December Goals

WOW November flew by!  I did get quite a bit accomplished:)  

Do well at Creative Market 11/8 Sold 4:)

-Get promo together for Christmas show (sneak peeks) Check!

-Do well at ICGAHS:  Check!  Sold 40; 2nd highest sales total!

     Wed: 4

     Thurs: 8

     Fri: 10

     Sat: 18

-Have fun at SC concert Check!  Even gave him a copy of DD!

-Do well at Creative Market 11/29 Sold 4:)

-Finish self-edits of Heart Song 11/5 Check!

-Send Heart Song to editor Check! 11/21

-Watch SE9 Bones Check! Now up to SE10, Ep 16

-PAY Nancy ($60) Check!  11/24 

-PAY Dawne ($200) Check! 11/20 

-PAY Lenore ($100) Check! 11/21 

Health:  Foot/leg issues continue, with two more red splotches on top of foot.  Head stopped up for a week (mainly due to the falling temps), beginning 11/23 -present (12/1).  Even though my voice is in the basement, I can surprisingly still hit the high notes at choir practice!

Books Read:  3

            Print:  1

        E-book:  2

             DNF:  1

2025 Events:

Dec 3-4th, Good Sam Christmas Craft Show, GSH Hedde Center, Vincennes, In

Dec 20th:  Creative Holiday Market, 1972 KCARC

2026 Events:

March 13-14th:  Big River Comics, Hannibal, MO ($122)

April 11th:  Dreaming Dirty In Michigan (Pd $120 still owe $60)

April 18th:  Saluki Con, Carbondale, IL ($50?)

Aug 8th:  Indy Author Event ($250; Pd $50 5/16 still owe $200)

Aug 22nd:  Geek Con, Evansville Museum ($40)

December Goals:

-Lose 5 lbs (start: 244)

-Get 2nd opinion on foot/leg

-Do well at GSH event

-Have fun at Amy Grant concert

-Bake cookies

-Attend Austin's concert 12/6 at 6pm

-Sing well at Cantata

-Get hair cut

-Write/send Holiday newsletter and cards

-Write/send Nov/Dec newsletter

-Have an enjoyable 60th birthday

-Do well at Holiday Creative Market

-Have an enjoyable Christmas

-Enjoy NYE

-Edit and RELEASE Heart Song

-Add new words to dragon/fairy story 

-Create new website

-Buy new soap dish for MBa 

-Finish trim, lights, medicine cabinet, and shower guard in MBa 

-Pay down CC and start pecking away at med bills

-Read 6 books

-Finish current e-book 

Dec Reading Schedule:  

She Who Frees The Selkie-K. Malady

Double D Ranch-Rochelle Bradley

The Restless Few-James Watjen

How To Raise Viking Children-Troy Maynard

Trick of the Tale:  Genesis-Jen Selinsky

Echoes of Vengeance-Stephanie Lanham

Memoirs of an Angel-Brian Rodman

Kingdom of Ambrosia:  Soul Walkers-Howlett and Dixon

October Forever-Katie Cawood

The Chosen 3:  And I Will Give You Rest-Jerry B Jenkins

Fiction Favorites:

-Welcome To Murder Week-Karen Dukess

-I Need You To Read This-Jessa Maxwell

-Yours, Eventually- Nora Maznavi

-Perfect Storm-Paige Shelton

The President and the Freedom Fighter- Brian Kilmeade

Die Laughing-Benjamin Oneal

The Choice-Anne Greene (misplaced??)

Louise Penney book

A Quiet Strength-Janette Oke

Valley of the Shaman-Arlen Andrews

Joyful Poems For Children-James Whitcomb Riley

I Heard God Laugh-Matthew Kelly

Life Is Messy-Matthew Kelly

Franklin and Eleanor

-18

E-book:

Prancing Around With Sleeping Beauty-Stacy Juba

Trimmed In Blue-Sandra Sookoo

Party Planning Can Be Murder-Kerry Schafer

Murder In Disguise-Sandra Sookoo

Carbon Copy-Terri Ventures

Peonies For Paige-Kasey Kennedy

TBB (on wish list-was tired of not finding them!)

