Working Wednesday, February 1, 2023

~ Jenny

Welp, we made it through January. One more month of winter blahs and we can start climbing out, assuming you’re in the Northern Hemisphere. Things continue to go awry here–one of my medications gave me hallucinations, so that was interesting–and Bob and I stopped moving forward on the current book because I’d borked my heroine so badly, but we’re back on track now (see below). And I’m thinking about just taking everything in this house outside and lighting a match. How did I accumulate so much STUFF?

Enough about me, what did you work on this week?

And now we’re at the point where I can’t ignore the sex scene any longer:



126 thoughts on “Working Wednesday, February 1, 2023”

  1. I get to comment first! Sadly, it’s because I’m awake at such an ungodly hour, and that’s due to being sick. After three years of avoiding it, COVID landed in our house last week. So, this week, I’m working on getting healthy, which is harder than it sounds. Tonight, I’ll work on getting a good night’s sleep. I have two author interviews on Friday, one on camera and one for a podcast, so it would be great if I had some energy (and also if I didn’t lose my voice).

    And now I would like a baguette for breakfast.

    2. Yes, the Covid fairy appears to have made a visit at our house also. My husband’s daughter tested positive and he saw her on Sunday and now he has symptoms.

      1. All the vitamins! I bounced back a lot quicker than the hubby, who pooh poohs such things. I had a lot of tea with lemon and honey too.

        1. I will have to wait on him hand and foot. It is the one time he becomes very…man. So I will thrust tea with honey and lemon on him.

    4. So sorry about the Covid. I’ve gotten complacent about it, which is dumb of me. Get well soon!

      1. People here are still getting it pretty regularly. My electrician had it a month ago and the roofer couldn’t come give me his estimate because he has it. A friend’s contractor and his whole crew have it. I’m just hoping my contractors (who of course think they can’t get it because MEN) don’t get sick before they finish my project.

      2. I still haven’t had it, either; I think it feels a bit unreal, despite the fact most people I know have had it at least once.

    6. Paxlovid cleared it for me in three days and I had no rebound symptoms. For the voice, I strongly recommend apple cider vinegar and honey 2 tablespoons of each in hot water. It’s an old Maine cure, and it really helps with the voice. Blessings

  2. I think that Welcome to Temptation is still very sexy, but it is because it is specific rather than explicit. Does that make sense?

    My hubby and I were actually talking about this recently. He doesn’t read fiction because he is weird and I was explaining to him how most sex scenes are actually quite boring. And then we searched for bank teller porn because I bet him that there wasn’t any. There is, but it is all weird or boring or the opposite of sexy. Anyway. WTT is maybe the most memorable of the sex scenes for me because the dock with Julie Ann and the bear is so much a part of the story.

    Otherwise, I am stuck in a quagmire of my own making. Someone just resigned at the day job and I have stalled out on all of my at home projects. I don’t want to do anything. Maybe next week.

    1. Bank teller porn would be a lot hotter than consulting porn: “I want to borrow your watch… to tell you the time… on my knees, heh heh.“

      1. Idk. I am getting a lot of comments about special deposits and early withdrawals. And snickering. Lots of snickering…

          2. At least you’re able to come up with a bunch of naughty options. I’ve pretty run out of consulting options with my one feeble attempt.

        2. Eh I remember a reader once showed her husband passages in a romance novel, she was convinced some fictional nookie, must be fictional, he took that as a challenge, she was pleasantly surprised

    2. How could you forget Rule 34?

      I do get what you mean about sex in books. Be specific about character because that’s story while being explicit about sex is like explaining the Gatling Gun during a firefight.

      1. Yes, but I want to say something else as well and I am struggling with exactly what.

        Linda Howard, in her prime, has very good scenes that are very specific. And hers are explicit. I can’t be clear about it…. Argh. The descriptions are just sharp and clear, whereas a lot of the other smut that I have read over the years just seems in soft focus?

          1. Oh, absolutely. I can’t imagine how one goes about it. The lines between ridiculous and boring must be so very easy to cross. Sex is weird.

      2. I would so be there for the Gatling gun explanations. Maybe if the explicit sex were being described by an anatomy professor?

