New Year's Eve

Well, it's only a few hours until the end of 2017.

I'm apathetic about 2017. It was what it was. We had some changes. I'll do the recap soon. I can't say it was a great year, but I can't say it was horrible, either.

The past week was long and full of freezing cold, another round of sickness for me - where I missed a half day of work and moaned a bunch. It's cold here, like under 20 degrees. It snowed yesterday, which was awesome. That Man didn't do his snow plow gig, which was also awesome. It was nice to have him home to play in the snow (not that we actually played in the snow. Well, we did, but we were in the Jeep.) We did the shopping stuff and then cooked on the grill for dinner. Yes, we did. It was really good.

We're still getting That Mom moved out of her apartment. Well, she's out and safely in a place where she's safe and her medications are supervised. It's been a rough few months with all of that - decisions, evaluations, hospital trips... That Man has been over there constantly. And currently I have a stack of boxes, two bookcases, and random stuff in my house...

Anyway. We're getting ready to kick off our evening. I need to put new socks on and put my slippers back on. Ha! So looking forward to a quiet evening at home. We thought about going downtown to check out the dropping of the thing, but it's too freaking cold out, so I don't think that's going to happen.

Be safe out there and don't drink and drive!

Behave!

Post-Christmas

Sorry I fell off the face of he earth for the last 5 days!

We managed to get it all done - wrapped, cooked, cleaned, and prepared.

Saturday was insane - wrapping and cleaning and preparing. Another trip to the grocery store.

Sunday - up early to cook and prep. Took That Grandma to church with as many of the kids as could come. She really enjoyed that. Ran home (after yet another trip to the grocery store) to get the food ready and prepare for the family.

Missed my sister so much, but she's sick and couldn't make it. Booo! I have several calls into her to see how she's doing, but I know work is probably kicking her butt.

My brother made the awesome soup and it was fun to hang out with everyone! My crap dip turned out like total crap and there was nothing I could do to save it. Boo. Mr. B got super spoiled! He's so cute and loved everything he got. In fact, he talked about the presents he got Sunday night on Christmas.

Christmas - up way earlier than I figured for having no little kids in the house. K4 was up before us! We made coffee, took the dog out, lit candles, and did a slow start to opening presents. Since she was our only one, we decided on a plethora of little gifts to keep her busy opening stuff for as long as possible. It didn't last as long as we'd hoped, but she was happy with the little and big things she received. K3 arrived for mimosas and gifts. Then K1. I took a nap, which was much needed and very awesome after running around for so many days.

Then we shifted to birthday. Stuffed shells for dinner. Ice cream cake. Not the big birthday present that's coming, but some little ones she appreciated. Games. Cleaning up. Stayed up way, way later than we should have playing a game.

Then it was Tuesday morning and I had to go to work! Suck! I could barely stay awake and it was super slow, so that made it worse!

Today wasn't much better! Even with three people out, it was slow. I was busy, but not as overloaded as you would expect with so many people out of the office.

Two more days of this week! Oy! And it's freaking super cold outside! I can't even! My Jeep is getting more framework done, so I hope to be able to pick it up tomorrow!

We're not doing much for New Year's Eve. Going to hang out at K3's house for a little while. Need to come up with some awesome food for that. We'll be home early because he has to work early on New Year's day.

That is all!

Behave!

Pre-Christmas Chaos and Plague...

I can't believe 11 days have gone by since I posted last!!

We're in full on prep mode around here. The shopping is finally done after a last-ditch quick and hard effort tonight. It sucked because That Man has the plague and was not doing well at all. We got home as soon as we could, but still. He's a trooper.

Speaking of the plague...
After a wonderful day with K5 and B on Sunday, I ended up falling asleep in the car on the way home. I was "tired". We hit the grocery store quick, well, just I went in because B was crashed and I didn't realize how bad I felt. I should have let That Man do it. Every motion was an effort. When we got home, That Man started dinner and I had to lay down for a minute - only it was three hours. With a fever, chills, and a killer headache. I managed to drag myself upwards to eat a tiny bit and then went to bed, and didn't get out again until Tuesday morning. (That Man is amazing - he did the school trip, dinner, and everything that needed to be done).

Tuesday I managed to get the kid to school. She was feeling a little strange when I dropped her off and I was not any better. I managed until noon - then I got a call from the school nurse and let my boss know I was out for the rest of the day. I picked her up and we came home and crashed for hours. That Man took care of everything again.

Wednesday was much better. All of us made it through the day. That Man and I went out for our anniversary. (31 years married! Whoot!) Believe it or not, despite the plague, I wanted Mexican food and it was amazing. We did a little shopping before coming home. We also did a lot of talking, which was super good.

Everyone at my work is sick. There are two different things going around. I had them both - back to back. Most everyone at That Man's job is sick, too. The receptionist at K4's school told me the plague is super bad there, too.

Last night we had company for dinner. I ran to get a present I needed for That Man (epic quick shopping. nice) while That Man took care of stuff here. We did a quick inventory of our previous shopping adventures and made a semi-plan for tonight.

The dog decided to open one of the presents already under the tree yesterday. She's dealing with some separation anxiety or something, but still... I did warn the other people in this house that the dog loves to open presents and they should probably think twice about it. No one listens. The gift was for me. I still don't know what it is, but apparently the dog does. Ha! She didn't damage it, just left K4 with a mess to clean up when she got home.

Tonight, Feel Good Friday, Oy!!

I'm spewing. I know I am. It's been a super long week and I'm excited for Christmas. The day job was exceptionally lame today and with pretty much zero Holiday spirit. Everyone is sick, so there is that. One of our guys did buy pretzels from the awesome place, but that was the extent of our holiday cheer. I do love my co-workers though. There were sarcastic hugs, ridiculous videos, and general tom-foolery.

Ran out of there as quickly as I could. Stopped at our store to get That Man something for his achey elbow. (copper sleeve. we'll see if it works) Came up and picked up Plague Man (though at this point, he thought he felt good). Ran to the store we thought had what we wanted. Nada. Second store. Also, nada. Made a snap decision and kind of found what we wanted at the third. Not exactly it, but, hey, zero hour, good price. Whatever. Ran into two friends. Nice. Also finished up the loose ends of the shopping.

Then it was the grocery store. Oy and ouch. And I still have to go back tomorrow. (Noooo!) It'll be a super quick trip for prescriptions and cheese, but still...

K4 did a lot of cleaning today, but there is a lot for me to touch tomorrow. I have wrapped nothing. At all. And I have a crapton of cooking to do. That's okay. We'll get it done. I do want to sleep in a little tomorrow. Because, damn, after this horrid week, I deserve it!

I'm looking forward to seeing my family on Sunday. I'm looking forward to Monday and my baby's 18th birthday. After Monday, every single one of my kids are adults. That feel super weird, but also super awesome. And I am super old now.

I don't know if I'll be back before Christmas, so if I'm not... I wish you the happiest! And I wish my baby girl an awesome birthday!

Behave!

Late Weekend Wrap Up

I know it's Monday and I should have posted this yesterday. I didn't get on the computer all weekend, so...

Friday night: The Feel Goods...

1. Quick dinner. No mess. No fuss.

2. Watching Christmas movies with the family.

3. Finally relaxation.

Saturday: Crazy Day...

