Report Card

Last week…

1. I worked on one author’s edits.
2. I had chemo on Monday, so the rest of the week passed in a haze of aches and fatigue. I’m feeling much better today, and yesterday I only took one pain pill so I could get to sleep but didn’t need a thing to get through the day!
3. My wound from my port removal is healing nicely. It no longer has to be packed—TG! That hurt like hell. Now, ripping off the tape is more painful than dealing with the incision. Progress!
4. I’m still doing the daily Advent giveaway on my Facebook friends page. If you’re not there, you don’t know what fun you’re missing! 
5. The family watched Elf last night! Still love it!

This next week…

1. The only medical appointment I have is one to get my white blood cell count booster shot tomorrow. The rest of the week is smooth sailing as I continue to recover from chemo. The second week after usually means more fatigue, but the aches die away.
2. I have two sets of authors’ edits to complete this week!
3. I need to upload Once Upon a Legend to sites other than Amazon since it’s no longer exclusive there.
4. I do plan to putter some more around my office to clear out some more clutter—mostly to just get in some movement. My In Box seems to grow every time I turn around…
5. I have Christmas presents to wrap this week. No more procrastinating!

Open Contests

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

1. Flashback: Brotherhood Protectors — Tyson’s Mission (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win a FREE book!
2. Gabbi Grey: Trying Something Completely New (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Tonight is Krampusnacht (Krampus Night)! (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Happy St. Nicholas Day! (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
5. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Christmas Shopping at the Mall — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
6. Flashback: Lone Star Lovers — Reined In (Contest–3 Winners!) — Win a FREE book! THREE winners!
7. Word Search: Last Minute Stocking Stuffers (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
8. Gabbi Powell: On Brand (Contest) — Win a SERIES of stories!
9. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Raindrops — Win an Amazon gift card!

Report Card

Last week…

1. I worked on one author’s edits! A not so productive week, but after spending a good part of the previous week in the hospital, I finally feel more myself.
2. The only medical appointment I had was a quick visit with the oncologist for a checkup post hospital stay and a blood draw. The blood draw let me know that my Cancer Antigen test result was finally in normal range, which lets me know the chemo is doing its job. Yay!
3. My daughter and the 15-year-old have been troopers, changing out my bandages and packing gauze into the wound (TMI?) twice a day since coming home from the hospital after my surgery to remove my port. It’s painful, yes, and now my IVs during chemo will be delivered by a vein, rather than through the much more convenient port, but I’ll be damned if they put another port in. My body didn’t like it one bit!
4. I began the daily Advent giveaway on my Facebook friends page. If you’re not there, you don’t know what fun you’re missing! 🙂
5. We watched National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation—it’s an annual thing! It’s still as silly as ever.

This next week…

1. Chemo is tomorrow! I’ll be there bright and early in the morning and sitting in the chair until around 3 PM. It’s a long day, but they start it off with a bag of Benedryl, so I get a long nap, too. Silver linings, folks!
2. Although I’ll be pretty miserable all week long, I have two sets of edits for other authors to work on, one to finish. I’ll piddle five pages here, five pages there between naps and get ‘er done.
3. I do plan to putter around my office a little bit during the week to clear out some more clutter—mostly to just get in some movement, if not real exercise. My In Box is beyond the teetering phase, and there’s still dust on my bookshelves…

Open Contests

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

1. Anna Taylor Sweringen/Michal Scott: Alice Ruth Moore Dunbar Nelson — More Than a Famous Poet’s Wife (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Gabbi Grey: Audio Love (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win a FREE audio book!
3. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Advent begins tomorrow! — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
4. November into December (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
5. Word Search: Things on My Christmas Tree + Open Contests! (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
6. Flashback: Brotherhood Protectors — Tyson’s Mission (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win a FREE book!
7. Gabbi Grey: Trying Something Completely New (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
8. Tonight is Krampusnacht (Krampus Night)! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
9. Happy St. Nicholas Day! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
10. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Christmas Shopping at the Mall — Win an Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Charlene!
*~*~*

Yes, Thanksgiving is barely over, and I’m already looking toward Christmas! Thanksgiving was lovely here. The daughter outdid herself so far as the meal was concerned. We’re eating the last of the leftovers today. Tonight, we’re eating Haluski because we can’t face another day of “buzzard” leftovers. Don’t know what Haluski is? It’s so simple—egg noodles, fried cabbage, and kielbasa sausage all mixed together. We add some Frank’s sauce to spice it up. Yum! Simple, but filling. Then we’re watching a Christmas movie, probably Jack Black’s Dear Santa.

