Wow. I can't believe we are already this close to February. Kinda blows my mind. I'm officially 31. My birthday was on the 26th. It was a great day. Brian gave me Pokemon Omega Ruby. Where has that been all my life?? We went to see the Monty Python Holy Grail quote along with Nicole. That was a blast. He bought my domain name for the Abby the Labby website. Then he took me to the Melting Pot for a wonderful dinner. Oh the dinner was amazing. I was met with balloons tied to a box of three chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of red wine. It was a nice romantic dinner. Sigh.....

Anyhow, I had a great learning experience this month. Jules, my editor and boss, asked me to read and edit one of her book. GULP! I agreed but was reluctant. This was my first, real, editing job. It was also my editor's edits. Kinda....terrifying. I mean, what I said something and she was offended? What if I said something didn't work and she got mad? What if I wasn't tactful enough and she threw her computer at me telling me never to talk to her again? Okay that last part wouldn't have happened. I mean, computers are expensive. But still, the thoughts were there. What if I didn't like the story? What do I say to that? Needless to say, I was a bit worried. But, thankfully, I did like the story and the edits were well received. I actually can't wait to read book two. But this was a great learning experience for me and I look forward editing more.

As I said above, my Abby the Labby website is officially mine. I'm so excited. I was also sent the last bit of the art work for my book. They are so amazing! I can't wait to see it start getting put together. Abby has an official Facebook page as well as a Twitter and an e-mail. Those will launch soon, probably within the next month. I have the cover art reveal to look forward to as well. I'm just so excited.

We are also headed to Awesome Con this year. I think that has me more excited than anything. I'm going to have a book on the table. Ahhhh! I love doing booth work. I'm really good at it and in my element. I'm really looking forward to it.

So that is about it for now. I have stuff I need to be doing. Here are my goals for February.

1. Work on my submissions for Fandom Universe

2. Complete Deep Waters

3. Survive Perler Bead hell

4. Officially launch social media things for Abby the Labby

5. Be the Minion of Awesomeness  

Today is January 26. It is a pretty awesome day. I mean, the world was graced with my presence on this day 31 years ago. So it is a pretty awesome day. But, other than it being the day of my birth, it is also Kawasaki Disease Awareness Day. What is Kawasaki Disease? Well, I will tell you.

The easiest way for me to explain what KD is is through wikipedia. So here is what Wikipedia says:

Kawasaki disease, also known as Kawasaki syndrome, lymph node syndrome, and mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome, is an immune disease in which the medium-sized blood vessels throughout the body become inflamed. It is largely seen in children under five years of age. It affects many organ systems, mainly those including the blood vessels, skin mucous membranes, and lymph nodes. Its rarest but most serious effect is on the heart, where it can cause fatal coronary artery aneurysms in untreated children. Without treatment, mortality may approach 1%, usually within six weeks of onset. With treatment, the mortality rate is 0.17% in the U.S.

Often, a pre-existing viral infection may play a role in its pathogenesis. The skin, the conjunctivae of the eyes, and the mucous membranes of the mouth become red and inflamed. Swelling of the hands and feet is often seen and lymph nodes in the neck are often enlarged. A recurrent fever, often 37.8°C (100.0°F) or higher, is characteristic of the acute phase of the disease. In untreated children, the fever lasts about 10 days, but may range from five to 25 days. The disorder was first described in 1967 by Tomisaku Kawasaki in Japan.


I could go on about signs and symptoms, but then I would be met with with several comments with “tl/dr”. Here are a few of them, the most popular: *High grade fever lasting 5 days or more *Swollen Lymph nodes in the neck *Body Rash *Red Eyes *Swollen hands and feet *Swollen, red, and cracked lips and tongue. I highly encourage you to look up the information. The problem with KD is that there is very little awareness. Almost every story of a child that suffers from KD starts with a frustrated parents searching for answers. Because so little is known, even less is understood. Right now, the long term effects of this disease are relatively unknown. There is no answer on where it comes from, or how a child contracts the disease. It can lead to serious and fatal heart problems.

The reason this is so important to me is because my nephew was diagnosed with KD in February of 2013 when he was two and on day 8 of his symptoms. After four misdiagnoses, my sister being called crazy by three different doctors, his pediatrician finally put the pieces together and realized what disease was taking over his poor body. The doctor, luckily, had seen a case 20 years prior to my nephew's case. After a week long stay at Sinai Hospital, 2 IVIG treatments, and lots of love and care, he was cured with no heart damage (that we know of yet).