  3. Unfortunately I am also sick! Day 2 in Cambodia and I already have food poisoning and a little bit of sun exhaustion. For the locals, this is cold weather, making me feel week, but temps in the 90s while I’m spending most of the day in the sun feels super hot to me! Anyway, decided to stay in today instead of going out sightseeing, and that turns out to have been the right choice. I was hoping that resting all day (it’s nighttime here now) would be enough for me to recover in time to go sightseeing tomorrow, but I’m still feeling a bit touch and go, so we’ll have to see. Anyway, hope none of the rest of you are sick! It’s no fun!

      1. Luckily I’m here for 8 days total, so if I lose a day or two I’ve still got plenty of time to see things! Thanks to everyone for your well wishes! <3

    1. I just looked up the wikipedia entry on Welcome to Temptation. It’s very extensive! Lots of analysis. Someone went all academic on it.
      I enjoyed the way so many of the women in WTT found their way to what they wanted from life, self-actualization etc., well, the good women anyway! Some of the women just got a good lesson in not getting their own way.
      Project: compare and contrast Phin’s mother to Lady Catherine de Bourgh…

  5. I had a call with Census demographers Monday where I learned a lot about a new process. Very technical. Then I had to present it all to a small group of demographers on a separate call yesterday. I am not a demographer. It was challenging. As far as I can tell I did ok —a demographer colleague on both calls didn’t say “no no that isn’t what they said”. But I feel like I’m done from the week.
    Now I’m working on my health. Yesterday I had my annual eye check and therapy, today I have a thyroid ultrasound and an emergency tooth repair.
    I’m also working on getting Stolpersteine in Berlin for six family members . This feels important but it’s also draining. Stolpersteine are part of a very large art project/memorial for Nazi Holocaust victims. They are blocks put in front of the last place they lived voluntarily with their names and date of birth and what happened to them. There are more than 75,000 of them, mostly in Germany but all over Europe. You come across them as you go about your life —even though so far it’s only a small fraction of the total victims it’s a really powerful way of showing how devastating it was . I’m also going to try to do this for four family members in Poland but we have less data on them, the Poles didn’t keep records the way the Germans did, and I think the Polish authorities are less willing to cooperate with the project, so that will be a lot harder.
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolperstein

      1. Yes! What a great project! And so urgent, since even the surviving relative generation is disappearing rapidly.

    3. A few years ago before the pandemic there was a travelogue program with Henry Winkler and celebrities William Shatner, Jeff Dye and Terry Bradshaw. On one adventure they were in Berlin where they located a stolperstein of Henry Winkler’s uncle who had decided to stay behind (google). I remember Henry stepping away from the camera to gather himself during a very sobering and heartfelt moment.

      1. Deborah, Solpersteine sound really interesting. I hope you’re able to place them for your six family members. I suspect that the Polish reluctance to help you comes from the completely different situations of the Germans and the Poles. The Germans were the perpetrators in WWII while the Poles, like the Jews, were victims. For instance, the Russian Army watched the Germans completely demolish Warsaw and all its records, then went in, took over Poland, and destroyed a lot more. I’m not saying at all the the Poles and Jews suffered the same level of genocide and loss. I’m just saying that West Germany flourished after WWII and has worked on its guilt while Poland was under Stalin until the breakdown of the USSR. My daughter-in-law works in international real estate in Warsaw and there are still claims coming in for land, but very little documentation exists. Also, there is less acceptance of Jews in Poland than in many places, and there was Polish reaction against Jews as recently as the 1980s. Just trying to give information fairly here, as I understand it. If you ever get to Warsaw, there’s an amazing History of the Jewish People Museum there. They might have archives that could help you.

        1. Yes the history in Poland is very different; there was also a certain amount of complicity in Poland and now there is both antisemitism and a reluctance to acknowledge the role of many Polish Christians. It’s complex.

          I would also like to do it for three family members that lived in Vichy France —all survivors but one spent 6 months in I think Bergen Belsen and 2 years in a medical facility, her her husband spent 2 years in hiding and their son spent the war with the resistence the free French and in a Spanish prisoner of war camp. This one is also a long shot as I don’t know what town they lived in and also the French government is resistant in some towns.

    6. What a brilliant idea. I wonder if that could somehow be translated to track slavery in America.

      1. Now that’s a fascinating idea ! I don’t know how good the documentation on former slaves is—the decennial census should be helpful for some of it.

