Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I finished the last of the edits for Garrett's story. I'm going to take this week and give it one last read through so I can fix anything I might find. I'll then format it and get it ready to send to my beta readers over the weekend.

Motivational Quote:  "I'm inspired by a person's work ethic. Hard work motivates me to keep pushing through even when I am exhausted or overwhelmed or going through things." ~ Rita Ora, (Kosovan and British singer-songwriter)  

What I'm Reading:  I started Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry yesterday afternoon.  I've had this book on my TBR list for a while and was finally able to borrow a copy from the library.

Random Things:  Now that we're slowly moving into warmer weather, I've been doing a lot of baking on the cooler days. I rarely bake in the summer but still want homemade bread, muffins, and cookies so I've been making batches of different kinds of cookies and muffins and bread and freezing them so when it's 90 degrees with high humidity and I want a muffin or a cookie, I can just pull a few out of the freezer in the morning and have them with lunch later in the day. 

Random Photo:

I made Hermit cookie bars for the first time. I found the recipe in one of my mom's old cookbooks (copyright date was 1975). They turned out pretty good but seemed more like a gingerbread brownie than a cookie. I would make them again though. 
 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I still haven't finished the last of the edits on Garrett's book. I'm trying not to be disappointed but... My mom was still not feeling well so a trip to the doctor and the lab to have blood drawn for tests and then a second trip to the doctor to get the results took up three days of writing time. The good news is that the tests showed nothing drastically wrong. She's a little anemic and is already feeling much better after being on medication for a few days.  

Motivational Quote:  "I always choose to see each new week as a new opportunity." ~ Marcus Manning (American businessperson and coach)

What I'm Reading:  I'm currently reading Across the Vanishing Sky by Catherine Cowles. It's the first book in the Starlight Grove series. It's also the first book I've read by Ms. Cowles. I'm enjoying it a lot so far. I'm only about a third of the way through the book. 

Random Things:  I came across the above quote last week. It seemed to speak to me considering how this month has been going. I haven't finished the edits that I wanted to have done nearly 3 weeks ago now but this week is a new week and a new opportunity to get them done. I'm hopeful that will happen now that my mom is feeling better and I can concentrate on Garrett's book and not worry over my mom. 

Random Photo:

 Mrs. Green giving me her angry face because I wouldn't share my turkey sandwich with her. 
 

 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I still haven't finished the last of the edits on Garrett's book. You know that saying that goes something like you make plans and the universe laughs? That's how last week went. I'm hoping this week will be back to normal so I can finish the edits and get this book out to my beta readers. 

Motivational Quote:  "You don't know where or what fate will bring you or when. You just have to keep going. You have to just keep the faith. You have to just get up and do what you can." ~ Joe Biden, US President

What I'm Reading:  I finished reading The Astral Library by Kate Quinn last night. I think it would fall into the fantasy category? I don't read a lot of fantasy so I could be wrong in saying this book fits that category. This is the first book I've read by Ms. Quinn and I really enjoyed it. 

Random Things:  It's supposed to be in the 70's most of this week with a bit of rain on some of the days but I'm looking forward to the warmer weather so I can have the doors and windows open and get some fresh air into the house. We have one scraggly looking hyacinth that's trying to bloom in the front yard that somehow escaped the landscaper's weed eater. (He cuts down everything in his path unless it has a decorative type fence around it.)

Random Photo:

 It was such a rough week last week that I stopped at a local bakery and treated myself to an almond danish Friday afternoon. 
 

 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I didn't finish the edits on Garrett's book as I planned. My mom was under the weather for a few days so I spent extra time with her making sure she was okay. I should be able to finish the last of the edits this week. 

Motivational Quote:  "It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness; that is life." ~ Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart, actor) from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

What I'm Reading:  I just finished First Sign of Danger by Kelley Armstrong last night. It's the 4th book of the Haven's Rock series which is a spin off from her Rockton series. Both are good mystery/suspense type stories but in order to understand what's going on in the Haven's Rock series, you do need to read the Rockton series first as some of the characters from Rockton carry over to Haven's Rock.

Random Things:  We had a quiet Easter holiday with just my mom and two of my sisters over for dinner. I made a homemade carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for dessert. The frosting was bought from the store (Betty Crocker). I have yet to master the art of making frosting that doesn't taste like you're chewing sugar or like you just took a bite off a stick of butter.  

Random Photo:

I forgot to take a picture of my carrot cake before we cut it so here is one that I found on FreePik that looks very close to my cake except for the little carrot on top.