I've gone to the library to restock on books, had a nice walk at the Frontier Culture Museum, was thoroughly loved on by the museum cats, and picked up more frozen food since Aldi was right there, and now I need to do a little more work to hit my writing time quota.

I hit my word count, and since it's a relatively pleasant day, especially for January, I'm going to go run some errands and take a walk. It's about 56 and sunny, and that should not be wasted indoors.

I'm close to the daily word quota even before lunch. I might as well ride the early book enthusiasm before I hit the "writing is haaarrrrddd" doldrums in the middle.

The house has been de-Christmassed, aside from all the needle debris from the fake pine garland. I put most of the fake pine garland out with the trash this week. As badly as it sheds, there's no point in keeping it. I kept the one in best shape and all the lights/ribbon. Tomorrow will be vacuuming.

I was planning to just get a little bit of writing done to say I'd started after spending most of my writing time outlining the first few scenes, but I hit my target word count goal for the day. That's a good start! And it means my target number will go down for tomorrow.

I started drafting a new book today and finished the first scene. I love that feeling. Now I will fall off the face of the earth for a month while my brain stays in the book at all times and I become pretty much useless for anything else.

It's #BookQW and our word this week is "happen." In this bit from my cottagecore cozy fantasy Tea and Empathy, there are things the female villagers don't expect to happen in this sleepy village (little do they know that single men will start arriving). shannaswendson.com/writing/tea-...

I've made progress with the white cat that visits my deck (the Magnificent Floof). Normally, it flees at any sight of me, including when I'm indoors and it can see me through the glass doors. But I went outside to do some brainstorming work, and it stuck around the deck.

What I found while house hunting was that the "living" space (kitchen, dining, living room/den) was tied to the number of bedrooms. If you wanted a kitchen big enough to cook in and big enough living space to entertain, you had to get more bedrooms.

One thing I got at Old Navy was a pair of moccasin house slippers lined with fake fur. The reason I wanted them is a bit nerdy. I guess I've been in a mood for portal fantasy because before I dove back into the Narnia books, I re-read Donaldson's Mordant's Need duology.

Compare today's picture on the left to the old headshot. You can see the difference between a photo taken in January and one taken in June. I didn't think I tanned that much, though I think there's a makeup difference, too.

The streaming services should have "low use" tiers, where you pay a lower rate for metered streaming, like a limit of 10-20 hrs/month. I'd subscribe to more because that's about what I watch from any one service, which makes the full rate not worth it.

It's interesting seeing the differences between my old author photo and the photos taken today. My hair is more or less the same and my skin looks the same, but it's like the flesh melted off my face (even though I weigh more now). I guess this is why people get fillers.

Photo achieved, tea obtained. And while I was up in that city, I hit the mall and caught the winter clearance sale at Old Navy. Then picked up groceries on the way home. The new freezer paid off because Aldi had the frozen German hard rolls on clearance, and I had space for them.

Time to get dressed for my photo. I stress over what to wear for my driver's license photo, so an author photo is even worse. I should have warned the photographer that I hate having my picture taken, so she may need the basket of things they use to make babies smile for photos.

I need to decide what to wear for my new author photo. I'm thinking of a black V-neck sweater, since black will look good in B&W and looks good with my skin, but it kind of looks like the old senior photos drapes and is boring.

I had a new cat visitor to the deck today, very small, calico coloring, but in a kind of striped pattern, so it was sort of tiger-like, with black and orange stripes, but there was also the mottled effect of a calico. Not at all interested in me through the window.

I needed a new headshot for that book festival, since my old one is 20 years old, and I got that scheduled for tomorrow. I'm also getting a passport photo done while I'm at it because I realized my passport expires next month, so I need to renew it ASAP.

Tomorrow my work year starts officially. This year I'm trying to have a stronger divide between work and life. I want to do focused work when it's work time and do fun things away from the computer when it's not work time. Tomorrow I also dive into a book. It's starting to write itself in my head.

I got my eggnog fix. Tonight was the choir Christmas party, and someone brought homemade eggnog. I got my 2 ounces or so and that was all I wanted.

Last night, I rewatched Prince Caspian after rereading the book. This movie doesn't entirely work. I guess it's an okay fantasy movie if you're entirely unfamiliar with the source material, but as a book adaptation it went entirely off the rails. It also includes some really iffy stuff.

I had a dream last night that involved a lot of walking, and my feet and legs were sore. I woke this morning to find my feet and legs sore, like I'd done a lot of walking. I didn't do that much walking yesterday. Maybe I need to walk more so that a little walking/standing doesn't hurt.

FedEx must be trying to make up for the December mess. Yesterday, Lowe's told me the freezer had been shipped and would be delivered Monday. This morning they said it would be delivered today between 11:50 and 3:10. At 10:36 I got a text saying it had been delivered.

I signed up for the pottery class. I'll probably be almost halfway through the first draft before it starts, but I can add details on the second draft, and by taking the class I'll have contact with an expert who may be able to answer any questions that I have that are specific to the plot.

Office chair has been donated, which cleared up so much floor space. While I was out, I stopped by TJ Maxx, which may not have been a great idea because the checkout line was really long, but I got a little eggbeater/milk frother (separate attachments). Now to go make myself a tea latte.

