Do you use saved drafts to make the post? sometimes the one that got posted as the thumbnail are the photos or gif on the saved draft. that is why the preview of the post is like that, assuming it is the gif format that you have as the footer that is considers as the thumbnail for the two most recent post of your.
I had mine like that as well.
Regarding your goal, well you are not alone. I failed my yearly author goal on the third day of the new year. but lets move on and continue with the journey. : )
!hiqvotes !LOLZ,
Yes, but the draft I used was working ok. I cleared the text, changed the photo... and it become broken only after posting. In the drafts page it looks fine.