Resource page for writers, and a new car!

I've been working on something for a while that would gather all the links I've found helpful or inspiring in my journey on the indie writing trail. Then my computer died, and I lost my links. It was totally my fault, because I didn't check that my bookmarks were being properly backed up. So sad.

But I've slowly started adding links back, and I decided to make a page on my blog to share them with others who are searching for information. I'll have links for covers, formatting and general writing sites -- some are already up, so check them out.

I'd like to mention that I get no financial kickback from any of these links, except for my royalties if you buy my writing -- that is, I don't have affiliate links.

Now for the new car!  We've been struggling with car repair problems for a couple of years now, trying to keep older vehicles on the road because we can't afford to buy anything. I posted the other day about my fun grocery shopping trip in our only running car, a Mazda Protoge. My van is having crankshaft bearings replaced, and the Explorer was wrecked, so it's been rough getting everybody where they need to go.

Sis1 had called about somebody who was selling a 1998 Mercury Mountaineer at a cheap price, and we finally got to go look at at yesterday. After much discussion, we decided to buy a new starter to see if the SUV ran decently.

And it did! Oh, happy day!

It's sitting out in the driveway right now, and I can't wait to take it out for a good, long trip. It's a very nice model, almost exactly like the Explorer in body style, but a more luxurious model -- power windows and door locks, and leather seats, oh my! Did I mention is has a moon roof? Yeah, that's cool.

The best thing? Less than $600, not counting the tags and tax.

That's all the excitement for one day, Gentle Readers. Keep calm and buckle up.

On grocery shopping and gassing up.

Yesterday I had to do the most dreaded of household tasks (at least for me), and go grocery shopping. Since my van is in the shop, I took Number One to work, and went on to the grocery store. I figured I'd be in and out in maybe thirty minutes. Easy peasy. Right?

Yeah, not so much.

I get to the store -- our local Aldi store -- and start getting my bags together. Then I realize I have no quarter for the shopping cart. If you don't know what Aldi is, it's a chain of stores that keeps costs low by not having to pay people to wrangle carts out of the parking lot -- you put a quarter into a nifty mechanism on the cart handle, which releases a chain and you're good to go. When you're done, you bring the cart back, put the chain back in and retrieve a quarter.

Well carp. I don't have any cash, or I'd pop into the Big Lots that's in the same shopping center and buy something, thereby getting at least one shiny quarter in change. And I know I'd find something to buy in Big Lots. Which is why my budget won't let me go there very often.

Now, let me tell you that it's hot, I'm wearing clothes that aren't really suited to late summer in North Carolina, and I've just levered my overweight, arthritic self up and out of a 1996 Mazda Protoge. My knees are already yelling at me, and I haven't even gotten into the store yet. Oy.

I would have just given up and gone home, except that we needed groceries and I danged sure wasn't to go shopping on a weekend. shudder

Back in the car I go, heading down the street to the nearest ATM to withdraw some cash. There's no way to get close enough to the machine in said Mazda, so I have to open the door and lean out to reach the buttons so I can go through an unreasonably complicated menu in order to get my own money.

Okay. Now I've got paper money. I need coins. I drive back up the street, bypassing the Aldi store, to a drive through convenience store, where I buy a soft drink (a Sierra Mist, if it matters), and bless me, I actually get two quarters with my change, thus avoiding having to ask the clerk for some.

I drive back down the street to the shopping center, get my bags out and go to free a shopping cart (which I keep wanting to call a buggy) from the corral. Luckily the store is less crowded with lookie-loos than usual, and I make good time filling the cart up.

I actually only stop shopping only because I can't get another thing in the cart. And because the plantar fasciitis in my right foot is killing me. I bag my groceries (another cost-saving point of the store) before heading to the car to load up.

The car is filled to the brim with lovely food, not to mention toilet paper, and I am on my way home. Or so I thought.

Seriously, you didn't think it would be that easy, now, did you?

As I'm driving along, I happen to glance at the fuel indicator. It's sitting on that big E. That's not good. I should mention that we normally get easily 40+ miles per gallon from this car, and technically there was probably enough gas left to go 20 to 30 miles before it actually hit empty.

But I've got $200 worth of food stashed in the car, my cell phone is at home, and I ain't taking no chances. So I head for the closest service station to put some fuel in the tank. I pull in, go inside to pay the cashier, and head back to the car to open the flap over the gas cap so I can get this over with and go home.

And I realize there's no way to manually open it. Arrrgh!

Have I mentioned that in the entire time we've had this car, I've never put gas in it? Paid for gas, yes, but never actually done the job myself. Yeah. This day is getting better all the time.

I lean in to look for a release. Can't find one. At all. I look everywhere I think it makes sense for it to be. I'm getting hotter by the minute, and I'm sure everybody around was looking at the crazy lady talking to herself.

I pull out the owner's manual, and look up where the gas cap release might be located. It's nowhere near where the book indicates it is. Cue more cussing.

