Month: January 2024

Frustrating Week

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I have been locked out of my website for much of the last six or seven days. I’ve had this website for four, maybe five years now and I have never had problems with it… Until recently.

They changed the log in page. At least that’s what I see that’s changed. The first time I was locked out was between Thanksgiving and Christmas some time. I hit my bookmarked log in page and it would blip in and out several times then go back to the original log in page. But then it started connecting to a new log in page. One that wouldn’t take my saved username and passwords. Oh, it had the correct username, the password would work every now and then, then it just stopped. I had to change the password, and it wouldn’t recognize my username and I had to jump through some hoops to get back in and get everything set up again. I had to change my password three times to get one that still worked. And then it was fine.

Until last Thursday.

I go directly to the new log in page now. I have the saved username and password. I’m told I don’t have an account. There is no account under this username. Or I try to log in once, and am told I’ve used all of my allowed attempts to try back in an hour. An hour passes, and nothing happens. I give up, wait a day, and I get in on the first try. But when I try to go to my website I am told there are no active websites in my account. And back and forth.

But today I got in.

I don’t know what is wrong with the new version of this host site but it’s become the main reason I’m not renewing this domain in May.

I’d love to say I’m still actively looking for a new website host. I’m not. I was. I think I’ll just reactivate my old blogspot site as a central place to find my books but that’s about it. I’m worn out from it all.

 

Anyway, I got in. Now I can’t remember what I was going to do when I was trying last week.

But, just to let you know, that’s where I’ve been.

I might be Gen-X but I’m too old to care to keep up with technology now.

Bah.

Hope you’re having a wonderful day in this never ending month of January.

Peace,

Mercy

It’s been a minute

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Best laid plans. I need to just stop planning. That’s all there is to it.

Two tornadic and one ice event in the last 13 days. It’s been a… something. Don’t know what that something was but it was definitely something. Sorry.

I have no plans for this post. Just to let y’all know I’m still kicking.

I’m still kicking. Not much else going on. Trying to stay warm.

I live where there are alligators. I live where there are hurricanes. I live where there are venomous snakes. I live where there are flying palmetto bugs (type of cockroach), and big spiders, and humidity, and summer lasts seven to eight months of the year. I don’t live where the air hurts my face. I do not want to live where the air hurts my face. I actually like alligators.

Whoever left the arctic freezer open, please come and take your weather back. We don’t want it.

So… what’s going on? with you? I’m frankly, exhausted and have more or less given up, but that’s everyday.

We’re all fairly healthy right now. Considering. No one is dying of covid or in the hospital. So I guess that’s all that matters. Any day when you’re above ground is a good day, I guess.

It’s been a minute since I updated on the books… no I’m not writing. Pretty sure that’s done. I have no interest in creating anything. The 33 published works are all on Amazon. I pulled everything from Kobo and Apple. 22 titles are in Kindle Unlimited. 12 of those will fall out of Kindle Unlimited in a month. 11 are for purchase only. 1 of those can never return to Kindle Unlimited. I think I might make $300 bucks this month. Wheee.

Uh… I left social media. Except for TikTok. I have no plans to return. I might post ads on IG and Threads. You’ll find blog posts shared on FB and the site formerly known as twitter. All news and updates are now exclusive to this blog.

Meh. I’m cold and tired and Saturday is my birthday. I bought the makings for my own cake. I bought myself a couple of presents. I’m just hanging on until my youngest graduates high school on May 13th, and turns 18 in June. It is what it is.

After that, I’ll figure out what is next for me. Because I don’t fucking know. Maybe I’ll write again. One day. I just don’t know. Every time the urge hits, new horrible shit happens in the writing world and I think, you know, maybe it’s best to just let that all go away. You were famous for a hot minute. Be happy it happened and grateful you’re not in the world of whatever this mess is now.

Anyway, that’s it for me.

Hoping your winter is going well. No floods, tornadoes, or ice storms where you are. Wonders if it’s possible to move to Australia for the winter months… but kangaroos freak me out. They look like deer that walk upright and can kill you if you look at them funny. Yeah, their snakes and spiders and stuff like that don’t bother me. I’m from Florida. The whole state could kill you. Lower Alabama has the same stuff as Florida. Just not kangaroos. Or moose. Moose freak me out too.

Peace,

Mercy

 

 

And just like that it’s Wednesday

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I had planned to not post anything on Sunday and Monday. I’m trying to make a schedule and stick to it. I have days marked for doing this craft, that craft, the resale stuff… and days marked for blogging and other writing tasks. I am trying to blog five days a week. And do a little here and there. I’m trying to learn to market on TikTok and other social media… blah blah blah…

Sunday and Monday were planned days off. Days in which I run errands or do things with the kids still living at home.