Every day, counting down from the 1st to the 24th of December, I’ll give away a small prize on my Friends page on Facebook. If you aren’t already a friend, you can head over here to join: Delilah’s Friend Page. You can also join Delilah’s Corner group and post your entries there. When you comment on my daily FB advent posts, you’ll be entered to receive a small, simple prize, whether it’s a signed book, a hand-painted (by me!) bookmark, or a pretty beaded pen.

Let me know if you plan to follow the daily giveaways for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card here! Enjoy the puzzle!

A quick note: I’m healing well from my surgery to remove my chemo port. My daughter has to change out my bandages, including packing the chest wound (it is as gross as it sounds) twice daily. Other than that little bit of discomfort (PAIN!), we’re going about business as usual. I see the oncologist again next Monday to see when chemo resumes.

My family sprung me from the hospital yesterday, so I’m home for the holiday!

In case you didn’t know, my chemo port area was infected. My body rejected that contraption. So, I have a hole in my chest that my poor dd has to pack with gauze twice a day as it heals. Painful, yes, and it’s impeding my chemo—which will resume in two weeks. But I’m home for the holiday. Yay!

The hospital wasn’t bad. The staff was kind, and they gave me a lovely, large private room (I guess my insurance is pretty damn good—thank you, U.S. Army!) while they ran me through surgery to remove the port and took care of the wound for the first couple of days. The food? Ugh. My dd made the trek daily to spend hours with me. The 15-year-old spent quite a bit of time with me to keep me company. I couldn’t access my website to do any updates, though, because the hospital’s internet kept slapping a “porn” warning on all my accounts. I went in Sunday and came out yesterday afternoon, so you know I was dying to get home to read my email.

Anyway, I’m back. I hope you’re all doing well. My dd is in the kitchen as I’m writing this, preparing the turkey for the oven. My SIL made his “famous” deviled eggs last night. Three pies are in the fridge. Everything else will be made fresh today. Yum! We’ll eat too much, take breaks to nap and watch something family-friendly, I’m sure, then back at the feast. Tomorrow, we’ll all be complaining we gained five pounds.

I love the start of the holiday season! I wish all of you here in the U.S. a lovely holiday, filled with too much food and pleasant memories to be made.

Report Card

Last week…

1. I finished one author’s edits and will complete another’s today! So, a productive week, even if I didn’t write one word for myself.
2. I attended the annual potluck at my art guild. It was lovely seeing friends! I was good until just after I finished eating, then I felt as though a curtain fell and I was instantly exhausted. You can see the moment in the picture. Unfortunately, I couldn’t leave immediately because my dd, SIL, and the girls were busy hanging donated wreaths around the center after the meal. When I got home, I crawled straight into bed and slept like a rock. The food was good BTW. 🙂
3. I had a Doppler scan of my port area. The doctor wanted to rule out blood clots as the cause for the swelling. No clots! But also no explanation for why my port area is still swelling and sore. I also had a blood draw to make sure I’m good to go for infusions on Monday!
4. I watched the romcom Hot Frosty this week on Netflix. So I got in one Christmas movie! It was really cute! I’d recommend.

This next week…

1. Chemo is tomorrow! I’ll be there bright and early in the morning and sitting in the chair until around 3 PM. It’s a long day, but they start it off with a bag of Benedryl, so I get a long nap, too. Silver linings, folks!
2. I have no plans to do ANY WORK AT ALL this week.  I’ll likely be miserable and sleeping most of the week anyway, but without the stress of working. My holiday gift to me.
3. Despite the fact I’ll be in my worst phase of recovery from chemo on Thanksgiving Day, I’m still looking forward to spending it with my family. Maybe I’ll sleep in the recliner in the living room rather than in my bed so I can hear the chatter and be closer to the kitchen and dining room. Fewer steps to walk! I do love the holiday meal!!!
4. I do plan to putter around my office a little bit during the week to clear out some clutter. Mostly to get in some movement, if not real exercise. Clutter tends to accumulate without my even noticing, but I’m noticing now because my In Box is so tall it’s teetering, and there’s dust on my bookshelves. So, there’s a goal.