1. Car inspection preparation.

2. Making food for evening.

3. Sleeping in just a little.

4. Talking to my aunt and uncle.

5. Rearranging & cleaning in preparation for the tree.

6. Organizing That Mom's apartment for moving.

7. SNOW!! Just a little, but still...

8. Going to get our tree in the snow.

9. Christmas Pajama Jam party - it was so good to see everyone. We had a blast! We give out prizes and the reason for the prizes depend on what we have to vote on... This year - we gave a family prize (entire family showed up in matching pajamas), there was a prize for our friend who wore his girlfriend's pj bottoms and long socks (he's super tall and she's not), a prize for the least effort (which went to my brother and sister-in-law because they didn't dress for the occasion. Ha!) and each of the little kids in attendance received a prize. And the grand prize... for the most ridiculous...

The grand prize winner and the grand prize. (the decorated plunger). He was wearing a kangaroo onsie complete with a baby kangaroo (I believe he said the joey was sleeping at this point) and a really hideous sweater on top. Winner!

Above is my "sweater". Yeah, it's a sweatshirt, but I love it. Captain Santa! All of the sailors are wearing santa suits and presents are exploding out of the canons. I love it!! I will wear this for years to come!

Sunday: Exhausted and Busy...

1. A little sleeping in.

2. Getting trapped in the basement by the Christmas decorations.

3. Porch almost done.

4. Piano decorated.

5. Mr. B helping to decorate. He's so funny.

6. Dropping car off for inspection.

7. Quick naps.

8. Running errands with That Man.

9. The beginning of resolution on some things.

10. Decorating the tree. K3 came over and it was really good. We had the nog and the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack playing. The tree is not as big as I wanted, but it's still very pretty.

Yes, the creepy snow children are out again. (to the right, under the window) Their batteries are dead this year and that's just fine. B loves them, so I will put them out until he doesn't. It looks like there's a blank spot in the lights and I don't know why. When I look at the tree in real time, it doesn't have that spot.

I'll post a picture of the piano later...

I did a little Christmas shopping tonight. Ordered my secret Santa gift for the family gift exchange and one gift for one of the kids. I need to go out and get the stuff for the giving tree at work tomorrow. And hopefully we'll get the rest of the shopping done this weekend... Hopefully.

That is all...

Behave!

Thursday... Bring On Friday!

What a week! It's a been a week full of headaches, viruses, bad dogs, insane work days...

Friday is much needed!

That Man and K4 have struggled all week with a virus and migraines. I've had a headache as well, but have somehow managed through going to bed early and doing my best to ignore it.

The day job is insane. Today there was two of us to do the work of six people. Needless to say, it didn't all get done, but tomorrow will be the same, so it is what it is.

The dog has been getting into everything this week - she ate a pillow, a sandwich still in the bag, a dish towel, and dug in the bathroom trash - among other things. We think she's dealing with some separation anxiety and are trying different things to ease that.

Getting a little of the holiday spirit back. Hopefully, we'll get our tree this weekend and the decorating will begin.

That is all.

Behave!

Sunday Before Monday...

Yeah, I know. It always works this way... Ha!

I need another day, though. I'm achey, tired, head-achey, and my sinuses burn. Just freaking great. That Man and K4 have/had some grossness that's going around. That Man is still hacking up a lung.

Yesterday was fun! Had my writers group Christmas party. Lots of good conversation, laughter, and food.

Came home and tried to take a quick nap, but that didn't work very well. Changed and got ready for my work party. Got there early because we were supposed to meet up with a coworker, but she ended up sick and didn't come. Walked around the huge place and people watched until time for the party to start.

Good food. Good laughs. Good and silly conversations. It was great to hang out outside of work. It was also great to see the boss - she's been away at another location for weeks and we miss her. Had a good conversation with her. The entertainment - though it was a hypnotist (and I am not a huge fan) - was actually great. He was hysterical, but there was no way I would have ever volunteered to get up there. Though, he did say if don't want to be hypnotized, he wouldn't be able to do it. So there's that.

We got home later than we thought and had to babysit the furnace for a bit. When we finally got to bed, we thought we had a leak in our mattress. Well. No. Some stupid animal peed in our bed. Right in the middle. Gross!! If you know anything about waterbeds, you know that it's not a simple sheet change. There are layers of bedding on top of the mattress. Layers of bedding that were soaked. Gross! We switched stuff out - at almost one am - and finally got to sleep.

I've spent the day washing the grossness!

On the upside - my short story is done and sent off for another round of critique. That Man and I ran some errands for lights and groceries. I did not get a nap. I'm not happy about that. I so wanted one. Made some banging chicken pot pie for dinner though.

My Christmas Spirit is a big lagging at the moment. I hope it comes back! I was all fired up to start decorating, but then... meh...

That is all. You may now return to your regularly scheduled life...

Behave!

December First...

Well, here we are on the first day of the last month of the year!

I really, at this point, have nothing to say about 2017... I don't know if it was good or bad yet. I don't know if it was just one of those years - the kind that take us from one to the next - or if it was something more. Or less. Maybe I'll figure it out before the end of the year. Maybe I won't.

Let's cut to Feel Good Friday, shall we?

1. Reasonably seamless morning getting the kid up and moving for school. We were a tiny bit late, but that was only because I forgot to get gas yesterday. Slept super good last night with the window open. Didn't wake up at three like normal, which is awesome.

2. Leaving work at 11. The morning was hectic with numerous fires to put out and things to be done before I left, but I almost managed to get it all done. And when I left, I didn't think twice about the work still waiting.

3. Hanging with my kid. We did the doc appointment, lunch, shopping, and had a lot of laughs and conversation. I bought new Christmas lights for the piano! Though I could not find the garland I want anywhere we went. I also bought myself a new pair of jeans, and a sweater, because I needed to. No Christmas shopping done by me, but That Man did some.

4. Getting my house vacuumed and cleaned up and doing the "adulting" things. Things were "picked up", but not "cleaned up", if that makes sense. All I can tell you is that I'm sitting here with a sense of calm and peace after all of the stuff I did today. The house smells amazing thanks to the pine candle I impulsively purchased.  I also made macaroni and cheese for dinner, and also for my party tomorrow.

5. The short being >this close< to being done. It'll be done by Sunday come hell or high water. Or... I really hope so...

6. Sleeping in a bit tomorrow. The mac and cheese for the party is already made and only needs to be heated up, so that's a bonus. I had planned on doing it all tomorrow, so yeah....

7. Laundry is 98% caught up.

8. They took our ginormous pile of leaves from the street. The 'burban is now covered in debris.

9. Watching "Office Space" and cracking up.

10.  Planning Christmas Eve... It's a process.

That is all.

Behave!

The End of November...

How weird is that?

This year has flown by! I was at work earlier looking at something from May. I thought "well, that wasn't that long ago", and then I realized it really was. We're heading into the last month of 2017 and I still don't know how I feel about 2017.

Anyway...

Tomorrow is Friday and I only have to work until 11. Yay! Though I do have to take K4 to the doc and do some shopping, then grocery shopping. And then hopefully finishing up my short story. It'll be way better than sitting at my desk!

Saturday is the first of our crazy weekends, but I hope to get some decorating started on Sunday. We'll see...

Everyone in this house is sick but me. That Man had to pick up K4 from school today and he ended up staying home, too, since he wasn't feeling much better than she is. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it stays away from me!

That is all!

Behave!

D.R. Grady is in the House!

My good friend D.R. Grady is on the blog to tell you about her new release! D.R. and I walked into our very first writing meeting on the same day. We ended up sitting together and have been friends ever since.

Her new book comes out on November 30th!

The Nerd Who Spied Me

Cian Hunter is tasked with the impossible: find Verity Wellington and bring her home safely. His survival is not guaranteed.

Everyone in their business knows Verity is perfectly capable of getting herself home, since she’s the gut-them-first-and-ask-questions-later type of operative. She also has the advantage of knowing where she is, which would be helpful.

