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?

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 22

What a week I had.  Let's see if I can reconstruct it...

Okay, so I didn't do anything writerly.  I took the week off from marketing, too.  I didn't even get my spreadsheets ready for June - which is something I have to do today.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

There was reading... see yesterday's post.

I made banana bread and pizza this week.  Woot.  And yum.  The pizza was yesterday, so I'll have pizza for breakfast today.  Yay!

The big update is activity, because I was busy busy this week.  I got in 4.8 miles worth of walks on 4 separate days.  Plus, I did a bunch of errand running, plus groceries.  Unfortunately, it didn't equal weight loss, so... Weight 173.8.  :shrug:  

So, you're saying to yourself, what made you so damn busy?  I guess in the scheme of other peoples' busyness, I wasn't really.  But for me, this was a busy week.  Tuesday, I did groceries.  Wednesday, I went northwest to get my car inspected and then over to the DMV to get my plates and my license renewed. (and pick up Chinese food for lunch.)  Friday, I went northeast to get Hubs' prescriptions and run errands up there - bank, supply store, grocery store, thrift store.  Since I stopped working, I don't get around much anymore.  Anyway, all that made me tired, so here I am.  And yes, I would like some cheese with that whine.

Gardening update... Everything is growing, except the green pepper seeds I planted a week ago yesterday.  I wasn't really expecting anything there, but I wanted to be happily surprised.  :shrug:  The tomatoes are getting tall, but not really spreading out much and no flowers yet, so no fruit on the way.  The little trees are all doing their things.  Yeah, not exciting news.

This week, I really need to weed the beds again, and continue to work on weeding the front rock path.  I also need to vacuum.  The dustbunnies are starting to gain sentience.

What's on your list for last week?  What's on the menu for this week?  

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 21

 I missed last week, which messed me all up, but I'm pretty sure last week was week 21.  Anyway, here goes...

I did some writing.  Not much, so don't get yourself too excited.  Still, it was better than nothing.  I also did some marketing.  Woot.  

Loads of reading, but not many books finished to show for it.  Hey, I did remember to do a Reading Wrap-up yesterday, so go look at that.  I finished a book yesterday, but that'll be on this week's wrap-up.

Last Sunday, I made pizza.  Yesterday, I made pulled BBQ pork.  Woot.  Other than that, nothing exciting to speak of in the baking/cooking category.  I really need to get off my butt and make cookies for Hubs.  He's earned them.

On the activity front, I walked three times for 3.2 miles worth (20.10 YTD), I gardened some, and did a bit of cleaning.  Weight: 172.4, down 1.2 from last week, so whatever I'm doing is working.  Increase activity, decrease food intake.

Gardening... Well, I've been working on cleaning up the rock path in front of the front flower bed.  That's slow going.  Lots of shoveling to turn the rocks over and then bending to pick out the weeds, then smoothing it down and tamping it down.  Patch by patch, so it's still walkable between exertions.  (I can't do the whole path at once anymore.)  Week before last, I repotted a bunch of the little trees into bigger pots.  They seem happy.  My tomatoes are getting big.  I'm seeing some new growth on most of the little trees.  And yesterday, I planted green peppers seeds from the green peppers I used to make deconstructed stuff peppers.  If they grow, they grow.  If not, not much time or money wasted.  

Yesterday, we saw our first fawn of the year.  It was Lumpy's!  Yay!  Then later, when I went for my evening walk, I heard a fawn beeping and looked for it, and there it was with what had to be Sissy.  (She's so tame, it had to be her.)  Double yay.  They had to have been born within the last couple of days.  Aww.  Unfortunately, it's been raining.  And raining.  And raining.  I'm a little worried about those little babies.  They're so tiny. 

Also, we had a HUGE raccoon on our porch the other night.  That hasn't happened in a while.  And we had bobcats tussling in the backyard one night.  Spooky, but cool. 

Okay, I think that's it for me.  I'm sure other stuff happened.  (Like I turned 55 in there somewhere and we had an anniversary.  Oh, and I got TTW's print version approved and up for sale.)  I'll try to be better about posting this week.  I hope you have a happy rest of the weekend and a nice Memorial Day.  :hugs:

Monday Update (Week 20) and Marketing Monday

 Sorry I went dark over the weekend.  I didn't really do anything special, as you will see from the update...

No writing, no editing.  Well, I did get TTW into print form and finished other necessary tasks associated with that, so that's done. Woot.  I marketed RHI to try and whip up some interest.  It went okay and I did sell a couple copies of TTW, so yay.  I'm supposed to be marketing Early Grave even as I type. I even got myself out of bed to do exactly that, but I am unmotivated.  

