Dropping Off the Face of the Earth...

So... Sorry about that... Not that many people read this anymore...

But...

Let's back up!

Weekend before Christmas was pretty good! Had a gathering on Saturday, which turned out fantastic. Small crowd. We did crafts for the kids. Good food. Good times. We ran around like crazy people all day Saturday. Did the shopping for the gathering, the day before, and the day.

Sunday was K2's for dinner and new baby seeing. That Man was feeling like poo, so he stayed home. K4 and I went, stopping at the store first for the things I needed to bring and a few other supplies for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. We were late. K3 got stuck at work. K1 and J were there. We had a good time. Baby A is awesomely cute. K2 made soup and the kids played. It was good.

Monday was work, which was slow as heck. Out of there and then home to host Christmas Eve. My brother made the soup, which was, once again, awesome. We hung out and laughed a bunch. It was also very good.

Once everyone left, we organized the Christmas things, straightened up and crashed. Up early. No idea why. Our youngest is now nineteen and likes to sleep... But, by the time she got up, we had breakfast almost done, candles were lit, tree and piano lights were on, coffee was ready, and the yule log was playing on the tv.

My baby is nineteen. What the heck? The first year I blogged, she turned six! Now she's 1/4 through college!

We ate breakfast and then did our gift thing. K4 gave her dad the toolbox she made for shop class. Super awesome. K3 came over. We did presents and then we ran over to K1 & J's. I might want to mention at this point that I woke up feeling a little yucky. (Remember I said That Man felt like poo?) We did a quick trip and stayed away from the baby and tried our best to stay away from Mr. B. Back home to nap. S & J came over for K4's birthday dinner - chicken tacos. We had ice cream cake and then they scooted off home since all of us had to work the next day.

Woke up Wednesday morning feeling like utter and absolute crap. Had to go to the day job if I wanted to get paid for the holiday. I somehow made it through the day. Came home and crashed on the couch. That Man sent me to bed around 8. I'd already slept for two hours and I went to bed and slept some more. Woke up Thursday morning with horrible symptoms. Vomiting is the least gross of them.

Let me just say that it's pure evil to have a bone-breaking cough and the other side of vomiting.

I was in a super bad place. Also, body aches, sinus congestion, coughing, sneezing, horrible headache...I stayed in bed and slept all day Thursday and didn't eat at all. Yes, I drank water and tried to take meds. Woke up Friday morning with no change. Slept all day Friday, too. Finally woke around four and could barely move. That Man finally got home and I tried to eat some dinner. Didn't do so great on that one, but I managed to stay downstairs for a little bit. Slept in Saturday - like I needed to after all of the sleeping... But apparently, I did need it.

Finally got some food in me Saturday and kept it down. Only one meal split into two segments though. Weak as a newborn kitten though. In bed stupid early, even though I'd napped on and off all day. We did get our sheets washed and some other necessary things done, though it was a slow, slow process.

Today we had no choice but to run errands. Hit the grocery store, pharmacy, auto parts store... That Man put dinner in the oven before we left, so at least that was taken care of. Completely overdid it though. I've been useless pretty much ever since. Ate a little lunch. Napped. Laid on the couch.

This flu is a pain in the ass.

Tomorrow I have a full day at the day job. I have no idea what I'm going to walk into. Whatever. It is what it is. I have no control over how sick I was.

Tomorrow night is up in the air at this point. We'll see how we feel after doing the day job thing. Ugh.

That is all.

Behave!

Feel Good Friday...The Friday Before...

Thank Goodness!!

Except... I have to work on Monday until 3pm. How crappy is that? That Man doesn't have to work. I'm sure our office will be as bare as it was the Friday after Thanksgiving. I already know all of my departments are closed and all of my reps are off. Ugh.

Anyway. Let's get to the list.

1. Anniversary with That Man. We went to eat at an amazing restaurant we've been wanting to try forever. The food was awesome! After that, we did some shopping and came home, wrapped, and went to bed super late. Again. I don't think we've been in bed before midnight since sometime last week. There will be no sleeping in tomorrow. There is too much to do.

2. Living through the work week. It was insane, but I am caught up now, which is awesome. I have the best coworkers and reps.

3. Selling books. I've had two different people purchase both of my print books as Christmas gifts. That's super awesome!

4. Shopping is finished! Well...mine anyways. That Man has a few things to take care of, but basically, we're done. I went to the mega store after work. It was insane. I'm scarred. Though I will say, by the time I was about halfway done, it cleared out big time and checking out was not bad at all.

5. Wrapping is also done. Both trees look full of stuff. Of course, one tree is super super tiny. There are little things wrapped in big boxes, which is our way, but I have to say, it looks awesome!

6. Not cooking dinner. We ordered in subs. There was no other option.

7. The dog was mostly fine after her cookie feast. She ended up peeing all over the kitchen floor. I think it was so she wouldn't poop on the floor. OY! But I think my rug is ruined.

8. Holy Warm Day! I didn't wear a coat all day! I had my windows down - well, until it started raining. And it's Winter Solstice!

I'm out of stuff... It's bedtime in a few.

Behave!

Wednesday... Over the Hump...

This week is sooo long. It's been like a week full of Mondays so far! But we are winding down now! Yay!

Tonight was a Christmas party with friends. Amazing food. Great conversations. A fun, but kinda wacky, game. We made spinach dip. I was worried about it because one of the main ingredients was different than normal,, but it turned out well. We left the bread bowl with some dip for the hosts. It at least has the potential to get eaten there. It does not here.

So. K4 made cookies for us to take to the party. There was a kitchen mishap and some of them burnt and those that didn't burn looked weird (ingredient swap out - one she researched and thought would work. I thought it was clever, but the oven didn't). We decided to leave them behind. We're talking like nearly two dozen cookies in various stages of weirdness. We put them on a plate and put them in a grocery store bag, knowing we'd probably dispose of them when we got home. They were placed on the far back of the counter.

When we got home, there were no cookies. That dog of ours ate every single one of them and part of the bag. Needless to say, she's either been in bed or outside pooping. (except, she snuck down and is now snuggled up against me. As upset as I am with her, I can't kick her off me. She's too cute. She obviously doesn't feel well, and I'm worried about the amount of chocolate she ate) We are not happy with her at all. Plus, we know there will probably be poop or puke overnight. Ugh! Why?

