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 18

Well hello there.  It's Sunday.  It's morning.  It's time for an update.  This week was a busy one for me and I am understandably both tired and sore.

I spent a lot of time this week on the deck garden.  Last Sunday, due to critter carnage, I moved the entire garden worth of pots inside.  About half of the pots went into the garage and the other half went into the sunroom.  The potato pots are huge, so we're talking probably 30-40 pounds each, but I did it. (Hubs' back is toast right now, so I've been doing stuff myself rather than have him lift and carry.)  I also thinned the carrots.  

My new greenhouse arrived.  It's a beaut.  Not a large enclosure at roughly 5x5x6.5, but large enough.  Hubs helped me put that sucker together on Friday and I populated it with all the plants that can handle full sun.  Not that the deck gets a whole lot of full sun, but enough that it would probably kill my redbuds.  Then to further discourage the critter, I put blocks all the way around it - each block sitting on the edge of the plastic greenhouse cover.  This will also give the greenhouse some stability in the wind, so yay.  The three mornings since I put the greenhouse together have been carnage free, so yay to that, too.  (I haven't taken any pics yet, so if you want to see the greenhouse I bought, click the link.  It's still on sale as of this morning, if you want one, too.)

When I ordered the greenhouse, I also ordered a game camera.  That arrived on Friday, but I haven't put it out yet.  I did set it up and managed to take several pictures of my hands.  It's not the wifi kind, so I'll have to take it down and plug it into the computer if I want to see the pics, but I'm okay with that.  

I've been feeding the deer all week, so Hubs can rest his back.  The deer are getting fat pregnant.  I always feel so bad for them, waddling around the yard.  Judging by the size of their bellies, they might drop fawns earlier this year.  We'll see.

Friday, I went grocery shopping.  Wallyworld was a zoo.  Anyway, while I was there, they had a bunch of beef marked down, so I ended up getting a London Broil.  I'd never cooked one of those, but it was cheap and cheap beef is hard to find.  I took half of that and threw it in the crockpot with spaghetti sauce and mushrooms, and we had my version of steak pizziola last night for dinner.  Yummers.

I did some marketing this week.  Not a huge amount of books moved, but eh, it's better than nothing.  The start of a new month makes my KDP dashboard look so depressing with it zeroes across the board.  Having numbers there, even if they're small, helps.  Not sure what will be on the Marketing Monday rota tomorrow.

And since I started this over an hour ago and it's been sitting here forgotten as I scroll through X and FB, I think I'm probably done.  Have a great day and a wonderful week.  :hugs:

Sunday Update - 2026 Week 14?

 Well, crap... it's Sunday again, isn't it?  Since I can't figure out what day it is most of the time, you shouldn't be surprised that I'm not sure what week it is.  Anyway...

Nope on the writing / editing.  I'm having stern talks with myself.  I may banish myself with my Kindle and my notepad to the spare room until I finish editing the damn book I should've finished editing months ago.  I think the main problem here is I'm stuck in the 'I suck and I hate this book' mindset, so it's hard to make progress on something you're pretty sure stinks.  And if you suck, how can you fix something that stinks?  :shrug:

Yep on the marketing.  Not a banner week, but still, something is better than nothing.  No clue what's going to be on the block for this week.

No reading.  Seriously, I don't think I even picked up my book last week.  Derp.

No baking happened, but I did make ham & bean soup yesterday.  It turned out really yummy and it used up the last of my Easter ham, so yay.

I was pretty active this past week - mostly with the deck garden.  I did take two hard-target walks for 1.75 miles.  I also did some cleaning and furniture moving.  I'm also trying to eat better - more salads, less crap.  Unfortunately, I stepped on the scale yesterday and had gained two pounds.  Derp.  Weight: 179.4

As for gardening, I have all my produce seeds/plants in the ground now - potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, and green peppers.  We'll see how those go.  I realized yesterday that I fucked up with Pedro.  I was supposed to cover him with dirt while he was still small - to encourage root growth.  But I was so pleased with Pedro's growth, I totally forgot to mound him in dirt.  He is pretty spectacular.  I'll mound the other potatoes.  

