Quote of the Moment

"What's Past Is Prologue." - William Shakespeare

Thursday, January 31, 2019

Summoners War - Look At The Pretties

Yes, I'm still playing Summoners War (and juggling too many accounts). Before I dive into my Water/Light/Dark account, I wanted to show everyone a pretty from one of my other accounts. I recently gathered enough bits to transmogrify someone, and I decided to apply it to Shaina. She's a pretty awesome Mon -- 4-Star Chakram Dancer, but many believe she should be a 5-Star. She especially kicks ass if you pair her with one of her Boomerang Warrior sisters.

Onto the Water/Light/Dark account, and my poll from the last Summoners War post. It was a tie vote between the Dark Grim Reaper, Thrain, and the Light Living Armor, Silver. So... instead of choosing, I worked on both! Yup, both Mons have been 6-Starred. A lot of work, but I managed to do it and max their levels out as well (skills, not so much -- Thrain is fully skilled, but Silver needs a few more skill-ups).

I worked on Thrain first. He's a bit squishy, unfortunately. But when he does survive, it's fun watching him rain down purple balls of death onto mobs. He's especially fun in Secret Dungeons -- he wipes out the early levels easy peasy.

I thought Silver was going to be more fun than he turned out to be. Right now, he doesn't do much damage, and he also seems squishier than he should be (not as squishy as Thrain, though). That might be due to my crappy runes, of course, but I'm still kind of meh over him. Maybe once he's fully skilled and has decent runes I'll have a better opinion of him.

Overall, Shaffron the Light Imp Champion is still my favorite (and Fran the Light Fairy Queen is a close second) of the Light/Dark Mons I've built so far. He is a wicked little Mon and can hold his own pretty well. They recently buffed him, which made him even better. I can't wait until I get enough bits to transmogrify him -- he's first on my list!

As for my goals for the next couple of months, I'm going to take a small break from 6-Starring Mons (even though I have gotten a few new Light/Dark Mons to work on -- including Light Penguin Knight and Dark Mystic Witch). I'm focusing on 5-Starring a few Waters to help more in Tartarus Labyrinth, plus I really need to finish my fusion of the Dark Ifrit, Veromos. Hopefully my next post will include a picture of him and a couple of the Mons that I desperately wanted to 5-Star and kept putting off for all of the 6-Starring.

I did promise one more thing, didn't I? That when I awakened my Water Druid I'd post pictures. You want to see them? He's so wicked cool! Even in his beast form. Happy farming, all!

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Mini Mind Splat #2: Snow

MINI MIND SPLAT WARNING: Nothing I comment on is meant to offend. It's simply my opinion and how I feel about certain things (mostly inconsequential things). I'd love to see thoughts from others in the comments. Just remember, have fun with it. This isn't meant to be super serious.

Snow! Who likes it? Who hates it?

I'm kind of in between, but mostly leaning toward the hate it camp.

We're just finishing up a snowstorm here, and I'm quite thankful I don't have to go out in the mess until tomorrow. And I don't have to go out in it because the kids have a snow day, so I don't have to get Preschooler to and from school. This, of course, is a double-edged sword. Both kids are home to drive me crazy and make it impossible to get any work done.

Preschooler did an awesome job thwarting my plans by goofing around while she was putting her milk in the fridge. Spilled... milk everywhere! In the fridge, outside the fridge, under the fridge, and all over her. Ugh.

Wait, this post isn't about kid roadblocks. It's about snow!

It's kind of interesting, the development of liking or disliking snow. As a kid, I loved it. Making forts in the snow was awesome (forts were more fun than snowmen). It's like the cold and wet didn't phase me in the least.

Then as I grew older, I liked it less and less. I don't want it near me! It's cold and wet and inconvenient. Hell, I'd move down south if I could, but I'm pretty much stuck where the winters are long and cold unless we have a sudden, unexpected windfall (yeah, right).

Unfortunately, my Grade Schooler (almost Middle Schooler!) is already at the point where she's not a fan of the snow. She hates dragging her snow pants to school and dealing with boots. Do kids grow up faster these days or what? Or maybe my perception is just skewed and I don't remember when I actually transitioned from loving to disliking snow. With my memory, it's highly likely.

At least when I send Grade Schooler outside with her younger sister to play in the snow, she does seem to end up having a good time (even though I get grumbles before she gets outside -- heh).

