abbott and Costello.  

Speaking of The Mummy, the best book of that sub-genre is Anne Rice's - The Mummy (or Ramses the Damned).  I think it's her best book, but that's me.  

Okay, I'd better get back to marketing.  (Not that it's doing me much good, but it's better than nothing.)  Have a great day wherever you are.  Peace out.

Sunday Update - 2026 Week 11?

 I counted and it was week 11, but I could've miscounted.  :shrug:  I could go online and check, but meh.  I'm unmotivated this morning.  Big surprise, I know.  Bu then I haven't been overflowing with motivation this year, have I?

You know the drill... no writing, no editing.  The usual marketing.  I moved 20 copies of Project Hermes.  No residuals there yet.  On the upside, my previous marketing efforts have gained me 20+ sales this month so far.  It might not seem like much, but it's better than all but 2 months in the last couple years at least.  So yay.  This week UNEQUAL will be free.  The week after that the entire A Model Curse series will be free.  

No reading.  I DNF'd the book I was reading because it wasn't holding my interest enough.  :shrug:  I might try some non-fiction for a while and see if that sparks me.

No baking.  Which works for me because my ever-widening ass could use a break from all that.

On the activity front, I was pretty busy.  I only spent one day sitting on said EWA.  It's Spring and all the things need doing.  Plus, we had what appears to be the last cold days until next fall, so we were in the woods doing work.  I don't know my weight because stepping on the scale is depressing.  

One of the 'needs doing' things is clearing my garden beds of the leaves from last fall.  Yesterday, I hauled about 4 wheelbarrow loads of leaves out of the front garden.  My peonies are happy now.  Today, I need to do the shade bed and the south bed.  That'll leave me with the cedar bed in the middle of the yard, which needs weeding more than leaf removal.  

I've also been working on my deck garden.  (See Wednesday's post.)  Unfortunately, it seems like I killed two pots worth of carrots somehow.  I suspect I either knocked them down the day I had to water with the big jug or the first really hot day zapped them.  It disheartening, but I have more seeds, so I can plant again.  Still no sign of the potatoes.  They have until the next time I hit the grocery store (10 days at least) and if I don't see any signs of growth, I'll buy more potatoes to plant.  

I went to Wallyworld.  Yes, prices are up again.  No, I'm not pissed... well, not much... because at least there's a good reason behind it.  I can bear the burden of higher prices if it means crushing the Iranian regime.  The little bit of pissed I am comes more from the idea that some of these prices were raised in anticipation of rising costs.  

Not much else going on in my life, really.  It's hot but I'll get used to it.  I'm a little sore from bending over the garden yesterday, but I'll get over it.  All in all, I don't have much to bitch about.  (Not that that's ever stopped me before. LOL)

Have a great day out there, whatever you're doing.  Peace out.

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?

Sunday Update - Week 48

 Gah.  I woke up late and the coffee is just now kicking in, so here goes the update for the week:

I only managed to write 2765 words last week.  Then I hit a snag and Thanksgiving happened and additional excuses.  I think I have the answer to get past the story snag, though, so we'll see what happens today.

Marketing was done.  I moved 9 free copies of Song of Storm and Shroud. Sold one Sleeping Ugly and one Thicker Than Water.  If I don't sell anything today, I'm at $11.29 for the month.  Not sure what I'll be doing this week.  Stay tuned.

I finished reading The Martian by Andy Weir.  It was good.  It held my interest as much as any book has done lately.  I started reading a quirky SF/Crime Noir book I found at the thrift store - Stellar Ranger.  So far, so good.  Speaking of the thrift store, I added 7 more books to my horde - including a signed Robert B. Parker.  Nothing else really of note but they had a sale, so I picked up stuff that looked even vaguely amusing.  I also got a book on aviation for Hubs, cuz he's into that stuff.  Think of it as Early Christmas.  ;o)

In baking news, I made pumpkin cheesecake.  We finished eating that yesterday, so I'll probably try to bake something today.  I might make pumpkin pie bread, since I have all the ingredients.

On the activity front, I did some stuff - raking and woods wandering - early in the week, then the rain hit and the holiday, etc. Then I did raked some more.  I ran errands one day, and yesterday we did a shopping trip.  Weight: (Pre-TGD) 174.8

Yesterday's shopping trip... We went to Tractor Supply and picked up our chainsaw.  Hubs had noticed in the morning that they only had ONE of the kind we wanted (Husqvarna 16" gas) left in stock, so I bought it online and set it for pick-up.  It was like the lottery, getting the email to let us know it was ready for pick-up.  Yay!  We won!  While we were there, we also got gloves and earplugs and oil for the chainsaw and a small oil/gas mixture that you need to fuel the saw.  After we left there, we stopped by Wallyworld so Hubs could get new jeans, but we also bought other non-food items which will be our Christmas.  Nothing spectacular or exciting.  Just stuff.  Oh, and the log sled I ordered arrived Friday.  Woot.  And the snow shovel will be here tomorrow.  Yay.  We are all set for dragging wood out of the woods.

