Wow! Could It Be A Real Post?

Good morning! It's been a while since I've posted a "real" post, I know, but I'm here now. :)

This weekend was a little different. Friday morning, I asked Jeff what we were doing. I knew what needed to be done over the weekend. I just wanted to know what we were doing that day. We never decided before I posted my dailies, so I just puttered around a bit...on and off the computer...until about dinner time. Jeff then suggested we go out to get something to eat, so we went to Taco Bell.

After that, we went to Hobby Lobby. I got some yarn and knitting needles there with my 40% off coupon.

Then we headed down to the shopping center. Our first stop there was Shoe Carnival. We both bought hikers, and I have to say, mine are so much more comfortable than the shoes I bought last time I was there! :D

Next, we went to Books-A-Million to see if they had a Kindle on display. They didn't, so we headed over to Target so I could pick something up. They had Kindles on display, but they didn't work. :(

Our next stop was PetCo, where we bought some fish food, cookies for Nikita, and two more African Dwarf Frogs:



One of the older frogs seemed really interested in thenewcomers while they were being acclimated. Hestayed there,watching, for several minutes.


One of the newcomers

We got home late, and went to bed a lot later than usual, as acclimating the frogs to the aquarium took a long time.

Yesterday morning, we slept in. I never had time to post my dailies until last night, as we were out pretty much all day. We went to Hobby Lobby with another 40% off coupon, which I used for more knitting needles. I also got some more yarn and a yard of cloth to send to a friend who's going to make me a cover for my "tea cart":



My "tea cart" is really just a TV cart being used for all mytea and supplies. I like having it handy! :)


The material goes perfectly with my moss green walls, andthe pinks in it match the pink in some of mydecorative boxes! :D

I did a little rearranging in my studio last week, and I moved my new coffeemaker and all my tea stuff in to where I used to have my laptop table. I moved the laptop table back in front of the windows, where it used to be a long time ago.

Speaking of, I need to fix myself a cup before the coffeemaker shuts off...

Anyway, after that, we went to Staples to see if they had a Kindle on display. They had two, but one only showed a demonstration on the screen. That was the newer, bigger, more expensive one. That's not the one I want. I want the other one they had on display, the smaller one with free 3G. You could leaf through books that were on it and you could really play with it. Yay! :D I really, really want one more than ever now. ;)

We looked around at the furniture there. I saw a computer cart, some book cases (Jeff liked the three-shelf bookcase, but I like the lower profile of the two shelf, especially since it's wide, not narrow) and some other desks I really liked. Hopefully, I can get that cart sometime. It would be awesome. :)

After we left Staples, we headed over to Walmart to do our grocery shopping. We saw Eric and Chelsey and Chelsey's friend leaving, and since I had my Knitbook binder with me, I gave it to Chelsey (I'd told her I would give it to her the next time I saw her). We talked to them for a couple of minutes, then they left and we went inside to do our shopping.

It's been a pretty good weekend. We spent more than usual, but considering the things we bought, we did very well. Also, Jeff just paid the mortgage and put a large chunk toward his credit card bill (we had to fall back on it when he was unemployed), so our bank account balance has gone down a lot, but we'll build it up again.

And speaking of that, I'm finally getting serious about studying my driver's manual so Jeff can teach me to drive. Once I have my license, I plan to start looking for a job. The plan is to earn the money to fix up this house so either, A) we'll like it enough to live in it indefinitely, or B) we'll be able to sell this house and get something better closer to town.

You know, we looked at a house near the new library, but we turned it down because it needed a ton of work. I'm kicking myself over that now, because we could have fixed it up and it would be a much better house than this one...and I'd be right across the street from the library! It cost something like 58,000, I think. It might have been 68,000. I can't remember. Either way, for what we spent on this house, we could have bought that one, got a home improvement loan, and fixed it up. We'd be in town, and I'd be so close to the library!

Oh, well, no use whining about it. I'm done. ;)

I did a little writing this past week, but I did more research than anything. I finished a short story I'd been working on...a Will Scarlet short story. :)

Tomorrow, I'll be babysitting, so if I get any writing done, it will likely be after that. Today, I'll be designing and printing pages for my Day Timer. I need to work out a schedule. I've got several things I want to start doing:

• Write something every day
• Research for my writing
• Editing every day
• Sit down every day and do some real, honest-to-goodness reading!
• Start turning some of my art cards into other things, such as mugs, t-shirts, keychains, etc.
• Create some new art cards and other artwork
• Knit and/or crochet

So, I've got a lot of stuff I want to start doing on a daily basis (at least on my week days, which right now are Sunday through Thursday). I also want to get some of my writing ready for submission, as well as some of my artwork.

