S.J. Pajonas's Blog, page 15
June 18, 2023
Sunday Update – June 18, 2023
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.
I woke up this morning and my website was all out of whack. It looks like the theme updated over the weekend and caused a lot of issues. I think it's back to normal now, but I can't be sure. If you see anything out of alignment, please let me know.
This was quite the week. We got some family news about another uncle of mine who found out he has a brain tumor. We got the news, and before we knew it, he was in surgery to have to removed, even though a few opinions claimed it was inoperable. The good news is that he's conscious and smiling. The bad news is that he's lost speech and a few other things, and he's going to need rehab. My thoughts are with him. I hope this surgery bought him some more time.
I saw a lot of my family yesterday at a graduation party for my cousin's daughter. It was nice seeing everyone, talking, eating, and having a great time together. The weather was lovely, and we only had a little rain shower come out of nowhere for about 5 minutes. Not bad at all!
In work and writing news, I did a lot this week! For Future Fiction Academy, I taught a class on Midjourney basics, and then I did a live-writing session where I started my new Fantasy Romance series right there for people in the Academy to see. I did a lot of pre-work on this series, brainstorming with ChatGPT on titles, names, geography of the world I'm building, character profiles, and a very rough outline of what I want to write. I'm a discovery writer (pantser) so I never really stick to an outline, but it's nice to have an idea of what to aim for. Then I showed how I use Claude to help me pants my way through the story. It was fun! I'm glad I did it because I think a lot of pantsers/discovery writers don't know how to use AI tools in their process. Hopefully this helped a few of them. I have a cover design session coming up with my designer next week, so I wanted to make sure I had all of this ironed out ahead of time.
This was the last full week of school! Next week, the kids have a full day on Monday, half-days on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and then we leave Thursday night for London and Paris! Sunday Updates after this one will not return until mid-July, but I promise to post about my trip while we're there and when we return. For those that are interested, I plan to post images and video to Instagram and they will post to Facebook as well.






Graduation party with the family! We all had a great time!



More Lulu, as always. She's a star now on Facebook. I posted a photo of her this week that's reached almost 40k people! Kinda nuts.

The real reason why Lulu is a star… Lol. Facebook gave me Rising Creator status again, this time in the top 1% of creators. *fist pump* So I hit that CREATE POST button and I posted about Lulu. Then the post went viral. Not surprised. Dogs rule the algorithm.
Have a great week everyone! Stay safe and healthy!
The post Sunday Update – June 18, 2023 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.
June 11, 2023
Sunday Update – June 11, 2023
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.
Again, not a lot to report this week as I'm still sick. I'm definitely doing better than last week, so that's good. My cough has really calmed down, and my nose is about 90% less snot than the week before. Lol. So I'm happy about that. I went to bed early last night and got a lot of sleep. I even slept in a little this morning! Which almost never happens.
This last week, I taught classes for Future Fiction Academy, knit and watched videos about Teachable, brainstormed some more for my upcoming fiction books which I need to start writing this week, and generally rested as much as I could. I hope to start writing something new today. Getting the momentum going is always the hard part for me. I doubt myself heavily at the beginning of a project, wondering if I'm even capable of writing something new again. Sigh. I just need to get moving.
This next week is the last full week of school for my kids. Then the following week is mostly half days with Thursday being the last day AND the day we leave for London and Paris
! I need to get 100% better soon so I'm ready for that!

Got some knitting time in outside last weekend while listening to podcasts. Lulu was close by, as always.




I'm sure you all heard about the smoky Wednesday we had here. The first image above is from Tuesday when I could start smelling the smoke nearby and the distance was hazy. Wednesday it was like I had been transported to Tatooine. The sky was orange yellow and it was awful outside. It got WAY above 300 on the Air Quality meter in the midday (I didn't take my screenshot until 6PM) and then started to come down overnight. Thursday was still a little high with numbers in the 150-200 range. Now, we're fine. It was really strange. The light coming into the house was orange (you can see the sunlight on the bowl and sink in the photo above). I know this is a sign of our future, and I'm sad about it. I also feel really bad for Canada right now. I hope they can get their fires under control.



