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Happiness is Finishing a Book People Like

I really did worry about The Honey Pot Plot. Like Bob says, we worked on it too long and couldn’t see it anymore. But the reviews are great (and thank you for leaving a review! Those really help), so I am happily out of dachshund mode now.

What made you happy this week?

139 Responses

  1. I ordered the Honey Pot Plot in hard cover and it is coming Tuesday which means I’ll get it in time to take with me on my vacation to Arizona!

    I also won a Kobo Libra Colour with case and stylus from my local public library as part of the Winter Adult Reading Challenge. It made me super happy! Since then I am very grateful for all the helpful folks on reddit and youtube who recorded how to get my Kindle books ported over even when I failed to download them before Feb. 26th. Now I’m in the process of cleaning up metadata for 122 books. After that I need to figure out how to port over Netgalley books and Nook books.

    I’m also grateful for an afternoon nap today.

  2. Spring continues to make me happy. And making collages. Heard this evening that my niece has given birth safely a few days early, so I’m now a great-aunt. It’s a girl, which is fun. I want to look for a good book as a welcome-to-the-world present.

    2. When she’s older, get her “My little sister ate one hare”. It’s a counting book, going through hares, ants, frogs and other critters til it gets to 10 which is peas. I was passing through when I heard a librarian reading it to a bunch of kids, who were all into it because it is a little bit gross. The repetition of

      “We thought she’d throw up then and there, but she didn’t!” was taken up by the kids, especially that last line

      “But She Didn’t!”

      It’s very cute.

  3. Today I decided that I had recovered enough stamina to walk rather than drive to a fairly nearby afternoon party.  The trip was only somewhere between .5 and .75 mile, with the complication of having not particularly steep slopes to traverse up and down on the way.  I made it, at a fairly reasonable slowish walking speed but it was about as long a trip as I would want to attept just now.  I enjoyed the party (where I did a lot more sitting than standing), but I thought it more important to put in an appearance than to stay a long time, and my hosts knew that I was recovering—I left at something under an hour and did make it home with no problems, although I again seemed near my limit.  I think my limiting factor is now leg muscle strength more than than general stamina, and I expect that I can address that by taking frequent shorter walks.  We’ll see if that means daily or, to start, only every other day.  And I wouldn’t be surprised if, as after grocery shopping, I need a recovery day tomorrow.

    1. Cheers to you for challenging yourself and taking that walk! The only way to find out how much one can take is to give it a go. Hopefully you can rest tomorrow and plan for future walks.

    2. Good for you, Patrick. Keep walking, and adding a few steps every day. Your stamina will come back.

  4. I’m also happy that the site is accessible again, which it wasn’t for a couple of hours. Denial of service attack?

  6. Finding out that Triple does not have any heart-issues made me happy this week. Vet could see on the ultrasound that she needs to drink more, which did not surprise me, so I’m researching fountains now. I had no idea they can see that in how the heart is working, the body truly is fascinating! Vet said there might be something up with her lungs though, possibly lung worm(!?), so I need to deworm her again for just in case, or perhaps astma. The only way to find out is to make her drink more and deworm again and if she coughs after that, go see our vet again. Triple handled everything like a champ even without calming meds. I assume she was manageable at the clinic as well, for nobody told me of any fatalities when we picked her up. I am so, so proud of her!
    I am happy I survived the thingy with Person present yesterday. Except for hi- and goodbye-greetings, I mostly managed to dodge them by hanging out with the kids, doing crafty stuff. It’s not a solution, but it worked for this time. I wore my amazing cat’s head print skirt with pockets, so I could carry all your pocket-hugs and pocket armour with me the whole day. I love that crazy skirt. It makes me happy. And it also made me happy that the three youngest of the kids present gravitated towards me. It’s fun to hang out with kids.
    I put my cat-collars up on the socials and my aunt directly asked me if I’d consider making a collar for her dog. I’ll do some research to see if it’s possible, feasible and where I can find the right materials to make it strong and safe. Whether it’ll work out or not, I’m happy she asked. My aunt is awesome.
    Friday after I came back from the vet with Triple, I hung out on a Whatsapp-call with my sib. We were at it for about 3 hours, and mostly we spoke of nothing special, just whatever crossed our minds. That made me happy, too.
    Arghers make me happy just by being Arghers. Sending you all lots and lots of love! I hope you all have a great week ahead of you.

    1. So happy to hear the good news about Triple! I’m also glad that things went well with the person and that you had a good time with kids. Good to know all the hugs from here helped. I am a little surprised that they all fit in the pockets. It must be a truly great skirt! 😊

      1. Thank you for the cheers <3 It's the best skirt! It has magically expandable pockets for the things that are important, like pocket hugs and pocket armour. Those always fit. And there are cats on it. Cats = magic. I just need to get more tops/shirts that go well with it so I can wear it more often. I only have one now that works colourwise.

    2. Pocket hugs —just in case your supply needs replenishing. And thanks for the tips about fried tidbits in Amsterdam . They were great!

      1. You are so very welcome! I must’ve missed your story on Amsterdam, so I’ll go back and do some digging. Happy to hear you had a good time trying out all the foods!
        Thank you for the pocket hugs – one can never have too many of those. <3 They always come in handy.

    3. Shass, after Deborah posted about her three cat fountains, I bought one, and it is so easy to clean, and my cats love it! It’s a Pioneer Pet Raindrop ceramic fountain. This is maybe the fifth fountain I’ve tried, and the very best. I like that there are no corners or weird places that need to be cleaned, it’s ceramic, so no plastic to worry about, except the pump, and that my cats do drink from it. It’s shaped like a droplet, with a bubbler that vents down a ramp into the bowl. They drink from the ramp, and also from the bowl. Maybe even from the bubbler. I clean it every week, but it can wait two weeks, if the filter is new. It comes in black and in white.

      2. Just be aware that the raindrop model, while very good, makes a lot of waterfall noise, which makes you wonder where the leak is or who is peeing on what. I had one and gave it to a much less sensitive friend, who ended up donating it because the sound bothered her too. (It works really well, so if the sound doesn’t bother you, it’s great.) However, I do suggest either a ceramic fountain or a metal one, because the plastic ones pit and hold germs.

      3. Dangit! I wish I’d seen this earlier today, for I just ordered one. Well, nothing says I can’t get another one if need be! Or if they end up not liking the one I bought. It should come in tomorrow, so hopefully I’ll know more on Wednesday. Thanks for the tip – I’ll save it! I think I saw that brand too today.

        1. Shass, and Deborah, you can control the amount of sound it makes, by moving the “gate” for the water inside the pump. If you leave the opening all the way open, it will be noisy, but if you close it down to a trickle, it won’t make much noise at all. Once you get the slotted cover of the pump off, there is a teardrop-shaped cover that has a little knob which moves the cover for the water opening. When you remove that, you can get to the magnet which spins and causes the water to move. Clean that, then put the teardrop cover on, and just leave a small slit for the water to come out. Then put the slotted cover on the pump.

  7. Happiness is being in Punta Cana this week with my BFF. When filling out the customs form the status options were: single, married, divorced or…concubinage. I kid you not. Since my BFF is working and I’m tagging along as his plus one I decided it was only fair to register as his concubine. Now I’m wondering if there’s a benefits plan?

    2. I’m sure, Tammy, that you took along the perfect shoes for the role of concubine! That’s hilarious.

    3. I
      It sounds like this is partly a translation issue. I found the following online:

      》》Novio/novia means the same as boyfriend/girlfriend (it can also mean groom/bride in the context of a wedding). It doesn’t mean anything else. Concubino/concubina is a person who has a (fairly stable) sexual relationship with another, and it’s implicit (though not in the definition of the word in the strict sense) that the two live together. The name for the relationship is concubinato (and you say vivir en concubinato con…).

      Concubino/a is not used often, and it might feel insulting to some. It still has overtones of illicitness, of illegitimacy, of “living in sin”, etc., even in places and societies where people don’t feel extramarital sex as scandalous or important anymore. However, it’s not an insulting term per se, and it’s correct and formal enough that you can find it in legal documents and in the formal register in general. It simply doesn’t do to describe your relationship to someone as novio or novia in a judicial statement, for example; it’s too informal. A 9-year-old kid can tell you “Tengo novia”, it’s a very light word.