Now, I don't completely hate the snow. I just hate going out in it. You know how many people don't shovel their sidewalks making it super difficult to walk? A lot.

But I'm happy to enjoy its beauty when I'm nice and toasty inside. Especially watching the snow fall at night, it's kind of hypnotizing. And the blanket of unmarred white (before people tromp through it) is definitely pretty. Again, as long as I can enjoy it all from a cozy house, I don't care. I'm also super happy (and super lucky) that Hubbie is the one who snow-blows and shovels.

So, how do you feel about snow? And if you haven't experienced much (or any) snow, what are your thoughts on it? It's hard for me to imagine a winter without snow, so I'm fascinated how those who don't get snow often or at all perceive it.

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

1001 Reasons Not To Clean - #46 through #50

Welcome to 1001 Reasons Not to Clean! The main goal of this series is to see if I can actually reach 1001 reasons, 5 reasons at a time (the final post, if I get there, will be 6 reasons). I'm sure I can. It's not just my crazy brain being unrealistic, right? Links to previous posts are below. And feel free to share your excuses, and they might get added to my list (with credit, of course)!

#1 through #5 ~ #6 through #10 ~ #11 through #15 ~ #16 through #20 ~ #21 through #25 ~ #26 through #30 ~ #31 through #35 ~ #36 through #40 ~ #41 through #45

46. Playing Harvest Moon: A New Beginning sounds like such a better use of your time. Who needs to take the time to plant real crops when you can grow fake ones? And pets -- just ignore your actual fuzzballs. Raise pretend cows and chickens instead. (Yes, another game!)

47. Your shoulder and neck are completely knotted, to the point that even if you move an inch, pain shoots down your arm and you yelp. This is a result of holiday stress, and you can't think of any better way to de-stress than to not clean, especially since you're in so much pain.

48. "Mama, mama, mama, mama." That's the call of the Preschooler you're hearing. If she doesn't let you get a thought in edgewise, what makes you think she'll let you get any cleaning done? Why even try?

49. Cramps. Enough said.

50. When you take the time to sort and fold the new clothes the kids got for the holidays, then you head to the basement for just a minute, and come back to find a cat in the middle of all your hard work. Also, she looks as though she's been comfortably laying there for hours when you know its probably only been seconds. Why fight the will of the fuzzballs? (I'm going to fill this list up not only with different games, but also with cats... cats are little life speed bumps -- funny ones, though.)

Wednesday, January 09, 2019

Mini Mind Splat #1: Tea

I said I was going to try this, so here it goes. Hopefully it doesn't all end up too stream on consciousness.

MINI MIND SPLAT WARNING: Nothing I comment on is meant to offend. It's simply my opinion and how I feel about certain things (mostly inconsequential things). I'd love to see thoughts from others in the comments. Just remember, have fun with it. This isn't meant to be super serious.

Tea! I love tea. The only time I ever drank coffee was if it had a lot of chocolate and milk in it (and other flavored syrups), so you know, it didn't taste like coffee anymore. I'm a tea person.

Now, I know many people say the only real tea is the loose stuff, or the fresh tea leaves. I'm sure I'd love that, too, but I mostly stick to the teabags, though I've combined some of my own herbal mixes in the past. I guess I'm also pretty picky when it comes to tea as well.

The hot stuff? I prefer green tea. With jasmine or ginseng! I also have been enjoying the chai green tea (more on chai later). I've tried some of the Tazos, and I have this loose blend of chamomile and lavender that's pretty yummy. But let's face it, with kids, writing, and other responsibilities, I usually go for the caffeinated stuff, instead of the herbal stuff. Maybe when I have less of a need to keep my eyes open all damned day I'll go back to experimenting with which herbal teas I like. For all my hot teas, I prefer to add honey to sweeten.

Cold tea? This is mostly the black stuff. Actually, sweet tea is my ultimate favorite tea. I'm a southern girl at heart, even though I've lived in the Midwest my entire life (I love New Orleans, especially, and man have I had some great sweet tea down there).

Sometimes we make our own tea at home with one of those iced tea makers that one of our parents got us for the holidays one year. But as far as the bottled stuff goes, I enjoy Pure Leaf the most. Perfect balance of sugar for me, plus is tastes more natural. I used to love Nestea (Lipton) when I was younger, but now the fake sugar gives me a headache and it just doesn't taste right.

Cold tea mixed with lemonade also rocks!