My faithful companion… Always sleeping right next to me. She loves her friend, Tootsie. And we went on some very chill walks while I was recovering.


Our front walkway is all done! I think they did a fantastic job!

And finally, relaxing with my knitting, a cup of coffee and a banana, and some Teachable videos. I need to learn how to make courses on Teachable, and I think I already have the hang of it!
PS) I missed going around to blogs last week, and I'm sorry about that. I didn't have the energy for it, and I got a new RSS reader that needed tweaking. I should be back in business this week!
Have a great week, everyone! Stay safe and healthy.
The post Sunday Update – June 11, 2023 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.
June 4, 2023
Sunday Update – June 4, 2023
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.
Not much to report this week because I got the same sickness that the rest of my family got. I started feeling poorly on the drive back from the beach house on Tuesday. I had a feeling I wasn't going to escape this illness since it hit my husband and oldest daughter TWICE and my youngest daughter once. It was inevitable. Still, I'm not sick often and it feels even worse for me because I'm not used to it. So far, though, I don't think I'm getting a sinus infection! That's the best news yet. (I wonder if it's because I'm gluten free and don't have as much inflammation as I used to?) There's been a lot of nose blowing, and one day of major stuffiness, but otherwise, no signs of infection. The cough I have, though, really sucks. I'm hoping it clears up quicker than it has for everyone else in my house, or I may be going to the doctor next week. I don't want to be sick when we go on vacation at the end of the month.
Most of my week was spent in bed or on the couch. I took Lulu out for some brief walks but not a lot of exercise. I did teach a few classes, one VERY under the weather, but otherwise, I spent most of the time watching TV. I skipped my French class, which is going to suck to catch up on. Thursday was my most active day. I took my oldest daughter to the ENT to get her ears cleaned out. Then we picked up her new glasses, ordered her contacts, went to the pharmacy, and came back home. I was wiped out after that.
In work news, I've been working with ChatGPT on brainstorming for my new fantasy romance series. This is a tough one because I want to bring together two old fables and modernize it. ChatGPT has been great for this because I can have it tell me all the similarities between the two and the differences. I'm just about ready to set down a basic plot for the first book, but I'm torn on the size of these books. After doing my research, it seems that 3 novels (a trilogy) at 80k-100k words each is probably the right choice for the market, though I really love writing novellas. I think my cozy mysteries will probably be about 50k-60k a piece so that will satisfy my need for shorter books. Anyway, this is all the stuff we think about as authors!
Not a lot of photos this week because sickness…



One of the reasons we love Cape May is their little downtown shopping area. We buy a lot of chocolate at Louisa's Chocolate Bar there.

