Links and Stuff

Sorry for the late posting. Of course, if you’re reading this post days after I post it, you won’t know it’s late. And for all I know, most of you meander by here when you get the chance, not necessarily the day I post, so I guess it doesn’t really matter. On with the Links and Stuff!

I’ve figured out a new strategy for getting people to my blog:

Now just wait… 10,000 Pokémon GO players are about to descend… 😉

Thanks to the Pokémon GO craze, Nintendo’s stock has skyrocketed over the past week. Not only did shares jump 25%, but it seems the company increased its value by something like $7 billion. In a week! Pokémon GO is also the top downloaded game of all-time.

No, I haven’t downloaded it. I have way too many distractions in my life already. I’d never get anything done! That’s the main reason I don’t visit Facebook very often. Which reminds me, if you’ve found my Facebook page (I have one), and “friend request” me, unless you are family, or I know you from church, don’t expect to hear back. It’s not personal, I just don’t use Facebook except to sometimes respond to messages from family and church friends. Outside of family and church, you’re more likely to connect with me by following me on Twitter. I’m trying to be better about tweeting and following people, so if you want to read my attempts at wit (I’m not judging you–really), find me there. Maybe if my writing career takes off, I’ll set up an author FB page… we’ll see.

Speaking of writing, something strange happened. I wrote a children’s book. And I don’t mean YA (Young Adult)–I’ve written a couple of those, and I don’t think I write YA well. This is a young reader-type book, the kind of thing your parents might read as a bedtime story, or a teacher might read to a kindergarten class. The kind of story I used to write and enjoy when I was that age. And I like it. A lot. In fact, I’m going to query it and see if I can get some agent interest. I’m also thinking of a Middle Grade story I’d like to write. It’s actually a lot of fun writing for that younger age group. I’m not much into profanity, sex, and violence in literature–I certainly don’t like writing it–and while YA and adult novels don’t have to include such things, it’s nice to write in a category where not writing sex, f-bombs, and gore is considered a plus!

Last of all, a quick update on the house-hunting (see last week’s post for background). We met with our realtor and looked at some properties online, some very nice, though a bit out of the way for us (both distance and price). We then visited a couple of houses we had looked up, one of which being “The Castle” (again, see last week’s post). My goodness it’s a nice house! Very spacious, with teak floors, a large kitchen, even a mother-in-law suite with an external staircase so guests can come and go without disturbing the rest of the house. But it’s sooo beyond what I can afford. Pity. The only critique from the kids was that it seemed a bit impersonal, and not very home-y. That’s a fair point, though I imagine once we got all our stuff in there, we’d make a home of it. One can dream. Anyway, after setting the bar impossibly high, we looked at a second place that was liked by 1/8 of the family. SecondBorn loved it, but the rest of us were not convinced. My biggest problem, aside from the fact there was no study for me, was that it wasn’t move-in ready. I’m not a handyman, and we don’t have a lot of money to spare for “projects,” so when we walk around a house identifying things we will need to change, that’s a red flag for me.

Next week, we talk to the bank, and hopefully see some more houses. 🙂

How has your week been?