I didn’t write in December, but that was the plan until after my chemotherapy sessions ended.
I completed 2 editing projects for other authors in December.
I did post daily Advent Calendar giveaways for readers from the 1st to the 24th of December. And all the gifts have been mailed! Hope you enjoyed the posts!
After getting that hopeful news on Monday, I redid my work plan for the New Year. There will be books!
Health-related:
I underwent two rounds of chemo, the last being on the 30th of December where I got some hopeful news from my oncologist about my progress, which I already posted about here, yesterday! It gave me a huge, happy boost, which I so needed. What a way to begin the New Year.
Last night, I restarted my Weight Watcher’s subscription and downloaded a chair yoga regimen I’ll begin in January to further improve my health in the new year. Once I’m past the nausea, muscle and joint aches, and fatigue from my latest treatment, I’ll begin working out to lose some more weight and regain some muscle tone.
Happiness-related:Â
My family has been astonishingly good to me over the months of my treatment, cleaning up after me, fetching things when I was too tired to fetch them for myself, etc., and they made the holiday so joyful. I’m lucky to have them. We watched Christmas movies, played games, and ate some wonderful food.
I painted only once this month. Here are the two small things I managed to paint:
January
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For work-related, I plan:
To complete Ignition before the end of the month and publish it. I haven’t been able to persuade Amazon to give me back my pre-order ability, despite the fact I sent them proof I had good reasons for cancelling Ignition in the first place last year. I’m not giving up on that, but when I’m done writing the book, I’ll let you know when it’s ready for purchase.
To conduct a poll to see what themes might interest readers for a new Boys Behaving Badly Anthology this year! I’ll post the poll tomorrow to get your votes! After that, I’ll make my decision about the theme and post a Call for Submissions for authors. I can’t wait to get started!
To plot stories for the new year for my current series, Montana Bounty Hunters: Yellowstone, MT and We are Dead Horse.
To complete 2, maybe 3 editing projects in January. I have them on the books but haven’t received them from the authors yet, so we’ll see. But I’m ready to start!
To look at books I already have out that I might bundle together or publish in print.
To begin work on the next We Are Dead Horse book, Built Like Mack. The plan is to release it in March.
For health-related, I plan:
To undergo more scans to ascertain how far the cancer has been beat back, and to see a cancer surgeon in Little Rock to see if I am a candidate for removal of my girlie parts. Crossing fingers here!
To begin again watching what I eat to drop a few more pounds. I’ve rejoined WW.
To add physical activities to my daily routine so that I can regain some muscle tone. It may take until the middle of the month after I’ve recovered from this last chemo treatment, but I intend to take the stairs as often as I can manage and begin some daily chair yoga exercises.
For happiness-related, I plan:Â
To better organize my office so I can start off with a clean slate for the new year!
To clean up my art room, which has become a disaster! I’ve been tossing supplies on table tops and need to actually store them properly, so I have more workspace. I have plans to do an online oil pastels class and perhaps make some more collage fodder. I think the #100daychallenge starts toward the end of the month, and I will be there, painting every day when it begins!
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 January…
Like I said, comment on anything for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!
Christmas decorations are still up, but it’s time to make some plans for the New Year!
Is this something you like to do? Do you set resolutions? Plan to join Weight Watchers? Sign up for yoga classes at the local rec center? Set a budget to improve your finances? Maybe plan a trip or two?
Every year, always, I set plans in motion. Some goals I achieve, some I lose interest in working on by mid-January, but others, are a constant work in progress. I love the process of planning for a new year—and it always begins with my writing goals. Seeing as I abandoned writing in August due to my diagnosis, I’m a bit wary of setting goals too far in the future, and I have tons of self-doubt about whether I can ever achieve my former productivity, but I am going to set some goals anyway as something to shoot for. And I’ll go for pie-in-the-sky because I’m an optimist, and if I have to adjust later, ah well. I have to have goals and starting points to remain motivated.
So, for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle to keep that gray matter functioning, then tell me whether you have any goals for the new year, big or small.Â
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!
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!
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!Â
The family watched Elf last night! Still love it!
This next week…
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.
I have two sets of authors’ edits to complete this week!
I need to upload Once Upon a Legend to sites other than Amazon since it’s no longer exclusive there.
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…
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:
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.
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!
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!
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! 🙂
We watched National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation—it’s an annual thing! It’s still as silly as ever.
This next week…
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!
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.
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:
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.
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. 🙂
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!
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…
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!
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.
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!!!
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:
I wrote zero words! Zero! I didn’t even revise anything I’ve written, although I have a book coming out soon that needs it!
I completed 3 editing projects for other authors in October.
Still, with so little productivity, I feel like I climbed mountains.
Health-related:
I underwent my third round of chemo and noted how I felt during the days after so I could try to figure out how to work around the chemo schedule. The fatigue continues to be the worst part. My 4th round, which was to start on the 28th, was canceled due to my extremely low platelet count. The chemo-induced anemia is kicking my butt. The aches only last a few days. My white blood count takes a beating, too, but the shots they give me after chemo bring it up quickly. They are going to adjust one of the medicines they give me to try to address the platelet issue.
I’m maintaining my 20 pounds weight loss.
I’m losing muscle tone. I know I need to add some sort of exercise to my schedule on days when I can get around, but I’ve just been so tired I tend to sleep a lot.
I had a CT scan with contrast yesterday. The “shadow” they previously saw on my spine is gone. The nodule on my liver is gone. They see reduction in the thickness of my omentum and the sizes of the tumors in my ovaries and uterus. I won’t know any numbers until next Monday. But progress! 🙂
Happiness-related:Â
The family has been wonderful, doing takeout and watching movies nearly weekly, so we have family “events” to share.
I didn’t paint a thing this month. No drive at all. It’s like the writing—anything that requires imagination takes too much energy.
To complete Ignition, the fourth book in the Delta Fire series during November’s NaNoWriMo.
To complete 4 editing projects in November!
To write at least 1/4 of Built Like Mack during NaNoWriMo.
My writing goals may be pie-in-the-sky goals, given I have two bouts of chemo sceduled for the month, but I have to shoot for something.
For health related, I plan:
To go through two more rounds of chemo, which when I look at my calendar seems overwhelming, but I’ll get through it.
To continue to watch what I eat and hope I can manage to drop a few more pounds.
To up my physical activities so that I don’t lose any more muscle. Maybe I’ll give myself stairstep goals or walk the driveway to the gate and back goals—on days when I’m not sick as a dog.
For happiness-related, I plan:Â
To fiddle in my art room!
Attend the local art guild’s Potluck Dinner.
To spend time with the family—movies, meals, and flea market adventures! I’m not overly ambitious.
Enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas decorating with the family!
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 November…
Like I said, comment on anything for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!
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!
 