What I've been doing while sick. Lots of tea and I finished Season 3 of L'Agence, a Netflix show about a Parisian Real Estate Agency run by a family. I love this show so much. I hope they get renewed for another season.
That's it this week! Stay safe and healthy.
The post Sunday Update – June 4, 2023 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.
June 1, 2023
June 2023 Goals
We're almost halfway through the year. How did that happen?
What happened with May's Goals?Finish Tilli's Second Chance, get it off to proofreaders, make changes, and send to my editor. Done, done, done!
Start my new cozy mystery series. I did not start writing this, BUT I did re-reading Matsuri and Murder and come up with titles and plots for the first three books in the series! So there's progress.
Plot out my fantasy romance series. Okay, I did not get as far with this one. I started the plotting process but then I had a couple of extra ideas and then I got swamped with work. I'm hoping to get back to it this weekend.
Make website for new business venture. This is live and the business is off and running! It's only been two full weeks and we have amassed an insane amount of content. You can check it out what I'm doing at https://futurefictionacademy.com
Keep going with in-person French classes. I was doing really well with this but then this week I'm sick, so I missed class today. I'm hoping to go to the next two classes and then I'm done!
Keep going with Duolingo, exercise, reading, knitting, and TV. Amazingly enough I did all of these things.
June GoalsPlot out and start writing my fantasy romance series. It has to happen this month, even though June is always a mess with end-of-school stuff. I have a date with my cover designer for the end of the month, and that means that I need to know the titles of these books. (I already know kinda what I want the covers to look like.)
Continue teaching and working with FFA. I have lab hours that I teach every week, so I need to stay on top of those! Plus, any other work I need to do for the business.
Finish my in-person French classes. I love taking French in person and I hope to continue in the fall if I can find time in my schedule. I have two weeks left, and then I get to practice my French IN FRANCE at the end of the month.
Go on vacation! At the end of the month, we are traveling to London and Paris, and I CANNOT WAIT. I haven't been to Europe in SO LONG. I love it there. I can't wait to see both of these places, as I have not been to either. It should be fun to do it as a family.
Keep going with Duolingo, exercise, reading, knitting, and TV. The usual here. I'd love to get some more knitting in this month. I'm finally making good progress with my blanket.
That's it for this month! Have a great June everyone!
The post June 2023 Goals appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.
May 28, 2023
Sunday Update – May 28, 2023
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.
Happy Memorial Day Weekend to all my States friends and readers! I hope you're enjoying the long weekend. We're at the beach house, and pretty much everyone in my family is sick but me. My husband and the oldest child are at the end of their second colds of the month. The youngest child started feeling unwell on Thursday. Basically, it's just me and Lulu who feel healthy.
I'm going through another bout of terrible sleep. My body will only let me sleep between 11PM and 4AM, if I'm lucky. Last night, 11:30PM to 3AM. I'm tired but there's nothing I can do. I rarely nap anymore like I was in the post-COVID days when I could barely make it through the afternoon. Now, I stay awake and caffeinate because I don't have a choice.
In work life, there's a lot going on. My teaching and coaching with Future Fiction Academy has really picked up. I'm teaching at least 2 classes per week and there are a lot of meetings involved, plus plenty of admin work. We have a lot of great students who are eager to learn and that makes me happy.
In writing life, I spent the week doing a lot of admin stuff. I probably should be updating my blog here more, but I'm tapped out. So instead I've been doing the hard work of outlining, brainstorming, and coming up with ideas for what I'm going to write next. I think I'm set to get started on my cozy mysteries, but I'd really like to start writing my fantasy romance. That requires more thought and planning so I'm going to get on that this week so I can start writing in June.
I wanted to address some misconceptions about authors using AI tools before I get to this week's photos. (I thought this was going to be quick but it's 4 paragraphs, sorry.) Not that the naysayers will really see this, but I know most of my readers are interested. Just because an author uses AI tools, it does not mean they use them for every part of their process. I teach authors with Future Fiction Academy how to use these tools ethically in the parts of their process that cause them the most pain. For some that's marketing; others, it's plotting; still others, it's writing. This is not ‘I press a button and get a book.' You still need to be a skilled storyteller to use these tools and produce something worthwhile.
Me personally, I mostly use AI tools for brainstorming, outlining, and marketing. I actually tried to get both Sudowrite and ChatGPT4 to write in my style. Several times! With lots of prompting! And I didn't succeed. And I'm pretty good at this. Lol. There were a few scenes in the last book I wrote where AI helped me get down the bones of a scene that I was struggling with, and then once I had the action, I rewrote it all in my style. That was a huge help because I normally would have walked away and given up for a few days. Instead, I kept writing.
How I use the tools is how the majority of authors are using them. I know authors using AI more, and I know authors using it less, but I think I'm pretty much the average. It's important for me, as a teacher, to know how to do all of these things so I can teach them, but in practice, because I have a strong author voice, I can only use the tools so much. Hopefully that clears things up for people who happen to read my blog and have been curious.
And also addressing the “theft of copyrighted work” to build these LLMs. This is a tough one because I believe authors should be compensated if their books or data ended up in the corpus of data used to train models. But even after learning that some free books were scraped from Smashwords to build the book corpus (a very small percentage of the training data), the majority of training data came from public-facing websites, and I consider that fair game. Since I know, at this point, I'm never going to be compensated for my years of blogging that helped train these models, I'm using all the tools as much as I can to get the value back. I am maxing out the small amount I pay every month to the businesses that run these tools, knowing that these companies will take a loss on the computing power they need to serve the end-user. AI is here, and I'm going to take advantage of it.






We're at the beach house! And it's shorebird mating season, so part of the beach is blocked off. AND it's also horseshoe crab mating season so the beach is practically prehistoric then the tide is in.


