personal

Typing With Wet Paws: Now It’s November Edition

annabowling Leave a comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. It is November now, which means superpowers are in full swing. I made sure to wake my parents early this morning to announce that the weather was especially November-y. Mama Anna appreciated it. Papa did not. Whatever, it was playtime.

photo by Mama Anna

This week, I am happy to report that Mama Anna is working on the writing that she means to be working on, and that includes a rough draft of her own blog, about how 2023 has been the worst reading year of her entire life. Don’t worry, it’s not a sad blog. I have sat on the notebook she wrote the first draft in, and it’s really comfy, so it should be a good blog.

Mama Anna is indeed working on the reading thing. Right now, she is listening to an audiobook while she is helping me write this post. She has a paper book going as well, and I think she got an eBook from the library, but hasn’t started reading it yet. Give her time. It is November, after all, and the perfect time of year to cuddle on her mountain of spooky pillows, under a fuzzy blanket, with an even fuzzier purr-sonal assistant at the ready.

This week, we are watching Fear The Walking Dead, and Frasier, and Mama Anna is planning out a good way to binge both seasons of Yellowjackets. Purr-sonally, I prefer things like “Koi in their Winter Pond,” or birdfeeder footage, but this stuff is good, too. Cats hunting, people hunting, does it really matter? As long as I get my belly rubs, the answer is no.

Now that it is nice and cool outside, and the heater is on, I am much more cuddly than I am in the summer. Since Aunt Linda generally goes to bed first, I like to very smoothly slip into her bed when she gets all settled and demand belly rubs. Sometimes she can still watch her tiny glowy box, and during some of those times, I can watch her screen, too. I have no idea what the hoomans in her glowy box are saying because she uses headphones. \]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

(I typed that last part myself, with my own paws.)

”””””””””””””””’

(also that line)

In short, I walk on the keyboard a lot. If we had a parrot in this house (We don’t. It’s a bird. I am a cat. Which is a predator to birds. Bad combination, most likely.) they would have learned “get off the keyboard” super duper fast. Mama Anna says it a lot. I still think she needs a bigger desk so I can have my own seat. For now, I hunker down in her open sock drawer until it is time to walk across the keyboard to demand cuddles and hugs and pets and playtime. The parrot would also have earned “cats don’t drink tea.” I don’t know that I believe that one. From the way Mama Anna drinks it, it must taste super good. It smells good, and it’s warm. What’s not to love?

That’s about it for this week. Mama Anna wants to play Sims, and that is one of my favorite glowy box shows. I think she should make our family in the game, complete with a Sim version of me. She has done that before, but doesn’t have a version right now. About time to fix that, right? I better get on that.

Therapy Homework and Other Stories

annabowling Leave a comment
Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

The weather is cool and cloudy today. I have a tall tumbler, filled with vanilla chai tea, too hot yet to drink, which gives me time to start this blog. My blogging goal for this week is to blog twice. Once, to help Storm with her blog, and one that is entirely Anna. The tumbler is a plain silvery finish right now. I will probably find some vinyl stickers for personalization. I plan on taking it out in the wild with me. I want to get some foliage shots while the leaves are with us. I miss taking pictures and posting them. The only way to do that is to do it. Baby steps count.

That is some of my therapy homework for this week and the next. I also need to finish reading Lisbon, by Valerie Sherwood. I’m over three hundred and fifty pages into the five hundred and fifty page plus book, so I think I should be able to do this. I have only read this book once, when it first came out, the same year Real Life Romance Hero and I were first married. It’s like reading it for the first time again, but with enough familiarity to know this is the right sort of story to keep my attention. I also get to make notes as to why that is. what does make this book work for me?

Right now, Storm has parked herself between me and my keyboard. She would prefer to be on it, but I have work to do. After I publish this post, I will make popcorn and check out the Frasier revival. Possibly some Yellowjackets, either diving into season two, or going back to season one and binge. I am listening to creepypastas as I write this and will probably do some journal stuff while watching abovementioned shows. TV and journaling seem to go well together around here.

