Jen FitzGerald's Blog, page 31

Happy Friday

I totally forgot to post on Wednesday. It's been a week. But look-- My subscription of Perfectly Mint Tea finally arrived after a bit of a blooper. Originally I received a single box. The ZON allowed me to keep the one box and sent along the correct order of six boxes.

Will it be enough to get me through six weeks now that the temperatures are staying cool and official winter is right around the corner and the two other people in my house also enjoy a good cuppa?? That is the question. The new packaging should start appearing in stores so I'll be able to supplement as needed, I suppose.

It's now December and Christmas is right around the corner. I need to finish gift buying and find a good day to put on some movies--I've got to track down Penelope--and wrap my little heart out. I also need to get the tree up and decorated.

Twenty days and counting. :0)

How are your Christmas preparations coming along?

Have a great weekend!

Wheeeee!

Goal reached and then some! My goal for the weekend's writing was 5600+. Final word count for my four days was 5909-- Mission accomplished. Total word count after this morning's work is just over 10K. I'm barreling down on the end of the book and I'm expecting to reach 14K or 15K. Not bad for a month's or so work.

* * * * *

DD and I also finished up a craft project. Instead of buying our annual Dallas Stars ornament, I opted to DIY it. She'd purchased an ornament for another team and I decided to replicate it for the Stars this year.

From this...

...to this...

I'm quite pleased.

* * * * *

Hope you had a lovely long weekend.

Catch you Wednesday!

The Countdown Begins...

Now that Thanksgiving is barely but officially behind us, it's time to think about and start planning for Christmas.

DD has already requested something non-traditional for Christmas dinner. Actually she claims that Christmas dinner has no requirements like Thanksgiving dinner does and has requested spaghetti. Spaghetti is not something I eat often anymore, so I don't think we're going that route, but chips and queso and deviled eggs are already on the short list of nibbles.

Sadly, Sonshine will not be flying home anytime soon, but the Brown Eyed Girl and her soulmate are planning a visit home.

* * * * *

So far, so good... I reached my word count goal of 1400+ words yesterday and today. Just Saturday and Sunday to go. I do think I'll end up exceeding the projected final word count. Not that it's a bad thing, more words just means completing this WIP might take a little longer, and I'm trying to get to some other projects sooner rather than later.

* * * * *

I hope you and yours had a lovely Thanksgiving. See you Monday.

Happy Thanksgiving

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FRIENDS!

It's been a year, hasn't it? It started off pretty well. DH and I and his parents went on a wonderful cruise to the Western Caribbean -- yup that was 2020 -- and when we returned home, the world changed pretty drastically.

 Despite it all, I have things to be thankful for:

My husband, my three wildly different children, my fur babies, my two moms, my siblings, my nieces and nephews, for our business that keeps on keeping on, the ability to write and publish books, for my dearest friends (known to each other as the Cotton Patch Kids), for my writers group, for other authors and their books, for fan fiction, for music, for Perfectly Mint Tea, Benedict Cumberbatch, my online friends far and wide, my Dallas Stars and hockey in general...

Hope you have a lovely day tomorrow filled with delicious food, family and/or friends, and fun.

Thanksgiving Here We Come...

Three days to go.

The ham is thawing. The temperatures are dropping. The tempo of life is slowing.

I baked pupcakes this weekend and they turned out pretty delicious. A little on the dry side, but they taste as marvelous as ever once you slather on the frosting. Flavor sensation!

 From this...

To this...

To this...

It's not the greatest frosting job, but I never claimed to be the Cake Boss, and it certainly has no bearing on the taste. :0)

Have a great short week! Catch you on Wednesday...

 

Happy Friday...

So DD and I went shopping this past week. She wanted to look at fabric paint for a project for her little kiddos. We went to Michael's because that's where we go... She walked out with nothing and I walked out a few dollars poorer. :0)

Two of the treasures I walked out with were...

With Thanksgiving next week, I was going to bake pumpkin cupcakes for our employees and when DD pointed this out to me, I couldn't help myself. I was pleasantly surprised when it rang up at 50% off.

And this!

I shared my little tiny nutcracker back in August here. I had planned for this to be Stars colors, but as I type, the idea of a red, white, and blue theme appeals too. I guess we'll see what happens when I sit down to paint him.

Wishing you a delightful weekend...

A Time for Thanksgiving!

And a time to write!

Four day weekend coming and isn't that delightful!?!?

