What Day is it?

I don’t know about you, but I’m losing track of days. It was easy when Hubby went to work. Now that he and our daughter are here all the time, I’m losing track. Maybe I should write what day it is on the white board. J

Daughter and I were supposed to leave for Vegas today. I was so excited for this trip when we made the plane reservations back in January. And the room reservations in February. And when we bought our tickets to the hockey games. So excited!

Now I’m bummed.

Hubby and I are supposed to go on our Transatlantic cruise in June. Take a European land tour after. Vacation all June long. Now I’m wondering if even that trip will go, or which part will get cancelled and we’re unable to make the other part.

What a mess.

I submitted my flight cancellation through Travelocity on the 12^th or 13^th after Daughter decided to cancel our Vegas trip. After I hit submit, a box popped up and said I’d hear back from someone in five days, but I never got any email confirmation the cancellation was received. I waited more than five days and still… nothing. So I called the number on Wednesday (since the flight was now less than 7 days away) and got cut off. Then the number wasn’t working. Tried again yesterday, same thing. I checked the website and it says the flight is still a go. Really? I tried their virtual chat—what a joke! I really hate those virtual chat rooms. They can NEVER help you. I went over to the FB page and finally found (in the comments) an e-mail address I could try (because heaven forbid Travelocity lists that on their website). At least I got a bot to respond to my email saying I’ll hear back in 48 hours. I probably won’t but at least I have SOMETHING! I’d really like to get some of my money back (or at least credit toward another flight).

So … today is Friday, right? I was going to post this last night, but finally (FINALLY) got the edits back for Finding the Perfect Mate and spent all day reading over the book (again) to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Now it’s in my formatter’s hands (that would be Hubby). I have to upload that book on Smashwords by Saturday to meet the pre-order date. I have a few extra days to upload on KDP and B&N, but man, it’s been stressful (and I can’t even blame the virus for this). I’ll be so happy when I finally upload the book and don’t have to worry about it any longer.

I think the next time I’m not going to set a pre-order date when I don’t have the book ready to upload. It’s too stressful. I need less stress in my life.

So… are you losing track of days? Finding life to be a little more stressful now? Maybe it’s a good thing my cardiologist put me on blood pressure medicine!

Happy Friday and keep your distance!

Stacy

Reading Update and No Symptoms ... Yet

When the coronavirus keeps you indoors, you tend to read more. Well, at least I do.

I’m also still writing, so that’s good. I was afraid my mind would be elsewhere, but it seems to be in my story, which is almost finished. I hope.

Here’s what I read since my last update:

Book #11

Dates read: March 9-14
Title: The Unknown
Year of publication: 2019
Author: Brett Battles
Genre: Suspense
Series: Jonathan Quinn #14
# of Pages: 438
Paper or plastic: Trade paperback
How obtained: Purchased
Blurb from Book:. A snowy night. A train making its way through the mountains of Austria. Asleep in one of the private compartment is a very important passenger, a scientist who has created something others desperately want. Precautions have been taken to ensure the man’s safe passage, but even with a highly skilled bodyguard onboard, the trip does not go as planned. When the scientist vanishes, Jonathan Quinn and his team are sent in to locate him before the secrets in the man’s head can be extracted. Because if that happens, the world would change forever.
My thoughts: Very suspenseful. I had a hard time putting this book down. I’m becoming to really like Jar, too. I hope she shows up in future books.

So far we’re doing fine. No signs of any sickness, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed it remains that way. I did go to the store (commissary) on Monday since I was on base to pick up my pills anyway, but haven’t left the house since then. We had an appointment for later today, which we were told was now being conducted by phone (yay!). But man, I don’t see how businesses can stay in business during all this (my daughter even got laid off). I sure hope two weeks is enough. I don’t know if the economy can handle much more.

But hey, if the economy tanking is the worst that happens, I'll take it. It's better than death. This virus scares the crap out of me and I do NOT want to catch it.

Now, if the weather would only cooperate. I’d love to go out and take a walk, but it’s either too cold or too rainy. Boo hiss!

Happy Reading and wash your hands!

Stacy

Making Changes due to Coronavirus

Saturday Hubby and I went to Bob Evans for breakfast like we do every weekend. Place was practically deserted. Yesterday morning, we did the same. We also made a decision: this would be the last breakfast out in awhile.

Little did we know that this decision would also be made for us.

Last night we went out to the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate my daughter’s birthday. We had FREE cheesecake coupons that expire on the 31st and originally we were going to be gone the following weekend and my son and daughter-in-law are gone the last weekend in March. She likes going there for her birthday (which is in April) and we always get the gift cards at Christmas because they give away free cheesecake coupons. Win-win, right? The way things went, I’m glad we celebrated her birthday early.

Because while we were at the restaurant, the governor declared all restaurants and bars will be closed starting at 9pm and would only remain open for take-out or drive-thru orders.

Man, did we time that party or what?

If Hubby and I do eat out again, we can only get the food to go, or we’ll get Daughter to pickup and bring over (especially if she’s joining us). I do have some food in the house (for once!), and I’ll make one more swing at the commissary today, since I have to go to the base to pick up my medication. I’m kind of curious to see how empty that place is. If it’s even open. It might not be.

I feel like we’re preparing for a huge snow storm. And funny thing is, it did snow Saturday. Got about an inch, which thankfully only stuck to the grass and cars; the roads were clear. I’m still waiting for spring to show up early. Yeah, that groundhog was full of it, wasn’t he? Haha!

It’s a good thing that Hubby and I don’t mind being homebodies. Oh sure, we love to cruise, but we spend a lot of that time doing nothing but reading or writing. At least on the sea days. So I’ll just pretend we’re on several sea days where we can’t go anywhere.

The only bad thing? I have to cook! Oh well, can’t have everything, huh?

So … Are you keeping to yourself more often now or is life the same as usual? I suppose if you’re forced to go to work, it would be the same as usual.

Happy Monday and be safe!

Stacy

Wednesday Reads and Getting Back to Normal

I feel like my life is back to normal!!! I’m getting my 500+ words written in the morning and I’m walking on the treadmill after. Which means…more reading. Yay! Here’s what I finished reading this week:

Book #16

Dates read: March 3-20
Title: The Double D Ranch
Year of publication: 2017
Author: Rochelle Bradley
Genre: Romantic comedy
Series:  Fortuna, Texas #1
# of Pages: 299
Paper or plastic: Trade paperback
How obtained: Purchased
Blurb from book: Much to the chagrin of foreman Josiah, Jessie Davidson wants a romance reduction. But the Double D Ranch hides a secret. Since inheriting the property, Jessie kept her grandmother’s hoard concealed, but now she’s found the courage to purge the unwanted items: steamy novels, thousands of them. Romance has to go! Donating the books is a good thing, right? Not when coupled with a dare.
    The dare spirals out of control. The ante is upped when caches of the spicy books, left in barber shops, pool halls, and pubs, challenge others to join the fad. A perverted prankster runs amok playing on the town’s fantasies. Book clubs are formed. Plots acted out. In a town saturated with romance, Jessie finds her love life underdeveloped.
    Keep Jessie safe. It’s the promise Josiah Barnes made to Jessie’s dying grandmother. He aims to honor it, even if it means protecting Jessie from himself. Failing her in the past has him to high alert when the Double D becomes ground zero for the arousal avalanche sweeping the town. As a full-support, silent partner, Josiah will do anything to augment the Double D. But when Jessie starts selling handmade lingerie, keeping his hands to himself is easier said than done…
My thoughts: If you like funny named businesses and people along with your romance, you might enjoy this.