      For people who live together in a relationship there’s a more exact term, conviviente (literally “with-living”), which I think is more commonly used today in formal texts. This however is not reserved for couples who have a sexual relationship; convivientes are all the people who live in the same house, be they family or not.

    5. I had my honeymoon in Punta Cana in 1982. When it was a Club Med, so much fun!
      Like Patrick said “concubinato” is just a way to say you are a couple but not married legally. I guess it’s because the Dominican Republic gets more European tourists and marriage is less prevalent among couples than Latin Americans and US couples. Regardless, I would check that box for giggles.

    6. Thank you for the laugh out loud moment! I could also see asking someone if you can choose more than one. 🙂

    7. We went there last February and it was delightful! Went on a whale watching tour and we did see whales rather up close!

  8. I am happy that my first project that must be done for my mobile home is in the works. The contractor is a nice guy named Abner who seems to know what he is doing. We have signed a contract & he has bought what will be needed & I am on the schedule for the week of April 21st although something might open up the week of April 14th.

    I have been sleeping a lot lately – which considering I usually battle insomnia – is a happy thing.

    I am on the last book in the Corinna Chapman series reread. Next up: Reread Rocky Start & Very Nice Funerals as a lead in to Honey Pot Plot! Happy!

    It’s Sunday which workwise is my Friday. So happy that after 730 tomorrow morning I am off until Thursday evening! Yes!

  9. I wrote about the MEGA MAGA person being removed from our election board meeting on working Wednesday. Happiness is he is facing charges-simple assault, disrupting a public meeting, and so on and so forth.

    I’m halfway through my VNF reread so the HPP is in my immediate future. Yay!

  10. I got my hair redone by a very fancy professional, I’ve never had an experience like that before and it was amazing and I found out all kinds of things about how to style hair..

    Other than that: saw Cher: The Musical, saw The Book Of Will, had a mostly chill weekend.

    1. Jennifer, my mother treated me to a fancy professional cut when I graduated high school, and I also learned a lot about my hair and face shape. It made me feel special, and beautiful. Every woman should do that at least once in her life. I’m glad you did.

  11. The trip to see DD, and the vacation in Amsterdam and Brussels and Bruges, made me happy. Being home again is also making me happy—especially since our trip went through Heathrow and so there was 24 hours when we didn’t know if our flights were cancelled.

    Amsterdam takes its carbohydrates very seriously. It’s one thing to have (many) stores that only sell chocolate. It’s another to have (many) stores that only sell waffles. Or French fries. Or only one brand of chocolate. And it’s yet another to have two waffle stores next to eachother or two fries stores, or five chocolate stores on one block including two selling only the same brand. We ended up bringing home about 7 bars of different chocolate brands , so we can run a taste test with the neighbors and learn which brand to buy on future trips.
    The taste test will be a happy…

    My daffodils are up, which is nice, and so are some crocuses and mini irises. But it looks like we didn’t miss most of our spring bulbs, so that’s a big happy. (Unfortunately it looks like deer ate most of our day lilies and bluebells and I’m not sure they will recover. I made sure to use the deer and bunny repellent spray today and am hoping that will stop further damage.)

    Tomb of Dragons made me happy. It also made me think maybe there will be a fourth book. I don’t know if anyone else got that impression?

    And I’m 40 pages into THP, so that’s making me happy.

    2. Debbie, I don’t think much of anything can kill day lilies. One winter, the city road crew decided to dump salt-laden snow onto part of my yard, and it killed the gras. I planted day lilies in that area, and they are thriving.

    3. Oooh, Amsterdam sounds a bit like Zurich with regard to carbohydrates. Really want o go back there some day.

      Still wintery here – a bit of snow yesterday! – so I am jealous of those of you who have spring flowers already. I know they will come but am getting impatient.

    5. You’ve got it the wrong way round. All those shops selling ‘stroopwafels’ or ‘patat’ cater to the tourist trade. No Dutch person would join a long cue for such edibles. Every time I visit the centre of Amsterdam there are fewer and fewer normal shops. Tourism ruins cities.

