Report Card

Last week…

1. I completed one author’s edits and began two new projects!
2. I worked on getting caught up on some administrivia to get ready for my upcoming surgery and recovery. I’m soooo easily distracted I didn’t get far.
3. I attended a meeting of the local art group. It was nice to see friends.
4. I’ve been painting every day as part of #the100dayproject.

This next week…

1. I will complete two sets of author’s edits.
2. I have more administrative things to do this week to “get my affairs in order” before surgery.
3. I’ll continue working on #the100dayproject, but only if I have time. At some point, I’m going to have to pause and resume after the surgery.

Open Contests

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

1. 1. The Key to Happiness (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
   2. Happy Alfred Hitchcock Day! (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
   3. It’s Jewel Day! (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
   4. Flashback: Fun with Dick and Jane (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win a FREE book!
   5. Happy St. Patrick’s Day & 5 Ways to Celebrate (Contest)! — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
   6. Memory Game: Animals to Write About (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
   7. Gabbi Grey: How I figure out what comes next! (FREE Read + Contest) — Get your FREE read, plus enter to win another FREE story!
   8. Get your FREE read! WITH HIS ROCK BAND! — Pick up your FREE read. This is a limited time offer!
   9. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Welcome Spring! — Win an Amazon gift card!

Report Card

Last week…

1. I sent out a notice to authors that I need to line up next quarter’s authors. Thank you to those who responded. I still have openings!
2. I completed one author’s edits and began the next project! Woot!
3. I’ve given up on completing Ignition before my surgery at the end of the month. I’m just too busy with edits and administrative things… 🙁
4. I’ve been painting every day as part of #the100dayproject. I had particular fun painting on my “smush” cards. You have to have been following my FB friend page to know what those are. LOL! Anyway, I had fun!

This next week…

1. I will complete one author’s edits and begin the next set of edits this week.
2. I have more administrative things to do this week to “get my affairs in order” before surgery.
3. I’m attending a local political gathering this week. As an older person and a veteran—and the grandmother of a child with special needs—I have to let my concerns be known.
4. I’ll continue working on #the100dayproject.
5. If I have time, I will work on putting together another Ultra collection of my short stories for publication. No promises, though.

Open Contests

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

1. 1. Learn What Your Name Means Day (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
   2. Word Search: First Signs of Spring (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win a FREE book!
   3. Flashback: Baby, It’s You (Contest–2 Winners!) — This one ends soon! Win a FREE book!
   4. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Nostalgia in Old Photos + Open Contests! — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
   5. Gabbi Black: Writing to a Cover (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win a FREE book!
   6. The Key to Happiness (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
   7. Happy Alfred Hitchcock Day! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
   8. It’s Jewel Day! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
   9. Flashback: Fun with Dick and Jane (Contest) — Win a FREE book!

Report Card

Last week…

1. I completed one author’s edits! Yay!
2. I’ve continued some light exercises.
3. I’ve been painting every day as part of #the100dayproject—and I’m liking my latest efforts.

This next week…

1. I will have one author’s edits to begin work on. I’d like to get halfway through it.
2. I’ll send out a notice to authors to see who might like to blog on my website, April through June—since I plan to still be here!
3. I’ll return my attention to Ignition, because I really, really want to finish it before April 1st!
4. I have administrative things to do this week to “get my affairs in order” before surgery.
5. I’ll continue working on #the100dayproject.

Update

This month, I’m busy trying to get ready for my surgery that’s happening on April 1st. I have lots of little things to handle before the big day—making sure my daughter knows where my important papers are, making sure she knows who to contact should something go wrong, leaving breadcrumbs for her to find her way through my computer and files. I’ve had this computer for a number of years, and it has little idiosyncrasies that might drive a person who isn’t familiar with it crazy.