  6. I’ve been tempting you all the previous weeks with “pictures later.” Well, today is later.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CoHnuIyuvuH/

    I finished the second of the stool covers (with the little socks). I put the buttons on the socks this time. I think they are very cute, so I’ll have to de-sock the other stool to put those buttons on there. I used a matching skein of yarn, and had it out on my table, awaiting the second set of socks. When I came home on Monday, that skein was in disarray. My DH and I both knew who the culprit was – and very early this morning had the physical evidence. Imagine a string of not-pearls trailing behind a cat. Yuck. We’ve had incidents like this before, and have been told under no circumstances to yank on the string where it emerges from the cat, as that can cause intestinal damage. My inspection after waking up for the second time this morning appears to show all is well now. As DH says – this too shall pass.

    Sorry, I digressed. The other pictures include my challenge top. The challenge is to look out or in a window. This one was easy because I had a woodland scene printed on fabric, and just put the window frame around it.

    I finished my miniature quilt. It was made with leftovers from another quilt, and is all of 10 inches square.

    Finally, big orange. I’ve been working on quilting it, and this past week was putting the binding on. I’m almost done – and close enough for a picture. Of course, if you put a quilt on the floor, you attract cats – so a second picture of the orange quilt.

    Sorry to have grossed anyone out with my cat / yarn story. Now to think of what I might try to do for Daily February.

    2. As someone who works at a vet clinic, I am glad that your cat resolved the situation without surgery.

      I love the buttons on the stool-socks. Somehow it makes them twice as cute.

      The orange quilt is delightful even without the matching cats.

      1. We had to do the surgery thing with Teddy, when he stole the thread off of my sewing machine and ran it around the house while swallowing a bunch. He managed to wrap it around his tongue, so it never was able to get processed.

    3. I wonder if the the laxative stuff you give a cat to dissolve hair ball would work on yarn.

    4. Your quilts, as always, are amazing and I especially like the orange one. Does your orange cat share that one with the others or does he think it belongs to him?
      I think the stool booties are hysterical, with or without buttons.

  7. “Spanish speaking zombie pirates”? I’m in! Sign me up for THAT book!

    By the way, it’s 2023 now, so time to update your heading. 😉

      1. And it’s so interesting that Bob’s thought process, when faced with the notion of descriptive passages without Glock pistols or physical violence, comes up with the bicycle and baguette image. Riding in boring circles. Makes me wonder what he would be like if he’d never gotten into any of the adult war games.

  8. ‘The book starts with Junior and the trip wire’ already has me wanting to read the book. Best wishes to all Argh members who aren’t well at the moment, especially Gary because broken ribs are incredible painful.

    1. What happened to Gary? Well, I went back to the Happiness post and discovered that he had a car accident. Getting up and down stairs is going to be complicated, is there room for you on the first floor amongst all the plants? Try to make it easy on yourself. I’m glad your daughter is there for you.

      1. Thanks! I’m sticking to the basement for now because all my stuff is here. I got a decent sleep in my computer chair which reclines. I’ve gotten up to check the garden wall twice. I’m thinking about a meal (some sort of microwave omelet) because some of my meds must be taken with food. Stairs are the biggest challenge I face just now. That and coughing. Coughing must be done. I think a cold or bronchitis would kill me.

        My insurance company sent me directions for getting a rental car. There is no way I could get in one, nor any desire to, neither.

        Pain is Naproxen leaving the body.

        All y’all be well or get that way.

        1. I hope you heal up faster than normal!

          I found bruising a rib falling on a bike handle quite painful (when I was at least 3 decades younger, late 20’s or early 30’s).
          When my sweetie (years ago) fell on a wooden hot tub edge and cracked ribs (very painful), we had to rig 2 long straps from the foot of the bed to near the top so he could hoist himself up at his own pace. The doctor in each case predicted six weeks healing time (my Gary took 7 weeks to heal back then, he was in his early 50’s then.)

          1. I sympathize with anyone else who has ever broken or even bruised ribs. I broke two in 1973, on board my first submarine in drydock. 10 days medical leave followed by 5 weeks limited duty. I don’t remember it well enough to be a guide to recovery.

            I’ve been up and down the stairs five times in the last 25 hours. Even carrying things. No problems and I’m very careful about it. My doctor said 6-8 weeks, 12 if I ignore instructions.