He accepts the assignment, aware two operatives are better than one when dealing with the nebulous factions who lurk in the shadows. Plus, the chance to get close to Verity to see if his attraction to her is more than a fleeting interest is too good to pass up. Provided she doesn’t gut him first.

Cian is confident in his secret operative abilities, despite wishing to leave them behind. However, his relationship goals leave something to be desired. If he can figure those out… he might stand a chance of getting them both home alive.

1. Hi D.R. and welcome. Tell us a little about your new release? 

THE NERD WHO SPIED ME is the 12^th book of the Morrison Family series. It’s a little darker than my previous books because both the heroine, Verity, and the hero, Cian, are tough secret agents who know what they’re doing.

Verity is as capable as Cian and her reputation rivals his. They’re not fresh faced recruits, but savvy operatives who have paid their dues. Their interactions entertained me and I looked forward to what they were going to come up with next.

This story was a romp to write! And will hopefully be a romp to read. (:

2. What was your inspiration for this book?

As stated previously, this book is part of a stand-alone series. We’ve met these characters in previous books, and both of them intrigued me. I didn’t know they were supposed to be together at first. It’s super exciting when the characters want their story told. I adore being the “first reader.”

3. How long did it take you to write this?

Somewhere between 30-50 days. The writing is the easy part. Edits are what can prove challenging for me, and tend to take double that or more. I enjoyed Verity and Cian so much that the edits were fun. (:

4. When did you decide you wanted to be an author?

From the moment I learned when you put words together, they form a sentence, and then combine the sentences and wow—a story.  An amazing moment in my life!

5. Where do you get your ideas? 

Everywhere! (: Things I see and hear can trigger an idea, although the main place is from the characters themselves. I have to know the characters and a few details about them before I can start a story.

6. Favorite book ever?

Anything written by Jayne Ann Krentz

Thank you so much for inviting me to visit!

D.R. Grady lives with her husband near Hershey, PA. She adores chocolate, laughing, collecting bags, books, and shoes, and writing stories that resonate with others.

Other works by D.R. Grady

The Morrison Family Series:

The Nerd and the Marine

The Corpsman and the Nerd

The Nerd and the SEAL

The Nerd’s Pocket Pets

Shadows and Spice

Macy’s Parade

Bad Nerd Rising

Bad Nerd Falling

Nerds on Fire

Nerds Unite

The Trouble with Nerds

The Nerd who Spied Me

Free Short Stories:

Math Nerds and Mechanics

Tall Golfs

The Me Series:

Treasure Me

Save Me

Trust Me

Heal Me

Love Me

The Dragon Chronicles Series:

The Dragon Chronicles Book 1: Learning

The Dragon Chronicles Book 2: Shifting

The Dragon Chronicles Book 3: Healing

Please visit my website for updates on these series.

http://www.drgradybooks.com

Behave!

Still November!

So this Christmas thing is crazy already and we still have two days left in November! I guess that's what happens when Thanksgiving is early.

Decorations are going up all over town.
Christmas music is being played on all of the radio stations (not non-stop yet, but still... several songs during my drives).
We started the Secret Santa name draw at work today and two of the guys are 90% decorated for the cube decorating contest.

I'm not complaining. I'm in full on Christmas mode myself. I've already started shopping and have had three gifts delivered so far, and my awesome Christmas shirt. I'll post a picture of it after I wear it for the first time. It is epic though.
I'm planning my decorating and our schedule.
I have my writing group Christmas party Saturday afternoon, and my work Christmas party Saturday night.

All I can say is that it's going to be a crazy month!

Behave!

End of the Weekend...

I thought it was Sunday all day yesterday, so it was kind of nice when today was actually Sunday.

Small Business Saturday at the bookstore was fun. Got to hang out with author friends, meet new friends, and the store cats.

Came home and helped That Man with the leaves. Oy! That was a job and a half. Once we were done, we cleaned up and got in the car for the drive to That Man's best friend's grave site. We took a wreath and some flowers. Then we made our way back home, stopping at the grocery store first.

Made our own subs for dinner, then watched sappy Christmas movies. In bed early. No writing done. Boo. 

Today we grabbed K5, took her to "brunch", and then to see a live reindeer. It was a quick time, but at least we got to see her for a bit. She's a hoot.

Came home to do the chores and make loaded potato soup, which turned out well. I got through a whole critique of my short, which is awesome. I'm heading to bed soon. I know it's early, but while I do feel much better, I'm exhausted, have a massive headache, and just want to be in bed.

Tomorrow is Monday! Oy!

Behave!

Feel Good Friday

Weird week Friday!

Realized my Thanksgiving post never showed up.... Oy! That's because my computer crashed as I was trying to post!

Had to do the day job today. It was sooo boring. All of my sales reps were out today. I talked to two of them, which is exactly how many times my phone rang. (totally unusual. Normally my phone rings non-stop) I did get caught up, which is great. Helped a co-worker get caught up, too. Also great. We were fed pizza, which clashed with my epic Thanksgiving leftovers, but was super nice. I am still full.

Got home and That Man and I went out to do some talking and stuff. We were supposed to go hear our friend's band for the last time ever, but I ended up feeling like utter crap so we didn't go farther than Chili's and Sheetz. Went to Chili's and had some appetizers. And a beer. Stopped at Sheetz to get K4 some dinner.

Now I'm hanging out on the couch trying to take care of things. I have to be at the bookstore for small business Saturday tomorrow. I do get to sleep in a little though. But yeah, I do feel like hell.

Oy!

Behave!

Happy Turkey Day!

*This didn't post last night when it was supposed to!!

It was a good day!

Stayed up later than I needed to last night. Got up and made Mr B pancakes and his "cookie" sausage. He's so funny about breakfast! I love it! None of the rest of us really ate.

Last night, K4 and I made vegan cornbread, vegan mushrooms, sugar cookies, pumpkin pies... I stayed up until way after midnight making sure things were cool enough to be put away. K4 made the most amazing dip/frosting for her cookies! It was seriously a "just get me a spoon" kind of thing.

The poor kid though... She came down this morning with the premonition of a migraine. Her eye was twitching big time and she hadn't been able to go back to sleep when she woke at four. She took medicine and did everything she could to stave off the pain. She ended up spending a lot of her time away from everyone to make sure she didn't go into full blown migraine, but she still ended up in a world of pain. (We are a loud family - not on purpose - just by volume!) That sucked for her and for us! But everyone understood that and accepted her for what she could give.

They also completely covered my vegan kid. He came armed with his own food, but ended up having so many options to chose from. Going vegan isn't so bad...if you don't like bacon or butter...lol But I love that my brother bought him mushrooms and tofu and then sent the tofu home with him! And my sister made vegan stuffing for him. And our sister made vegan sweet potatoes for him.

Also, Mr. B had a blast! He loves his aunts and uncles and cousins, and who else get preferential treatment? Seriously... Do families get any better than that?

We did our name draw for Christmas. Watched movies. Talked and hung out.

My family is the best mix of weird, funny, twisted and everything! It's still super weird not having the folks here. We all feel it. Like a stabbing awareness and there is a special kind of pain that is individual to each person. We all have our own memories, but most are shared...

You look over and think... "mom would have thought that was hysterical" or "Dad would have given me that look that means what?" "And the food mom would have brought.... oy!

God, I miss them! I think they would have been proud of our holiday. Mom, was about us all being together. Making those memories... Which we definitely did. Dad always seemed like he sat on the sidelines (ten minutes more), but after sifting through their stuff when we cleaned out the house, I kind of think that Dad was way more nostalgic that we ever thought. Dad would have cracked up at Mr. B today. They would have had such a good time together.

