What the Junk?!

Yes, the light in my yard is out again. It didn't come on tonight, so .... sigh 

I got a bit of writing down today, but not as much as I would have liked. My sleep was absolutely horrible last night. I could not get comfortable. It felt like it was way too hot in my bedroom although it really shouldn't have been. It took me putting my air conditioner on full blast AND having a fan on a chair pointing right at my bed to help me sleep and that even took a while. I don't know what that was about, but I am hoping to not have a repeat tonight!  I watched YouTube pretty much all day except for when I ran out to check my post office box. I paid my box this month and the payment hasn't hit the bank yet, so I wanted to make sure they had gotten it. The receipt was in my box, so it has been processed there. I guess it will show up in my bank account soon.

While I was out, I went to Starbucks and got a Peppermint white mocha. While in line, I saw they had a new bakery item. It's called lime frosted coconut (Frosted lime coconut bar I looked it up!) I LOVE coconut and lime and wanted to try it, but alas they were out. :(. Next time!  Now, I'm going to get dressed for bed and relax a bit. I have laundry in the dryer and I need to make sure it's dry. I will put it away tomorrow as I am really too tired to mess with it tonight.

Well, when the Sunday falls on the first of the month it is!  I went to Starbucks to get my first of the month jolt start. I got a nice Peppermint white mocha and yes, it was delicious!  I finished Camp yesterday. The story has a lot more to it, so I'll pick it back up in July for that Camp. As for now, I'm back to the work I was doing before Camp. It wasn't as hard to get back into it as I was thinking. I meant to do a review of a lot of it last night and got caught up in another old story I wrote. Oops! Oh well, it didn't affect my writing today, so that was good. I actually got a bit over 1800 words done on it, so I am pleased!

My regular Sunday chores are moving along nicely. I have my hair washed, my bed linen is in the washing machine. I need to get the laundry out from yesterday from the dryer so I can move the linens over.  I took the trash out and took the can to the street as it's stuffed.  It's a huge can, so I only have to actually put the can on the street once a month or so.  I am going to be putting away the laundry after I finish this post and get the bed linen in to dry. I want to do some work on my digital planner in GoodNotes.  DPCDigitals, my favorite shop for digital goodies dropped some cool things in the newsletter so I want to import them into GoodNotes and play a bit.  I just need to get the laundry sorted first and then I'm free to play a bit until I have to put the bed linens back on the bed. I'm trying to get things done earlier today so I'm not putting the linens back on the bed after 10 pm! :P

I was pondering things last night after I posted here and decided to go with the third book about my skaters. They were calling me to pick up their story so I obliged.  I got my first day's worth of words down. Only 1722 but it's a good start.  It was a bit awkward getting back into in a few days I'll be in my stride. I have a lot planned for these characters in this book.  I'm glad to have gotten started.  I went to Starbucks since it was the first and brought my Peppermint white mocha and Cake Pop (I was naughty!) home and enjoyed them while writing.  Camp is a go!

Hello there! We just got back to the room about an hour ago.  We got a lot of thrifting done.  We've been to five Goodwill stores, one Salvation Army, one beach store, and Tuesday Morning!  I didn't get a lot at the Goodwill stores. I got a little metal sign and a pouch in the one at NMB.  At the one off 501 I got a tote bag with a Corgi on it. I also got a clock radio in there for the room.  The room doesn't have one and this one is small and cute so it works and I can bring it on trips since it's small.

The Conway Goodwill I bought some shoes, and then at the one on Loyola, I got a Jack O' lantern and something else but I cannot remember what it was! Umm... yeah, no clue! I just remembered! It was a vintage radio/cassette player (knockoff Walkman)  The last Goodwill we went to at Murrell's Inlet, I got a vintage Rook card game.  I didn't buy anything at the Salvation Army.  I passed up on a Fossil bag, too! It was one that I wouldn't carry, so I was easy to pass up.

At Tuesday morning, I got a little TN, a two-pack of notebooks, and a pack of neon/pastel fineliners.  Everything was on clearance too! :) At the beachwear store (Beach Life) I got a shirt and a sticker. My friend got me another shirt so I got two. Yay!  After we left the Loyola GW, we went to the Cookout that is down the road. While my friend went through the drive-thru line, I walked over to Starbucks! I got a pretty rainbow tumbler and some cards I didn't have.  I also got a peppermint white mocha. Yummy! Here are some pictures that aren't just beach. :p

As you can see in the first picture, it got really dark in Conway.  I took this picture.  The second picture was of the waterfall at one of the miniature gofl places down here. I thought it was pretty. 

I went to Starbucks for a Peppermint White Mocha.  I got a grande and it was free! The car ahead of me paid for mine. I have never had that happen before. So very cool! :)

This time I knew I was going to do it, though!  Last night it was getting late and I had to put the linens back on the bed, so I skipped posting here. Sorry about that.  I got all my usual Sunday things done yesterday and also went to the grocery store.  I started the month off right today by going to Starbucks! I got a peppermint white mocha and it was delicious! It was extra delicious today, actually.  Yum!  I didn't go anywhere else while I was out. I just went to Starbucks and then came home.

I wrote a lot yesterday (3813 words!) and I'm already a bit past 2500 for today.  I am going to try to add a little more to what I wrote today but I'm pretty happy with what I wrote.  I might go through and edit the last two days. It was two good writing sessions for those almost 7500 words!  If I wrote like this during NaNoWriMo I could do two books! I was on a roll yesterday. I had a big thing happen and it turned out well. I will go back and make sure I don't need to edit anything.  Today's writing was good too. I am going to see if I can't get a few more words as I mentioned.

My DS charger finally updated on the tracking.  It's been over a week since it updated at all!  It now says it is in Roanoke. This is usually the last stop before it gets to Danville. Normally, I would say with it being in Roanoke today, I will get my charger tomorrow, but with the way things are, I am scared to say it! The set of styluses that I got has been sitting in Raleigh NC since Wednesday of last week. Raleigh is only about 2 hours from my house. I know the USPS is slow lately, but come on!  Sheesh!  Anyway, I hope to get the charger and the I'll get to really play with it. I still haven't ordered a game.  I should have done that already. It will be April before I get one at this rate. :p

I meant to post last night. I got into a pretty intense writing spell and forgot. Sorry! I got my writing done and meant to post to my blog and then I left the computer and didn't post.  Oops.  I didn't have much to say yesterday anyway as I didn't even leave the house!  Today, my friend got off of work early and wanted me to ride with him to look at houses for sale. We did and he got us food at Biscuitville. I hadn't eaten there in ages and it was so good!  We looked at several houses before heading home.  

I had been home for a bit when I realized that I had an offer for 25 bonus stars for today only at Starbucks. I ran over there and got a peppermint white mocha and it was so good!  While I was out, I ordered a couple of the medium $5.99 pizzas from Dominos for pickup. Those were not 'so good'. They were actually pretty disappointing.  The last two times I got this exact same order, it was delicious.  They must have had an off night. Oh well! :(

While my friend and I were out earlier, we went to a local thrift store that I always forget about and never go to  We have a Salvation Army thrift store here.  I found a pair of new or at least they looked brand new capris. (All clothes half off today!)  I also found three ceramic jack o lanterns, some card stock for scrapbooks, a little mini backpack, and two packages of washi tape!  It's the brand that is only sold at Walmart and I will not shop at Walmart, so I was happy to see this. It's the washi that is actually individual flower petals.  It's so pretty!  I wanted to try some but not if I had to go to Walmart.  The little mini backpack is from the same line at Walmart.  Oh, I also got some adorable vinyl stickers too!  I also found something absolutely amazing.  My 'new' MacBook Pro that my friend got me had the original Apple charger, but not the extension cord.  I had been watching a few on eBay and was going to buy one eventually.  I looked over in this one bin with assorted electronics in the store and saw a white cord.  It had black paper/cardboard around it.  It was the extension cord I wanted! It was a whopping $2!  It retails at the Apple store for right at $20.  This is a legit Apple one too, I looked.  It must have come in someone's laptop box and they didn't use the extender.  I got a deal!  :)  I usually just plug the MBP in with the regular plug because I use it at my desk.  I like the extension cord if I want to move it around further. It will come in handy on beach trips as the power strip might not be as close as it is at home!  I love finds like that. It would also come in handy if I can ever go to Starbucks and sit inside again.  ^_^ Oh how I miss going to Starbucks, sitting, and staying for a few hours.  I looked in wistfully tonight as I drove out of the drive-thru.  

I hope to write a bit tonight.  I changed my blog layout back to the macaroons. I'll probably change it again tomorrow.  There is a new layout that Typepad has introduced and I'd like to use it but it's not customizable.  If I could change some things around, I'd love it.  Oh well! :)

Here we are in a brand new year.  Who knew that 2020 could drag on for so long?  Here is hoping that 2021 is much better.  I started the month and the year off right.  How? I went to Starbucks of course! :p  That was nice.  I put another spread in my 2021 bullet journal!  I did a 21 in 2021.  I did a 20 in 2020. Sadly, I only got sixteen of those done. I'm hoping to do all 21 this year!

I took down my Yule tree earlier this evening.  I got all five strands of blue lights off easily.  I went to string them to store them for next year and 2 & 1/2 of them aren't working now. ~_~; WTF?  I had put them in five different piles to keep them from tangling.  I don't know how they stopped working so quickly. I checked on the Target website to see if there were any blue lights in stock at Target and they are all gone.  Boo!  I will have to wait to replace them next year.  Phooey!