Open Contests

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

1. A Poll! Advent Countdown Giveaways (Contest) — This one ends tomorrow night! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. It’s Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day! (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win a FREE book!
3. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Your Christmas Movie List! — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Flashback: Brian (Contest–3 Winners!) — Win a FREE book! THREE winners!
5. Gabbi Grey/Gabbi Powell: Why mental health is so damn important (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
6. Memory Puzzle: Dead Horse Bounty Hunters (Contest) — Win a FREE book!
7. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Turkey Day is Coming! — Win an Amazon gift card!

Report Card

Last week…

1. The Demon Lord’s Cloak released! I promoted it, running a couple of small ads. It’s the last release of the year for me. 🙁 
2. I completed edits for one author and worked on another two editing projects.
3. There have been some health issues with two other family members. Nothing as consequential as my continuing PITA cancer. However, it does mean, everyone’s stressed out. Also, the skin around my chemo port has gotten tender and swollen. I talked to me oncologist this weekend, and he recommended I show up to clinic on Monday for them to check it out. I’m hoping it just needs a flush. If something’s wrong, I’ll have to have a minor surgery to remove it, and I’ll be back to IVs in the arm.

This next week…

1. No books on the horizon. I think I’m not even going to put pages on my schedule until a month after my last chemo appointment. It’s just too hard to keep up with everything and try to be creative when I’m fighting fatigue. I’ll putter with editing and enjoy the holidays with my family. Priorities!
2. I’ll be at the clinic tomorrow to have them examine my port. And I have a blood draw on Thursday in preparation for next Monday’s chemo infusions.
3. I’ll be finishing edits for two authors this week.
4. The local art guild is having their holiday potluck this week. I’m hoping to be rested enough to join them for the evening.
5. The rest of my time will be spent living in the moment with my family and my cats!

Open Contests

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

1. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Thanksgiving Prep! — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Gabbi Grey: Why I keep going back to Passport to Pleasure (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win a FREE book!
3. Word Puzzle: Favorite Shifters (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
4. A Poll! Advent Countdown Giveaways (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
5. It’s Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day! (Contest) — Win a FREE book!
6. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Your Christmas Movie List! — Win an Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Stephanie!
*~*~*

I unplugged completely yesterday. I had to make a trip in the morning to the cancer center an hour away for a shot to boost my white cell count. I still felt sick as a dog, so the winding roads to get to Hot Springs just about killed me. When I got home, I went straight to bed and pretty much stayed there all day. I didn’t turn on my computer even once.

I’m still not feeling great, but I’ll try to get a few high priority tasks out of the way before I take a pain pill and sleep away the day. The pain is from the chemo, not the cancer. My feet are cramped with charley horses constantly. My legs have painful spasms. I have a headache, a slight fever… I could go on and on. And I think I just did. 🙂

My daughter decorated for Christmas early the last couple of days, so I did sit for a little while watching as she hustled around, setting up all her treasures. We have numerous trees, nutcrackers, gnomes, townscapes, etc. We like our Christmas decorations and try to stretch the season as much as we can. My dd and oldest granddaughter then watched a Hallmark Christmas movie. I tried to stick it with them but ended up heading back to bed a third of the way in. Hopefully, I’ll start feeling better soon. My next treatment is the Monday of Thanksgiving week. I’ll be completely miserable for the holiday.

Anyway, enough of the health (unhealth?) update. We have some Saturday fun to begin!

Saturday Puzzle-Contest — Thanksgiving Prep!

Now that the Christmas decorations are up, my daughter is turning her attention to the Thanksgiving feast. She has a very detailed plan, which includes her shopping list, the times she has to put certain foods on to cook, recipes for the dishes, etc. She even has a shelf in the pantry that she’s cleared to hold her ingredients. Her Uber-plan works. For the past three Thanksgivings, her meal has been superb.

For you U.S.-residents, do you go all-out for Thanksgiving? For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me about your Thanksgiving preparations. And if you’re not in the U.S., do you have a similar feast?