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

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

Day 138:  Rare Sun

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

Survivor 49: Week 8

 Kristina finds the new idol!  Jawan and Alex were with her.

Immunity Challenge:  Dividing into 2 groups; hanging on a wall.  Group that falls 1st gets 0 immunity, 0 reward.  Person outlasting the others gets an advantage.

Yellow:  Stephen, Kristina, Alex, Sofi, and Savannah

Blue:  Sage, Rizzo, MC, Jawan, and Sophie

Kristina drops 1st

Alex drops 2nd

Rizzo drops 3rd

MC drops 4th

Stephen drops 5th

Jawan drops 6th

Sofi drops 7th

Sage drops 8th

Down to Savannah for yellow, Sophie for blue.

Sophie drops; Savannah wins advantage; send Blue to Tribal;

Savannah's advantage:  Gets to go to Tribal and cast a vote or SAVE it for an extra vote at a later time!

Tribal Council:

Savannah banks her vote; MC is voted out, 4-1

I Don't Normally Do This Here, But.....

 As some of you know, I have a daily Quiet time, where I spend time in scripture, prayer, and reading my daily Guidepost, now called Walking In Grace. Due to my personal schedule, I'm only able to do this every two-three days, and tomorrow's testimony spoke to me this morning, concerning my sister.

It was a testimony about growing up during the Civil Rights movement, and desegregation, and how the author realized that as soon as he and his new classmates got to know each other, high emotions melted into friendships.

At the end, he writes, ".....many people in my life who I treasure are there because we both looked past our differences to embrace the best we have in each other."

It hit me, because, due to my sister's travels and my mother's outreach through our church, I've gotten to know people from Canada and Japan that I otherwise would never have met. We used to live next door to friends from Ethiopia, and were invited to share in their cultural celebrations.

My point is, can our government stop bickering long enough to realize we all want the same things in life, but we have to come together and COMPROMISE in order to move forward?

It's time to stop acting like spoiled brats, just because you don't like who has authority over you. Stop acting like we have an evil step-parent; one that if we complain enough, a divorce will happen and we'll get one who will allow us to do what we want.

Remember that song from John Michael Montgomery (or was it Garth Brooks?), "Thank God For Unanswered Prayers"? If we get everything we want, what's there to strive for in the future?

We're supposed to be adults, setting a good example for the next generation. Start acting like it.

Amazing Race BB: Week 7

 Romania!

Four teams leaving on 1st flight; rest on 2nd.

Roadblock:  Skydiving!

Joseph

Tucker

Taylor

Jas

Paige

Chelsie

Natalie

Corralling 5 sheep

T/E first; lmao....K/T had one sheep jump OVER the fence!

I/P last

Detour:  Bricks or Masks

Bricks                                          Masks

T/E:  1st!                                       I/P:  6th

J/J:  2nd

K/T:  4th

J/A:  3rd

J/C:  5th

N/S:  7th

Tucker/Eric 1st!  (4th time in a row!)

Eliminated:  Natalie and Stephanie

Suvivor 49: Week 7

 Merge time!

Sage, Jawan, and Stephen are too nervous when the others arrive, and Nate's radar goes up.  Those 3 should have faked a happy greeting, instead of coming off as 'oh shit, they're here.'

Sage wins an advantage!  She does NOT have to compete in the 1st part of the challenge:)

Challenge:  Pt 1 Reward:  Moving a large boulder toward a word puzzle

Yellow: Figures out the puzzle words 1st; gets it solved 1 SECOND before blue; earns the Merge Meal:)

Blue:  Gets to the puzzle first, but can't catch yellow.

Challenge Pt 2 Immunity:  Balancing on a beam while holding a ball on a pole

Sage, Sophi, Sophie, Stephen, Rizzo, and Nate

Rizzo drops 1st

Sage drops 2nd

Nate drops 3rd

Sophi drops 4th

Stephen drops; Sophie (whose name is being tossed around for elimination) WINS!

MC has no vote, unless she finds the rest of her Beware Advantage idol. Plus, Old Ulli has to find a new target.

MC finds it, plus the key, but Savannah discovers her looking for the key.

Tribal Council:  

MC plays her idol.....

Nate voted out, 7-5.  1st member of the jury.

From The Stupid Files: Y7, W31

Day 130: 60s; 80 t/a

ASM:  Keri

HC:  Keri

Loader:  Jax, Ian

1) Customer needed assistance in Plumbing; couldn't get anyone to come or answer their phone.  Jax helped a little; gave them 10% off their cart.

2) Customer paid $12 in change

3) There was an hour between #78 and #79.

4) Something flew down my throat after ringing up a customer; coughed for about 15 mins afterward.

Outfit:  Mama Bear hoodie, new faded jeggings.

Day 131: Mid 60s; 87 t/a

ASM:  Alex

HC:  Kaitlyn

Loaders:  Jax, Conrad

1) Customer's card refused to work; invoiced her cart while she went to the ATM.

2) Customer lined up her regular cart with two others by the large door, then pushed her drywall cart to aisle 20.

3) Suddenly, if you type in the phone # for LBA, it won't let you?  Wonder if this is due to the two fraudulent attempts over the phone last week????

Outfit:  Blue X-mas sweater, white s/s turtleneck, new faded jeggings.

Day 132:  Rare Sun Snow flurries; low 30s; 122t/a

ASM:  Alex

HC:  Austin

Loaders:  Jax, Jean

IT SNOWED!!!  Just flurries, but still?????

Outfit:  Ash gray IN sweatshirt, new faded jeggings

On VACATION officially tomorrow:)

November Goals

 Is it just me or did October fly by?  I DID get quite a lot accomplished:)

-Lose 5 lbs (start:  245) Lost 1!

-Get Teacher's Pet released Check!

-Order TP copies Check!  10/17 ordered 10

-Order PWT copies Check!

-Order New Antho copies Check! Ordered 15

-Do well at Creative Market Only sold 1, but Marcia sold 8!

-Do well at LibraryCon No one showed, but enjoyed hanging out with BKM and the Tockerts:)

-Do well at Lafayette ComicCon Sold 5:)

-Get promo together for Christmas show Check:)

-Finish current chapter of Heart Song 10/20:  FINISHED!!!!

-Add new words to dragon/fairy story Check:)

-Add new words to Aiden Kross story Check and FINISHED it 10/15

-Buy BP machine Finally got one 10/17!!

Health:  Foot pain is getting better; only have to take normal amount of Aleve now:)  Have vascular doppler on Wed Nov 5th.

Also feel as if I'm trying to 'catch' something; began taking Zinc every morning, sucking cough drops, and drinking hot tea.

 Books Read:  11

            Print:  6

        E-book:  5

             DNF:  0

2025 Events:

Nov 8th:  Creative Market, 1972 KCARC  Sold 4:)

Nov 12-16th:  ICGAHS Sold 40!  2nd highest sales:)

Nov 29th:  Creative Holiday Market, 1972 KCARC

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)

November Goals:

-Lose 5 lbs (start: 244)

-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

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

-Send Heart Song to editor Check! 11/21

-Watch SE9 Bones Check!

-PAY Nancy ($60) Check!  11/24 on new CC $62

-PAY Dawne ($200) Check! 11/20 on new CC $212

-PAY Lenore ($100) Check! 11/21 on new CC $104

-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 

Nov Reading Schedule:  

Just One Summer-Lynn Stevens

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:

Promised To The Worst Duke In England-Sandra Sookoo Good story

Abigail's Journey-Jean Joachim DNF; wonky formatting. Will get print copy!

Dr. Alaska-Jillian David Good story!

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

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