We wrapped the things that came today. Getting there. We've been keeping up with the wrapping each night, which is good. Not trusting the animals, and, especially this bad dog who also loves to unwrap presents, I put up my momma's tree in my office and we've been stashing most of the gifts there. There are only a few under the real tree. When we're home, I'll plug in the lights and leave the door open and it looks cool when you get to the top of the steps, but normally the door is closed and things are safe.

We're almost done. I need to get for him. We have a few fill ins to take care of. We have the grocery shopping to do. And the house to clean. And food to make. I'm only freaking out a tiny bit at this point. Hopefully, we'll finish up tomorrow night after our anniversary dinner.

Yeah. That's tomorrow night. 32 years of married life. I wouldn't change it for the world. I'm going to be even more cliche and say - we've had ups and down, but the constant has been that we have each other and we're really good at making each other laugh, finding things to laugh about in ridiculous situations, and balancing out each other's emotions. He's my best friend and there is no way I could do this adulting thing without him. Yeah, I know that's mushy. I'm not apologizing.

And it's bedtime...

Behave!

Dinner With K5...

We had a fun dinner with our oldest grandchild!

Picked her up and headed the the place. She's so polite and so funny. And super smart! I'm not just saying that because she's my granddaughter. She really is.

K5 and I both had shrimp for dinner. Yes, she's 8 and loves onion rings, shrimp, and all kinds of things. She devoured most of her food. She ended up ordering french fries and mashed potatoes and then realized what she'd done when the food came. She gave the taters to her pappy and we laughed and laughed about double potatoes. We weren't going to embarrass her by telling her she didn't want both, because maybe she really did. She was super happy that we let her order off of the adult menu. Of course we did.

We went back to her house so she could open her gifts. She was real happy with what we got her. I mean, you can't go wrong with a build your own unicorn terrarium. Ha! She loved her other gift, too. Spent some time talking with her folks and then hit the road for home.

Then made spinach dip, took out trash, talked to my aunt, wrapped the gifts that were delivered today, laundry, and... yeah...

Bed soon, but I have a load of laundry to get out of the dryer.

Tomorrow night is more of the same. Party to go to, a quick trip to the store after... more wrapping, I'm sure.

I'm tired...

Behave!

The Monday Before...

Oh Dear...

So much to do!

So, let me recap the weekend first...

Took Mr. B to breakfast with Santa and it was awesome. We got there a little early and he got to go right back to see Santa and Mrs. Claus. He received some presents and then devoured his breakfast. Then he got his face painted by the most amazing face painter I have ever seen. His paint was absolutely epic, made better by his elf hat. He looked so stinking cute.

Ran to the place where K3 has his store, but he wasn't in yet. Mr. B was amazed at the displays and the fish and pretty much everything. We had a blast. That Man picked out a present for his part-time job Christmas party (an epic huge fish pillow). Came home to eat lunch and chill a bit. K1 picked up Mr. B and I got to hold little Mr. B for a while.

Office Christmas party for the part time job. Always fun. They do a dirty Santa and we came home with two wonderful smelling Yankee candles. Nice. The fish pillow was an enormous hit, especially when it burst out of the box like we were hoping. Came home and began to organize ourselves, but then K3 called and said his drivers side window was busted out. Nothing was stolen, but, of course, it was pouring. He said it looked like someone backed into his car. Ugh. He came here and he and That Man taped it up. He ate some food (dude, he was super hangry. Yikes!).

Sunday - Ha! I thought we were going to have a relaxing day. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We went shopping, we went to lunch, we did more shopping, we got our tree, we went to the grocery store, we put the Christmas dishes in the hutch which meant multiple trips up and down the stairs, and washing plates and cups and things, laundry, furniture rearranging. K4's car was dropped off at the shop for, hopefully, fixing. We decorated the tree. We sorted and organized the presents. We didn't get to bed until after midnight, and of course, today was a work day.

Today - work day. Grocery store - that's going to happen a lot this week. My list is immense. Shrimp and angel hair pasta for dinner. Yum. One of my absolute favorites. Wrapping. Laundry. Office cleaning. More wrapping. List organizing.

Oh and the best thing of all, is that our new granddaughter was born tonight. She's beautiful and momma and baby are doing well.

Now we have six grandkids - three boys and three girls. Awesome! And the funniest thing is that those kids are from our older two. I think K1 is done. K2 is not. And K3 and K4 haven't even started, though I don't think K4 is going to be about babies and stuff. I wonder how many grandchildren we'll end up with?

Speaking of grandkids, we're taking K5 to dinner tomorrow night for the present giving. Excited about that.

Then Wednesday we have a Christmas party to attend.

Thursday is our 32nd anniversary, so we'll go to dinner and work on the rest of the shopping.

Friday - well that's going to be crazy with finishing the gift shopping and getting the food shopping done.

Saturday - gathering with friends. Should be fun. Should be crazy.

Sunday - meeting Baby A. We're not going to get over there before that. At least I don't think. Maybe though. But still. We're going over to see them for Christmas. They won't be traveling due to having a newborn, which is completely understandable.

And then... There we are! I have to work Christmas Eve until 3pm. That Man is off for the day. How lucky is he? Most of the family will be here for Christmas Eve festivities. My brother is making the soup. We're pretty low key this year. All of us are too broke for the gift exchange, which is very okay. I'm looking forward to it, even though my sister won't be able to be here.

Oy. I need a nap! Or to just go to bed.

Behave!

Feel Good Friday!

Yeah, it's late.

I'm exhausted. What a long-assed week!

Let's do the list:

1. New grandson. Little Mr. B is doing great. They are settled in at home. I should get to see him for a bit tomorrow.

2. Friday! What a long week! In every way possible. Well, probably not every way possible, but in many, many ways.

3. Our work lunch party today. We had amazing food, desserts, and discussions. There was so much food leftover (even though we ate like pigs) that it was demanded that we take a care package. Ha! Two of my reps came, and we hung out, worked, and laughed a lot. I'm so lucky that they are two of the nicest, most awesome people and I'm so glad we're such a great team. (My other rep and I are a great team, too, but unfortunately it's hard for him to travel to the office.)

