November 2022

And now it's November. I'm "working" from home today. I say "working" because I'm really staring out the window watching it snow! It is a winter wonderland out there. I'm pretty sure it won't stay very long, although we have another storm forecast for the weekend. But it's here now and I'm loving it. That's really all I have to say. 

Book Update

I’m looking at the books I’ve read this year and I really feel it’s been a lackluster year. I mean, I have read some good and great books, and I have a new series to fan girl over, but it’s a feeling overall. I have only read 50 books so far this year and I checked and last year at this time it was 65. I’ve still been reading web comics but I’ve fallen behind on a lot of those as well. I haven’t gotten above 4 books in a month since May. And finding a new book to start has been hard. Not that I don’t have tons of books I want to read sitting around. I just can’t settle on any of them.  What I have been doing is re-reading, both books and web comics. The past few months I’ve just enjoyed returning to old favorites rather than starting something new. I’m trying to be fine with it but it’s funny how I feel like I’m behind or something. It’s not like I have an actual reading goal and I will still average over a book a week, which is pretty good. Maybe those stacks of books sitting around are getting to me. Might be time to find a place for them on a shelf. Ha ha I googled what the average books read in a year is and it’s 12. Only reading 1 book a month would be so hard for me. I read constantly, just not always new stuff. Sometimes cereal boxes if a book isn’t handy. Maybe now that it's getting colder I will be more in the mood to start new stuff. I guess we'll see. 

Fall Break

I took 2 days off work this week. I needed to use up some vacation and had thought that having a fall break would be nice. I had plans, part of which were to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather we were having. Wednesday at work though I started getting a scratchy throat. I was in denial but stopped by the grocery story on my way home to pick up anything I might need if I got sick. Turned out to be a good thing because I’ve been sick for the past 2.5 days. So long to my plans. I’m even missing a wedding today, but my sinuses are still a mess and I don’t want to get anyone sick, even with just a cold. 

Thursday I mostly just had a sore throat so I did take myself over to the parkway and enjoyed a slow stroll through the botanical garden and down by the river. It was very nice. I sat for a while and watched the ducks. 

I was up really early this morning because I couldn’t breathe to sleep well. Then I took a nap. In spite of missing out on a family thing, it’s not too bad of a day to stay home. We have a storm coming in and it’s blustery and raining off and on. Our first taste of winter is coming. We are forecasted to get a rain/snow mix in the valleys overnight. I’m ready for it. 

Yay October!

Ah, my annual Autumn Love post! LOL Yes, my favorite time of the year is back. The mountains are starting to turn colors and the other day I noticed a few yellow leaves on my tree. We’ve still got some time before they actually start to turn, but I’m here for it. The mornings have been cool and it’s been so nice for sleeping. My bedroom is so much cooler and I was able to put away my fan.

 

As usual, I have plans for fall. I have a few unfinished craft projects sitting around and I’d really like to get at least one of them completed. Plus, I have a new project to start: my office setup. Since I’m regularly working from home, I’ve decided that a good chair is in order and I need to change my setup a bit to be more ergonomic and comfortable. It’s partly going to be my Christmas present to myself. 

 

I’d like to get outside a bit and enjoy the weather and get some walks in. Of course, I have stacks of books to read. That’s a given. My cocoa stash is replenished and I have plenty of blankets and throws to use. I saved some vacations days for October and November so I can even take time off work. Yep, I think I’m ready.

Eye Update

I had my follow up appointment with the eye doctor to see if all the maintenance and Opti-light treatments I did have helped my eyes at all. Before the appointment, I would have said yes because they do feel pretty good most days. I can now usually make it through work without the burning/dry/redness feelings.  

The good news is that yes, they are doing well. The water test that they did was better than the first time and the oil from my glands is mostly olive oil consistency in one eye and not quite in the other. But it's not solid butter or toothpaste consistency like it was before. So my doctor was happy and so was I. 

