Flash Book Sale for Shader

End of the Year Book Sale

I was planning an End of the Year book sale, but instead I'm doing a Flash Sale! My coffee buddy of 13 years, Shader, has some unexpected vet bills and every book sold will be going towards her health and recovery costs. 

This sale will be going until all my current stock is sold.

I will be posting each book and description in the comments.

Dates:  Now!

Find your next book on my Facebook Page

Book Prices

(Shipping costs - $3 + .50 per extra book after first)

• Just Beyond Daybreak - $5 ($5.99)
• Caught by Nightfall - $5 ($5.99)
• Lost Relic - $5 ($5.99)
• Witch Hunt - $10 ($12.99)
• Fox Hunt - $10 ($11.99)
• Fire Hunt - $10 ($12.99)

Payment: Paypal

·         Paypal.me/JRWhite84

·         Pay in Person at Pickup

Every order will ship within two days of purchase. A tracking number will be provided.

Local Pickup available in Oconee SC to avoid shipping costs! 

Current Stock

Vlogmas with V

My dear friend, who moved so far away a few years ago, has started her Vlogmas videos on YouTube and I'm loving it!

On Vlogmas Day 1 V showed off her Dollar Tree holiday haul and it didn't disappoint!

Shader Aging Issues

Like humans, dogs and cats age. The older they get the more we have to help. My oldest girl, Shader, is 13, she'll be 14 in Feb 2019. She's had a number of problems through her life that my husband and I had to help her through, but this is the most heartbreaking.

A week ago Shader was having trouble getting up. Her back legs were weak. She didn't seem to be hurting, but she was having major trouble on her own. With nearly week left on her antibiotics for a slight infection on her paw, I decided to wait until her check up to speak with her Vet about it. The checkup was for a growth that's shown up on her shoulder.

Yeah, an infection from a sore she just won't leave alone, a growth on her shoulder and then her back legs just didn't seem to be working like they should. I've cried a good bit in these last few weeks. Shader has been with me since she came home from the shelter at four months old. She's stood between me and trouble. She's been an awesome coffee buddy, cuddling on the couch.

At the vet's office she was scared, she always is, but I felt hopeful because as much as she want to get out of there she was in better control of her back legs. Determination is a strong motivator. The vet was careful with Shader and diagnosed either arthritis or spinal stenosis, both of which have the same treatment. He sent us home with a nerve pill to couple with her pain pills and wants a call back in a few weeks to know if they've been working.

That growth on her shoulder, hasn't grown too much and he's more concerned with getting Shader walking again. She isn't to be using steps or stairs and she can't run off on her own anymore. Someone will have to watch her close during outside time. Otherwise she's to rest.

My wonderful hubby found a pallet at work that is perfect for a ramp. It's setup in the carport to help Shader get outside. Now, I just have to keep my mind off the age and on the treatment. She starts the new pills tonight and I'm hopeful that they'll help.

Peace friends and take care.

Year End Splash (The Romance Reviews)

For all those moms that love to read! 

The Romance Reviews website is a great place to find new romance books, but this month they're doing their big Year End Splash. With a grand prize of a $50 gift card and tons of book prizes, this is a great time to check out some new books.

Hop on over and check out some of the awesomeness!

For a full list of prizes click HERE! 

 

Halloween Costume 2018

So in my last post I shared my daughters Halloween costume wish. Eva from Wakfu. The character looks like this:

 

That was kind of a tall order for me. While I've made her costumes before this one scared me a little, but I think I got it. This is what we ended up with:

I wasn't able to get a picture of her wearing it yet, but I did get to see it on her for like a minute and it doesn't look too bad. The gloves are still needed, but those should be easy to make really quick when she slows down long enough for me to measure.

So here's the step by step:

All the material was second hand or cheap t-shirts from the Dollar Tree. The tights are a pair of Lou's from a few years ago and two t-shirts, one black and one brown. Now on to the cutting!

I took the brown t-shirt and cut off the sleeves and cut down  the seams on either side. Then I cut off the top neck area and folded each into rectangles. I sewed these for the "boots" of the costume.

Hot glue worked great to hold the "boots" in place on the tights and for putting on the rope accents.

Next I moved on the the pouch. This stumped me for a second. Then I found the perfect thing. Those sleeves worked great! The hot glue gun holds them together and leaves a nice unfinished look. 

I don't have any pictures of working on the shirt for the costume, but it wasn't hard. I trimmed off the collar of the curt up brown shirt and played with it until it made a nice design on the front of the collar on the black shirt. I think it came out okay.