It's only been a year since we sold their house, so we get to do this holiday grieving thing a little longer than you think we should. You don't know, so you can't judge.

When we got home, I talked to our UB, which was an excellent conversation. He misses our mom and dad as much as we do.

Tomorrow it's off to work... Oy...

Behave!

Tuesday Before Thanksgiving

Yeah, I had to hit the grocery store on my way home. That was brutal. We'd promised cookies to an organization for their Thanksgiving dinner and ran out of time to make them, so I had to purchase them. I also needed some mushrooms for dinner. That trip should have taken less than ten minutes (considering the bakery is at one end of the store and produce is at the other and the store is three times as huge as my local store and then, you know, the parking lot walking). Twenty or more minutes later, I finally got back into the Jeep. There were people everywhere - all with huge carts of Thanksgiving goodness. Yikes.

Our community service plans fell through. We were going to do it with That Sister, but by the time we received the sign up sheet, the only times available were when we would all be at work. We tried to figure it out, but there was nothing for it. Next year though.

Tomorrow is the day job and then cooking/baking. I need to make pies and some other things. I was going to make one dish tonight, but with a 5 minute prep time and an unknown on how it will keep until Thursday, I decided to wait.

Car issues in the house tonight. K4 has an orthodontist appointment in the morning and has to drive herself. She hasn't had to drive her car for the last week or so and her brother was the last one to use it, so we encouraged her to start it tonight to make sure it wouldn't let her sit in the morning and to make sure she had gas and oil. Of course, it wouldn't start. It has a slow battery drain, which, in his defense, he didn't know (but it's his car luck) (I kid you not - if something is going to break or have an issue, it will always do so after he drives it. And he's not abusing any car. There are many, many examples, most recently, I let him borrow my Jeep for a brief foray on a Saturday afternoon. He brought it back no problems and I didn't drive it for a day or so. I went to move it and realized he'd accidentally left the key on auxiliary. It's a thing that easily happens. I've done it a few times myself and he had no idea because he hasn't really driven it often.) Anyway. We jumped K4's car and he owes me the funds I transferred to her because it has no gas.

K4's best friend comes home from college tomorrow. I don't know how much we'll see K4 or the bestie over the weekend. They have plans and the bestie needs K4 to help her with some stuff. I'm excited for them to get to spend some good time together. That's a very good thing.

I did the writing thing and make super good progress, though I have much to do yet.

We're heading into the crazy season. I hope you're all ready! I thought I was, but I'm not so sure now...

Behave!

The End of the Weekend...

Today was the "Women Helping Women" event.

It was a lot of fun. The place is a nursery - similar to where we have our February event, but not quite as big. They had appetizer food, hot chocolate, and wine. Everyone got two tickets for wine. I gave mine away, because I was driving. Found some Tastefully Simple stuff I needed. And found something super cool for my siblings - which I will give to them Thursday because I can't stand not to.

I sold zero books - like most of us. Only two out of seven of us sold books, but not very many. We spoke to the shelter organizers about our upcoming donation with our anthology stories. It was fun to talk shop and hang out with my writing buddies, but it was a long day. When we were done, most of us went to dinner and then it was the long drive home. It took about an hour and a half each way. I have no problem with that, but the winds were high again, so my poor Jeep took a beating and so did I. Nothing like white knuckling it over the bridge fighting the gusts you're afraid will flip you into the river below.

Now, my comfy pants are on. My writing has been done. I came home to a cleaner house than I left and to several projects being completed in my absence, which is cool. I'm tired though. My ear hurts, too.

I think I'm off to bed.

Behave!

Rainy Saturday

Woke up earlier than I intended to. Took the dog out, started the dishwasher, checked the furnace, and then went back to my warm and comfy bed.

When I woke up again, it was raining.

I stayed in bed.

K4 came down and crawled in with me. We watched stupid television. It was still pretty early.

Dozed on and off for a while. Still raining.

Finally got up and made cinnamon rolls with homemade cream cheese icing. Watched some Criminal Minds. Did the adulting thing - paid bills, made a grocery list, wrote. Still raining.

I was supposed to go to Misty, Barb, and Gerri's signing, but the furnace was not doing what it's supposed to do (it was freezing in here) and by the time I got it to the right place, it was too late. That makes me sad, but I couldn't leave it. Sometimes having a coal furnace sucks big time.

Once we were up and running, I went to the store with the rest of the Thanksgiving shoppers. Crazy time. Pouring down rain. Super busy store. Saved like $50.00 in coupons though. But I'll probably have to go back at some point this week. I did get all of my pie stuff and ingredients to make sauteed mushrooms for Thanksgiving, and a vegan corn bread for K3. But for the actual dinners for this week, I kind of failed. Kind of. We have dinners, but I'm not sure we have as many as we need.

Tomorrow I have a booksinging. I'm kind of nervous because I've never been there before. I have my stuff ready, though I can't find a bag big enough to hold all of my stuff. I'm 90% decided on clothing. I have to leave kind of early and won't be home until kind of late. My main worry at this point is having change - as if someone is really going to buy my books. Ha!

It's still raining...

That is all for now...

Behave!

Feel Good Friday

Well... Hello, Friday!

The good...

1. Friday. Duh! It was a long day at the day job. No overtime, but long nonetheless.

2. Having a yummy lunch though.

3. The holiday work stuff scheduled. We're doing something cool every Friday (and other days) from here on out, and our community service stuff starts Monday. Excited about that.

4. Super productive meeting last night with my anthology partners. Get your free copy of The First Sentence now, because come January 1st the price will go up to ninety-nine cents. Our Second Sentence hits preorder soon. It's going to go for $2.99! Before you complain, all proceeds will go to a Women Helping Women shelter. So, it's for a really good cause. In fact...

5. Sunday I will be at an event for Women Helping Women. I'll be selling books at a discount to benefit the shelter. I've never done this event before. I'm nervous and excited. But it's an awesome cause and I'm so happy to be able to participate. (Send me a message or comment if you want more info.)

6. That Man making most of the dinner and then I made him go to the store with me because neither of us wanted to go! It was good for us to get out with just each other, even though it was a stupid grocery store trip.

7. Sleeping in tomorrow. Man, how I need that. Last night was another sleepless night. I think I had one decent night sleep this week, and it was on a night I figured I'd be up running stuff through my head.

8. Oh and we had a dog friend at work this week. There was this little white and grey dog running around the complex. Several of our people tried to catch it, but all the dog did was bark and run away. One of our guys volunteers at a shelter and he knew the right people to call to get the dog taken care of. The little guy was caught, de-flead, de-ticked, and cleaned up, and they brought him into work today to thank everyone for looking out for him. He sure was cute and I would have taken him if I could. So cute and the entire office forgot their jobs to go and hang out with him.

9. Making progress on my edits and staying in the 50/50.

10. Teaching Elsa new tricks. She's getting it and it will be epic once she totally gets it. She's so smart, but she's dumb enough that we had to move the trash can to keep her from foraging, so that's dog life for you.

There was bad this week, too. I won't go into details, but... well... It is what it is.

Behave!

Another Stupid Wednesday

(Sorry, Wednesday!)

So this time next week it will be Thanksgiving eve. How weird is that?

Plans are coming together and I'm looking forward to it. I have to make pumpkin pies and some other stuff. That Man and I are going to do a little community service Thanksgiving eve by serving Thanksgiving dinner in the city. We've done it a few times already, though not at this place.

The big push for me is to get my story edited and back out for critique. I'm making progress. I have a lot of work to do on it though. I know I edited it before I sent it out, but man, I'll tell you, it's like a three-year old did that editing pass. So yeah...

