Time sure is flying by. The year is coming to a close. Businesses are rushing to close out their financial records for the fiscal year with big sales and, for some, big profits. People are trying to get together with family and friends for the last holiday of the year and to ring in the new year as well. Stress walks hand in hand with happiness, anxiety with elation – it’s all part of the year’s end.

Personally, I’ve completed all the projects I wanted to get done this year and now, I am fully focused on Golden Knave. I know it won’t be published by the end of the year because of my increased hours at work as well as time spent with family, but I’m good with that. I am doing my utmost not to end this year stressed out and fatigued by it all. I want to start my new year right.

Golden Knave is having to be put back on the computer because I lost almost all of what I’d had, and I’ve learned my lesson about not having a back up. I know all about them, and I am usually very diligent about it. For some reason, the last few months, I’ve been pretty scatterbrained trying to do so much and remember so much while dealing with so much. Still, things are coming along better now, and I’ll be able to start sending things to my Beta readers again soon.

Health is steady. My blood count with my anemia is back on track. I am still not losing weight, but my measurements are slowly dropping. I have some muscle development in my upper arms and legs from everything I do at work so that’s nice to see. Sinus issues due to the erratic weather changes are an annoyance but nothing serious, thankfully. I got my health insurance cards from work so it’ll be easier to go see my GP – easier on my bank account.

Work is work. I am having to work longer hours to fill in for co-workers who are on vacation or helping out with inventory in another store. I’m not that thrilled about it because of my back condition. There was a very good reason why I applied for only part time work. I am going to be opening my own online bookstore in the coming year to try to get another income stream going. It’ll be a General Bookstore, and I’ll be selling new and used books as I can get them. I’ll let you know when things are going. I won’t be putting my name on the store for privacy reasons, and my son will be helping me with the store as he can.

Family is lovely. My son and his girlfriend just celebrated their 6 month anniversary together. He cooked her dinner and gave her a necklace which I thought was sweet of him. My gentleman friend and I have our third anniversary coming up in February. I am planning to move closer to him late next year if all goes well with work. I am not rushing to move in with him because I am leery of things falling apart once I do. I’ve been married three times, and they all ended in disaster. I am not wanting to go through that again right now. He’s very understanding of this and is willing to wait for me.

Mimi is doing just fine. She’s got sinus issues from the weather changes as well, but I’m keeping on top of it so she doesn’t get sick. Her having bronchitis earlier this year was rough on both of us, and it scared me I might lose her. Being a Maine Coon, she is prone to a heart condition that could kill her with no warning, and her being that bad sick had me scared sick her heart would give out. Luckily, she recovered, and we’re both happier.

Future plans are in the making. I actually have a list of things I want to make for the new year. In fact, I did this thing. A month ago, I went to Huntsville, Texas with my son, Joe, and I went there to meet with a lady I’d met via Facebook Marketplace. I bought:

I had to take the right side roof off to get it into my little car it’s so big. Once I start work on it, I’ll have better pictures to show. She only charged me $15 USD for it, and I have big plans for it. In fact, you won’t recognize it once I’m done with just the structural changes I’m going to make to it. Joe is going to help me with the structure part, and I’ll do all the inside work myself. What color do you think I should paint the outside? I’m thinking of doing it in white stone, but not sure. Any and all suggestions will be considered!

That’s all for this update. I hope it finds you and your families happy and healthy.

See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!

I had issues deciding which colors to use on which part, but I did that with all of them. LOL I almost didn’t finish this in November, I was down to the last day, but I did get it done!

As promised, as soon as the December’s design was finished I was going to show it to you so, here it is:

I’m not too crazy about the red heart dangle so I may remove it at some point and close in the bottom of the heart. I really agonized over the colors for this design because I didn’t want it to look like the blocks, and I’m not sure how well I actually did.

Still, here’s the overall completed project:

I like how it turned out so I am happy with it. I’ll be making this into a wall hanging in 2022 when I have time and funds to get the materials to finish it. I’ll be sharing it with you when I complete that part. For now, the MSAL is over.

I’m really looking forward to the next one! I hope it’s as fun and varied as this one was!

See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!!