Journal prep will be extra special this time, as I am getting ready for my own loosey-goosey version of Preptober/NaNo-ish doings. Updates to come as I progress. From my chat with Melva this week, I have to read through what I have on Her Last First Kiss so far and report on my own books. Not only read it, but spot what’s working, what I like. On my own book. This should be interesting. I have an audiobook to finish listening to as I take care of some household chores, and then another one lined up to take its place when I am done with the first. If it’s been difficult to stick with an audiobook the way I normally listen, how about I try listening to them the way I do the creepypastas I have been inhaling like nobody’s business? More sessions of shorter duration and remember there will be no quiz on the material at any point. I don’t know why I have felt like there would be, but there isn’t. There is no wrong way to read for pleasure.

That’s about it for right now. There is reading and there is writing and at some point it will resume making sense. Specific assignments and accountability work well for me, so I will be going with that. Odds are high that I will be making some sort of trackers for my personal and writing journals. I know myself.

What’s going on with you guys?

as always, Anna

Typing With Wet Paws: Adoptiversary Edition

annabowling Leave a comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. This is a special edition, because it is my adoptiversary. Well, actually, it was yesterday, October fifth, but yesterday was also Mama Anna’s talking people vet session, and the first pictures of me with these guys were taken the day after, because everybody wanted to give me some time to get used to my new family

Possibly first crunchies with forever family

I have had three mamas, and that is the final number. My cat mom was my biological mom. I don’t remember a lot about her, but she was gorgeous (I assume she looks like me) and ran one heck of a milk bar. When I was big enough to set out on my first adventure, I went to my first human mom, Mama D, who took the best, best, best care of me until it was time for me to come to my forever family. I still love my first two mamas and I think about them a lot, always fondly.

As you might be able to see from the picture above, I wasn’t done growing yet when I met these guys, because I am bigger and longer and grownup now. These guys never got to see me as a tiny jelly bean or a li’l potato, as I came to them in my long teen stage. Now I am a big long, which is my final form.

look at me now

Please note that Mama Anna was kind enough to match the cover of one of her journals to the color of half of my nose. Yes, she has another one like it in black, to match the other half of my nose. I will accept this tribute. My bond with Mama Anna and her writing has been there from the very start. One of the very first times I came out of my adventure cave, she had a journal out on the bed, and was working with an India ink pen. I wanted to play with the pen. She said I should not, because the ink might stain my white paws. Well. She had not noticed the black spot I have on one of my front paw toes before then and thought that she had stained my fur. She felt awful until she realized it was original equipment.

Ever since then, we have only grown closer. I have made new human friends/aunts and uncles both online and in purr-son. If Mama Anna wants to have a video chat with anybody, I must be part of it. That is not negotiable. I don’t make the rules. Oh wait, I am a cat. I totally do.

Mama Anna wanted to remind me that one of my main reasons I get to blog once a week is that I am to be her PR kitty. That means I have to talk about her writing. She’ll admit it hasn’t been great as of late, which is one of the reasons she is seeing the talking vet. The talking vet helped her give herself a couple of assignments. First, she needs to finish reading the novel she is currently reading, which is Lisbon, by Valerie Sherwood. She loves that book and has read it only once, so it is like a new book, but one she knows she will like.

Lisbon, by Valerie Sherwood

Another goal is for Mama Anna to write one of her own blogs once a week for the rest of October. It doesn’t matter the topic, so be prepared for some babbling. Some of you like that, so you’ll be in for a treat. The rest of you, maybe ask her some questions so she can maybe use those to help figure out a topic. My Aunt Mary already asked Mama Anna to blog about Lisbon, so she will probably do that at some point.

The other other goal is related to NaNoWriMo and even Preptober. Mama Anna would like to participate in those, but she’s not sure exactly how, so the idea they came up with was this:

  • Pick a notebook
  • Fill it by the end of November
  • That’s it.

What she fills the notebook with doesn’t matter as much as just filling it. Probably extra points for making it be about historical romance. Mama Anna plans on getting together with Aunt Melva for an in person worldbuilding session soon, about the small town they are creating for their new contemporary series. This new notebook, which she will probably introduce you to later, will be saved for stuff about historical romance and maybe fantasy romance that reads like historical.

Will I try to steal her pens that she writes with in that? Yes. Will I sit on the open pages and the closed cover? Yes. Is she fully aware that if the notebook has a leather or faux leather cover, that I will do the pricky-pricky-pricky things with my murder mittens to the cover? Yes. Might she try to foil me by putting a cover over that cover? Almost certainly. Will that stop either one of us? Probably not, but there is only one way to find out.

How was your week?

Typing With Wet Paws: Finally Fall Edition

annabowling Leave a comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. We are now officially over the line for the beginning of autumn, aka the age of Mama Anna’s superpowers. We have observed our third moving-in-iversary to this apartment, which we continue to celebrate by, well making ourselves at home. This means Mama Anna gets to organize, refine, and decorate, which are all things she does super duper well, especially when the weather is like it is today. That means cool and rainy. Think of what most people would do when it’s a warm sunny day, and then that’s pretty much how Mama Anna is on days like this. , She is happy and wants to do All of the Things.

Thankfully, one of those things she likes to do is take pictures of me. I think this houndstooth purse makes a lovely complement to two of my colors, Now all she needs is an orange accent. No worries. I’ll shed some orange hair on it, and she will be good to go. Except she should never go. Ever. Anywhere. Only if she takes me with her. Other than that, she needs to stay here and write stuff. I like watching her write stuff.

Aunt Linda says that even though it is cooler now, it is not yet time to put on the heater until she gets rid of the, um, surprise I left her in proximity to one of the baseboards. I think it will probably happen soon though because Papa is from California, and people from California often have a lower threshold for this kind of thing. Soon, it will be time for the Big Laundry (today is a regular laundry) where all of the bedding and towels get washed at the same time (by some hired humans, not my regular ones) and then that stuff will be ready for the upcoming winter. I have a feeling that having ALL of the blankets warm and clean and smelling good can only mean good things for Mama Anna, which means good things for me.

Mama Anna and Aunt Linda did go to the special candle store. They got two autumn-y candles, a room spray (for the bathroom; flames are not good in a room where humans use spray cans, because kaboom) and even some wax melts for Mama Anna to make her own candles. Today, she has been listening to her special story-making music while she does some organizing of the big bedroom, because it is also her office and Papa’s office. It’s a big room, but then I don’t know a lot of rooms, and I am cat-sized. Anyway, the only thing missing from the whole feel of the day is that she did not have any tea. That is not because there is no tea in the house. There are several kinds of tea in the house. There are also bags of things for recycling in front of the place for making tea (That will all go away when Aunt Linda can help her take it where it needs to go.) Also because there is not milk in the house. I have nothing to do with that; it’s only the day before grocery day. Before you ask, yes, I did put crunchies on the list. Crunchies are delicious, and they are all mine.

The best part about the return of Mama Anna’s superpower is that I have figured out the very best perk. I mean, yes, she will be happy, and there will be new stories for people to read and buy and publish, but we are talking about me here. Let’s keep our priorities straight. Anyway, that priority is that I have figured out how to sit on the corner of Mama Anna’s desk while she is writing on the computer, and I can watch the words as they appear on the screen. This is very similar to when Mama Anna first started writing for real, and some of her college dormmates would stand behind her while she typed so they could read in real time.

I think this season is going well. What about you?

Thre Quarters of the Way Through September

annabowling Leave a comment

No idea what I want to write here, so I am going to babble today. We are now three quarters of the way through September, and I can very much feel my superpowers coming back. This should apply to blogging, so we will see. Though Storm has joined the chat, doing her thing where she walks across my keyboard to let me know Enough Glowy Box Time, and is about a minute away from putting her head atop ttttttttttttttttttttt –yeah, that part was her. As I was saying, her next step is to put her head on my right hand so I can’t use my mouse.

Photo by Alina Vilchenko on Pexels.com

We are also doing stock photo for this post because the whole point of the post is to post, and we always like the visuals. Also I have to figure out what’s up with Amazon photos and my phone but that’s easily sorted.

So. Anyway. I am alive. Melva and I are sending Drama King out on submission. Yesterday brought a no thank you, which eh, okay, it happens. We are seriously considering going the indie route with these completed Love By The Book books, which means looking into formatting and cover art and all that good stuff. We will know one way or the other by the start of the new year.

Looking forward to October, we have some important anniversaries coming. Including my birthday, there are three. October means the anniversary of when we moved into our current apartment. It’s cozy, but it works for us, and right now, I am taking a lot of pleasure in finally settling in and putting down roots. I have bene more excited than a sane person should be about over the door coat hooks. I have some of our fans slated for their winter slumber in storage. A nearby laundromat does bulk laundry which means we can get all of the sheets, blankets, towels etc, done at once and be ready for the cooler weather. If we want to get fancy, they pick up and deliver. Cardboard boxes, no; real storage type furniture, yes. Ideally, this would involve rescuing some of my existing furniture from Stuff Jail (aka storage) but then again, that depends on how much furniture Tetris we feel like playing.

Reading has been, in a word, poopy, but i am working on that. Rereads count, as do audiobooks, and if there was a way to make Goodreads count the creepypastas I have been listening to by the truckload, I would be way ahead of my goal. Will I make my goal for this year> Maybe. Maybe not. We’ll see. Either way is okay.

TV is doing slightly better. I loved the first season of The Walking Dead: Dead City, and, only two episodes into Daryl Dixon, it is also the love. I did not expect nuns, but I am getting strong medieval vibes, which I count as good. Frasier‘s reboot is not far away. I look forward to that like a big bowl of macaroni and cheese on a chilly autumn night. This does of course remind me of t he writers and actors strike, which I do hope can reach resolution.

That’s about it for right now. Writing talk will come later, as will pictures taken y my own self. For right now, this is fine. I made a post. Here it is. What’s up with you?

As always, Anna

Typing With WetPaws: Welcome Back, Super Powers Edition

annabowling Leave a comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. It has been a while, but that awful summertime is over, and Super Powers are returning. Happy New Year to all our Jewish and Messianic friends. The picture above these words was taken by Aunt Linda, as I was taking a much-needed nap in her window. Some of the fans are off now, and Mama Anna is even wearing a sweatshirt as she helps me write this. There are noises from the humans about a Big Wash, which means ALL of the bedding, including blankets. I know what this means. This means it is time to be cozy and cuddly and snuggly. I am all about all of that.

Another thing that lends itself to cozy and comfy is that Mama Anna is listening to something I find very interesting these days: creepypasta. I do not mean things like spaghetti with spiders in it, but a certain kind of story she listens to on You Tube. It’s usually first person, kind of scary, but she doesn’t find it scary; she finds it interesting, and even listens to it to help her sleep. Yes, she will be bringing this up with the special talking people vet. her favorite kinds of stories so far are those about things that happen in the deep woods, and also where the narrator works at a place with some strange rules to them. Maybe she will try to write one for one of her blogs.

Now that summer is basically over, and will be officially over next week, Mama Anna is feeling much more herself. That means much more like writing. She is still working on the reading thing, which she will also mention to the talking people vet but is pretty sure that will come in time. Probably also with a nice autumnal candle.

Photo by thevibrantmachine on Pexels.com

Some scents that she likes for this time of year are: cinnamon, clove, woodsmoke, tobacco, leather, wine, pumpkin, apple, coffee, fallen leaves, and that sort of thing. Aunt Linda wants to go to Yankee Candle, which Mama Anna is all for, even better if they can meet up with some friends who also like going to candle places. I mean the factory, but maybe Aunt Linda only means the small stores in the mall. That one is good, too. Mama Anna is also playing around with making her own candles with wax melts and wicks, but she is starting on that journey, so buying candles is still a good idea.

I, of course, am not allowed to investigate candles, no matter what fragrance they have. Something about fire. Blankets are much more fun, as they are fuzzy and soft, like me, and good for napping. I am extremely good at napping. When Mama Anna is at her keyboard, i am usually sleeping in her sock drawer right next to her desk. I let her know I want in my drawer by scratching the drawer below it. Mama Anna says that sets a precedent, but Papa says I’m cute, and this was a curb dresser, so it’s okay. It’s a good thing he’s cute.

Mama Anna’s schedule says it is now naptime, so I had better sign off now, as I am nap commissioner. I will let her update you all on writing and stuff in her own blogs. What are you currently reading?

Headbonks!

Typing With Wet Paws: Almost Out of August Edition

annabowling Leave a comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. I will lead with the most exciting thing first. The hoomans are trying another new kind of litterbox for me. Never mind why. I guess robots have a learning curve. I will let you know how it goes.

photo by Mama Anna

There is also a new development with the me-patterned tropical shirt, and that is that we may have a front stoop bandit in our neighborhood. Last week, Neighbors got an email that a package had been delivered, but the thing was, there was no package. Last night, Aunt Linda also got an email that a package (the shirt) had been delivered but guess what – no shirt. Yeah. That is not okay. Aunt Linda is the one in charge of this sort of thing but she is feeling kind of meh today so she will look into that later.

Mama Anna thinks this is her mouse and mousepad, but it really is mine.

Mama Anna has more pink things for her desk. In case you are wondering, she is definitely getting ready for the superpowers to come back. I am pretty sure that I will still have to remind her when enough is enough and walk across the keyboard. Mama Anna calls that Kitten on the Keys. Usually, all that happens when I do that is that Mama Anna tells me, “Off the keyboard,” and maybe she helps me in the right direction. This time, she had more to say, because right after I walked on her keyboard, she got a message from Facebook that she was banned from a group for violating community standards. She tells me she doesn’t want to know what I said. She’s probably smart about that. They let her back in later, so how much harm could I have done, anyway? It’s cool.

Speaking of which, the weather is getting cooler here. Sometimes Papa has the fan on but it is too much for Mama Anna, so then she puts on a sweatshirt, but then that is too much so she takes it off. Blankets on. Blankets off. Papa usually wraps himself in a blanket burrito, and there is another fan that is only on him. mama Anna usually cuddles me, listens to soothing voices read scary stories, and falls asleep that way

Mama Anna is reading more, which is a good thing, and she has some things she wants to talk about with the special talking people vet next week. I am sure she will fill me in on everything that goes on there. I am cute and nosy, so probably yes.

What’s up for your weekend?

Typing With Wet Paws: Post-Papa’s Birthday Edition

annabowling 1 Comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. this was an interesting week over here, and of course one week closer to fall, when Mama Anna’s superpowers come back. Tuesday was Papa’s birthday. He wanted cannoli for his cake (or ake substitute) and well remembers last time, when Aunt Linda contended she did not get her fair share of cannolis. Should I tell her that the bakery sells them all the time? She could get more. I don’t get any because I am a cat. I get crunchies and gushy food. Much better. Mama Anna had to show Papa a picture of what his birthday present will be, because it did not arrive in time. Aunt Linda had somehow not noted that it was shipping from overseas, but that is okay because it will be worth the wait.

I don’t know how to share the picture, so I will tell you what the present is. It is a tropical shirt with lots of flowers and pineapples and leaves, and best of all…ME. Naturally, it was hard for Mama Anna to pick from the pictures she took of me, because they are all good. With material like this, how could she get any duds, am I right? You know it.

could this work as my Halloween costume?

Anyway, Aunt Linda had a clear favorite picture, so they went with that one, and Papa LOVES the idea. He says he’s going to wear that shirt everywhere, all year long, and he even wants to more of them with different pictures. Some of them will be of Big Sister Skye, but that’s okay. I think it would be cool to hang out with her in a shirt pattern. Everybody wants something with both of our pictures on it together. Maybe even pajama pants. My only concern with clothing that has my picture on it is, how are my sheds going to show?

Since human eyes are not as awesome as cat eyes in seeing detail, I should tell you that the print on the belly band in the picture above is from Mama Anna’s new “Neapolitan” Archer and Olive n notebook, but we properly refer to it by its right name, Calico. It has black pages, white pages, and kraft pages, which is close enough to orange. She says it is in honor of me. I appreciate the recognition. Mama Anna thinks she will probably use that as her first bullet journal of 2024.

Speaking of her planning, she found out that she does indeed already have the A5 calendar filler for next year’s catchall planner, so that fits right in with no-spend, which is pretty cool. This has been more of a well filling week than a writing week, but she is okay with that. Also, she smells like people vet again. She said it was something called a “physical” and the people vet wants to check on a couple of things to make sure everything is working as it should. I, of course, will be on hand to provide cuddles afterward. She might even be able to talk to a special talking kind of people vet to see if I can get a letter saying I am an essential worker in the industry of keeping Mama Anna operating at best capacity.

Right now, she is listening to one of her all-time favorite books, On the Jellicoe Road, on Audible. As usual, part of her is thinking about how elements of this would work in historical romance (there is romance, but it’s not the focus, and there are two timelines, one in the past, but only a generation ago from the present story.) It also gives her the taste for a historical romance set in Australia, because it’s a setting she likes a lot, but doesn’t see very often these days. Do you know of any? Leave titles, authors, and/or links in the comments.

Typing With Wet Paws: Awesomely August Edition

annabowling Leave a comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. The weather has been much better over here, because summer is almost over. Mama Anna is of course very happy about this. She hasn’t been able to do a lot of August journal setup because of reasons, but she is looking forward to that in the coming week. She has to see the people vet again on Wednesday. I will expect cuddles after. For both of us.

Mama Anna and Aunt Linda went to the library and got a bunch of books. Pre-autumn is awesome for curling up under a blankey with a book and the hooman rubbing my belly. Right now, it is a rainy day. Papa is listening to the radio on his glowy box. He likes news and that sort of thing, while Mama Anna is more geared towards getting her fiction on, in both the reading and writing arenas.

The picture that was supposed to go here still hasn’t shown up on the glowy box, but it is in Mama Anna’s phone. She will figure it out later, because she got some super cute shots of me. Okay, all of my pictures are super cute, because, well, me.

Anyway, it’s definitely pre-fall around here, and not only because of the weather. Not going to lie, but that is nice. Papa has been a blanket burrito at night, and Mama Anna can get under her weighted blanket again, which is really nice. I can get on top of the weighted blanket when it is on top of her, which makes it even weightier, aka better. When it was still hot all the time, Mama Anna often lay down with an ice bottle (the opposite of a hot water bottle) and I found a new way to cuddle even with the heat. I hopped on top of the ice bottle, so it was cooling us both. Win.

Another thing that is awesome about the weather getting cooler is tea. Mama Anna loves tea. She says kitties don’t drink tea. I am not so sure about that, but she is the mama, and she has the thumbs, so I guess she knows a few things. Not everything, though. She is not a cat.

How is your August looking?

2024 Planning Already?

annabowling Leave a comment

Yes, already. We in the planning/journaling world do not take this kind of thing lightly, especially when stationery items seem to bloom all on their own in back-to-school displays. July is the midway mark on the calendar, after all, as evidenced by Christmas in July anything. Add to that the fact that it is July (duh) and I am, as the ancient Greeks say, “bad at summer,” which means a lot of summer days spent inside with my beloved journal stuff, and we arrive at interesting places. It’s kind of like that low hanging fruit thing, but with stationery.

l have already locked down two planners. The A6 traveler’s notebook I carry in my purse is definitely staying. I will be buying my monthly 2024 insert from Yellow Paper House, probably in pink The weekly calendar, I can make by myself in any A6 notebook, of which I have plenty. I can make my own horizontal layout, maybe throw in a quadrant or dashboard if I’m feeling frisky. I have the leather cover from Chic Sparrow already; love that, so that stays. I have a standard Bic four color pen in the attached pen loop for now but I think I want to upgrade. I have been wanting to use my fountain pens more, especially my favorite Writer’s Blood ink (dark red, very appropriate) I already have a couple of pens I might like to put there, so the only pen cost would be ink refills.

The other locked in planner thingy is my writing planner. That’s going to be my A5 pink Carpe Diem six ring binder. What goes inside it is still under consideration. I may keep the same Agenda 52 dividers, as the monthly calendar does not begin on the back of the divider, which I absolutely love. Then again, I may make my own, because I have a lot of cardstock that could make awesome dividers, and several different options for tabs. We will see what transpires. The actual inserts, I will either buy from Agenda 52, horizontal spread, or print my own,

Then I will add my own flair – vellum, acetate, assorted decorative items, and definitely pink sticky notes. After that, sections for active projects, with timetables, outline, etc. If the planner is prety and feels like me, I am more likely to use it. Not t hat it is the thing that makes me do what I do, but it does make it pretty and fun.

I am not at all sure what I will be using for the household catchall planner, but most likely it will either be me redating an existing planner that I already own, or maybe grab a super pretty planner that I won’t need to decorate much and can keep functional. Right now I have my morning and evening brain dump/mental health check in stuff in two separate disc bound planners. I would like to streamline that, and it may all end up in a good old-fashioned bullet journal. I like the idea of having all of that in one place. Not sure if I want to keep all of my trackers in such a thing, but I do know that each project I work on in the coming year gets its own notebook where everything lives, and No Where Else, because that way, we do not lose entire manuscripts when the publisher needs them in four weeks, Anna.

Since I am now a few days into the new regimen with updated pharmaceuticals and lifestyle changes, I like looking forward. I have books to write, both with Melva and on my own, and maybe even more beyond that. I feel like making media content and planning it out before I actually hit the publish button, or even boot the computer.

So, that’s this week. It’s hot, it’s humid. I’m in front of a fan, in a fetching white t-shirt dress, staying nicely hydrated, and doing quite well with the reading, which is a very nice new development. A little Bertrice Small, a little Maeve Binchy, a little YA. Seems to be working. What are you reading, or planning, or planning on reading?

as always, Anna