            I dragged the dotter in to see the Garden Wall and explained how to refill reservoirs. Since I rigged all of the iDOO and AeroGarden units to be supplied water from reservoirs, the Smart Gardens are the only daily concern, and I can handle those. 14 of my lettuce seed pods have sprouted.

        3. Pain is naproxen leaving the body – very good! Glad to see you didn’t break your funny bone.

          I hope you heal up exceptionally quickly. Ribs are no fun.

        4. I hope you feel better soon. I was head butted into a rail fence by a ram as a teenager and wound up with bruised ribs on both sides. They still didn’t hurt as much as broken ones.

          1. I have bruising as well. All along where the seatbelt and shoulder harness did their job. I’m hoping the bruises fade within a week, because I’m sure they are a complication I don’t need. 🙂

  9. I’d read that book.

    I finished my taxes and dropped them off with my accountant. (Pause for applause here.) Being self-employed with a home office makes them very complicated, so it usually takes me all of January to organize them. Every year I swear I’m going to write it all down in a spreadsheet as I go along… No, I haven’t done that yet this year either. Sigh.

    I signed two new contracts with Llewellyn for nonfiction Witchcraft books, but that’s as close to writing as I’ve gotten so far. But the workmen are finally at the painting portion of the program, and I’m hoping that in a couple of weeks I will finally have my house back and be able to dig in to the new novel that is still just a glimmer in my mind’s eye.

    Otherwise, work continues on the “getting rid of things to make space for a housemate” project, and I have another 6 tote bags full of books that need to find another place to live.

    1. I have a spreadsheet and always say I’m going to keep track all year long, but I don’t. I was actually better this year (2022, that is) than I had been in the past– meaning I worked on filling in my spreadsheet for the year in December instead of January. LOL.). Hopefully, I can get into a better routine for 2023, but we’ll see.

      Congratulations on signing the new contracts.

      1. I use Quicken to keep track all year long. And I categorize my expenses as I enter them. Since I have to schedule C’a – one as an actor and one as a writer – it’s very important to do this. Also I am a VITA Volunteer and I do other peoples taxes. usually I’m the last person I do.

  10. I hope all those under the weather recover soon, and completely. Speaking of weather… It’s Groundhog Day here every day, with temps in the teens in the morning and not rising much in the afternoon. Soon, it will be “real” Groundhog Day, and it looks like things may warm up. I saw my eye doctor yesterday, and I will see a cataract surgeon next Tuesday. Two family members (Hi, Ty!) and a friend all told me not to wait on this surgery. It just sank in today that I will not have to wear glasses, or use contacts, for the first time since I was in third grade! It sounds wonderful. They now make bifocal and astigmatism implants now, too. Medicare doesn’t pay for the fancy ones, so I will have to see how much that would set me back. A whole new world of vision is opening up for me. Lately, it’s been harder and harder to distinguish between colors in my closet, unless a bright light shines in there. Grey, olive, brown, charcoal, all look very similar. Black and navy, too.

    I saw a graphic yesterday that shows we have made it through the darkest 10 weeks of the winter, starting with December last year. Here’s to more sun!!!

    Jenny, I hope those hallucinations were pleasant! But no hallucinations is better.

    2. I am waiting until I finally wrangle the website into getting me signed up for Medicare Part B (I’ve been trying for months) before I do my cataract surgery, which doesn’t seem very urgent, and I have decided I can’t afford both the astigmatism and bifocal implants, so I will have to have glasses. But I’m only having one eye done (the other side is still on the barely there side) so I could change my mind later. Third grade for me, too!

        1. My mother had glasses from elementary school on through her 70’s and the smile she gave us after her cataract surgery was delightful. She was getting ready to toss her glasses and even though her smiles got frequent compliments-that smile was outstanding!

      2. My now 91 year old cousin had cataract surgery and was appalled at the number of wrinkles and gray hairs she discovered. She’s something else.

    3. I only learned recently about how cataract surgery can use fancy implants not just to get rid of the cataracts but fix both distance and close vision. I always thought it was just to remove the cataracts, not to fix the focus! OTOH, the opthalmologist said it would cost $2K per eye to do the fancy implants, over what Medicare pays. I need to wait a bit, because my thyroid eye disease is still doing weird things, and I want to make that settle down first, and the price will likely go up (sigh), but the prospect of having good eyesight again, not just the lack of glare, has me actually wanting to do it, when before the only thing I thought it would fix was to enable me to drive at night, and I don’t have any particular need or desire to do that.