The rut seems to be over here and the bucks have, once again, vanished.  We haven't seen Lumpy in a few days, so I hope she found a nice place to cross the rainbow bridge and she isn't suffering anymore.  On a happier note, her children are thriving.

Everything here is good and I'm ready for the holiday season to commence.  Ho ho ho and all that.  

What things did you get up to last week?  

Thursday This n That

Well, there goes New York.  And Virginia.  =o(

I expect NYC will turn into the ghost town that Detroit has become, except the refugees won't be fleeing for better suburbs.  They'll be leaving for other states.  I've seen people wondering why people from shithole places move to nice places and want to change them.  That's WHY they're moving into the nice places... to change them into the shithole places they love.  

Here, there was one thing on the ballot - raise the property taxes in a nearby city so they can give it to the fire department.  It passed.  A little while back, they had the same kind of ballot item for my rural FD and it passed, too.  My FD used the money to erect a brand new, beautiful building... right next to the old building, which they then tore down.  There wasn't anything really wrong with the old building, it was just not new.  Whatever may have been wrong with it could've been fixed at a way lower cost and a dormitory could've been added on, again at a way lower cost.  But they didn't have to do that because they can just add to our property taxes instead of finding a way to be fiscally responsible.  That's the way government works these days, I guess.  Well, most people these days, I guess.  

I can't seem to muster the will to do anything these days.  Except maybe vegging out in front of the TV.  I think Bradbury warned about that.  Probably others, too.

I've made 3c so far this month.  Woot.

Finn's wandering around the house meowing.  I feel ya, little dude.

Yesterday, I did Wallyworld.  Everything is so damn expensive.  Freakin' half-dozen donuts is about $4.50.  Yeah, I bought 'em.  Cuz I needed donuts.  Custard filled with chocolate frosting.  Mmm.  I bought 'em with my own damn money, so yeah.

Yes, I am cranky, why do you ask?  I have active bitch fingers to go with my resting bitch face.

On a happier note, we're seeing bucks.  They're chasing the does and sometimes the fawns.  The other day, I happened to look out the window to see a doe run across the neighbor's yard.  Shortly after a fawn went by, trying to catch up.  Then a buck went by.  A few minutes later, another doe, then fawn, then... wait that's the same buck!  A few minutes later, the three of them went by in succession again.  They must've been running in a circle around the neighbor's house.  I got up to tell Hubs about it, so I don't know how long they continued the race.

Okay, it's time to call the mama.  Have as great a day as you can manage out there.  I'll do the same.  B'bye.

Thursday This n That

Bears keep attacking people in NW Arkansas.  Not sure what's up with that.  The attacks aren't super close to here and we haven't had any bear sightings inside of five miles from here, but yeah, I don't need freakin' bear attacks on my 2025 bingo card.  K?

Sawyer's new game is to bite my feet while I'm sitting here at my desk.  It's unpleasant.

I saw a coyote the other morning.  I was almost home from a walk and it trotted across the road about 10-12 feet in front of me.  

The last time I was in Walmart, I saw a woman wearing a Soo Locks t-shirt.  It just so happened that I was wearing my Michigan Born and Bred t-shirt that day, so I pointed to her shirt and then to mine, and we both laughed.  Stuff like that has happened more often that I would've imagined down here.  Like the day I was wearing my U of M sweatshirt and crossed paths with a dude wearing his OSU (the bad one) sweatshirt.  He seemed annoyed that he was all the way into Arkansas and ran into a fan of his team's rival.  :shrug:  Hell, when we first moved here a chick across the street and down the way was from Kalamazoo. We're everywhere, man.

I made deconstructed stuffed peppers a couple days ago.  This time, I used red bell peppers instead of green.  It was pretty tasty, but I missed the color contrast. They do say you eat first with your eyes.  :shrug:  

Today, I have to do an Amazon order.  Stupid Walmart stopped carrying the ink for the printer they sold me not that long ago.  Bastards.  Freakin' ink is probably almost as much as I paid for the damn printer in the first place.  :steams:

On a happier note, Amazon is really awesome about taking my returns.  I bought some clothes for my trip to Michigan, but I didn't wear any of them.  (I was expecting MI to be cooler than it was.  Derp.)  I'd left the tags on for just this result, and returned them as soon as I could after I got home.  Huzzah, my refund is in my account.  Yay.