The goal is to keep up on what I'm doing to keep feeling this way. We will do another Opti-light next year for maintenance and I'm going to increase the number of days I do the warm eye mask and keep up on everything else. My missing glands are never going to grow back so all I can do is try and make sure I don't lose more of them. 

So yes, I have constant upkeep on my eyes, but I mean, I floss and brush every day too. It's just something that has to be done. I'm feeling pretty positive about it though. More good days than bad days is a great feeling. 

FanX Experience

Last Friday I took a vacation day and went to the FanX convention with my nephew. I have never been to a con before and generally would have avoided this one but one of my favorite web comic artists was going to be there and I’m subscribed to her Patreon so I wanted to go. I found a discount code on IG and bought 2 general admission passes. I really wasn’t sure what to expect at all but ended up having a great time. 

The first thing I did wrong was massively underestimate how popular this con is. We didn’t leave for Salt Lake until around 10:45 and when we got down there, the parking garage I had planned on using was full. So was the only other parking lot that I’m very familiar with. We had to drive around for a bit to find a parking lot that was about 3 blocks south of the convention center. By the time we parked and got back to the Salt Palace there was a huge line to get in. I was hungry and getting a little bit impatient with my nephew so we decided to go eat at the food court at City Creek. This was an excellent decision. By the time we finished and walked back, not only was my blood sugar back up and I was happy, the line had died down and we basically walked right in. We picked up our wristbands and headed inside.

 

Artist Alley was the first thing we saw and I found my web comic artist right away. It was fun to meet her in person and talk to her for a few minutes. I bought a keychain from her to hang from my car rear-view mirror. I have a variety of fun things hanging there from other trips.

 

Then we basically wandered around for a few hours. The convention center is huge and there was so much to see. I did not dress up or take pictures of anyone dressed up, but there were some great costumes. My nephew did dress up as Crazy Dave from the Plants vs Zombies video game (it’s been his Halloween costume for a few years). I didn’t think it would be a big deal and bet him $10.00 no one would ask for his picture. We weren’t even there for 10 minutes when he got asked the 1^st time. It was funny how many people stopped him and recognized who he was dressed as. He had so much fun and is already thinking about what he could dress up as for next year.

 

We went near the booths set up for pictures and autographs of the celebrities but didn’t actually go into that section because frankly, I’m not going to pay money for a picture or autograph. Most of the names I don’t recognize anyway. So that part was skipped and not missed by either of us.

 

After walking around for a while, I was tired and thirsty so we got overpriced drinks and found a place to sit. I decided that it might be a good idea to download the app so we could see what all was going on. 😊 We found out there was 20 minutes before… LOL I forget the guy’s name… was scheduled to do a panel. It’s the guy who voices Mario and Luigi and all the sounds for the Mario games. My nephew really wanted to go to that panel so we did. It was fun. The guy was so nice and friendly and even I recognized the voices and sounds he made.

After the panel was over, we walked around for a bit more but it was after 4 pm by then and I swear the number of people doubled. So. Many. People! So we decided to call it a day.  I did have a great time and I would definitely go again. Lots of fun, it was.

Don’t Blink

How did September get half-way over already? I can’t believe it! We started out with a crazy heat wave so my sister and I took the twins and my mom back up to the Uintahs for Labor Day. 

It was such a great day. The weather up in the mountains dropped to the 70’s. I almost needed a jacket when the sun went behind the clouds. 

My mom and I hit the summer farmer’s market up for one last time and I also went to the Peach Days Parade. This year my niece was in it. I love spending time with my family. Work has been crazy busy and I’ve another busy week ahead of me. Then I talked my nephew into going to the FanX con with me later this month. I’ve never been so we’ll see how it is. I truly only want to check out the artist alley because some of my favorite webcomic artists will be there. 

Today I’m hanging out and doing things around the house. It’s raining so the weather is perfect and I’m just enjoying my day off.