I’m not a huge football fan. I used to watch back in the day when my father was alive and huge Arkansas Razorbacks fan. The last time I followed pro ball was when Mike Ditka coached the Bears, and The Refrigerator and McMahon were the heroes of that game. Was that really forty years ago? I never so enjoyed a game, but that was it for me. Not sure why.

My family loves going to the high school and local college games. They love knowing the players and meeting up with friends to watch. The only time we gather for a pro ball game these days is for the Super Bowl. I’m embarrassed to say I’m there for the commercials. The girls love the half-time show, but we stay for the end—if the game is a nail-biter. We pick our sides and love ribbing each other when our favorite team makes a great play and scores.

However, if the power went out tomorrow night, we’d be okay. We’re not that invested. It’s just another chance to sit together and celebrate as a family and maybe eat some finger food (I’ll have to talk someone into hitting the grocery store for some goodies!).

How about you? Are you big fans? Who are you rooting for to win this time around? Are you gathering with friends and family or heading to a sports bar? Solve the puzzle then post your answers below for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

It’s Friday! If I lived alone and didn’t have young ones still in school, I could see how Friday might just be another day. However, the kids were chomping at the bit this morning to get to school and get the day over with so they could start their weekend. I love that charged feeling in the air. We don’t even need to have any big plans; it’s just nice to have the kids underfoot. And I say that and have to laugh because my mother really, really liked it when kids were in school. She had the house to herself. The quiet had to feel like a daily vacation to her. My three siblings and I were a rambunctious bunch.

I don’t feel that way. I love and like the three girls—all of them so different from each other. They get on each other’s nerves, but there’s nothing better than seeing them when they get along. Karoake night in the living room is a true celebration. Even meal times are a celebration with them around. The 16-year-old always leads the conversations once we’re all sitting around that table. “So, Mom, how was your day? Nina?” That’s the start and sometimes we pull out conversation game cards and ask questions, like “If you could meet anyone in history, who would you choose?” The answers are always fun and never the same. Anyway, TGIF! I can’t wait for the weekend to begin!

For a chance to win a download of your choice of stories from my backlist, tell me whether “Friday” is still a day you celebrate.

January

Work-related:

1. Again, I didn’t write a single word in all of January, but that was the plan—wait until after I recovered from the last of my chemotherapy sessions. Chemo sucked away all my energy and ambition. It wasn’t until well past mid-month that the aftereffects of my last chemo session on December 30th waned. And then I dragged my feet as I started thinking about what I wanted to accomplish writing-wise this year.
2. I completed 1 editing project for another author in January.
3. I settled on a theme and sent out the call for submissions for the next Boys Behaving Badly Anthology—Burn!
4. So, yeah, it was a light month of work, but I’m feeling so much better, and my brain is re-engaging!

Health-related:

1. I underwent a PET scan to see how my cancer had reacted to the chemo and got the amazing news that I’m now in remission from my cancer. Further, something I didn’t think would happen because I had far too much cancer everywhere is now within reach. It may be possible to have my girlie parts removed, which would yank out the source of my cancer. Not that it might not be lurking something else, microscopically, but right now the only place where it is detectable is in my uterus. It’s got to go!
2. After that good news, I spent the rest of the month…resting. I can finally get deep, restful sleep, so I’m catching up!

Happiness-related: 

1. My family, all of whom have been astonishingly good to me over the months of my treatment, are now expecting me to pick up some slack. LOL. I’m doing the occasional dishes and keeping my own spaces clean. It makes me feel productive, and I know my dd needs some relief.
2. I’ve been working on organizing my art studio, going from table to table, shelf to shelf, putting things where they belong and clearing working spaces.
3. I painted this month. Not much, but here are a few small pieces I completed:

February

  

For work-related, I plan:

1. To complete Ignition before the end of the month and publish it. I was able to persuade Amazon to give me back my pre-order ability (Yay!), but I’ll wait until I finish the book before I let you know it’s out there. Writing is a little elusive still, which has made me feel a little…not afraid, but hesitant to slap dates on things.
2. To plot stories for the new year for my current series, Montana Bounty Hunters: Yellowstone, MT and We are Dead Horse.
3. To complete 3 editing projects in February.
4. To look at books I already have out that I might bundle together or publish in print. I’ll be assembling another Ultra collection of short stories for publication in March.
5. To begin work on the next We Are Dead Horse book, Built Like Mack. The plan is to release it in March.

