Not Safe to Sit In

Today's drawing is Chairs and, I've gotta say, I don't think any of the chairs I drew are safe to sit in. Their legs jut out at odd angles and the bottom one looks like some kind of alien machine. Nope, don't sit in these chairs.

 

The other day a friend asked if I knew how many books I've sold in total. I had to confess that I don't know. That thought has been rolling around in my head and this afternoon I decided to do something about it. I went on Excel to see if any of my past tax prep spreadsheets could help. Not really, so I dug around to find the paperwork I took to the tax accountant for the last four years. First, I'm gobsmacked that I've been publishing and selling books since September 2022. I didn't start keeping track of sales until we got a booth at the winter Market on Military so that info starts in early 2023. I got through 2022 listing the books that I bought. Then I tackled 2023 with purchases and sales, making notes of trades, donations, and books left for consideration in places that never got back to me. I've finished totaling that year and basically broke even. Hopefully the next two years will have better numbers. Then I'll count up how many books I've ordered, how many I've sold, and how many I have on hand. That'll take a while but it'll be worth it. I hope. I'm not very good at Excel; I can make lists and make them add up and that's about the extent of my skills.

 

Dad's rose is still blooming. I'm glad that the overnight rain didn't beat it up or down.

 

Since yesterday was my birthday, the gratitude journal is mostly about me. As it should be. I am not unhappy at the drawing of my head and I really like the melted squirrel drawing.

 

I got a present at Writers Guild last night. GBB brought me some birthday tomatoes. One of them was my supper tonight. So very good. I don't even miss not having lettuce on my BLT. It's just a BT on toast with mayo. I'm happy with that.

 

The other day I got a text from the pharmacy that flu shots are available so I went and got one. I hoped to get a Covid booster too but they're not in yet. Then I stopped at the Maytag store and bought a new fridge which was more expensive than I thought it'd be but then everything's more expensive than I thought it'd be. My current fridge is leaking water from the auto defrost into the fridge instead of out the drain. I've had about four service calls for it and, since the thing is 22 years old, I'm giving up and getting a new one. When I got home I went on The Clearing's website and paid the rest of the fee for my class. Doing those two things made Lifelock have a hissy fit. Every time I spend over a certain amount they text and email immediately asking if it's me. I appreciate their diligence. I do not want to get hacked or scammed or whatever bad people do to sweet little old ladies like me.

-- Barbara