That being said, I would like to ask you to help spread the awareness about KD. No child should suffer for as long as my nephew and countless other children had to suffer. No parent should be told they are crazy and feel crazy, when they KNOW that something more is wrong with their child. Please ask about KD, make sure your pediatrician is aware of the disease, can diagnose the disease, and recognize the symptoms.

I would like to thank my sister for posting this on her Facebook page today and bringing this to my attention. This is basically her status update. :)

Tea. Probably the best drink in the world other than water. I love tea. I drink my fair share. I do love me some tea. Earl Grey. Hot. But, since I'm mostly southern, I drink iced tea the most. My step dad thinks iced tea is sacrilegious. Seriously. He rants. He is British so it is understandable. I tried to explain to him my theory as to why iced tea is a thing, especially in the south. The southern states are pretty freaking hot. I mean, have you ever been in Texas in the summer? It is miserable on the best day. Modern clothing trends allow us to wear shorts, tiny top, and flip flops. Can you imagine living in the heat during the 1800's? Ice began to appear in tea during the 1860s. You know what the fashion was during that time? Dresses. Really big, poofy, layered dresses. With petticoats and heels, and shit. NO AC. I can't survive in the heat in a bathing suit without AC much less in a full blown thick dress. That is a big pile of NOPE.

I could give you a brief history of tea, but I won't. I mean, tea goes back thousands of years. I want people to actually read my blog, not post tl/dr in the comments. So I will talk about tea bricks. What is a tea brick? I will tell you.

Tea bricks are bricks of tea. See? It is that easy. Back in the day, before the invention of the modern tea bag (giggle giggle) tea was commonly pressed in molds and pressed into block form. They were left to dry before being used. Interesting note: tea was once used as currency. They bound it with flour, blood, or manure so it could survive transactions. Ew. During the pressing process, companies would include a pretty pretty design on the top.

The bricks were compact and portable which made transport easier. In fact, tea bricks are what the Son's of Liberty threw into Boston Harbor during the Boston Tea Party.

How do Americans brew tea?
IN HARBORS!











Tea bricks can be found today. They are sold as a novel-tea. (See what I did there?) In fact, my friend's bakery, Iron Gate Bakery, sells tea bricks. I bought one for my step dad and he was excited. My mother had no clue as to what it was. I haven't tried the tea, but it smells wonderful. I would keep it around just for the smell.

Here's the thing, though. The tea is compressed tea. It is like a Smartie. It is pressed and pressed and pressed until it is in this heavy brick. Unlike a Smartie, it is thick. The instructions say to “break off a piece.” Yeeeeaaaahhhh.....about that.....most of the websites I went to said to use a tea knife or tea needle to pry the tea loose. That is all fine and dandy if you have the type of tea that looks like a bunch of compressed snakes. But if you have the ground, pressed tea brick, if you try to use a tea needle or knife, you are going to end up in the ER. So use a good ol' chisel and mallet. I'm serious, unless you want to brew the entire brick, which is not a good idea because it would more than likely make you sick since that is a lot of concentrated tea.

On that note, I have the urge to drink some tea. I'm at a coffee shop that has no idea how to brew tea. I'll wait until tomorrow. Also, I don't own the photo. I pulled it off the internet.  

Goals. Goals. Goals. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
                                                 (deep breath) OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAALS!


Okay enough of my Spanish futbal broadcaster impression. Last year was a decent year for me goal wise. I set reasonable goals and I met a good majority of them. Life happened and I did what I could. Overall, I am please with what I was able to accomplish. I joined Year of Creative Pursuits with my writer friends last year so that I would be help accountable for doing what I said I would do. That is what I need. I need people to say, “Um...you know that thing you said you were going to do? Go do that shit!” and “You did that thing? Awesome!”. Sometimes you need a peanut gallery.


This year, I'm doing YoCP again and I hope to have even more success. There are a couple of overall goals I want to achieve. They will be my Ongoing Goals. Then there will be things I want to complete monthly. They will be my Monthly Goals.


My yearly goals are as follows:

1. Have a successful launch of the Abby the Labby series.

2. Write three novels. My romance, the futuristic dystopian thingie idea, and the anthology I want to put together on top of the next five Abby the Labby books.

3. Manage my anxiety better.

4. Finish two blankets.

5. Do a better job with blogging.


January Goals:

1. Chief Minion when needed.

2. Complete romance novel and prepare for editing.

3. Continue working on M's blanket.

4. Blog once a week.

So there you have it. Those are my goals. I'm hoping that this year I will be able to do better with my goals. Here is to a new year!