S.J. Pajonas's Blog, page 41

Sunday Update – November 29, 2020

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 off, Happy Birthday to my awesome husband! We’re celebrating today the easy way, with food and bumming around. He couldn’t ask for anything better. :)

Unfortunately, I had a very frustrating week sleep-wise. I think what’s going on here is that I really only need 5-7 hours of sleep per night, and I’m going to bed WAY TOO EARLY. So I sleep, wake up, and toss and turn all night, then I get another hour or two before dawn. In the end, the whole process just leaves me groggy and cranky.

So Friday night, I experimented by going to bed much later, closer to 1am, when I’m usually in bed by 10:30pm and asleep by 11pm. It worked out well for me. It wasn’t that hard to stay up late, and I got a lot of work done during those quiet hours after everyone went to bed, including Lulu! It took a while to wind down so I read my kindle in bed until just after 1am and probably fell asleep around 1:30am. Then I slept until 4am and got up to use the bathroom. I went right back to sleep and slept until 7:30am. The real problem here is that I need to be up by 7am most days because of the kids school. But I think I’ll work on that next. Maybe I can sleep until 7:15? I don’t know. I’ll have to figure it out.

The kids had school Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this past week, and everyone in their school was “remote” Tuesday and Wednesday due to a high number of COVID cases. I’m glad we have remained remote so far because this was exactly what I didn’t want to have to deal with — the worry about cases, them being disappointed with NOT being in school, the constant fluctuations. Everyone in their school is remote until the second week of December and we’ll see how it goes then.

Thanksgiving was Thursday, and we had a lovely day at home. I got up early and put the apple crisp in the oven right away, and then I baked bread right after. Then I did the Peloton Turkey Burn Ride with Robin at 11am. It was a 45 minute HARD ride. Woo! I was beat after… yet I still spent the rest of the afternoon in the kitchen cooking and dancing around to great music. We ate dinner early, around 4:30pm, and then the rest of the evening was just for sitting around. I was totally beat! It was fun, though, and a great day. We missed our family but we Zoomed with them and called them up on FaceTime. We did the best we could under the circumstances.

Good news on the writing front! I’ll be winning NaNoWriMo today a day early! Yay! And I’m in the home stretch on Hikoboshi 4! I just have to write the final act now, so once I get in my NaNoWriMo words, I’ll sit down and plot out the rest of the book. I hope to be done by December 15th. I also hope to be back to writing regular posts here on the blog through mid-December, when I’ll take a break until the New Year.

My Peloton obsession continues! I completed my 50th ride on Wednesday and my friend Kelly, who only lives a few blocks away, rode with me. Then she dropped off this Peloton mug on my doorstep as a little gift for making it 50 rides. Isn’t that sweet? I was moved to tears, honestly. This bike has been really good for me. Not only is it making me healthier and stronger, but it’s bringing me closer to other people too.

Speaking of my Peloton bike, I did the Turkey Burn 45-minute ride on Thanksgiving morning and was moved to tears (again) when one of my favorite instructors announced she’s pregnant right in the middle of the ride. This was such a fun time! I rode with 5 other friends and we high-fived each other throughout the workout.

Per usual, Lulu is by my side as I’ve been writing.

Thanksgiving was full of good food and family on Zoom.

If you say “Guess what?” I’m always going to answer with “Chicken butt.” Lol. I love that my daughter’s answer was just “No.” Lololololol.

My big heron friend has returned to the lake in the park! It was great to see him again. It’s been years since I last saw this bird.

And finally, I am still knitting and making great progress! I try to work on this a little each day.

Have a great week everyone! Stay home, stay healthy, and stay safe.

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Sunday Update – November 22, 2020

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 post is later than usual. Sorry! I’m trying to actually “take it easy” (whatever that means) and I decided to be a little lazy this morning. I’m taking the week off from SFR Station for Thanksgiving, so I didn’t have to do that today! It was nice to not spend my entire Sunday morning working for once. It’s now 4pm on Sunday and I already have my NaNoWriMo words in for the day. Hooray! I can spend the rest of my afternoon knitting and listening to an audiobook.

