Thanks for reading the January 2025 issue of This Awful Awesome Life.

I hope you enjoy the fruit salad in “The Twelve Months of Fruit.”

Previous issues are available to read on our website.

Go to www.thisawfulawesomelife.com and start scrolling or you can enter specific search criteria.

Our February issue is about “Black History Month, Poetry, and Romance.”

We will be celebrating diversity and inclusivity and exploring the meaning of each term.

Orlando Bartro and I will be back with interesting articles for you.

February may be one of our coldest months, but we’re heating things up with a little romance.

I’m not sure if we will have a Q&A in February. I hope so, but I haven’t planned that far ahead yet.

Our February author birthday is John Steinbeck.  “Dare to Believe” will be back, and I’ll be featuring pears in the Twelve Months of Fruits.

We’re moving some of our regular features around to shake things up a bit and keep you on your toes. I’m also hoping to expand our Artist Page to feature more talented creatives. Some people manage to elevate their work to the level of an artform, and we want to support their efforts.

I’ll have more streaming and reading recommendations. “What’s in a Word?” will be back but we’ll be alternating some of our content. We’ll continue the monthly quizzes to exercise our brains, and we’ll continue reviewing books.

I’ll have another poem and a short story for you.

Also, I hope to have some news about a new subscription-based Patreon account featuring short stories and chapter installments of my books as I write them. This will be separate from our on-line magazine which will always be free and available to everyone. I’m considering the Patreon option because traditional and Indy publishing have changed so drastically in recent years. Hoping I can also provide opportunities for book discussions and narrations of short stories.

Stay safe. Stay well. You are important, and you are loved.

All my best,

Fran     

Answers to the January 2025 Quiz – “Figure it Out.” 

Question 1 solution:

1.      Annika and Shel are married and live in Pennsylvania.

2.      Jack and Arnold are married and live in Connecticut.

3.      Bryce and Chloe are married and live in New Mexico.

4.      William and Olivia are married and live in Oregon.

From the information given we know that Arnold, Shel, Jack, and Annika stayed east of St. Louis, Missouri. Pennsylvania merged the Steelers and the Eagles creating the “Steagles” for one season during WWII. Louis’ Lunch Eatery credited with serving the first hamburger in 1900 is in Connecticut. We also know that Annika is not married to Arnold.

We also know that Bryce, William, Chloe, and Olivia moved west of St. Louis, Missouri. The fifth largest state in the U.S. is New Mew Mexico. Oregon is the state bordering the Pacific Ocean between California and Washington. We also know Chloe is not married to William.

Question 2 solution:

1.      Katie told the truth. Greg, Donnie, Christy, Michael, and Matt lied. Donnie is the thief.

If after a thorough investigation the thief was discovered, investigators determined only one person was telling the truth, the other five people had to have claimed the guilty person was innocent. The only name mentioned by five people was Donnie, He lied when he claimed to be innocent and four people backed him up. Katie was the only person not to claim Donnie was innocent.

Question 3 solution:

1.      Eric – green stroller/yellow teddy bear

2.      Katie – yellow stroller/blue teddy bear

3.      Alexandria – blue stroller/purple teddy bear

4.      Pete – purple stroller/green teddy bear

We know each baby has a different colored stroller from the teddy bear they are holding. Katie has a yellow stroller. Eric doesn’t have a purple stroller or a purple teddy bear. Pete’s stroller is not the same color as Alexandria’s  teddy bear. The baby in the green stroller does not have a blue teddy bear. The baby in the blue stroller has a purple teddy bear.

Question 4 solution:

1.      The friend arrived in this order. Caroline was first, followed by Alicia, Bart, Dennis, and Ellie.

Caroline arrives before Alicia who arrives who arrives before Bart. Dennis arrives after Bart , but before Ellie.

Question 5 solution:

The only way to determine how to correct the mislabeled crates of wine by examining only one bottle of wine from a single crate is to take a bottle from the crate marked Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.

If the bottle is Chardonnay, you know the crate marked Chardonnay has to Cabernet Sauvignon because it can’t be Chardonnay and it can’t be both if all the crates are incorrectly labeled. The crate marked Cabernet Sauvignon has to contain both wines.

If the bottle is Cabernet Sauvignon, you know the crate marked Cabernet Sauvignon must be Chardonnay and the crate marked Chardonnay must be both.