Book #17

Dates read: March 20-26
Title: The Demon’s in the Details
Year of publication: 2019
Author: Jeanne Oates Estridge
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series:  Touched by a Demon Book 2
# of Pages: 348
Paper or plastic: Trade paperback
How obtained: Purchased
Blurb from book: It’ll be a cold day in Hell before artist Keeffe Blackmon gives up the statue created by her late mother, a world-famous inspirational sculptor. Keeffe’s not selling—not even to a man as rich as devil’s food cake and handsome as sin—the gorgeous but morally repulsive billionaire Seth McCall. That is, until Keeffe decodes a fiendish contract and discovers she has just one month to prove she’s earning a living with her art or lose her sculpture forever.
    Demons will ice skate on the Lake of Fire before Satan puts Abaddon, aka Bad, the demon of sloth and Hell’s brainiest minion, back in charge of Hell’s technology hub. But when Satan’s stooge McCall fails to acquire the powerful statue, Bad seizes his chance. To win back his job, Bad offers to possess McCall and, with the unbeatable combination of McCall’s good looks and his own smarts, melt Keeffe into selling him the sculpture.
    As Keeffe races to complete a mural in McCall’s McMansion and earn the cash she needs to keep her statue, the billionaire blows hot one minute and cold the next. It’s almost as if he’s two different men: one a jerk, the other sweet and nerdy—and hot as Hell.
    Aboveworld for the first time, Bad finds out his heart is even bigger than his brain. He is entranced by Sedona’s stunning landscape and seduced by Keeffe’s passion for art, life, and the man she thinks she sees in McCall.
    Bad may be the smartest demon in Hell—but is he smart enough to win Keeffe’s trust and ice Satan’s devilish plan to destroy Sedona?
My thoughts: What an awesome book! Lots of twists and turns (I kept wondering how Bad and Keeffe were going to work out!). Thoroughly entertaining.

Today Hubby and I are refinancing the new house (lower interest rate and a BIG deposit!). We hope to get the house paid off in about 3 years (if all goes well). Then Hubby can retire. Although he wishes sometimes that he could do it now. And he probably could, but then we’d have to change our lifestyle and I don’t see that happening. I could probably do it. I’m not so sure he could!

So… Are you preparing for your retirement? If not, you should!

Happy Reading!

Stacy

Wednesday Reads and Almost Normal

Life is almost back to normal. The old house is in the process of getting fixed up and the new house is almost done. Still have a few pictures left to hang and a garage to organize so we can get two cars in it. But we have done some work and are able to get one car in it, so…PROGRESS!

Monday our new couch will be delivered. Won’t get the two recliners removed until the following month, so it might be a little crowded in the great room until they’re gone. But hey, I don’t have to worry about any parties until then, so that’s a plus.

Even the yard doesn’t need to be watered every day. Let me tell you, that’s not such a fun thing to do. And the water bill…OUCH. But we must have done something right. It’s GREEN out there!

Now I just need to get back into a writing routine. Hopefully that won't take too long. Also hoping to get back into a walking routine, too. Saw the doctor about my foot and knee and neither one is anything serious that stretching (and probably exercise) won’t fix. I hope. We’ll see.

Here’s what I finished reading this week:

Book #28

Dates read: August 5-11
Title: So I Married a Sorcerer
Year of publication: 2017
Author: Kerrelyn Sparks
Genre: Romantic Fantasy
Series: The Embraced, Book 2
# of Pages: 469
Paper or plastic: Mass market paperback
How obtained: Purchased
Blurb from book: Growing up on the Isle of Moon, Brigitta knew that she was born with the magical powers of the Embraced—even if she did not know how to wield them. But she has finally learned the truth: Brigitta is the lost princess of the kingdom of Tourin. She was sent into hiding as an infant to escape the wrath of her half-brother, the king. And now he knows just where to find her…
    Rupert is a notorious pirate and sorcerer who can harness the wind with his hands. He’s spent most of his life plotting revenge on the evil king—and Rupert believes that Brigitta could be the key to finally destroying his enemy. But what begins as a kidnapping of the innocent beauty escalates into something deeper, and more passionate, than either captor or captive could have imagined. Rupert soon vows to protect Brigitta against the king—but will they survive long enough to find their happily-ever-after…or does fate have something else in store?
My thoughts: What fun! I really enjoyed this book and made sure to purchase the next in the series. It had been awhile since I read the first book and was afraid I might have forgotten some of the world, but it all came rushing back as I started reading it. Fantasy is not one of my favorite genres, but this one is so easy to read as I picture the world from Medieval times. And the romance is just so yummy! This book also has its funny characters. Then again, I can’t imagine Ms. Sparks NOT writing something funny. Guess that’s why I enjoy her books so much.

