UPDATE: The winner is…flchen1!
*~*~*

I missed posting at the end of the month because 1) I forgot, and 2) I had guests! It’s still the first week of the month, so here goes…

May

May was challenging for soooooo many reasons. There was all the prep and pageantry related to the 18-year-old’s graduation, and the entire family contracted COVID—something we evaded for over two years! Folks, get your shots and boosters! We’re all recovering, although some slower than others!

Here’s what I managed to accomplish…

Work-related:

1. I completed only 2 editing projects for other authors in May!
2. I wrote eight chapters of my next book! I had hoped to finish the thing, but considering the alternative… 🙂

Health-related:

1. I fell off the Weight Watchers wagon. However, I am maintaining 25-27 pounds of my loss! I’ve been doing this since January, and am committed to going slow, so I do not view this as a failure!
2. As to physical activity, the pool finally got warm enough toward the end of the month, but COVID kept me from doing much swimming and impacted my steps.

Happiness-related: 

1. I finished the #100DayProject art challenge! I didn’t hit 100 pieces completed, but I did get to 83! Here are the last two pieces I finished…

June

Here’s me putting this out in the world…

For work-related, I plan:

1. To complete and publish Victoria’s Six on June 21st! And this one, I can guarantee will happen!
2. To complete and publish Wild Thing in June—something that’s very questionable at the moment!
3. To begin work on my next Montana Bounty Hunter story!
4. To complete 4 editing projects in June!

For health-related, I plan:

1. To get back on the Weight Watchers wagon and hope to lose at least 5 pounds, remembering: Slow is good!
2. To swim at least five days out of the week!
3. To begin some low-impact aerobics, which will include a video workout, plus, add some outdoor activities, like pool maintenance and blowing the patio. Maybe I’ll do more housework, too. (This is an old goal, but I’ll repeat it. Maybe I’ll actually do it!)

For happiness-related, I plan: 

1. To continue working on getting my art room better organized.
2. To produce something art-related at least once a week! More than that would be hard due to my work schedule!

Contest

Solve the puzzle then comment on anything you’ve read in this post. Tell me about any special summer plans or tell me what you plan to read…
Like I said, comment on anything for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

Open Contests

1. Anna M. Taylor: M is For the Million Things She Gave Me (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Saturday Puzzle-Contest, Plus More Open Contests! — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Breathing Fire! (Contest) — Win a FREE book!
4. Finding the Fun, Country-style! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
5. Gabbi Grey: Ace’s Place and Marcus’s Cadence (Contest & FREE Reads!) — Win an audiobook!
6. Lynda Rees: Heart of the Matter (FREE Read!) — Get a FREE story!

UPDATE: The winner is…Pansy Petal!
*~*~*

Psst! Just a reminder!
There are four open contests on this blog. Be sure to enter while you still can!

While I was down for the count with COVID, I watched a bunch of movies. Some romcoms, a short British series called Slow Horses (loved it BTW!), and some Hallmark Mysteries. Those Hallmarks have long been my guilty pleasure. I love the Crossword Mysteries and the Aurora Teagarden series, in particular. Not high art, but they aren’t meant to be. Some light sexual tension between the leads, and a mystery to solve. I hate it when I figure it out too quickly!

On Sunday night, with everyone feeling better and a little housebound, we decided to have some fun outside! Nothing too strenuous, because we’re still feeling the effects of the disease.

We set up a projector attached to a laptop and shined the image at the side of a shed in our yard. It was the perfect outside theater! Of course, we scouted the location ahead of time for fire ants! We burned a large citronella candle and lit tiki torches around our perimeter to discourage mosquitoes. We brought out drinks and snacks and laid on blankets with pillows (or they did—I lazed in an Adirondack chair). We tried streaming My Girl, at first, but the buffering got annoying, so we decided to pull out a DVD and ended up watching episodes of Jimmy Neutron! It was so much fun and reminded me of my childhood when my parents would load up the station wagon with all four kids and head to the drive-in theater, sleeping bags laid out for the kids in back, and a pillowcase of popcorn.

Everyone loved it, even the 8-year-old who is scared to death of bugs. We’ll be doing it again this summer.

Contest

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, share some fun childhood memory of your family or an idea for some unique activity families can enjoy!

We planned, worked the plan, kept ourselves apart… Then the local numbers improved. We got a little lax. We still wore masks inside at Walmart. We had just started eating inside restaurants (not often), but only when they first opened and weren’t very populated.

Then the 18-year-old had all these senior events and practices for graduation…

Graduation happened last Saturday. His symptoms started the next day. By last night, both him and his father tested positive for COVID. Now, everyone in the house has varying symptoms. My dd is making one last trip to Walmart—delivery to the car—for medicine and soups and tissues before we hunker down to get through this.