Okay, I should probably get on with my life and let you get on with yours.  Have a great day!

Friday This n That

I'm not dead.  I'm just lazy.

I woke up late two days in a row.  This makes me not want to do anything, but I had planned on going grocery shopping.  The jury's out as to whether I'll just skip over to the Dollar General for milk and postpone Wallyworld.

The news lately is fucking horrible.  Mass stabbing in Traverse City, mass shooting in NYC, some shithead killed two people in front of their kids on a fucking hiking trail in NWAR (northwest Arkansas to the uninitiated), four people were murdered by some asshole in TN.  Is it any wonder I don't want to go anywhere?

I dreamed last night that I had a third tomato on my plants.  Yeah, I lead a boring life.  Here's me dreaming about tomatoes.  One more tomato is an exciting thing for me.

I'm supposed to start AuGoWriMo today and write words.  I need to carve out some time to do that and I need to STOP watching Roku for a few hours to get that done.  I can do it!  Unfortunately, we found a new series to watch last night and it was awesome.  Drat.

A couple of days ago, I had a chicken breast defrosted to make Salsa Chicken, but then I realized I didn't have the right cheese, so I turned it into a kind of Chicken Parm.  Slap a chicken breast into a pan, cover it in marinara sauce, cover that all in mozzarella, bake at 375F for 30-40 minutes or until cooked through.  I made spaghetti noodles and more sauce to go with it, and added those into the pan about halfway through.  It all turned out really yummy.  We ate the leftovers for dinner last night.  Yum.

Yeah, the lacking cheese thing is another reason I need to go to Wallyworld.  Drat.

During the making of the spaghetti noodles, I spent some time dancing around the living room to music in my head.  Sawyer was freaked out by this.  Finn just looked at me like I'd lost my mind.  Maybe I had.

Thursday This n That

 Alligator Alcatraz...  First off, I just saw some liberal chick whining quite incorrectly that it was a wildlife sanctuary and how dare we all celebrate it because it's cruel.  I also saw a cute cartoon of some alligators talking and one says 'did you hear we get to eat them if they escape?'  Which reminded me of this prison just outside Marquette, Michigan.  It's across the street from Lake Superior and it butts up to some of the nastiest, craggy woodlands you'd ever want to see.  Back when I was in college, it had the highest walkaway rate of any prison in Michigan.  But the escapees were rarely ever seen again.  You see, it was filled with criminals from places like Detroit and Flint.  City boys who probably had never taken a survival course in their lives.  The way I figure it, the missing criminals either went into the water and drown, or they went into the woods and died.  Win win, in my book.

Soon, I will be able to kick Brightspeed to the curb.  The VoiP is in place and working smashingly.  I called Mom on it yesterday.  Unfortunately, the Starlink router only has 2 ports, and we have 2 computers to plug in, so I needed a splitter.  It came and after some massaging, it's working, too.  The true test will be calling Mom through the splitter this morning.  Keep your fingers crossed.  I have a temp phone # until my regular # transfers over to the new service, so don't try to call me at this time.

Better internet... check.  Better phone... check.  Next up, replacing the satellite TV with something like Roku.  Woot.

Man, Wallyworld was a zoo yesterday.  Totally spasticness.  

What's with this new crap here on Blogger?  This morning it has a notice at the top - some crap about upgrading something - and it just offered to insert links into my post for me.  Why the hell would I want links inserted into my post?  Wouldn't a link take people away from READING my post?  Derp.  Makes no sense.

My tomatoes might almost be trying to make flowers.  Fingers crossed.

My black walnut tree got root rot and died.  I guess they aren't meant for growing in a pot.  Next time I have to transplant a volunteer walnut, I'll find a place in the woods for it.  =o(

I almost put in -o(... That would be a cyclops, I guess. Rawr.

Okay, that's about all I've got today.  Feel free to drop some this-n-that yourself before you wander off.  Have a great day!

Thursday This n That

Now that I have a phone substitute on its way here, the landline is working.  Like 5 days in a row now, which hasn't happened since like March.  Turds.  I'm waiting until I make sure the new device arrives and works before I cancel the old stuff.