I had not planned to be sitting in a closet from 3:50 to 4:15 am Monday morning that is for damn sure. I knew the storm was coming. We prepared for that. Usually when those kinds of storms push through here, the chance of tornadoes come at the front of the storm. After the storm has mostly pushed through, well, I went to bed. Then the tornado alert on all of the cell phones went off. So at 3:50 I’m scrambling to get the deep sleepers awake, and into their closets or safe places, while trying to find a local news station with a live storm team to see where the tornado was spotted and if we’re in the path. Only one station had online access. And the tornado touched down just south of us, and was jumping around. It went over our house around 4:10. It didn’t touch down on us, but you could hear it. And the pressure dropped. And the pets went scrambling… and then it was over. Ten minutes later the storm ended. After hours of screaming winds and things pelting the roof and wind and hail driving into the windows from all quadrants… it got quiet. Screaming quiet, is how I describe it. So quiet the quiet hurts more than the loudest noise could.

After eleven  hours of winter storm that was worse than some Category 1 Hurricanes I’ve participated in against my will, it was painfully quiet and still, and it hurt.

So, the kid still in school, stayed home, because after sitting in a closet for twenty minutes in the wee hours of morning, the stress of it, was too much. And we all slept until one in the afternoon yesterday.

I don’t care. That shit was traumatic. Never have I ever thought to worry about back line tornadoes. New one on me.

So, now it’s Wednesday. And I have no urge whatsoever to figure out where to pick up my schedule. And we’re supposed to get more of this on Friday.

Y’all. Eleven years ago when my third kid was a senior in high school, tornadoes ripped through midtown Mobile, and took the roofs off most of the buildings at her school. I dedicated a whole book to that. Named a character after the school. Donated a small percent of royalties from that book to the rebuilding fund. And now my youngest is a senior and we’re having another rare active winter tornado season… what are the chances?

Anyway, you don’t care, but I just wanted to jot that all down, make it seem like I’m trying.

And also, after owning a Cricut cutting machine for three years, I finally learned how to make stickers.

Tomorrow, we’re going to talk about that.

As for today… hope it’s bright, sunny, and comfortable where you are. Tornadoes tore up the town in Florida that I was born in, so, there is that too.

Everyone stay safe, and warm, and…

 

Peace,

Mercy

 

What Amazon Delivered Today

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Honestly, I don’t order from Amazon all that often. Let’s say once a month and sometimes that’s one too many. I don’t keep a Prime membership because I don’t order enough or watch enough to make it worth the monthly expense. Which is going up in February. I usually save up the little things until I get enough for free shipping without Prime. Some months that’s just craft supplies. Some months that’s things I can’t find in any store here in the Mobile area. Sometimes it’s an actual book. Today was three items from each category. A craft supply. A baking supply. And a book. I ordered two books for Aubrey for Christmas. One came today. And while I’m sighing… why did I just order with Prime and it take five days for the first three items to get here? What is the point of Prime? Because I have never gotten anything from Prime in two days or less. I have gotten non-prime orders in less time. But that’s not the point of this post.

Point is, I placed an order so let’s see what I got.

 

First up, the book Aubrey was dying to have that couldn’t be found in town because we only have one bookstore in a city area of nearly 400k people and it’s not Barnes & Noble. There is a B&N across the bay in Spanish Fort, but I don’t have time to drive the 30 miles to see if the book is in stock right now. Target carries the first book in the series, so they got that one on Christmas day. We’ve been looking for the others ever since and finally broke down and ordered from the Zon.

Book Two came today. Book Three is supposed to come by Tuesday… we’ll see. Links are affiliate links. The disclaimer will be at the bottom.

The Witch Hat Atelier Manga Series is Aubrey’s current obsession. The covers are gorgeous, in my opinion. You can get the first book for less at Target, if yours carries it. Just saying.

Book 1

 

 

 

 

 

Book 2

 

 

 

 

 

Book 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the craft office supply item

Just some blank post cards. I’ve looked in every office supply and Target or Walmart store that I thought might carry basic blank paper products. And that’s not one single store.

Y’all, seriously, I really do prefer to shop local. Why does local make it so hard to shop with them? And now Best Buy and Target are getting rid of their DVD and Blu-ray sections. I can’t find CDs anywhere. No I don’t listen to streaming. I don’t like streaming. I like to own the media that I love.

But just postcards today, for thank you notes and greeting cards for the coming occasions. Like I said, I print A LOT!

POST CARDS 

no picture, they’re postcards … nice stock paper, heavy, matte. Not printed on either side.

 

And finally, Butter Nut Extract. For my favorite cake for my birthday. Publix used to carry Butter Nut but I haven’t found it in years. My grandma used to make a simple butter pecan cake that I loved so much. You can’t make it without the extract. And that’s the problem. Also the problem, no one will do a damn thing for my birthday, so I’m making my favorite cake and I need to make sure I have the right extract on hand. And I damn well got one big enough to make more than one cake. If I remember I’ll post pics of the cake at the end of the month. Remind me in comments.