Here is my Starbucks cup. I finally got the last of the four cups for the season. :)

Yes, you know where I went today! :p. I went to Starbucks and I went inside to see if I could get a few more cards. I got some and then found a mug I liked.  There was a tumbler the other day that I wanted, but of course, it was long gone! The other one like it that I was considering was gone too!  Their stuff is 30% off so people probably bought them for gifts. I did pick out a cute mug (no handle) with a lid.  It says it's 8oz, but it looks like it would hold more. I think it will without the lid.  I'll test it out by brewing some coffee later!  I got a grande peppermint mocha.  I ordered a grande peppermint white mocha.  This is the third time I've gotten a PW instead of a PWM. :(. They were BUSY and there were a lot of people waiting to order and a lot of people waiting on their drinks, so I wasn't going to mess that up by asking for a re-do. I drank it. I didn't enjoy it as I should have, but I wasn't going to inconvenience a whole store of people!  Oh well, hopefully, next time it will be right! The mug is very cute and I love it.  Here is a picture I took:

I should have put the mug up there too. Oh well!  I am currently sitting under the hair bonnet dryer.  I got my dishes washed, my hair washed, my bed linen washed, and I'm now relaxing for a few minutes.  My bed linen is currently in the dryer.  It was too cold for me to sit with a wet head even in my turby thingee.  I decided to get out the dryer.  I already did my weekly backup too.  Oh! I ran by Office Max while I was out and picked up a package of the card sleeves that I use to keep my cards in.  I also did my daily Zeeops mission for Munzee while out.  Now, I'm just going to sit and relax for a while.  I just put the bed linen in to dry before I came to start drying my hair, so that is going to be awhile.  I want to get a few more things done in my 2021 bujo and I want to write some on my story. I did write a few words before posting this. 411 words to be exact. I'd like to get more done.  

I used my new Starbucks mug tonight. It's so pretty!  I love new mugs, especially Starbucks ones.  It's great to find them in thrift stores.  This ons is in such great condition, too!  Here is a picture of my desk with my new Starbucks mug. That coffee didn't last long. It was delicious!

The candle is another thrift store find!  I love candles.  I have three or four pine-scented ones that I can't wait to use.  I want to finish this one first, though. The little snowman you see above the MBP is something I got at Family Dollar. He was just too cute so I had to buy him. 

We got some nasty cold rain today, but no snow or anything else that I saw. BOO!  I love snow and would love to have a nice big snow event. It probably won't happen, but I can hope!  We only got the one snow last year and was only there for one day. We'll see how it goes.  You know I'll share pictures if we do get a nice snow event.

I worked on my story last night and today and it's much better. I've added stuff, gone back and edited stuff and it's working nicely.  My main character had a very traumatic event happen to her (kidnapped, gun to her head, etc) and she is fine right now because it hasn't hit her just yet.  It's going to hit her hard pretty soon and it's going to be good!  The guy tried to actually shoot her in the head, but the gun jammed so he bashed her over the head with it instead.  Ouch!  She is going to finally react to it in my writing I plan to do next. It should be good.

In other news, I haven't done much today except try to stay warm.  I didn't go out because of the cold rain earlier and now that it's not raising, I'm not going out because I didn't put air in my tire earlier. It's too dark now to see what I'm doing and I don't feel like driving down to Sheetz and fill it at the air pump there.  I'll fill it tomorrow and maybe tomorrow afternoon or tomorrow night I can go out. I'd like to go looking for holiday lights.  That is my favorite thing about the holidays. I don't care for this time of year, but I love the lights!  I think when I do it, I'll go to Starbucks, get a venti peppermint white mocha and drink it as I drive around and look at lights. Sounds like bliss to me!

Well, the drink was good, but the ordeal I had getting it.  Let me tell you.  They were busy as usual so I drove around the building to get in line.  Some old hag in a truck came and pulled up from the other side and got right in front of me.  I was not amused but I went ahead and got behind her.  Of course she was smoking. ~_~: I'm glad I didn't have to run the vent.  I kept my window up until I could get to the order box.

This is when the next bit of drama happened.  I ordered a Venti peppermint white mocha with caramel brulee sprinkles instead of the chocolate sprinkles.  This caused some confusion.  I think the girl taking the order was new.  I've ordered this before with no issues. I'm not one to get mad at the baristas, so I just patiently waited while she sorted it out.  She finally got it straight (she asked if I had said frappuccino, no I had not) and I went up in line.  Of course, the old hag in front of me had to order something that took forever.  