Spent some time in the hammock yesterday with Lulu by my side.



Speaking of Lulu…


I took some time this last week to re-read Matsuri and Murder, watch some videos, and knit.

I don't know why “Navy Strength” made me laugh.

Facebook seems to like me, though I feel confident that I have been getting good views because I post photos of Lulu.

Finally, my gluten free life has been going well. I’ve found a lot of substitutes for things I loved. I like the Udi’s bread. The slices are small but the serving is 2 pieces. I like the Whole Foods 365 corn and rice pasta so I’m pretty sure I’ll like most brands’ corn and rice pasta. Eating out is a bit of a challenge but I’m making it work. I’ve lost 5lbs already. All my inflammation is gone. My daily pain in my joints, ankles, and hips is pretty much gone. No more bloating. I can’t believe how much it was affecting me! This is nuts. I feel 100x better. I’m kinda mad over the whole thing but hopefully that’ll go away over time.
Have a great week everyone! Stay safe and healthy.
The post Sunday Update – May 28, 2023 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.
May 21, 2023
Sunday Update – May 21, 2023
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.
This was quite the week, and not really in a good way. The furor over authors using AI erupted on Twitter this week and it has really stuck with me. Not that I'm changing my tactics or anything. It just really highlighted how much this community loves to define what is or isn't an author. They love to gate keep and say you're not a real author if… It's disappointing especially as I help authors use these tools to work through brain fog or other disabilities. Yes, I have used them to brainstorm and write some prose. Every word that goes into my books, though, is there because I chose it to be and the vast majority come straight out of my brain to my fingers. My 30 years of storytelling experience are used every day as I write and then do a little prompting or brainstorming and continue writing. Sometimes I don't use any AI at all, but playing with it prior to writing got me in the chair and working. This is the future, and I'm continuing to help other authors with the tools. Still, it's not easy, and I've had to fend off several anxiety attacks this week. I am no longer looking at Twitter.
Consequently, I've been super busy and I don't think I'm going to update much here beyond Sunday Updates for May and June. I have so much to do!
Another week of gluten free and I've lost almost 4lbs this month. I'm pretty sure I'm going to drop weight quickly now because I was so inflamed from wheat and gluten. It was also making me hungrier which caused me to eat more and gain more weight. Crazy how that happens, right? I guess gluten was really messing with my gut. I gave away all of my croutons and ramen to neighbors. I was sad to see it all go.
Lots of other things happened this week including the demolition and reconstruction of our front walkway and stoop. That was a lot of noise I wasn't expecting. French class went well. I'm definitely learning a lot. We had gorgeous weather all week and then it rained on Saturday. Today should be nice! I was on zoom a lot this week but that's to be expected from now on as I help more authors use AI.
Oh! I also finished Tilli's Second Chance! Totally finished it and sent it off to the anthology editor. This means I'm now wide open to work on new things, and I'm really excited about them. A new cozy mystery series I've been brainstorming AND a new fantasy romance series. The fantasy romance series is an idea I've had for literally FIVE YEARS and haven't been able to really think on until now. I'm excited to get them both off the ground.




Miss Lulu continues to be a joy. I love it when she snuggles next to me while I read.



The peonies are in bloom and they're gorgeous! They smell divine.

Seen on my Mother's Day walk.

Mother's Day dinner. It was delicious!

All the gluten that went out to the curb. It was all gone within a day.

