I’ve talked before about our menagerie of indoor animals—cats, dogs, bunnies. When my parents passed and my daughter’s family moved in, we combined two families’ pets. We figured that through natural attrition we’d winnow down the pets.
And then yesterday happens. My daughter drove the two youngest to school and on the way home, she saw something tiny and black wobbling across the road in school traffic and very quickly stopped her car, stopped traffic and scooped up…a very tiny, dirty, scared kitten.
Meet Binx. We thought we’d get her to the vet, give her a good bath, then try to rehome her, but you know how that works. Once she was in our home, all the girls fawned over her, named her, and she’s ours.
She’s our second Halloween cat. Years ago (16 years?), I stood outside in the middle of the night to watch a rare full moon when I felt something furry weaving figure eights around my ankles. Pumpkin is still with us. Old and grumpy, but still healthy. But cats are easy, right?
We’re rejiggering what cats stay where, and Pumpkin is going to join Tessa and me downstairs. Guess I’ll need a new picture…
For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me whether you have pets and if you’ve rescued any yourself!
I was lazy yesterday and didn’t post my Saturday puzzle. So, today’s post includes the puzzle-contest at the end of this message! Be sure to scroll down if you want to play!
Report Card
Last week…
I worked on edits for one author.
I published the Delta Heat books in online stores other than Amazon (went wide!).
I slept—a lot, again. I’m still on the mend from the latest chemo round. (I have a scan coming in early November to see whether my cancer is diminishing.)
This next week…
I’ll be working on edits for possibly three authors this week and will finish it by the weekend. I’ll be busy, busy, busy!
I’ll try working/editing the pages I’ve already written for Ignition and, hopefully, finishing a new chapter.
I’ll be working on revisions of The Demon Lord’s Cloak, which releases November 12th. Have you pre-ordered your copy?Â
I’ll be deciding whether I’ll participate in NaNoWriMo this year. It’s a “write 50,000 words in November” challenge. It is probably/definitely more than I can commit to, but I so want to get back to writing…
Open Contests
Be sure to check out these posts and enter to win the prizes that are still up for grabs!
I am beyond excited for this series to begin! I just finished watching the trailer and thought I’d share it with you!
For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle then let me know if this show excites your interest! Or let me know what new upcoming series you’re dying to see!
I had my chemo on Monday with all the usual symptoms that followed—nausea, body aches, fatigue, and insomnia. As of today, I’m getting back to normal.
I worked on edits for one author.
I slept—a lot.
This next week…
Tomorrow, I’ll get a white cell booster shot and have a blood draw. At some point soon, my oncologist is going to order up some more scans to see how the treatment is working.
I’m still working on edits for one author and will finish it by the weekend. Then I’ll start the next set.
I’ll try working/editing on of the pages I’ve already written for Ignition, just to keep the story in my head so at some point I can commit to writing new pages.
I have the last Delta Heat stories to take wide, meaning, to upload to sites other than KU.
Yes, my plan is very unambitious, but that’s okay.
Open Contests
Be sure to check out these posts and enter to win the prizes that are still up for grabs!
Halloween is always a fun time of year for our family. It’s the kickoff to the holiday season—Halloween, Thanksgiving, St. Nicklaus Day, Christmas, New Year’s Eve… We celebrate them all because we love excuses for celebrating.
For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle, and then offer suggestions in the comments for Halloween movies or activities that would be fun for the family!
For all of those displaced or battening down the hatches to ride out this 1-2 punch of a second devastating storm, all I can say is you’re in my thoughts today. As a former Florida resident, many moons ago, I know you’re resilient, but this one looks so bad I worry for you all. I hope you had the wherewithal to escape the area. For those who chose to stay, I’ll be sending blessings and praying for you. ~ DD
Yesterday was Chemo Day—the third round. It’s funny; I almost looked forward to it—or at least I wasn’t filled with dread or fear. I know it’s the beginning of a miserable week, but I don’t even dread that. Not yet. I’ll probably rethink it on Wednesday or Thursday when the deep muscle and joint aches begin—but I have some good drugs to help with that. 🙂
Anyway, I came home from chemo, which ended at 3 PM, and headed straight to bed. Other than getting up for dinner or walks to the bathroom, I slept all the way until 3 AM this morning, and I’ve been up since, on a roll. I puttered picking up things, and even dusted my desktop (a huge chore given all the crap I have on the surface).
Then, I turned my attention to what to do with my blog today—since I def feel up to it.
I love quirky, obscure holidays, and today is an important obscure one. It’s Ada Lovelace Day!
