Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I finished the first draft of Garrett's book late yesterday afternoon. Whew! Now the hard work begins. This draft will need a lot of editing. I'm almost certain parts of it will need to be rewritten. I want to ensure I have the right amount of setting details as well as character information and emotion. I'm going to let the manuscript sit for this month so I'll have some distance from it in January and be able to see what's working and what isn't more clearly. It's a good month to let it sit because I never manage to get much writing done in December. The days are taken up with shopping, baking, decorating, wrapping, and helping my mom with those same things. 

Motivational Quote:  "No matter what situation you're in, find something good about it, rather than the negative things. And in dealing with other human beings, find the good in them as well." ~ Wilma Mankiller quoting wisdom from Cherokee elders

What I'm Reading:  I'm a little more than halfway through These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean. I love her historical romances. This is her first contemporary novel. I had a really hard time getting into it. It's very slow going. Some of the characters are completely unlikable. I'm not sure if that's intentional or not. The main female character is somewhat of a doormat as well. Despite those things, I'm trying to finish reading it.

Random Things:  I can't believe it's December 1st already. It seemed like November just started a few days ago and now it's over. I'll be putting away our few fall decorations and putting out our Christmas decorations today but not the Christmas tree yet. I usually do that 2 weeks before the holiday because I have to rearrange the living room to have a place for the tree so that it's not in the way.

Random Photo: 

 Here's a old photo of Somebody checking out a Christmas ornament. If you look closely, you can see the teeth marks on the toe of the boot where he decided to see how it tasted.
 

Early Thanksgiving Wishes

 

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone to celebrates the holiday.

 I know I have a lot to be grateful for this year.  

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I had a good productive week and am on track to finish this first draft by the end of the month. I'm hoping to get some extra writing in this week since the following week will be Thanksgiving and I'll lose a couple of days of writing time due to the holiday and doctor appointments for both myself and my mom.

Motivational Quote:  "You'll have bad times, but it'll always wake you up to the good stuff you weren't paying attention to." ~ Sean (played by Robin Williams) from the movie Good Will Hunting.

What I'm Reading:  I'm a little less than halfway through We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter. This is the first book in her new North Falls series. It's a good book. I'm finding it hard to put down. 

Random Things:  We're getting a new stove delivered today. Buying a new one wasn't planned. I turned the oven on to pre-heat to bake bread and when I went back into the kitchen to check that it was up to the correct temperature, there was a noticeable gas smell and the oven had only heated to 150 degrees despite being on for 30 minutes. Needless to say, I immediately turned the oven off. My nephew who is a firefighter for our city came over to make sure there was nothing wrong with the gas line connection. There wasn't so rather than risk blowing up the house, we went shopping for a new stove the next day. I baked the bread dough I had ready in the toaster oven. It came out pretty well. It's the first time I ever really baked something in it. We usually use it for things like toast, melting cheese on something, or making hash brown patties and such.

Random Photo:

   Mrs. Green likes to sleep on my house shoes whenever I take them off to sit on the sofa.
 

 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  In my last actual post, I mentioned that I was going to participate in Sarra Cannon's Rough Draft Challenge. I decided against it because while my sister is home from the hospital, she's very limited in what she can do so I'm helping her out with things like laundry, grocery shopping, vacuuming, etc which cuts into writing time. I'm still hoping to get the first draft of Garrett's story finished by the end of this month. 

Motivational Quote:  "So what if it doesn't look the way you planned? All of these days still belong to you, and even the greatest disappointments have their uses." ~ Yrsa Daley-Ward

What I'm Reading: I started reading When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein Saturday afternoon. It's a contemporary romance that was recommended to me by a friend. I've never read anything by Ms. Stein before but am always willing to read books by new authors. 

Random Things:  I took a short break from social media a couple of weeks ago. I don't usually spend a lot of time on it in general, just about 30 minutes in the morning and probably the same amount in the evening but I still needed a break. I took that hour and used it to try a few new to me bread recipes. A couple I would make again. One was a complete failure. But my favorite was the Big and Bubbly Focaccia recipe from the King Arthur Flour baking website. It was the first time I'd ever made focaccia. It's my new favorite bread to make. I can see why the people at King Arthur flour named it their 2025 Recipe of the Year. Here's a link to recipe if you're interested in trying it - Big and Bubbly Focaccia Recipe   I've put a picture of how mine turned out below. 

Random Photo:

 

If you like baking bread, this is a good one to try. I included the link to the recipe above. 

 

 

Monday Check In

 Sorry, no post again this week.  Here's a photo of Mrs. Green attacking Somebody's tail. I hope it makes you smile. 

 

Monday Check In

No post this week as I'm helping my sister as she recovers from surgery. If you celebrate Halloween, I hope you have a great time.