We also had Charlie Brown Christmas playing in the conference room. Two people in the office had never seen it before, so it was awesome to hear the reactions. It was a pretty decent day. Still overloaded with work, but it is what it is. I can only do what I can do.

4. That Man and Mr. B meeting me at work to begin our evening adventure. We jetted out of there and went to meet K5. Took the two monkeys shopping. They had a blast together and they bought each other, and their parents, some interesting things. Ha!

5. Finding a good pizza place not far from my sister's, and a new to her place. We picked up food and then went to her house for eating, wrapping, and hanging out. It was great for the kids to see her and my brother-in-law. They had a blast together. It was a super nice evening and I'm so glad it worked out the way it did. Took K5 home and then finally made our way home. Mr. B is staying over. We might get to take him to breakfast with Santa tomorrow. We'll see.

6. K4 finishing her first semester of college! Whoot! Though, she came home and her desktop computer freaking crashed. She was not a happy camper at all and I don't blame her. All she wanted to do was take a nap and watch Netflix. Now she has to reconfigure the whole thing. Then, she had car trouble on her way to hang out with her cousin. Ugh.

7. Christmas party tomorrow night. Last year was a blast. I hope it is this year, too.

8. A Sunday with little on the calendar. We have a few errands to run, but I think mostly it will be cleaning house and organizing stuff. Heck, we're almost in the final run for the big day. (OY! I am so not ready!)

9. Plans to take K5 out to eat next week. We'll give her Christmas presents and enjoy some time together. She's such a great kid! Not only were we not prepared tonight, but it seemed pretty crappy to give her presents with Mr. B watching. He wouldn't understand, so we opted for a different approach. Yeah, it makes things a little crazier next week, but who cares. Christmas is a crazy time and the crazy times should be fun.

10. I guess we have to do this Christmas and birthday thing coming up in 11 - almost 10 - days. Geeze! K4 hasn't really decided what we're having for dinner yet. I haven't decided on any gifts. My piano is decorated, but that's it. I have a lot to do. And I'm so freaking tired. I'm not sure I have Christmas spirit yet...

11. Grandbaby #6 due now. Everything is going well. Now we just wait. It's a new granddaughter. We'll find out her name when she's born. That's just how they do things and it's awesome.

That's 11 and that's a lot. It's now Saturday, so I'm going to bed.

Behave!

Thursday...

Tomorrow is Friday! Woo Hoo!

What a freaking long week! Not a bad week, just a super busy and exhausting week.

The day job...well... It is what it is. Super busy and exhausting all by itself. Tomorrow is our Christmas lunch. Two of my reps are coming in. That's super exciting. We're such an awesome team and I'm so glad to have them in the office for a few hours. We have some work to do, but that's okay.

We've been on the run all week. Tonight is the first and only night this week that we have a smidgen of down time. We ordered food, kept the lights off, and just relaxed.

Mr. B went home with his family. He was so happy to go home. He was at work with Pappy all morning. His goldfish lived. That was something we didn't even think about. How devastating would it have been for him to go home to find Goldie dead? The poor kid has had enough stress this week. When I woke him up this morning, he wanted to know why he had to wake up in the middle of the night and what kind of crazy are we that we have to get up before the sun! Ha! He goes to afternoon kindergarten so he had no idea.

I had a board meeting for my writers group and it turned into a super stressful kind of thing. I will be glad to see my writing chapter being run the way it's supposed to be ran. I have to upmost confidence in our new president. She's done this before and she's going to be awesome.

Tomorrow night we have Mr. B and K5 for our annual Christmas shopping trip. We are so looking forward to it. Each kid gets to buy gifts for their parents and each other and then, somehow, we'll figure out how to wrap said gifts and have some dinner and probably some dessert. These kids are hysterical in what they think is the best gift. One year, K5 bought her mom "I am the booty" shorts. It's always a fantastic time.

I'm crashing...

Behave!

Wednesday... What a Week...

Well... It's been a heck of a week. 

Monday...

After the day jobs, we went up to my sister's to butcher a deer. Yes. We did. And I don't want to hear it. It was legally hunted and it was given to us by the hunter. It will be eaten. My sister and brother-in-law have all of the equipment needed to process, so we headed up there to take care of everything. Their kitchen looked like a massacre. We were finishing up when we got the call from K1 that they needed us for baby time. We hurried through as much as the clean up as we could before we had to go, leaving my sister and brother-in-law with a huge mess and all of the meat to freeze. They weren't upset at all and sent us on our way. 

Got home and received Mr. B. He was wound up and not ready for bed at all. We let him stay up and jabber away. K1 and J went to the hospital and were sent home again. They were home for less than 15 minutes before going back again. Little Mr B was born 15 minutes after they arrived back in the early hours of the morning of Tuesday. 

What kind of crap is that? I can't help but feel that their care was severely mismanaged. But in the end, we now have a beautiful, healthy new grandson. He was born early Tuesday morning, weighing in at 6# 9oz and 19 3/4" long. 

Tuesday...

That Man and I were off for baby time. All of us slept in. Like crazy slept in. Saw the texts about little Mr. B way later than we should have! We did go to bed super late, but still. Did some alerting of the birth, made breakfast, and headed to the hospital. 

Mr. B was amazingly cute with his new brother. He was propped up on the end of the bed holding him and didn't want anyone else to hold his baby. Pappy finally got to hold him, and I got to for a few minutes while B re-positioned himself and did some things. We left so everyone could get some sleep and took big Mr. B to McD's for lunch. The kid is an eating machine. Just saying. Stopped at the store for dinner (should have brought some of that meat home!). That Man made banging spaghetti sauce over penne pasta. I took a quick nap and then we started wondering what today was going to be like since the hospital decided to keep them until tomorrow. We hadn't planned for that. I couldn't take another full day off and neither could That Man. 

Today...

We worked it out. That Man took Mr. B into work with him and I used my last sick hours to leave early and pick him up. Mr. B and I went to see baby brother and stayed until right before rush hour traffic. Still with the cuteness and not wanting anyone else to hold brother. Though I did hold little man for quite a while. He's so cute. His bruising is almost gone. He looks so much like big brother. I think he's going to be a red head, too. 