I’ve had interesting conversations with the girls—who gets my bedroom, office, and craft room when I’m gone. The 16-year-old has dibs, and she’s said my bedroom will remain the same because she loves all my “junk,” and the office will become her gaming room, AND she won’t let her mom ditch all my craft and art supplies in the art room because she wants to putter in there with all those “treasures.” We laughed about it. And we all talk often about what happens when I’m gone. Getting them used to the idea helps with the grief. We had a long time taking care of grandma, my father, and my mother to get used to the idea of their passing. It helped to talk about a future without them. Yes, their deaths were still devastating, but the sting was somewhat muted because we’d prepared ourselves emotionally. NOT THAT I DON’T FULLY EXPECT TO MAKE IT THROUGH MY SURGERY! I do! Still…

Can I bitch about a little thing and not seem silly? My hair is beginning to grow back in—and my, oh my is it ever gray (well, more silver than gray). And, it’s growing faster at the bottom than the top of my head, which looks very weird. I joke that I look like Ludwig Von Drake. I’ll still be in hats through the summer!

Now that I’m just doing immunotherapy infusions, the chemo-devastation has subsided. My foot neuropathy is still there as is my slightly blurred vision, but I can make it through the day without taking a nap, although I do shut down working in the early afternoon and head to my recliner to watch some TV. I’m still building stamina—which will take another big hit after the 1st.  I’m so not looking forward to the recovery, but I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure the 16-year-old doesn’t get her mitts on my art supplies just yet. 🙂

Report Card

Last week…

1. I completed one author’s edits.
2. I had a blood draw on Monday (my cancer antigen test looked really good!), and I had an appointment with a surgeon regarding the question of whether I can have surgery to remove the girlie parts that were affected by cancer (I’m now scheduled for April 1st!).
3. I’ve continued some light exercises—mostly chair yoga and things I can do holding onto a countertop or pressing against a wall.
4. I’ve been painting every day as part of #the100dayproject—not that I feel like I’m doing good work just yet. 🙂

This next week…

1. On Monday, I have my immunotherapy infusion appointment!
2. I will have one author’s edits to complete this week.
3. I have administrative things to do this week to “get my affairs in order” before surgery.
4. I’ll continue working on #the100dayproject.

Open Contests

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

1. Memory Game: Night Fall Stories (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Do you subscribe to my blog? (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: French Diary — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Anna Taylor Sweringen/Michal Scott: Gertrude Bustill Mossell, a Multi-faceted African-American Woman (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
5. Story Cubes — Tell me a story (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
6. Tell a Fairy Tale Day (Giveaway) — Get your FREE story!
7. February into March (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
8. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: On this day…Yellowstone National Park! — Win an Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Ani Stubbs!
*~*~*

All my plans are kind of in the air as of yesterday. I have to rejigger my work schedule to prepare for surgery on April 1st. It will be a long recovery because they are doing a full hysterectomy, plus taking out anything affected by cancer (omentum, maybe lymph nodes). The surgeon said it would take 4-6 weeks to recover. My daughter who had a radical a few years ago said think a year before you feel normal-ish again. I told the doctor my only concern is when I can get into the pool this summer. I expect to be back at work, even if I’m sitting in a recliner with my laptop instead of at my desk, within two weeks. Anyway, the upcoming surgery is guiding my workplan this month.

February

Work-related:

1. Again, I didn’t write a single word in all of February. That was not the plan, but recovery of my imagination and stick-to-it-iveness hasn’t been something I can force, obviously.
2. I completed 2 editing projects for other authors in February and am nearing the end of another. They were all long projects, so I feel like I’m tooling along with the editing. I’m back up to speed.
3. So, yeah, it was another light-ish month of work! However, my pace is improving.

Health-related:

1. I met with the heart doctor in early February. Everything there is trending well. My hypertension is under control.
2. I had bloodwork done at the beginning of this week. My Cancer Antigen test was a normal-range 23—so it looks like the cancer is still reined in!
3. I met with the gynecological oncology surgeon yesterday, and I’m a go for a full hysterectomy+ on April 1st—something I was told would probably never be in my cards when I started my journey but is going to happen now!