I read some stuff.  Not a lot of stuff, though, so I decided to save it for this Saturday.

Yesterday, I made pizza.  It turned out really good.  I think I've made enough pizzas now that it's rote. 2 tsps of yeast into 1/4 c of warm water, stir and set aside.  2 1/4 c AP flour into a large bowl, add in a tsp of salt and a Tbsp of sugar. Stir to combine.  Make a well in the center.  Add yeasty water, 1/2 c more of warm water, 2 Tbsp of EVOO.  Stir from the center out with your fingers until it all comes together.  Knead for 7 minutes.  (Use more flour, a little at a time, to keep it from sticking to your hands and everything else.)  Lightly coat the bowl and the ball of dough with more olive oil.  Cover and set somewhere warm to rise for an hour.  Punch it to deflate, set it in the middle of a pizza pan coated with cooking spray, coax out toward the edges in circles until you have the size you want or you reach the edges of your pan.  Top with sauce, cheese, and yummies.  Bake at 475F for 15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.  (I just typed that all from memory, so there ya go.)

It was a semi-active week.  I walked three times for a total of 2.55 miles.  And I got some gardening done.  Then the weather turned crappy.  :sad trombone noise:  Weight: 173.6

Ah, gardening... I planted more volunteer trees into pots.  I now have 6 redbuds, 6 cedars, 5 dogwoods, an oak, a black walnut, and a hickory.  Plus my 6 tomato plants.  Finger crossed they all thrive.  I'm not sure that 5th dogwood will make it.  It was the last of my seeds that sprouted in the fridge and it kinda spent way too much time in the fridge.  It's in a pot in the garage right now, acclimating to not being cold.  :shrug:

I'm sure other stuff went on last week, but I can't think of any of it right now.  Yeah, the annibirthiversary occurred, but it was all quiet and nice and after all the years, there's no need for fireworks for either one.  

Okay, time to get motivated and do marketing stuff, even if I'm starting later than I planned.  To that end...

Starting today, EARLY GRAVE is free until Friday.  (Always free with KU.)  Get your copy of this taut hunt for a serial killer today.  

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CGYBSST

You're never too old to die.

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 18

 Sorry... I overslept.  Now that we're here, though, let's jump right into the weekly update.

I didn't write or edit anything.  Big surprise there, eh?  I did do some marketing for UWC and moved 117 copies of that and a few copies of WIOH.  Not sure what I'll be marketing this week.

I did some reading.  See yesterday's post.

No baking either.  Wait, I take that back.  I made pizza on Sunday.  It was my best pizza yet, so I'm not sure how I could've forgotten it, however briefly.  I'm trying to cut back on baked goods, though, so don't expect to see much about baking for a while.

On the activity front, I've been pretty busy.  I did some cleaning, took a couple walks (for a total of 1.6 miles), reorganized my desk area, got groceries, and did some yard work.  Weight: 173.6

The yard's starting to get back to looking like I give a shit about it.  Things are growing where I want them to grow and things are ceasing to grow where I don't want them.  I spent a chunk of yesterday pulling weeds and making things tidy.  Hubs is helping by mowing the lawn.  It looks nice, if I do say so myself.  

My baby trees are doing well.  Fingers crossed.

Hubs just told me the phone's out again.  It was out last week for a day or so, too.  This is an ongoing battle and I'm this close > < to telling Brightspeed to pound sand and just use my cellphone from here on out.  But I hate talking on my cell phone.  My hand falls asleep and I drop the phone, plus the reception sucks and Mom has a tough time hearing me.  On the upside, every time I call BS, I tell them to take days off my bill.  Pretty soon, they'll owe me.  :snort:

The deer are getting fat pregnant.  Soon, we'll have fawns.  Lumpy is chugging along, but her lump must've burst at some point and she's got nasty stuff hanging off her jaw.  Poor dear.  I don't have great hopes for her or her unborn baby this year.  =o(

I can't think of anything else that happened this week... not anything worth mentioning, anyway... so I'll let you go on about your life.  Have a great day!

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 11

Well, hello again.  I almost forgot it's Sunday and time for my weekly update.  (Yes, I did forget yesterday was Saturday and even though I did have stuff for a Reading Wrap-up, I didn't post one.  Oops.)

So, this past week, I finally finished the edits for Duke Noble #2 (Thicker Than Water... Secrets and Lies... Whatever Title I Think is Better Than Those Two).  It's been sent out to readers.  If you did not receive a copy and you were expecting one, email me.  Right now, it's just about 63000 words.  I don't expect that to change overly much.  That's about 2K less than the first book, but it is what it is.  I could shove more words into it but they'd just be filler.  :shrug:

I did marketing for Cinder Ugly.  Not great turnout, but I didn't push it nearly as much as I should've, so I only have myself to blame.  I need to figure out which book is up for marketing this week.  Stay tuned for that.  It'll be a surprise for tomorrow's Marketing Monday post.