Mr. B is super homesick and super confused. We talked a lot and did a lot of reassuring and praising. He doesn't understand what's going on at all. All he knows is that he wants to be home and wants to be with his family. It's been super crazy with all of the false alarms and he's just tired. He was super, super tired tonight. We put him to bed an hour and a half earlier than his normal bedtime and he was asleep within seconds 

Tomorrow That Man will take Mr. B into work again, but his parents will pick him up on their way home. They are working on getting out of there as soon as possible, so hopefully it won't be too long. 

We have one night of silence and then on Friday, we have Mr. B and K5 for shopping frivolity. Looking forward to that. 

K4 will be finished with her first semester of college on Friday. She's dying to be done and ready for the break. That went super fast! 

K2 is due on Saturday! We'll wait for that! She's usually pretty true to her due dates, so...

I guess next we go into Christmas mode! I did decorate the piano yesterday. That's something, right?

That is all! 

Behave!

Weekend Wrap Up...

I missed Friday. Why? Because I was exhausted and I didn't get home until late. And the day job sucked my soul out. 

That Man wasn't feeling well, so I did the baby shower shopping and grabbed stuff for dinner on my way home. Finding adorable baby stuff was hard. I ended up doing well, though, I think. I found a pacifier for the puppy that's going to have a baby soon, too. Of course, this is an ongoing process. Once the babies comes, I will get more stuff. 

I also got some stuff for new Baby B. Long-sleeved onsies, some super cute hats, socks, etc... Also and ongoing process. 

We made soup and sandwiches for dinner and went to bed super early. 

Saturday. Brunch at our dear friends house. Awesome coffee. Mimosas. Amazingly good time. A ton of laughter and amazingly awesome good food. 

Went from there to meet my sister-in-law and brother at the venue for the baby shower. Got that set up. It was really nice and a good time, all things baby shower considered. Mostly, I avoid baby showers, but there's no way to avoid it when it's your mini-me niece. Love her and am so happy for her. I got to touch the amazing belly. (I asked first) We did not do the diaper candy game, which is amazing awesome. They got a lot of nice gifts, and there were some tears when she opened the blanket that her Gram had started and her mom finished. 

All of us remaining siblings were together, which was awesome! It was my sister and brother-in-laws anniversary, too. K4 was coming home from school and made it for a little bit before her exhaustion got the better of her. 

I have a story for after we got home, but as crazy as it was. I don't think I'm allowed to talk about it yet. I might have to be a witness. (I called 911 and saw some stuff...) Talked to the officer in charge around 11:30 last night.

Today was grocery shopping and cookie making. K4 wanted to make cookies for school. She made like four different kinds. She has a week left of this semester and then she's 1/4 done with college. Wow. So crazy and so good. 

We also did the laundries...

There is a bit of shopping done. Zero decorating is done. We have a crazy week coming up, so... Who knows if we'll get stuff done or not...

I'm going to write now...

Behave!

Thursday...

And still no babies...

Another stellar day of insanity at the day job. We're a solid team though. Regardless of what anyone thinks. We're good. We've got each others backs. We rock. 

I'm no closer to being caught up than I was this time last week. It is what it is. I'm doing my best and that's all I can do. 

I came home and That Man and I went for dinner. It was nice. We rarely go out these days and maybe that has something to do with having a college kid. But still. That Man started the laundry and we're still doing the laundry. 

Today is what we figure is our Elsa's birthday. Six years old. Though... we came home to total badness. Somehow, she ended up with some foil and shredded it all over the living room. And our bed... The bed we made so nicely and neatly this morning (yeah, we're nerds. We make our bed every morning. Together. Don't throw up.) Anyways... Our nicely made bed looks like a WWE ring. Pillows strewn. Naked sheets. Oy! 

Granted. The bed looks like some version of that every night when we get home. I think Elsa and Max have battles or something. It's useless to close our door. Elsa knows how to open it. It's annoying. 

Tomorrow is Friday! Yay!

I wrote tonight. 

And that's all I have to say about that! 

Behave! 

Still No Babies...

We're waiting for them... 

Okay. One is not quite due yet. We have a week or so for that. The other is past cooking time and needs to show his adorable face. 

I really hoped little man would make his appearance by now, but he's apparently warm and cozy where he is. I guess his lateness gives me more opportunity to feel caught up at the day job. 

But... Come on, little guy. Nanners is waiting to hold you. 

It's Wednesday. 
And it's snowing a bit. 

I don't think it's going to do more than flurry. Snow is not even really in the forecast. 

We had a crazy day and a pretty decent evening. Got to see friends and talk with them, which is always good. Now we're just waiting for the furnace to catch so we can get some sleep. 

Tomorrow is Thursday. One more day closer to the weekend. I have no aspirations that the day job is going to be any less frantic than it's been. I have no expectations of grandchild news. There is a plan for That Man and I to get some dinner somewhere, but we'll see what happens there. I have gift cards and shopping cash, but they add up to a place he's not always keen on going to. We might just grab something and stay in and do laundry and stuff. Ha!  

This weekend is going to be super crazy. 

Friday night will be shopping - not Christmas, but baby. I need to get little man some socks and stuff. I need to shop for my new great niece or nephew. Of course, we could do that tomorrow night, too. Hmm...

Saturday morning is a brunch at a dear friend's house. I haven't seen her in about six months and that sucks. We used to see each other every day. 

Then we meet my sister-in-law for the opening of the room for the baby shower place. Then the shower. Possibility of a party after that, but no idea if we're going to make that. I'm not rushing away from the shower since I haven't seen my siblings in forever. 

Sunday is... wait... I think there is nothing going on Sunday? I could be seriously wrong about that, but at this very moment, I can't think of anything. I'm sure I'm wrong though. To any event, laundry must be done. The groceries must be purchased. Ack. 

I took a little break from writing since the 50/50 challenge ended last Friday. Just a few days to back off and get some perspective again. Wrote tonight on a story I have only until February to submit. So far, I'm digging it. I hope to get the rough draft done soon and then I'll let it sit for editing and go back to the manuscript I was working on.

And that is all...

Behave! 

Tuesday... Tired...

It's been a super long week and it's only Tuesday. 

Yesterday at the day job went pretty good. Not quite as good as I had hoped, but way better than I thought. 