I stopped by the old office yesterday.  They're in the same building as a company that provides us a service, so I stop to pay that bill.  Anyway, I saw one of the guys, which was awesome.  The other guy I wanted to see had the day off.  Bummer.  I spent some time talking to the gal who basically replaced my supervisor.  Nice gal.  I gave her a tip on how to keep the Epson working... it's temperamental and a brat, but it was my baby... and she's going to try that. I also chided her on using after market ink.  That stuff is horrible and can really f-up your printer.  But it wasn't my place to say that.  Not anymore.  Hell, it wasn't my place then.  :shrug:  I have a tendency to take over like the bull I am.  (Taurus, doncha know.)  I spent two years reining the bull in, and now that I don't work there anymore, the bull wants to run through that china shop.  LOL

The roadside blackberries are almost ready.  When I drove by them yesterday, they looked pretty red.  Once they turn black, I can have at them.  As long as no one else gets there first, and the birds leave them alone, and the deer don't find them.  Also, the elderberry plants are about done flowering and they're starting to grow berries.  I'm not sure if I can reach those over the barbed wire fence, but I'm going to try.

Speaking of roadside berries, I belong to a FB page about Missouri backroads and some gal on there was talking about picking roadside blackberries where she lives.  So, see?  I'm not the only weirdo who does that.  ROFL

I did the Wallyworld thing yesterday.  Man, it's hot here and I was all sweaty spaghetti by the time I got home.  But I got everything we needed and some things we didn't need.  My Wallyworld is carrying frozen yogurt, so I picked up one 'half-gallon' of vanilla and one of chocolate.  Yum.  All the yumminess of ice cream with less fat.

Speaking of half-gallons of ice cream... The damn things aren't actually half-gallons anymore and haven't been for a while now, but it still pisses me off when I think about it.  I think Blue Bell still does a full half-gallon, but who can afford that?  Last time I bought Blue Bell, it was like $8 for a half gallon.  Yeowch.  Don't get me started on all the other things that are smaller now but cost more.  Grrrr.

Anyway, it's creeping up on time to call Ma, so I'll leave you with that last thought.  What kinds of thoughts are you having today?

Friday This n That

 Yeah, yesterday got busy first thing and while I did mean to post, it was later by the time I remembered.  Sorry about that.

One of the things I was busy with was Wallyworld.  Man, was it busy in there yesterday morning.  It's usually pretty quiet on a weekday morning, so not sure what was up with that.  Some old dude clipped my elbow with his cart and didn't even say excuse me or sorry or anything.  As I said on FB, I hope all of his Depends have a manufacturing defect.  Anyway, I loaded my cart with groceries - including all kinds of meat - and made it out of there for just over $200.  I take that as a good sign.  There aren't any specific prices I can point to - other than whole turkey breasts for 97c a pound, which could be due to Easter's approach - to show that things are getting better, but I'm optimistic.

The weather's gotten nice here.  I'm trying to walk every day.  2 days in a row so far.  Woot.

We were without phones again.  On the third day, I finally called the phone company - because apparently no one else does that but me.  They said it wouldn't be fixed until the 14th.  As I was headed out yesterday, I crossed paths with a Brightspeed truck coming into the neighborhood and the phone was fixed by the time I got home.  Dial tone!  Yay.

The birds are being really LOUD this morning.  Looking for love and all that.  It's like a big, avian single's bar out there right now. Bow chicka bow bow.

Speaking of love, Hubs saw a baby squirrel yesterday.  Yep, it's about that time when mama squirrels kick their babies out of the hole.  Which ought to remind one that after bow-chicka-bow-bow comes waa-waa-waa, so if you want the first and not the second, there are things that prevent that from happening.  Use one or several.

DYING EMBERS is still free, but only through the end of today.

And that's it for me today.  What kinds of this n that things are it for you?

Sheer Stupidity

As you probably all already know, there's a winter storm headed this way. We knew about this in advance, so I did all my shopping yesterday to make sure we were stocked up.  I had thought to see if Wallyworld had snow shovels - just to have a backup or if we wanted to double-up and work together to move the impending tonnage.  Wallyworld, in their infinite wisdom, has filled the area where they kept all the winter tools with summer stuff.  No snow shovels, but you can buy a lawn mower.  No salt but you can buy hoses.  

I asked a worker if they still had shovels in the back.  The kid blinked his eyes several times, looked at me as though I was speaking another language, and repeated that they don't have any snow shovels.  Did they ship all the snow shovels back to some unknown warehouse?  I don't know.  Apparently so.  I went farther into the store to continue my shopping and ran into another worker.  This one was older and seasoned.  I asked him about the snow shovels.  He gave me a wry grin and said they didn't have any.  He then pointed to an aisle behind him and said they got rid of the space heaters, too.  The aisle he pointed to was filled with fans and AC units.  The only heaters they currently have at my local store are propane camping heaters.  Sure, pick one of those up and asphyxiate yourself.  Woot.

