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| Clockwise from upper left: (1) Insect repellent - the essential centerpiece at any outdoor event in Florida; (2) Alex, one of the cool guys who works at the marina, sporting some patriotic shorts; (3) Visions of having three books in my cozy mystery series published; (4) Kudos to folks who brave the heat to clean their boats off - feel free to stop by and take care of mine; (5) I love that someone is driving a former police cruiser - very cool!; and (6) Our friend, Ted, doing his best imitation of a peacock at the local Guatemalan-Mexican restaurant. |
September was hot, hot, hot. That's about all I remember from the past month - the heat. Everyone in northern climates is posting lovely autumnal pictures on Facebook. Cool, crisp air. Needing a sweater at night. Sipping on hot chocolate without breaking into a sweat. It all sounds so lovely. Instead, I spent pretty much the entire month inside my boat with the air conditioning running full blast.
On the bright side, at least the great outdoors didn't tempt me away from my keyboard and I made some good progress on my writing projects. I sent >>Bodies in the Boatyard<< off to the editor mid-September (hoping for a November release) and started outlining book #3 in the series.
Now, without further ado, here are the random things that happened at the marina last month in numbers:
- 8 - How many bags of chips there were at the Labor Day potluck. You can never have enough chips.
- 3 - Number of new cats at the marina. So cute.
- 44 - How many scenes I've outlined in the third book in my cozy mystery series. This one is going to be called >>Poisoned by the Pier<<. Yep, you guessed it - someone is going to get murdered by way of poison. But it's also going to feature cake. Lots and lots of cake.
- $91.56 - How much I spent on eating out last month. Way more than I would normally spend. I gave into laziness way too much during September and ate out or got take-away instead of cooking at home.
- $1.06 - How much a container of mango juice costs at one of the local dollar stores. I love mixing a little of it with some sparkling water. Like a can of soda, but with far fewer calories. I find dollar stores a bit dangerous. "But this plastic dinosaur only costs a dollar! It wouldn't make sense to go home without it, would it?"
- 6 - How many books I read. Fewer books than I would have liked, but I'm still on target to meet my goal of a 100 books this year (currently at 83). My fave was Island of the Mad by Laurie King, featuring Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell.
- 2 - Number of overdue library books I had. Tsk, tsk.
- 8 - How many inches in diameter the average pancake that I make is. Yes, I measured my pancakes. No, I don't measure how much syrup I put on top of them. I like a lot of syrup on my pancakes. It's probably better that I don't know exactly how much.
- 3 - How many seasons of The Mindy Project I've binge-watched. Who know that a show about an OB-GYN practice could be so hysterical? Now, going to the OB-GYN, not nearly as much fun.
In case you missed them, here are some of our favorite posts from last month both here and on my author blog:
A Blogger Who Blogs or a Writer Who Writes?
Wordless Wednesday | New Marina Cats
Book Release in Numbers
How did last month go for you? What are you looking forward to this month?
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September was hotter than it should have been, but October is starting off lovely. You're just ahead of me with your 100 book challenge. You're doing awesome! And yay for the book being sent to the editor. Can't wait!
ReplyDeleteAnd the race is on to see who hits 100 first :-)
DeleteThe cool air will arrive soon...I hope....
ReplyDeleteYeh on your reading goal! Mine was 80 books for the year, and I'm close to achieving that soon. I might push for 100 by the end of the year. I've done that before a few times, but it was rough.
It seems like it was even hotter last month than it was in August. But, cooler weather is on its way. Fingers crossed.
DeleteIt's cooling off here, but I miss the heat. I enjoy summer and hate to see it go.
ReplyDeleteI love the Mindy Project. So funny!!
That show just cracks me up!
DeleteYou had a very productive September! I think I'll read Island of the Mad - such a great series. And, I'm ordering your book.
ReplyDeleteI've read one other book in the series - the first one - and enjoyed it. I might need to go back and read the other ones that I missed. It's a whole new perspective on Holmes.
DeleteDollar stores are dangerous. You walk around putting stuff in your cart saying, it's only a dollar! Then, when you count up and realize you don't have enough money, you walk back through the store, putting things back on the shelves and saying sarcastically, it was only a dollar!
ReplyDeleteIsn't that the truth :-)
DeleteEllen I love #3! Your fantasy is a dream come true ... soon! I'm in the 100 book club, too and am on track. And a $1 dinosaur? Well duh, it's like they're giving them away.
ReplyDeleteExactly - how could I not get a plastic dino?
DeleteGood for you! It sounds like you've already got a great start on book #3. You're rocking this writing stuff, girl :)
ReplyDeleteIt's been bloody hot here, too, but today was gorgeous. Lots of sunshine and only in the mid-80s, but temperatures are headed back up the rest of the week. (sigh) Autumn IS coming. Keep saying it.
Yep, getting really cold where we are now. Time to head south. But, still too many things to see and do to head south in a fast manner, or to work on my book instead. You are keeping up an awesome pace, my friend! Book three already started. Wow!
ReplyDeleteWe seem to frequent dollar stores (or $1.25 stores in Canada) often these days as well. It's amazing what you can actually find that is truly useful. We once bought a decent extension cord at the correct (short) length we needed and paid $1.07 (or whatever was added by the local tax) instead of $7 at Walmart for a cord that was of less quality and too long. Talk about savings! :-)
You're allowed to eat out more often if you keep up such a work schedule!