Just as I was leaving, I got a text from K1 that they needed to go to the hospital for Little Mr. B. They dropped Big Mr. B off with pappy and went in. Several hours later, they were discharged again. Things are progressing, but with as crazy as the hospital was, they felt it was better if they labored at home. We kept Mr. B, fully expecting to get a call overnight, but... Nope. Big Mr. B was picked up this morning... Only an hour later than I needed him to be picked up to make it to work on time... Oy! 

This baby is so stubborn. Like I said, things are progressing, but super slow. I'm hoping it's soon. It should be. Of course, the day job is super crazy and being off is difficult. But I wouldn't miss this baby coming for the world. 

We're at 21 days until Christmas. We have zero decorations up. Zero presents (oh wait! And less than zero money, too). Zero holiday spirit. Though I have to say the Hallmark Christmas movie watching is going splendidly. Ha! I think everything is hinging on the new babies that are coming. 

We won't get the tree until zero-thirty. That demon kitten that lives here will take our holiday spirit out before it even gets started if we put the tree up sooner than zero-thirty. Don't get me wrong. We love the little guy. He's actually super sweet when he wants to be. But he can and will destroy the tree. He will enjoy every minute of it. And I will cry as I clean up his destruction! Ha! 

In the meantime, That Man and I will continue to work on our Christmas spirit. And wait for our new grandbabies!

Behave!

Weekend Wrap Up....

Sunday evening already?

Let's see...

Saturday -
Slept in a little.
I ran out early to grab a gift for the party and the Jeep wouldn't start. Not awesome. K4 came and we tried to jump it, but no go. Let them know at the store that I'd be back for it. Came home and fixed my cheesecake. It was ugly. That's no lie. I made it pretty though and it was a huge hit at the party.
The party was a lot of fun. The food was amazing and so was the company. We had awesome conversations about all kinds of things
I came home (rode to the party with a friend), and K4 and I ran out to the bookstore to grab some stuff, stopped at the store to see if the Jeep would start. Nothing. Ran in and grabbed stuff for dinner. Came home and made dinner. That Man was super late from his Saturday gig. He was too tired and sore to check out the Jeep, so we watched a movie. He went to bed pretty early and I played some GTA with K4, talked to K1. Finally got to bed.

Sunday -
Not much sleeping in. That Man and I headed out to check the Jeep. Nothing again. Narrowed it down to the starter, which is what we were already thinking. Ran down to the parts store and blew a crap ton of money on a new starter. Came home and got ready for the signing today.
The signing was a lot of fun. Sold a few books. Met a bunch of awesome people. Hung out with my friends. My brother, sister-in-law, and niece came out. That was awesome!
Came home to dinner made, laundry done, and a fixed Jeep. Yay!

Tomorrow is Monday again... Not looking forward to that. We'll see how things go.

That is all for now. I'm exhausted.

Behave!

Feel Good Friday?

I'm not so sure about that.

Yes. It's Friday.

It has been a b*tch-*ssed week at the day job. So much so, that I cannot even begin to describe. I will update again on Monday. Once I know what is exactly going on.

So here's the list:

1. Not so great, but leaving work early today thanks to a horrible and crushing headache. I guess...migraine? I came home and slept for a few glorious hours and felt some better when I woke up. Ordered take out for dinner and have been chilling in my jammies and napping on and off since. I don't feel awesome by any means. At all.

2. See take out for dinner.

3. Hopefully. My writing group Christmas party tomorrow. I'm hoping I will feel up to going. I should be. Physically I am feeling better. Some. At least. I think.

4. Book signing on Sunday. Looking forward to it.

5. Maybe Christmas decorations this weekend?

6. Finishing the 50/50 challenge. I mean. I will in a few minutes. Even if I just do the 50 words. Who knows though. It's taken me over an hour to write this post because the computer screen hurts me.

That is all.

Behave!

Windy Wednesday...

Holy Freezing Wind Batman!

It's freaking cold and sooo windy. Yeah... I know it's winter now, or almost "officially" winter, but still. On Sunday I was running around without a coat, and, at times, without shoes. Now I'm wearing gloves for the first time this season and not going anywhere without my fuzzy slippers. (I was going to say this year, but that is so not true. Ha!)

It's Wednesday. On the down slope for the week. It's been a super long week at the day job already. I can't even get into it, but trust me.

But I have managed to write every day this week. Even a little last night when I had the worst headache in the world. I was in bed around eight-thirty, and while I slept a tiny bit right after I crawled in, I woke up and then didn't get back to sleep until around two am. Suck! I missed a call from my grandson and a writing blast because of the stupid headache, too. Ugh.

We have two more days until the end of the writing challenge. We are close to getting a million words for this challenge. I hope we make it. We've been striving for this for a few years. Many of us are trying to ramp up our word count to help get it done. I did pretty well tonight, despite having stuff going on and not getting home until after nine.

This weekend is crazy busy. Christmas party for the writing group on Saturday. Always a good time. Sunday is a book signing in a neighboring town. First time for the whole event, so we'll see how it goes. I'm excited. Many of my fellow authors will be there and friends have said they are coming.

I have to make a White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake for Saturday. And I need to get my stuff together for Sunday. I have to leave for the Sunday event mid-morning, so I want to have everything together before so I don't have to rush around and can maybe sleep in a little.

That is all...

Behave!

Monday... Again!

The weekend got away from me! 

Saturday was a flash signing at the bookstore. It was fun. Not a big crowd since the weather was crappy and icy. After that, we stopped at the hospital to see our friend. It wasn't a good time to visit since she was in physical therapy, so we left and hit the grocery store. 

Turkey and waffles for dinner. Early bedtime. 

Sunday was yard work. We got all of the leaves cleared out and put some junk at the curb. I had just finished putting stuff down there when the junk man rolled by. Awesome. We had a little fire in the fire burner and made an awesome pot roast for dinner. We were exhausted though. Those leaves were so heavy and wet. 

Back to the grind today. Ugh. And only slightly busy. Lots of people off for hunting in my departments. 

No baby news. Tomorrow is a week until her due date and two weeks (about) until K2's. J is uncomfortable and ready for little man to show up. 

Took my first stab at doing the newsletter for my writing group. Believe it or not, in all of the years I've been a member, I have never done it. Got off to a frustrating start, but I finally managed to produce something that resembled a newsletter. 