At the time, they were predicting a winter storm that would drop 6-9 inches on us and drop the temps to below freezing.  (The snowfall has since been upgraded to 8-12 inches.)  The people around here are NOT prepared for winter, but the sheer stupidity of the higher-ups at Wallyworld decided February would be the perfect time to shift to summer stock.  

I didn't check the clothing, but I wouldn't have been surprised to find swimsuits and shorts where there ought to be coats and sweaters.

Right now, Wallyworld could be selling the hell out of their cold-weather gear and make huge profits.  Instead, they're pissing people off with items no one in their right minds would buy right now.  No wonder they're losing the battle to places like Amazon where you can find snow shovels in August and bathing suits in December.  

We all joke about them having Halloween stuff out in August and Christmas crap up before the bats and witches are put away for the season, but this is ridiculous.  Don't get me wrong. 90% of the time, I love Walmart, but this stupidity is mindblowing.  

:endrant:

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 6

Six weeks into 2025 and I'm feeling pretty good about life in general.  Specifics?  Eh, the jury's still out.

I finished the second round of edit notes on Tuesday, took a day off, and began inputting them.  I'm only at pg38, but it's going well.  I guess.  I'm trying to just go from note to note, but I keep finding things I missed making notes on, so it's going slower than anticipated.  Like I said, I won't meet my goal of having this finished by Valentine's Day.  Not even close.  I am shooting for before the end of the month now, but that will depend on how fast I can get these notes entered, the next pass through and notes completed, sent out to readers and how quickly they turn it around back to me.  Then there will be formatting, etc.  Actually, typing all that out now makes me wonder if I can have this done by Easter.  (And I don't know when Easter even is this year.)

I did some marketing this week.  Not nearly enough.  I slacked off on this one.  Project Hermes did move 71 copies and had some page reads, though.  Tomorrow, Dying Embers starts its freebie week in celebration of its ten year anniversary.  Woot.

Reading still isn't happening.  I can't seem to muster the urge to read right now.  :shrug:  This, too, shall pass.

In baking news, all I made this week was Italian bread pizza.  It's like French bread pizza, but with a loaf of Italian bread.  Big shocker there, eh?  Anyway, it was totally yummy, and I still have half a loaf of bread left to make it again sometime this week.  Also, this week, we need cinnamon rolls.  We ate the last two a couple days ago and I'm jones'n.  Oh, and I plan on making carrot cake this week.  Maybe today.  I bought a huge bag of carrots for this purpose and for the beef stew I made yesterday.  OMG, that stew turned out amazing.  Yummers.

On the activity front, I did something active 5 out of 7 days.  Cleaning, walking, woods work, etc.  Oh, and I went fishing one afternoon.  I didn't catch anything, but lugging the gear around after ages of not going fishing was a real workout.  Speaking of real workouts, day before yesterday, in addition to my puttering around in the woods, I lugged a couple dead dogwood tree trunks up the hill.  And I paid for every inch of both the trees and the climbs.  Dogwood is not a light wood.  OMG, ouch.  I'm still feeling that one.  Weight as of Wednesday: 173.0

I found a couple really neat rocks in the woods, too.  One of these days, I should take pictures of all my neat rocks and let y'all see them.  Anyway, one of them was small and has interesting differently colored stripes in it.  The other is bigger and has some kind of translucent brown mineral layered into the white base rock.  Not sure what it is, but it's cool, so home it came.  Hey, Hubs didn't tell me this time, as he often does, not to bring any rocks back with me, so I went for it.  LOL

Yesterday, I hit Wallyworld ahead of the coming weather scuz.  And this morning I remembered that I forgot coffee :gasp: and some other essential, but less important, things.  This means a Dollar General run shortly.  

And that's about all I have for you today.  I hope wherever you are, life is good for you, too.  Have a great day!  And leave me a comment or two when you get a chance.  

Sunday Update - Week 12

Another Sunday morning and here I am...

Work was work, so let's get that out of the way.  My customers love me.  I got some nice kudos. I've made friends with the UPS dude.  (Never underestimate the power of making friends with the guys who deliver the stuff you need.)  I got paid again.  It's all good, baby.  Let's see if anything interesting happened beyond that...

I finally finished the non-fiction I was reading.  Yay.  I'm now into a Phyllis Whitney.  

Yesterday, I ran errands.  No Wallyworld trip this time because I had to head north for other stuff, so I just hit the grocery store up there.  And I was super-excited because a north trip means stopping by one of my favorite thrift stores.  Unfortunately, the dang place was closed for remodeling.  Son of a motherless monkey.  Once that was thrown out the door, I at least got to get these awesome little fruit pies Walmart doesn't carry.  And pistachio ice cream.  Yum.  If I can't get books, I can be happy about food.  Yeah, I lead a simple life.