I finally read another book.  Woot.  I'm also about halfway through a third book. Also woot.

In baking news, I made pizza this past week.  It turned out really yummy, so yay.  The plan today is to make carrot cake again.  I still have loads of carrots left and why the hell not?  LOL

On the activity front, I did something active on 4 days, but two of those days had multiple activities.  It was mostly outside/gardening stuff.  No weight update.  I'm chunky and I'm okay with it.

Ah, gardening... I finished the south bed that runs along the garage and 1) put all the irises and lilies back, 2) planted new gladiolas.  Then I worked on cleaning up the other beds for Spring.  On a happy note, not all of my grape hyacinths died in the neglectful times.  They're not blooming, but also not dead.  I still have a lot of work to do to bring my gardens back to nice, but I'll get there.  Oh, another thing I did this past week was pot the dogwoods that germinated in my fridge over the winter.  I ran out of pots, though, so I didn't plant them all.  Now I have new pots, so I'll be planting the remainder of the dogwoods this week, along with the buckthorns.  Everything I planted previously - redbuds and spicebushes - have been watered.  I think this was the week where I also potted a volunteer cedar.  I've named him Clyde.  Fingers crossed everything survives and thrives.

We had weather go through, but it was mostly wind.  No storms and no swirlies.  We lost some dead branches.  Nothing major and nothing damaging to anything else.  We barely got any rain.

I think that's it.  Oh crap, I just remembered a project I was supposed to be working on for the pay-job.  One that I said I'd have ready for them on Monday. Guess what I'll be doing today?  :shrug:  I'll make cake tomorrow.  

Anyway, have a great day.  Peace out.

Thursday This n That

 I started this an hour ago and then got distracted by social media.  There are some really interesting things out there.  And some really awful things.  Some days I can't handle wading through the awful to get to the interesting.  There are also a boatload of ludicrous things.  I was also supposed to do marketing and I woke up in plenty of time, but the time I have left before I call Mom is running out.  I guess I'll market after I talk to Mom.

Yes, I call my mom almost every morning.  She gets Friday and Sunday off from me.  We talk about everything... and nothing.  Sometimes we talk about the same things over and over.  Sometimes we gripe about stuff over and over.  I don't care.  She's not getting any younger and eventually there will come a day when I can't talk to her ever again, so I'm grateful for every word now.  

I need to cut Hubs' hair again.  It's been a while and he's starting to look shaggy.  Plus, it's driving him nuts.  Maybe this afternoon I'll finally get 'er done.  I would've done it yesterday, but my wrist was giving me trouble after Tuesday's pizza kneading.  

I love making pizza, but it's hell on the wrists.  Oo, that reminds me... I'm out of cinnamon rolls.  Lucky for me, those don't require a lot of kneading.  

Oh, I finished the 5th draft of my manuscript last night.  And I sent it off to my first reader.  I need to contact others to see if they're still willing and able to read for me.  I'm still torn about the title, so for ease's sake, let's just call it DN2.  Now that it's off to be read, I need to work on cover art.  And maybe get back to writing again.  But not today.  Today is a day of rest.  And reading other people's books.

Tra la la.

Okay, I need to go use the little writer's room, fill my coffee mug, and get ready to call Ma.  Have a great day out there, folks.  And leave a comment if you're so inclined.  Thanks!

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 9/1/24

Good Morning.  It's a whole new month, but let's wrap-up the old month, eh?

I didn't do anything writerly last week.  (That kinda reminds me of the scene in History of the World, Part One when Mel Brooks' character is applying for unemployment as a stand-up philosopher - "Did you bullshit last week?")  I did think about what I'm going to be doing next and the odds-on favorite is another Duke Noble.  I mean, from a sales standpoint, if I can crank out a bunch of these in a row, they'll sell better.  At least, that's the theory.  My other thought is doing the next book in the Shroudlands series.  I would need to start over, of course.  What I've already written isn't thrilling me.

I didn't do any marketing last week other than to set up a sale that starts today.  This morning, I hit all the FB Groups with the following ad: "For the first time ever, get my epic YA fantasy - SONG OF STORM & SHROUD - for only 99c.  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09W745M6P"  Not the most scintillating marketing copy I've ever written, but I had just gotten up and the coffee hadn't kicked in yet.  Anyway, the sale goes through to the end of Saturday, so if you haven't read SSS yet, now's the time.