I'm going to force myself out of the house to donate my old desk chair to the Habitat ReStore. I was trying to find places I could use it elsewhere in the house, but it's just so big and takes up so much room. Better to do some good with it. Then maybe I'll get some groceries.

I had a sequel to the dream about the drama class where I'd forgotten my lines by the time we finally got around to doing my scene. In this one, I stopped by my room to get something on the way to that class, then couldn't find my shoes to leave. It was the time class was starting, and no shoes.

One of the characters in the book I'm about to start writing is a potter, and I just learned that the pottery studio downtown has an "intro to clay" course this month that lets you dabble in a number of techniques. It's probably overkill, but I think I'm going to sign up.

I've been a good Southerner and had my black-eyed peas, greens, and corn bread for New Year's dinner. Now watching the New Year's concert from Vienna on PBS. I watched the Rose Parade in the morning, so that's all the traditions accounted for.

One other thing that came to mind while I was watching When Harry Met Sally was how much I miss New York. I used to go at least once a year, but I haven't been in more than ten years. Ironically, although I live closer now, it would take me longer to get there. It was a 3-4-hour flight from DFW.

My brain graced me with a new version of the "final in a class I forgot I was taking" nightmare last night. I was either in a drama class or in a play directed by a college drama professor, and I had a small role that only came in near the end of the play, so we never got to my part in rehearsals.

It's warmer than was forecast and it doesn't look like the state park area got a lot of snow, but it's still in the 30s and windy, so I don't think I'm going to try for a First Day hike. That state park has guided hikes every Saturday, so maybe I'll go in nicer weather.

I ended up seeing in the new year, but not by choice. I'd just drifted off to sleep when nearby idiots started shooting off fireworks, which set off the dogs. Fortunately, it was short-lived, probably because it was too cold to hang around outside for long.

There's no way I'll make it until midnight, even though it's only a little more than an hour to go. I know nothing magical happens at midnight, but there's a weird part of me that believes something does happen and I want to see it.

I think I'm going to watch When Harry Met Sally tonight. That was my NYE tradition for a number of years (during the VHS era). I haven't watched it in some time, but I think I need to honor Rob Reiner, Carrie Fisher, and Nora Ephron.

Supposedly, Amazon is a search engine that lets you buy stuff, but it's a terrible search engine. I got a gift card from my brother for Christmas and though I'd look to see if they have one of those long lounger robes I've been looking for.

I'm treating today as a semi-holiday. I want to continue my book brainstorming because I'm on a roll and the ideas are flowing and I need to get the spare room rearranged so I can go back to doing yoga in there. And I need to set up my calendars. So I guess not a holiday, but I slept late.

I think I'll order that freezer today. I've taped together paper in the dimensions to put on the floor and see if I step on that spot while doing other things. So far, it's not in the way. I can always move it to the basement later if it does bug me.

I'm hoping 2026 brings me a more settled phase of life, after a few years of upheavals. I spent a couple of years contemplating a major move, then in 2024 took the plunge and uprooted my life to move halfway across the country to a place I'd visited once. In 2025 I bought a house and moved again.

When I was driving home from college at the end of my junior year, my car died in the middle of nowhere (in the era before cell phones). I coasted to the side of the road in front of a house, hoping they'd let me use a phone. I put up the hood and had hazard lights on.

There is a plant in my backyard with long, thin leaves that turn bright orange when the sun hits them just right, so that it looks like those orange flags that get tied on trees about to be cut or on stakes to show where gas lines run, and when I see them I wonder who's been flagging my yard.

I had Grand Plans to go to a state park in the mountains on New Year's Day for a First Day hike, but they're now forecasting snow squalls and below-freezing temps that day, worse in the mountains, so I will not be driving those roads that day.

The Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Stars used to have their practice facilities in my old neighborhood back in Texas, so I ran into a lot of sports-type people in the grocery store, while getting my car's oil changed, and on the neighborhood walking trails.

I think I've figured out why my young Baptist-raised self didn't figure out the religious allegory in the Narnia books: I was reading The Lord of the Rings around the same time (and I'm pretty sure I read it before I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, since I started with The Silver Chair).

I have a little worldbuilding detail in my head, and now I'm not sure if I came up with it and didn't write it down as I was thinking about a character's backstory or if I read it somewhere. Does the arrangement of a person's braids telling something about the person ring a bell from a fantasy book?

I'm developing a character I think will be really fun to write. He's a type I generally hate (or love to hate), but making him somewhat sympathetic, putting him through the wringer, and changing him will be an interesting challenge.

I have a tree in my back yard that still has green leaves on it, in spite of all the serious cold spells and snow. My pictures from when I looked at this house in March show the tree as bare, so it does eventually lose its leaves, apparently. I don't know if it will go through "fall" colors first.

I have some blueberries I need to use and was thinking I should make blueberry muffins -- and then I found a package of blueberry muffins in the freezer. This is why I think I'll get the smaller chest freezer. If I have too much freezer space, I'll just fill it and forget it.

I'm not sure what set this off, but I found myself re-reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe on Christmas, so I rewatched the movie last night. It's a pretty good adaptation. The casting is excellent. They just amped up the drama/action a bit beyond the book.

My gift to my future self: Since I drove to church this morning, I made myself go to the gas station (I had a ton of fuel points that expire at the end of the month) and grocery store instead of going straight home. Now I don't have to go out this week if I don't want to.