Monthly Check In - May

I did it! I survived my 40th birthday with lots of action. We are a family full of mostly fully vaccinated people so we had a lovely garden dinner outside with everyone. My entire family, led by my sister and SO, did a phenomenal job getting everything ready. Tent, tables, catered dinner, and outdoor heaters because April in Buffalo is still cold.

The theme was, "All dress up and no place to go."

Nailed it with this table scape.
Also, I learned what a table scape is. #40

Have you checked out my Mother's Day book suggestions on my Bookshop page yet? It's never too late to honor all the mothers in your life! Click here to buy I Sang You Down from the Stars.

Seriously, one of the most beautiful books ever.
Check out this, and other Mother's Day books
HERE!
Or check out the NPR interview with the
Caldecott winning illustrator
HERE!

Also, please consider donating to a cause to help those in India fighting an uphill battle against Covid. You can research organizations that meet your ideas for how to donate but this is the one I chose to donate to. Every little bit helps. A global pandemic means solutions need to be global too - not just your own small bubble. 

So here's where I stand with my goals.

The Big One - Stop biting my nails.

Nope, I have not bit my nails yet! On my 40th birthday, Oscar caught some sort of weird stomach bug. Apparently there is a pediatric bug going around but Oscar got it bad. He's been out of commission for more than 2 weeks. Talk about stress. We're coming out of it now and he has some weight to gain back and some energy to build up. 2021 is certainly putting my commitment to the test!

The Other Goals

1. Read a novel written in Spanish. Nope. But I did read another picture book in Spanish! 

Slow and steady.

2. Learn how to roller skate...again. Nothing yet on this front. 

3. Stop dying my hair. 👍👍

4. Learn how to use power tools. Maybe when I get my bookstore going? 

5. Join a writing group. I can't believe I actually made this happen. But our group swapped our first stories in the month of April, gave each other feedback, and we are on track for another swap. Honestly, I have no idea how I managed this.

6. Learn to play "Blackbird" on the guitar. 👎👎Maybe a 4th quarter goal? :)

7. _______ Bookstore Alice, Ever After Books

We are cruising along! I have a few weeks left of my Intro to Entrepreneurship class. I have been meeting regularly with the Small Business Association. I have a mentor. I meet and talk regularly with a small group of bookstore owners. I had record sales on my online bookshop for Indie Bookstore Day. I'm tiptoeing closer and closer to some next big steps so get ready for announcements hopefully soonish!

Spent the second half of April like this.

Managed to get outside this past week.

Indie Bookstore Day books!

For my birthday my sister and her SO illustrated
and self-published one of my stories. Not my finest work.
But hey, now I'm officially published!

It snowed here. On April 19th. 3 inches.
Welcome to spring in Buffalo.

Maybe not so surprising but I did not read the April book for the Reese Witherspoon book club. I didn't even buy it. I'm trying to watch every penny coming through my bank accounts these days so I put my name on the waitlist at the library. When the book comes in I'll read it then! I did finish The Rebel Bookseller and reread Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, you know, for research. I also read A LOT of new picture books to get ready for a month full of blogs and other articles.

So here we are, May. Fingers crossed that we get warm weather and lots of good news here in Buffalo!