Just Call Me Sneezy #MFRWAuthors #21

I sneeze all year long, particularly in the fall.  Ragweed and Goldenrod are NOT my friends.

Neither is freshly cut grass, dust, or pollenating trees in the spring.

How do I deal with it?  Muscinex has become my best friend, since it cuts down on the sinus drainage.  I also probably should have bought stock in Puffs or Kleenex as soon as I was old enough, since my family goes through at least six boxes (or more!) a month.

I’m also highly sensitive to Benadryl.  The little pink and white capsules are fine (but hard to find anymore), but if I take one of the pink TABLETS, I’m guaranteed an hour or so nap within twenty minutes.  Same with non-drowsy (HA!) Sudafed.  Yes, psuedephrine knocks me OUT!

Sometimes, when doing outdoor events, my nose simply itches uncontrollably.  Most annoying when I’m trying to talk to people and I have to keep rubbing one side of my nose, or even reaching for a tissue.  I get flashbacks to my elementary days, when I was teased unmercilessly for my constant runny nose, and the not-so-nice names I was called.

Allergies haven’t been so bad since I’ve moved into town.  When we lived in the country, I would get secondary sinus infections every March.  Trust me, if I’m voluntarily putting ice on my forehead to kill the pain, there’s a problem festering inside my sinuses!  Fortunately, I was blessed with a doctor who listened to me, and would call in a prescription, instead of requiring me to make an appointment.  He’d seen me enough times over the years to know what was going on.

I get the occasional ‘itchy, watery eyes’, but either Benadryl, eye drops, or even saline eye wash helps.  I had this so badly back in 1997, I was bathing my eyes in saline every few hours.  But after a weekend trip to Vancouver, BC, I was ‘cured’.  Was that coincidental?  Or did the pollen count ‘magically’ go down the day I returned?  Who knows?

How Do You Deal With It?

I’m off to the Indy 500 on Sunday!  Have a wonderful Memorial Weekend and I’ll see you back here next week!

“Dear Diary…. #MFRWAuthors #20

I’ve kept a diary/journal since the tender age of eleven, and blogging since 2007.  Has it helped or hurt my writing?  Hard to say.

Some would say that I at least write something every day.  I used to think it helped my creativity, but lately I’m wondering if it’s just another way to procrastinate.

I’ve been keeping an online journal of my job, and after I finish, I just want to get off the computer and go do something else.  I’ve been on the job now for two months, and this is the first time I’ve not written this blog until Wednesday night.  I’ve just been too tired.  I’ve not written anything new since February, but then again, the last time I worked a day job, the words poured out of me a few months later.  I’m hoping the same thing happens again soon.

Join the conversation here. 

It’s going to be beautiful in my neck of the woods this weekend…..mid-upper 80s!  I’m off Friday and Sunday, so hope to get caught up on posts, as well as work on a crazy idea that hit me for Book #5 of The Chosen.  More on this as it gets ‘fleshed out’.  

I’ve also made an appointment for my right ankle; the pain is worse, and the compression socks help, but now the pain is traveling up my calf and to the inside of the ankle.  Plus, some nights it THROBS so badly I can barely stand it.  Might have to go the cortisone shot round.

FINAL CHANCE!  Catered Romance releases next week, so pre-order your kindle copy for only $.99 until May 23rd!  Print version will also be available next week:)

Plantzer Checking In… #MFRWAuthors #19

I’ve expressed this term before.  ‘Plantzer’ is because I do a little of both plotting and pantsing.

Plotting:

I can start with a brief idea of what issue my main character is going to face. such as Kitty, who wants to go back in time and see if things would work out between herself and her HS sweetheart.  She returns to when he kissed her, and instead of freaking out, she accepts it, and ends up changing their timeline.  Next decision:  Should she return to the college she graduated from (after all, she already knows the material and hey, might raise her GPA!), or go to the local college, in order to stay close to her new B/F?

Here’s where the Pantsing comes into play.  I just let Kitty take over and dictate the rest.  If I get stuck again, I read over what I’ve written and decide whether or not a visit from Uncle Charles is due, in order to ‘check in’ with his young charge, and see if she’s happy or not with her new outcome.  Hopefully by now, the story is flowing, and new ideas will spark as I get closer to the end.

Make sense?

What’s your take on this subject?

Wishing all Moms, Mother-figures, Honorary Moms, etc, a Happy Mother’s Day weekend!  I have to work, so I’ve informed the family they are taking me to a late lunch/early dinner on Sunday during my hour break.  Love McAllister’s Broccoli-Cheese soup and Ham and Cheese Toastie!

I’ll be spending 8 hours in Lawn and Garden, and since I’ve worked there three times in the past two months, I’ve decided I’m ‘horticulturely-challenged’.  Here’s hoping it’s not too busy; I’ll have help; AND maybe my boss will put me back in Lumber?

What’s Your App? #MFRWAuthors #18

I have to confess, I’m still app-challenged.

I held onto my ‘dumb’ aka flip-phone until 3 years ago, upgrading to only a slightly ‘smarter’ phone, a Samsung Galaxy.  Upgraded again last year to another ‘smarter’ phone, but since I’m only willing to pay $50 a month, I have a limited amount of storage on the thing.

I used to have the following apps on it:

-Facebook

-Twitter

-Instagram

-Square

Plus whatever apps came with it, Google, Gmail, Maps, Camera, and Gallery.  But here it is, barely six months later and even though I’ve deleted Twitter, Instagram, and a lot of my precious photos, it’s not enough.  I have photos I can’t see, and two videos I can’t share, because of storage issues.  I also can’t uninstall my work app, since I use it several times when I’m at work, in order to help customers.

Guess I’m going to have to bite the bullet and buy more storage on my ‘smarter’ phone, because I refuse to pay more than $200 for a new one?

*Disclaimer*:  I know I need to hook up my phone to my laptop and simply transfer them….as soon as I have time, and one of my kids is home to make sure I’m using the correct connection cable.  Update:  Daughter took a look at it; I need a larger GB SD card; mine was only 4G!  Successfully pulled the videos from it; phone seems to be running better.  Will get the new SD card hopefully this weekend!

Now my KINDLE apps are more manageable.  I have Facebook, CBS, NetFlix, and both my Solitaire apps, and I LOVE them.

But are they time wasters?

I don’t think so…..unless I spend more than an hour at a time on one of them (*cough* Facebook *cough*).  I weaned myself off my Solitaire app by sheer force; I now only go near it once a day, when I play the Daily Challenge on both apps.  I’m not binge-watching anything on NetFlix at the moment, but I do watch my CBS shows the day after they appear on TV (we no longer get local network channels, and I have 6 shows I watch weekly).  I couldn’t get the NBC, ABC, or FOX apps to work, so twice a week I tune in for L&O:  SVU and This Is Us.

So I guess what I’m trying to say is, if you feel your apps are taking you away from your writing time, then yes, they’re giant time wasters.  But if you feel you have your app time under control, while still maintaining your word count goals, then you’re probably using them correctly.

Feel Free To Chime In!

Friday is our 28th wedding anniversary, and depending on the weather, we’ll be celebrating at lunch, since our 1st Friday Art Walk is in the evening, and I’m hoping to set up my booth on the sidewalk.  Last year, I sold several books at this event, and with two coming out soon, I’m hoping to stir up some interest!