I finally get to the window and the girl takes my Starbucks card and I tell her it's with stars. That goes smoothly and she hands me my drink.  It's a peppermint white mocha all right. Only, she gave me a grande instead of a venti! :(. After everything that had happened, I just took it with a smile and went on my way.  It was delicious in any case.  I did not want the line to get any longer.  When I left, they were back further than they had been when I got in line so I was doubly glad I didn't get it fixed. I deployed a Munzee while I was out and then headed home.  

I wrote some on my other story tonight. I have some ideas of some other stories running around in my head.  These are old and much-loved characters so I am happy to get back to them.  

My internal hard drive came today.  I unpacked it and opened the Macbook Pro and pulled out the old drive.  Then, I found that I had to get the screws from the sides of the drive to put in the new one to securely mount it.  I, of course, didn't have the right screwdriver!  I looked online and Lowe's had one that was a multi head one and it was only $10 so I left the computer and ran over there and got it. Easy peasy getting those little screws out then and I have a tool for future use!

I get the new drive in and turn on the computer to do the disk copy.  Well, disk utility is being snarky. I look up information and see it's a glitch with Disk utility in Catalina that causes this and to go get a clone software.  Oh no! I thought, more money.  I found Carbon Copy Clone and it has a free trial. It's a fully functioning trial, In other words, you can do everything as if it's the full version. YES! Thank you, CCC!  If I ever need you again I'll be happy to purchase the full version.  I'm currently in the process of copying the external to the new internal and I'm hoping that goes well. It took some doing to even get everything to start but it seems to be rolling along now.

While I that is running in the background, my mail lady came. (The hard drive came via UPS) My new tags for my car came! YAY!!!!!!!!  I went out to put the back one on and I was NOT going to put the new tag in the damn front window so I got some tools and sat down and worked on getting the tag holder on the front. I had to go slowly and work diligently so that I didn't mess up my bumper.  I also had to bring something outside to sit on because the ground is still wet and pretty saturated from all the rains.  I got the little holder on and then I went and found (after a search)  the screws to attach the plate to the holder.  I had put them in the little compartment in the new car in a Ziploc but of course, I had forgotten ALL about that.  I finally remembered and put my tag on.  I now have a car with front and back tags.  I'm so proud of myself.  My friend kept saying he was going to do it but it's been since July, so... 

I went out earlier before I knew I needed a screwdriver.  I knew via informed delivery that my new tags were coming today and I wanted to take my car over to Starbucks one more time with the STARBUX tags.  I got a Peppermint white mocha (delicious) and I took a picture of the car with the tags and Starbucks in the background.  I'm silly, I know but I don't care!

Of course with all the stuff I've been doing, I haven't written for NaNoWriMo yet.  I guess I'll be writing later this evening.  That isn't a problem at all.  I really want to work on my other story too, but NaNo work comes first!  The video I watched to make sure I was removing and installing the drive correctly gave links to the things he used.  He has a little 'case' to put the internal drive in to make it run like an external. I ordered one hoping I can access the drive.  I don't think I will be able to, but you never know! I'm hoping.  

Here are the pictures I took at Starbucks. :)

If you are wondering what the little blob is in the first picture on the upper right, it's LSP from Adventure Time! Oh, My Glob! lol

I truly wanted to go to Starbucks today and take my laptop and get in my NaNoWriMo writing in.  With my car acting up like it did on Friday, I decided that if my car would start at home, it would probably be a good idea to NOT turn it off until I got home! lol  I drove over to Starbucks and decided that I would get something different.  I got a Peppermint white mocha.  I hadn't had one in ages.  I had forgotten how good they are, but I also had forgotten how sweet they are.  Yowza! LOL . It was delicious, though!

I came straight home from there.  I have been doing chores.  I got in my walk today at my usual time.  I decided to wash my hair earlier in the day so I had to warm up some water. lol . Since it was cold and my water heater is 'off' at the moment, I did NOT want to wash my hair in cold water.  While I was folding and putting away a small load of laundry, I put a pot on the stove and filled it with water.  After I got the clothes folded and put away, the water was nice and warm.  I used it to wash my hair over the sink.  that way, I didn't have to use it straight from the faucet and freeze my poor head off. :p . I got that done and then immediately went to my room and dried it.  I walk around with a wet head in summer, but not in the fall when it's only in the low 50's!  

I have my bed linen in the dryer and I'm pretty sure it's done and ready to go back on the bed, but I haven't gotten that far yet.  I've done my French lesson and I'm doing my blog post now.  Once I get the bed linen back on the bed, I only need to do my writing for today's NaNo.  

I did some work in my current bullet journal today too. I already had this coming week's layout done, so I did the next week's.  I'll l have to put in my December habit tracker soon.  I'll do that later today or in a few days.  It's just the 18th, so I have some time!  

I'm still finding great crime shows on Prime, but they are short. Usually it's just one season or so of a show.  I have a lot of them loaded up so I should be okay for awhile in any case.  I hope they add more shows.  I love true crime!