I've got to start thinking about Christmas. I did put away the Thanksgiving stuff, swapped out my coffee cups for the snowmen ones, and pulled out my tiny Christmas trees I use in the bathroom and hall upstairs. But that's it. I know so many people who are decorated already and shopped. I don't know if I'm ever going to be one of those people. There was only one year where I was done shopping by November and completely ready to go by the beginning of December, but that was the year I was pregnant with K4 and she was due on Christmas. So...

Alright. Bedtime. My head is killing me. 

Behave!

Feel Good Friday - The Post Thanksgiving Edition

I am exhausted. Today was the biggest waste of my time ever. The day job was so super slow and so super boring. There was no one there. At all. Like not even ten of us. My phone didn't ring once and I had exactly three emails all day. Seriously.

So, let's get to the list, shall we?

1. Friday. Even with yesterday off, it's been a long week.

2. Stopping for subs on the way home. There was no way I was cooking after the insane amount of food I've made this week. And there was no way I wanted leftovers. And there was no way I wanted to go to the grocery store again.

3. Talking to my aunt & uncle after work. Miss those guys! We had a good conversation. I should have called them yesterday, but they were busy doing stuff, too.

4. Getting new tires on That Man's car. K4 is currently driving it until her car gets fixed and the back tires were bald. Now it's got amazing new shoes and will be safe for her in the snow, and for him when we get her car back. The nice thing was that K4 took it to the shop to get it done.

5. Sleeping in a bit tomorrow. I am so looking forward to that. I feel like I could sleep for a week. I can guarantee you that I'll be in bed within the hour, too. Because, you know, I really rock the Friday night scene. Ha!

6. Going to the bookstore for a flash signing for Small Business Saturday. It's supposed to ice in the morning, but hopefully it's done by the time I want to leave. The nice thing is that it's a super casual event.

7. Quiet weekend plans. I think.

8. Maintaining in the 50/50 challenge, even with an insane week. I haven't missed a day since last Saturday and my lowest count through the week was 200 words.

That's all I have.

Behave!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you had a blessed day!

I did.

It ended up even more chill than we thought it would be. We ended up losing half of our guests at zero hour due to illness. Ack! Most of our kids were here, and some friends, so it was still an amazing day.

It was also the first Thanksgiving without That Mom, which has been rough for all of us, but especially That Man and That Sister. And it just makes me miss my own mom and dad more than I thought I was supposed to this year.

I thought it was supposed to get easier as the years go by...

Yeah. Not.

I found myself picking up my phone to call mom to ask a question about the turkey early this morning. It sucked when I had that moment of realization. A lot.

We did have a really good day though. Dinner was awesome. Clean up was hysterical. The "kids" playing games was even better. Watching Groundhog Day because we couldn't find Christmas Vacation or the Fire Stick remote was even better. Two people trying to work the Fire app on my phone and failing was even funnier.

Good conversation. Listening to the kids laughing and having a good time. Laughing a lot about silly things and nothing at all. And homemade whipped cream! Yay!

And I wrote. I had only expected to get my fifty words, but I ended up with a tiny bit over 1k. Awesome.

Tomorrow is the day job... Oy... It's going to be interesting...

Thanksgiving Eve

I just sat down...

Crazy day at the day job. Long meeting. Second long meeting. I was caught up and then one of the ladies who does the same thing I do transferred me a bunch of her cases (I asked her to. She had 66. I had nothing. Makes sense.) Friday is going to be crazy. We're at less than half staff, so who knows what's going to happen? Dang. I wish I was off!

Stopped for ice on my way home. Thankfully not the grocery store, even though I realized I forgot the cranberry sauce. Wasn't going to do it. Since the store was out of corn, I wasn't sure they'd even have cranberry sauce. Whatever. We'll do without it. That Man hates cranberry sauce so he doesn't care. I happen to love it and do care, but not enough to put myself in danger! Ha!

Got home and ordered pizza for dinner. White Pizza. That was amazing! I hadn't eaten all day, so it was most appreciated. K1 & J came over for dinner with Mr. B.

The cleaning was only partially done thanks to That Man throwing out his back a bit and running late from his day job. He did bring the extra table home that we need for tomorrow, so that's good. So tomorrow there is a lot to be done. Vacuuming. Straightening. The dining room is a wreck right now - platters and such everywhere. Oy! But whatever. It will all get done.

The pies are done, including a vegan pumpkin pie for K3. I'm not sure how that's going to be yet. So far it hasn't set up like it's supposed to. I'm hopeful though. Mr. B helped make the pie crusts and he really was a big help. I showed him how the crust was supposed to feel before the water goes in and how to roll it into a ball to let it rest. He stuck with me through three crusts before he said he was done and needed a bath. Little dude was seriously covered in flour. Ha! Before his bath, he helped That Man made pie crust cinnamon swirl "cookies". We put them in the oven and then he went and had his bath. I did the rest of the pies by myself, with some help from K4.

The turkey is in the oven doing it's initial high heat bake. I'll turn it down in a few to a temp just above bacteria growth and let it go until I get up in the morning. I don't want to hear your opinions on this. I have made my turkey, and my mother also did, for years and years. It's always fully cooked and we have working fire alarms, so...

Also, there's nothing like waking up to the smell of a turkey baking. It's seriously the best.

Tomorrow is going to be crazy good! Lots of cooking, which is super okay with me. I love it.

I also wrote the words tonight. Not very many, but four times the fifty that I'd planned, so that's good.

And it's bedtime...

Have a wonderful turkey day tomorrow!

Behave!

Thanksgiving Eve Eve

So That Man is making me watch Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I don't know why. I'm not even paying attention. It's pretty silly. He put it on while I was running around like a crazy person as a joke and it kind of just stayed on. Weird.

The grocery store was insane. Guess what everyone in this towns favorite vegetable for Thanksgiving is? That's right. Corn. One of our guests is bringing baked corn, but I wanted to have plain corn for the ones that don't like baked corn. Guess what we're having now? That's right. Broccoli! Ha!

The cashier smashed my buns because she didn't shut the belt off when she should have and then wanted me to go back and get another pack. What the heck is up with that? I had my buns and chips a the front of the belt, unobstructed, but since she didn't move the divider everything backed up and my poor buns were the victims. It was her fault and I'm supposed to run to the way back of the store and get more? Also, and this is my last b*tch, when the store is that busy  (two days before Thanksgiving) - and it was - why is there only three registers open and no baggers? Three registers of which two cashiers were brand new and one was so brand new, the checkout coach was with her the whole time. The guy that had pulled into that lane just went off complaining loudly. I should have done self checkout despite how much stuff I had. It would have been quicker and more efficient and my buns wouldn't have gotten smashed. Though, the cashier was super nice, so there's that.