I spent some time shopping this week - Tractor Supply and Wallyworld.  I do love Tractor Supply, and they had dirt 'buy one get one 50% off', so I had that going for me.  Yes, I am a redneck.  Wallyworld was Wallyworld.  

Oh, I saw Beauregard the Broad-Winged Hawk twice this past week.  One time, he flew beneath the smoking room windows, so I got a really close view of him.  He's pretty awesome.  On another bird note, the Barred Owls have been hanging out close to the house, so we've heard them hooting for a few nights/mornings in a row.  This morning, one of them must have been in the yard because the hooting was really loud.  Awesome.

And that's about it for me.  I need to figure out what I'm going to do today and try to avoid sitting in front of the TV for the majority of it.  A walk is in order, definitely.  The rest?  Time will tell.  Have a great day wherever you are.  

Thursday This n That

Yesterday, I got a wild hair to mop the smoking porch floor.  First, I had to vacuum, then I had to move all the furniture to one side, then I mopped.  Wait for it to dry, repeat with the other side.  Yes, I'm paying for it today.  Even though Hubs did help move furniture.  Ah, well, it looks nice and it smells good.  Murphy's Oil Soap for the win.

Today, it's a Wallyworld trip.  I need groceries, but I also need a new coffee maker.  This one isn't dead yet, but it's on its last legs.  And I need a new phone.  This one is only holding a charge for about a 45 minute call and I like to talk to Mom for about an hour.  It's really annoying when it starts its low-battery beep before I'm done talking.

Dollar General ice cream is better than Walmart ice cream.  There, I said it.  And I mean it.

I'm really getting jazzed about my new wood carving hobby.  My tools are supposed to be here tomorrow.  Yay.  Yesterday, I researched wood while I was waiting for the floor to dry.  Turns out cedar is excellent to carve, which is good because we have A LOT of cedar.  Yay.  I'll practice on that before I dive into the better woods.  I'm thinking about carving beavers on my pieces of beaver-chewed wood.  I know that a little obvious, but it works for me.

DE is still flying off the shelves.  I'm up to 562 downloads.  And now I'm seeing page reads, so there's another yay.

Hubs made me dinner last night, bless his heart.  I was bushed.  

When is Easter?  :googles:  Sunday, April 5th.  Whew, I don't need to think about it for another month.  Not that we do anything special, except dinner.  Easter dinner is always a thing.

We've been watching Killing Eve.  Yeah, I'm probably the last person to watch it.  I had to wait until it was free, so there's that.  Anyway, it's really good so far.  Although, it seems to me that Sandra Oh is just making Eve be Christine Yang as a spy rather than a surgeon.  :shrug:  I'm okay with that.  I liked Yang.  We also found a neat medical drama called Monroe.  It's kinda like House, but Monroe is nicer and he has a brogue.  Love me some Irish brogue.

Okay, I should probably get off my butt and do my shopping.  Have a great day wherever you are.  :hugs:

Thursday This n That

Rumors of my death are probably circulating.  Don't believe them.  I'm not dead, even if I would've wished for it after a week of this creepy crud.  Just when you think you're done with it, it circles back and kicks you in the nards.  Today, I almost feel human, so fingers crossed.  Yesterday, I felt almost human and zipped to the DG for a few things, which laid me out for the rest of the day.  Tomorrow, I definitely have to go grocery shopping whether I'm up to it or not.  

I've been watching the Olympics... well, watching little bites of the Olympics anyway.  Most of the Olympics are behind a pay wall, so I'm only watching short videos that are free.  It's not as exciting as usual, because I could already know what happens, but it'll do.  I refuse to pay NBC for anything.  (Like I already refuse to pay PBS or BBC.)  If it ain't free, I guess I'll go without.  

