My husband and I tend to have quiet Valentine's Day celebrations. Going out is a pain, not to mention frowned upon currently, and I can spend my money on wiser things than an expensive dinner and movie. Instead, this year we stayed home and made Lo Mein, and we watched this movie: You can find … Continue reading Wolf Children: Our Valentine’s Day Movie
It's been a bad two months for car repairs. My husband's 2006 Subaru Legacy Sedan had suspicious fumes in the cabin, so we brought it in. Below: his car, my current car, and in the background my old car. Head gasket leak, and they couldn't tell us how long it would be until it was … Continue reading Finally! Both Cars Are Home
When we bought our house, Community Block Grant reroofed it and put in a floating laminate wood floor in the living room because there was no flooring at all in there. The kitchen floor was rough, but they wouldn't work on it, so we put rugs over it to protect our feet from splinters. Closer … Continue reading Help! What Do You Know About Floating Laminate Floors?
There have been some massive storms moving through the country, and a lot of people are without heat or power. But Tundra is a dog, and all he cares about is that he can play in the snow. He hates the camera, so I had to be sneaky to get a photo. He was rolling … Continue reading Snow Dogs Be Snow Dogs
If you know me at all personally, you know that I manage our budget and have quite a system for it. I use the You Need a Budget website: It has a monthly subscription fee but lets me manage my budget so, SO easily. I manually input everything, manually split out pay checks into categories, … Continue reading Let’s Talk Money and Managing Debt Repayment
I've been making masks off and on as we need more of them, and the most common complaint is that they're too tight. They're not too tight on me, but that's just me. So when my brother needed new ones, I experimented with the length of elastic on them. On my usual masks, the elastic … Continue reading Masks for My Not-So-Little Brother
I was twelve when I moved to Wisconsin with my family to live with my grandmother. It turned out to be fortuitous that we made the move because my grandmother had the beginnings of dementia. We were able to care for her, keep her at home for the last years of her life. As soon … Continue reading Found at Last! Books From My Childhood
Inspired by watching 'Fruits Basket', I ordered an onigiri (rice ball) mold. This one to be precise: You can find it HERE on Amazon. I've traditionally made onigiri with my hands, but the heat is painful, even when using a ziplock bag, and they're much larger than they should be. So, on a night that … Continue reading Do You Have Room for a Pickled Plum on Your Back?
Why don't I remember to bring my camera with me when I go places?!? Whyyyyyy?!? We had a heavy snowfall here over two days, and this is the only photo I managed to take of it: This is the first evening. My husband beat me to the snow shoveling, which I wasn't surprised about because … Continue reading Snow~!
It's THAT time of year. The time seed catalogs come out. The time when you spend WAY TOO MUCH MONEY on seeds. I ordered entirely from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds this year. And the seeds have arrived!!! I decided to try focusing on new plants, ones I hadn't tried planting before. I've done mostly the … Continue reading The Seeds Have Arrived~!
Maybe I just need less STUFF. Except my husband has cool stuff. Are these not the cutest? The green one has a trailer that moves around that you can practice backing up. And of course, my sword from theatrical fencing and some other goodies: Anyway, I set up the shelves: No surprise, they were damaged … Continue reading As If I Needed Moar Shelves
I intend to go through some of what we have in the basement, so I ordered some shelves and bins from Menards to work with. The shipping was steep, but when I went to the nearest stores (I'm looking at you Wally World), the bins didn't even have handles, and the shelves wouldn't fit one … Continue reading Boxes Galore!
I know it's a little early yet, but I took some time to clean up my seed starting space. I have an LED grow light (thank you to my mother-in-law!) that I have set up in my closet. It's pretty much the only space that I can keep warm enough and undisturbed so plants grow. … Continue reading Setting Up for Planting!
And by 'we', I mean my friend and her husband did almost all of the work because I'm freaked out by lye. Anyway, soap was made because my friends are amazing! We choose Raspberry Vanilla scent, and we went with purple, pink, and white colors. Then we almost forgot to dust the top with glitter, … Continue reading We Made Soap!
I have noted before that I bought myself an easy-to-use vacuum for myself. It's lightweight and has a long tube, so I don't hurt myself carrying it, and I don't hurt myself bending over. The vacuum: I went around last night and vacuumed EVERYTHING I could reach. I even laid down and pulled the storage … Continue reading Vacuum ALL the Things!
