Happy Memorial Day

 

As you gather with friends and family to celebrate Memorial Day, please take a moment to remember the members of the armed services who gave their lives so that we can enjoy the freedoms in ours.

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I didn't get any new words written last week. I actually got the screen on my old laptop to come up. I don't know how long it'll continue to work, so I used my writing time to get as much stuff as possible that wasn't saved to the cloud transferred over to the extra laptop. I still have a bunch of bookmarks I saved that are research and writing related that I want to bookmark on the extra laptop but I think for the most part everything that is important has been moved or is saved in the cloud. I'm hoping to get at least some writing done this week now that I'm done panicking about losing stuff.

Motivational Quote:  "Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races, one after another." ~ Walter Elliott.  I feel like this quote is so appropriate considering everything that's been happening lately.

What I'm Reading:  I started Story of My Life by Lucy Score on Saturday evening. It's the first book in her new series.  It's a hefty book - the paperback version that I'm reading has 512 pages. 

Random Thoughts:  Today is Somebody's tenth birthday. It doesn't seem like we've had him that long. I've posted pictures below of how tiny he was when we adopted him and a recent picture of how big he is now. 

Photos:

Somebody at 2 months old

  

 

Somebody at almost 10 years old

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  Writing is going slower than I'd hoped, planned, or like. My trusty laptop refuses to show more than a black screen so I've had to transition to an extra laptop that was my mom's but that she rarely uses. It's taking some getting used to and it didn't have Word or Excel on it so I had to bite the bullet and purchase the monthly subscriptions for those programs. My old laptop was from 2018 so when I purchased the software for it back then, it was the pay one time version. 

Motivational Quote: "You don't have to be an overachiever every day. Sometimes just waking up in the morning and not giving up on yourself is a huge accomplishment in itself." ~ Muniba Mazari

What I'm Reading:  I'm about halfway through Betrayals by Kelley Armstrong. This is the third book in the Cainsville series.  The series is more in the fantasy genre than I expected from the first book. I don't normally read fantasy but it's holding my interest enough to keep me reading and there is only one more book in the series.

Random Thoughts:  I didn't realize how many websites I had bookmarked that I lost when my old HP laptop screen bit the dust. Most of them were writing research related so I can easily find them again through a search but I did have a few sites saved for other purposes. Thank goodness I keep everything important backed up to the cloud so I didn't lose anything important.

Random Photo:

                      Mrs. Green and Somebody enjoying the late afternoon sun yesterday.
 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I've hit a major plotting snag in Garrett's book. I'm going to take this week to go back through my notes and plot points to see if I can figure out how to get myself out of the corner I've written myself into. 

Motivational Quote:  "If you are building a house and a nail breaks, do you stop building or do you change the nail? ~ Rwandan and Burundian proverb.  I thought this was particularly apt this week considering the problem I'm having with Garrett's story right now.

What I'm Reading:  I finished Omens by Kelley Armstrong so while I'm waiting for the second book in the Cainsville series to be sent to my local library through the inter-library loan service I've started reading Where the Creek Bends by Linda Lael Miller.

Random Thoughts:  Nearly all of the trees on my street either have small leaves or buds of leaves except for the tree in my front yard. It's still completely bare without a hint of even the tiniest bud in sight. It's always the first one to lose all of its leaves and always the last one to get any. The thing is I'm pretty sure it's the same type of tree that lines most of the street. 

Random Photo:

Somebody practicing his new trick. He will balance a small toy on his head for a treat or two.
 

Happy Easter

 Happy Easter Monday

                     I hope you and your families had a wonderful Easter

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I didn't hit the 12k mark I was aiming for, but I did get 10k done so I'm happy with that. I'm hoping to get at least that much done this week but I'm having family in town two days this week plus I need to do a bit of baking for the upcoming Easter holiday so fingers crossed that I'll get a decent amount written. 

Motivational Quote:  "Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races, one after another." ~ Walter Elliott

What I'm Reading:  I'll be starting Omens by Kelley Armstrong tonight. It's the first book in the Cainsville series. This is an older series that was recommended to me by one of my sisters. I borrowed the book from the library probably a year or so ago with the intention of reading it, but never got to it before it had to be returned. I'm determined to read it this time around.

Random Thoughts:  Oh my goodness! Where is spring? It's been cold in the 30's and snowy or a wintery mix of snow and rain for most of last week. I'll put a picture below of what it looked like outside my living room window last Tuesday.

Random Photo:

           It was still snowing when I took the photo, but you can't really tell in the picture.