For health-related, I plan:

1. To meet with a surgeon at UAMS to discuss the possibility of getting my girlie parts removed. The appointment has been made—it’s happening at the end of this month.
2. To begin again watching what I eat to drop a few more pounds. I’ve rejoined WW. Now, I just need to knuckle under and do the work.
3. To add physical activities to my daily routine so that I can regain some muscle tone. I plan to begin some daily chair yoga exercises and spend some time on the exercise bike.

For happiness-related, I plan: 

1. To get ready for the #100dayproject, which begins on February 23rd. This will be the 5th year I’ve participated in the challenge. I can’t wait! I’ll be going through art books and Pinterest pages, looking for ideas for projects.
2. To clean up my art room, which was a disaster!  While I was feeling like hell, I tossed supplies on table tops rather than storing them properly, eating up my workspace.
3. I have plans to do an online oil pastels class and perhaps make some more collage fodder.
4. To spend time with the family—more movies, meals, and flea market adventures!

Contest

Comment on anything you’ve read in this post. Tell me what you’re doing to make yourself happier and healthier, or tell me what you plan to read in February…

Like I said, comment on anything for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

For those who don’t know, the Lunar New Year celebration marks the first new moon of the lunar calendar. It’s a 15-day festival period that happens this year between January 29th and February 4th. This year, millions of Chinese communities are celebrating the start of the Year of the Snake. There are parades, quiet moments of prayer, and lots of food. In fact, I’m going to talk my daughter into picking up Chinese food tonight so we can have a little celebration and introduce the kids to another holiday that I think needs to be added to our rotation. Any excuse to celebrate, right? More like, any excuse to eat good food. I’ll also light some incense and think about the family members we’ve lost in recent years and to wish luck and happiness to all my family and friends.

Most of us know our traditional Horoscope/Zodiac signs, right? Do you know what your Chinese Zodiac symbol is? The Independant has a nice summary for you to figure out what your zodiac symbol is. Follow the link to find out what yours is. I was born in 1958, in the Year of the Dog.  Here are some of the qualities a “dog” possesses: “Loyal and friendly, they make the best companions a person can have. Sometimes they can be stubborn but always find their way back to balance.”

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle, then find out what Chinese Zodiac animal you are. Do the qualities your symbol represents fit you? And are you ready to add the Lunar New Year to your yearly calendar of celebrations?

The Memory Puzzle

I live with two grumpy old cats. The one above is Pumpkin, who adopted me. The first time I met her she was feral and wandering on the edge of the forest behind our house. I began leaving her food on the other side of the fence because I was worried about her. She was small for a cat and looked rather pathetic. I fed her daily, but she never approached when I was there. I’d watch as she waited for me to disappear inside, then from my window, I’d observe her eating the food I left.

Then one night many years ago, I had set an alarm to get up in the middle of the night to go outside and watch a large red moon. I felt something making figure-eights around my legs. When I glanced down, I was startled to see this cat (and so glad it wasn’t a raccoon!). She’d come to trust me, and slowly, she went from being a skittish outdoor cat to being a cat who refuses to step outside. She now lives in my bedroom, taking up the space on my recliner.

Tessa is the other elderly cat who inhabits my space. The two cats despise each other, and if they meet in the doorway as one comes back from the food bowls and litter box, they howl and spit at each other. Tessa inhabits the pillows at the back of my head when I lay down, and her purring is what puts me to sleep, although her yowls, when she gets mad if I roll to my side and disturb her sleep, are quite grating. If my hands are outside the covers, she nudges them for me to pet her—incessantly. So, I hide them under the covers when I’m done and wait for her to give a grumbling meow before she flops behind my head on the pillow and goes to sleep, snoring.

Right now, they both want to follow me into my office, so they are crouched on the floor, berating each other, waiting for the other to walk away, but that never happens. I have to break them up, picking them up to put them where they belong—one on the chair, one on the pillows.

This has been going on for years now. There is no peaceful resolution. They are sworn enemies who are jealous of the attention I pay the other. They will never be besties although they occupy the space of my bedroom for most of the day and night.

We live together, me being the buffer between them. I don’t know why I’m telling you about them this morning, except that Pumpkin is still trying to jump into my lap as I type. I rarely allow that because she doesn’t stop demanding pets and never settles—and I have work to do!

Betta fish are so much easier to care for. Feed them, keep their water the proper temperature, and enjoy the show. Not so cats.