Amazon still hasn't refunded my money from that instant breakfast tragedy.  I even chatted with a live rep who promised they'd get it to me.  Bastards.  Amazon is pissing me off.

Hubs and I took a walk yesterday.  I'm still only at like 3 miles for the year, though.  I really need to get off my dead ass and get some exercise.  Weight: 160-ish.  And I'm back to eating pretty much normal again.

We have discarded the idea of getting a dog.  It's the rational decision.  Dogs are a lot of work and with me gone all day, all that work would fall on Hubs, which isn't fair.  Now, I'm working on convincing Hubs that getting a kitty now would be awesome.  Cats are easy.  And then he'd have someone to keep him company while I'm at the office.

I saw a bald eagle on the way home from errands yesterday.  She was sitting in a tree near the road leading back in to home.  I say she because it was quite light, but I don't know for certain that's a gender-based thing.  :shrug:  Anyway, she was an adult - white head, doncha know - and she looked healthy.  She's probably the last eagle I'll see until late Fall.

 Other than that, not much going on around here.  How was your week?

Sunday Update - Week 6

Another week gone by in a flash.  It seems like just yesterday I was posting a Sunday Update for Week 5.  Derp.  

Once again, not much happened.  Worked a full week.  Good days, bad days... gave myself a good talking to and all is well.  I cannot control the world around me.  I can only control my reactions to it and my actions in it.  Why I have to keep reminding myself of this escapes me.

In reading news, I finally did a wrap-up post yesterday.  Only two Books Read.  Also two DNFs.  :shrug:

I made a pizza yesterday.  Full on, with handmade dough and everything.  My arms are sore today, but it was worth it.  Today, I'm doing a BBQ pork roast.  Yummers.

Making pizza was the only thing even approaching activity last week.  Weight: 161.4.  I can't seem to break the 160 barrier and stay there.  :shrug:  That's fine, really.  If I live out the rest of my life hovering around 160, I'll be happy.  I know my body is happier for dropping those 20 pounds.  I just need to increase my activity level so I'm not one big pile of atrophied muscle.

I saw a raccoon on my way to work on Friday.  He crossed the highway a ways in front of me and was happily walking up the embankment on the other side when I passed him.  Good boy, Rocky.  I see too many of your brethren trying to cross roads and failing.

This cold thing has been a devil to get rid of.  I'm still not at 100%.  Neither is Hubs.  I'm probably at 95% but Hubs has only made it to like 80%.  Of course, I had it first, so he has to catch up.  The last lingering part of it is the cough.  Blerg.  I hope none of you get this.  Talking to Mom up in Michigan, she had it the week before I got mine, so it's not a local thing.  It's not fatal.  It's just a pain in the ass.

Yesterday, I ran errands.  I filled up the car - $3.09 a gallon. Twinge.  Hit the Wallyworld to top off the groceries - $146. Not as bad as I'd feared, but I didn't get that much.  2.25 pounds of 90/10 burger - $11+.  Ouch.  Picked up deer feed.  Whole corn is $11 for a 50 pound bag.  Ouch.  Now that I'm working, it's not hitting us as hard as it would've if I wouldn't, but come on, man. Can we please have Trump back now?

And on that note, I'll let you get back to your regularly scheduled lives.  Have a great day and an awesome week!  :hugs:  Oh, and feel free to tell me about your week.  =o)

Sunday Update - Week 5

 Another exciting week in the life of B.E. Sanderson.  Just kidding... there's no excitement here.

Monday and Tuesday were snow days.  I made it to work the other three days.  Side roads were crap, but the highway was dry, so once I made it out of here I was good until I had to turn onto the road for the office.  And then reverse that when I left.  I'm a Michigan girl, though, so it's no big deal.

I ran errands yesterday.  Dollar General in the morning and then because of a snafu, Wallyworld in the afternoon.  I did meet a funny dude at the Walmart.  He was chatting with the greeter I like and she invited me into the conversation.  I think he might've been a Vietnam Vet.  He was the right age range.  But he also could've lost his legs some other way.  Dude was hilarious and I thanked him for giving me a chuckle before I walked off to shop.  Later, I saw him in the store and he was flying down the aisle in his wheelchair.  I called him a speed demon and he laughed.  Cool guy.

I forgot to post my reading wrap-up yesterday.  There was only one book on it, so I'll leave it for next weekend.  