Anyway. I got home way later than normal. Unloaded the packed full Jeep and then began crazy woman mode. K4 is home. That Man gets off early tomorrow. Not me. But by the time I get home, the rest of the cleaning should be done. We'll probably order pizza for dinner, and then it's time for baking and prep. Mr. B is staying over tomorrow night so he can help me with pies. We've made pies together every Thanksgiving Eve for the last two years now. It's something he loves to do and I definitely don't mind him helping. He remembered pie making and asked if he could come and help. So, yeah.. I'm totally good with that.

Actually woke up to him being here this morning. Another baby false alarm. We ate waffles together while we waited for his parents to get here, and watched weird cartoons. I made it to work an hour late. I hope this doesn't happen too many more times. It's eating up all of my vacation time in hour increments.

I did write the words. Just passed the 30K mark on this book which feels so amazing. My hope is to at least get my 50 words a day the next few days.

That is all for now!

Behave!

Monday Before Thanksgiving...

We all know I like to put things off until the last minute...

Thursday is Thanksgiving. I have the shopping half done. My house is not clean enough yet. (I have cat allergies coming over) I have to work the day job every day until Thursday, so my time is super limited.

What did I do tonight?

Cleaned out my storage container cupboard(s). Yes. I have two. One shares with the baking pans and the super huge bowls that we end up using quite a bit and the colander. The other is one of the biggest cupboards in my kitchen. It also shares with glass baking dishes and the nalgene bottles. We threw out a huge trash bag of mismatched containers. I had hoped to pass on some of the containers to the kids, but honestly, there isn't even enough decent containers for our weekly needs (which is why we've been using bags lately). So yay! That's done! It's been on my list since August.

I also wrote over 2K words, which is awesome and I'm happy.

Tomorrow night is the rest of the shopping and beginning prep. Vacuuming. And we'll probably vacuum again Wednesday night, just to be extra careful, and maybe Thursday morning, too.

K4 comes home tomorrow for Thanksgiving break. She's got a list of things to do - most of it baking. Ha!

That is all.

Behave!

Weekend Wrap Up...

Oh Sunday, why do you always bring Monday?

It's been a pretty decent weekend. Not a lot of sleeping in, but that's okay. I did yesterday and it was nice, but not too much today.

We went to breakfast yesterday, and then did the shopping. I need to go back. I forgot half of the stuff we needed. I made a better list for when I go again - which will probably be Monday or Tuesday.

The house still needs cleaned. Ugh.

We worked in the basement some yesterday. Made a tiny dent, but managed to get my Thanksgiving platters out and hauled out some trash.

Chilled and relaxed today. Watched stupid television. Made dinner. Wrote my words. It will be an early bedtime for sure.

Behave!

Feel Good Friday - The Post Snowstorm Edition

Here's the list:

1. Having a two hour delay for the day job. I woke up and realized the roads were just wet and went into work only 35 minutes later than normal. I'd struggled with the possibility of taking the whole day off, but see #5...

2. Going to bed super stupid early for a snow day and sleeping pretty damned decent for a change. 

3. That Man doing all of the shoveling. See #2. He woke up super early and took care of the whole shebang. He's hurting now. That snow was heavy. 

4. Work buying pizza for lunch to thank us for not being bitches about the snow. Or something like that. They never said those exact words. Ever. Ha! And we have always been free to go in weather when we felt we should go with no consequences. 

5. Getting to see my favorite guy from my favorite department. He drove up to drop off some things and I got to spend some time with him. He's awesome and always has me laughing hysterically. The last time I saw him was early October when my rep and I had lunch with him. Again, I was laughing hysterically. He's a friend. And a friend I see always having regardless of our work relationship. I've met his wife. I've talked to him about his family. He always asks me about my That Man and my family. Also, I got to meet one of his coworkers. She's amazing and we laughed our asses off. She thanked me for taking care of them and we just had the best time trying to find her a duty belt. That was the best part of my work day. 

6. I won a class through my writing group. Our instructor is someone whom I absolutely love. I've been taking her classes for years. She threw our numbers into a random generator and I won. I wrote back to her and gave her some backstory of me for the last few years and then...she wrote me back and said she'd thrown a wish up to have a person who absolutely needed her class to be the winner. And it was me. How cool and weird is that? 

7. I wrote the words tonight. Yay me! I've already killed my monthly goal. I'm moving forward to killing my goal of having this book done by the end of January. Whoot! 

8. Sleeping in tomorrow. Awesome!

9. Plans for breakfast with That Man tomorrow. We also have to do the Thanksgiving shopping. 

10. K4 coming home. Even though she wasn't supposed to come home until Tuesday. Or at least Sunday. It's still good that she's home. She cracks me up. 

That is all. 

Behave!

Hello, Snow!

Okay, so I'm an *ss. It definitely snowed and a lot, and now it's sleeting.

It wasn't doing anything when I went to work this morning. By eleven, they said we were closing at two. By noon, several people went home. And then got stuck at the bottom of the hill of our complex. For like an hour or more. Those of us who waited were watching, we even took a walk down the hill to check it out. I finally left at ten until two. I waited at the bottom of the hill for about ten minutes while people slid out trying to get up the hill.

It was a super slow go after that. Roads weren't plowed, which was actually way better than the roads that were plowed. I still went the back roads. The highways were pretty much shut down. Actually, many of the backroads were shut down, too. I waited. And waited. And my clutch leg was dying. Like seriously.

I made it to the grocery store and ran in for stuff for dinner. We had a plan, but figured, what the hell, we might as well eat something we wanted. Chicken Alfredo. Awesome. It was amazing. It took me almost two hours to get home, which is nothing compared to other work people. People who left before me and were in traffic for over four hours. Oy!

This was actually the first snow day That Man and I have had alone together for freaking thirty years or so. It's been nice. We made the dinner together. We've been watching some dumb television and are having awesome conversation.

All of our kids are safe at their homes and that is comforting.