That's the costume for this year! Almost finished just in time for the Halloween party and some trick or treating!

Oh yeah! I have to introduce the newest member of the animal family. Lou won a goldfish at the Oktoberfest this weekend and it took some creative thought to find a tank for the lil gal. Her name is Eva and you can guess who she's named after!

Halloween Costumes and Life

Sooo... Life got tricky, but that's okay. It happens and I'll keep rolling along. Today, this morning as my daughter was taking her time getting ready for school, I realized I have to get started on a Halloween costume.

My baby girl has been going down the path of cosplay more than scary costumes for the last few years. Last year she was Midnight from Fairy Tail and two years before that she was Tomoe from Kamisama Kiss. Don't worry, we've always been careful about which episodes she gets to watch.

Here's a look at how those costumes turned out... And yes, I had to make them. Buying these things is waaaaay too expensive.

 This is Lou as Tomoe. This character is a smart ass, grumpy fox demon. 

This is Lou as Midnight. This villian is from Fairy Tail and sleeps through most of the fighting, but when he wakes up he's a force to be reckoned with.

This year my girl wants to be Eva from Wakfu. This French cartoon has a great fantasy journey of the hero story line and my complete support for a forth season. Here's Eva:

 

I'm hoping a black t-shirt, some brown fabric and black tights can get me most of this costume made. I'm thinking clothes line rope for the belt/hip pouch thingy. The ears are covered! Thanks to Wish I found a pair of elf ears that fit perfect. 

 On a side note, I do believe my girl is getting to the point where she wants to give up trick or treating. I can understand. She's  nine years old and she doesn't get to keep all the candy because of her teeth. We do make use of the Switch Witch though. I'll cover her in another post later this month. 

No I think the reason she is getting finished has more to do with her costume choices. Most people don't recognize her costume. It happens, but she still has fun with it and just rolls her eyes are people when they get it wrong. This year's costume is a little more well known to kids so I'm hoping she'll enjoy it a little more.

Also, my daughter doesn't care about the gender of the characters she dresses up as. I don't care either. It's Halloween. Have fun, dress up and eat as much candy as you can.

Sick Days

Whether you're a stay at home or work outside the house parent sick days with your kids can throw the whole world into chaos. My daughter had her first sick day of the school year yesterday and while I really felt for her I was also going crazy.

Her throat was sore and her stomach was really upset. This isn't that unusual considering the changing of the season and her complete dislike of super the night before. Still, I couldn't send her to school. So it was a couch day. In this house if you stay out of work or school you spend the day on the couch or in bed. No running around or playing. That's a rule for both my daughter and my husband. Neither of them like it if they're just kind of feeling bad, and the argument will convince them to go on into school/work.

Fire Hunt print release next month

Yesterday morning Lou didn't argue. So, getting any amount of writing work done was tossed out the window. Focusing on plotting/editing/creation just isn't possible for me with a child a few feet away. I did manage to get a graphic created for an upcoming release. It wasn't much, but it'll work next month for marketing.

Back with Lou. She spent most of the day under the covers either watching cartoons, playing Minecraft or reading. The reading was required. She wasn't on the brink of illness and that meant she could at least read a chapter of the book her class is reading. The way this went down was awesome.

Me: Read the next chapter of your book.
Lou: What book?
Me: The book you're reading in English.
Lou: (small smile) I left it at school.
Me: You bought the eBook because you forgot it last week too.
Lou: (shocked remorse) Awww...

It was great. Lou spent her allowance on the eBook copy of Tales of a Forth Grade Nothing last week because she'd forgotten it at school. Her homework was to read a chapter. If she didn't she'd have to walk a few laps at recess. Instead of losing play time she offered to pay for the book herself.

I didn't get to sit down with her and read. Laundry was calling my name by this point and because Lou was stuck to the couch I picked up her normal chores with the animals. Basically watering, letting them in and out, and keeping them out of trouble.

Nothing is more entertaining than a cat gently walking across memory foam. Their paws sink because of the foam and they constantly feel like they are going to fall. For a cat this is extremely uncomfortable. Shadow, the fluffy grump, has found a way to lay on the bed without dealing with the memory foam. She just dumps over the laundry basket and lays on the laundry.

Anyway, the first sick day of the year cam to pass. Keeping Lou down and enforcing the reading was the key to set the tone for this school year. This morning she woke up complaining about having to do the catch up from missing a day. A swift reminder that she could have tried to go to school yesterday and she was a little less upset about extra work.