A week from today, people. Just sayin’… Hope everyone is ready, or close to being ready. I am, for all intents and purposes. I think. After the hectic braining of the last week and a half, I am no longer sure.
So what happened last week and over the weekend. As y’all know, I have a new book out.MIDNIGHT CLEAR came out of the blue. Well, finishing and publishing it did. I had no plans and then 💥 boom. The partially finished MS popped up on my computer and the rest is history. Sadly, the stress took its toll. I was supposed to give blood yesterday but when I got to the donation center, my BP was 162/78 and my hemoglobin count was 12.4. It has to be 12.5 to give. 🤦🏼♀️ The in-take lady suspects the hemoglobin was because I scarfed down a short Cinnamon Dolce Latte between the Starbucks on the the NW corner of the open air shopping mall where the donation center is located on the SE corner. Like a two minute drive (or a bit longer because Christmas shopping traffic and people fighting for the close parking spaces). Evidently 2 shots of espresso affects hemoglobin count. So does drinking tea, according to the tech. It probably didn’t help my blood pressure either. Anyway. I’ll try again the next time they have the mobile drive there.
I took Saturday off and basically vegged. Sadly, I felt a little guilty to not be working on the Boston Wolves. That’s my New Year’s Resolution–finish and publish them before the end of January! I’m just hoping Iffy stays as driven as she was on MIDNIGHT CLEAR. Yesterday was laundry, since I didn’t have the “blood drain” to blame for my laziness. And yes, I did manage to get them put up after folding. See, I fold as I pull stuff from the dryer. It goes into the basket until all the loads are done. Hang-up is hung up on the “laundry trolley.” By the time I’m done with the last load, I’m easily distracted and will walk away, leaving the basket there because it’s too much effort to carry it to the bedroom and put the clothes away. Yeah, yeah. I know. 🙄
Reading update: I’m 3 books away from meeting my 2023 Goodreads Reading Challenge of 150 books. I finished off the three books in Linda Winstead Jones’s Mystic Springs series. They are fun, cozy paranormal mysteries. Give them a try if you like that sort of thing. I’m currently listening to THE CURSE OF PENRYTH HALL. This is a gothic novel set just after WWI in Cornwall, England. I have mixed emotions so it’s a bit of a slog. The book has a lot of push and I’m trying to listen to new-to-me books and authors because yeah, I get in a tried-and-true rut and rely on my old-standby faves.
On a wildlife note, my murder of crows and the two ravens who hang out with them enjoyed their Sunday brunch yesterday. I feed the feral cats (and the occasional kept cat who shows up because they like my feral gushy food better than what they get at home) on the front porch. I feed the squirrels, and one is so bold that he’s almost eaten sunflower seeds out of my hand, along with the cardinals and some doves, bluejays, and sparrows in the back yard. In the driveway, I toss out any dogfood that Jake hasn’t finished off, along with leftover cat kibble, along with bird and sunflower seed out in the driveway. The starlings and the occasional cat, coon, or possum like the kibble. The doves, sparrows, chickadees, and wrens like the seed, and the driveway island squirrel goes for the sunflower seeds. The cross and ravens? They are all about the dog kibble and any meaty bits left over. Saturday night, LG grabbed food from Golden Chick so the Sunday morning had bits of french fries, crunchy chicken batter and some bits of chicken, along with the bits of hamburger leftover from Jake’s Friday night dinner. They were out in force yesterday happily cawing, awking, and chowing down. (Crows “caw.” Ravens “awk.”)
After the Wallyworld trip–stocking up enough to get my into mid-week next week because who in the world wants to face the crowds on the day after Christmas?!?!–, and with the laundry down yesterday, I’ll put my guilt for not working to good use and get back to work on the Wolves.
On that note, I’m off with one last request. If you’ve read MIDNIGHT CLEAR, please leave a review/rating or Amazon and/or Goodreads. Please and thank you! How was your weekend?
Silver James 
“How was your weekend?”
I was driving home last Friday evening (about 7-7:30 PM) after dropping off a co-worker at his place. I pull up to a stoplight, right outside of our work. I was about a car length behind a Chevy SUV.
The light turned green but before I could take my foot off the brake, I was hit in the rear of my car by another Chevy SUV (I think.) I swerved left, clipping the SUV in front of me and ending up halfway into the intersection. The driver who hit me stopped for a few moments, then rabbited off into the night.
I first declined to go to the ER but relented at the urging of the driver of the SUV I hit and of my son, who was talking to me on the phone. I also realized that the only way that I’d get Tulsa PD out there was to make it an injury accident, as they were on “Operation Slick Streets,” where they only respond to injury accidents.
When I got to the ER, they did X-rays and a CT scan of my torso, neck to hips. They found no broken or fractured bones… but they did find a small nodule and slightly larger possible goiter on my thyroid gland!
Right now, other than some stiffness in my neck that’s probably whiplash and two small bruises (one on my head and one on my arm, both on the right side, I’m okay. My car, OTOH, is most likely a total loss. Thankfully, I have full coverage as I’m still paying on the car. My insurance company did provide me with a rental but I only have it until the car is repaired (if ever) or seven days after they declare it a total loss–but in any case, no more than 30 days guaranteed.
Other than that, we had a snowball fight at church on Sunday… and my new replacement computer died Sunday, too.
So… all in all, it was a week (end.)
Whoa! You have had a time of it! Glad only minor injuries and yay for the early diagnosis of maybe problems with the thyroid. Best to catch it early! A bit of a blessing in disguise but yeah…maybe a “blessing” with less hassle? Anyway, hope you can bounce back and find a replacement car for what the insurance company will pay. When this happened to LG, we were lucky that his truck was paid off and we found a newer model used truck for the amoung insurance paid. Hang in there!