Finally, allllllll the jack hammering. Hoo damn it was noisy for a few days.
Have a great week everyone! Stay safe and healthy.
The post Sunday Update – May 21, 2023 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.
May 14, 2023
Sunday Update – May 14, 2023
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.
First of all, Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! If you're celebrating, please enjoy the day.
In my home life, I attended another band and choral concert on Wednesday evening. I went to French class on Wednesday as well. I did a really great Star Wars Peloton ride on Thursday, and I walked a lot with Lulu.
And I went gluten-free which, I'm saddened to report, has actually made me feel a lot better. I didn't realize how bloated and in pain I was until I cut it out. I kinda figured that was just how I was. I'm unhappy about this on many levels. I'm unhappy that I was in pain and suffering for so long and it was gluten that was doing it to me. I'm unhappy that pretty much everyone I know has gone gluten-free for the same reasons and I'm wondering what the hell is wrong with our wheat in the States. It has to be GMO or pesticides or something, right? I'm not really into conspiracy theories, and I generally support GMO, but this is very suspicious. Anyway, it's nice to not be in pain anymore, though I do miss the good bread.
I spent the week mostly working on the website for my newest venture into AI for authors. I finished the Future Fiction Academy website and made it live, once again proving that I can pull a website out of thin air in less than a week. I'm happy with the design and the functionality, and I'm excited to get this one off the ground.
In writing, I'm halfway through my line edits of Tilli's Second Chance. I love the story, and I can't wait for you all to read it! I'm also re-reading Matsuri and Murder (from my Steph Gennaro pen name) and familiarizing myself with that world again so I can write the next cozy mystery series. As soon as I'm done with Tilli's Second Chance, I will be plotting and getting ready to write that. I'll also be plotting and getting ready to write my new fantasy romance series. Which will I write first??? I don't know! I'm a little torn.
Not a lot of photos this week because I was suuuuuuper busy.

Spring is soooooo pretty!

This dog is so spoiled. Look at her sleeping on pillows on the couch.

Since I'm taking French classes, we decided to watch some French film noir. This one was trés trés tragic!

Finally, it's nice to be enjoying the evening drinks on the deck again. I love warm weather!
That's it for this week. Stay safe and healthy, friends!
The post Sunday Update – May 14, 2023 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.
May 7, 2023
Sunday Update – May 7, 2023
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.
It's May! Where is the time going? Later on this month, it'll be Memorial Day weekend, our unofficial start to summer. I'm so excited for that. I am very ready for sun and beach and spending more time at the beach house.
Not a ton happened this week because both my husband and oldest daughter were sick. My husband less so than my daughter. He took her to urgent care yesterday because her cough and other symptoms just weren't getting any better. She has an ENT doctor appointment on Tuesday and I'm hoping he'll be able to give us some guidance on why her ears are always stuffed up and she can't hear.
Otherwise, this week I did the usual. I went to French class. I drove and dropped off for track practice and a track meet. The cleaning ladies came and Lulu got her itchy shot and another vaccination at the vet. I went grocery shopping, ran errands, and finally folded two weeks worth of clean clothes.
In writing news, I finished with my first pass edits on Tilli's Second Chance. This week I'll be doing line edits and any last polishing on the story. Then it's off to my proofreaders.
I'm also building a website right now for the new business venture I'm a part of. So far so good. I spent most of the week waiting for DNS to update and then once it was up and running, I had some problems with the SSL certificate on the site. Eventually the hosting customer service fixed that too, and now I'm just in there working on the design. We have a meeting today at 2PM and I'm sure I'll get more direction on the design then.
Not a lot of photos this week because I was just too tired to do much anything else than the basics. I feel like I'm getting less and less sleep every night. This morning Lulu woke me at 5:45. I told her to go back to bed, and she peed on the floor. So yeah, I should have let her out. But I knew if I didn't get back in bed right away, I wouldn't go back to sleep and I NEED SLEEP, PEOPLE. I'm slowly going insane from lack of sleep. Sigh. I might just be the full moon. We'll see.




Lulu is always ready for photos.