Okay, so maybe I'd be willing to pay a subscription if I could find a service that wasn't run by leftist assholes.  I was really into getting a BritBox subscription, but then I found out they're owned by BBC, which is run by such loathsome people I can't see sending them even a penny of my money.  This, of course, makes me sad, because I was really looking forward to a long stretch of watching Inspector Morse from start to finish, followed by Lewis.  Not sad enough to send money to the BBC, of course, but still sad.

Thank goodness for coffee.

Sawyer is being a pain the ass this morning.  I guess I should be happy that he's doing this in the morning rather than at night while I'm trying to sleep.  I know what his problem is... it's the same problem every morning...  He wants to eat.  And he doesn't want to eat kibbles.  He wants wet food.  NOW.  Not after 9am which used to be after 10am which used to be noon.  I've drawn the line at 9 and no earlier.  Meanwhile, Finn is sleeping.  

It's been so warm lately, I'm getting the urge to garden.  Except I know as soon as I garden, the weather will turn and it'll freeze, killing all my hard work.  So I wait.

And that's it for me today.  I'm going to wander back to my recliner and veg.  Take it easy today, wherever you are.  :hugs:

Sunday Update - 2025 Week 50

Two weeks left of 2025.  Hmm.  

I didn't do much writing this week.  I had one really good day where I whipped out 1300-ish words.  Then things happened and I couldn't pick up the thread again and excuses-excuses.  

No marketing.  As a result, no sales.  Zip, zilch, nada, bubkus.  I'll try and change that this week, but I'm pretty bummed about my chances.

I read some more of that Stellar Ranger novel.  It's still pretty good.

I did a boatload of baking.  3 batches of cookies and a batch of pretzel turtles were made.  I made devil's food cake cookies with peppermint bark kisses, yellow cake mix cookies with regular kisses, and coconut rum cookies.

Let's not talk about activity.  I did one day in the woods and then nada.  And due to that, we won't talk about weight either, eh?  It ain't good.

Christmas shopping was done - online only.  I ordered Mom's and MIL's prezzies.  MIL's was delivered Friday and Mom's will be delivered today.  Early, I know.  Damn Amazon efficiency.  But I'd rather have them show early than wait to shop and have the stuff I want for them to not be in stock.  I also ordered books for the kids next door.  Those will be here tomorrow.  Then I'll wrap them - because I bought wrapping paper for the first time in 13 years.  I also bought tissue paper, which I used to wrap one of my art pieces.  I hung it back on the wall and am using it to display Christmas cards we receive.  So far, it only has two cards on it, but it's pretty anyway.  I'll unwrap the print after the new year.  

In case you missed this, here's my other Christmas decorations...

That's Sawyer down front on the comforter I put on top of my new chest.

Other than that, it's been pretty blah here.  Hubs has been sawing away in the woods.  I've been a toad.  Today it's too cold to do much of anything outside, which is just as well because I have spreadsheets for 2026 that need to be done.  Ah well.  As my brother used to say 'Big whoppin' wee'.

What's been up in your lives this week?

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?  

Pre-Thursday This n That

Since Thursday this week is a holiday, I thought I'd do this a day early.

Yesterday, as I was coming home from errands, I came over a rise in the road to discover a car parked right in my lane.  No flashers.  No turn signal.  Just at a dead stop.  I hit the brakes and stopped in time to not hit her.  Then she moved forward a little and I thought okay, off we go.  But no.  She putted along, so as a snail, until she reached a driveway and put on her turn signal.  I thought she was lost and had finally found where she was going.  But no.  She didn't turn into the driveway, she just moved over a little and stopped again.  Now only half of her car was in my lane.  Unfortunately, this new place she'd chosen to stop was before a downhill with a curve, and I couldn't see shit coming from the other direction in the lane I would have to share in order to pass her.  I swore loudly and said some very unkind things as I eased past her.  Thankfully no cars were coming.  The driver?  A chick about my age who looked like a spinster from Little House on the Prairie.  And no, I don't think she was having car trouble.  I think she was lost and brainless.