      1. They told me that they couldn’t guarantee exactly how my vision would be after the surgery (I was extremely short-sighted, with some astigmatism). I went for a distance correction, and ended up about half a dioptre under 20:20. So good enough to drive, although I wear my varifocals because they do give me a slight edge. I often don’t wear them otherwise, though. I have separate reading glasses, because I’ve always found varifocals not nearly as relaxing as dedicated reading glasses – and when I’m working I spend all day reading. I’ve also got computer glasses – again, having to tilt my head to view my desktop screen through the right bit of the lens isn’t practical – especially for my photography work.

        My optician was great – she spent a good half hour talking through all my options. It’s not easy to imagine how it’s going to be. So best of luck to both of you: hope you end up with solutions that work for you. I’m delighted with mine.

        1. “It’s not easy to imagine how it’s going to be.”

          Thanks, Jane. I should make that a sign and hang it over my desk. I need to stop worrying about exactly how things are going to fall out. I need to hold my nose and jump.

      2. I go in May for a cataract baseline appointment with the surgeon. My optometrist wants to get me on his patient list before I actually need surgery so I’m all for that. I’ve actually learned how to put eye drops in because I have to use them 3-4 times a day for a month before my appointment. I actually Googled “how to put eye drops in if you’re scared” and got some good tips.

        When I need them, I’m getting the fancy ones because my glasses run 600+ a pop and in the long run it will be cheaper.

  12. I’m participating in JeRoWriMo (New Jersey Romance Writers mini NaNoWriMo – only 30k words needed for the month) which starts today.

    Also, on a happiness note (a little early), Wilde Treasures received a glowing 5-star review from Long and Short Reviews and is up for Book of the Month. If anyone would like to read the reviews and vote for the review they liked best you can do that here:

    http://www.longandshortreviews.com/uncategorized/january-book-of-the-month-poll-which-book-do-you-think-is-best-based-on-the-review-4/?fbclid=IwAR03nv6GQZhPf31i9OGX5uMu5Sq3v3by8DQvpxAU8dzXOcXSmtVpEKLrD8g

  13. I finished the second layer of the Encanto layered skirt, and I crocheted a cardigan in 3 weeks. I’m pretty proud of managing that since a month is my usual for anything that covers one half of the body.

    Other than that, not doing much. I finally finished watching all of the Hallmark Christmas movies (yes, I didn’t start until December) and wrote a few book reviews. I don’t have any shows for an indefinite period of time, so things are gonna be boring.

    I hope that now that the hell of January is over, my brain will get back in gear for working on more complicated projects, but I haven’t been able to concentrate on anything that isn’t back-and-forth or round-and-round since mid-December.

  14. Would you believe it is harder to hire cleaners in than it is to clean? I haven’t actually cleaned anything in this house yet but I’m pretty sure I could have at least gotten the kitchen done in the time I’ve spent on the web looking for a company, emailing or phoning and actually having people in to give quotes for someone to clean cigarette off the walls, floors, ceiling and all other bits.
    Today’s quoter kept saying they’d high dust the ceiling. Dusted is good but I want the _tar_ off. Eventually she agreed to quote for washing the ceilings, except for that high bit over the stairs… I was hoping for professionals with better tools than the average homemaker. She also expected to wash the walls with soap. I find that improbable, and if true, unlikely to have good results.
    So, I’m working on washing my own (swear word of choice) walls, ceilings everything. Over the last week I have bought chemicals, cloths, mop, gloves, mask, even eye protection for when doing the ceiling. And something from a charity shop with longsleeves that I won’t mind ruining as I apparently don’t own much with sleeves. And I’ve carted it all to newHouse.
    But still I am not washing walls today. Completely missed buckets. At least two, many sites suggesting three.
    “Oh sure, I can change continents, no problem. After all, I’ve done it before and the language is practically(Hah) the same.” I’ll just wash these walls … without a thing to hold water, or mix chemicals in. No problem.
    Maybe tomorrow. argh.

    Meanwhile I have discovered filet crochet and the “Doily of Rassilon”. Perhaps a yarn shop instead of whatever shop it is that I should go to for buckets.

  15. Last night I submitted the witches garden to an editor. I had pre-paid for an edit in 2021 and I couldn’t finish the book. The last seen the rewrite was the love scene I spent three weeks we reading other peoples love scenes, and finally decided to re-read my own. I think I came up with something acceptable but oh my gosh I’m still wondering if I actually have a book.