So… Whatcha reading now? Anything interesting? “The Meg” came out last weekend in theatres and when I saw it was a book, I got me a copy and now I’m reading it. So far, it’s pretty interesting.

Happy Reading!

Stacy

Gotta Get With It

Looks like I forgot to get another post ready for this morning.

I really gotta get with it.

Not only that, my newsletter should go out tomorrow and I haven’t written one word of that yet.

I really gotta get with it.

Then yesterday I almost forgot a book event I was scheduled to attend in Springfield at 1:30. I remembered at 10:30. Talk about running around looking for my stuff!

I really gotta get with it.

But… Today it looks like we’ll get our backyard patio and driveway poured. I sure hope they don’t do the sidewalk, too, because then I don’t know how I’ll get out of the house (or how Hubby will get back in!). I’m sure the workers have figured that all out…maybe.

I say maybe because when they formed the driveway, they formed it incorrectly. We ordered a 20-foot wide driveway (from edge of house to edge of house). They formed for 16 feet (width of garage opening). We had the narrow opening at our old house and hated it, that’s why we paid for the wider opening. Thank goodness we (and the builder) noticed the mistake and it’s getting corrected. But…because the driveway comes real close to the water meter, the city has to inspect and approve the change. You’d think they’d have done this BEFORE building the house. The wider driveway was on the plans.

It’s been a busy week. A week I thought would be slow because I’d be at the old house getting the stuff out of there. Instead it was one appointment/event/thing after another. I was able to go over there twice. TWICE! That certainly isn’t getting the stuff cleared out of there.

We really gotta get with it!

So… What have you been trying to get accomplished but other stuff keeps getting in the way? Or maybe you WANT the other stuff to get in the way. Sometimes I think that’s how Hubby and I feel. It’s too much work going through the crap at the old house!

Happy Friday!

Stacy

Life is in a Lull For Now

After the last couple of weeks, the calendar seems strangely empty this week. No appointments. No conventions. No concerts. No hockey. L

Okay, it’s not completely empty. We have some Dragons games to go to, but not until Friday and Saturday. I consider that the weekend. J

And if the weather cooperates, I’ll even see less of hubby this week. He likes to walk after work. 10 miles. About 3 hours. I’m lucky to have DINNER with him on those days (I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to eat dinner after 8:30 pm).

So not only will I have all the days to myself, I’ll spend a good portion of the evenings alone, too. You’d think I’d get my revisions done in no time at all, wouldn’t you? I wish it worked out that way, but my brain can only do so much before it starts scanning.

I sometimes hate my brain. I must train it to be better. Any suggestions?

I guess I better just enjoy this lull while I have it, though. Next thing I know I’ll be busy again. Up and down. Up and down. Life is a roller coaster.

My headache has gone (yay!), but my cold is still lingering (as colds are wont to do). I’m hoping it won’t keep me from walking in the morning. As long as I can breathe through my nose I should be good. Doubt I’ll go to the fitness center, though.

They kind of frown at you when you cough all over the equipment.

Hey, did you notice? I haven’t complained about Big Red since the mother board was replaced. Oh sure, it does some funky stuff (like I’ll be typing away and suddenly nothing is showing because somehow I’ve deselected the page – it does that a lot), but it’s not crashing on me anymore. Whew! I’m almost to the point where I can actually count on the thing working. Almost. I’ll give it another month or so before I have complete confidence in it.

Especially if it stops deselecting the pages I’m currently using. Ugh! Does your computer do that? Is it maybe a Windows 10 thing? It’s very distracting.