The Marriage Bargain-Jennifer Probst (2013-$10)

The Marriage Trap-Jennifer Probst (2013-$15)

The Marriage Mistake-Jennifer Probst (2013-$10)

The Marriage Merger-Jennifer Probst (2013-$10)

Into Thin Air-Jon Krakauer (2013-$15)

The Cookbook Collection-Allegra Goodman (2013-$11)

The Girfriend-Abigail Barnett

The Summer Without Her (Men???)-Siri Hustvedt

Searching For Someday-Jennifer Probst (2014-$8)

Hard As You Can-Laura Kay (2014-$9)

The Year of Living Biblically-A.J. Jacobs (2014-$15)

Retaliation-Yasmin Shiraz (2014-$10)

Accused-Yasmin Shiraz (2014-$10) 

Romulus-Marilyn Campbell ($5)

Gaslight Chronicles-Cindy Spencer Pape ($8)

So Far Away-Dakota Madison, et al

Defending Devon-Shannon West

Love Realized-Melanie Codina

Love Resisted-Melanie Codina

Assumptions-Melanie Codina

One The Run-Jade C. Jamison

Decker-AD Ellis

Sawyer-AD Ellis

Twins-RG Miller

Saving Sarah-Nan Reinhart

Monster Among The Rose-Linda Kage

A Life Before-Julien Ayotta

Flower of Heaven-Julien Ayotta

Dangerous Bloodlines-Julien Ayotta

Dare To Love-Sandy Sullivan

If I Fall-Lydia Michaels ($5)

If You Want Me-Tara Mills

Tomorrow-Samantha Kane

Backdoor Billionaire's Bride-Roz Lee (2019-$5)

The Play-Tawdra Kandle

Party Planning Can Be Murder-Kerry Schafer

Hopeful In Yellow-Sandra Sookoo

Magic In Mayflowers-Sandra Sookoo

Zero Chance-Linda Kage (want entire series in print)

Paging Dr, Breakup-Jillian David

The Girl Vanished-Jessica Ann (Jessie Clever)

The Lost Summers-Jessica Ann (Jessie Clever)

Ballad of Us-Sasha Marshall

Naughty, Nice, Never Been Kissed-Cassidy Hudspeth

Amazing Race: BB Week 10

 Italy

Whoot!  Kyland/Taylor have to take the 2nd flight; 45 mins behind the others:)

Roadblock:  Making a dress out of flowers

Jas:  Gets it on 12th attempt!

Adam:  Blood sugar crashes; has to take a break; medical called in.  After some water and rest, he resumes. Gets it after 6 tries!

Izzy:  Gets it after 6 attempts! 

Jack:  Gets it on 11th try!

Kyland:  Got it on 2nd attempt!

Jack/Chelsie turned the wrong way; ended back at 1st Roadblock

Roadblock:  Puzzle, then jousting 4 rings in a single lap

Jag: Flew through the clock tower puzzle and nailed the rings on the 1st try!

Paige:  Built the tower;  took 5 tries to get her 4 rings:)

Adam:  Built the tower; Ringed all 4 1st try!

Taylor:  Figured out her tower; got her rings 2nd try.

Chelsie:  Was neck and neck with Tay; finished tower;  got rings on 3rd try:)

Detour:  Make a self-supporting Bridge

J/J:  Got it 1st try:)

I/P:  Get it 1st try:)

J/A:  Got it 1st try, even though Adam was 'trapped' in the bridge:)

K/T: Got it 1st try

J/C:  1st try fell apart; got it 2nd try:)

Pit Stop:

J/J:  1st place:)

I/P:  2nd place:)

J/A:  3rd place:)

K/T;  4th place

Jack and Chelsie eliminated

Survivor, Week 10

 Reward Challenge:

Sofi, Sophie, Sage, and Steven (Blue) Vs Kristina, Rizzo, Savannah, and Jawan (Yellow)

Blue reaches their bueys 1st and wins an afternoon at the Sanctuary!

Rizzo, Savannah, and Sofi want to oust Steven

Sage and Jawan want to oust Savannah

Who will Sophie and Kristina vote?

Immunity Challenge:  Race through a Teeter-Totter, then transport puzzle pieces and put the puzzle together.