As for me, I have a sore throat and mild cough. I’ve had a headache for three days. My joints hurt. My eyes are constantly watering. Still, I’m sitting at my desk. I’ll hope for the best and keep moving. I’m healthy-ish, eat right, keep hydrated. I could use good thoughts. One of the family seems to be on a worrisome progression.

Oops. I had a guest scheduled for today, but she had to bale at the last minute. No worries. I’ll fit her in another time!

In the meantime, I’ll just share a picture that makes me smile. This one was taken in New Orleans—pre-COVID. The little one is 8 now, so not this small, but she’s always so much fun. She loves shopping and fashion shows, so getting her to pose for this wasn’t hard. Someday, when I get good enough as an artist, I’m going to try to paint this.

Hope this made you smile, too. ~DD

UPDATE: The winner is…Brenda A!
*~*~*

This summer, we’ll have four kids underfoot. The two older ones have part-time jobs and driver’s licenses, so I’m not so worried about keeping them occupied. The 13-year-old and 8-year-old will present tougher challenges. I was thinking of maybe trying to get them excited about some crafty projects. Maybe tackle one every couple of weeks. I’d love to pass along my “craft bug” to someone!

Something my dd and I did a few years ago was make soap. We tried just one recipe, and it actually turned out very, very nice! It was an oatmeal-honey-goat’s milk recipe, and we added some essential oils for scent. The project didn’t take more than an hour to put everything together, and after we stuck it in the fridge while it hardened, we had lovely bars of soap!

This was us putting together our ingredients before sticking the measuring cup in the microwave to melt the mixture.

We found some cheap, basic molds on Amazon. All we did after stirring our hot, melted mix was pour it into the mold.

And we had pretty, nicely scented, smooth-as-butter soap!

So, I’m going to hunt for my old molds and purchase ingredients to be ready!

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, share your ideas for crafty summertime activities!

UPDATE: The winner is…Shirley Long!
*~*~*

I start every day the same way. I get up and head straight to the coffee machine to start my first cup while I do other things. Once my teeth are brushed, I head outside to my small outside porch, cup in hand. I check the weather, look at the forest behind the house to see what’s changed, what animals I can see. It’s very peaceful. The ritual centers me. When my dd joins me, it’s even better because we chat about what’s happening that day. Dolly Parton wasn’t wrong when she called coffee a “cup of ambition.” I wouldn’t dare chart my day without it.

Puzzle Contest

So, you know what you’re gonna find in this puzzle, given my morning’s theme. Still, a mental challenge is good for the old gray matter. So, solve the puzzle, then answer my question for a chance to win a download of your choice from my backlist of books!

What is your favorite beverage?
And don’t say just coffee, or tea. Say how you like it.

For me, I love coffee. My absolute favorite version is Turkish coffee. It’s ground as fine as a powder then boiled in water on the stove. When you pour it into the cup, it’s a little thicker than everyday drip coffee, and there’s a sludge of fine grounds that settles to the bottom of the cup. But oh my! With just a little sugar, it gives you that espresso pop without the bitterness. I don’t even mind encountering the sludge. Now, your turn!

Open Contests

1. Gabbi Grey/Gabbi Black: My Heart is Breaking (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Saturday’s Puzzle Contest! — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. April into May (Contest — and more contests!) — Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Story Cubes: Tell me a story… (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
5. 10 Things That Make Me Smile (Contest) — Win a FREE book!
6. Gabbi Grey: Stanley’s Christmas Redemption (Contest) — Win a gift card!
7. Cameron Allie: Somewhere to Belong (Giveaway & Contest–3 Winners!) — There’s a giveaway to everyone! Plus, a contest with 3 winners who get a FREE book!

UPDATE: The winner is…Laura!
*~*~*

I’m generally a very cheerful person. I believe in smiles. I remember reading about a study of depressed people who were told to stand in front of a mirror every day and smile at themselves. And weirdly (or maybe not!) their depression improved. I get that. I smile at myself, too. I tell the kids a smile can be a choice. I love finding reasons to smile.

So, here’s a little list of 10 things that make me smile, listed in no particular order. Finding the emojis to correspond with them was so much fun! See? I’m already smiling.

• ☕ First morning coffee with my dd.
• 🧜🏼‍♀️ Floating in my pool.
• 🍅 Making a Greek salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions.
• 🤝 Holding the little one’s hand.
• 👩‍🎨 Painting flowers.
• 🏃‍♀️ Writing an action scene.
• 🌅 Watching the sun set on the ocean.
• 🌸 Fresh flowers in a vase.
• 🍫 A small square of dark chocolate after dinner.
• 📖 Reading a good book with a kitty on my lap.

You know what’s coming next! 😈

For a chance to win your choice of a download of any of my backlist of books, tell me five things that make you smile!