2012 in Review...

January - Late 2011 in review, my take on resolutions, new Supernatural, the flu, first meeting as president of my writing group (and not passing out), jackhammers until 2am due to a broken gas line in the street out front, beach trips with the besties, Supernatural, snow!, "Dear" letters, reposts, Tall Tale Tuesdays...
February - videos from friends with good points, That Man's birthday, My sister's birthday, new projects, Supernatural, iPhone!, more sickness, taxes, Valentine's visits to K5, crappy weeks, scout events, rejections, breast cancer rears its ugly head in my family.
March - kids in car accidents, nights out with That Man, retreat planning, bad days, X-box parties, friends, sleep, dinner with friends, the weather getting better, Netflix, gnomes...
April - kids being grounded, dinner with friends, K5, Easter, waiting to hear on the breast cancer, finding out about The Hobbit movie, Supernatural, mini class reunions, retreat planning, revisions, hurting eyes, lost eyeglasses, still in love with the iPhone, psycho weather, K2's wrist surgery, French exchange students, hives, weekends alone!
May - More revisions, girls night with my sisters, promotions at the day job, Mimosas, Retreat!, kid performances, prepping for summer, missing summer vacation...
June - Shaving my head because breast cancer sucks, mammograms, zombie writing, alone time with That Man, Snippets, bald pictures, good weekends, the flu, tagged for the work in progress, kids being at camp, Summer Survival Journal, street fairs, mini-vacations, K5 turning 2!, storms, camping, birthday party for K5!
July - Camping, kayaking, Magic Mike, Summer Survival Journal, baby bluebirds, sick kitty, camp prep, wedding planning, summer camp, Hello-Goodbye dinners, planning for the beach, more summer camp, Good Night, Sweet Kitty (I still miss my kitty boy).
August - K5 and pink ice cream, baseball games, birthday parties, Eagle ceremonies, ice, revisions, silly posts, the news of new babies, wedding dates, wedding planning, the dead iPhone!, a wonderful time at the beach, getting my iPhone back, more wedding planning, sick puppies, saying goodbye to our dog :(, missing Abbie, school starting, new books, bugs.
September - baseball games, wedding planning, Dr. Who, paycheck snafu's that could have potentially screwed up the wedding, flower making, painting, planning, (this will be the theme for 2013 - just hopefully not the paycheck snafu), a beautiful wedding! - so proud of my son, wedding pictures, Farm Aid!, K5.
October - writing, organizing, K5, the Detox diet, Supernatural, post-wedding survival, lizards in the basement (I still have not seen it), kids moving out, Ren Faire!, K2 going to Rome!, dead hot water heaters, pumpkin carving with K5, a 16 year old!, K5, Frankenstorm, excited for my new grandson, birthday parties, Frankenstorm let down.
November - winning with the water heater company and getting the replacement part for free (yes, we went a long time without hot water, but we managed, and now we know we can survive the zombie apocalypse), k5, vehicle issues, last minute school projects, performing kids, baby showers, K5, November wreckage, school plays, funny kids, moving the kids, Thanksgiving with the family, Christmas trees with the scouts, Sometimes, my sister's Etsy shop, kids getting major roles in the school spring musical, looking forward to Christmas, K2 turning 21!
December - Holiday parties, a new kitty, Christmas trees, taking K5 shopping and her hysterical choices, dog fixes, stepping down as president (because I have no choice - my term limit is up) after a pretty decent year, tree decorating with the kiddos, frozen yogurt for dinner, plans for tacos for Christmas dinner, Spenser (our new kitty) getting used to us, Christmas plays with work - food and good performances, the great bedroom renovation of 2013 getting started, being tagged, Girls night with my sisters, birthday planning, crazy schedules!, The Hobbit, K4 turning 13!, Our anniversary, frustrating major gift deliveries, rat baths, good feelings, sickness, snow... (1 day left, but I don't think anything significant is going to happen...)
That was my year - or at least part of it - as I read through this, I realize I didn't post half of the stuff that happened. That sucks, and I'll try to do better in 2013. I missed a lot of Dr. Who and a lot of Supernatural, a lot of good stuff, and some of the bad, too. I also missed a lot of writing things...and some frustration...
That is all..
Behave!