So, for fun, have you ever had pets who were sworn enemies? How did you manage to keep the peace? Answer in the comments below for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card.

P.S.: I just wanted to let you know that I had no discernable side effects from my immunotherapy infusion last Monday. Not one. I sat for an hour while they dripped the medicine in my IV. Then I went about my life this past week without any nausea or pain. It’s so lovely. I’m still recovering my energy level after so many months of chemo, but I’ll get there!

Report Card

Last week…

1. The most noteworthy thing that happened last week was my meeting with my oncologist on Monday. There, he told me I’m in remission from the cancer that once filled my abdomen. Now, there’s a “smudge” of cancer left in my uterus, and I will be seeing a surgeon soon to remove everything! Halleluiah! That does not mean I’ll be cured. I’ll still have Stage IV endometrial cancer. It just means that, for now, we’ve knocked it back. I’ll take that and celebrate!
2. I also underwent my first every-six-weeks immunotherapy infusion. And guess what? It only took an hour—not an entire day—and the best part? No side effects that knock me on my ass! Glory Halleluiah! 
3. I continued work on one author’s edits and finished them.

This next week…

1. This week, I’ll be diving back into finishing up Ignition! Okay, so I said this last week, but I mean it this time. I want to finish it and put it up for pre-order.
2. I have one author’s edits to work on this week—perhaps a second set if the author gets me her pages.
3. So far as personal goals? I’m not ready to diet. I’m still in celebrate mode. LOL. I also can’t find the drive to up my activity. I need some inspiration.

Open Contests

Be sure to check out these posts and enter to win the prizes that are still up for grabs:

1. Flashback: Saddled (Contest) — This one ends tomorrow! Win a FREE book!
2. Memory Game: Places I would like to go… (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. 5 Things I’m Thankful For… (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Dream Dinner Table — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
5. Gabbi Grey: Gay Historical Romances (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win a FREE eBook or audiobook!
6. Report Card & Open Contests (New Contest, too!) — Win a pretty pen!
7. Flashback: Tailgating at the Cedar Inn (Contest–3 Winners!) — Win a FREE story!
8. Word Search: Hot Sauce Day (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
9. Anna Taylor Sweringen/Michal Scott: Ellen F. Eglin — Inventor of the Wringer Washer (Contest) Win an Amazon gift card!
10. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: A Wishing Well — Win an Amazon gift card!

Taking a deep breath….

Last August, after my first PET scan, I remember my oncologist’s expression before he brought up the scan for us to review. He wasn’t smiling. His eyes looked sad. He slowly hit the key to progress the images and pointed out everywhere that was lit up like a freaking Christmas tree to show me where the cancer was. In one image, I could see that it looked like an apron of Christmas tree lights was spread across my abdomen, fully covering it. At that time, I asked him about best case scenarios, and he told me I might have three years if I did well with the chemo, but my cancer was extensive, and he didn’t believe I’d ever be a good candidate for surgery to debulk my tumors. The best I could hope for was some reduction of the size of my tumors to prolong my life a bit.

The first thing I did after getting the news was to make an appointment to update my will.

Today, when he walked into the room, he had the biggest smile on his face. He said, “Let’s pull up the latest scan.” He opened his laptop and brought up the previous picture that was so colorful and beautiful with the intensity of all those awful lights. Then he pulled up last Friday’s scan and slowly hit the key to progress through the screens. There was nothing but gray scale pictures to look at. The ONLY place we could detect some activity was in my uterus, but it was a bare smudge of light.

He said, it was almost funny because the radiologist that read the scan thought I’d had surgery already to remove my omentum. That’s an apron of tissue that covers all the major organs in your abdomen. The reason he thought I’d had surgery was because there was no cancer to be seen whatsover. The “capsule” of cancer on my liver? Gone, too.

He said I’d done amazingly well, and that I am officially in REMISSION! He went on to say that I would be on immunotherapy from here on out and that he had patients who’ve been on it for eight years—so my prognosis is stretching into territory I couldn’t even begin to dream of when I started. Sure, it can come back, but we’ll be doing blood tests and scans to keep on top of it.

I could not have received better news. Now, I’ll wait for the surgeon’s office to contact me because I am getting that dang surgery to have my girlie parts removed for good.

Just thought I’d share the news because I couldn’t wait until tomorrow. We’re in celebration mode at the Devlin house!