UPDATE: The winner is…Rachel Blackburn!
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I’m finally exiting Chemo Week Hell. I had seven hours of sleep last night and woke feeling weak but not uncomfortable or hurting. Yay. Today, I’ll use every excuse to get up and move around to get my legs feeling stronger. Gosh, I’ll even shower. Just kidding. I do shower. 🙂

Today’s Puzzle Day! And what’s on my mind? Well, the weather. Here we are at the beginning of Fall, and yesterday, the temperature here in Arkansas was 95 degrees. Today, it’s supposed to get to 96.

I’m sorry. Pool season is over. It’s time for sweaters and hot chocolate. In fact, I’m making a grocery list and adding hot cocoa to it because it’s one of those things I love having during cooler weather.

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift certificate, tell me what you enjoy eating or imbibing when Fall weather truly arrives!

UPDATE: The winner is…Anna Marie Flamini!
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Just a reminder before I blast you with Sunday’s post! I have a novella arriving early Tuesday morning! Have you pre-ordered your copy?

Once Upon a Legend is sexy fun set in the Wild, Wild West with a lawman who doesn’t know quite what to think about the woman who falls into his arms from the stagecoach and starts telling him of the danger coming his way… Enjoy!

Report Card

Last week…

1. I guess it’s supposed to be traumatic, but on Monday morning, I showered and, as I was washing my hair, my fingers dragged away clumps of hair. It was time. My dd and the 20-year-old shaved me bald.
2. Last week was ridiculously busy with appointments. On Monday, I saw my oncologist. He didn’t like my white cell blood count, so he gave me another WBC booster shot. On Tuesday, it was another trip to the city to have tests run at the hospital where the port installation surgery would take place. Then, I had the surgery on Thursday. I now have my “borg” port.
3. On Wednesday, my SIL drove me to the nearest military installation an hour and a half away to get me a new ID card. I was a little bummed that my hair didn’t last long enough for the photo. LOL
4. I worked on edits for one author. I also took care of a lot of administrivia—you know, stuff that has to be done but doesn’t move the goalposts or pay the bills.
5. My daughter, the girls, and my SIL continue to be amazing. All four girls in the house were there for me on surgery day even though we had to begin the drive at 4 AM. I really am the luckiest Nina in the world.

This next week…

1. This week is “Hell Week.” Um, by that I mean I have another chemo treatment on Monday. What follows for the rest of the week will not be pleasant.
2. Once Upon a Legend releases on September 17th! I hope you get your copy!
3. I want to wrap up Ignition. It’s the fourth and last book in the Delta Fire series. I moved the release date to October 1st. I’m not sure I’ll have the energy to create, so I might have to push off finishing until the week after.
4. I’m working on editing projects for two authors this week. Two that I have to finish. So, I’ll be hoping for an hour or two of lucidity every morning to putter away.

Open Contests

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

1. Word Search: Signs Fall is coming… (Contest) — This ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Movie Night! — This ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Tell me a story: Sweet dreams are made of these… (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Katherine Eddinger Smits: Cassadaga, Florida: Spirits, Ghosts, and Mediums (Contest + FREE Read) — Win an Amazon gift card. Plus, pick up a FREE Read!

Puzzle-Contest!

Because I had a guest yesterday, I didn’t run my Saturday Puzzle-Contest! So, let’s do it today!

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle… It’s a photo of a ridiculously, aesthetically pleasing woman hanging laundry. I can’t seem to resist these “cottagecore” photos. Anyway, solve the puzzle then tell me whether you still hang laundry to dry outside. 

UPDATE: The winner is…Steph!
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Did you notice I didn’t post yesterday? Sorry about that. I posted daily without fail for over five years. Now, if I’m tired and I don’t have a guest’s post, I just won’t. Rest has been my priority. Insomnia has been a thing for the past few weeks. I can be plenty tired when I lay down, but the moment my head hits the pillow… Well, at first, it was due to painful muscles and joints. I got into the habit of sucking down a hydro at night, but it doesn’t really help with sleep. Last night, my dd gave me a melatonin gummy, and I slept for 7.5 hours!!!!!  I feel sooooo good. The only other thing that happened this week was I had a blood draw, and the clinic called me a couple of hours later and told me to get to Hot Springs ASAP because my white blood count had dropped into the dumpster, and they needed me to come in for an injection to help with that. So, my poor dd had yet another appointment to take me to. Next week’s calendar is pretty full, too. Multiple appointments, my port surgery, finally. Then, the following week, I’ll be sitting in the chemo chair again. Ugh. I’m still trying to figure out the rhythm of the appointments and how they affect my body so I can try to get to a new normal.

But enough of that!

All the girls are home today, so we plan on having a lazy movie day later this afternoon. Pizza and The Proposal, I think. The 11-year-old’s first celebrity crush is Ryan Reynolds, so we thought that would be fun for her. In the meantime, I have some work I need to get out of the way. The weather has taken a sudden turn. The air is a little nippy outside. It’s almost sweater weather. That’s not nearly as good as swim weather, but we have to enjoy the change of seasons. It’s that or be grumpy throughout the Fall, and that’s not permitted!

