Pat's Dad turned 91 today. We took them to Pat and Jerry's in Auburn. We found several matts and a canvas and some sketching paper at an estate sale awhile back and he really liked that we got a deal on his present.
When we were done with lunch I asked if the owner was there because she was one of the owners of Bertie's. I just missed her.
Pat, our friend Diane and I went to Gladwin to see our friend Greg. He and his wife just bought a vacation home in Gladwin. It is so cute. I could sit on their red rockers overlooking the lake every day.
We spent hours on the boat. It was the most relaxing day. Missed Kathy though, but Greg said somebody has to work to afford all this fun!
I spent the day yesterday on a roller coaster! The highs of having published my first book to the lows of trying to figure out what was wrong with the formatting. If someone had the black background with white print it was a black page with no writing.
I went through the kindle set up on the original document. It looked fine. I went to the forum and posted a question. Someone asked if the font was automatic. Went and checked - it was! So I posted that response and waited.
Then someone posted on facebook that they just got a refund and Kindle told her they were going to pull the book! POSTED ON FACEBOOK FOR EVERYONE TO SEE!!! I was so upset. So I sent her a private message and asked if she was using the black background and she was. She asked me to call her. When we talked she gave me the help phone number from her Kindle.
I called the automated phone help number and expected to wait. I was very happy at how quickly I was talking to a real person. After explaining my situation he put me on hold and after a short wait said I would have an answer to my forum question within a few hours. I received excellent help in the Kindle forum with the exact solution and a backup solution if the first didn't work.
Well, it was Word. And as my friend, Jan from work always said, "Stupid in, stupid out!" Even though I selected all and chose automatic AND the box on the tool bar showed the word automatic. Most of the fonts when I went into them were set at black!
I manually went through each chapter and made the changes. Then uploaded the book again. The book was unavailable for several hours. I kept checking and checking waiting for the book to be "live" again. Finally it was ready. I deleted my copy, went in and downloaded another, opened it and aaaahhhh it was the same! It took awhile before I understood I had to go to the website, manage my Kindle and delete the book there. Then I purchased a new book and IT WAS FIXED! While purchasing the new book I saw the person from the forum had reviewed my book. She gave it a five star rating which was very nice, but the title she gave her review was, "A small problem with Kindles" Those words were right under my book!
Thankfully my sweet sister-in-law wrote a new review after she finished the book and it pushed the other one out of the top spot!
Then I spent the rest of the evening going through the other three books and manually correcting all the fonts.
All in all, I am very thankful for the support of family and Kindle.
We had such fun at the 60th birthday party for our class. We had a small turnout but we really had fun. We had it at Fandangles'. Tom and Steve really know how to throw a party. The dinner was fabulous. Sue won the prize for being the youngest.
I just received a text from Joanna. She just left my first grandchild at Ferris State University! Such conflicting emotions.
- She is so ready for this.
- We will miss her so much.
- She aced her summer algebra class which just finished last week so she stayed in the study mode.
- We will miss her so much.
- She has matured into a delightful young woman who will be a leader in everything she does.
- We will miss her so much
OK, OK, it is good she left this family who would smother her with love!
So we were driving down the road when I saw a butterfly flying in circles. Probably singing or humming with happiness for the beautiful sunshiny day.
Then our car smacked into it and killed the happy little sucker!
It made me wonder if that is how God watches over us. Letting us make our own choices, even if it means we are not paying attention to our surroundings.
How many times have I gone about my life without any concern for others? I need to pay more attention to those around us, near and far.
We had such a nice dinner with our niece Elizabeth. I texted her and she said she would love to have dinner some night this week. I texted back, tonight? Well she was working and didn't get the text until later. We drove to Grand Rapids and then found out she was busy.
So I texted her back again and suggested breakfast. But the sweet girl changed her plans and we had dinner.
When we got back to the hotel Pat said, "We have to see her more often." We love that girl!
On our left - blue skies, white fluffy clouds. On our left - black, slate grey and bluish grey clouds.
We drove to Clear Lake. It was sunny and beautiful all day. Stopped at Bear Den Lake to see the loons. Ate lunch at the Elbo Inn. Then drove back home.
Aaaahhhh. . . The storm caught us! It is pouring.
Slaying the zombies! We are having fun. The other picture is her car. She went to pick up Javi.
Then to Walmart park. When we got in the car she said, "Do we have to go over the bridge where you say aaaahhh cause you are crazy?" (click on the aaaahh to see the original post about this story!)
I asked, "Who told you that?" She said, "Grandma Caroline"
Then it started raining and we had to run to the car. We went to McDonalds and there wrre all boys playing so she just sat eating her food.
Then on to Hemmeter to buy peaches and blueberries for a pie. Was hoping for Michigan peaches but only Georgia.
In a Choice Hotel, Comfort Inn, in St. Ignace. We were drinking our coffee on our patio this morning and Pat says, "Read your coffee cup!"
So, here it is the beginning of August and trees are beginning to change up here! We saw turkeys with young chicks! A couple Sandhill cranes. An Eagle. And a few deer.
We went on the glass bottom boat tour out of Munising. The ride was beautiful. The shipwrecks just okay.
Ate pasties at Muldoon's in Munising. Voted #1 pasty in the U.P. Have to agree.
Stopped at a few waterfalls. On our way to St. Ignace. It's a beautiful day in the U.P.
We spent a delightful hour with Mr. Lepeak. We shared a bottle of his famous raspberry wine. And he was sweet enough to send us on our way with another!
We caught up on family. Pat asked him some advice about the '63 Holiday Rambler trailer we got from him. We visited with Stanley and Linda. I had a chance to tell their daughter about her Aunt Janet serving Caroline a plate of trout with the head still on it story.
Offered to Stanley to watch his kids when he goes to France the next time so he can take Linda with him. (I meant it Stanley!)
I never leave Grand Marais without tears. I miss Janet and her Mom so much.
We just crossed the bridge. A couple more hours to Mr. Lepeak's home. I cooked meat sauce and meatballs this morning and put it in 10 containers for his freezer. That will give him a good winter supply.
We are staying in Manistique tonight. We like that town, too. Probably a trip to the casino and Palms Brook State Park to maneuver the raft over the lake.
I love our U.P.
Why bother? I made my list, checked it twice, just like Santa. Got home - forgot to buy two things on the list!
However, renembered to buy panko even though I found I already had a box in the cupboard!!""
Yesterday was so nice. We even sat outside in the backyard! There was such a nice cool breeze.
This summer has been like living in the Southwest. We have always enjoyed Michigan summers, but this year we have not been outside unless we had to go somewhere. You know it is bad when Pat actually wears a pair of shorts!
So, maybe we will be able to camp in August!
OK - I take the Soutgwest comment back. The morning news just said the Oklahoma firefighters are going to get a break today with temperatures only in the high 90's instead of over 100!
Anticipation is making me crazy! Here is a scary look into my craziness.
I am waiting for the covers to be done for the Saginaw Series. I know I told Dan September, but I can't wait. Is my vision his vision? Have I explained well enough about what I want it to be? Should we go visit and see if everything seems to be on track? Should we stay away so I don't bug him?
To keep busy I am making minor changes to the stories. When I think there couldn't possibly be anything else to change I find something.
I am worried about setting up the Amazon account, converting the files to HTML, and details for signing up for ereader books. My computer keeps freezing - need to have someone look at it before I start uploading the books. Even I wouldn't want to be near me if the computer froze at a critical moment. Actually I just want them done.
I am looking forward to working on the Holiday Series. I haven't looked at those books for three months. I will be so happy to develop those characters in more detail. I won't look at those until the Saginaw Series is on Amazon!