Anyway, I went to the store yesterday because I forgot to buy whipped cream for the cheesecake I'll be making today.  Pumpkin cheesecake with a dollop of whipped cream is to die for.  Well, almost... LOL

I also stopped at the thrift store.  And happy coincidence, they were having a sale on books.  Paperbacks for 10c and hardcovers for a quarter.  I got 7 books for $1.30.  Woot.  And one of them was an autographed copy of a Robert Parker Spenser for Hire hardcover.  Double woot.  I haven't actually read any of those, so now might be a good time to start, eh?

Unfortunately, they didn't really have a whole lot of books I loved.  I picked up stuff that looked interesting, but nothing for my collections.  :sigh:  I can usually count on that store to have at least one or two Christies or hard-boiled crime paperbacks.  (I prefer to read old crime novels in paperback.  It's a quirk.)

I did my first order with Tractor Supply.  I'm getting a deer-dragging sled and a snow shovel.  The sled's for dragging logs.  I joked on FB about the shovel is for killing deer.  I'm so funny.  LOL

Does placing an order with Tractor Supply mean I've finally gone full redneck?

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  Hubs will be making the turkey, as usual.  All I have to do is make the cheesecake.  Yay.  I also have to figure out what to do for dinner tonight.  Pizza?  Burgers?  What do you have the day before the big eating day?

And that's enough out of me.  Have a great day and an awesome holiday.  :hugs:

Labor Day

Marketing Monday has been pre-empted in favor of this post.  In Deep Wish is free now through Friday, though.  Jus' sayin'.

Labor Day... I don't celebrate it.  Don't get me started.  But it's a day off for a lot of people, and when I was working, it was a day off for me, too, since the businesses were usually closed.  As a writer, I don't have holidays or days off or whatever when I'm working.  Every day can and sometimes is a work day.  (Not right now.  I've been a toad.)

I did get a good deal on some clothes this morning, so thanks for that, Labor Day.  I have two new pairs of pants and a shirt that should be here Friday.  This is for a trip I'm taking down the road apace, but I couldn't turn down 40% off.  I'm a sucker that way.

So, basically, Labor Day is good for shopping.  It's also good because it marks the end of summer, which means, for me, the summer people go home.  Yay.  Of course, it also means that this weekend is seeing my neighborhood full of strangers in strange cars and someone has been shooting off fireworks and firecrackers.  :eyeroll:  Tomorrow... Ahhh.

I can't see much purpose in having this national holiday otherwise.  Another day for government workers to take off, I guess.  Oops, I said 'don't get me started' and yet, there I go.

Anyway, have a great day wherever you are and whatever you celebrate.  And if you're on vacation somewhere, be courteous of your fellow humans, eh?  The world will thank you for it.

Thursday This n That

Obviously, I have no idea what day it is.

Gah, busy week.  I'm not used to it being busy anymore.  

I went to town this week to get my plates and driver's license renewed.  Of course, I left it to almost the last minute and made it even more fun.  The people waiting to use the license office were cluttered in the hall of the court building.  (It's a really small office in a corner of the court building.  Three places to help people and only one of them can do driver's licenses, so we happy few had to wait longer.)  It wasn't really that bad... except for the lady who wanted to tell her life story to all of her trapped listeners.  And for the really hard benches we had to wait on.  And the fact they were painting the inside of the building... with a sprayer that sounded like rayguns from an old SF movie.  I laughed to myself through most of it.  I got it done and then went for Chinese takeout.  Yay.

My new license photo makes me look really old.  I mean, I'm old, but that thing makes me look REALLY old.  I blame the fluorescent lights.  Those thing highlight every gray hair.  Blech.

Lumpy's baby is really tiny.  We saw it again yesterday.  So cute!  It looks healthy, though.  It's just tiny.  I think it's less than a week old.  I want to snuggle it up so bad.  Of course, Lumpy would kick my ass if I tried, so I won't.

Today, I get to go pick up Hubs' prescriptions.  Yay.  No seriously.  My best thrift store is across the street from the pharmacy.  I'll get the scripts and then get to some thrifting.  I hope they have some more old crime novels, like last time.  Then I'll hit the grocery store and snag some ice cream (because I forgot it when I went to Wallyworld and I'm almost out.)  Oh, and I have to hit the building supply place because they carry suet and those birds are gorging themselves lately on suet.  They went through a brick in just over a day.  Greedy buggers.  They must have a lot of babies out there somewhere.  

Anyway, life is good.  How are things for you?

Thursday This n That

Well, hello there.  One more day left of February.  Woot.  

Okay, so yesterday, I started working in the gardens again.  Lemme back up a smidgen... I went shopping yesterday and before I did the groceries, I picked up 4 bags of dirt and a packet of 16 gladiola bulbs.  This prompted me to get my ass moving on the gardening.  Thus, I spent 45 minutes digging and weeding in the bed where I intend to put the glads.  I stopped when I was tired.  This morning, I am definitely paying for it.  Oh, holy night, am I paying for it.  This should pass once I've spent some time moving around and getting those muscles limber.  I have a lot of work to do and I ain't got time for this achy crap.

My daffodils are about 2 inches high and so are my hyacinths.  I removed the leaves off those.  They're all yellow from being hidden, but they're not warped and retarded, so that's a win.  They'll green up in no time.

The 4 bags of dirt are for planting the tree seeds.

I need to do more shopping today.  I forgot some things.  Derp.  Lucky for me, I have to go pick up Hubs' prescriptions and I have to hit the bank anyway, so it's not really an extra trip.  

By the way, honey from the Dollar General is way better than honey from Wallyworld. Bigger container for about the same price and it tastes better.

I've been doing pretty good about not thinking about the old job, but I have to drive by there to get to pretty much everywhere, and when I drive by, I start thinking about it again.  Also, I saw something yesterday that they're hiring again, which got my brain working.  I hope they didn't lose anyone I know, that business is good for them which means more techs, and that they've just learned they probably did need to replace me instead of deleting the position.  It's neither here nor there, but it's on my mind.

Finn doesn't want me to finish this blog post.  He's in my lap demanding attention, and it's hard to type with 13 pounds of cat in my lap wanting pets and scritches and loves.  He's such a sweetie.

And on that note, I'm outta here.  Have a great day!

Thursday This n That

 I woke up late, hurried through some marketing, and called Mom.  Then I forgot I needed to post until I saw a friend talking about how her post was late today.  I'm so derpy sometimes.  Anyway...

Yesterday, I spent the morning scrubbing the drip pans on my stove.  Bar Keeper's Friend is an amazing product for stuff like that, but it's not infallible, and these were pretty far gone after 12 years.  After a while, I gave up and ordered new ones.  And new burner covers... because at least once a year, I accidentally turn on the wrong burner and end up burning the cover over it.  (If you've never done this, all kudos to you, you awesome person.)  While I was looking for new covers - I got black, by the way - I saw someone selling WOOD burner covers.  That seems like a horrible idea, especially given my penchant for burning the damn things.  A metal one just gets discolored.  A wood one would set the whole damn place on fire.  

Do you use burner covers?  My mom doesn't, and I didn't used to, but I got tired of wiping off the damn burners after every meal, so I got burner covers.  I can throw those in the dishwasher, easy peasy.  I'm lazy that way.

We heard foxes in the woods yesterday.  I think I found a spot where they're making a den.  There's been this hole in the woods for years.  Just recently, I've noticed fresh excavation signs... like a big pile of dirt outside the hole.  No paw prints in it, but someone is making a home.  I do hope it's foxes and there's a female making a home.  Baby foxes!  Yay!