Feel Good Friday - The Saturday Snow Edition

It's snowing! Or it was...Seems to be done now. That man and that boy are out plowing snow for pay. I miss them being here for the snow day, but it'll be a nice bonus to the family income. Anyway...
Let's get to the list, shall we?
1. Snow! Yay!
2. Sleeping for 11.5 hours. Never mind that the sleep was brought on by a fever and massive cold.
3. Christmas being so good!
4. K3 and K4 digging their Christmas presents!
5. Wedding chaos.
6. Baby Shower chaos.
7. Lord of the Rings marathon with K4. The Hobbit has renewed my love of all things LoTR. I was supposed to go see it again tonight with the birthday girl and the BFF, Misty, but this nasty cold, the lack of a snow-worthy vehicle, and the weather has forced me to stay home. Bummer.
8. Les Miserables on Tuesday!
9. Low key plans for New Year's Eve. Good plans, but quiet ones.
10. Looking forward to the new year... Year in review coming tomorrow!
Behave!

Post Christmas...

Christmas was wonderful. And yes, that feeling I posted about stayed until late evening when I realized it was time to go back to reality!
It's Thursday already. Yay for short weeks!
Today was my 2 year anniversary at the day job. Unbelievable that I've been there that long. I got a delivery of beautiful pink flowers and was thanked for my service. And it was a crazy busy day.
The snow didn't last long, but it was cool while it did. Now the wind is howling as we watch another storm roll in for the weekend. Yay! Hello, winter!
I also seem to have received K4's illness. Joy. At first I thought it was the flowers, not that I'm allergic, but smelling them constantly all day... well, I'd hoped that was why my muscles were aching, my head and throat hurt, and my sinuses filled up. Apparently not. While the flowers are now in my house (being eyed up by the cat), my symptoms have gotten worse. I feel like I've been up for four days straight - every muscle aches, my head feels detached, I'm sneezing and my nose is running.
Still...I'm doing laundry, the dishes have been washed and put away, lunches packed... and I'm done... I'm catching up on email and thinking about how to get through the day tomorrow.
This time next week, I'll be deep in baby shower / housewarming / wedding shower mode, finishing up my term as president with transferring some official documents, and it'll be 2013. Then, the official wedding planning begins. We'll be having Christmas with K5 somewhere around there, and then the new grandson arrives. Also, my adopted sister's baby girl is due any time now and I need to deliver the baby gift.
Oy! I'm going to bed...
Behave!

The Night Before...

The younger K's are in bed. (K4 on the verge of another cold. She reeks of Vick's. K3 is busy downloading music thanks to his gift card.) K1 and J are safely at their home after hanging out with us at the 'rents, hoping baby B doesn't decide to make an early appearance. (She's been having some strong contractions. He's not due for a month!) K2 and J are here, sipping adult beverages, and watching a movie with us. They're spending the night. This is their last Christmas as an unmarried couple.
Laundry is in the washer, though it'll probably stay there all day tomorrow. I have frosting, guacamole, and taco prep to do tomorrow. And a birthday present to wrap. Santa has already dropped his load because we'll be in bed soon.
It snowed! It's so beautiful outside.
My only Christmas wish is for the way I'm feeling right now to continue through tomorrow. I am happy, excited, content, peaceful, and feel loved.
I hope all of your Christmas wishes come through.
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Behave!

Feel Good Friday - The Pre-Christmas Sunday Edition

I suck as much this week as I did last week! What craziness! Friday was the earliest we managed to get home and it was almost 9pm... I only cooked dinner one night, I think. Between Scout stuff, Christmas stuff, work stuff... Yeah, well, you get the picture. It's a pretty good chance your week was similar.
Here's the good stuff...
1. Surviving.
2. After fighting, frustration, and finally having to drive to the delivery company for pick up, the kid's big gift is in house. I've been with this company for a long time, and I won't ever order from them again. (Not the delivery company, the place where I ordered the gift) (and no, I can't talk yet, it's too risky and it's a huge surprise!)
3. Celebrating 26 years of marriage with my best friend.
4. All of the presents are wrapped, the house is almost clean, laundry is almost done... I'd hoped to be done by yesterday, but it was an unreasonable goal.
5. Cooking tomorrow! We are having tacos for Christmas dinner for K4's birthday. I need to make her cupcakes - red velvet with cream cheese frosting, guacamole, cookies, and food for Christmas Eve at the 'rents.
6. Getting to see The Hobbit with the K's tonight. Great movie. I am still in love with the world. I don't think that will ever change.
7. Looking forward to tomorrow and Tuesday.
8. Snow in the forecast! Yay!
That's enough for now. We won't talk about the bad - my truck not starting, the complete obliteration of my bank account, the constant changing of plans for tomorrow and Tuesday with one of the K's, no writing done, the leak in my washing machine, the frustration of #2, having to give a rat a bath, the fact that it's nearly midnight and our bed is full of clean laundry that needs to be put away. Oy!
I hope to be back tomorrow, so I'll save my Christmas wishes for then!
Behave!