Ah well...

Overtime didn't happen tonight, though I did get in there a little early this morning. No one else could stay and we are waiting on some answers to proceed, so I bagged it and came home. I'll go in as early as I can make it tomorrow, but I have a few errands to run first. And tomorrow night I get to have dinner with friends I haven't gotten to hang out with for quite a while.

That is all.

Behave!

Tuesday Musings

I'm tired. The overtime, while awesome, is tiring. (and the fact that I didn't sleep last night) Well, what's really tiring is that my work computer keeps crashing - bad enough that I grabbed a flash drive and backed up all of my files, just in case it crashes for good.

The IT guy says I'll need a new tower, but since temps are working to help with the backlog, it might be a while. I have a lot of thoughts about this, since when I crash it's usually 45-60 minutes until I can get back up and running, and I have other responsibilities. Super annoying (and made worse because my personal computer continues to crash as well). But overtime will continue and I'm all on board.

Tonight I left earlier than I'd planned because of computer crashing/total frustration and I wanted to go see one of my oldest friends in the hospital. She's not old - she's my age (okay, shut it), but we've been friends since early high school. They found cancer in her colon and surgically removed it. She's doing okay - not sure of what happens next, but I love her attitude. The whole thing has me feeling a certain way though...

Even with the overtime, I am writing. Currently doing another round of edits on the Second Sentence. I'm the slacker. Again. Everyone else is done. Blah! We have a nacho meeting this week to discuss our Sentence stories, so stay tuned for new developments on that. It's going to be epic.

Lots of crazy stuff coming up for the end of the year. We don't have a free weekend until...? But I'm looking forward to all of it! I need to get organized and I feel like I'm doing that.

That is all...

Behave!

Feel Good... Saturday?

Yeah... It's Saturday...

And there is lots of Feel Good....

1. Sleeping in was great this morning, but I did get up and got to the day job. That was okay and good - I'm not doing my regular job on overtime, but helping our sister company out in getting orders entered so it's kind of cool to get paid for doing something different. Still super productive because we'll be getting this new system soon so knowing what to expect is awesome.

2. Getting the shopping done for the week. I have no idea what we're actually eating, but we're covered for whatever... And I saved a crapton of money on coupons.

3.  The adulting stuff is done - bills paid, vacuuming, laundry (almost).

4. Writing for the day has also been done. Yay! Yeah, it's not enough, but I did do it! If it wasn't for the 50/50 challenge I would have written nothing today! Ha! But I did it!

5. Holidays coming! Yay!

That's it for now!! My boys just got home so I need to give hugs!

Behave!

What Day Is It?

Just kidding. I do know that it's stupid Wednesday. Sorry, Wednesday. It's not really your fault. Not really.

This week, well, same as previous weeks at the day job. Now overtime has opened up, which is awesome for the budget. And I will work as much as I possibly can. It's actually fine. I'm glad the OT came back and am happy to help out.

Writing has gone pretty well this week. I missed last night, but that's because Indian food is the best! Seriously.

I'm not feeling so hot tonight - achey, sneezy, and exhausted - but I still got my words done and not just the minimum either. And I did some laundry and fought with the furnace.

We're in the birthday chaos of our family right now - over the past two weeks we have had five? and we still have several to go! We also have a lot of milestone birthdays! K3 and S turned 21. My oldest niece turns 30. (do I feel old!) Once birthdays are over, (well, they don't really stop) we head into the holidays (with more birthdays).

Tomorrow is Thursday. Which is the start of a beautiful thing. Though, I think I am working Saturday now. But whatever. Working because of the overtime is different than working a regular day. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Ha!

It's bedtime!

Behave!

Oh No! It's Sunday Night Again!

I think I hate Sunday night more than I hate Monday morning. Well. Maybe. Maybe I hate them both equally.

The weekend was pretty good. Went by way, way too fast.

Slept in a bit Saturday. So nice. Got up for coffee and got to hang with Mr. B for a little while. We talked pancakes and rain and the benefits of refrigerators and vinegar. He's so smart and so funny.

Saturday's meeting was good! I'm so glad I got to go! It was good to see my writing friends and hug one of our members fighting cancer. Had to leave early due to stuff going on, but then got a surprise in being able to meet friends for lunch. That was epic and much-needed. And I discovered that I really do like Neato Burrito. (Not a good experience the first time I tried it, but I really liked it this time) Very epic parking lot moment that included some Guns 'n Roses and Paradise City. Ha!

After lunch, it was the grocery store and then home for a much-needed nap. (naps are the best) Then, making food for a friend's birthday. Once That Man got home from work, we loaded up and went to our friends for her birthday. She wanted to "just hang" with friends, so that's what we did. It was a lot of fun. We had an epic fire, awesome food, and a lot of laughter (and Jello shots). We were home by nine and in bed by ten, so yeah, we're turning into old people.

Turned the clocks back last night, so I slept in epically! Yay! It was cold in the house when I got up, so I took the dog out, made my coffee, and went back to bed to watch stupid tv. K4 joined me to watch our usual Sunday stupid shows. It was nice to hang out and do our usual discussion on the show. Then, Mr. B came in to snuggle while his dad ran to the store. I got up and made breakfast, but before I could eat, That Man called and said he needed my help. He picked me up and we ran to see That Mom and then I helped him clean up the coffee mess at the religious place.

We came home and napped (yay! nap!). Hung with Mr. B while K1 took care of some things. Watched the race. Did laundry. Wrote. Made dinner. Helped K4 in her room. (Still need to finish that, but we're working on it.)

It got dark so early, which is okay, but so strange.

But here we are... In that dark season where a lot of us go to work in the dark and come home in the dark. It sucks, but there's also a comfort in it, too. I've always loved it.

That's all.

Behave!

Feel Good Friday

Ahh. The week is over! Thank goodness!

1. It was a rough week at the day job, but my coworkers are the best! We laugh at stupid things, order lunch, have random dancing, and trivia quizzes. Currently, we are preparing to do the big Christmas cubicle decorating contest. Ideas are flowing and it's awesome.

2. Not cooking dinner tonight. We ordered subs and stuff for dinner and it was nice not to have to cook or clean up.

3. Writing the words tonight. Yay! I made pretty darned good progress, too! Even with...

4. Helping Mr. B with his Christmas Wish List. I have a word document saved... with everything under the sun for the last thirty minutes. His daddy took over for about half of that time, which was good because I needed a little break.

5. Mr. B following me and coming up to give me hugs at random times. I am definitely not complaining about that. At all.

6. Thanksgiving coming up. I'm looking forward to hanging with the siblings and the kids - though at this point, I'm not sure which kids will be there. My brother and sister-in-law are hosting this year. They've been preparing for weeks already. We weren't together last year because we decided to split off and do things with other family, and they are exciting about hosting. I need to have this Thanksgiving so much. I miss my siblings so much. We're all so busy that we don't get to hang out as much as we should.

7. Tomorrow and writing meeting. I haven't been to one in months and I've missed everyone so much!

8. Upcoming writing events. I ordered books and swag! And I'm giving discounted books, too!

9. As much as I hate to say it, I think I'm totally getting into the Christmas spirit already -which will be a first for me in a lot of years... we'll see if that stays... lol

10. Sleeping in tomorrow - just for a little. I am looking forward to that.

Behave!

Thursday

Sorry I didn't explain the people on my porch thing.

