Personal Update Jan. 2021

Wow, I thought 2020 would never end, and the nightmare would continue. In some ways, the nightmare has become a really bad dream and in others, it’s like a dream sequence from Nightmare on Elm St” reet – yes, I’m that old. Anyway, let’s see…

Snow!!

Last week, it snowed. I live in East Texas below the snow belt. The last time I saw snow was almost 10 years ago when I was living in Illinois. This wasn’t the slushy ice we usually get and call “snow” either. This was the real deal. The boys made snowballs and everything. There’s actually a snowball in the freezer. Mimi got to see snow for the first time ever, and she didn’t like it that much.

As you can see it was a decent snow, and we may not see more for many years. The snow stayed all day and most of the next before the weather warmed up enough to melt it all away.

Duolingo

When I first started my blog, I believe I talked about studying French using Duolingo.com. I don’t care for the mobile app – the hearts feature is awful. I do still enjoy the actual site on my computer. They added Stories and Podcasts in most of the languages. The Stories help with reading and listening comprehension. The Podcasts are in both the native language of the student and the language they are learning with a transcript in both as well. I’m enjoying both. I was able to start over so I could refresh myself, and I’ve found I haven’t really forgotten much even though I haven’t studied in over a year. I highly recommend it for those wanting a place to start learning.

Goodreads Reading Challenge

Goodreads.com has a reading challenge every year, and you get to set your goal yourself. I’m being conservative because I have a lot of writing projects to work on this year. My goal is to read 100 books in 2021. I have read 7 or 8 so far. I post when I start and finish a book, and I try to write a review for the book as well. It’s fun, and I think you should check it out.

Writing

I have stepped away from my writing since I have finished all the current drafts for Golden Knave and The Inbetween. I need to put the rest of Golden Knave on the computer so I can get it to my Beta readers, and I will start on that next week.

Mimi

My Mimi Queen of Fluff is doing great despite the snow days that kept her cooped up for almost two entire days. The morning she could go out, she was dashing out the door before it was fully open. She really enjoys outside and the cold – as long as it’s not windy or/and wet.

That’s it for now folks. I hope we’ll all have a fantastic 2021!