This week was rough. I’m not sleeping well again which is a bummer. I’ve been thinking that I need to keep a sleep diary and find out if this is cyclical for me. I’ll probably come up with an app or notebook sometime this week to catalog it. Many nights this past week found me staring at the ceiling at 3AM or 4AM and not going back to sleep. Living on 4 or 5 hours of sleep per night is slowly killing me, but what can I do? I’ve already seen a sleep doctor and I’ve got drugs to help me. It’s just not enough. I’m hoping that this week brings more sleep.

Other than that, nothing much has been going on here. Field Hockey is over. The kids are trudging through every day with online distance learning. COVID-19 cases are rising in the US because some people refuse to mask, and now I’m preparing for a Thanksgiving meal without family. We will continue to stay home and quarantine here because other people are being reckless. That’s just something I’ve had to accept.

In writing news, NaNoWriMo is going well. I’ve written 40,791 words so far, and I suspect I’ll be done ahead of November 30th! I got to the third act of the book and realized there wasn’t enough material to sustain the last part of the book. Then I looked at my notes and realized I had left out a significant part of the story. Glad I caught that! So I’m currently fixing that, and I will be making notes for when I go to revisions on this in January.

This week I’ll be writing more in NaNoWriMo and I’ll also be finishing up my writing and tasks for the upcoming Flyght Series blog tour! I have half of the posts written, and I know what I’m writing for the others. Just need to get in there and finish it up.

Won’t you play with me, mommy??

When she’s not playing, she’s lying around like she owns the place. (She does.)

There are days when there just isn’t enough coffee or tea in the world to make the fatigue go away.

I did manage to make a very tasty salmon hot pot last weekend. Yum!

I’ve been working really hard at getting better with my Peloton. I’m hitting more personal records (PR) and getting stronger. Love seeing the stars on my workouts which means I’ve hit a new PR.

And Fridays are still martini evenings around here. Thank goodness for that!

Have a great week everyone! Stay home and stay safe, and have a great Thanksgiving if you celebrate!

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What I’m Watching – Schitt’s Creek and The Morning Show

In between all the writing I’m doing, some days I like to take off my lunch hour and watch a little TV. Or, I close up my computer by 8pm and watch TV with my husband!

Pretty much everyone I knew had been watching Schitt’s Creek (on Netflix) before we finally got around to it. We’re in the third season (just met Patrick and David is setting up Rose’s Apothecary) and it’s hard for me to describe what’s enjoyable about this show.

Is it David’s hilarious facial expressions?

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Is it Moira’s strange pronunciation of words?

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Is it the town?

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I have no idea. And sometimes we’ll finish an episode totally bewildered but then still watch the next one. Something about this show is utterly charming, and it must be the combination of everything because it’s not JUST ONE THING. Honestly, it’s a testament to the show writers and the Levy family, I think. They seem to infuse everything with just the right amount of comedy and humanity. We will continue to watch and enjoy it all the way to the end.

On my lunch breaks, I decided to check out The Morning Show (on Apple TV+) before my Apple TV+ subscription expires. I got the subscription when I got my new computer last year. Apple recently extended the free subscription to March 2021, so now I really have time to dive in and watch these original shows. This show was really good, if sad and bittersweet.

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It’s about a top-rated US morning talk/news show who’s main anchor, played by Steve Carroll, is accused of sexual harassment. It’s a very #MeToo moment in time, and the show touches on Harvey Weinstein and several other sexual harassment cases in the media. But it’s also about partnership, family relationships, journalism, friendship, and consensual workplace romance, too.

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I found the overall story arc to be really compelling and engaging, and each day I could watch, I looked forward to it. Jennifer Anniston and Reese Witherspoon were amazing in their roles, and I was especially in love with Billy Crudup’s character who always seemed to be just this side of inappropriate but always smiled and never crossed the line. Lol. He was fabulous. I would watch another season just about him.

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Sunday Update – November 15, 2020

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.

The weeks are back to being blurs. Every day, it’s remote school for the kids. And for me, it’s my usual routine. Lulu to daycare Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and then my regular workout schedule plus writing and home stuff.

This week brought a few firsts. I tried some harder workouts on my Peloton, and I really challenged myself to get as close as possible to their cadence and resistance suggestions. I worked hard! And it showed with my Apple Watch. I nearly tripled my Move Goal on Monday! Came very close. Saturday morning, I did my first buddy ride with my friend, Lisa. We both did a Beyoncé ride together and it was hard and a lot of fun. I did yoga on Friday, and I’ve made progress with my inversions! I have a yoga headstand chair that I bought for this purpose, and it’s been great for me!