On the way out of our neighborhood the other morning, I came around a curve on a hill and up ahead were several vultures huddled around something in the ditch.  As I approached, the vultures flew off and that's when I noticed the bald eagle standing over whatever carrion was there.  When I got closer, the eagle tried to take off with the carcass still clutched in one foot.  He made three attempts to fly away and finally dropped the dead thing in the middle of the road.  He perched in a tree and watched me as I continued past.  He was gorgeous.  The perfect example of an adult bald eagle.  Breathtaking.  (Yes, Virginia, eagles are carrion eaters.  Not exclusively, but hey, a bird's gotta eat.)

My dogwood seeds are germinating.  I checked the baggie in the fridge and I can see several white 'hair's in there.  So, we have roots!  Yay!  Not sure about any of the other seeds.  Time will tell, I guess.  If all I get are dogwoods, I'll still be happy.  

Okay, I think that's enough out of me this morning.  Time to get on with the rest of my day, especially since I'm running behind.  Derp.

Thursday This n That

I know there have been a lot of random posts lately.  Here's another one.

I've been spending a lot of my limited online time blocking morons on social media.  There's this one on FB who uses some variant of Ellen Degenerate to keep making new profiles because so many people are blocking and/or reporting them.  Feh.  My FB block list has to be  huge.  ROFL

There seems to be a huge amount of stupidity in the world these days.  If only there were a cure... Oh, wait, there is.  Knowledge.  It's readily accessible and has no side effects.  You can even operate machinery after taking it.  ;o)

I need to go grocery shopping.  I don't want to.  But it either has to be today or tomorrow because we're down to our last can of cat food.  The Boyz will be testy if they don't get their daily can for lunch.  (They split a can.)  Anyway, it's cold and I'm unmotivated.

It's too damn cold to be outside without a jacket.  Then again, at least it's not as cold as Michigan.

Finn's so funny.  He knocked his bed off the table where it sits and it fell upside down over the heat vent.  So he was laying on the bottom of it, enjoying the heat.  I moved it off the register and he didn't want to lay on it anymore.  After he walked into the bedroom, I moved the bed back onto the table and he came running across the house, bounced up onto the table, and right into the bed.  Of course, he didn't stay there because he's got the zoomies.  Silly kitty.

Okay, Hubs is trying to get online, so it's time for me to get off.  Someone's supposed to come help us with the Starlink this afternoon.  Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Thursday This n That

Wow.  It's been over a month since I posted.  

A couple days ago, I got back from a trip to Michigan - not a month worth, only a few days.  It was great seeing Mom and the sibs.  We did nothing but sit around, chat, watch TV, order in... like I said, it was great.  Here's me on my vacay...

Yes, I feel the need to curl my toes.

The Boyz are getting big.  Sawyer is a giant among kittens.  He's my chunky boi.  Just kidding.  He's not fat, he's all muscle.  And Finn's no slouch either.  My super-sleek house panthers.

Speaking of Finn, he's been distracting me from writing this post.  He's such a cuddle bug.

It's been super hot and dry here.  I guess while I was gone, the heat let up a bit, but it's come back in full force.  Blerg.

I was screwing around on Etsy last night and I saw a candle that you can buy in various interesting (good but different) scents - including maple bourbon, pumpkin souffle, and Fruity Pebbles.  The store had all sorts of sayings you could get on the glass the candle comes in.  I liked "I'd shank a bitch in the kidney for you." but I'm demented.

Mom watches a lot of those court shows - Couples Court, Paternity Court, People's Court, Judge Judy - so that was watch I watched while I was there.  It was fun.  Man, people have messed up lives.  

I also noted that up in Liberalia (aka Michigan) the commercials inundate people with social justice messages.  No wonder the populace up there is so messed up. It's a blitzkrieg of brainwashing.  Mom's got pretty good armor - I just feel bad that she has to sit through that crap to get to the shows she wants to watch.  

Yesterday, I was back to work.  Eh, it wasn't that bad.  Only like 26 emails and I had picked a slow time of the month to go anyway, so I wouldn't have to come back to a pile of anything vile.  Yay.  I had warned several of my customers I was leaving, so they wouldn't call to talk to me.  =o)

Speaking of work, I should probably start moving in a workerly direction.  Have a great day, everyone, and don't be such a stranger.  ;o)

Sunday Update - Week 11

 At least I think it's Week 11... it all blurs together after a while.  