On the weight/activity scale, the only activity I got was throwing salt in the parking lot.  Weight: 159.4

The cold from hell is still lingering in the house.  Hubs' cough is still present, although it does sound better this morning.  I bought some better cough syrup and cold pills, which he used as soon as I got home.  All my symptoms are almost gone, but now I have this smidgen of a headache.  Yip-pee.

Oh, the snafu.  I picked up a new phone card for Hubs' Tracfone.  No biggie, right?  Well, it wouldn't upload.  I don't know if all y'all have heard about the 3G sunset - wherein 3G devices will no longer work as of some indeterminate date - but apparently Hubs' phone was 3G and his date had passed.  So I ran down to Wallyworld and got him a new phone.   I attempted to set it up last night, but it wouldn't let me do it online, so today I have to call Tracfone and see if I can get them to get his info from the old phone to the new phone.  I am a dinosaur.

Everything else here is pretty much the same. SOS... SSDD... if you're old enough to remember those.  How are things in your world?

Thursday This n That

It's amazing how the absence of one toxic person can lighten the tension for so many other people.  Don't be the toxic person.

I still have turkey leftovers. We've eaten turkey for lunch and dinner every day since Thursday.  Hubs wants to freeze the rest.  Sounds like a plan.  I am about turkey'd out here.

Okay, so today's the first of December.  Where'd the year go?  Now I have to start thinking about Christmas and year-end.  Blerg.

I did already find a couple of neat things to order, but they don't have delayed shipping, so I need to order them so they arrive at just the right time.  I am not good with planning this kind of stuff.  I may just order the stuff this weekend and the moms will get early present delivery.  

The young gal at the office is getting married this month.  She invited me to the wedding.  I passed the invite along to Hubs, already knowing the answer because his answer would be the same as mine - nope.  I thanked her yesterday for the invitation and let her know we wouldn't be coming.  And explained why - we are hermits.  She's cool with it.  I mean, it was super nice of her to invite us.  I'll get her something nice as a present.

Which reminds me that I need to pick up assorted cards when I hit Wallyworld on Saturday.  I need a card for the wedding and one for a birthday, and probably more xmas cards. (I need to do xmas cards this weekend.  Blerg.)

Okay, is it just me or does it seem like it was just June???  How did we get to December here?  

I heard geese yesterday.  They sounded like they were pretty far up, but I couldn't see them.  And the sky was exceptionally blue yesterday, too, so I probably could've spotted them.  :shrug:  Head along south goosey-bros.  See ya in the spring.

And on that note, I'm gonna let ya'll go.  Have a great day!

Sunday Update - Week 45

 Well, hello again.  Let's see if we can rebuild this past week, eh?

No writerly things.  To my amazement, I sold a book.  Woo.  Which meant I needed to update my book sales spreadsheets.  (They were still on September, even though I sold a book in October, too.)  I did that yesterday.

I didn't finish reading anything.  I DNF'd two books before yesterday's post.  I'm DNF'ing the book I started after the post.  It's just weird and I'm tired of trying to make it make sense.  I'm sure it probably does at some point, but meh.

In baking news, I made an apple cranberry crisp last Sunday, then nada.  I do have plans to make a layer cake this week.  I bought pans for it and everything.  I haven't made a layer cake since Owl was a baby.  Wish me luck.

On the activity front, we walked last Sunday and then we went fishing.  Friday, I cleaned the bathrooms at work.  Took me like 20 minutes.  No weight loss this week.  I mean, I got down to 164.4, but then yesterday, I was 166.4, so up and down.  :shrug:

No one made me clean the bathrooms, btw.  I have a low tolerance for scudge in bathrooms. Rather than whine about it, I clean it.  2 bathrooms - each with a toilet and a sink.  I did the floors and the mirrors, too.  Are they perfect?  Nope.  That would take longer and I didn't have longer.  Are they presentable?  Yep.  I also take the garbage out on Fridays because the thought of garbage sitting over the weekend makes me gag.  They're my quirks and I own them.

As for fishing, we didn't catch anything but it was nice to just be at the lake drowning worms with my favorite person.

We got snow Friday night.  It was just a dusting.  Barely enough to make the grass white and leave some on the car.  I can handle that.  No more, though, please.

I went to the thrift store yesterday.  I was looking for an overcoat, but since they didn't have one of those, I picked up 6 books.  4 paperbacks and 2 hardcovers - $2.  Yay.

