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Before 2016 even got here, I was hopeful that THIS year would be better. Last year wasn’t so good so I was keeping my thoughts positive that this year would be a good one!
Well, I can’t say as yet if the year itself is turning out better than the last. But I can say this: The first day of 2016 has just been AWESOME! There were a couple of bad things that happened today, but there were mostly good things! Things I am MUCH more happier about.
When I woke up this morning, for some reason, I had the Doctor Who poem in my head. But after that went away, I got out of bed and went straight to the computer. I turned it on, grabbed a bottle of water, sat down at the desk, popped open Word and…started writing. I didn’t even think about what I was doing. I just started writing the very first page of a new novel.
Yes, I am finally writing a new novel. Yahoo!! I am so happy to be writing a novel again. But even happier to be writing any fiction at all! Seriously, I struggled with writing fiction last year. The newest book in the GHOST Group series remained unfinished for months. Short stories were never finished. And I had NOTHING in the way of a new novel. I just couldn’t get the words out. I had ideas for a novel, sure, but I just couldn’t WRITE it. The story lingered in my mind, waiting to be born. And today I finally released it onto paper. I am looking forward to writing this!
Another awesome thing that happened today is that my phone got fixed! My phone has been giving me problems for quite some time. I was ready to smash it with a hammer! AGH! But I handed it over to my husband and asked him for help. I explained the situation. After tinkering with it, he fixed it. And now everything is working so much better on my phone. Yay! I didn’t have to delete anything, either. Phew!
I am also glad there's a new episode of Sherlock tonight. I recorded it and have not seen it yet. My husband is watching Supernatural (DVDs I have already watched). But I'll be watching the new Sherlock real soon!
And, finally, I have been able to keep my New Year’s resolutions so far. I kept the ones that apply for today! One resolution is to exercise every day, no matter what exercise it is. Because I had stomach problems all day, though, I couldn’t do a regular workout. But I did exercise on the resistance band as well as some other stretches so at least that is something. Better than nothing! I hope I feel better tomorrow so I can do more exercising. I also resisted the temptation to drink any beer. I am experimenting with something health-wise (which I hope to write about in my health book) and removing alcohol from my diet is an important part of it. So yay on beating that temptation! I used to drink every day and sometimes many in 1 day but NOT today and NOT this year! I want to see this experiment through to the end and if I’ll get the kind of results that I’m looking for. (Yes, I am always the guinea pig for my books. Ha!) And, anyway, I am NOT going to be alcohol's bitch anymore. Done with all that!!
As to the bad things that happened… Well, I didn’t get my check today. Sigh! I was really counting on it because we need to go to the store but I guess I’ll get the check on Monday. At least we have enough food in the house to last us through the weekend. And, oh, I DID find some money today, after I tweeted about my frustrations over not getting my check. So that’s awesome! Good to have that if we do need it. (NOTE: After I posted on this blog and did some research for the novel, I decided to check my bank account again, just for the heck of it. And my check is THERE! We can buy FOOD! Glory be!)
The other bad thing was that I wanted a cup of cappuccino tonight (at 10 p.m.!) but…there was no cappuccino! NOOOOO!!!! We didn’t have the coffee I was craving! Boo-hoo! If only Starbucks did late-night deliveries. Sigh. (But I survived.)
Despite the bad things today, I am very happy about the good things. And another good thing might happen too: I just MIGHT have a new gig. That’d be so cool! I hope I get this. It’ll really help and I won’t feel so useless being unemployed for so long.
Today has really been a great day. I have also enjoyed spending today with my kids and enjoying this new year. We have had a lot of fun together today and I look forward to doing things with them in the coming months.
Here’s to a happy and adventurous 2016!
Ordinarily, we don’t buy the generic or store brand stuff at the grocery stores. It’s not that we’re snobs, or anything. It’s just that we have found that the brands we trust – like Folgers, Stouffers, General Mills, etc. – are the brands that produce food that is actually good. We have tried a lot of generic brands in the past and, if it didn’t taste good, opted not to buy that product again. If we DO buy a generic brand that is good and has quality, then we buy it. This has happened with tuna (can’t go wrong with the Albertsons brand tuna!) and bread (and once again, I’m talkin’ Albertsons!).
If we are able to buy the brands we prefer, then we will do so. Lately, however, we have been financially strapped and only have so much money available for food. So we have had to buy generic brand foods most of the time lately. Now, my heart will always belong to Folgers coffee, even if we can’t always afford to buy it! However, my husband had to buy generic coffee after we ran out of the good stuff and he got French roast. I have never really liked French roast coffee, but I decided to try it this morning, anyway.
And, you know what? It was good! No need to put any sugar or anything in it at all.
That’s not all, though. Last night, I asked hubby to get dinner rolls to serve with dinner. Of course I mentioned the brand we like, but he could not get it. He got the store brand instead. I was hesitant to try it, but I gave them a go. And they were delicious! Jennifer even commented that they were fluffy.
And out of those 12 rolls in the package, only one was left over after dinner!
I am glad we had some good finds on generic and store brand foods this week. I guess that is one good thing to be thankful for when times are hard and there’s only so much money available to buy food. We’ll definitely be adding these generic items to our grocery list in the event we can’t afford the usual items we prefer.