BUTTER NUT EXTRACT

 

 

 

 

 

 

So there ya go, a look at my spending habits, and what I actually buy from the Zon.

Remember as with all Zon links:

Disclosure: As an Amazon Affiliate participant, any purchases made from the links on this blog will earn a small commission for me, at no additional cost to you.

Peace,

Mercy

 

 

 

Hello 2024

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I trust that we’re all settling into January as well as can be expected.

January is a tough month for me. Always has been.

My depression kicks in strongest in January and February. It’s seasonal. But also birthday related.

So, okay, I resisted the urge to buy a new planner. I have a stationary, planner, journal, small spiral notebook, addiction. I have a small problem with the planner/journal section of any store that has a planner/journal section. If I go into one, I must fondle the pretties. And if I fondle the pretties, I want to take them home with me. Where I have a small zoo of unused pretties… yes it is a sickness. It’s an expensive sickness.

And pens. I need pens. Like tons of pens.

And binders and folders and office supplies… and… I just bought another whiteboard that I have no use for, because I was going to get my shit organized and and and… well, it was on sale.

I went shopping with my husband last week. He needed new uniform pants. His had faded too much. Nothing wrong with the pants, they were still in really good shape, but they just weren’t black enough anymore. He bought dye. Thought I’d dye them for him… uh… do I look like I’m going to dye some pants? So I took him to Target and ended up leaving him in the dressing room area with two pairs of pants, one that he thought was going to fit him but I said wouldn’t, and one that was going to fit him but he didn’t want. And we got into a spat right there, that he was not walking out of that store with anything he didn’t try on because I wasn’t bringing them back and going through that store again… so I left him and went to the office supply section because it’s my happy place. And I bought a whiteboard and markers… just because… I don’t know. I was there for ten minutes and he never showed up. Yes I told him where to find me. I had to go back and look for him. He got the pair I told him would fit. Imagine that. I dared him to give me shit about the whiteboard.

Maybe I’ll use it to write down all the times he makes me want to go to the office supply section of a store just to keep from doing something in public that could get me banned from my favorite store.

Fucking man. It’s like he’s new here or something instead of 63. But you know, it’s somehow my fault that he was going to get the wrong pants… because of course it is.

Anyway… it’s been a January so far.

 

But back to the topic of planners. I successfully avoided buying a new planner. It was very very hard. I found three that I wanted. One that I WANTED. But I walked away.

Why?

Because, as with all planners, I start the year with great intentions, and end up never using the things much after February. I had to face this. I just want one to want one. As if having a book of dates will somehow change me and I will in fact get my shit together if I can only find the perfect planner/journal.

And… well… because I went through all of my hoard the week after Christmas and found one that had barely been used along with the bottle of Wite Out and I repurposed that planner for this year. And I took all of the various spiral bound notebook/journals because I prefer the spiral ones, and I put them into use. I have one for general notes. One for keeping track of ebay/poshmark,mercari listings. One for royalty payments (well, that one has been in use for the third year now). And one for keeping track of ebay/poshmark/mercari payments. I have six spiral notebooks and two planners stacked on my desk right now.

I do not have a problem. I can quit at any time.

I need new pens. I wish I could find color pens with erasers. That would be awesome. Aubrey says I need to check out the loose pen selection at Pop Shelf. The same Aubrey who likes to call me out in the planner/journal/notebook section. Aubrey has a pen addiction. But we’re not going to discuss that.

Anyway, if you’re interested, THIS is the planner I prefer. I’m using the 2021 version with a blue stripe cover, but the butterflies are pretty. I like much of what Blue Sky puts out. I’m not a sticker person and this is a basic large planner with plenty of space to write without all those little boxes of weird things that no one does getting in the way. I use mine to keep track of monthly book sales. And other things I need to have a running list of. The calendar is for keeping up with Aubrey’s school schedule. Or if you want, for jotting down thoughts. Whatever you want to do with it. Use it as a diary of sorts. Or find one you prefer. Just my two cents. Or don’t use one at all because does time really matter?

And as for pens. I still prefer the Papermate Ink Joy pens I recommended a couple years ago. I’m still using the set I bought a couple years ago. And while we’re on the subject of Papermate. I LOVE their Clearpoint pencils. Aubrey kept stealing mine for school. They hold up very well and have a nice grip. I mean, if you were interested in new writing implements. Or you have a kid that likes to steal your pens and pencils… you know… anyway… remember—

Disclosure: As an Amazon Affiliate participant, any purchases made from the links on this blog will earn a small commission for me, at no additional cost to you.

 

Hope we’re off to a good start this year. Hope it’s going to be a good year. Hope you achieve everything you wish to achieve.

Happy Writing!

Peace,

Mercy