Monday Meanderings #37

Hello, friends! Last week flew by in a blur. I swear time is moving faster. But now we are fully into the Christmas season with trees, decorations and lights everywhere.

I don’t know what the weather is like where you are, but it’s turned cold here. I finally had to give in and switch on my heat. This is when I really wish I had a fireplace. If you have one, enjoy it enough for me!

Our Thanksgiving gathering was wonderful. We had thirteen for our Thanksgiving feast and I enjoyed being with family. My grandson got to come home from college and he brought a friend with him. Then, my step-son and daughter-in-law came. It was a good time of sharing great food and conversation. The kiddos all played games, got in the hot tub and roasted marshmallows. This is them playing Jackbox TV. 🙂

This is my two daughters, me and my beautiful daughter-in-law (who hates having her picture taken).

And, as the shirt says, I am one Thankful Grandma!

I am doing a happy dance as the year winds down! I now have all three of The White Rune eBooks back up. And the best part—I managed to link to the reviews, thanks to Joan Hall and her wisdom of saving an old email!!! Take a look. I’ll be starting to promote them soon. In the meantime, if any of them catches your eye, I’d be thrilled if you’d grab it.

What a learning experience this has been. I will be sharing the many steps I had to take on Story Empire blogs in the upcoming year.

I apologize once again for getting so far behind on visiting your blogs. I barely made it to any last week. Hopefully, this week will get back to more of a ‘normal’ routine, whatever that is.

I am still in major cleaning out and clearing out mode. But things are starting to disappear. I sold a PA system on Thanksgiving morning and that was one more big thing gone. I am keeping what I enjoy having. But the rest can go. It feels good. I have come to realize that at this point in my life, it is all about me and what I want to have, not what I feel like I am supposed to keep. One of the things I can’t bring myself to part with is all of Rick’s writings. His words are more precious than ‘things.’

I will be sharing my November book reviews later this week. And for the remainder of the year, I will be hit-and-miss here and on social media. Hopefully, I can start 2026 with a clear mind, rested and ready to tackle the next project.

I saw this on Facebook and it was too good not to share.

That is a profound bit of truth!

I drew a Tarot card for the week and it’s one of my favorites.

This card is all about honing your craft, hard work and productivity. The only way to become skilled at something is to continually engage in practicing it. Your skills are worth developing. If you’ve been working hard to learn something new or advance within your current field, your efforts have not gone unnoticed.

Okay. I definitely have learned some new things over this past few weeks.

That’s it for today. I know the holiday season is hectic for everyone. And I appreciate you taking the time to stop by here and follow along with my meanderings.

  • Comment (21)
  • Dan Antion says:

    Looks like a wonderful family gathering. That makes the holiday special. The covers look great. Good luck going forward. Definitely save those writings.

    • Jan Sikes says:

      Thanks, Dan. I appreciate you dropping by. And yes, I am saving the writings. Who knows? Maybe I will do something with them at some point. Have a great week.

  • It looks like you all had a big, happy gathering at Thanksgiving. Yay for getting your White Rune series back up!

  • Jan Sikes says:

    Thank you, Priscilla. It was a chore, and one I’m happy to now have behind me! I appreciate you taking the time to meander with me!

  • I love the peak behind the curtain of your life. What a great family you have!

  • I’m glad you finally decided to clear out the things you’ve been holding onto, Sister. It’s very freeing. Love the pics of the kiddos and all the ladies. Glad your Thanksgiving put joy in your heart. This card is perfect for me since I’m in the “honing and editing” part of my next release. Love you.

    • Jan Sikes says:

      Thank you for stopping by, sister. I love the card. We never get finished with growing in the craft of writing. And you are so right about cleaning out and clearing!

  • Pat Spencer says:

    Congrats on getting the Rune series up and running. Your family Thanksgiving looks like it was lots of fun!

  • Looks like a great Thanksgiving. The covers look terrific and glad you could get the reviews transferred. Memories are more precious than things. Gotta hang on to those.

  • D.L. Finn, Author says:

    Looks like a wonderful family day, Jan. Ours ended up being smaller with illness keeping some home, but it turned out to be an extra special day. Glad you got through redoing your books too! I love that quote and its so true and nice tarot card pick as well. I’m not around like I would like to be either and hope that changes in the new year too. Happy December 🙂

    • Jan Sikes says:

      Thanks for taking the time to stop by, Denise. I can’t tell you what a relief it is to have those eBooks back up and available WITH the reviews! Whew! I’m glad you enjoyed the quote and the tarot card. Have a great week ahead! Hugs!

  • Mary Morgan says:

    What wonderful family photos, Jan! So happy you had a good holiday. I can definitely relate to de-cluttering and purging. After clearing out my mom’s home to prep for a sale, I came back to my own home and spent the summer purging a lot! What a freeing experience! And
    I’m not done. Delighted your White Rune series is back up, too! Have a lovely week. 😍

  • Heh! Funny you mentioned visiting blogs. I noticed this on X or somewhere and wondered why it never populated in my reader. I’ve probably been absent from your site for a while now. I’ll try to adjust my Reader settings to see what happened.

  • Harmony Kent says:

    I’m delighted you had such a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family, Jan. The reading for this week strikes a chord. Congratulations on getting your books back up and the reviews linked! Wishing you well 😊💗

  • I’m glad you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, Jan, and the photos are great! Your covers look great too, so let me know if the books will be available in paperback, my preference; if not, I’ll get the e-books. That hard truth got to me. Thanks for sharing, and I wish you a wonderful December. ❤️

  • Teri Polen says:

    Sounds like you had a perfect Thanksgiving, Jan! Love, love, love that quote – so true. I’m looking forward to reading how you went about the new covers and transferring the reviews. Glad Joan could help!

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