Due to the black cloud that is COVID still hanging over society's heads, Thanksgiving will be limited to our household only. I've bought most of the dinner fixin's. I just need to buy another bag of potatoes, because Thanksgiving is NOT complete without mashed potatoes no matter what else you serve. Otherwise:

Ham. ✅

Corn. ✅

Hawaiian King Rolls. ✅

Gravy. ✅

Canned Pumpkin. ✅

Cream Cheese Frosting. ✅

DH also wants turkey, so hopefully there will be a small package of pre-cooked turkey and I want to make cupcakes for the office, so I'll be hunting down another can of pumpkin and container of frosting. I also love stuffing, so I might hunt up a box of cornbread stuffing...

DD is looking forward to a full week off school. She has the 2 / 3 year olds, so they're a handful.

I wish we had a whole week, but I'm definitely thankful for the four days I do get.

I was thinking this morning that I have time to percolate more of the new WIP--I'm writing a short Christmas story to submit to an online publisher for release next holiday season. The deadline is March 1.

Four days of writing for at least four hours at approximately 350 words an hour...that's 5600 words, which is about half the word count I'm shooting for and would be a heck of an accomplishment.

That doesn't include any of the words I write in the meantime and...

I'm getting super excited about the prospect & possibilities right now.

Hallelujah!!!

My first cup of Plantation / Perfectly Mint tea in almost two weeks was just as soothing and delicious as I hoped. The scent, the flavor, the comfort...perfect.

The book is done!! 

 Well, insofar as all the revisions were made. I've set it aside to get some distance from it and I'll read it again in a week or two. I'm still debating on finding a beta reader.

I finished Saturday, so as a reward I slept in on Sunday. Only for an hour however and then I was awake. Now that Book 4 is done (for the moment), it's time to turn my attention to Book 5 and so I've been working on building the characters. They've been percolating for a month or two, but now it's time to get things nailed down, make decisions about who they are, what they want, what they need, etc., etc., etc.... I've made progress on hero 1 mostly and I know a little about the other. These things take time and this is not one of my strong suits.

* * * * *

Fun with Dick, Jane, and Spot... 

These guys ventured forth while I was sitting outside on Saturday afternoon. I don't know if these are all the same squirrel or what. There were actually three of them nibbling and squabbling.

 Have a great week!

TGIF

I'm very excited for tomorrow-- It's Saturday, obviously, but it means I'll have a good 4 to 5 hours of writing time to get my revisions done. I'm not sure I can get them all done Saturday, but I'm hopeful that between Saturday and Sunday, they'll be completed. *fingers crossed*

The question becomes: do I let it rest and then re-read it myself or find a beta reader for the final set of eyeballs....

* * * * *

The office upgrades are coming along. The kitchen should be complete no later than next week, from what I hear. All the water-stained ceiling tiles have been replaced as well. Now we just need a fresh coat of paint and good dusting / vacuuming and my little corner of the office space will be as good as new.

* * * * * 

That's all I've got...

Hope you have a great weekend. Take care.

Final Revisions

I've received the second half of the revisions to the current work-in-progress! And I'm definitely excited to have them back. This book will be infinitely better because of this editor's touch. Can't wait to dive in tomorrow morning. :0)

 In other news...

There really is no other news at the moment. Oh wait, there is...

As you know, we own our own business. After twelve years, we're finally getting kitchen space. It'll be nice to have a place to prep meals and eat them that aren't my desk. We'll also be splurging on an ice maker and a hot/cold water dispenser.

We'll also be painting the tech area and buying news desks in an effort to spruce up the environment for the employees.

Everything is moving a high speed right now which is not my favorite pace, but the changes are long overdue, much anticipated, and worth the short term chaos.

I'm trying to get back on the meal plan wagon...the weekend was a loss, but I've done well so far this week. My motivation was / is pumpkin cupcakes over Thanksgiving weekend, so I'm trying really hard to earn them.

Weekdays are definitely easier than weekends and after being off the wagon for so long. Consuming sugars and carbs for that time frame, re-awakened my sweet tooth--which is always just taking a catnap anyway--and lowered my resistance levels.

On top of all that--first world problems, I know--my stash of Plantation Mint has run out and the stores are out as well. What I discovered is that after decades, Bigelow has decided to change the name from Plantation Mint to Perfectly Mint.

I think the stores aren't replenishing their stock because of that for some crazy insane reason and it's wreaking havoc with my morning writing time and my stomach. My stomach doesn't care for the other flavors that early in the morning. The scent and flavor are just an ingrained part of my routine and I miss them terribly.

I have setup a subscription from Amazon so that I no longer have to worry about whether or not my local grocery store has it. The problem is waiting another ten days or so for the first delivery. I might just have to break down and place a smaller order to tide me over.

Did I mention how much I really miss my tea?

Have a great rest of your week!