      1. They were certainly more predominant in the tourist area but we also went to several residential areas and saw them there too.

    6. Aha! Here’s where you wrote about the trip. Thanks for the laughs! NL really is weird sometimes, and yes they love their carbs for sure. Can’t wait to hear which chocolate you enjoyed the most!

  12. My friend with ALS died late last week. While I’m sad, I’m happy I got to spend time with him before he died. He was only formally diagnosed in December and the disease progressed quickly. I’m glad he’s no longer suffering.

    I found some gorgeous non-wool yarn at a local yarn shop and bought several different skeins for different projects. My social media feed is now full of ads for yarn shops which I enjoy visiting virtually. Most of them sell prey wool which I’m horribly allergic to but the colours are so pretty.

    I did a 3 day virtual card making workshop this weekend. One of the classes focused on sympathy cards – I have one ready to send my friend’s family. I’ve done this event several times and I always learn new techniques and tips. And I end up with a large number of new cards to share with friends and family.

    3. Susan, I’m glad you got to see your friend, and be with him. That progressed really fast!

      What is prey wool? Is it from rabbits and other prey animals?

    5. My condolences on your loss. I am so glad that you got to see him while he was alive and he could take the knowlege that he was loved by you with him at the end.

    7. That sounds substantially faster than my recollection is of the one person I knew with ALS. It’s not a fun disease, and possibly it was better to go quickly. My sympathies.

      1. My friend had a particularly aggressive form of ALS with a life expectancy of less than 2 years. Unfortunately, his progressed a very fast rate.

    8. I’m so sorry for your loss. Sending strength and pocket-hugs to help you through these trying times of finding your footing in a world without your friend. <3

  13. We saw the movie Black Bag. I liked the movie. I loved it being 1.5 hours long. I didn’t have to pee during the whole movie. Also no CGI battle scenes. We go to a lot of Marvel movies. It seems like most movies lately are horror. The world is scary enough.

  14. Yesterday, I finished my own taxes, which was kind of tough because I worked in Canada. I did taxes today For other people.and then went to do trivia with some Jury Duty friends. Came home and finished Rocky start. A happy sad moment, but I have very nice funerals and Honeypot to look forward to.
    I saw a show on TV last night on Netflix called the residence

    https://www.google.com/search?q=the+residence+netflix&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari&si=APYL9bspescNnT_dJc-tbSluK8ca2w3Ie0eyFLm7kZVGgjaAEI9EOHznON9LyIbPvtTm2kTwIzlvLrdrnWENtTDrf-Hb15bvCzvJI70wXhnoRC9h2YNfTbmc1iZjx3o6yyxXE6onsPxN&ictx=1&ved=2ahUKEwj629jajqKMAxXZEUQIHRSJFo8QyNoBKAB6BAgqEAA

    Murder in the White House and the Best most eccentric detective in the world called and to solve it.
    It’s a Shonda rhymes Production and I’m just loving it so much fun. Wishing you all a very happy week.

    1. Have you ever watched The After Party? It’s on Apple TV. A murder happens after a class reunion. The detective has folks tell their story. Each one does it in a different genre.

  15. I spent the last day reading the Liz Danger trilogy. Let me just fangirl embarrassingly and tell you how very much I adore your writing. Literate, witty, grammatical, all the things I treasure whenever I read a book.
    Unfortunately, I can’t leave a review on Amazon because they banned me. Wherever I’ve read a book which is let us say, NOT very well written, I turn into the editor from hell and my reviews have reflected said attitudes. So I got a very stroppy email telling me I was no longer allowed to leave a review of any kind. Sooooo…
    Basically, I have no patience with bad grammar, misspellings, and plots that are confusing or ridiculous. Perhaps I shouldn’t take it personally, but I was a creative writing major in college and have been, well, inhaling books since I was three. But your series is wonderful and gave me so very much pleasure. Thank you. Sincerely, THANK YOU!