I ordered specialty soap for my husband for Valentine's Day. I ordered it from Cat and Raven Designs. I've watched a few of their videos on YouTube, and they're the first soap makers I've seen that let you order a soap to your specifications. You can find them here. Ya'll, I couldn't resist. I asked … Continue reading I Couldn’t Wait for Valentine’s Day
My husband has a driving wheel with pedals and shifter to play his racing games, but there's always issues on where to mount it, making space, moving it around. He has wanted a collapsible driving chair for years. This year he shared one with me, and it wasn't that expensive. Take a look: So his … Continue reading A Driving Chair for Sim Racing
These are a gift for my sister-in-law, but I'm hoping she's opened her present by now so it won't be a spoiler. I'm not a Harry Potter fan, but she is, and when I found official Harry Potter brand, cotton fat quarters, you'd better believe I snatched them up! And I made masks: Hopefully they … Continue reading Harry Potter Masks!
I've run into a storage and sorting problem. The first part is that I have 5 different drafts of my current novel, 'Still Water', and I don't want to throw any of them out but at the same time where do I keep them?!? Beyond that, I have written... 9? 10? novels. 10 if you … Continue reading In Which I Have Written Too Many Novels
You may have seen articles about 5G conspiracy theorists buying special cases to protect their routers from 5G... and then being outraged that their routers don't work. (The first article I saw on the topic.) I'll admit it. I'm awful. I laughed. And then I promptly sent an email to my family with the joke... … Continue reading Who Doesn’t Need a Faraday Cage?
There are few things as an adult more thrilling than getting cleaning equipment! I jest, but I am really, REALLY happy with my new vacuum. First of all though, apologies for not having a Friday post this last week. I wrote it. I scheduled it. I scheduled it for the 15th instead of the 8th... … Continue reading Oh, Glee!
Ya'll, I got THE most ridiculous hat for Christmas, and I'm loving it. Last year, I lost my winter hat at some point while working in the field. My brother had gifted it to me, and I loved it, so I was bummed. I tried buying another hat from the same company, but their hat … Continue reading This Hat Though
There was a little bit of a bummer with my tablet - it doesn't work with Krita, the free art program I downloaded to work with. There was much flailing, but the cheapest alternative I could find was the subscription for Photoshop. Painter was way expensive (ignoring the fact that I only know the basics), … Continue reading Terrible Doodles
This is not a surprise to me, considering I checked with my husband and ordered it, but I received a drawing tablet for Christmas! THIS ONE to be exact. XP-Pen is a brand that isn't as popular, but I read quite a few reviews and watched artists on YouTube use it, so I felt fairly confident … Continue reading XP-Pen Tablet
I'm visiting a friend to make some lye soap today, and it will be my first time working with lye. My friend has several batches under her belt, and she has prepped the lye water solution and oils and such, while I'll bring the scents and mica for coloration. So, I'm not posting today, but … Continue reading Off to Make Soap Today~!
If you haven't heard of the Fruits Basket manga, I'd like to assert that you're losing out. It's a cute manga that starts out with shape changing zodiac members that grows progressively darker throughout as the curse and their 'God' are explored more fully. You get to see the characters at their best... and then … Continue reading Anime/Manga Rec: Fruits Basket
It's a multi-holiday week for my family, so I'm taking the week off. We're celebrating a birthday, and of course Christmas. See you next week!
This YouTuber is a little different from the ones I usually follow, but I found her wide variety of interests and 3D printing enough to point it out. Studio of MM can be found here, and there are quite a videos I like. She 3D prints storage items for art, which is neat, and she … Continue reading ITJFU: Studio of MM YouTuber
It's been a week, which means I have two Interesting Things Just for U posts showcasing recent YouTubers I've found and enjoy. Today is Emirichu, found here. She's an artist who does CUTE artwork and animations, and I especially like her series of guest videos talking about their adolescent crushes. She also has an interesting … Continue reading ITJFU: Emirichu YouTuber
A close friend has been talking through my revisions with me on the Ocooch Mountains: Still Water novel. I had come to realize that not having deadlines was hindering me. It was so easy to say 'hey, I don't feel good today, I'll just play Guild Wars instead' instead of buckling down and working on … Continue reading Accountability Deadlines for Still Water
All I can say is that the Black Friday deals were killing me. I wanted SO MUCH stuff but I kept it down for the most part to Things I Actually Need. For the most part. There's two HUGE exceptions to that, but they're for a later post. Anyway, Nurture Soap had a sale on … Continue reading Soap Making Shinies!
I'm sure you've seen one of those art dolls - the little wooden dolls that are supposed to help artists with drawing the human form? Spoiler: they're practically no help at all. They don't flex or move right, their arms and legs are tubes with no muscles, they don't bend at the waist right. No … Continue reading Is This Considered Nudity?