And hey, if you've ever read any of my books and liked them, if you could drop a review at Amazon, I would be eternally grateful.  Poor SSS only has one review.  =o( (On the brightside, it's a 5-star )

In reading news... well, you can go to yesterday's post for most of that.  I did finish another book yesterday, but that'll be on next week's wrap-up.

On the activity front, I got in 3 walks for just over 3 miles and I vacuumed the entire house (which is no mean feat).  I also ate like a horse, so the weight went up - Weight: 171.4

I made more pizza.  Hubs thinks I've achieved 'professional pizza' status.  I should've taken a picture so you can bask in the glory that is my homemade pizza.  There's still one piece left, which by rights belongs to Hubs.  If he doesn't eat it today, though, all bets are off.

This week, I noticed several message requests on FB.  They were all scammers wanting to sell me publishing services.  I've never had that happen before, so I guess I've arrived.  LOL  (Yes, they're all blocked now, but I didn't delete the messages.  They're kinda funny.)

Okay, well, I guess that's it for me today.  If I think of anything else important, I'll add it later.  Time for more coffee.  And maybe a walk.  have a great day.  Oh, and if you're so inclined, leave a comment and let me know how your week went.

Sunday Update 8/11/24

 Well, wouldja look at that... it's Sunday again.  Let's get started.

I didn't have the best writing week and it's all on me.  I got a little lazy.  Even so, I did manage to get 3452 words out.  The WIP is now at 33507.  I still have no idea where I'm going, but I'm forging ahead with the great hope that this will all get figured out in edits.

Dying Embers and the other SCIU books were on sale this week.  DE was free and the other two were 99c.  I moved 75 books - 73 free and one each of the others.  Not quite as good as the last sale.  :shrug:  I discovered mid-sale that the Amazon rankings were messed up and not moving at all, which probably screwed me for residual sales based off those rankings.  I had a great first day which probably would've put DE in the top 100 free suspense category.  Then :sad trombone noise:  Hopefully they get it fixed before I run another sale.  All of this is hard enough with glitches in the system.

This past week, I made Raisin Applesauce cake, which was awesome.  Then later in the week, I made a big batch of PB&C Oatmeal Cookies.  What are those, you ask?  Peanut butter and chocolate oatmeal cookies. Total yumminess. I posted the recipe to my FB page.  If you don't have FB or don't follow me and want it, let me know. (And if you don't follow me, please do.)  I also made pizza yesterday.  I got the dough all done and raised.  I cut it in half for two small pizza and got half of it on the pan.  Then I went to get out the toppings and discovered I was out of shredded cheese.  Derp.  All I had in the way of cheese was cheddar slices and American slices.  Not really pizza cheese and I wanted pizza.  So, I hopped in the car, drove ten minutes out to the Dollar General.  I got the last 2 packs of mozzarella they had and I also bought a brick of cheddar to make tacos today.  Anyway, the pizza got made, but while I was gone, the dough on the pan continued to rise (naturally), and the pizza actually turned out better.  I plan to do this on purpose from now on - let the dough rise on the pan for 20-30 minutes.  

On the activity front, I got in three walks for 2.7 miles, not counting walking while I grocery shop.  I also did some cleaning.  I haven't lost any weight, but with all those yummy baked goods to eat, it's no wonder.  

The day I went grocery shopping, I stopped in at the old office.  I got big hugs from my two guys who were in at the time.  Yay.  I do miss my guys.  I crapped out on seeing one of my other guys by 30 minutes, which kinda sucks, but stuff happens.  The place hasn't burned down or imploded since I left, which is good.  I really don't wish them ill, I had just had enough and it was time for me to get back to being me again.  

Other than that, not much else going on.  The baby deers are getting big.  The baby kitties are doing fine.  So is Hubs.  And the rest of my family.  Tomorrow Owl turns 31.  (How am I old enough to have a kid who's 31??)

How are things in your world?

Sunday Update 8/4/24

 :blink blink: It's morning, isn't it?  Bleh.  :chugs coffee:  Okay, let's see if we can rebuild the week.

I wrapped up JuLoWriMo on Wednesday night.  And only wrote one day since then.  I did put out over 1300 words that night, but I'm guessing that I still didn't acquire the habit of writing every day if it was so easy to not write.  Gotta work on that.  The book is at 30055 words now.  

Yesterday, I did set up the SCIU books to run this week as a sale.  Dying Embers will be free.  Fertile Ground and Early Grave will be 99c (US and UK only).  I updated one of my previous sale graphics to go with it, which I'd show you but Google won't let me access the damn thing.  Derp.

I forgot to post a Reading Wrap-up this week.  It wasn't exciting or anything.  I only read one book.  I'll add that to next week's post.