Who is Ada? From the website Time and Date: “Ada Lovelace was an English mathematician who worked with Charles Babbage on his calculating engine, called the Analytical Engine. Her plan to calculate Bernoulli numbers using the engine is now widely considered as the world’s first computer program. In 1980, the United States Department of Defense created a programming language and named it Ada in honor of Ada Lovelace’s contribution to the world of computing.”
I remember when the ADA programming language was a thing back in the day. I remember, too, the state of computers back when I was new to the Army. In fact, during my summer ROTC training before I graduated from college, I was selected to be part of a team that went to an Army base to evaluate an exercise the active duty units there were undergoing. Our job was to shadow and assist the active Army observers. We were the ones entrusted to gather their observations and put them together into a single, extensive report. We were given access to a computer to write up the report—beginning after duty hours so we didn’t disrupt the people who worked there during the day. I was assigned the job of typing up all those reports, editing, then printing out the report (my first editing job, y’all). The computer sent the book to a printer that spit out hundreds of punch cards that looked like the picture above. The others had to take that stack and walk it to another device that read the cards then produced the written report. All those cards had to be kept in order so two people carried it, one holding the cards from the ends and the other supporting it so it didn’t fall to the floor. If you had one card out of order, you had to reprint the entire thing. If they (the active duty folks) decided to make changes to the report you had to repeat the entire process again.
Still, I thought how cool was it that we were able to type up a report, making changes along the way, and we didn’t have to retype the entire thing. It did save labor on that end. LOL
A few years later, I was assigned to work on the general’s staff at Fort Gordon (now, Fort Eisenhower), Georgia and we actually had an internal email system that connected the staff to all the heads of different organizations on the post. So much progress in so few years. Shortly after that, I bought my first computer, a Radio Shack TRS-80, and I was the first on my block to own a personal computer. I had to learn a smattering of code to work it, but that was just part of the adventure!
Today? We all take for granted the innovations. Back then, we felt like we would soon be living in the Jetson’s future.
Anyway, sorry for the long post. Have fun with the puzzle. Solve the puzzle then tell me about any computer innovation that amazed you for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!
I have a long To-do list today filled with things I need to complete before tomorrow’s date with the chemo chair. I even woke up in the middle of the night and downloaded a movie, My Spy (I know, it doesn’t have the best ratings, but I want something mindless and filled with action), and the series Reacher, so I have choices. I will be in the chair for six hours, and the initial Benadryl they hit me with to keep me from an allergic reaction will only help me nap for so long. So, I have to pre-post a blog for tomorrow morning (if I get it from my guest author in time), charge up my headphones, and pack my backpack with a jacket and wipes. I’ll have to pack my lunch bag first thing in the morning, but I’ll leave it sitting on top of my backpack as a reminder.
I just updated my weekly work plan. In the last two go-rounds, I completely blocked out chemo week, but this time I added some light tasks to each day, so I have something to prod me into doing something other than sleeping. I need to move around as much as my tired, achy body will let me. I am determined to accept chemo week as part of my new “normal.”
Anyway, I have things to do, so let me move on. I hope you all have a happy, productive week. I wish you good health. Find little and big ways to find your joy.
Report Card
Last week…
I worked on edits for one author. I will complete them today!
I had my chemo blood draw on Thursday. My white blood cell count was back up into normal range due to the shot I got the previous week. My red blood cells, platelets, and lymphocytes took a hit. I’m anemic—which is why I feel so fatigued—so I’ve been adding more meat to my diet. I’ve been napping—a lot!
I finished my binge of the old Sci-Fi series, Andromeda. The last season was awful, but I persevered. I also finished Evil and hate that it’s over after only four seasons. I loved everything about it—the cast, the story lines, the sets, the way they filmed it, the funny little nun who battled demons—she was my favorite character—and I have mixed feelings that she wound up retired in a silent cloister. Yes, she deserved rest. Maybe she was actually ready for it. And yes, she felt like a real person, so I’ll miss her. 🙂
This next week…
I’ll undergo a round of chemo infusions, and I’ll continue to track how I react throughout the days following treatment because I need to consign it to a schedule!
I’ll begin another editing project, but I’ll set my expectations for my productivity very, very low.
I’ll try working on of the pages I’ve already written for Ignition, just to keep the story in my head so at some point I can commit to writing new pages.
I’ll try to force myself to move more than I usually do after treatment. I want to know whether it helps the awfulness pass more quickly!
Open Contests
Be sure to check out these posts and enter to win the prizes that are still up for grabs!