Wow! I Suck!

I will blame my lack of posts on the insanity of my current schedule!
Feel Good Friday was spent hanging out with my sisters! We had a blast! I slept in a supposedly haunted room (nothing happened), watched hookers, pimps, and some odd dude dressed in red that we named "Freakademous" and was the official "lightweight" of the evening.
There has been chorus concerts, room cleaning and switching, sick kids, new sinks, car repairs....
Christmas is kicking my ass!
I have not finished shopping yet. Okay, I've taken care of one thing each for the younger K's, one small thing for all of the kids, and one thing for That Man. And I have to take care of the shopping for work (don't know how that happened), help That Man with the Scout shopping and party prep... And we have dentist appointments, clean up Scout nights, Christmas parties, and our anniversary is Friday...
At the same time, I am in the middle of planning a party (wedding/housewarming/baby shower) for K1 and J, planning K4's 13th birthday, K2's 21st birthday get together...
Having fun though. I haven't baked a single cookie...
Even though the end of the world will happen soon... Then it's wedding planning and new babies...
Wow!
Behave!

The Next Big Thing

I was tagged by Misty Simon to do this... so here goes...

1. What is the working title of your book? Tattered
2. Where did the idea come from for the book? I am totally fascinated by what would happen if the world as we know it comes crashing down - whether it's zombies, a nuclear holocaust, or some other world-changing event. 
3. What genre is your book? Urban Fantasy with Romance
4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? Jensen Ackles, Jeremy Renner... For Ada - Not quite sure yet. 
5. What is the one sentence synopsis for your book? Ummm... It's about surviving in world gone haywire while trying to figure out what went wrong... See? That's not a one sentence synopsis. It's crap!
6. Will your book be self published or represented by an agent? I'll let you know...
7. How long did it take you  to write the first draft of the manuscript? I'm not that far into it.
8. With what other books would you compare this story to in your genre? I don't know yet, but I will say I hope this book stands on its own and can't be compared to anyone else's.
9. What inspired you to write this book? Lots of things - zombie shows & movies, a constant litany of "what if", a certain television show with a post nuclear storyline... and more.
10. What else about your book might pique the reader's interest? Zombie-like hordes, love (not with or between zombies), justice being served, and some awesome post destruction... 

Here's where I'm supposed to tag three people, but everyone's already done it... so...

Behave!

The Crush...

I am feeling it...
My house is a wreck, my week is stacked with all kinds of obligations, and up until a few minutes ago, I'd only taken care of a few presents for Christmas...
There is a lot to be done... Maybe not all of it has to be done, but I want it done. I'd decided earlier today that there was 5 things that had to be worked on tonight.
1. Work on K3's new temporary room. It's a wreck thanks to it's previous occupant and it's completely overwhelming. The previous occupant doesn't have time to pack up the crap, so I'm doing it because I want it done - and when I say "pack up the crap" I mean it. It's all going in the box - dirty laundry, stuff that's probably trash... everything... I have a little bit of an attitude about it, because I shouldn't have to do it. I want K3 into his temporary room before Christmas.
2. Take care of gathering the things I need to pass to my new president and deal with some chapter issues that had to be taken care of.
3. Make food for tomorrow's pot luck day.
4. Begin cleaning the dining room. The hutch drawers were overflowing with stuff we no longer needed.
5. Write.
I am happy to report that each of those things got done (well, not done, but began - which is what I wanted). Plus, dinner was started for tomorrow, the Christmas lists from the younger two have been organized, I talked to my sister about plans for Friday night's girls night. Then, I found a spectacular deal on something That Man and I have been discussing for the younger K's for Christmas and I ordered them. Whoo!
Even though I got a lot done, I'm still feeling the pressure...
One day at a time, I guess...
Behave!