In baking news, I made homemade pizza again.  Woohoo.  Otherwise, it really is too damn hot to bake.  Today, I'm going to make a pork roast in the crockpot.  It'll be yummy and still not add too much to the house heat.

On the activity front, Monday I walked the loop here - 1.1 miles of terrain.  Unfortunately, they've re-graveled the unpaved portion and it kinda makes for unsure footing.  I didn't fall, but I slipped around a couple times and must've pulled my calf muscle.  That sucker hurt.  This basically shut down my walking for the rest of the week.  It's finally feeling okay again, so I'll try to get a walk in this morning.  I also need to get back to cleaning.  Weight: 170.2

I don't think I've mentioned it, but I started doing crossword puzzles again.  We get a magazine from our electric company every month and each one has a crossword in the back.  Being the packrat I am, I have several years worth of the magazines, so I'm working my way through the puzzles.  Each time I complete a puzzle, I throw the magazine out.  Exercising the brain AND decluttering.  Go me.  (Not really a lot of exercise for the brain. The puzzles are kinda lame.  Plus, I cheat at crosswords.)

Oh, I almost forgot.  We were without phones again - Monday through Friday night.  They're back, but I'm not holding my breath that they'll stay that way.  The techs are doing the best they can, but the equipment out here is in desperate need of an upgrade and Brightspeed isn't interested in spending the money for an area that brings in so little revenue.  I get it, but it sucks.  We're still back and forth with the idea of ditching the landline altogether.  We'll see.  UPDATE: as of 9:45am, we are without phone again.  For the record, I hate Brightspeed.  If you can avoid using them, do so.

Other than that, not much really going on around here.  The life is pretty boring, which is good thing.  After two years of stress-stress-stress, it's a needed break.  

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)

Tuesday Update?

Okay, so I totally brainfarted out on the Sunday Update and then I was going to do it yesterday, but I forgot.  So here we are.  Stupid holiday weekend.  Don't even get me started on 'Labor Day'.  

I spent a lot of this past weekend reading.  Finished the book I had been reading last week on Sunday.  Made it most of the way through another book yesterday.  Good times.

I baked a lot, too.  Well, on the weekend anyway.  I made cake cookies on Sunday.  Then yesterday, I made biscuits in the morning and homemade pizza in the afternoon.  Something went wonky with the pizza dough.  I used all the right measurements, I swear I did, but the dough was really wet.  I added more flour and more flour and still more flour.  And I probably kneaded the damn stuff for 15 minutes.  (Which I am paying for this morning with ouchie arms.)  In the end, it worked out, though.  I was afraid it would be bland, but I brushed the dough with a butter, garlic salt, Parm mixture and it was yummy.  I did end up with two pizzas out of it.  I did one pepperoni, mushroom, olives and the other pepperoni, ham, mushrooms.  Loads of leftover slices.  Yay.  Lunch and dinner!  

In the realm of activity, Hubs and I took a walk one night after dinner.  Then Saturday, we worked together to clean the car.  We did the windows and vacuumed and scrubbed the dashboard.  Detailing... yeah, that's it.  Anyway, Callie's the newest looking 19 year old car on the road, man.  After we were done, Hubs took her for a spin and got gas for the lawn mower.  Then he spent yesterday mowing the lawn.  Oh, and I lost some more weight.  Weight: 170.2.

Because I had the time, I did some research for work, too.  Saves me from having to do it today, so yay.

The fawns are starting to lose their spots.  :sniffle:  

I saw a frog.  That might not seem noteworthy to you, but it was a big leopard frog and I probably haven't seen one of those since I was a kid.  I spent a lot of kid time playing with leopard frogs.  Sadly, this one did not want to play with me and he hopped away.  We get lots of toads here and the occasional tree frog, but leopard frogs... I knew they were in Missouri, but I'd never seen one here.  Yay.

And that's about it.  Exciting stuff, eh?  How have things been in your world?  Did you have a nice long weekend?  

Pizza!

There's nothing quite like homemade pizza.  Hot and fresh and probably better for you than frozen pizza.  And it's super simple.  

Here's my recipe...

Pizza Crust

2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 T white sugar
2 tsp yeast
3/4 warm water
2 T olive oil
Extra flour for dusting (may take 1/2-1 cup)
Extra olive oil for coating the bowl

Start off by putting the yeast in a small bowl.  Add 1/4 cup of the warm water.  Stir and set aside.  In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and sugar until combined.  Make a well in the center.  Pour in the yeast mixture.  Put the remaining 1/2 cup of warm water into the yeast bowl, swirling and stirring until all the yeast residue is incorporated and then pour that into the flour well.  Add the olive oil to the well.  Wash your hands well and then starting in the center of the well, using your fingers, stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  (I do concentric circles outward with one hand, keeping the other goo-free.)  