Writing for NaNoWriMo is coming along. I’m getting good ideas as I go and I’ve been hitting my word counts more or less, mostly more. I’m about a day ahead at this point. I’m trying not to take any time off because I want to take Thanksgiving off. Hopefully I can keep it up. If you want to keep up with my NaNoWriMo progress, be sure to follow me on Instagram.

See? Almost tripled my Move Goal on Monday!

We got a new TV this week! It’s now mounted on the wall and everything is hooked up, but for a while there, I was nervous! There was a lot of drilling and stuff everywhere.

The neighborhood continues to be pretty.

Evening herbal tea in my Japan mug while watching the November Sumo Basho.

Pretty purple daikon from my CSA.

Some days you need to take off lunch and watch some TV. I finished The Morning Show this week. It was so good! Very sad, but good.

Peloton has been really good for me. Really good. I lost most of my weight in the spring and summer with diet and exercise changes. Peloton has brought up my physical fitness now. Even after only a few weeks of using it, I’m seeing massive changes in my health and well-being. Saturday morning, I did a ride with a friend! This was from the Beyonce Two-for-one 30 minute ride. And now I’m wearing pants I haven’t fit into in years.

It’s nice to finish my work early! On Friday, I was able to knit and enjoy my evening martini.

Have a great week everyone! Stay safe and healthy.

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Bloggers – Sign-up for the Flyght Series Blog Tour

A quick post today to let my fellow bloggers know that there is an upcoming blog tour scheduled for December 7th through December 11th for the Flyght Series! I’m writing up a handful of blog posts for the tour and we’ll be giving away some fun prizes during the tour as well. Here’s the information from Lola’s Blog Tour’s website!

Everyone who signs-up will receive a variety of materials of which they can choose from to use for their post: top ten lists, guest posts, interviews as well as graphics. There will be graphics that can be used for Instagram as well. And some example posts for social media.

Review copies of book 1 are available in e-formats through Bookfunnel. If you sign-up for a review copy I’ll send the bookfunnel link along when I confirm your tour stop within a few days. There also is an option to review future books once you read and reviewed book 1.

I hope to see a few of you there! Thank you!!

Sign-up on Lola’s Blog Tour’s website!

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Book Chat #64 – Books from Tracy Krimmer, Peggy Ehrhart, and Sarah Raasch

I finished up two audiobooks and an ebook in the last few weeks! Let’s get to them…

THE (UN)FORTUNATE FALL by Tracy Krimmer (ebook)

I really enjoyed this one! Krimmer has been writing this series with 80s/90s nostalgia in mind, and it speaks to me. I made these fortune tellers all the time as a kid and my kids make them too. Vivienne was a strong and likable heroine. She knows what she wants and when and how she’ll get it. I loved her romance with Cal! They were a delightful pair. All in all, a fun read.

MURDER, SHE KNIT by Peggy Ehrhart (audiobook)

I got this book on Chirp on a whim. Hey, I love cozy mysteries (of course) and knitting, so I thought it would be fun, and it was. The mystery kept me guessing. There were enough red herrings to throw me off the scent of the murderer. The characters were well drawn and their motivations easy to understand. The knitting group cracked me up. They were a fun bunch. I think I’ll get more in this series!

SNOW LIKE ASHES by Sarah Raasch (audiobook)

I rarely read fantasy, as most of you know, but I decided to pick this one up ages ago and it sat in my audible library. And sat. And sat. Until I decided to give it a shot and I’m glad I did. This book finally had a fantasy world I could wrap my head around with the Seasons and Rhythms, and all the cities named after months of the year. The magic system made some sense to me too! I was drawn by the first chapter and then finished it up rather quickly. I think there’s supposed to be a love triangle here but I barely felt the romance at all, which is fine. I bet there’ll be more in the next books, which I will definitely read! I’ve already purchased Book 2 as an audiobook.

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Sunday Update – November 8, 2020

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.