Twist:  3 people sit out and get enough rice for 7 more days.

No takers; challenge is on.

Stephen to the puzzle 1st

Sophie wins!

Uh-oh....Sophie tells Savannah the plan. Now Sofi and Savannah want to put the votes on Sage!

Sophie still wants Stephen....

Kristina and Rizzo have idols.

Savannah has an extra vote.

Sofi has the power to take away an idol and use it herself.  What will happen?

Tribal Council:

Kristina uses her idol for Stephen

Rizzo plays a FAKE idol for Savannah

Jawan is voted off, 5-3 (Savannah)-1 (Rizzo) (Savannah used her Extra Vote on Jawan)

From The Stupid Files: Y7, W33

 Day 135: Chilly, mid 50s; 94 t/a

ASM:  Maria and Daniel

HC:  DS Raven

Loaders:  Jax, Isaiah, DS Ian

1) I was called in an hour later, due to not having coverage

2) Forgot to take the coffee pot with me to break AND lunch; did it afterward

3) Couldn't access my my $5 MyLowesMoney; bought 3 tees for me, 1 for Mom, 1 for Sara

4) Customer left his cart in front of the register.

Outfit:  Gray hooded sweatshirt, faded jeggings.  Ears still not accepting earrings

Day 136: Chilly, 40s; 101 t/a

ASM:  Alex, Daniel

HC:  Austin, Raven

Loaders:  Conrad, Isaiah

1) Wasn't very busy the 1st 2 hours

2) Had a rush from 8-8:45

3) Alex and Daniel had us putting signage all around the store

4) SM Matt came in, walked around and wished us all a Happy Thanksgiving, and told us how he appreciates each and every one of us.....then left.  WTH???  Not even gonna help us?

Outfit:  Dark brown and white stripe cowl neck, faded jeggings, patterned leggings, small gold hoops

Off tomorrow for T-day!

Day 137:  Black Friday Cold, high 30s; 56 t/a

ASM:  Alex and Daniel

HC:  Austin

Loaders:  Isaiah, Sam

1) Things had calmed WAY down by the time I arrived at 4!

2) 1st customer wanted to use his gift cards, then adding items.  2nd time I tossed his cards in the trash, I LOST the merch card!  Found it while he was getting another item.  When I rang him up the 3rd time, I held onto the cards until he was finished, ha ha!

3) Karen was with me on #2 all evening, which made it nice:)  I did have a small 'rush' when she went to lunch from 6:30-7:30.

4) We kept finding gold stars all over the place, even in the bathroom!

5) Management ordered Pizza Hut pizzas for us:)  Ate one slice of cheese while on break.

Outfit:  Red Santa shirt with the bell sleeves, white s/s turtleneck, black l/s tee, patterned leggings, faded jeggings, light up reindeer antlers.

Off tomorrow for the Creative Market!  Supposed to get snow....ugh.

Day 138:  Rare Sun Cold, low 30s; 63 t/a

ASM:  Keri

HC:  Kaitlyn

Loaders:  Jax, Isaiah

1) Talon was with me the 1st hour, then Maya came down around 5. She and I traded off ringing people up.

2) Went to find trash bags, but a ladder was in the way, in addition to an H cart and 2 order pickers. Trevor said he had some, and brought down two Moxi trash bags.

3) Accidentally left the left side doors open.  Had left them open to bring in a cart.....then locked the right side and left the other open!  Thankfully Isaiah pointed it out!

Outfit:  Blue/white sweater, white s/s turtleneck, patterned leggings, faded jeggings, gold reindeer antlers.

Amazing Race BB: Week 8 and 9

Week 8:  Romania

I watched it live with my mom, and didn't have the laptop with me.

Jas and Jag won this leg, with Eric and Tucker a close 2nd:)

Joseph and Adam get a reprieve; Non-Elimination leg!  They're still in it:)

Week 9:  Greece

Live Double U-Turn:

No speed bump for J/A; they get a U-turn vote!

Tucker and Eric:  4 votes

Tie between Ky/Tay and Jas/Jag:  Revote: 3-3, so they both have to do it!

Tay's pissed, but I'm thrilled!!!