So the neighbor rang the bell (didn't know it was her at the time). Over the past few weeks, our cat has been getting out constantly and she wanted to make sure she was ours before letting her kids keep her. (The other neighbors moved out and she thought they'd left their cat). They've been feeding her when she makes her way to their house (before she runs outside again). We thanked her for taking care of our kitty and explained her quickness to run out the door anytime it's opened and her age. She said she'd continue to look out for her, but wouldn't let her kids keep her. It was cool and I'm glad she came over to check. Kitty is in now, but she's lurking by the door. Oy! I think it might be a senility issue. She's pushing 14 or 15 now, so who knows. I hate her getting outside!

For the last two hours, K2 and I have been talking to each other entirely in gifs. We used to do this all of the time back in the day, so it's nice to have a little throwback. Currently, it's chicken pictures. I just sent a chicken and a cat fighting. She sent Lucille Ball acting like a chicken. It's random, but it's funny. Before that, it was coffee and pigs.

Tomorrow is Friday. Thank goodness. You've heard it all about this week, so that's all I'm going to say about that.

I did my words already. Yay me! I also have some new reviews up, which is super cool.

Saturday is my writing meeting. Looking forward to it!

In two weeks, I'm at an event... somewhere... It's a women helping women event and I'll be discounting books as part of the cause. I've never done this one before, so I'm excited.

That's about it!

Behave!

November the First

Today was like any other at the day job - insanely busy and brain draining.

It's pretty chilly here. Not freezing or anything, but a nice comfy chill that requires a sweatshirt, fuzzy socks, and either a blanket or dog in your lap.

I made lasagna in the crock pot. It turned out okay.

Writing is done and I made pretty darned good progress, too.

Thanksgiving is coming. I'm excited!

Strangers on my porch. Got to go see what that's about.

Behave!

Happy Halloween!

Well, it's the last day of October!
Happy Pumpkin Day!

Our Trick or Treat was last week, if you remember! Our scary pumpkin was tossed out tonight - totally dripping fluids and looking super gross. We kept our porch light off, just in case some stray ghouls thought it was okay to ask for candy here tonight.

It was a non-epic day today. The only funny thing was two of my coworkers dressing up like two other coworkers. One of them didn't think it was funny. But it was.

Here we go into the Holiday Season! And we all know that's already started. The grocery stores, the commercials, the movies coming up on television. I'm already thinking, so what does that say about me?

Hello, November! You'd better be a nice month!

Behave!

Weekend Wrap Up...

What a weekend!

We went "camping" for K3's birthday weekend. There was a huge threat of rain and my sister's camper is still broken. We were not a fan of putting the camper up for one night, plus it was late until we got up there, so the kids stayed at camp and the adults stayed at the house. Worked out well! Us old folks got to hang out without the young ones, and we stayed warm all night. K4 came up super early Saturday because she was freezing and then went back to sleep in the warm comfy chair.

K3 turned 21! So strange that my baby boy is a certified adult! He loved his presents - we got him tools and random stuff, (He's super easy to shop for since he's just starting out in his house) and K4 got him a fuzzy kitten blanket that was both funny and super warm. He loved it. On Saturday, he and his "twin" went on a hike and were gone most of the day. I was so happy that the two of them got to spend some quality time together. They are 11 days apart, and she was with me during the day everyday until she started first grade. To say the two of them are close is an understatement. They had their own language and everything. These days their schedules conflict and they hardly get to see each other, so this weekend was awesome.

It was amazing to get to spend an entire weekend with my boy. We also don't get to see him often because of schedules. We're trying to figure out a once a week or every two week schedule for a dinner night.

It started raining late yesterday. Luckily, the kids had all checked out the forecast and decided they were done camping for the weekend. They cleaned up their gear and sacked out in the house. We watched movies, ate pizza, and K3 sampled some wine that he didn't like.

It's still raining. We cleaned up and headed out so we could meet up with That Man's sister to figure out stuff for That Mom. Hit the grocery store (I refused to go in because I was still in my jammies - That Man packed the car before I had a chance to change), and came home to veg out. Took a nap. Snuggled with Mr. B. Wrote. Did laundry. Ordered postcards for Into the Fire. That Man cooked. Going to write some more...

Behave!

Trick or Treat

Okay, so trick or treat night is actually way better than the parade.
It's a chill two hours on the porch with a bucket of candy and lots of cute kids/tweens/teens coming for that candy. It's fun to talk to the parents, too. I'm still a little ouchy about the financial outlay, but it was fun.
And we totally and always will give candy to the teenagers, because, why not? If they put the effort into dressing up, then whatever. It's fun for all of us. K4 didn't go out, but she was the candy-giver on our porch, which was awesome.
Mr. B was Batman and he was so cute!
Friends and family came to hang and it was fun.
None of us, except Mr. B, ate anything but chocolate for dinner, which was also fine.
And tomorrow is Friday and K3's birthday...
Yay!
I have new shoes on my Jeep. They are epic and I'm so excited to drive it tomorrow!
I also wrote more than the predicted 50 words! Yay me!
That is all!
Behave!

Mid-Week Woe...

Not really. It just sounded good... Ha!

Monday - rough day at the day job. Super busy, but, hey! Why does that even surprise me? Came home and crashed after making dinner and doing some laundry.

Tuesday - see above. Tacos for dinner. No margaritas though. Online shopped for tires for the Jeep. Wrote & critiqued. Stayed up far later than we should have.

Today - Brain draining day job. Worse than Monday. Spent the day putting out fires and quality checking/editing things. Felt like I didn't get any "real" work done, but I did, so... The Jeep has an appointment for new shoes tomorrow. Yay! That's exciting. No, really it is! Finished the critique. Words yet to come. Laundry for That Mom. Ordered in for dinner. (yay). Laundry for us. Organized the adulting paperwork. Vacuumed the whole house and somehow managed to throw my hip out. (ouch)

Tomorrow is trick or treat night. The candy is in the house. (ouch!) Why do I have to spend money on candy to give other peoples children? And it's not a $5. thing! I spent over $20 on stupid candy! Ridiculous! I'll tell you, if it wasn't for Mr. B, I would turn my porch light off and let chaos reign while I sit quietly in my house with the lights dim. And don't get me wrong, I love Halloween, but this candy thing is a little crazy to me... Back when my kids were little, I considered it somewhat of a trade off. Not anymore...

Friday is K3's 21st birthday! Can you believe that? My baby boy! When I started this blog, he was 9! Seriously! We have plans to celebrate with him this weekend, and his birthday shopping has been done, it just needs wrapped.

That's all for now. The words are calling and so is my bed. Must get the words done now before the bed calls louder.

Behave!

Weekend Wrap-up...

Well, hello Halloween...
Trick or Treat is Thursday.
There is no candy in this house... yet.
There will be Wednesday night and it will be hidden until zero hour.
We will be having pb&j on Thursday night, because that's what little man wants.
This is the pumpkin he and his dad carved. It's ginormous. It'll be on the dining room table until trick or treat night because some rude kids would throw it into the street. Just like the super rude person who is letting their dog crap right in front of our house and not cleaning it up. (Oh that is a situation and we are not happy about that...)
There is another pumpkin B picked out. It's white and cool. K1 has plans for it.
K4 also has a few pumpkins to take care of, but she was busy doing homework all day.
Anyway...
So.. the weekend...
Slept in a little on Saturday. B, K4 and I went to do some shopping after vacuuming and writing and paying bills. That boy is a mess to shop with. He wants everything. He was good though. Before we left, he took out the bathroom trash and dragged the big kitchen bag (with the bathroom trash inside) the whole way down the the curb. So awesome.
Did a little laundry, but not nearly enough... Was supposed to do our sheets and all of the blankets for the living room, but that never happened.
Met K1's boss for the first time. He's a cool guy. Hung out with my adoptive sons. (Oy vey!) (Just kidding. Love them!) Was home super early and in bed super early.
Today was pretty much no sleeping in. That Man is sick, but we had stuff to do. Did the Mom thing, even though he stayed far, far away from her. Her laundry is done now though. Made pot roast and mashed potatoes with gravy for dinner. Mashed potatoes were swill, seriously. Something bad happened. But the gravy was rocking. Did most of the birthday shopping. K3 is turning 21 on Friday and since he's on his own now, he's super easy to shop for.
Tomorrow is Monday... Nooooo.....
Oh and I finished editing my short story... Yay... Again... Writing wins!
Behave!