What a week!! I must admit that the Election here in the US had me completely preoccupied for most of the days. Everything is a blur of me refreshing my browser over and over and over and watching copious amounts of MSNBC, waiting for results. I’m super happy with the outcome of the election, and even though there are probably many more weeks of uncertainty ahead, I’m feeling confident about the eventual outcome. We watched Kamala Harris and Joe Biden’s speeches last night and drank champagne.

Field Hockey season ended this week too for my kids. They had their last practices and last games. They really enjoyed it, and I’m sad it’s over. It was a lot of fun for all of us, even if it did take up a lot of time.

The weather for this week started out cold and now it’s just gorgeous outside! 70s and sunny! My walk with Lulu this morning was just lovely.

Besides that, I spent every day either exercising or writing. I still managed to write every day on Hikoboshi 4. I’m now at 23k words, and I think I have a good idea of where the story will go and what will happen along the way. I’m a discovery writer, so I figure stuff out as I write, but I also spend a good amount of time thinking about what to do. It’s a lot of fun. I didn’t touch my knitting this week, so I plan to get back to that this week, if at all possible.

The week started out cold so Lulu needed her jacket for our walk!

Someone wanted pumpkin seeds.

Caught her in mid-yawn and she looks like she’s laughing. Lol.

Sleepy Lulu.

The trees around here are so pretty right now!

I walked in the park on Thursday with my friend, Amy, and one duck, only one, was white.

Another day, another field hockey game.

Finally, cheers to a successful election!

Have a great week everyone. Stay safe, stay healthy.

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Leaning Into My Routines

I went for a walk this morning with my long-time friend, Amy, today, something I haven’t done in months! I leashed up Lulu, donned a mask, and met her in the park for an hour walk. I hadn’t seen Amy in the flesh since March, and we used to see each other a few times a month before that, so this was a real treat. It was so great to see her! She said to me, “You look great! You’ve been taking care of yourself.”

And yes, I have. When the pandemic hit, I felt like everything was spiraling out of control. I’m sure many of you felt the same, right? I saw plenty of people online trying to cope with food or booze or whatever they could get their hands on. I wasn’t sure what to do, but I had already started intermittent fasting and low-carb living by March, so I decided to keep it up. I figured, if I couldn’t control ANYTHING in the world, even the most basic things, I could at least control what I put in my mouth. (No judgment for anyone else. I’m only talking about me.)

So I leaned in to my new routines. I learned how to read all labels, to track all my foods. I took exercising seriously and started walking or working out every day. And it worked out for me for the first month or two. It was my distraction from the world outside. I could eat within boundaries and walk and listen to podcasts and audiobooks, and I didn’t have to concentrate on the news.

Closing all my rings on my Apple Watch.

In the summer, I leaned in harder. I worked other things into my routines, even the smallest of things. I set reminders in my to-do app to take my vitamins, to read my favorite blogs, to Instagram, to drink tea, to FLOSS MY TEETH. Lol. I set reminders for everything I could think of that would keep me healthy and sane. Some of those reminder came and went, but many I still have around today. I set up routines and to-do lists to get through my website redesigns, my pen name setup, even writing. By the end of the summer, I had a routine for almost everything.

My new Peloton bike… my new religion.

Now in the fall, I leaned in to the exercise even more now that I’ve lost almost 35 pounds. We have a Peloton bike now, so I worked that into my routine too. Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday mornings, I do spin classes on the Peloton, first thing in the morning after tea. Tuesday, Thursdays, and Sundays, I walk Lulu right after morning tea then I do resistance bands. On Friday mornings, I give myself the option of walking alone outside, yoga, or barre on my iPad. Where I used to exercise 4-5 times a week, I’m now exercising 7 days, and I FEEL GREAT. This morning after my walk with Amy, I used my resistance bands, and I felt awesome. It’s amazing to me that I can feel this good during a pandemic. Lol.

All of these routines may seem soul crushing to others, but they have given me the freedom I need to accomplish things. I know what I’m doing each day to a degree, and I can slot things in to get them done when needed (though I really need to work on shifting my clothes over from spring/summer to fall/winter… I swear I’m going to do that today).

Do you have routines that you love? Are you looking to establish some new routines? Let me know in the comments!

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Work In Progress Wednesday – Back to Hikoboshi and The Nogiku Series

Despite the chaos in the world right now, I’m still trying to write and get moving on NaNoWriMo with Hikoboshi Book 4. Here’s a little snippet from right in the beginning of the book. Nogiku Series fans will see things here they like!