Christmas Partying...

Tonight we had my day job Christmas gathering.
We met for an awesome buffet dinner in a private room with much good conversation. Then, we moved over to see a play. There's a local theater in our area - I've been there once, but not for a play. The grounds are gorgeous and the history of the estate is very intriguing. That Man got a tour of some of the cool aspects of the dinner house. We tried their world famous sticky buns, and stuffed ourselves to the gills with shrimp, salad, chicken, grilled veges, prime rib, and ice cream.
The play was fantastic. Set in the 1940's during World War II - it was full of singing, dancing, and romance. I (of course) loved it and I think everyone else did, too.
We were supposed to go for drinks afterwards, but that fell through. It's okay, because my heels were killing me like you would not believe. I'm trying to remember the last time I wore heels and I can't... My feet still hurt. The closest I get is my clogs and they're not that high. I'm glad I didn't wear the shoes loaned to me by one of my co-workers... I got a nosebleed when I put them on. Yes, they are that high. Given the rain and the fact that they're open-toed and I'd neglected to by nylons, I decided not to wear them. Thank goodness. I love me some girlie high heels though...
Anyway. It was a good night. I could use another weekend day...
That is all...
Behave!

Feel Good Friday - The Saturday Edition

I know it's Saturday. I tried to blog last night but kept getting an error message that there was malware attached to my site. Apologies if you stopped by and got the same message. I'm not sure how it was resolved, except that maybe the site it was telling me was affected and linked to mine got fixed. It was weird, for sure.
Anyway. Here's the list:
1. Having all of my kiddos home last night for tree decorating. We listened to "A Charlie Brown Christmas", drank eggnog, made cookies, and laughed our butts off. Spenser, our new kitty, even came down to see what all of the ruckus was about. It was special because this is the last year all of the kids will be home like this. Next year K1 and J will be decorating with my new grandson and K2 and J will be decorating their own tree. I know there will be new memories to make, but I want to hold onto this year with both hands.
2. Christmas shopping with K5. She's a hoot.
3. Starting Christmas shopping. Yay!
4. Hanging out with K4 and eating frozen yogurt for dinner.
5. My day job Christmas party tomorrow. It's going to be fun!
6. Finding my good black pants. They're a little snug, but I think it'll be okay. You have no idea how long I had to look for them. I have no idea what shirt I'm going to wear and my borrowed shoes are very very high...
7. That man and his wacky sense of humor.
8. The new kitty coming around and getting used to our family. She's even started playing.
9. Shopping plans with the kids and That Man.
10. Christmas is a little over 2 weeks away. I'm feeling the pressure, but it's a good thing. As melancholy as I am about the older two not being here Christmas morning this year, I'm looking forward to a new routine with the younger two. And K4's birthday! We're having tacos for Christmas dinner this year.
That is all!
Behave!

Answers!

Yeah, I know no one guessed... but here are the answers anyway. Just in case you can't sleep because you're wondering which are true and which are false... Ha!

1. I was accosted tonight by a nearly 200 pound sweetheart of a dog. Yes. We helped out a friend (see #3) and their Malamute and smaller dog gave that man and I our puppy fix! 
2. Made dinner out of duck, cod, and peanuts. Ummm... No. Gross!
3. Eased the mind of a 36 week pregnant woman so she wouldn't worry about their house burning down. Again. See #1. Yes. They've already had one house fire. They don't need another, especially with baby girl on the way!
4. Refereed a pillow fight between a four year old and two grown men. Yes. 
5. Nearly tripped over a rat in a ball. Yes. Rat cage cleaning night. 
6. Bought cat food for the first time in months. True, but then you knew that. 
7. Wrote. Also true! Yay me!
8. Cleaned out my truck. Not me, but it did get cleaned out. Only it's full of Boy Scout stuff now...
9. Killed a bug in my bare feet. No. I had shoes on. But I did kill a bug!
10. Tried to schedule a day for my family to all be together. True! Do you know how hard that is? Between work schedules, rehearsals, tree sale stuff, blah blah blah... I think we have it worked out though. That man and I had wanted to have a tree decorating shindig as in years past, but it's not going to happen this year. There is no time. I'm sad! I love our tree decorating parties! Hopefully we'll be able to do something to gather the friends soon...
Today has been chaos... Will explain later...
Behave!