Feel Good Friday

I love you, Friday! Thank you for being the end of a long and stupid week...

Here's the good...

1. Not cooking dinner (not that I've "really" cooked all week, but still...) or going to the store. (I did the store thing too many times this week)

2. A productive week in the writing life. Yay! And really, when you get right down to it, that's the only thing that matters!

3. Talking to both of my sisters this week.

4. Work people - though the week was long and bumpy, they stayed funny and supportive. Love the new girl, she fits right in with the rest of the crazies. I do miss my Stacey though.

5. My kid offering me her last cheese stick. She didn't want to and was super happy when I didn't take it...But she would have given it to me if I'd have wanted it. That's the kind of kid she is. :)

6. Sleeping in tomorrow. Oh, yes. Please and thank you.

7. Plans to finally get the fall decorations out. Mr. B will be here to help, which will be fun. He's been asking me for weeks.

8. Seeing Funeral Bob tonight. It was so good to see him. This guy was our rock after both dad and mom died. (He's the funeral director at the home that took care of my folks) He called me regularly to check in and make sure we were doing okay for a long time after. He made me laugh and supported me in my insanity. He still makes me laugh and I'm so glad I made the time to stop in and see him. I learned at least four new jokes.

9. The weather. It is perfect.

10. The fact that we have no solid plans for the weekend, besides sleeping in, laundry, writing, vacuuming, laundry, writing, grocery shopping, bill paying, organizing, working in K4's room... yeah, okay... whatever.

That's enough...

Behave!

Thursday...

It was a beautiful day! Chilly this morning, but absolutely gorgeous this afternoon. Gotta love that!

Still brain draining at the day job. There's nothing for it. It is what it is.

Came home to find a storm window broken in the hall. Granted, it had been leaning there - waiting for installation near the cat box. But the danged thing was shattered and there was cat litter everywhere. Also, a few drops of blood on the sharp shards still stuck in the frame. Neither animal has any injuries, so no idea on that. What I think is that the dog attempted to move it to get to her cat "tootsie rolls" that she has an affinity for, and knocked it down, crashing it either on her own head, or on the edge of the box. Like I said, she's not injured, so I don't know if that's feasible. Anyway. Cleaned that up. Did some laundry. Dishes. Edited 13 pages (less than 10 to go, but I need to add a few things, so...)

Now it's bedtime. And man, I am tired.

Tomorrow is Friday though! Always a very good thing!

That is all!

Behave!

Only Wednesday?

This week... Oy, this week...

Suck is a good word. Not quite strong enough, but effective nonetheless.

Day job = total suck and brain draining. That's all I'm going to say about that.

That Man & K4 = sick. He's snotty, stuffy, headachey, and all over achey. And he's allergic to all cold/flu medicine. Great. K4 has other issues of the opposite kind. All I know is that I'm running away so I don't catch either.

Fleas = rude and relentless. Yes, we're dealing with a flea outbreak. Elsa is protected and unaffected, but the cats are not as well protected. One of our cats is bored or hates us or something. She keeps running outside and then when she runs back in...well, hello fleas. So now the other cat is affected. We've treated both of them, but it's not working. We vacuum every single surface every single day. You wouldn't know what we're dealing with to walk in here, but yeah, there's a flea circus lurking. A call to the vet happens tomorrow though. It's been long enough since the last completely ineffective cat treatment that we can finally, hopefully, treat them with the stuff that will end this.

The dog = Being bad. She has gotten into the trash everyday this week. Punishment for us leaving her? Probably. Annoying? Definitely. She goes into total shame mode as soon as she realizes we know what she did. (But she's so cute!)

The good things...

I talked to my aunt and uncle tonight. Always good to hear their voices and support. They have great advice and are great listeners for the issues of life. And, as always, are supportive, though they would not hesitate to tell me if they think I am wrong about something. 

Listening and engaging with my very very good friends excitement over her upcoming book release and all that she has done to prepare. So excited for her!

Getting through ten pages of editing! Amazing!

Bedtime very soon.

That is all.

Behave!

Tuesday Again...

Sorry for the radio silence.

That Man and I were on an adventure! We took off after work Wednesday and did some driving. We had a glorious mini-vacation just the two of us. Good food, good conversation, a lot of laughing and relaxing. It was fantastic and just what we needed.

I'm tired though. Got back to the day job on Monday and was so overloaded with work that I think my brain imploded. Today was the same.

I've been keeping up with my writing chapter's 50/50 challenge, which is good. Making the bare minimum word count right now, but I'm still doing it. Tonight was better than last night, though, so that's something. Hopefully every day will get better as the week progresses. I'm doing two things at a time - writing a new story and editing.

That's all.

Behave!

Parade Tuesday!

Tonight was our towns annual parade! We weren't looking forward to it for various reasons. Mainly because this week is insane with early work mornings and many things going on. But I made the chili and did the parade preparations anyway.

Friends of all kinds came and it really was good. It was fun to watch Mr. B's face and see his excitement. It was fun to hang out with the kids, even the adopted ones. Ha! And the old neighbors. And the sister. And the family that's not really family, but is.

The chili was a hit. It's "garbage" chili - which just means I use all leftovers (appropriate ones) and it's different every time. I made the chili on Sunday. I made the vegan chili on Monday. I sent the vegan chili home with the vegans. They were happy. Sent leftovers home with whoever wanted.

We had said goodbye and then realized that some jerk pulled right behind our exit from the yard. Many visitors were parked in the yard and could not get out. We were ticked off in a way I can't describe. Talked to neighbors walking by who got ticked off for us. Just as I was ready to put a nasty note on their windshield a police officer cruised by. We told him the deal and he promptly wrote the guy a hefty ticket. I didn't get to see what happened when he saw the ticket, but he did leave about 15 minutes ago. Which is good because I was stressing over getting out of the yard in the morning. (It was hard enough to get into the yard after work...)

Now I'm waiting for laundry to be done so I can go to bed.

That is all...

Behave!

Thursday - Goal Met

So I just met my writing group goal for the month. That feels super good.

Writing meeting coming up on Saturday. Really looking forward to that! I haven't been at a meeting since May, I think. Maybe June. I miss my writing peeps a lot. They always energize me and makes me feel not so alone.

Total author validation - someone who read my book told me they read it twice and still felt the same way they did the first time they read it. This has to be the first time someone has even said they read my book twice. And said that! Sweet. And Awesome!

In other news - today was my pals last day at the day job. She left in tears. I think I did too. I'm going to miss her. She talked. A lot. But she did a wonderful job at the job and she was someone I could always count on - for personal stuff and work stuff. I'm going to miss her a whole lot. I wish her well though. She had to do what she had to do for her family. But damn...

Tomorrow is Friday. Thank God. It's going to be a weird day. No doubt about it. I just need to get through it. And then the weekend. Writing meeting. Dinner with friends.

That is all. There is a sickness going around the day job and I'm fighting it. Going to bed to sleep off any potential germs I may have gathered today. I swear it's all around me...