    2. I received a message from Amazon telling me I had a strike for a review on a book because I’d somehow violated “community guidelines” when I left a 2-star review on a novel. There I was thinking that 2nd star was a gift. I tried hard to find a way to protest because I’d not used hate speech or been vulgar and wanted to find out what guideline I’d violated. Nope…communication is a 1-way street there.

    3. That’s terrible, Cinnamon! Amazon is not exactly known for their fair play. Is there somewhere else you are posting reviews now or have you given up? We’re happy to follow you and be supportive.

  16. My copy arrived this morning and as I’m in hospital recovering from pneumonia after my last chemotherapy he will be bringing it here. Because of my terminal cancer I’m immunocompromised and I’m in an en-suite side room so he spends each day with me. He is the best. The book will make me happy. So thank you.

    1. Hilary, I am so sorry that you are having to deal with this awful disease & the complications arising from your treatment. Big hugs & best wishes for many more comforting reads to come.

    3. Hilary, best wishes for a good recovery. HPP will help you pass the time. I love the ending!!

    5. I am sorry that you are battling both cancer and pneumonia and impressed that you have the energy to read. I think it is a good sign. I’m glad you have company and a good read and am sending healing vibes and pocket hugs to aid your recovery.

    8. So sorry Hillary! I hope you get good care and happy moments to enjoy your day.
      As I sit through my penultimate chemo, I am sending you hugs.

    9. Such tough times to go through. Sending strength and pocket-hugs. Hope you’ll find lots more worlds to escape into when this one feels too much to handle. Reading really is lovely that way.

  17. Well, my HB on Honey Pot Plot arrives today – yay :D, though I have already started it on my kindle. Was hoping to have read it by now but keep getting interrupted, so, you ask what has made me ‘happy this week’, you and and Bob have, and the sun is shining here in the UK today, I think Spring has arrived – finally! And hopefully my oncologist will tell me I can go back on my medication as of tomorrow, 4 weeks being off it is not good, so fingers crossed :D. Happy happy to everyone else

    1. Fingers definitely crossed for being able to recommence your meds, Lisa. Big hugs and best wishes for further improvements.

  18. Happiness for me was my very sick dog getting through her surgery on Saturday, she had eaten a peach stone which blocked her gut but it took a few days to diagnose. I don’t have any peaches at home at the moment so she found one on a walk I think. She is starting to make a good recovery. We won’t know for another few days if she will be ok, but so far news is good and I get to take her home this evening.

    Happy I had comfort reading recommendations from here to help me through the weekend and also happy that, bizarrely, I had the urge to do housework to distract me from thinking about the dog. I need to make the most of any housework urges as they don’t happen very often.

    2. I was at the emergency vet on Saturday morning with a cat, so I feel your pain. Mine wasn’t as bad as yours, but it is awful when they have something wrong with them. Here’s hoping for a full recovery.

    4. I’m happy for the dog. I have read in novels about some women getting an urge to do housework when they are worried. For males, I’ve never seen that in novels, although I think I may have seen descriptions of various sorts of puttering around when worried. For today, I could use an urge to do paperwork, at least an urge to sort through the mostly-junk mail and other paper clutter and put most of it in recycling bags. Anything more energetic, such as housework beyond the urgent, can wait until I’ve recouped a bit from my exertions yesterday, as described above.

    5. Oh, I’m so sorry to hear about your dog’s snarfing-accident. Keeping all fingers and toes crossed she’ll be fine, and sending you both strength and pocket-hugs to support you through the coming days.

  19. My copy came yesterday!!! And I’m loving it and it came just when I needed a distraction from a near disaster. OneDrive did a backup on Saturday night and on Sunday morning 30k+ words on my manuscript had vanished. I downloaded the copy stored in Carbonite but Scrivener refused to open the files. After much ranting, raving, and tears my husband found 34 files of RTF on OneDrive. It was my missing words. We had to rename each file in order to download since they were all simply named “content” and then open in Word. I had to figure out what scene went where, etc.

    I’m not happy this happened but at least I got most of the lost words back. Last night before bed I saved everything on external drives, emailed copies, and printed out a copy. Being able to hold a physical copy in my hand is reassuring.

    2. Sounds like a major aggravation averted. I wonder what went wrong with the Carbonite (about which I know nothing). I would think the external drives should provide yet more backup, though.