I promised I'd come back to chai. Chai lattes are also a weakness of mine, though I try to resist because I know they have so many more calories even compared to sweet tea. The Oregon Chai brand is so yummy.

Funny thing, though, did you know chai means tea? So it's a tea tea latte. XD I didn't know chai meant tea until a few months ago, but it is rather hilarious. Us silly Americans with the crazy marketing and naming of things. =P

Do you like tea? If so, what kind is your favorite? If not, what do you prefer to drink?

Wednesday, January 02, 2019

2019 - Determination

Happy, 2019! Yes, I'm saying happy. This year, I'm not going to let life roll me over and flatten me out. I will plow through the obstacles! Is that determination enough to go along with the post title? I hope so. Not sure how much more I have in me right now. My tea is the only thing keeping me awake right now (I really need to stop staying up so late).

Anyway, my goals for this year look oddly familiar. Hm... yup, almost exactly like last year's! Hahahahaha. Yes, I'm laughing about it. I have to, to hold onto any shred of sanity I have left.

First, my mantras. I narrowed these down and only have three this year. Wait, you only see two listed below? That's because I'm keeping one to myself. It's a bit of a harsh one, and I don't want to offend anyone. My mind works in mysterious ways, and although I know what the mantra means for me, people could easily take it another way.

2019 Mantras

❦ Just Write.

❦ Passion, Determination, Focus.

There's that word determination again! Super stubborn Leo here, and I'm not going to let life stop me from reaching my writing goals. With that said, I still have kids and other responsibilities, so my goals aren't too insane this year. Keep going, just need to keep going, and have fewer days where I'm not doing any writing tasks.

2019 Goals

❦ Follow the writing schedule I've planned. The basic focus of this is to write (or do writing related tasks) for 1.5-2 hours per day, every weekday (weekends off!), through August. Come September, I hope to up this to 3-3.5 hours per day, since my youngest will be in school full time. I've also given myself 50 off days (I know this sounds like a lot, but kids... especially in summer) -- this includes holidays, vacation, and sick time. Time Spent > Words Produced. Especially since the more time I spend consistently writing, the quicker I write.

❦ Revise, edit, send to copy editor, edit again, format, and release Thorns Entwine the Blade (Trinity Torn, 2). Finally. I hope. I better.

❦ Draft, revise, edit, format, and release Well of Shades (Fortunes of Fate, 7). I'm still not sold on Shades. Since I have so many S alternatives for that last word in the title, maybe I should just call it Well of S? Heh.

❦ Write introduction and format Untitled Fortunes of Fate Collection (Fortunes of Fate, 1-6).

❦ Finish draft of Obsidian's Obsession (Chains of Nect, 1). I'm going to need more chapters for my newsletter subscribers! If you'd like to see the chapters earlier, please sign up for the newsletter (link on the left side), but I'll also post them to my blog (and Wattpad) one month after each chapter is sent via the newsletter.

❦ Blog posts -- I'm still aiming for one post every other week. However, I'm considering trying to up it to one post per week again. Though this would include several shorter, commentary type posts. I'm still tumbling things around in my head on how exactly I want to approach the shorter posts. Maybe some with just pics? Some with a link or two I found useful? Any thoughts are welcome!

❦ One newsletter per month still. And a chapter of Obsidian's Obsession available to download in .MOBI and .EPUB format in each, too!

❦ Back to doing one Critter critique each week as well.

❦ Limit social media. Focus on writing. Makes sense, right? I am trying a new thing, though. One picture (minimum) per day on Instagram. It's the one social media platform I don't side eye on a regular basis, so I figured, why not. So, if you want to see a daily pic from me, follow me on Instagram!

As usual, those are my main goals. I have a whole slew of side goals if I happen to make awesome progress on the things above.

I'm not going to list the planned publications. You can see from my goals that I'm hoping to release three different titles, but I don't want to make any firm dates yet. Yes, I may be determined to take this year by storm, however I know how big problems can flatten that in seconds. I'm knocking on wood (well plywood - lol) a hell of a lot at my desk to keep away the big, bad stuff.

Oh, and the 5-Year Plan is on ice. It needs an overhaul, but I don't want to waste the time doing it right now when things are still a bit in flux. Maybe if life seems to even out nicely once both kids are in school full-time.

I'll leave everyone with a picture of my Writing Bullet Journal. Ready to kick off 2019! I still love bullet journaling -- so relaxing.

And feel free to share any of your goals for the year below. May we all vanquish our goals with ease!