Joplin Journal Volume 11-11, Issue 1

From the Editor's Desk:

I told you not to get used to having these every week. Here it's been over a month! So sorry. I'm still trying to find October and they are telling me that Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK! How is that even possible? We seem to have hit fall and suddenly everything sped up. Next think we know it will be . . . Nope. Not going to even say it.

Weather Report:

Most of the trees are bare now. Some are still hanging on to their leaves, but the ground is wearing a carpet of leaves. We'll have to rake soon. The weather has been all over the place. We'll have a week of cold with the days in the 40s and nights in the 20s, then a week with the days in the 70s and nights in the 60s. This week has been days in the 60s and nights in the 50s. Next week it's supposed to be colder. Some rain, some clouds, some sun.

"Genius Burns":

I reached the end of Secret Project! It isn't finished yet since my editor and I haven't had a chance to talk it over. I'm sure there are some things that need fixing or polishing, but it's been nice to have the ending reached. Since then I've been working on Nan's Ice Cream Shop, A Place Called Home, a little bit on Monday's Mystery, some on Triplets, and last night I wrote most of a new short story. My goal for this month is 20k words and I reached it last night! I'm still going to try to keep writing, but I probably won't raise it so I don't have the pressure of trying to write a certain number of words each day.

Project Prognosis:

How am I doing?

• Work on Blog Posts for 2023 – Just next week's to finish up. I guess I'd better get that done soon.
• Update Website – Shhh! I'll get to it sometime.
• Prepare for KDWC – That obviously happened since Camp is now half over.
• Publish last year's Christmas Card Story – I did that.
• Christmas Play – We started practices, but have yet to have all the cast members there. One got sick, then another was sick, tomorrow some will be out of town.
• Beta Reading – I do have one story to beta read. I need to remember that tomorrow!

The Net:

Volleyball is over.

Hoops:

After a week break, basketball has started! The pre-season games are happening this weekend. James, Joel, Drew, and Lucas are each on a different team this year. That means 4 teams to watch instead of just 2. I might end up with some little ones over here today since there are 3 games in a row.

Babysitting:

I had Kins and Grant during the last volleyball games and we went on a "trash treasure hunt" and filled a walmart bag with trash. They were pretty excited. If you have young ones, take them on a trash treasure hunt. ;)

Thursday I had Grant and Kins again for basketball games. Grant built legos, Kins read with me some, and then played dolls.

Quilt Frame:

The quilt is finished!

Sorry, you can't see one side of it. It was mostly quilted, but not quite. I did the bottom row and a little over half of the one above it.

The Music Stand:

We have Ladies Ensemble practice before church tomorrow and then we sing for church. And we'll sing again for Christmas.

Orchestra has had two practices and we play next Sunday for church. Then we'll play again in December.

Bells have had one practice, but we are supposed to have another tomorrow after church.

Stage Lights:

Practice is going well even if we haven't had everyone yet. Last week we practiced with mics and had our stage hands. It's coming together. Almost all the costumes are done. Scenery is done except for a little repair to one of them. It's going to be a fun play. :)

KDWC:

We have the largest camp ever! July was the largest camp, but we are 12 campers over that number! We have a total of 160 campers and aunties right now! And we added 6 new countries! Japan, Papua New Guinea, Ireland, Netherlands, Romania, and Philippines. Lots of words are getting written. Some are surprising themselves by how much they can get written. A group decided to have a challenge to see if they could write 10k in a week. Two girls did it in a day. Yep, they wrote 10k words in a day. One actually wrote 12k in a day! But most are happy to get 1-2k words in a day. :D

Sewing Room:

Sarah is swamped. Not only does she have orders to do, but she's also making most of the costumes for the Christmas play. Why do I write plays where costumes have to be made?

Read Another Page:

I have several things done.

1.] Faithful and Joyful (last year's Christmas Card story) is published.

2.] By Paths Unknown is now on audio!

3.] This year's Christmas Collection is now published. Christmas in the Same Country.

Book Nook:

I thought this would be a really long list, but it's actually not as long as I thought. Perhaps that's because I've been so busy with other things that I haven't gotten to read as much as some times. But here's what I've read. Next Things (good reminder), A Long Road on a Short Day (delightful little chapter book), Only Ten Cents (loved it), Touchdown Pass (Chip Hilton reread), Championship Ball (Chip Hilton), Strike Three! (Chip Hilton), Clutch Hitter (Chip Hilton), Hoop Crazy (Chip Hilton), Pitchers' Duel (Chip Hilton). Yes, I've been in a mood to reread the Chip Hilton books. :) It's been fun. But soon I'll switch to Christmas stories.

Farewell:

I don't know if there's anything else I should tell you. Life is busy, but you probably already guessed that. Not sure what will be happening next Saturday. I might be busy decorating. Or maybe some of the kids will be over to help. They want to build a lego Christmas village this year. We'll see if it happens. If it does, I'll make sure I take pictures for you all.

Anyway, have a lovely weekend. And Happy Thanksgiving!

Oh, I almost forgot! There will be a HUGE Black Friday Indie sale HERE on, well, on Black Friday. (Through Monday.)