I hit 6k minutes on Peloton this week for 2023. I'm right on track to hit 18k this year!
Anyway, have a great week, everyone! Stay safe and healthy.
The post Sunday Update – May 7, 2023 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.
May 1, 2023
May 2023 Goals
May day! May day!! Lots to do this month!
What happened with April's Goals?Publish A Surprise Favor. Done! It's out there! It's getting read and purchased. It even has two ratings now on Amazon.
Start writing the next Kimura Sisters book, Tilli's Second Chance. I actually finished this in two weeks. Freaking UNPRECEDENTED. I'm going through and doing some edits now.
Start in-person French classes. I've had three classes now and I've learned so much! I love French class. It's lots of fun.
Stay on top of my Duolingo Italian, Japanese, French, and Swedish. I missed a few days here and there, but it's going well.
Get the newsletter set up for my AI Fiction Coaching business. I didn't get around to it this month. Oh well.
Publish a post about space opera romance. Done! Read the post on space opera romance world-building.
Publish my Flyght art project. Done! Check out all travel posters I put together for the Flyght Series!
Keep up with my secret art project. I did not do this this month.
Exercise, TV, knitting, and reading. I didn't do much reading, but I did everything else.
May GoalsFinish Tilli's Second Chance, get it off to proofreaders, make changes, and send to my editor. This is my main goal this month, and I hope to be done with the majority of it this coming week.
Start my new cozy mystery series. I need to go back and re-read Matsuri and Murder to get a feel for my new series. Then I'm going to plot it and get going on it. I have a possible strategy set up for this series and it involves me writing the first 3 books first. So I'm going to get started on that.
Plot out my fantasy romance series. Okay, I have an idea about this one and I need to sit down with my tools and plot out the 5-book series arc, the book titles, and a rough idea of what happens in Books 1 and 2. I have engaged my cover designer for this series and she gets started on it in late June, so I want to be ready for her.
Make website for new business venture. So, I have a new business I'm becoming a part of and it's hush-hush right now. I'm the CTO and in charge of a lot of the tech stuff, which includes the website and all that. I'm going to get started on it this week by setting up WordPress and all the emails for me and the other employees. (Yes, I realize I have a lot of businesses. Yes, I'm crazy.)
Keep going with in-person French classes. I need to study more and do some more independent reading. I am falling a little behind because of my very busy schedule.
Keep going with Duolingo, exercise, reading, knitting, and TV. I'm lumping these all together now. Might as well!
That's it for this month! Have a great May everyone!
The post May 2023 Goals appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.
April 30, 2023
Sunday Update – April 30, 2023
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.
Last day of the month! Where did April go? I swear that life is just speeding by at this point.
This was a busy week. My oldest daughter had jazz band practice every day and then Jazz Night on Thursday. It was so much fun! They played jazz and disco from the 70s. They sang and danced and there was a confetti explosion I wasn't expecting. Lol. A really fun night. I guess all of those long jazz band practices paid off! She woke up on Saturday morning not feeling well though and slept 15 hours last night. I'm hoping she can go back to school on Monday.
I finished the first draft of Tilli's Second Chance, the next book in the Kimura Sisters Series! It took me just over two weeks to write it with the help of my AI assistants. Basically, I use the AI (ChatGPT, Claude, and Sudowrite) to help me brainstorm ideas, get an outline written, and then write a first draft. After that, it's alllll me. Quite often, I keep almost nothing from the first draft because I don't like the voice or the action. But I've always been a strong editor who procrastinates on the first draft, so this really works for me. I'm currently editing my way through the book, making changes to the characters now that I know them better, cleaning up the prose if it went too purple, and fixing dialogue. By the end, I suspect it may be about 30% AI-generated and 70% me. I'm happy with that. That would be the same amount from an editor, I suspect. I hope to be done with it soon so I can have it proofread and turn it into my anthology editor.
I'm still recovering from hurting my back the previous week. It's still sore in places and sitting has become a real problem. So I ordered a lumbar support pillow, and I'm using it now and hoping that will help. I managed to get my usual amount of exercise and I've been stretching a lot. Really hoping this week is less painful.


We went out for Indian food with our family on Sunday. I love doing this. It's so nice to just sit and chat and catch up.


Spring is still very beautiful around here even though it's been raining a lot.

I washed Lulu on Monday and she eventually forgave me.

The confetti drop at Jazz Night. My daughter is the one in the dress.

I've been working on eating better, avoiding deep fried foods (or at least keeping them to the bare minimum). I miss potato chips and fries and spring rolls and … yeah, pretty much everything deep fried. But this meal was tasty. It was multigrain rice, sliced baby cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, yellow peppers, and red cabbage, oven roasted chickpeas, Daring “chicken” sauteed with spinach, and then a dairy-free yogurt, miso, tahini, and turmeric dressing on top. Yum. It was super delicious.
Have a great week everyone! Stay safe and healthy.
The post Sunday Update – April 30, 2023 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.