Now, here's my weird part.  I knead my dough right in the bowl.  When you've got it all mixed together, dust your gooey hand with flour and get all the dough off and into the bowl.  Smoosh that into the dough as you go.  Knead the dough for 7 minutes, dusting in more flour every time you start sticking to the dough again.  When the timer goes off, you should have a round ball of dough and a clean bowl.  Sparingly coat the bottom and sides of the bowl with olive oil.  Put the dough ball into the bowl, turning it until the dough is covered with oil.  You just want enough oil that the dough doesn't stick to the bowl while it's rising.  Cover with a slightly damp dish towel and put in a warm place for 1-2 hours or until it's roughly doubled in size.  How long you let it rise depends on how warm your place is.  Summers here, I put the bowl out on the sun porch and it takes an hour to rise.  Winters, I put the bowl in my bathroom and leave all the lights on.  Then it takes about 2 hours to rise.

Start preheating the oven now.  475F

Once it's risen to where you want it, punch the dough ball.  Right in the center.  One hit... pow.  Now, here's the other weird part for me.  I don't knead the dough again.  No more kneading.  Seriously.  You've done enough damage to your wrists already.  Just take the dough ball, upside up, and place it in the middle of a large pizza pan (mine's 16") that I've already sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  Gently coax the dough, in concentric circles, from the center out to the edge of the pan.  If I want a thicker crust, I don't go all the way to the edge.  The closer you get to the edge, the thinner the crust.  

Here's a yummy thing I do next that isn't necessary, but is oh so good - melt like 3 tablespoons of butter in the microwave, stir in garlic salt, and brush that on the crust before you add your toppings.  Outer crust, if you like, or all of it, if you're feeling naughty.  THEN sprinkle the edge with Parmesan.  Mmmmmm.  Then put your toppings on.  Do it up however you like it.  I usually do pizza sauce and mozzarella, then add my toppings.  Last night, I did ham, pepperoni, mushrooms, and black olives.  

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbly.  If you like a little brown on your cheese, hit the broiler for like a minute or two max.  Take it out and let it cool for like 5 minutes before slicing and serving.  I got 12 slices out of last night's pizza.  We ate four pieces and the rest went into the fridge for munching today.  And probably tomorrow.  LOL

You can also take the dough, cut it in half after you punch it - use one for dinner and the other can go into a baggie and into the freezer.  If you do that, take it out of the baggie while it's still frozen and thaw in the fridge in an oiled bowl.  Trust me, you do not want to thaw it in the baggie.  It sticks and it's messy.  Half the dough makes like one medium thin crust or one small thick crust.

And there ya go.  Pizza.  You made yourself.  Your way.  With a tender, yummy crust.  And bones you won't want to throw away.  (Mom always called the edge part the bone, and yeah, I've throw away many a bone in my life.  But not these.)

One last point... if you're not used to kneading, be prepared to have ouchy hands, wrists, and arms the next day.  Mine are killing me today.  It's totally worth it, but I'm giving you fair warning.  ;o)

What do you like on your pizza?

Thursday This n That

Yesterday I made turkey stew and drop biscuits.  Hubs was happy.

In case you're not familiar with drop biscuits, they are what they sound like - you drop heaping spoonfuls of biscuit dough onto the baking sheet and throw it in the oven.  Drop biscuits are for when you're too lazy to make rolled biscuits.  I used the same recipe minus the whole flouring the counter and rolling the dough out and folding it and rolling it and folding it and rolling it.  Less work and less mess.  Have to note, though, that they take less time in the oven.  Last night's batch was a little overly browned.

I find making rolled anything is a huge pain in the buns.  Which is why I bought cinnamon rolls yesterday.  I have had a huge craving for cinnamon rolls and I've looked at numerous recipes for same.  But every time I think about making them, I think about all the rolling and mess involved and then don't make them.

Ahem, my pizza does not require rolling and I knead the dough right in the bowl.  Less mess. I take the risen dough and slap it onto the middle of the pizza pan and then gently coax the dough to the edges of the pan while constantly turning the pan.  :shrug:  It works for me.

The story I posted a snippet of yesterday is rolling along.  1400+ new words last night.  Like I said, it's noir and it's kind of a throw back to Spillane and his contemporaries.   

I mailed my Christmas cards out yesterday.  The final count, if I remember right, was 27.  If you got one last year and don't get one this year, blame the USPS.  They're off to MI, FL, CO, CA, OK, NM, and one to Nova Scotia.  (:waves at my lone Canadian friend:  You probably won't see it until after Christmas, but that's how things go for us.)