So… Did you have an enjoyable Father’s Day? The kids came over. We went out to dinner (ate too much) and then later played Phase 10. That was fun.

Have a great Monday!

Stacy

Heavenly Intervention?

I like not having to go to a job I'm good at, but don't necessarily enjoy. Unfortunately, the pay sucks. However, even my husband is wondering if things are starting to work in my unemployment favor.

 

My husband was informed at his work about a bank offering a lower interest rate on our mortgage. We have a fairly low mortgage now and had just refinanced two years ago. But the closing costs were small and it intrigued him, so he checked it out.

Seems like we can save nearly $300 a month and drop the escrow. So, is someone intervening, helping us so we don't need me to bring in an income? (At least not right away – I am hoping to bring in writing income someday.) It would certainly help, that's for sure.

As for my job interview, it went as job interviews (for me) go. Short. But for a part-time job, it seemed more like a full-time job. 32 hours, 5 days a week, 9-4:30. Not exactly what I had in mind for a part-time job. We'll see if I get called back, though. I was told I'd be contacted either way, so at least I won't be left hanging (unlike some queries I've sent out!).

This week has been sunny and warm (for October in Ohio, kind of rare), so do you think we could have a warm, rain-free football night on Friday? Heck, no! In fact, the temps will be bottoming out and it'll probably be in the 40's (as well as raining, like it has almost EVERY Friday night during football season). I also heard snow may come into play next week. It's not fair going from the 70's to 30's. Not fair, I tell you!

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the cold weather. Guess that's the Southern Californian in me. Times like these when I miss that state. Oh well…

Happy Friday!

Exposed

This morning I left my house in a relative mess. Well, it’s usually messy (I am not a very good housekeeper), but today is different.

Today is the day my husband and our friend is blowing insulation in our attic. They are also replacing the exhaust fan in our bathroom.

When I left, my husband managed to pull down the blinds with one yank. I had no problem opening the blinds on Tuesday (although it was probably the first time in years they had been opened), but I was gentle. Yanking never solved anything for me.

I told my husband I expected them to be back up by the time I got home. I’m apparently expecting too much. Seemed the plastic “dry rotted”. How does plastic dry rot? Especially in the bathroom – the least driest place in the whole house! I think he just yanked it so hard it broke.

By now you’re probably wondering why I should care about the blinds. I mean it’s only the bathroom, right? Well, it’s a HUGE picture window, the glass is not frosted, and it’s in the front of the house. The curtains are sheer (because my husband wanted light to shine), so you can easily see into the room without the blinds (especially at night).

The window looks pretty on the outside of the house, but is really not functional as a bathroom window INSIDE the house. The only good thing: we live on a cul de sac. At least we won’t have the traffic. And the sun doesn’t set until after 9:00pm – another plus. I really don’t relish being an exhibitionist.

When Did It Happen?

The other day at work, just before lunch, my cell phone chirped that the battery was low. I plugged the phone for a charge and got ready to leave for lunch. I then looked at the phone, charging.

It felt strange to leave the phone behind and I wondered: When did that happen?

I was one of the last holdouts of our family to even own a cell phone. I didn’t need one. No one was that important that it couldn’t wait until I got home to talk to them. But I gave in. My husband liked to reach me “whenever” and I did realize that it was nice to be able to contact him when the moment struck.

But why did I feel uncomfortable NOT having my phone with me? It’s not like I use it all the time. I’m the member with the least amount of minutes per month. I’m the member who DOESN’T text. I won’t even answer the phone if I’m driving (holding the phone and shifting don’t mix!). And it wasn’t like I was driving all that far. If something happened, it would have been cold to walk back to work, but I wouldn’t have frozen.

I don’t like the feeling that I have to have that phone with me, but I think it’s too late now. My husband expects me to have it, so I carry it. If it makes him feel better, then I guess that’s good enough for me.

And by the way – I did survive going out to lunch without the phone. No one called anyway!