Tall Tale Tuesday...

It's been a long time since I've done one of these...
Some of the below statements are true and some are false...
Tell me which...
1. I was accosted tonight by a nearly 200 pound sweetheart of a dog.
2. Made dinner out of duck, cod, and peanuts.
3. Eased the mind of a 36 week pregnant woman so she wouldn't worry about their house burning down. Again.
4. Refereed a pillow fight between a four year old and two grown men.
5. Nearly tripped over a rat in a ball.
6. Bought cat food for the first time in months.
7. Wrote.
8. Cleaned out my truck.
9. Killed a bug in my bare feet.
10. Tried to schedule a day for my family to all be together.
So what did I really do?
Behave!

Another Day...

I could use one to recover from the weekend! Please?
Our kitty finally came out late last night and hung out pretty much all day. She's still not ready to snuggle and is skittish, but she's coming around. I think she'll be up all night though, since she's been sleeping for a very long time now.
Here she is:

My day consisted of writing, getting the Christmas dishes into the hutch, cleaning, and then a shopping trip with my granddaughter. She's a riot. We took her shopping so she could get a present to give her mom. She wanted everything and picked the most random things for her gift - 2 bottles of glitter nail polish, a jingle bell charm bracelet, fuzzy socks with a white cuff (like Santa - which is what she said when she picked them out), and these:

Yes. They're men's shorts and they say "booty hunter" on them. We repeatedly tried to redirect her and convince her mommy would really love the Sponge Bob pants, or the Elmo Santa hat pants, or even the Grinch pants, but she was desperate for these. She finally had enough of us trying to change her mind and grabbed the pants and threw them into the cart. Any time one of us reached for them, she made that face - you know... the one that predicts a meltdown. We finally decided it was her present to give, so whatever. It was only a pair of pants. She picked her wrapping paper - Santa - and kept putting tape into the cart, conned us into a candy cane full of M&M's, and then convinced Pappy that she needed ice cream.
We got ice cream, came home, then wrapped everything with her. A lot of tape was used. A lot of tape. I loved watching her face when she saw the Christmas lights on the way home. She sang us Guns 'n Roses (Paradise City) - so stinking cute. And then very nearly fell asleep. As soon as we got to her house, she showed her mom the present and then commenced to open it, eventually letting mommy help. Too funny and this will be a new tradition for us.
I'm exhausted and need to write more...
Behave!

Saturday...

Today has been an interesting day...
First up was my writing group's annual holiday party... What a blast! Tons of food (I'm still full), much good conversation and relaxing with my friends. We do an annual gift exchange - if you bring one, you grab one - and I got a very cool holiday mug and an Amazon gift card. Nice!
I had to leave a little early because we had a very important arrival due at the house. As soon as she stops hiding, I will post a picture of our new family member - Spenser - our adopted kitty. She's seven and was reluctantly given up by a wonderful couple who had no choice. She's very pretty - a tortoise-shell calico - and I'm excited to get to know her. She's been hiding under our bed for hours now. The last time I checked on her, she came out and got a quick pet, but ran back under. I'm hoping she comes out soon.
Then, we picked out our Christmas Tree. It's still tied to the top of my truck. Maybe we'll work on it tomorrow, maybe not... But it'll be up soon. I'd wanted to have a decorating party this year, but I don't think that's going to happen. Our schedule is just too tight with the scout tree sale, kid school performances, and other obligations.
K4 and I went to see K2 at her 3rd job. A frozen yogurt place. That was the first time I'd been there and I'm  hooked. It was so good. (and took the place of my dinner since I couldn't bring myself to shove any more food into my stomach after the holiday party)
Grocery store was next - even though I was just there last night. Oy! Now laundry, contemplating getting the Christmas dishes out and set up in the hutch. And trying to figure out tomorrow's schedule... We'll have K5 for a little while tomorrow. I'm so excited to see her.
Behave!