While doing cards, I turned on Christmas music for the first time this year.  Still haven't put up the tree.  Maybe today.

Apropos of nothing, I'm up to 4.6 million 'dollars' in play money poker.  Considering I only play at the table where the most I can buy in for is 20K, I think that's pretty sparky.

Okay, I've run myself out of things to yat at you about.  What's on your mind today?

 

Sunday Update - Week 46

Oh, what a night.  Apparently, some tornado stuff was swirling around the area.  We're fine here.  When the sun comes up, we'll see what damage, if any, there is to the outside.  At one point, it sounded like a large limb came down.  And there was hail.  Weeee.  As long as all my car windows are intact, I'll be content.

I actually did start the week out with writing.  I got about 750 words out.  Then crickets.  The books are also swirling around but in my head.  When I get them sorted out, I'll probably be able to write more.

Marketing... ahem... The first two books of A Model Curse are still on sale - through to midnight tonight - but I fell down on marketing them.  It's hard to market when you don't see results from the marketing efforts.  

I only finished one book before the wrap-up went out yesterday.  Then yesterday, I inhaled the rest of the other book I was reading.  I'll talk about that one on Saturday.

In baking news, I made brownies.  Oh, so good.  And yesterday, I made homemade pizza.  Always yummy.  I think I've already posted those recipes, so they're not here.  If you missed them and want them, let me know.

The other day, Mom said something about not knowing if one of her cousins was still alive, so I did some genealogy stuff.  As far as I can tell, Cousin Shar is still with us, but one of her daughters is gone and one of her grandsons.  

Let's not talk about exercise, activity, or weight this week, eh?

We saw another different buck in the yard.  A little four point with symmetrical antlers.  Not to confused with the little four point whose antlers look like hooks.  So, now there's Arthur, Lear, Captain, Val, and Spike.  Lumpy is still coming for food, sometimes with the twins and sometimes without.  I don't know if I've ever mentioned White Legs, but she's here, too.  (Her two front legs are white.)  And now we're starting to see other does with white legs, so she's passing on her genes.  Yay.

And that's about it for me today.  How are things in your world?

Homemade Pizza

I don't know if I ever shared my pizza crust recipe...

Pizza Crust

2 tsp activated yeast
1/4 cup warm water

2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup warm water

Additional flour as needed.

In a small bowl, stir the yeast together with the 1/4 cup warm water, set aside.  In a large bowl, sift the flour and the salt together.  Make a well in the center.  Add the yeast mixture.  Pour the 1/2 cup of warm water into the yeast bowl and swirl to get the last of the yeasty goodness.  Add that to the flour.  Add in the olive oil.  Using your fingers, slowly incorporate the wet into the dry, starting from the center and pulling the dry into the wet until it's all combined.  Once you get all the dough off your fingers, flour your hands and begin kneading - stopping frequently to re-flour your hands.  Knead for 7 minutes.  (I knead it right in the bowl.  Cuts down on the mess.)  Once the kneading is done and you have a nice ball of dough, oil the bowl and the ball of dough.  Cover the bowl with a towel and set it somewhere warm for an hour - or until the ball doubles in size.  Punch the risen dough ball in the center, so it collapses. Take the dough and slap it into the center of a greased* pizza pan.  Work it from the center outward, spinning the pan as you go, until it's the size of pizza you want.  I can get a 16" thin crust out of this recipe.  Sometimes, I cut the dough in half after punching, use half to make a smaller pizza and freeze the other half for next time.

I do not knead the dough after it rises.  It makes the crust tough and I don't like doing it.

Once you top it with your favorite stuffs, bake it at 475F for 15-20 minutes or until the edges of the crust start to brown.  (We like this crust browner, so I usually end up going the full 20.  Your mileage may vary.)

I've also brushed the outer crust with butter, which is nice sometimes.  I may try adding a seasoning to the dry part of this and see how that goes.  I'm thinking a little oregano.

Anyway, that's the crust I always make.  I've screwed with the recipe a couple times, but this is the one that works best. 

Yeah, making pizza crust can be a pain in the butt (and the wrists), but I think it's worth it.  I know Hubs appreciates it.  Pizza night here is cause for celebration and much woohoo'ing. 

Have you ever made your own pizza crust?

*I use non-stick cooking spray.

Thursday This n That

I made pizza again yesterday and as I was kneading the dough I reminded myself it was totally worth it to get pizza.  This morning, I have to remind myself again.  Someday, the scales may tip in the wrong direction and it won't be worth all the effort to get pizza, but today is not that day.  (The hands are begging to differ this morning, but they can shut the hell up.)

On a totally related note, YAY ALEVE! YAY ASPERCREME!

I also made a cake yesterday, but it was boxed, so no effort there.  Strawberry cake with chocolate frosting (also cheater).  With ice cream.  And fresh strawberries on the side.  And Owl made fresh whipped cream.  It was all totally yummy.

Additionally, Owl and I did the Wallyworld haul for the month.  Gah.  Totally surreal in there.

Yes, totally is the word of the day.

I'm still writing every day.  Yay!  This is the longest sustained effort I've put into anything in longer than I can remember. 

I haven't finished a book this week.  Thus far, it's DNFs all the way down.  More about that on Saturday.

Yesterday, I was sitting out in the smoking room when something flashed by the windows.  (The windows are about 12-14' up from the ground back there.)  Beauregard, our broad-winged hawk, moving fast on his way somewhere else.  It must be the week for seeing interesting birds. 

My hairy woodpecker scratches are healing nicely, by the way.

Other than that, not much going on around here.  What's on your this-n-that radar today?

Thursday This n That

I caught the teeniest little bass the other day.  I would've thought it was a big minnow except for the perfect spotted bass coloring and markings.  So cute.  Run along little baby bass and grow up big so when I catch you again you can come home with me.  Get in my belly!

Speaking of getting in my belly, I've been making different dishes for dinner lately.  I did the baked meatball thing and the steak and redear sunfish night.  This week we've had breaded pork chops with scalloped potatoes and then pizza subs.  Gotta keep it interesting.

Does anybody still make pizza subs anymore?  I remember them being a huge thing in the late eighties and it seems to me that a lot of places had them on the menu.  Now?  Well, I don't eat out so I don't know, but years ago when I was eating out all the time, they weren't really there anymore.  Anyway, I got to thinking about how much I loved them so I made them.  So good.

If you want something that involves someone I care about to be kept a secret, you probably shouldn't include me.  If I think they need to know, I'll tell them.

I stopped yesterday and dropped off a couple books to my best in-person friend.  She told me she reads slow and she didn't know when she'd get them back to me.  So, I let her in on how I work.  (I was surprised this hadn't come up before, actually.)  You see, I don't loan books.  Ever.  If I hand you books, they're yours now.  Years ago, I would loan books out and then they'd either never come back or they'd come back creased or dogeared or whatever, and then I'd get irritated.  Life's too short.  If I give the book to you, I never worry about it again.  And then you don't have to worry about it either.  Yay.  Anyway, she'd never read Vince Flynn, so I gave her my copy of his first book, Term Limits.  And I gave her the book I just finished reading, The Assassin by Stephen Coonts.  Then we talked about other authors.  She'd never read Spillane, so I turned her onto him.  I love talking about books.  I know, duh, right?

Okay, I'd better get cracking on this spreadsheet I have to have done this morning.  Have a great day everyone.

Your turn to dish with the this-n-that's.

Thursday This n That

I typically do dishes in the morning.  My mother would shudder in horror.  She hates leaving dishes in the sink.  I, too, hate waking up to a sink full of dirty dishes.  But I hate doing dishes at night even more.  Except when I'm writing.  Taking a break to do dishes is kind of my thing.

Hubs gave me an awesome idea for a novel.  I wrote it on a napkin because, oddly enough, I have no paper by my recliner right now.  I have no clue how to implement this awesome idea, but it's preserved for when I'm ready for it.  It's kind of Project Hermes meets Blink (for the those of you who haven't read those - and why not? - that would be political thriller meets dystopian.)

I was supposed to make french bread pizza yesterday.  Wallyworld had some nice french bread loaves on sale and that would save me from having to make pizza dough. But we went fishing yesterday afternoon and by the time we got home I was tired, so we had salad instead.  Today... today I will make pizza.

Despite having assured us that we would have a week with no rain, we got rain yesterday morning and last night and this morning.  Thanks, weatherpeople.  Bleh.

Paranormal Suspense ought to be a genre category we can use on Amazon.  I just read a really neat one that makes me want to write one.

I got a jury information thingie in the mail.  I have ten days to fill it out and return it or they will... wait for it... make me come in to fill it out.  I expected like a much harsher punishment for ignoring my jury thing - contempt of court or something.  Anyway, once I fill it out, I'll be in the jury pool for the next six months.  This is like the fourth time I've been in the jury pool in six years.  I got picked once, but they cancelled the trial.  We'll see what happens this time.

We saw the first fawn of the year.  Not well enough to get a picture, but we saw it.  We saw mom in the woods and then Hubs thought he saw something smaller and brown near her.  Then when she walked off, we both saw the fawn scrambling to catch up.  So cute!

Okay, that's it for me today.  What's on your this n that radar today?