    4. Ick, what a nightmare! I don’t trust cloud-storage, and now even less. Sheesh. So happy you got it all back!

  20. Yesterday, a local writer-friend had an in-person launch party for her new book. I was great celebrating with her and some other local writer friends.

  21. I’m happy that my cat emergency on Saturday was resolved successfully (cat fight that resulted in Ember getting a deep puncture wound on a hind foot that wouldn’t stop bleeding–Lilibet picks on her periodically, but there has never been actual contact before, so we ended up spending 3 hours at the emergency vet). I’m happy the antibiotics seemed to have prevented any further issues, and that A) I have a couch cover and B) the blood actually came out of the couch cover. Sometimes it’s the little things.

    Happiness is having 19 people signed up for my divination class tonight, many of whom seem very excited about it. And fingers crossed for an easy time at the barium swallow test this afternoon which should give us more information on why I’m having throat issues with food and supplements. Hopefully the answer will be NOT the thing I’m worried about, and the test itself will be relatively un-traumatic.

    3. I am glad your cat is on the mend. It’s very worrying when they are ill.

      I had a ‘Barium meal’ which was for my stomach and oesophagus (I think) many years ago and the procedure itself was fine, straightforward and not particularly unpleasant. I hope it is the same for you.

    5. Well, the results of the barium swallow test showed what I thought was wrong, which the ENT (Ear nose and throat) doctor was quite sure was something else. I am both unhappy with the results, and fighting the urge to say, “TOLD YOU SO.” Lol.

      I have something called Zenker’s Diverticulum, which is basically a pouch inside the throat which catches food and supplements and such. It is relatively rare (yay me), and often just left alone unless it starts to cause problems, which mine has. I’m hoping not to have surgery, because the idea of someone cutting into my throat is not my idea of a fun time. All the good vibes happily accepted.

      1. I’m sorry it wasn’t the result you hoped for, and I hope there’s a solution that doesn’t cause you distress!

      2. Oy vey, Deborah! I wonder if they have a stent for that? Sending energy for a good outcome.

      5. Ooh, sometimes I’d rather be wrong. I do hope that they’re able to help you and that you (and Ember) we both be feeling well again soon!

    6. Poor Ember! So glad the vet could do something about it. Hope she’ll heal fast and well – sending healing-vibes!
      Hope the divination went well and was fun, and that your test went splendedly and did not come up with anything terrible, but something fixable. Keeping fingers crossed!

  22. Condolences, and hugs, and wishes for recovery to all of you having pet issues. They are such a huge part of our lives, and I would not have made it through the last year without my fur babies. They are so intuitive when we need comfort, and they are there for us.

    My copy of HPP came yesterday, and I read it all. It’s great. I like the new characters. I loved the ending, a real HEA for those who deserved it.

    I walked yesterday, carrying Kali for two blocks, because as soon as we started out, the wind came up, and it was cold. We kept each other warm, until it died down, and she could walk on the leash. I walked extra fast, and cut 6 minutes off my time for a mile. I wasn’t tired, and it felt great! It’s been more than a year of tests, and shortness of breath, and fatigue, and I’m so grateful to my second and third cardiac doctors for finding the problem and bringing healing.

  23. So many happies this week.

    First, a tiny bit of backstory: Quince Braverman (dog musher) started his first Iditarod right before covid hit, and it was cancelled early on due to the pandemic. This year, he entered again, and the lead dog is the same lead dog from the covid race, at twelve years old! (She wasn’t supposed to be the lead except for the first leg, after which she’d retire, but she didn’t want to retire, so she stayed in for the whole thing.) Anyway, about halfway through, the judges decided the team was too far back and wouldn’t make it to the end, so they pulled him from the official race. Except he decided, nope, they were wrong, his dogs deserved the chance to try, and he was convinced he could in fact make it with his team. And he did. So happy! Moral of the story: don’t give up just because people say you can’t do something. You can see a video about it here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/they-did-it-124877230

    Lesser but still intense little happy: I found my favorite Cutco knife that’s been missing for six months. I thought I must have composted or trashed it by mistake, but it was just in a hidden section of the drawer, about twelve inches from where it belonged.