  16. Very happy to be in February! Big moments: Returned a dress and bought some yellow and red tulips.
    My blue tooth keyboard is freaking out on me and refusing to delete or backspace more than one space, . Since I’m of the often-back-spacing kind of typist, this is a big problem. I’ve shaken it, changed the batteries and shaken it again. You’d think that would have worked!

  17. It’s #DailyFeb2023 time! Here’s the quilt I mentioned in Sunday’s Happy as something I finished to clear the decks (with bonus photobombing tabby, Mabel): https://www.instagram.com/p/CoDB7zPr9z7/

    I’m keeping my #DailyFeb commitment fairly vague, just that I will do something (non-writing) creative daily (with a daily pic) this month, to get back into the creativity habit. Five minutes or five hours, doesn’t matter, as long as I’m playing with textiles every day. Priorities include finishing two purple lap/baby quilts and finishing a bunch of pieced cat doilies (cat bed-sized little quilts to attract cat fur) that will be auctioned off to benefit voting rights groups at some point.

    3. I clicked on your insta link, and when I tried to get back to this site, most of the posts had disappeared! I finally went back to the email notice and clicked on the site, and then everything appeared again. Whew!

  19. I’m not getting much done, and am frustrated with myself. Got a phone consultation with my GP tomorrow morning, because I’ve also been feeling wobbly (and anxious and depressed), and hope this is the B12 thing again, since my last prescription for that ran out early in December. I’ve asked for injections this time. Do hope this is the magic answer; otherwise I’m just getting old really fast.

    Really want to get on with the big sort-out, but I’ve been daunted. I have done some gardening, and will do some more while this mild spell lasts. I’m not going to do Daily February this year, because I don’t want to be distracted from the sort-out.

  20. What t I have been doing today is panicking. Last night I got the notice of when they will start my kitchen and bath renovations. I have to get everything out of the cabinets and counter tops before 8am Monday. When I moved in, I was quite disappointed that I couldn’t fit my 6′ by 4′ storage rack in my kitchen and had to keep all my pantry storage in my dining room. Now I am delighted that I don’t have to move anything that big and jam packed. Finding enough newspaper to pack my dishes in in these days of online subscriptions will be enough of a challenge.

    1. Good luck with the renovations! My parents did a kitchen renovation this summer and they LOVE it. But it’s definitely a chaotic process. Hope yours goes well.

      1. Since I am a renter in a Section 8 building, I doubt I will have any choice in any of the renovations. But the old cabinets are the worst quality I’ve ever had to live with and I shall be glad to see them go. The memo said we were getting new stoves and refrigerators at a later date, but all they said about those is that they would be stainless steel.

  21. I’m frustrated with myself because I missed a zoom meeting (I mistranslated military time to regular time by one hour). Organizing my professional life feels like wack-a-mole. I keep making the same mistakes, but for different reasons. Sigh… Eventually I’ll plan ahead for all potential mistake reasons, and thus stop making dumb mistakes. I hope.

    Other than that, the ghostwriting is flying along. Plus, I think I figured out how to fix Act 1 of my own book, so that’s incredibly exciting.

  22. I just have one measly dilemma to work through until I can call January done. And then I can start my February birth month. I am in a dispute between a retail company, the manufacturer and the credit card company. Should have been easy peasy on my end if only they could look up the records and determine if the item was actually sent. E-mail should have shown if it was delivered (not) or check the tracking. I could tell by the tone of voice of the CSR that she didn’t have both feet on the floor and a smile on her face that she wasn’t with me. You would think it was her money.

    Any who, I am grateful that the days are longer and watching the sunset by 5:30.

  23. Sunday, my sister was shipped home from the hospital, yes I said shipped. Niece, nephews and I cleaned and moved furniture and stored stuff so she could have the care equipment and our mother’s wheelchair. Thankfully mom and sister had/have the same leg/sitting measurements, etc. That wheelchair was very expensive when I bought it made to measure. Today was back at her apartment for a meeting with care manager. Sister has improved physically. Sunday could barely walk or get out of sitting position. Today she walked from the bed to the wheelchair with her walker. Big improvement.

    Starting the year-ends. But first some daily writing for February.

