Winter in Michigan

          What a week! We’ve had extreme weather conditions, going from six inches of snow on Monday to 40 degree temps and sunshine on Wednesday, and blustering 40 mile-an-hour winds on Friday. We’ve been fortunate in that all our loved ones made it safely to where they needed to be. 

          I’ve had some wonderful writing news: I FINALLY finished a historical novella I’ve been working on since the beginning of the year, and submitted it late Tuesday night. On Friday I received a contract for it! Searching for Lady Luck will be part of anthology of stories from EsKape Press authors. I’m so honored, and I promise to keep you all updated. 

          As far as my other goals, they’re a bit behind. 

          Sewing/crafting: I received my first card making kit in the mail and made those up (I love these all-inclusive kits - and I get to keep the stamps and ink pads to use later, if I so choose) and I finished some more Christmas napkins to use in December as gifts or prizes. 

          Reading: I finally finished The Smuggler Wore Silk by Alyssa Alexander. Wonderful, wonderful regency suspense. And there’s a sequel coming soon! Can’t wait. I started reading Zach’s Rebound Girl by Monique deVere. This is a bit different than my usual read, but I’m enjoying it. I promised to write a review so I’ll have it finished by tonight, if not tomorrow.

          Hope you’re all having a wonderful weekend!

A New Job

I am going to start a new job next week. I am so excited about starting this job. I'm anxious and nervous about doing well, but mostly I am thrilled to have this opportunity. I will have to drive about a half hour to get there, and then another half hour home, and I will do this four days a week. The pay is not great, but the benefits are too good to pass up.

I will be the Day Care Provider for my new granddaughter. I have agreed to take care of her for six weeks while her parents are working. This will enable my daughter and her husband to take their time finding and checking out various day care possibilities for their daughter, and saving them the hassle of toting a newborn out every day until she is a little older.

I'm finding out very quickly that caring for a newborn is quite different from when I had children. So many of the "must dos" back then are no longer done. So I will do my best to do things "the right way" so that my granddaughter grows up healthy and strong - like her parents, who were raised the old way.

This will be bonding time for us. I probably won't get another chance like this for a long while. Or it might come up often. I don't know. But I'm going to take advantage of this now, and hug her all I can. It goes without saying that I will take lots and lots of pictures (after disabling the tracking device on my iphone, of course), and will put them in my scrapbook.

So what does this mean for my goals? I'm thinking I will still be able to reach them. You see, she's young enough that she still sleeps a lot, so hopefully I can use that time to write and/or work on sewing, crocheting, or other craft projects. She has a stroller so I can take a walk with her every day to the nice park at the end of the street. So I should be able to complete three of my four goals every day while I'm there. On the fifth day, I'll be home long enough to do them here. I think.

Ah, I love it when a plan takes shape. Hopefully they will work out. I've done okay so far this week. I'll have to make a conscientious effort to keep it up, and create a plan for doing so.

Wish me luck.