Today while doing some grocery shopping, I headed over to Starbucks and got coffee. Today they gave away a FREE pastry to anyone who bought a coffee. I bought 2 coffees and got TWO free pastries. Yay! I chose the blueberry scone, which is my favie. I ordered a venti White Chocolate Mocha for myself. This is my chosen drink but sometimes, it tastes different when other people make it. One lady who works there knows how to make it just right. Still, I can't complain. IT'S COFFEE!!
Which is what I drank a lot of today. A LOT. Sure that meant running to the bathroom a lot, but, hey! At least I got my caffeine fix for the day! (Which, apparently, is not yet winding off. Hmm.)
Also today, I had some computer glitches. Been having some problems with MS Word but hubby fixed it today. Woo-woo! Now I can get back to work! I was practically tearing my hair out of my head because Word kept freezing up and I couldn't get ANYTHING done! Gah! I took this as a sign to get my short story written and finished up (which I have been working on since Saturday), but I still wanted to work on the books. Must! Stick! To! Schedule! Believe me, the only time I'll be able to take a break from these books is when they are DONE and SENT OFF. Then I will relax.
I just can't until then, y'know?
Must finish books! Must meet deadlines!
Today we were planning on having a talent show for a special activity. Jennifer wanted to sing but she had a thing about singing when I wouldn't be able to hear her sing. So I invited the neighbors over but they never showed up. She felt bad about that. I assured her we'll have another talent show next week and she can do something else. I suggested she do something else today but she was SO insistent about singing. She does like to sing.
And I bought goodies for nothing, too. So I guess both of us were disappointed.
Still, in the evening, she did sing her song to me. She sang a bedtime lullaby. It was SO SWEET! It was one she made up. This reminded me of how I made up a lullaby for her when she was a baby. I wrote mine down at the time, but she has not yet written this one down. I think I should tell her to write it down. If anything, it could be a keepsake for her brother, who she made the song up for. It's a really sweet lullaby.
Today when I did the housework, I went the extra mile and dusted areas of the house I usually don't dust. I was appalled at how much dust can collect EVERYWHERE in a house! That's craziness! I made a mental note to be sure to keep up with the dusting in those little areas just so dust does not collect. Too much dust in a house can cause serious respiratory problems. As it is, I have bronchitis, and I know that too much dust will only make it worse.
Anyway, another computer glitch we ran into was the speaker not working. This was my "duh moment" for the day. I was trying to play some tunes via YouTube the kids could enjoy listening to but Jen tells me that the speakers were not working after I already ran two videos. This, after she played her computer game for over an hour, with the speaker turned on! I thought it was working. So I got a tip on how to fix that and soon they were rocking to the Beach Boys and ZZ Top.
The problem with the speaker is that, by default, it's muted on my account. Gah! I did NOT know that. So now I know that, from now on, I have to turn "mute" off if Jen wants to use the speakers on my account.
And the other computer glitch I had was with Firefox, the browser I use. (I read on a friend's blog how Firefox had MUCH better security then IE, so that's why I started using Firefox.) Today I upgraded to the new version of Firefox and thought it was pretty cool. For one thing, no more going to "File" and WAITING for the drop-down menu to show to open a new tab. Now I just click on the "plus" sign and a new tab opens. Huzzah!
But this evening, something weird happened. When I tried to close a tab by clicking on the "x" thingy, a new blank tab opened! Huh?? I tried to close it and another one opened. Then that happened again!
My hubby and I were chatting at the time. He advised me to just close Firefox then try getting back on to see what happens. After I finish with this blog post, I will see what happens!
From Eugene's local paper, The Register-Guard: Dutch Bros. Coffee to hold benefit for ALS awareness
Dutch Bros. Coffee locations will donate proceeds from all coffee sales between 5:30 a.m. and 11 p.m. Friday to the Muscular Dystrophy Association to raise awareness of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease).
The drive is held in support of company co-founder, Dane Boersma, who was diagnosed with ALS in 2005. Last year, Dutch Bros. contributed $80,000 to the MDA for research and family services funding.
All Dutch Bros. Coffee locations in Oregon, Colorado, Washington, California, Idaho, Nevada and Arizona will participate. For a list of area stores, visit www.dutchbros.com.
As someone who's all for promoting a charity event, I spread the word about this one-day-only event on MySpace. And I'm going to spread the word about it here, too! Yay!
Fortunately, I don't have to go far to find a nearby Dutch Bros Coffee location. Actually, all I have to do is cross my street, walk to the corner, cross, and there it is! I can see it from my house, lit up at night. Ahhhh, coffee.
I often go to Dutch Bros when I'm in the mood for their ER-911 coffee. Or a Kahlua Kicker or Annihilator. Their newest drink, the Cappuccino Freeze, is very STRONG coffee but also very yummy. It's like a frozen cappuccino!
Granted, I do like Starbucks, too. And the Dari Mart has a "No Wimps Allowed" coffee that I enjoy when I can head on over there, too. But only Dutch Bros will give you coffees mixed with candies like Almond Joy and Milky Way, and Italian Sodas, energy drinks and even muffin tops! There is something for everyone at Dutch Bros!
So if there is a local Dutch Bros in your area, consider stopping by and "doing your part" by buying something. Not only will you get the satisfaction of a great-tasting coffee, but also a good feeling in contributing towards a worthy cause.
(Apologies to readers if this blog post sounds too much like a commercial. Hm, maybe I should pursue that kind of writing job instead of freelancing!)
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