He stops in front of us and cocks his head. “I hear you in two places at once.”

Huh? I’m not sure what that means until we follow him farther down the hall and stop at a conference room. The lights are off, and the room is crowded with people, their faces lit by the giant wallscreen on the opposite wall. Shintaro, my twin brother and ultimate pain in my ass, stands in the back, his arms crossed, a wild grin on his face.

“But when it came to politics in Yamato, Empress Sanaa Itami wielded her power like a ten-ton sword…”

Oh, shit. That is my voice.

A murmur passes through the crowd of people as footage of our empress plays across the wallscreen. I remember this sequence well. The scene showcases her in her royal kimono presiding over a New Year’s celebration, fades to a shot of her in a smart suit negotiating laws with members of parliament, and finally ends on a slow pan of her actual sword in the Yamato Artifacts Museum — Kazenoho, in all its glory. Someone in the front row of the room points to the screen and I pull my lips in to press them tight. The photo of the empress in full samurai warrior gear next to her sword is making quite the impression on these people.

I’m not sure it’s positive.

Considering my voice over currently stating how Empress Itami used everything in her power to get her way, I’m absolutely sure the room is not happy.

Shintaro turns, sees me in the doorway, and approaches with a wide smile.

“I thought this would be a good primer for what’s to come, so I got everyone together to watch.”

Anger has turned my body into a rigid stick. The room is getting louder and louder with mutterings, and my anger builds with it.

I relax my lips just enough to speak. “You should have asked me first.”

…

Uh oh. Shintaro is always getting Yumi in trouble!

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November 2020 Goals

October seemed to last forever. It was the first month that didn’t seem to speed by. Probably because I have been anticipating the election!

What happened with October’s Goals

Finish reading and editing FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT. Done!

Relaunch the Hikoboshi Series with new covers. Also done! Everywhere but Nook/Barnes & Noble because they were hacked this month and everything’s been screwed up there ever since. If they never update my books, I may pull all my books from sale there. We’ll see.

Start writing Book 4 of the Hikoboshi Series. It’s started! I’m enjoying the writing so far, even though there have been plenty of days where I DID NOT WANT TO WRITE. Ugh.

Close out my Move Rings every day on my Apple Watch. Done! I actually closed out ALL THREE RINGS every day for the whole month!

Send out a newsletter to my pen name’s meager list. Um, I totally forgot about this. I had the best of intentions and meant to do it. But I forgot. Sigh.

Audiobooks, reading, and knitting. My knitting is going well! I’m making good progress on it. I’m enjoying my current audiobook and ebook. No complaints here!

November Goals

Win NaNoWriMo! It’s not enough just to participate, I want to win! And that means writing 50k this month. Which I have done before, of course, but have I done it in the middle of a pandemic with my kids remote learning? NO I HAVE NOT. So it will be more of a challenge than usual.

Send out a newsletter for my pen name. Okay, what I think I need to do here is schedule this thing. The first Friday of every month, I should send one out. That’s my new goal from now on.

Write 5 blog posts for the Flyght Blog Tour. I would like to have these done by Nov 20th.

Schedule all of my promotion ads for January and February. There will be some upcoming sales in the New Year! And regular promotions of my permafree books. I need to schedule all of those ads. It’s a lot of work but I’ll get it done.

Take a break on SFR Station. I have scheduled three weeks off from SFR Station. One in November for Thanksgiving week. And then the last two weeks of December, I’ll also be taking a break from the Station. I have continually posted 10 books per week since April 2019. It’s time I took a little time off for the holidays.

Continue with my Apple Watch exercise streak! I’m aiming for a Perfect Month. All three rings closed every day, and a workout logged for every day. This includes…

Continue my Peloton riding. I want to workout on the Peloton 3x per week every week.

Continue with my good eating. Despite the ENORMOUS amount of Halloween candy at home and upcoming THANKSGIVING, I will ignore most of it and continue with my good eating habits I’ve developed over this year. I’ve mostly been able to avoid candy, but now it’s hard with so much of it around. I need to stay away!

Audiobooks, reading, and knitting. Keep up the good work here!

That’s it for November! But it’s plenty. Lol. Have a great month everyone!

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