Happiness-related: 

1. I attended my art guild’s meeting this month and participated in a guided painting session. It was so fun!
2. I have been painting this month and began the #100dayproject! Here are a few small pieces I completed:

March

  

1. AGAIN: To complete Ignition before the end of the month and publish it. Writing is a little elusive still, but I need to get this one out the door before my surgery.
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 March. Plus, I will get halfway through another project that I will continue after surgery.
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 soon—maybe not in March because I’m going to be getting ready for surgery and down-time, but soon.

For health-related, I plan:

1. To get another immunotherapy infusion in early March.
2. To watch what I eat to drop a few pounds before surgery. I want to be as healthy as I can be going in.
3. To add more physical activities to my daily routine to regain more muscle tone before I spend weeks being nearly immobile after surgery!

For happiness-related, I plan: 

1. To get my affairs in order. That sounds so dark, doesn’t it? I just mean that I want bills paid, passwords to my accounts updated and recorded, so my dd can handle things for me during my post-op period. I don’t want to leave everything until the last minute. And yeah, I do want her to know where the life insurance policies are…
2. To continue the #100dayproject, although I concede I will likely have to take a hiatus just before surgery and for a couple of weeks afterward, so I won’t be finishing in 100 days, but I will produce 100 pieces as quickly as I can.
3. 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 March…

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

Report Card

Last week…

1. I completed two authors’ edits.
2. I’ve continued some light exercises I found on Pinterest for women of a certain age—mostly chair yoga and things I can do holding onto a countertop or pressing against a wall. I’m amazed those easy exercises actually lead to sore muscles! Yay!

This next week…

1. This week, I have a couple of doctor’s appointments, including one with a surgeon to see whether I can have my girlie parts removed to improve my chances of beating this cancer.
2. I have one author’s edits to complete this week.
3. I have some administrative things to do this week, so I won’t be starting to write.
4. The #100daychallenge starts today. I’ve been gathering art books and Pinterest posts for inspiration and have materials unearthed to begin the journey! I can’t wait to start! Yes, I know I shouldn’t make this a priority, but I so enjoy the challenge. At this stage, I hunger for joy!

Open Contests

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

1. Gabbi Grey/Gabbi Black: Why I own the Queen of Instalove title (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win a FREE book!
2. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Another Rainy Day — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Kathryn J. Wright: Courting Risk (FREE Book!) — This ends soon! Everyone, get your FREE book!
4. Flashback: Truly, Madly…Deadly (Contest–3 Winners, Plus Excerpt!) — This ends soon! Win a FREE book! 3 Winners!
5. Memory Game: Night Fall Stories (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
6. Krysten Lindsay Hager: Nancy Drew and the Perfect Date Night (FREE in KU!) — FREE in KU!
7. Do you subscribe to my blog? (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
8. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: French Diary — Win an Amazon gift card!

Report Card

Last week…

1. I continued work on one author’s edits. I’m nearing the end!
2. I’ve started some light exercises I found on Pinterest for women of a certain age—mostly chair yoga and things I can do holding onto a countertop or pressing against a wall. Baby steps!

This next week…

1. This week, I’ll be diving back into finishing up Ignition! Seriously, I don’t know why I’m avoiding it so hard. I need to finish it and put it up for pre-order.
2. I have one author’s edits to wrap up and two more authors’ edits to work on this week.
3. So far as personal goals—I’m still not ready to diet. However, I am going to continue to do those light exercises until I’m ready for some cardio.
4. The #100daychallenge starts next Sunday. I’ll be gathering art books for examples and materials to get ready for the art spree! Can’t wait!

Open Contests

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

1. Clear My Bookshelf Giveaway — Last day to enter! Win a signed book!
2. TGIF (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win a FREE book!
3. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Super Bowl Sunday! — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Sliding Puzzle: Fairytale Castle and The Ferryman (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
5. Gabbi Grey/Gabbi Black: Why I own the Queen of Instalove title (Contest) — Win a FREE book!
6. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Another Rainy Day — Win an Amazon gift card!