I think I forgot to mention that the AC on the car is broken, didn't I? I'm getting so hot, I'm dangerously close to heat stroke, because I don't sweat.

I look around some more. Finally I realize the floor mat is shoved up under the seat, and with a flash of inspiration, pull it out. Sure enough, there is the blasted release lever.

I couldn't help it. I started laughing my ass off, thus giving witnesses more reason to think I've lost my mind.

Getting home to unload and put away the groceries was anti-climatic.  But oh, how good that air conditioning felt!

 There you have it, Gentle Readers, another exciting day in the life of a writer. Keep calm, and stay cool, my friends.

Where did the summer go?

Gosh, time has flown by this year. It's already the last day of August, fall is just around the corner, and my baby is officially an adult.

Yes, Sk8monkey turned 18 on the 25th. Now it's time to register for Selective Service (and, no, he has no interest in the military) and get his driver's license renewed. Graduation will be here before I know it, and then it's off to college.

I kind of miss my baby, you know?

Here's one of my infamous blurry pictures taken last month. I just noticed he didn't have sheets on the bed!  Wonder where they went?


On the good news front, Mama has taken her last "hard" chemo treatment, and will be put on what her doctors say is a less-harsh regimen. She's certainly glad of that, as she has been having an increasingly harder time handling the effects. But we are almost half way through the process, so that light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.

I'm still chugging along on the writing front, getting closer to having a good final product for the novel, and two short stories that I've been piddling with for a while are closer to being finished. In my spare time I'm teaching myself how to use Photoshop CS6--it's an amazing program that I hope to be able to, well, not master, but at least become proficient at using.

So there you have it, Gentle Readers, another long tale from a middle-aged, working mom. This is a three day weekend for us US folks, so take care and remember the workers of the world.

Gosh, is it 2012 already?

It seems like just yesterday we were saying goodbye to 2010, and now a whole new year stretches before us. For the last couple of years I've done a little thing inspired by the scrapbooking hobby, called One Little Word.

Well, truthfully I only do part of it, since I don't really document it throughout the year. I need to work on that part, but I am motivated by my word to work on things in my life.

Last year, I chose the word "success", and I feel that overall I had a successful year. I have written and published several short stories, as well as a collection of five holiday-themed stories, and had a good amount of sales.

The word for this year is "completion". I have so many projects that are in various stages! It's unreal. So after much thought, I've decided to work on completing things, whether it's writing, crafts, business or home-related.

I have also worked out a publishing goal for the year:

4 novels
12 short stories/novellas
the doll repair/dressing book
the novel I'm editing for my sister (it's her late MIL's work)

If I can do more, I will, but I feel this is a reasonable goal in regards to my chosen word, and my work-load in other areas. I have probably half of each item done, it's just languishing on my hard drive.

My sister wants us to work on growing our wedding officiant business, and that will take up a considerable amount of time, as does my crafting business. I hope that having more of a plan will let me focus on the things that need to be done, rather than flitting from one to the other.

So there you have it, Gentle Readers. Keep on keeping on, and remember to be happy.

so, it's a long post, grab some tea and cookies

Well, it seems I haven't posted anything here for more than a year. I am such a bad blogger, but I promise to do better. Really, I do.

So, life has been moving on, as life does: everyone is a year older, hopefully wiser; still no job prospects for me, which totally sucks; I am disappointed in the Obama administration, because it seems they don't like the liberal/progressive side of the party, which got him the job in the first place. Ingrates.

I've been doing some soul-searching over the past few weeks, trying to find my path in this life. I'd like to go back to school, but for what? At 52, I just don't know what I'd be suited for hiring-wise, as I have some physical limitations now that preclude many jobs (can't kneel, or even squat very low, have bad knees, bad back, you get the picture).

I've been doing a very cheap kitchen renovation in my mobile home--it's a 14 x 80 foot, 4 bedroom, 3 bath 1993 single-wide, paid for but needing some repairs and improvement. The layout was horrible, and I had very little usable storage, so I redesigned it and with my brother's help we are making some major changes.

On top of all that, I'm also about ready to pull out the ratty old carpet in the living room and replace it with a laminate floor that I got for a good price at my local Habitat for Humanity Re-Store. That room will also be rearranged to better suit our needs.

I have pictures, I'll post them later. Next, I'm going to start planning what to do about the two bathrooms--I need to put a walk-in shower in mine, and replace the fixtures all around. But that's a job for next year (and hopefully a decent tax refund)!

One thing that kind of goes along with all this ripping and rebuilding is my research on living simply. Or sustainably, or frugally, or whatever term you like to use. It's basically being debt-free, living within your means, reduce, reuse, recycle.

A blog on this subject that I've been following is from Australia, and even though I'm in the USA and some things don't relate, but it's chock full of knowledge and inspiration. If you'd like to check it out, it's http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/.

Rhonda Jean is an inspiration as I start moving even more determinedly towards a simpler lifestyle. I'm already baking and making even more food from scratch again after many long years.

Blessed be.