Of course, sometimes I have to babysit, so I have to be able to drop everything for that. But it should only be one day a week, and not even every week. Occasionally, it will be more than once a week, but it shouldn't be a problem. As long as I can work on at least one or two things on those days, I'll be fine. And the weekends I'll save for hanging with my hubby. :)

And on that note, I'd better get busy with those Day Planner pages. ;)

But first, here are a few more pictures:



Jeff looking through our new seed packets.In this picture, he's checking out the Lupines.


To brighten your day, Snapdragons andTexas Blue Bonnets! :D


Snapdragon buds close up with opened flowersin the background

I hope you're all happy and healthy! Have a good one,

Lois

The Library Is Open! The Library Is Open!

The kids and I went to the grand opening of the Van Buren library yesterday. Wow! I can't believe how awesome it is! :D

Here's an article: New Library Opens Doors In Van Buren

And some pictures: Van Buren Public Library Grand Opening

A Video! And if you look really close, you can spot Eric walking beside one of the bookshelves. He's wearing a baseball hat, a black t-shirt, and light shorts: Van Buren Celebrates Grand Opening of new Public Library

And to wrap it up, they have several events going on this week: Van Buren Public Library Plans Weeklong Grand-Opening Celebration

Now, Eric being the ham he is, walked in front of the camera on purpose hoping they'd show him on TV. Well, he got his wish, but he doesn't know it yet. Chelsey's going to surprise him by showing it to him after he gets home from work. Hopefully, it will make him feel better. He's sick with a bad cold or flu.

I've got a few things to do today, and I'm late in getting off here, so I'd better run.

Have a good one!

Lois

Writing, Research, and Recovery

Harry Lloyd as Will Scarlet in BBC's Robin Hood

I fell last Tuesday when we had the big storm...the one that started with freezing rain, then turned to sleet before finally turning to all snow. Initially, I didn't feel like I'd been injured, but later that afternoon, I began feeling sore. I'm mostly fine now, but my left wrist has been giving me a little trouble. I think I probably have a mild sprain. I've been taking it really easy with it, keeping it as immobile as I can. Most of my keyboarding has been with one hand, so it's been slow-going. I'm on the mend, though, thanks to the steps I've been taking to minimize the use of "the bad hand." I've also been using Tiger Balm, and that's worked wonders over the past two days. :)

During all this, I've been watching a lot of Robin Hood (the most recent BBC series)...well, really only one disc. I need to send it back so I can get another one. Anyway, I've been inspired to write a Robin Hood story of my own. During my recovery, I've been doing a lot of research on the Robin Hood legend--the characters, the "real" outlaws, the earliest tales--and I have to say, it's been a blast! I've been coming up with lots of ideas for my story, and I'm still at it.

As for the characters, my story's hero will be Will Scarlet, not Robin Hood, though Robin and the others will be in it. I thought it would be interesting to concentrate on a member of the outlaw band who doesn't really get a lot of attention (at least not from what I've noticed, but I haven't seen or read everything there is about him). He was in the earliest tales, and of all the outlaws, only Will and Little John were with Robin until the end (though Little John was the only one with Robin when he died).

I'm using names of people believed to be the real Robin, John and Will, too. I'm basing their physical appearances on the ones who played them in the BBC series I mentioned, but their personalities will be based on research I've been doing combined with my own imagination. I hope I can do them justice!

I began a short this morning, and it's currently sitting at 801 words. I think it's time to take a break, but I want to get back to it after lunch.

I haven't knitted or crocheted anything since the day I fell. Once my wrist began to bother me, I set it aside. I don't want to injure myself further.

Anyway, since my wrist is feeling somewhat alright at the moment, I wanted to post a quick update here to let you know what I've been doing. I guess it turned out to be a bit longer than I intended, but that's good. :)

Hope this finds you all healthy and happy!

Lois

There's A Big Storm A'Comin'...

Actually, it's here...and I've started the day in rare form. I took Nikita out for her morning walk, and because of all the rain that's fallen on our clay soil, I slipped and fell in the mud! Surprisingly, I only had mud on my knees and a small splatter here and there on my jacket. I was on the grass, and I think that's what saved me from becoming a total mess! :P

Anyway, I cut our walk short because of that. She hasn't pooped yet today, so I'll have to take her out again soon. :-/

After that, I'm going to make today a 10K Day (or get as near to 10K as I can by three o'clock). I want to write. I need to write--even if it's only character journal entries (which I actually love writing). I'll likely turn off the Internet, the Weather Channel, my music--everything--until I'm done. I'm not going to open Tweet Deck, either, even though I've been trying (with extremely limited success) to get back to that. I'll check in later this evening if I'm able.

Depending on how the roads are tomorrow, I might have to babysit. On the other hand, if the roads are too bad, I'll have another writing day.