Behave!

Wednesday Again...

Mid-way through the week...

K4 had her third oral surgery yesterday. Hopefully this is the last one. We'll see, though, because her teeth are coming in flipped around. The surgeon moved things around in the hopes of making things move a bit faster since it's taking far longer than it should. She's in a lot of pain, but has until next Tuesday to recover. Out for a few days with the surgery and then a super long weekend off of school.
Poor kid. She's pretty rough still.

The day job week has been super long and exhausting. I'm sporting a pretty good headache and some shoulder muscle-thing. I'm not going to be up for long.

Have to wait for the laundry though. And write some words.

Behave.

Weekend Wrap Up

Ugh! I hate to see a good weekend end!

Let's see the last time I posted was Wednesday. Thursday was pretty much the same as Wednesday. Friday was okay because it was Friday. K4 went to a football game in another town, which was great and she had a blast, but we worried because it was a pretty good drive and there usually end up being a lot of fights at this particular school. And there was. But she was not involved. She watched the game, took her friend home, and came home well before driving curfew.

That Man and I ran to the store Friday night, but didn't do any real shopping. We should have gone out to dinner, but I felt like crap - headache, ear pain, and something wonky going on with my voice. I laid on the couch pretty much all evening with a warm compress on my ear. It still hurts a little, but it's a lot better.

Slept in a little Saturday and then got up and took care of a bunch of stuff. We prepped the furnace for winter, cleared out the garden, cleaned two cars, cleaned the house, blah, blah, blah. Then took off to my sister's to help them with their fishing stuff. They're leaving for the beach next weekend and we're so very sad we can't go, too! But we were nice people and helped get everything ready, even though we were crying. Ha! My sister made awesome chili and we hung out and relaxed.

Today was K4 and I's usual weird television watching and commentary, running around with Mr. B, seeing That Man's mom and sister, grocery shopping for real (with a four-year old who had his own little cart - always interesting and expensive), and then home to do laundry and make dinner. That Man and I managed to get a walk in, which is always looked forward to, unless he makes me walk up hills (which he did). He made an awesome dinner that included homemade sauce from our garden tomatoes.

I'm less than 2,500 words away from my writing goal this month. That that will happen. Next month I need to edit my Second Sentence story and get it out for critique. That should be hitting Amazon as soon as we're all done with the editing process.

And now tomorrow it's back to the grind... K4 has yet another mouth surgery on Tuesday. That Man is taking care of this one since he has more time off available than I do right now. I wish I could be there, but it is what it is.

That is all.

Behave!

What About Wednesday?

I'm slayed...

I broke a molar. Eating salad.

Said molar was fixed by my dentist tonight. Lucky for me, the breakage didn't cause me any pain and they were able to fix it so I still have a surface. It took less than twenty minutes, but now my head hurts and my mouth is kind of uncomfortable from having two people's hands inside. But it's okay. I didn't get any numbing, even though he drilled.

K4 broke her glasses...

We met to get them fixed tonight on my way to the dentist. It took the shop less than two minutes to fix them. That's a good thing, but it meant that my time table for getting to the dentist was thrown off (I thought it would be longer). I ran over to get gas and ran into K4 getting food on her way home. Ha!

The Day Job was long and tough and busy and crazy...

There's no other for that one... It'll be the same tomorrow.

So now we're just at stuff...

It's supposed to be cooler tomorrow, which means the top is going up on the Jeep tomorrow night. I know my limits as far as how cold it can be to survive an early morning trip with the top down and we'll be under that by the end of the week.

Plans coming together for That Man and I's weekend away. Whoot. Whoot! (There cannot be too many whoots for this!)

That is all. I'm going to try to write now. Even though I should be in bed (and K4 keeps stealing my mouse usb...)

Behave!

Monday Madness...

Ugh. Monday. You suck.

And here's why:

In no particular order...

One of my favorite co-workers is leaving. She put her notice in today. I'm sad, but she has to do what she has to do.

Visiting family in the hospital. I just wish the docs could figure out what's going on. Frustrating.

Not getting any writing done.

Being dead tired.

What's good about today?

Plans coming together for That Man and I's weekend.

Driving with the top down on the Jeep.

Starting to think about the Beach next year.

In other news...

The weekend was a blur of grandson, cleaning, running around, and exhaustion... Today could have easily been another weekend day to just rest and relax. Why aren't weekends 3 days long again?

Okay. That is all.

Behave!

Guest Blogging

I'm blogging on my pal, Julie Doherty's, blog today.

She even came up with some interview questions for me!

Check it out here...

Behave!

Only Wednesday?

So for most of the day, I thought it was Thursday.

I don't know why.

It was very disappointing to fully realize that today is Wednesday. This happened around lunch time. I was disturbed. Ugh.

Long day at the Day Job. Okay. It is what it is.

Walk with That Man. Check.

Good dinner. Check.

2k words on the page. Check.

Bedtime soon? Yes.

So tomorrow is actually Thursday. That's a very good thing.

Behave!

Oh, Tuesday...

Why you gotta be so rough all the time?

The Day Job is rough - I spent the day putting out fires, and that doesn't seem like it's going to change. And busy! Oy! But, I try really hard to leave that stress in the parking lot and not bring it home with me. Occasionally, I need to download with That Man, but it's usually a quick session.

We had an early morning with an orthodontist appointment. K4 is in pain and will be until these teeth finally come through. One is close. The other is the one that needs surgery again. Oy!

But there was good stuff today, too...

Driving with the top down on the Jeep. That sucker is staying down as long as possible! I don't care if it's a little chilly in the morning - it's gorgeous on the way home. So worth it. Thought we might get some rain today, but it never happened, so...

Talking a walk with That Man while waiting for dinner to be done. (That's what happens when your chicken is still frozen...) He started everything, then we took a walk, and finished when we got home.

On a side note - I have already blogged more this year than the past two years combined. That's a good sign...

Now I will go write...

On Friday, I'll be on my friend Julie's blog. I already have the link scheduled. Check it out... And don't forget Into the Fire is still available.! It's only $3.99 on Amazon. And don't forget... if you're a Kindle Unlimited user, I don't get a dime until you actually read it.

Behave!

Weekend's End...

I'm sad that it's Sunday evening. I could really use a few more days to get things done around here.

Didn't really sleep in today, but went to bed pretty early, so I guess that's okay. K4 and I continued watching our show and we pretty much just lazed around for most of the morning. That was nice.

Then, it was cleaning. The living room is de-animal haired and dusted. I even pulled out the couches and cleaned under the cushions. The stairs and kitchen have been cleaned. The only thing I didn't get done was mopping, but there was too much chaos for it to even matter since Mr. B was "helping" me until his friends came to get him to go and play. That Man did our room, including putting away laundry and going through his drawers. Didn't get to the laundry, but that's okay. It's almost done anyway. Or it was. lol

Made awesome burgers on the grill for dinner. With fresh tomatoes from our garden. Very nice. The garden is almost done though. We still have many green tomatoes on, and some peppers still growing, but the tomato vines are dying out. I guess it is that time. Next year I want to do better. I did better this year than last, so that's something. I also have some Missouri garlic planted in there, which will take at least two seasons to produce, but I'm looking forward to that.

I did write last night and am in the middle of writing now. I still need a title for this book, but it'll come. I need to figure some more stuff out, which I'm thinking about. Once I meet my writing goal for the month, I'll head over and edit my short for the next installment of the free book. This one is "The Second Sentence".

That's about it. The writing is calling me. Yeah, I'm still wishing I could be home full time to write again, but those pesky bills insist on being paid. Jerks.

Behave!