Monday, August 12, 2013

August Catch Up And Reading Schedule

Currently Reading:  Finished Just Like Heaven and LOVED it!  Recommended Read:)  Also read Pretending He's Mine by Lauren Blakely, and had trouble putting it down.  Another Recommended Read!  Now I'm on Chapter 3 of Kalaidescope Summer by Rita Garcia.  This one's in 1st person, which usually turns me off, but so far it's enjoyable:)


July Recap:
I spent most of July in the Editing Zone.  We also straightened out the issue with our daughter, and looked forward to a relaxing vacation in Colorado.

And then I learned Kenzie would be on a Review Tour the same week!  I preposted her blog and left an update on mine, to help with the promo.  I think it worked; she had a total of 43 comments and the reviews were all good.

Vacation was relaxing, and I did get about 100 words written while in a peaceful spot by the river.  But most of my time was in videographer mode, since my mom came down with altitude sickness, then her body reacted to the previous 2-week stress.  Result, she could not be far from her hotel room the entire week.  So I decided to give her a virtual vacation and filmed nearly everything we did, so she could watch it at the end of the day.  We made her room 'Vacation Central', and checked in 1st thing in the morning, then after every activity, and again in the evening.  So even if she couldn't participate, she didn't feel left out!

Books Read:  16 
           Print:  6
           E-book:  10
           DNF:  1


Health:
Thyroid meds were boosted, and made an appointment with my Indpls dr for a 2nd opinion.  Am also scheduled for a sleep schedule in September, fun fun.

Minor Vacation Gripe:  
I'd saved 15 books on my Kindle for the trip, only to have it confiscated by my daughter, who read BC Brown's books and played games on it.  She also switched it to her FB account.  I know what I'm getting her for Christmas!!

August Reading Schedule:
Paradise Hops-Liz Crowe Very good!  RR
Plotting To Win-Tara Chevrestt Wonderful story!  DRR
Tansy Taylor-Kathy LaMee Bleh.  Too long, too many spelling and punctuation errors.
Just Like Heaven-Barbara Bretton Wonderful story!  RR
Pretending He's Mine-Lauren Blakely Another wonderful one!  RR
Kalaidescope Summer- Rita Garcia Good story; this was long (over 200 pages).
Saltwater Kisses- Krista Lakes Wonderful story!  DRR
Moosed Up-Tiffinie Helmer  Loved the humor in this!  RR
Rush To The Alter-Jamie Carie Excellent!  RR
Sex Ed-Mia Watts Loved this!  DRR


Publishing Efforts:
Love Weighs In releases soon, and I still have to find the notebook which has the address and phone number of the eating disorder clinic I called in order to research this topic.  I also read several books and interviewed one of my adopted teens, who saw what was going on in her school.  The counselor pooh-poohed her observations, but I kept it in the book.

Back To School!
School began last Friday (idiotic, I know...) and have decided to resume the walking.  The SU and I did 14 blocks today, so we'll see how far we work up to.  I'd like to resume my 3 miles, but he's not up to that level yet.

Writing:
Believe it or not, I started another wip while on vacation, and over the weekend the character sketch 'fleshed out' in my brain for the heroine.  I know how they're going to meet; what their initial conflict will be; just don't know when I'll get around to writing it.  We need to get a regular schedule first, since I seem to spend 2 hours every morning on the business side of my job.  Then I need to get up and stretch, and do the Mommy/Grandma/Wife job.

I wish I could just go to an outside office every morning.  There are too many distractions here.

Anyway, starting tomorrow, I'll be posting a few pics from the vacation for you enjoyment, if you haven't already scrolled through the 400+ on my FB page!

Health Update:
I woke up Saturday August 3rd and felt as if I'd just slept on my neck wrong; it felt like I'd sprained the left side of my neck, or just pulled a muscle.  But the pain continued, and it even hurts to lift my arms above my head to wash my hair.  So went to the dr last Thursday.  CBC came back clean, and she's unsure why my immune system has kicked into high gear.  There's obviously some kind of infection which no tests are finding!

And then my daughter tested positive for Mono on Saturday.  I wonder if I'm the carrier?  I'm also extremely fatigued (Sat slept 10 hours, was up three, then took three hour nap; Sun slept 8 hours; up 6, slept 3 more; awake for 4; went to bed).

Karaoke Update:
I'm finished with the 'Don'ts'!!!  Since there were only 4 of us singing at first, I got through my entire list of 5 songs in the 1st hour!  

Alone (Heart):  Warm-up, and don't think it sounded too bad; it's been a while since I've sung this!
Don't Turn Around (Ace of Base):  Ugh.  Thought I did better in practice.  Scratching this one off.
Down On The Corner (CCR):  Didn't know how it would go, but it turned out to be one of my best of the night!  And discovered I've been singing the chorus wrong all these years, lol!
Close My Eyes Forever (Ozzy Osborn/Lita Ford):  Finally!  Mark and I nailed this one!  And he did NOT drown me out, lol!
Just Like Jesse James (Cher):  Heard a 'Awesome job!' from unknown bystander:)
Downtown (Petula Clark):  May keep this one also:)  Did well on it!
Shambala (3 Dog Night):  Surprisingly, I did well on this one:)  Need to get it on video.
Better Dig Two (Band Perry):  Had people dancing and singing along!  Another keeper:)

No comments: