Friday, March 05, 2021

All Finished with My Winter To-Do List for 2020/21

February is over at last.  Whew.

Although spring has not yet sprung, I've finished everything on my winter to-do list that I'm reasonably going to finish, so I'm going to wrap it up and begin afresh.  Let's see how I did...

~ Finish writing a short story  Check! I released my new short story "Run, Run" in January as an e-book here for Kindle and here for Nook.  It's free!  (In the US, anyway -- it should be free for Nook everywhere, but the Kindle version may cost you a small amount in other countries.)  "Run, Run" retells the story of The Gingerbread Man, and is a sequel to my book One Bad Apple.  I've included a recipe for 1800s-style gingerbread in the e-book as well, in case you get as hungry reading it as I got while writing it.

~ Finish the first draft of my Beauty and the Beast retelling  Fail.  I'm not quite half done with this first draft, I think.  It's already at 30K, so this is going to be another longer book, which is fun!  But I have a lot to write yet.  I absolutely love these characters, though, so I'm not complaining about having lots of time to spend with them!

I still don't have at title for it, though.  It'll come.

~ Finish re-reading The Lord of the Rings  Fail.  That's okay, too.  This is my ninth time reading it, and I'm really in no hurry.  I've been enjoying Heidi's read-along of it a lot!

(This and the following book pictures are from my Instagram account.)


~ Read 3 Christmas books  Check!  In fact, I read six!!!  I think that's the most Christmas books I've ever read in one season as an adult.  I read:


~ Read 6 other books off my TBR shelves  Check!  I read ten.  It was a great winter for reading!  I read:


~ Read 3 books from the library  Check!  I read:

~ Read at least 1 book each month about/by someone who is not white Check!  I read four:

~ Host a pirate-themed blog party in February  Aye, aye!  We had so much fun.  Go here for the wrap-up post with links to all the different posts people contributed.


~ Watch 3 Christmas movies  Check!  I watched:

~ Watch 4 movies off my TBW shelves  Check!  I watched seven*:

  • Call of the Wild (2020)
  • The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976)
  • Calcutta (1946)
  • Much Ado About Nothing (2012)
  • Virginia City (1940)
  • Sleeping Beauty (1959)
  • Against All Flags (1952)

*I had watched two of those before (The Seven-Per-Cent Solution and Sleeping Beauty), but so long ago that I didn't really remember them, so I kept them on my TBW shelves until I had a chance to watch them again and decide if I liked them enough to keep them or not.


~ Go see Wonder Woman: 1984 (2020)  Check!  It was okay -- you can read my thoughts here.

~ Try making cookies with my new patterned rolling pin  Check!  As you can see, it has a very ME design:

~ Help my daughter make a playground for her hamster  Check!  You can see him playing in it here:


~ Repaint the main floor bathroom  Check!  Very happy with the results.  Especially this border I put up:


~ Get back to regularly reading the blogs I love Check!  I've been keeping up reasonably well, I think, and I love spending a couple afternoons every week just reading and reading and reading them.  I'd rather be reading them every day like I used to, but right now, this is what works for my life, so I'll try to keep it up :-) 

I'll figure out a new set of goals in a day or two, for the spring!  Meanwhile, happy Friday to you.

18 comments:

  1. Run, Run was a delicious shirt story! I liked it a lot.

    I've heard about that 2012 MAAN, what did you think?

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    1. Thank you, MC! I'm so glad you liked it :-)

      Hmm. I have mixed feelings about the 2012 Much Ado. I thought I was going to love it because I know soooo many of the actors from shows like Buffy, Angel, and Agents of SHIELD... but it actually got to where I was paying more attention to who would pop up next than to the story, and not really thinking of the characters as characters, but as so-and-so-playing-so-and-so, and so in the end, it kind of didn't work for me. Also, it was significantly racier than the Branagh version, which I wasn't a fan of.

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  2. That border is awesome, I'm hoping when next I reread LotR, that I can read along with somebody's readlong.

    I'm always impressed by how much you are able to accomplish with kids and homeschooling.

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    1. Thanks, Livia! I like it a lot.

      LOTR read-alongs are a lot of fun! And there's usually one going every year or so, either on a blog or Instagram.

      I insist on having my own interests alongside teaching and momming, and these lists really help me remember to keep those going ;-)

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  3. Yasssssssssssss, we love longer books! I'm really glad you're having so much fun with your BatB characters, and I'm really excited to read the finished product when it's ready!

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    1. Katie, yeah, I really have no idea how long this one will end up! I mean, it actually feels like I'm maybe only a third of the way into it? But resolving stuff often happens more quickly than setting it up, for my first drafts, so I'm maybe more like half done? I don't even know. It'll be done when it's done ;-)

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  4. That border is amazing!
    Glad that your writing is going well! I'm really excited to read it when it's done. Sometimes books end up being longer than I originally planned it to be. I guess the characters just aren't done having their story told yet.
    Squid is soooo cute! Love that obstacle course.

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    1. McKayla, I found it on Etsy, and was so excited about it! Such a perfect border for me.

      Every book has the length it needs to be, and it's not a great idea to force them into a different length, especially in first drafts.

      Squid is adorable, and has brought much joy to our family. Especially my daughter, who got him for her birthday last year.

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  5. You got a lot done this winter! Neat!

    And I'm glad you've been able to get back into reading the blogs that make you happy. That's important. :) <3

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    1. Olivia, I did! Those last couple weeks of February were at least good for reading and watching movies ;-)

      It IS important to keep up with things you enjoy, whether it's reading blogs or blogging yourself, etc. I'm glad I've found a way to work reading blogs back into my life regularly. I missed it.

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  6. Those cookies look delicious. I need to prioritize reading more, I always watch more things than I read.

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    1. Skye, I made them from the recipe I included at the back of "Run, Run" :-) They were so good with hot chocolate!

      For many, many years, I watched more than I read. I miss that. But right now, I can read a book in little bits between life stuff, and I can't just watch 2 or 3 minutes of a movie here and there.

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  7. Interesting, the patterned rolling pin did not result in patterns the way I thought it might, but I like your pattern choice

    One of the things I should do soon, now that I've finally got around to reading (Yay!) One Bad Apple, is read Run, Run.

    I read a whole bunch of Eric Wilson growing up. I've also read The Moonstone recently. I shall go and see what you say about it on your book blog.

    Squid is brave.

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    1. VT, I had never tried a patterned rolling pin before either! My s-i-l gave me this one for Christmas, and I'm glad I got to finally use it! She knows me well and chose the pattern wisely ;-)

      Glad you've finished reading One Bad Apple :-) Hope you get a kick out of Run, Run when you get around to it!

      Eric Wilson was fun -- I read two of them, and passed them to my 13-yr-old, who enjoyed them both.

      What did you think of The Moonstone? I quite dug it.

      Squid is a little daredevil acrobat. He hangs off the ceiling of his cage with two paws. Routinely.

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  8. I feel accomplished just READING your lists, haha. xD

    Also, couldn't stop watching that hamster video, haha! SO CUTE! We have pet guinea pigs, that live outside in little houses. They're pretty cute too. :)

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    1. Gabby, haha! Well, um, you're welcome?

      Yes, he is a ridiculously cute little hamster. So adventurous. I should share more videos of him here. Guinea pigs do look fun too!

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  9. I somehow missed reading this post previously and had to jump in to say how neat your rolling pin is! :)

    Best wishes,
    Laura

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    1. Laura, isn't it just awesome? And it was actually way easier to use than I'd thought. I was worried the dough would constantly get stuck in the little spaces, but that only happened a bit. And it was pretty easy to clean thanks to my hubby's brilliant idea to scrub it with a brush instead of a washcloth.

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