    Also happy I got my shingles vax on Friday, but wow, the arm irritation is insane! Grateful, though, that the other symptoms (headache, fatigue) only lasted about 24 hours.

    1. I had no particular problems that I recall with my shingles vax (is that the one that needs a second dose within 6 months or something?) a few years back, but averting shingles would be worth some suffering. One of my coworkers came down with it at a relatively young age, and his suffering in the office was pretty audible from time to time, although he did manage to keep working.

      1. Patrick check with your doctor. There is a new, more effective vaccine and they are recommending it even for those who had the first one.

        1. Shingrix is the one requiring 2 doses, replacing Zostravax, which I had also had a while back earlier. I see nothing online about anything newer than Shingrix.

    2. And good for Braverman and his lead dog! And congrats on finding the knife. There are a couple of items around here that I myself have hopes of finding when I’m up to more energetic housekeeping.

    3. I had shingles a number of years ago and was very happy to get the shots, even though both times it caused brutal pain in that arm that lasted two weeks. Still better than shingles.

      1. Good to know it’s not abnormal to be more intense than a flu shot arm pain and to last a while. I was starting to think my reaction was out of the ordinary and therefore worrisome, and I don’t need any more worrisome in my life!

  24. Happiness is being back home in our own bed, even with a head cold which developed the last full day on board the ship. Long flight.

    Spending all day at the stable watching granddaughter ride and jump like the wind. Champion in all her divisions. Missed the first place in the Mini Prix by 2 seconds. She is a happy girl, skipping and jumping her way through life. Dinner Saturday night. Excellent. Older granddaughter has her face in a book, devouring the story. Going to read the same book to talk with both girls about story.

    Almost finished HPP. So good.

  25. I almost forgot my other good news from last week: My eye pressure, fields, and current glasses prescription all still look good after my laser surgery in the middle of last year for glaucoma, although the doctor wants to check the pressure again in 6 months, since it does sometimes go up again after a while.

    1. That’s great, Patrick. I didn’t know they did laser surgery for glaucoma. Interesting.

    3. Such good news! Working or reasonably well working eyes are so very, very practical to have. I was born with glaucoma, that’s where my blindness came from. I know what a vision-assassin it is. So good your eyes are still tagging along for the ride!

      1. Thank you for sharing that, Shass. I have wondered what caused your sight problems. You do amazingly well, and it is inspiring to witness.

  27. Jennie, I am really interested in learning what you learned from Lee K. Abbott from Ohio State University. Would you happen to know if there are any of his lectures recorded, and, if so, how I could listen to them. Thanks for all of your stories. They are gems!

  28. Just downloaded HPP and am looking forward to reading it—that’s a happy thing!

    We swam laps on Saturday and hiked on Sunday, which made for a nice weekend, but swimming the day before hiking means we don’t hike as much as usual. May try to move the swimming to Friday evening.

    My daffodils are up and the California poppies are starting to bloom. The freesias are hanging on, although they’re getting to the end of their moment. Lots of beautiful stuff to look at in the yard. Plenty of wildflowers getting ready to bloom at the higher elevation where we hike, too. I’m masking whenever I’m outdoors, which isn’t my favorite way to enjoy nature, but at least I feel like I can get outside without adding too much to my histamine levels.

    Kid 1 is home for five more days. Really enjoying her visit and will be sad when she goes back to school. But then she’ll be home for summer, which will be lovely (especially if she gets a job). Kid 2 picked up a job application that he’s going to return tomorrow. Fingers crossed they’ll hire him. At this point, he just needs some job experience to put on a resume, whether or not it’s a good or well-paying job…

  30. I’m very much enjoying HPP, and it’s educational, too. I already knew what SCIF means when I was reading the news this morning.

About the Author

Jennifer Crusie is the New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author and co-author of twenty-three novels, one book of literary criticism, miscellaneous articles, essays, novellas, and short stories, and the editor of three essay anthologies. She lives in a cottage in Pennsylvania, where she often stares at the ceiling and counts her blessings.

Find out more about Jenny’s published works by visiting JennyCrusie.com

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