Nothing much happened this week.  I worked.  I did errands.  Last weekend's urge to write must've been a fluke.  It didn't happen again.  I'm not stressin'.  I'm grateful for the few I got out.    Yeah, yeah... a real writer doesn't wait for the words to come.  BICHOK* and all that.  

Speaking of writerly work, I let D2D upload my books to Smashwords and something called Palace Marketplace.  We'll see if anyone bites.  Since I had new venues, I got into my spreadsheet and started to add the links to those markets on my Links page.  That's when I discovered something intriguing.  Hoopla has blocked several of my books.  No notice. No reasons. It just says 'blocked' at the bottom of the list of markets and has Hoopla's logo under there. So, if you're on Hoopla and looking for certain books of mine, you're SOL**.  The books not on there are: Blink of an I, the entire SCIU series - Dying Embers, Fertile Ground, and Early Grave, and finally Wish Hits the Fan.  The last one confuses me greatly because it's blocked but none of the other genie books are blocked.  And none of the Model Curse books, which are way more R-rated in terms of swearing.  I haven't contacted D2D or anything.  I'm not sure I really care.  But if Hoopla is going to be that way, I may just pull the rest of my books off of it.  I mean, a venue that distributes to libraries blocking books of any sort seems a little suspect.  :shrug:

In other news, the package I was waiting for from Amazon got destroyed in transit.  And now I'm waiting for 'Zon to give me a refund, which they say they will do when the package gets back to them. Derp.  It was only a new bra and a 22-pack of instant breakfasts, but $27 is $27 and it's mine.  And I don't want to reorder until I have my money back.  I do have to reorder... I can't find chocolate instant breakfasts locally.  WTF?  I bought vanilla, but it's not the same.  As for the bra, I can limp along for a while longer with the ones I have.  Unfortunately, losing weight has necessitated purchasing such things.  

I haven't lost any more weight, btw.  I'm still at 160.2, but things are still getting looser.  So, my two favorite bras, which were tight a year ago and then fit perfectly, are now not fitting quite right and soon will not do the job they were hired for.  This is also happening to my underwear and my pants.  I can get pants at the thrift store, but underthings have to be new.  HAVE TO BE NEW.  (Even if the local thrift store does sell used brassieres.  They may even sell used panties, but I'm afraid to look.  Ew.) 

I haven't done any baking.  Hubs is teaching himself to do my baking while I work.  He made his own granola bars this week.  Go Hubs.  He threatened to make his own zucchini bread.  I may let him.  Then again, I may get a wild hair and make them today.  We'll see. 

Don't ask about reading.  

And I think that's it for the updates this week.  If you have a burning desire to find out about anything else going on with me, ask.  How was your week?

* For the uninitiated Butt In Chair, Hands On Keyboard.
** Shit outta luck

Sunday Update - Week 3

 Three weeks into 2023 and I already missed a Sunday Update.  Derp.  This is not an auspicious start for the year.  

Okay, anyway, I ate some things on Monday that did not agree with my stomach and spent part of early Tuesday morning praying to the porcelain god.  But I couldn't just not go to work because there was something very important that I had to do first thing, so I went to work.  Did the thing, made the call... and the dude wasn't answering his phone, so I left a voicemail.  Then I waited to see if dude would call back.  I gave up at 11 and went home.  I spent the rest of the day sleeping and reading, so I was all better when Wednesday came.  Yay.  Unfortunately, that little bout of whatever must've side-swiped my awesome immune system because I woke up yesterday with a scratchy throat which developed into a full blown head cold.  Anti-yay. :shrug: I've had worse, but I am a little bummed that I get to spend my two precious days off blowing my nose.

On the upside, sitting around doing nothing leaves lots of time for reading, so I actually finished 3 books last week.

