The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer ~ It’s a chance to share news ~ A post to recap the past week on my blog and share news about what’s coming up in the week ahead. I’m also linking up to the Sunday Salon @ Readerbuzz!
What’s been happening since my last Sunday Post:
I’m now a Mac user – This actually happened a few weeks ago, but I forgot to mention it. I keep murdering my Windows laptops because I sit on the couch all day with the laptop on my lap and the power cord keeps inevitably getting jostled (my dogs do not help in this department). Plus, the laptops always seem to overheat, even when I put a little lapdesk on my lap (the fan ran crazily almost constantly). The last time I replaced my laptop, we thought we’d solved the problem by getting one of those magnetic adapters so the cord will just snap off if it’s hit instead of bending and messing up my computer’s internal parts). That did not help. So, this time I opted for a Mac – it has a fantastic battery life, so I only have to plug it in at night when it’s not on my lap. And Macs somehow run much cooler, so overheating isn’t an issue, even when I keep the laptop directly on my lap. I’ve gotten used to the switch a lot more quickly than I expected to!
Sitting on hold and other annoying interactions with the government – I spent way too much of this week dealing with social security/disability stuff for my son Noah. In June, he got a new job, and I’ve had to call SSI at least four (maybe five?) times to report the change. Every time, they tell me we’re all set – and then the next time I go to report his earnings (which we have to do every month), it’s still not switched to the new employer. And every time I have to call SSI, I’m on hold for an hour or more, so … yeah, it’s been frustrating.
Then Noah’s school told us that DRS (another government agency) needs us to report his pay to them as well on the first of the month – but they want his pay for all of the month before on the first. I had to explain to them that he’s only paid biweekly and the pay period ends a week before the pay date, so I don’t have access to his pay from yesterday. Hopefully that will be resolved. We shall see.
And then lastly, they automatically applied him for SSDI (I won’t bother explaining what that is exactly, but it would give him access to Medicaid), but with the new job, he’s been making too much money. It’s been a ton of rigamarole with me trying (unsuccessfully) to get documentation to them. Right now, Noah really wants to work more hours, and he’s doing well – so we hate telling him he can’t work so much just so he can get government assistance. (Plus, he ends up working extra hours, even when we tell him not to.) I think we might be giving up on SSDI and crossing our fingers that we’re not messing him up in his future.
The Finch app – A friend got me hooked on this cute free reminder/task app called Finch. It’s basically just a little game motivator to get you to do the stuff on your daily task list, and I honestly cannot believe how thoroughly it works on me. Like, honestly, I do things I otherwise would have avoided just to earn points toward getting my little birb a cute steampunk outfit. (I’m literally writing this post right now because I added it as a goal for the day.) It’s kind of ridiculous but also pretty amazing that it works so well. If you want to try Finch out, you can use this link and get a cute little micropet for your birb – or, if the link doesn’t work for some reason use my friend code: GJ8T1BWXBQf . (If two people try it, I’ll get a micropet too. And since I’m obsessed, I want a cute micropet. LOL!)
Book News/Progress:
Possibly going on submission? – My agent loved the NIV I sent to her recently, so it looks like we’ll be going on submission soon. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
What I Read:
- I listened to Rougarou Magic by Rachel Marsh. Loved this sweet and magical contemporary fantasy about a girl coming to terms with her feelings about her Cajun heritage and adapting to life in Boston after moving from Louisiana!
- I read 13 Ways to Say Goodbye by Kate Fussner, a verse novel that explores grief and crushes and family dynamics.
- Finally, I listened to A Quantum Love Story by Mike Chen. I don’t read a lot of adult books these days, but I always love Chen’s. I love that his books read like a blend of science fiction and contemporary, and he never fails to draw me in. (Plus, I love time travel/sliding door sorts of stories!).
- I’m still working on writing picture books, so I also read more of them! Here’s a list:
- Snappsy the Alligator Did Not Ask to Be in This Book, Creepy Carrots, Nerdy Birdy, The Invisible Parade, Bearsuit Turtle Makes a Friend, Itty Bitty Betty Blob, Prunella, Rosie the Dragon and Charlie Say Good Night, Light Speaks, The Peddler of Puddles, Willow and the Wildflowers, The Day the Books Disappeared, Lily the Pond Mermaid, Beneath
Here’s what you may have missed on the blog since my last Sunday Post:
- Nothing new this week!