If you know anything about me, you know that I am a reader, going through between 3 and 5 books a week. Yeah, I know. It's not nearly as fast as some folks out there, but it isn't a contest, it's the journey, ya'll. And I'm totally for Indie authors and ebooks. Ebooks are amazing. … Continue reading OK, I Splurged… Unboxing
Ok, ya'll, this is a stretch. I'm not one to ask for help, but we need help. My parents paid a roofer to put on a metal roof, and it was not completed. My parents can't afford to hire another roofer, but it's half done, NOT waterproof, and it's now a crisis. PLEASE, WE NEED … Continue reading GoFundMe: The Hanson’s Roof Isn’t Finished and Winter Is Coming
My parents recently adopted a malamute named Nova Scotia, and she's super sweet. She's three, so she's very high energy and tends to bowl over the other dogs. I have to separate them sometimes because she plays rough and has puppy manners. For example, earlier this week she sat on Tundra's head and chewed on … Continue reading A Gift to Scotia’s People
My husband and I have been working with two of our friends on getting them their Griffons in Guild Wars 2. It's a laundry list of 'buy this' and 'buy that' and 'complete this and that group event'. It's the group events that have been the problem because we have no idea how to get … Continue reading If It’s Not on One Server Try the Next
I'm not the world's best chef, and that's pretty well known. In High School my friends teased me mercilessly for burning a pot of water and for putting a fork through my middle finger when preparing a meal. But I try. I'm not afraid to try. The results are hit or miss, but I try. … Continue reading In Which I Am NOT the World’s Best Cook
I have a sobering post here today. It's entirely my fault. I got sloppy backing up my novel, and it's only pure luck that it wasn't worse. I lost one of the recent scenes I've been working on. Literally a week and a half of working on it, and I didn't bother to back it … Continue reading Let Us Discuss the Importance of Back Ups
My in-laws have an dog named Aasha. She’s sweet and borky, but she doesn’t like other dogs, violently so. We always kennel Tundra when we go to see them. She’s old and tired. She has some form of pituitary cancer, but they can’t do anything about it. She drinks and drinks and drinks but then … Continue reading Aasha Baasha
There's no photos this time because I didn't remember to bring my camera. My dad and I drove up to our family cemetery in Sparta, Wisconsin. We're related to about 75% of the people buried there, and it's where I hope to be buried some day. (After being cremated, because rotting grosses me out.) Every … Continue reading Family Cemetery Visit
I don't talk about work on this blog, partially because I work with people's personal information, partially because I don't want people hunting my blog down and asking me questions here, and partially because it's a family business, and I try not to share stories that I don't have everyone's permission for. That said, let … Continue reading Positive Feedback, Ya’ll
I don't show it often, but I have a big white board (it's actually white board vinyl taped to the wall) where I sort out my next writing steps. I let it get a little dated and only updated to show when I finished a How to Revise Your Novel section. Note that this link … Continue reading Sorting My Kanban Board for Revising
A friend of the family went into hospice this year and passed away. It was a whole debacle involving an estranged son and conflict and just, UGH. That's not the story though. The friend passed, and the son was supposed to clear out her apartment. He took his time about it, and when he finally … Continue reading Who Would Sink So Low?!?
I've been following my favorite author on her Facebook page, and one of the things that really impresses me (other than her amazing books and genuine care for her fans) is that she treats her writing like a business. It's not a nine to five - she gets up in the afternoon and works until … Continue reading Treating Writing as a Business
I've started using an online writing tool to up my word count: 4thewords. You can find it here if you want to take a look. Right now I'm outlining, but it forces me to sit down and work on it daily. There's a one month free trial, and after that a month's worth of their … Continue reading Writing Tools: 4TheWords
A lot of the time, when you're writing, you're writing into a void. No one sees your words but you for months and months while you draft and do the first round of revisions. It's lonely. It's hard to see what you have on your hands because you have no distance from it. Is it … Continue reading When You Write, You Write Into a Void
I've started slowly going through my stuff in the basement. You know how it is - you pack to move, move, and then just never get to the last few boxes. No multiply this by ten moves now, and there are QUITE a few boxes that made it into my basement and no further. I … Continue reading What Have I Got in My Boxes?
This is a long story but there are cute puppy videos at the end, I promise! My parents have been looking for a new female Alaskan Malamute to keep Joe, their Husky, company. When he came to their house, they had Mariah, who was elderly. They got along after she put him in his place … Continue reading Meet My Parents’ New Fluffer, Nova Scotia!
I had an interesting conversation with my dad the other day, and I mentioned some of the best decisions I've ever made, ones that have paid forward and paid forward and make my life better today, so here's some musings on that. Warning: It's a long one. The choices: Reading the Dave Ramsey book my … Continue reading The Best Decisions I’ve Ever Made
Are you an author? Forget all the snobby definitions of what you Must Have To Be An Author. If you write, you're an author, and if you write more than once in a blue moon, a writing tracker is a HUGE HELP. For years, I've fumbled along with my excel spreadsheets, constantly breaking them, but … Continue reading Writing Trackers
