It's been a harrowing week, I must say. I already knew the first week of school would be somewhat 'terrible'. Getting used to a new schedule is difficult at the best of times. But doing that when you have a brain that scatters in five directions at once makes it even more difficult to multi-task. I'm working it, though. I can't give up when I'm so close to completing this project!
This blog post covers day 29 of the photo challenge and another character bio. Read on!

Of course, the first week of school is always ripe for problems. So far, the school computer has choked twice resulting in us being behind already. Because of that, I had to improvise which meant more hours were cut from my day. I finally got to get back to that line edit of Ripples last night. It's such slow going, though, that I'm even doubting whether it really will be ready to go on October 1st. /Cue Lady Felicia's scream/ (She's from the Father Brown Mysteries which is a great show.) I have managed to keep up with the photo challenge and at least one of us is not behind. So there are some positive things to focus on. And we keep going...

So our first day of school was not without its hitches. Our main school computer choked while trying to load the programs needed for the youngest. :/ I'm not sure whether we'll have to replace the processor or the whole machine. <sigh>
On the writing front, though, things are moving along. Read on for the photo challenge and for the next character bio!

I've been keeping busy lately trying to get our school year planned out in a way that will also allow me to continue writing. I'm also going to try blogging in a new way. With our trip to Texas last weekend, I wasn't able to prep as well as I wanted to. But I'm still going to attempt to get things done and get into my new routine as soon as possible. I'm looking forward to what this school year will bring for our home school and my writing.

Yesterday's prompt was hope. Isn't that a great starting point? For photos, for writing, for art... There are so many creative works based on 'hope'. Hope is a word gravid with promise. For a Christian, our hope rests in our Savior, the Messiah Yeshua. For those in other religions, or those without a religion, hope rests elsewhere. But hope is important to us all, I think.

I don't have a lot of extra time so my book reviews tend to be short and to-the-point. Whether or not they are sweet would be a matter of opinion. When I realized only Blogger blogs could be directly linked to Goodreads, I sighed and just went on with life. Today, I spotted the html code for sharing reviews on any blog. Yea! So you get to read my reviews now.
For today's bonus post, here's my very short review of Tracie Peterson's A Daughter's Inheritance (book 1 in a series). I think there's also an option to read all my reviews, so you can go back through and read the ones which interest you. I'm not a pro reviewer by any means. But these are my honest opinions.

The prompt for today is 'hands'. It would be hard, though not impossible, to write without hands. I'm the type to think of weird things, I guess, but what would life be like without my hands? I'd have to learn new ways to cook, play the piano, and read books. I'd probably purchase new computer programs that allowed me to input information via voice so I could keep writing. A great many changes would come about if I suddenly lost the use of my hands.
Or what about this thought - Different workers have different types of hands.

• Farmers have rough, sometimes cracked fingers. As they age, the knuckles stand out more. (At least, I've seen this in my family.) They'll often be tanned, as well, from all the time they spend outside.
  
• Mechanics often have bruised knuckles and nails, and hands roughened by wear and tear. The skin may also be permanently stained from exposure to different substances. Never assume their hands are dirty simply because they are discolored!
  
• Guitarists offer a wide variety of hands to observe -- small, smooth, rough, large, delicate bones, larger bones -- but one thing they all have in common is the callous that sits at the tip of each finger of the hand they use to press the strings.
• Pianists and guitarists who take their craft seriously won't let their nails grow long because they hinder the range of their abilities. Most will also keep their hands well groomed, too, because people are going to be watching their hands.
  
• Seamstresses will often have several callouses where they constantly prick their fingers with pins/needles, or where they constantly run thread through their fingers.
  
• Office workers may have some of the softest hands since they are inside most of the day. But if they write with pen and paper, they may have the callous that comes with using a pen often. The older they get, the more their hands may tell how often they sit at a computer. Some wear wrist braces to help relieve symptoms of Carpel Tunnel Syndrome.
  

One of the best things all of these folks could do with their hands is turn the pages of a book. And that's the photo I shared yesterday -- my daughter reading one of her favorites: The Ultimate Herb Book by Antony Atha. She's been interested in herbs for years, enough to consider a career in the field of toxicology at one point. This is the book that fanned the flames of that interest.
One thing every writer needs to do is read. Read mostly in your writing genre, but don't forget to branch out into research topics, too. For a writer, reading a wide variety of books is never a bad thing.

Please don't count the numbers in my titles. <sigh> I was just commenting to my daughter yesterday on how irritating it is when you're reading chapters in a sequence and a chapter is skipped for some strange reason. I promise you, no 'chapter' was skipped! I've no excuse for missing the 19th as I had my photos stored in my tablet and could've shared them easily for the 'makes me laugh' prompt. I just forgot. I opted out of posting on day 20. The prompt was 'dog' and I was unmotivated to dig for a photo response. I was also adjusting to our return home and trying to get back into my routine. I'm still not quite there yet but I'm working on it. Today's prompt was no problem at all, though. Read on to check it out.

My husband was in the Air Force for 20 years and during that time, we made some lasting friendships. We had the honor of attending the retirement ceremony of one of the most dear families I know. When you think of the word 'minister' or 'ministry', this family's name should appear in the dictionary definition. We have been blessed with their friendship since the time we met and I didn't always realize it. For that, I am truly sorry. And thankfully, they are loving and forgiving.
So while we were in Texas, we visited with them for two and half days. Then we drove from Abilene down to San Angelo to our last duty station and the one where we met the family mentioned above. We got to see some of our SCA family, which was like a nifty bonus. While I was there, I shared as often as possible for the photo challenge. Here are the days I managed.

First, the news! A good friend of ours is retiring. We've been invited to spend time with them and reconnect. So while we're doing that, I won't be posting to the blog. I'll be posting again on Monday, though.  On to the challenge!

The prompt for yesterday was cat. And while I love trying to get photos of Sir Olly Ox'nfri Toebeanz, he's not always cooperative. I had to wait until he was napping yesterday because he was so active. This photo kind of reminds me that we should always try to get plenty of rest. -.-

I'm still working on the final edit of Ripples. It seems like an impossible task right now. But I know if I keep at it, I'll get it done. There won't be too much napping until then. ^.^