I hope you all have a lazy, pleasant day. Solve the puzzle then tell me what you’re planning to do for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Pansy Petal!
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What with all my drama-drama, pool maintenance kind of fell by the wayside this past week. It’s been a lot for my dd and the girls to keep going. We had storms this week, and unless you’re right on top of the pool, cleaning out the leaves, brushing it, shocking it, etc., it starts to green up fast.

With cooler weather arriving this next week, I think this summer’s pool days are over. I had hoped for at least one more week when I felt good enough to get in the water (which is TODAY), but now, I’ll have to give up that dream. LOL—yeah, I’ll mourn the pool. I’m that devoted to my daily swims.

The good news is I feel more like my usual self today. I’ll still take it easy, but maybe I’ll actually wear real clothes instead of laying around in a nightgown. Progress!

So, for me, letting nature take its course with my pool is the first solid sign of Fall. For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, what is it for you?

UPDATE: The winner is…Laura Bowles!
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Because of all the activity surrounding my health issues, it’s been challenging to find the fun here in the Devlin house. Swimming has been curtailed. I just hate getting into a suit that squeezes my middle, but I think I might take the plunge anyway today. I miss the water and sun on my skin, and I think it would be fun for the girls. I didn’t know they’d give up the pool if I wasn’t out there with them, but it seems it’s not as fun without me there. (It makes me feel good and sad at the same time—LOL).

Later, we’re planning on watching a movie together, likely late afternoon, so no one (me) gets too tired to enjoy it. We’ve selected the new Twisters movie.

All my hard deadlines for work on others’ books have been met. I don’t have to stress about anything other than maybe pre-posting some blogs for next week in case I feel like shit and don’t want to post daily, as is my habit.  My dd is an organizer. She’s going to pack my chemo bag for Monday. I could do it myself, but she likes to take care of me, so I’ll let her. Yes, I’m spoiled for attention.

So, today’s a lazy-ish day. Tomorrow, I’ll do a little work prep for the week, but another light duty day. Next week, I’ll be winging it, and see how everything goes. I hope you’re making the most of the last days of summer! It’s my favorite season, so I’ll be damned if I’m cheated of the things I love most—family time and the pool!

Happy Saturday, everyone!

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, suggest some things my family and I can do together that are low-energy, low-stress fun!

UPDATE: The winner is…Courtney Kinder!
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I didn’t put much thought into today’s post. I opened my favorite stock photo site, saw that they had a category called “Pantone Color of the Year for 2024,” and skimmed through all these lovely photos of peach-colored things. I found a blossom I love and decided that was enough work. It’s pretty. You’ll like it. And who can complain about a pretty, neutral peach, huh? Sometimes, their colors of the year are a bit out there (I love it when they do that!). It’s fun seeing designers try to make up rooms using the year’s color when it’s something like neon green or eggplant.

Anyway, I’m having a quiet weekend. Next week’s the PET scan so we can determine where the cancer is. I’m hoping I don’t light up like a Christmas tree. That would suck. Even better would be if I disappoint them and I’m a boring little pop of this and that. *crossing my fingers*

In the meantime, I’m working a little, playing some Fishdom on my phone, and napping a lot. Other than abdominal discomfort, I’m feeling pretty good (popping Hydrocodone at night helps a lot!). I’m even getting my daily swims in.

So, back to the contest and the flower… For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle then tell me your favorite flower and color. Mine is a bright yellow sunflower. They’re so happy looking. Red is my favorite color in all its permutations (magenta to sunset orange).

UPDATE: The winner is…Linda Rhoden!
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If you hang out on TikTok or Instagram, you have to have seen the latest fashion/lifestyle trend: Trad Wifes. Don’t know what those are? They are influencers who have rich husbands so they can cosplay a country-farm lifestyle—but fashionably. If they are mucking out horse stalls, they’re wearing white linen dresses. If they have a Sunday dinner for the fam, it’s served outside with crystal wine glasses, and the family looks perfect. Believe me, I’m not knocking the aesthetic—it’s lovely, but I do have to wonder whether the husband is demanding fresh-from-scratch meals and a wife who can’t work because she has to maintain all the perfection. To me, it’s weird.

The 10-year-old loves the fashion and would love to mimic them, but then she watches their outdoor table settings and says, “Ew. First fly and I’m outta there.”

If they have chickens, ducks, and geese, who cleans up after them? They stink! We know! You’ll be wearing red-neck fashion—blue jean cutoffs, a wifebeater, and muck boots to clean out the coop.

Their yards and pastures are all so perfect, there is no way on God’s green earth, they are maintaining it all themselves.

Anyway, I am feeling a little grouchy. I have my appointment with the oncologist on Monday, and this morning, I woke up with the flu-like symptoms my daughter and the girls brought back with them from Virginia—fever, muscle aches, more nausea. I’m waiting for the vomiting. Oh, joy.

For the chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me whether you’ve been following these Trad Wifes, living this cottagecore aesthetic, and which ones you enjoy.