January 12th, 2026

I can't believe in forty eight hours I will be on my way to the airport!  Time really does go by so darn fast - I know I'm going to blink and this big trip is going to be behind us.  

At the moment, my biggest dilemma, luggage. My carryon is too small and my right size one the wheel broke on our trip to Ireland and I haven't been able to find a match for my smaller one in the medium size.  sigh.  So... I bought a vacuum sealer hoping to make my clothes smaller - yeah well - that doesn't work near as well as they make it sound. It might reduce the size 80% for an air filled comforter, but it does almost nothing for a bulky sweater.  And unfortunately, since we're going to two climates, I need pants and sweaters as well as shirts and capris.  Running out of time, but my daughter may have the size I need - of course I'll be totally mismatched - burgundy checked luggage and blue laptop carryon - but hey- it is what it is- right? 

I promise to take some pictures of me all bundled up - the cruise line gives you as a gift a warm parka - that this Texan will NEVER again use!  So I have no idea how I'm going to fit that thing into my suitcase - maybe then the vacuum pack will work. So many unknowns and once I figure it out - won't need to know it again cause I am never doing this trip again lol. 

Book updates-  Rescue is back from the editor and at the proofer/review team so that should be done and ready to go for schedule release. I am planning on doing a lot of writing on the airplanes - hopefully - I'll get a good start on either Ryan or Sweet Devotion - we'll see how it goes!  

Shall we grumble a little about weight loss?? Sigh - I did so well last year losing about ten pounds and not gaining it back in Ireland - well, I did gain two pounds but considering what I was eating that wasn't bad at all.  Then with my grands here for four month and the change in foods and eating times etc etc - I gained TWELVE pounds - and have tried to get rid of it without stressing but I'm merely back to not gaining - losing has always been hard for me.  I even tried the semaglutide pills for almost two months - I actually gained weight on that garbage- then we tride the tirzepetide pills for a couple of weeks but it had zero affect on my appetite of my sense of feeling full also so - they both got dumped. If I weren't phobic about hypodermics I would try the shots - but shots and I are not good friends. Who knows, maybe with all the walking we'll be doing on our trip and with more real food - unlike the US where sugar and additives are in EVERYTHING - It might help me drop at least a few pounds - would be nice. 

That's it for today - I'm off to work on resolving my luggage issue and some of my supplements that I didn't realize I was short on - I'm taking three weekly pill boxes with me for the trip - One will go in my carryon - the other two in my checked bags - as Bette Davis once said, growing older isn't for sissies !