    Tired, bit cranky, eye appointment in April not before even though I said I would pay for the exam. I will press for the cataract surgery with the astigmatism correction. Maybe. Spent a lot of money on eyeglass frames since I was 12. Picked up great frame last year. I do love a great frame.

    1. Congratulations on your sister’s improved ambulation!
      I agree with you about the power of a great frame to improve your mood. The only trouble is that they discontinue the styles we love so quickly.

  24. Last night we decided to make a Costco/Petsmart run to St. Albert this morning. Always fun but we made it there and back in just over 6 hours, including having lunch.

    We pulled into the Costco parking lot and I needed Paul’s help to fish the cooler and bag of bags from where they had slid to the front of the box of the truck. When he opened the back passenger door to get his coat, Hannah jumped out and ran about 20 feet away. When she realized that she was Someplace Scary she ran toward me then dropped on her belly and I was able to grab her collar. I think she thought she was at the kennel and got over excited (she had been asleep right until Paul opened the door). She knows she’s not allowed out of the vehicle until she’s told, that’s a big rule.

    We came home, vacuum sealed a bunch of meat, put the rest of the groceries away, and now I’m getting started on our taxes. It’s been a busy day.

  25. Had a great morning with all the little projects getting done with ease. Then came the afternoon and some balky computer sites. Well, I did manage to gt that stuff done, too.

    The special election went well yesterday. The Board work starts on Friday. I hope we can get this done quickly and with minimal drama. Boy, is that last wishful thinking.

    Lots of strengthening vibes to all the sick and injured.

  26. You all just reminded me it’s Daily February. Art classes restarted last night after the summer break so I’m off to a good start, by total coincidence. My plan is to try and draw something every day, even if it’s only a 10 min sketch.

    Other than that, one of my big efforts was sending an email. I’d been putting it off and stressing about what to say for at least 3 weeks and in the end it only took 10 minutes to write. Why oh why do I procrastinate on things like that?

    The other big effort was looking after poor puss. He spent most of 3 days in hospital for what they think was pneumonia, definitely with underlying severe heart disease. So his long-term prognosis is awful and we’re very upset, but he’s almost recovered from this episode. Now we’re trying to get him to eat decent amounts again, and figuring out how to get 3 pills a day into him for the rest of his life.

  27. Sloooowwwwly working thru paperwork. Hope to polish it off tomorrow morning, before doctor appointment.

    And I just spent an hour trying to figure out how to get my Apple Watch out of the package and set up! And I worked as an engineer! Now I’ve downloaded the User Guide, all 347 pages, and will work my way thru that, while the Watch charges. I’m pushing 70, need a techie.

    1. Just put your questions into youtube, someone will have done an easy set up guide, or Apple website … they did used to like those little animated info videos. Otherwise, just go to an apple store when it isn’t busy and collar one of the geniuses

      1. You can also phone them for free tech support, although the quality can be variable (as it can in store, of course). You’re probably trying too hard to understand it – I do that too.

    2. OMG!!!! I have an older Apple watch, and it wasn’t that difficult to get started. Wow! Good luck.

  28. I’ve been writing a lot while Day Job is in snooze mode. The next couple of days are likely to be busy, so I probably won’t get any writing done till the weekend.

    Today I had to go to the Actual Office, and for some reason traffic was less hellish than usual, meaning my total workday was only 1.5 hours longer than usual. So that was good!

    Aside from Day Job and writing, all I’ve accomplished was a) a nice spicy pork pot roast and b) reorganizing some shelves to get rid of 3 big books and 3 small decorative things.

  29. Working on an interview with Ursula Vernon (aka T. Kingfisher) for Galaxy’s Edge. I love her books, especially the fantasy romances, and I’ve been wanting to interview her for ages–if only to make sure she has more books in the pipeline. 😉

  30. My sister went back into the hospital after less then 24 after being discharged to a rehab. At the point of bad and worse decisions and no clear choice. I am mainly a translator but it is so sad. Fortunately I am over the infectious part of covid. But still off.

  31. My niece just tested positive to Covid. I have tested negative. I am not getting it. Thank you. We were together on Sunday. She is very careful always wearing a mask or double masks especially at the hospital. She thinks she may have contacted it Sunday night. She went to a store without her mask.

    1. Was this question for me?
      Our agent has them, and instead of obsessing during the wait, which could be a long time, we’re writing the next one. So nope.

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