Work is work.  Like my weight, it's up and down.  The creeping crud is making its way through the staff.  I spent the last two hours of Friday by myself in the office because all the other office staff went home sick.  (I am fine, by the way.)  It was awesome.  I threw a rave.  Hundreds of people showed... :shudder: I can't even joke about that.  I enjoyed the quiet and got some stuff done.  I finally organized the surplus inventory room so it doesn't look like a tornado went through there.  All my filing is done.  Score.

I might zip down to the Wallyworld this morning and see if I can find a turkey that doesn't cost a wing and a drumstick.  (See what I did there? ROFL)  Seriously, though, I've heard turkeys are hard to find and that they're REALLY expensive this year.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Okay, that's probably enough out of me.  Nothing much else is going on.  How are things in your world?

Sunday Update - Week 42

It was a week.  Things happened.  I haven't had nearly enough coffee yet to rebuild what those things are, but I'll try. 

I worked 40 hours... I know that.  And just to set things straight, in case anyone stop by this blog who knows where I work and cares, they fixed the stuff they'd passed over at my 90-day mark.  All is well.  I'm still liking the job.  For the most part.  Say like 90%.  Which is better than most people get and more than I could've asked for.

I read... but I detailed that yesterday.

No baking.  Although, I probably should make Hubs some granola bars today.  

No exercising.  Well, I did sweep the office Friday afternoon, so that's something active, I guess. Weight: 168.2.  Hubs and I are planning to walk today, as long as it isn't super windy, and it's supposed to be super windy.  Derp.

My wrist is still wonky.  Typing and mousing are interesting.  I rearranged my desk at work to give my arm more support.  Yesterday, I bought a wrist brace at Walmart.  It fits good and it would work, but t's too tight around my thumb, so I order a different one online.  It'll be here Wednesday.  I think I know what the problem is - not carpal tunnel - and a brace should help.

I also ordered two sleeveless turtleneck tops.  In black and purple.  To go under my myriad of blazers.  They're cute.  And I got a super cute sweater at Wallyworld.  In olive green.

Speaking of Wallyworld, I did that yesterday.  The cupboards and the fridge/freezer are once again full.  Yay.

I saw a bald eagle yesterday!  I was driving home and it swooped down toward my car, so I got to see it in all its glory.  Big white head, big white tail, big black body.  Stunning.  So, the balds are back in town.  Sing it.  You know you want to.

Other than that, life is what it is.  Anything happening in your world?

Sunday Update - Week 40

Wow.  40 weeks into 2022.  Twelve weeks from 2023.  :shrug:

No writing this week.  Unless you count writing the same verbiage over and over in an endless stream of emails.  Yes, I could copy and paste, but there are sufficient spots where I have to make the emails customer specific and I type fast enough, that no time would actually be saved.  

I didn't finish reading a single book this week.  I'm pretty close to getting that Heinlein thing finished.  Maybe today.

Also, I didn't really do any baking this week.  I did make a big vat of chili yesterday.  Just right for fall weather, I think.

Yesterday, Hubs and I took a 2 mile walk.  I actually don't feel too bad, considering it was the first walk we'd taken in two weeks.  It was a lovely day and we didn't push it.  I was feeling it on the way home, though.  Oof.  Getting up that last hill to the house was a bugger.  

I also did Wallyworld yesterday.  Big fun was had at the pavilion.  (Bonus points if you know the movie that was paraphrased from.)  A while back I discovered the Wallyworld versions of several Little Debbie snacks.  Way cheaper and super yummy.  Not like we actually need Nutty Buddies, Swiss Rolls, and chocolate cupcakes, but who cares?   

Earlier in the week, I was helping move a box through the office.  I was walking backward and bashed my left wrist on a door molding, then about ten feet further on bashed my right wrist on a door knob.  I'm not even sure why there's a door in that spot.  My wrists now look like I was being held hostage.  Fun times.  

Ooo, we have a fox!  We saw him Thursday night, Friday morning, and Saturday morning.  Cool.  He's beautiful with a big fluffy tail and a lovely coat.  (Confession, I don't know if it's a male and I'm not even sure it was the same fox all three times.  Wouldn't it be great if it was a fox family?)  The only issue with having a fox in the neighborhood is it drives the dogs nuts in the middle of the night.  Eh, I'll learn to sleep through the barking.

It's so dry here.  We haven't had any rain since the beginning of September.  They've teased that we would get rain, but it never happened.  Bastards.  The stock ponds in the area are either dry or in full algae bloom.  Hubs is done watering the gardens though.  What lives lives and what doesn't wasn't meant to be anyway.  We're still filling the water pans for the critters, though.  

The bird migration should be coming.  We're already starting to see some of the little birds - warblers and such.  I'm keeping an eye out for eagles.

And that's about it for me today.  How was your Week 40?