NEW Pre-order Campaigns
Head over to my Pre-Order Campaigns Page to see ALL of the pre-order deals, including pictures!!
Here’s a list of the pre-order campaigns I’ve added to the list since my last Sunday Post:
Pre-order MOTH DARK by Kika Hatzopoulou from The Novel Neighbor to receive two character art cards and a signed bookplate! (INT) (Ends 10/27) CLICK FOR DETAILS
Pre-order THE COIN SISTERS by Shelby Taylor to receive a hand-signed edition, a character art bookmark, a sticker, and two mystery character cards! (Ends 1/5) CLICK FOR DETAILS
Pre-order THE SCAMMER by Tiffany D. Jackson to receive a limited-edition lanyard! (US only) (Ends 10/6) CLICK FOR DETAILS
Pre-order HAZELTHORN by C.G. Drews to receive two character art prints and a signed bookplate! (US/CAN) (Ends 10/27) CLICK FOR DETAILS
Lots of good stuff! Have any news? Feel free to share in the comments!
Ack, that does sound like a headache with the government. I always hate having to call official people like that for all the headaches and passing onto someone else and all the hold music. The awful, awful hold music. Hop you’re at the end of that journey! And ooh a Mac Book! I also always got Windows computers, mainly because Mac was so out of my price range. Still is really. Lol. I know one of my older laptops got hot super quick, but I know I was doing some early streaming back in the day. I feel like my current one doesn’t get all that hot, so hopefully it lasts. But then it keeps telling me it’s too full and can’t do an update and I’m like, there’s hardly anything on this laptop, so it’s likely the software updates taking up space. Hoping I can at least hold off for another year when tax free weekend comes around to help on savings! Plus things still work well enough that I can tell that I don’t want to spend all that money for no real reason.
Hope you have a great week ahead!
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Have a GREAT day!
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Good luck going on submission! I’m sorry for the problems you’re having with your son’s social security. You have to think carefully about what to do. It can be really hard for someone to get SSI benefits, and you don’t want him to have to fight to get them if working more doesn’t work out for them. I’m not sure if SSI has a nine-month trial work period where your son can still get benefits. I believe SSD has a trial period. Good luck with it.
Yeah, I was hoping he could just apply a little later if he doesn’t qualify right now, but the woman I spoke to said she doesn’t think he’ll be able to, and I’m afraid we’re just out of luck since he worked too much these past couple of months. Part of the issue, too, is that he’s such a people-pleaser – he’ll go into work early or work late all the time, because they “need him.”
I’ve had to buy far too many computers in recent years, so I’m hoping this one lasts. (But I did also break down and buy the damage plan. LOL)
I shall look for that Finch app. I always get more done when I reward myself, especially in quirky ways.
Thanks for sharing the picture books you are reading. I love to see what Julie Falatko is doing. She is helping via her occasional Substack post me limit my social media.
I’ve been very surprised about how motivating the Finch app has been for me! And I loved the Snappsy book – so cute!
Dealing with government departments is always so much more difficult than it needs to be. I hope you get it all sorted soon.
I’m glad the app is working for you, a reward chart for adults lol
Wishing you a happy reading week
You’re so right – it is like a reward chart for adults! LOL
Ug, I can relate to the Medicaid problems. I’m right on the edge of making too much money for Medicaid, so they keep taking it away and making me prove my income. Then they give it back. Then they take it away again. Then they give it back.
Yes, it’s so frustrating! I wish they would just give you less if you make more, like they do with SSI. And this all just happened at a very bad time for him because of this job switch. I hate to force him to only be able to work like 2.5 days for the rest of his life when he really WANTS to work more. But at the same time, it’s scary to worry that something might happen in the future and he won’t have that security. Because of his cognitive disability, he isn’t really capable of doing anything more than entry-level work, but he’s not really limited in the number of hours he can work – so it’s all a big gray area.
The Finch app looks really cool! I do like crossing off things off to do lists, but steampunk characters would be even more motivational. Good luck with your book out on sub! Those picture books look interesting, especially the one about Snapsy.
Yay for coming to the Mac side! I went to it probably about 15 or so years ago when my school district switched to Macs and I haven’t wanted to go back! My dad and sisters have always been Mac users, so now it’s all that side of my family including me. That sucks at how difficult the government is making everything. It’s so frustrating I’m sure! And how exciting about your next book! Can’t wait to hear more on how that goes. Hope you have a good week!