We shall see...

Lois

Road Trip!

Okay, the road trip is over, and has been for about two-and-a-half hours. ;) The drive to the airport was good...and dark for the first hour and a half to two hours. Once the sun came up, I began to feel a little more awake. Or maybe it was the McDonald's coffee that did the trick.

Anyway, I waited with my mom for about an hour and ten minutes, until someone came to help her board the plane.

I met up with Jeff downstairs, and we stopped off at the Starbuck's kiosk so I could get another coffee. I've had my fill of caffeine today, that's for sure! Now I'm drinking decaf. :)

On the way home, we stopped for lunch at Bonanza Steakhouse. I think we used to eat at this chain when my sister and I were little. Or maybe it was Ponderosa Steakhouse or some other steakhouse. I'm not exactly sure, but I think I should ask my dad when I talk to him again. Anyway, Jeff and I both got a combo with a steak and grilled shrimp, plus the food bar. I was good. I fixed myself a nice big salad and had only a little bit of potatoes. I ate half of my steak, ate three of the shrimps, then had dessert (and even that was limited). The salad filled me up! I didn't have room for much else. I have to say, though, that the food and the service were very good. I'm hoping to go back sometime.

But first, I want to try the Carrabbas in Rogers. On one of our first dates, Jeff and I went to the one in Baltimore, and the food and service were excellent! :D

Our very first date was Friendly's, but the closest ones are in...gasp!...Ohio!?!?

Anyway, our trip to the airport and back were good. As we got close to home, we were stopped on a nearby road and asked to detour, as there was a trailer being moved, and it was blocking the street just over the hill. No problem. We just went the back way.

When we got home, Jeff let Puppis (Nikita, Nikki, Nixie) out of the kennel, and she made like a mad dog and ran all around the house like the hyper pup she is! :P

And now we're just enjoying some nice quiet time at home...with some windows opened, believe it or not! It's 75° here right now!!!  *happy dance*  I'm not quite ready for warmer weather, but for today, it's nice. I'll take it! :)

Have a good one!

Lois

10K Days...

I was supposed to participate in at least one of the 10K Days this month: this past Wednesday or Saturday. I couldn't participate in either because I agreed to babysit, so I tried for a 10K Day yesterday. As far as reaching 10K words, the day was a bust, but to me, it wasn't so much about 10K as it was about sitting down and writing. In that respect, it was a success. I managed to write and edit two writing articles, one on character journaling, and one on using outlining in screenwriting. I'll post links when I can. :)

I've completed the first handwarmer in my Handmade Exchange for , and I'm well into the second. They're looking really good, so far! :D

My mom's heading back home on Saturday, so we have some things to do before then...like wash her hair, do her laundry, buy her a lingerie bag for her hand knit items, and laminate her new address tags.

Our library is moving to their new building...finally! I can't wait until they open for business (if they aren't already--I need to check). :)

Before I go, here's a photo to brighten your day. We planted some snapdragons in Jiffy pellets a while back. Eventually, Jeff planted them in pots, and one of them is actually blooming! :D





And now I'm about ready to start work on a new Immortal Watchdogs short story. I still have some planning to do (a lot, really), but I can write out the prologue, at least. :) Today will be my "official" personal 10K Day. ;)

Have a good one!

Lois

So much for piccies...

I haven't had a chance to do any editing since I last posted, but wanted to post a little something anyway. I've taken a few pics of the inch or so of snow we got last night, and those have been added to the folder of pictures to edit.

Hopefully, I'll get a chance to edit them soon.

I finished the scarf I've been working on. This morning, I started a pair of handwarmers to match them. I've also begun a scarf to match Jeff's handwarmers. We discovered last night that we may both need scarves for the nightly walks with Nikita. At least when it's cold and windy. I had my new one, and it kept my face comfortably warm. Jeff didn't have one, and his face was very cold. He's not usually one to wear scarves, but he was wishing for one last night. ;)

Chelsey wants to learn how to knit / crochet. I'm so excited! :D I gave her the Knitting and Crochet for Dummies book I had. It can teach her the basics, but I told her if she has problems, I can help her out. I also gave her some yarn, and let her borrow a pair of knitting needles.

There are two 10K Days for Writers coming up soon. I plan to participate in at least one of them...probably the one on the 19th. I'll either work on an Immortal Watchdogs story or come up with something new. I can't wait! :D

Our new washing machine is awesome! I so love not having to go to the laundromat. :)

My new coffeemaker is awesome, too. Right now, I'm drinking a cup of Sumatra coffee brewed using the aroma button. Thanks, Mom! :)

Today, I'm working on the screenplay edit...and, of course, the two new knitting projects. ;)

What's everyone else doing today?

Lois