Detour:  Playing a musical instument and collecting $$  or  Identify Olives

 Olives:  J/C :  Lost; arrive last. Get it 2nd try:)

              I/P:  Get it 1st try:)

Music:  J/A 2nd to finish!

K/T:  Music 1st; forgot stand; 3rd to finish and onto the olives! Got it on the 6th try:)

T/E:  Music 1st; forgot tip basket; does handstand for the $$!  Finish 2nd and onto the olives! Got it 1st try:)

J/J:  Music 1st; finish 1st and on to the olives!  Got it 1st try:)

Rolling A Boulder Up A Hill:

J/J and J/A arrive same time; J/J finish 1st; J/A 2nd

T/E:  Stuck in traffic??? Finally arrive! Finish 3rd

I/P:  4th

J/C:  5th

K/T:  6th

Roadblock:  Memorizing Greek Alphabet (lower case)

Jag: 5th time!

Joseph:  7th try!  3rd place

Tucker: Struggling......got it 10th try! Last place

Paige: 5th try!  4th place

Chelsie: 2nd try! 2nd place

Taylor: 3rd try....5th place

Pit Stop:

Jas/Jag 1st place:)  1st team to EVER check in 1st after a double U-turn!

Jack/Chelsie

Joseph/Adam

Izzy/Paige

Kyland/Taylor

Tucker/Eric eliminated....taken out by the Greek alphabet.

Survivor 49: Week 9

 Reward Challenge:

Kristina, Sophie, Alex, and Savannah

                    Vs

Rizzo, Sage, Stephen, and Jawan

Sofi not chosen; she wagered Rizzo's group would win.

Rizzo's group reaches the 1st target and gets the bag; Alex not far behind/

Stephen frees the rings; Rizzo starts tossing them up.

Sophie frees her rings; Jawan lands the 1st ring.

Alex lands one, then 2nd and 3rd.  Wins fried chicken, french fries, cheesecake.

Kristina gives up her reward for Jawan, who is reluctant, but eventually accepts it.

Immunity Challenge: Pressing a disc with your feet

Rizzo out 1st, then Kristina

Sage drops

Alex drops

Sofi drops

Jawan drops; Stephen wins Immunity:)

Savannah vs Sophie:  Sophie drops; Savannah wins Immunity:)

Tribal Council:

Rizzo or Alex?

Alex is evicted, 6-3

From The Stupid Files: Y7, W32

 Day 133: Rain, mid 50s; 69 t/a

ASM:  Alex

HC:  Austin

Loaders:  Jax, Isaiah

1) My 1st day back from vacation and IN FRONT of a TRAINEE, I botched doing a return. Had to completely start all over before I remembered how to do it. THEN, I rang up a customer, accepted his payment.....then noticed the 2nd toilet. Joked I needed to learn to count.

2) The bandage around my lower calf slipped; I fixed it at lunch, but by 8pm, it was hovering around my ankle again.

3) Received an email from Crystal about needing to do my AP4Me. I'VE BEEN GONE FOR 2 WEEKS! I KNOW I NEED TO DO IT!  Did it and the 2nd half of the previous week's  Plus, only scored 2/7 on LU and did my aisle spotter training, only missing 2.  Not too bad....

4) I don't think the mats were mucked or the floor swept behind the counter for the past 2 weeks. It was FILTHY!

5) New:  Emily has joined Pro from Cabinets, and we have a new ice cooler.

Outfit:  Brown gauze blouse, new dark jeggings, small gold hoops

Day 134:  Rare Sun 50s, but chilly 45 at close; 83 t/a

ASM:  Keri

HC:  Austin, Kaitlyn

Loader:  Jax

1) Charles is now DS over Building Materials!

2) Riley pushed noisy carts as I was trying to have 2 conversations AND check out a customer, lol!

3) Drip edge wouldn't scan, and couldn't read the numbers, so had to look it up

4) Couple picked up boards ordered online, but someone loaded the wrong ones. Found the correct ones, but didn't have what they needed, so got some longer ones.  Tried to refund the smaller ones, but no luck, so just agreed to swap 'em out:)

Outfit:  Teal blue patterned blouse; new dark jeggings.  Right ear still not accepting earrings