Despite the cold virus, I made parm-encrusted pork chops last night for dinner.  Yum.  No baking otherwise.

In the weight/activity sphere, I cleaned the office bathrooms and then swept the whole office.  Cleaning is activity, damn it.  I sure felt it the next day.  Weight: 162.6 as of like five minutes ago.

I'm still playing in the family trees.  Mom set me a task yesterday morning, so I spent the afternoon tackling that.  Nor sure if I accomplished anything toward what she wanted me to find out, but I think I have the entire twig filled out, and I can ask if I found the person she was looking for the next time I talk to her.  In doing this, I discovered a bit about this one person in my family who was written up in the paper for wife-swapping in rural Michigan in 1939.  She moved in with the neighbor and the neighbor's wife moved in with her husband, they divided up the kids, and then they got divorces and remarried the new spouses.  Weird.  My month of Ancestry is almost up, though, so this will end and I'll go back to my usual pursuits.  I ought to have people pay me to do this for them.  

I did a little online shopping.  I bought soap.  Lever 2000 Aloe & Cucumber.  It's the only soap that keeps me clean without making me want to itch my skin off or douse myself with perfume to cover its scent.  It hasn't arrived yet, but it should be here before my last bar becomes a sliver.  I also bought 2 CDs - both by AJR - a book to round out my free-shipping amount.  (The soap couldn't be included in that, damn them.)  I haven't received those either, but I already downloaded the music to my computer, so YAY.

I think that's it for me today.  Work is work.  Life otherwise is unsurprising and unexciting.  How are things in your little piece of the 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 32

 I know I'm late, but hey, it's still Sunday.  Thanks for still stopping by, even though I'm not exactly here much and I'm probably boring as hell.

I still haven't written anything or done anything writerly since I started working.  I know scads of people write and work.  I just haven't figured out that secret yet.  Or rather, I've totally forgotten the secret because when I first started writing, I was working a full time job and I still managed it.  :shrug:

I also didn't read anything last week, hence the lack of a Saturday Reading Wrap-up this week.  Sorry about that.  

Work was busy last week.  I mean, it's always busy, but last week was intense.  And because of that, I hit 40 hours by like 2pm on Friday and they let me go home early, which was nice.  I would've worked 'til closing, but after I got home, I was so glad I didn't.  I didn't realize how tired I was until I walked in the door and put on my comfies.  I could've fallen asleep right then.  I probably should've at least napped then.  If I had, I wouldn't have gone to bed at 8.  Thank goodness for On Patrol reruns.  LOL

Yesterday, Hubs and I got the idea to go buy a new mattress.  My usual store said they had them in stock when I looked online.  When I called?  Nope.  So I called my alternate store - whose online thing said they had them in stock, too, but since the other store's online 'in stock' thing lied, who knew?  They said they had them, but quoted me a totally different price.  Anyway, we decided on taking the road trip and if they didn't have the mattress I wanted, we'd just call it a lovely day for a drive.  Thankfully, they did have the mattress.  We picked it up and then went out to lunch.  

If you know me, you know that's a big deal.  We NEVER go out to eat.  Anyway, we had Chinese.  I had sesame chicken and Hubs got a split platter of cashew chicken and sweet n sour chicken.  Yummers.  Then we had the leftovers for dinner.  Win win.

As for the mattress, it's still expanding.  The instructions said 24-48 hours, so it'll be tomorrow before we get to sleep on it.  Unfortunately, the only place to let it come to fruition is on the bed, so we're sleeping on our old mattress on the floor in the living room.  It's like camping.  I actually got a better night's sleep on the floor than I have in weeks on that old mattress.  Here's hoping the new memory foam thing is as awesome as everyone says it is.  If it is, I'll never buy another pricey-ass mattress again.  The old mattress is a Serta and it started to die years ago.  But who wants to spend that kind of money every three years?  Am I right?

Anyway, that was my exciting week.  Woohoo.  How are things in your world?