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| Clockwise from upper left: (1) Bob the Pirate Dog; (2) I read 100 books in 2018 as part of the Goodreads challenge!; (3) Having German food and beer in Portland; (4) The annual good luck New Year's pig gifts from my mom; (5) the line-up at the Christmas Eve potluck at the marina; and (6) Tickety Boo being moved into the workyard. |
What can I say about December. It was a month of highs and lows. I got to visit my family in Portland for a week - that was a high. We hauled our boat out of the water to assess the crack in our hull - that was a real low. It's bad. We had some cool weather in Florida - a high. I had freezing weather in Portland - a low. My sister has adorable cats that I got to play with - a high. . .well, let's just leave it there with a crazy cat lady high, shall we?
Okay, so onto the recap of last month in numbers. Basically, the really random numbers that pop into my head as I write these monthly posts.
- 4 - How many quarts my slow cooker holds. I made baked bean in it for the Christmas Eve potluck at the marina. The pot was empty at the end of the night, so I guess they tasted okay.
- $4 - How much it costs per foot to haul your boat out of the water and move it into the workyard at Indiantown Marina. Plus it's $4 a foot to block your boat. The workyard is costing us $30 a day and there's a special one-time fee on top of that. It all adds up. Cha-ching.
- 4 - Number of inches the razor blades are in our paint scraping tool. Scott has been a trooper working away at getting the many layers of old paint off of our hull.
- 4 - How many times I repeated the number "four" above. Maybe four is my new lucky number?
- 10 - Number of books I read last month including 4 sci-fi/fantasy, 1 thriller, 3 mysteries, 1 romance, and 1 general fiction. My pick for the month is Jinx Schwartz's Just for the Birds. Such a fun read and it's a boating mystery so it was right up my alley.
- 100 - Number of books I read in 2018 which means I achieved my Goodreads Reading Challenge goal.
- 20,000+ - Number of words I wrote for Poisoned by the Pier, the next book my cozy sailing mystery series.
- 5 - Number of flights I took to and from Portland. There was a bit of a fiasco getting out of Charlotte when that big snow storm was on its way, but I made it out and just in the nick of time.
- 435 - How many chocolate chip cookies I ate at my sister's. She makes the best cookies, hands down. I think it was probably less than 435, but my pants beg to differ. Do you know what the true, unsung hero of the holidays is? Elastic waistbands. Yoga pants for the win!
- 16 - How old my nieces are. How did they get to be so old? How did I get to be so old?
- 6 - How many cans of green chilies I have onboard our boat. I need to use them up. Any good recipe ideas you want to share involving green chilies?
- 4 - How many dark chocolate pigs my mom sent us this year. Pigs are a good luck New Year's tradition in our family. I think they're extra lucky when they're made out of chocolate.
- 9:30 PM - How late I stayed up on New Year's Eve. Pathetic, huh?
In case you missed them, here are some of our favorite posts from last month on this blog and my author blog:
Life Lately from Coast to Coast
Life in a Tree House
Publishing Large Print Cozy Mystery Books
How did last month go for you? What are you looking forward to this month?
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Lots of reading and writing - that's good!
ReplyDeleteHow long before your boat is fixed?
Your guess is as good as ours :-(
DeleteI think 4 is your new lucky number.
ReplyDeleteWe did make it until midnight, but it hurt.
I just can't stay up late anymore and if I do, it's just due to insomnia :-(
DeleteCongrats on the 100 books - that's great!
ReplyDeleteWe stayed up past midnight but only because we started re-watching GoT again. So, so good!
We're watching GoT right now too :-)
DeleteWe slept right though the new year as we've done for many years. We did have a great meatloaf meal though. It was most yummy.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day and week, Ellen. ♥
Meatloaf - yum! I can't remember the last time I've had that.
Delete100 books - that’s impressive! I made 47 which I thought was quite good. Hope you get your boat sorted out before it makes too big a hole in your wallet 😟.
ReplyDeleteSome of the ones I read were really quick reads, so don't be too impressed by the number. :-)
DeleteLove the list! That's awesome you read 100 books last year!
ReplyDeleteIt was a race to the finish but I made it :-)
DeleteBOAT, Break Out Another..... well, you know the drill. I hope all goes well with your repairs. I can't remember the last time I stayed up on New Years Eve, just not worth the drowsies the next day. My eldest grandson graduates high school this spring, sigh, he was a baby just yesterday.
ReplyDeleteI fear it will be many of BOATs if you know what I mean :-(
DeleteHeeheehee! Yoga pants for the win -- that is one i will have to remember.
ReplyDeleteMy hope is still that your boat will be fixed soon.
Yoga pants are one of the best inventions ever!
DeleteTell us more about the crack! Where, how deep, how broad, the prognosis?
ReplyDeleteWe'll probably do a more detailed post on it at some point, but first we need to get through the insurance process etc.
DeleteGood luck with the boat repair. Focus on where you're gonna go once it's seaworthy again, and maybe that'll take away some of the pain. (I said MAYBE...)
ReplyDeleteWe stayed up with friends until about 5 AM to see in the new year. In fact, we were up that late every night we were visiting them. Playing Pictionary. (Hey! You party your way, and we'll party ours! HA)
Happy New Year! May 2019 be another successful writing and reading year for you.
Hopefully the boat will be fixed soon. I think I read a book recently about a murder in a boatyard... ;) Yay on your Goodreads reading goal! I made 100 too. I'm going to try for it again this year.
ReplyDeleteI want to read more books this year. I read less now that I write and that makes me sad. Reading more will be my new years resolution!
ReplyDeleteI ate way too many cookies too and also have a great love for yoga pants. :)
Joanne Fluke, a fellow cozy-mystery writer, has a recipe for cheese biscuits that use those green chilies. They're really good, and easy to make. If that interests you, nudge me on FB and I'll dig up the recipe.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your boat woes. Hopefully they're resolved soon. Kudos to you for writing that much in spite of it.
Five flights? Ugh... Glad you got to visit family. Hope Tickety Boo is better soon. That's a lot of money when you don't even have maid service. ~grin~ Take care, my dear.
ReplyDelete100 books? That's impressive! I managed 34 ~ but some had A LOT of pages. Coming form Nova Scotia, I've seen a lot of boats in dry dock. I hope everything goes well with with the boat rehab.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we were planning on staying up past midnight on NYE - but then there were tequilla shots. I read 2 1/2 books this year (two of them were the same book but different versions about some loveable frizzy haired woman and here cat who solves murder mysteries at a marina). I will get back to the second half of the third book this summer. I am a slow reader, obviously.
ReplyDelete