Who the hell knows what tomorrow is going to bring? It's still sleeting here. We're supposed to get like four more inches of snow overnight.

We'll see what happens...

Behave!

Wednesday...

I shirked my responsibilities tonight to write...

That was a really good thing. I got the words - many words - on the page. I'm so close to crushing my writing group goal and on my way to meeting my off-the-wall goal.

I definitely don't regret it.

Obviously, we're still on baby watch. Just waiting...

On the Thanksgiving front, plans are coming together. We will have corn casserole and sour cream apple pie. I'm looking forward to those! Still much to figure out, but I'm starting to really get excited about the day. Yay!

So, it's supposed to snow tomorrow. Really? I love the snow, but people are crazy here. They seriously think we live in Alaska or something. We're due to get 3-7" and all of a sudden - there is absolutely no milk, bread, eggs, or toilet paper in any of the stores (from what I've heard. I haven't been to the store at all). We've talked about this before. I didn't go to the store and we have absolutely no food in this house. In fact, That Man just asked me what we're thinking about for dinner tomorrow. We'll figure it out when we get there. Ha! And the day job is already talking about "weather delays". And... some schools are already closed tomorrow.

We'll see what tomorrow brings...

That is all...

Behave!

Tuesday? Really?

It feels like it should at least be Thursday. It's been a long week already. I'm not kidding.

Apparently Mr. B was dropped off for a few hours overnight for a baby scare. I had text messages alerting me to his presence, but I never heard my phone. I'd thought I'd turned it up to the loudest setting, but apparently I did the opposite. They ended up picking him back up in the very wee hours though. No baby movement yet, though after the way J was feeling, the doc said for them to head into the hospital to get checked out. Oy!

I think this baby is not going to come for at least another week, maybe two. Perhaps three.

I made my list for Thanksgiving, but that's about it. I guess that's not a small thing. It's not quite time to start any kind of preparations. I'll get the shopping done this weekend and start the cooking this time next week. I think it's going to be a low-key day. I'll really miss being with my siblings - like a lot really. We haven't all been together since July when we were on vacation together and that sucks a lot. I'm hoping everyone will be able to come for Christmas Eve.

That's all I have right now.

Behave!

Sunday...Again...

Oh, Monday... Why? I need one more day...

The rest of Saturday was good. We ended up with Mr. B overnight. Contractions were coming regularly. Nothing happened though despite hot showers, walking, etc. B stayed most of the day.

I didn't get much writing done today. (See above) I did make some banging taco soup. Did all of the laundry, grocery shopped, blah blah blah. K1 & J came to get B and stayed for dinner. They didn't stay long. J was just not feeling right, so who knows what will happen next... Of course little Mr. B can't come when it's convenient. Ha!

Back to the grind tomorrow. Unless Little Mr. B comes. Then I'll be here with Big Mr. B.

And that is all. I'm exhausted and I just want to go to bed. I'm achey, headachey, and my nose is running. Oy!

Behave!

Feel Good Friday - On Saturday

Missed last night! In fact, I didn't even have control over my phone for the night and then it died.

K3 came over to get his birthday present and have dinner. We made mushroom curry and watched barbershop videos. He's rejoined a barbershop group and I'm so proud of him. He sang with a group a few years ago and he absolutely loved it. He even went to competition. And then stuff happened with the group and his work schedule and he couldn't do it anymore, so him going back is awesome.

So here's the list:

1. Living through the work week. It was kind of crazy. I didn't get to move my desk and I feel kind of cranky about that. I don't think the best choices for that were made, but it's something I have no control over. We'll see what happens with the rest of it...

2. K3 coming over. (see above) He loved his birthday present and the food we made. I love cooking vegan for him. It's fun to try new things and experiment. The mushroom curry was amazing and so easy. He and I are going to go shopping for Thanksgiving and he'll help me make some vegan dishes. And he'll have a ton of leftovers, which I'm always happy to provide for him.

3. Our coal finally coming. It was scheduled for Thursday, and then rescheduled for Friday, and actually came today. So now we're warm, which is good because it's freaking cold outside!

4. Getting the words on the page. I only missed one writing day this week, which is typical for a Friday night. I needed to unplug in a huge way, so I don't feel bad. I've already put some words on the page today, and I'll head back to it as soon as I switch the laundry.

5. I didn't get to sleep in this morning. See #3. Those dudes were here at 7am. Ugh. But I did go to bed kind of early last night, so... I will be sleeping in tomorrow though, which will be even more epic since I'm in the process of washing my sheets. There's nothing better than freshly washed sheets!

6. I haven't done anything with the basement yet today, but I'll get there once I get some words on the page.

7. Dinner is in the oven. Pot roast. It's cooking low and slow and should be super tender by the time we're ready to eat.

8. My plan of not going out this weekend isn't going to happen. I think I'll be okay today. I'm still in my jammies. K4 wanted me to go with her to get her new debit card, but I declined. She has to go back and pick it up in a few, and she's stopping at the store for baking supplies. I do think I'll have to go out tomorrow though, which is whatever.

That is all for now...

Behave!

Is It Friday Yet?

What a week!

I have a headache. I'm exhausted. Why does gaining an hour feel like you've lost six hours?

It's only 9:15, but I feel like it's after midnight.

I have written the words. More than I planned for tonight, but I also discovered how the book is supposed to start, so that's definitely something cool. I've done pretty darned good this week, baby scare and all.

The day job - well, I don't even know. The new boss is super cool and I like her a lot. We've done one-on-one meetings with her and group meetings. We're moving all of the desks, too. I just don't know what's going to happen. She was with the big boss when we left for the day. She's with us for one more day and then goes back to her home office. I know what I want and I don't know if it's ever going to happen...

Anyway.

The weekend is soon upon us.

K3 is coming over for dinner tomorrow. And to get his actual birthday present. We'd given him "temporary" (silly) gifts to hold him over until his real gift arrived. I hope he loves it. No. I'm not telling you what it is, just in case.

K4 is coming home this weekend, which is good. She'd lost her wallet last weekend and lo and behold, some good Samaritan dropped it into a mailbox. We wondered why we had a postage due envelope, but today when we got home, her wallet was in the box. Nice! She has to get a new debit card, but thankfully, not a new license. Thank you, person, for having a good conscience and doing what you could to get this wallet back to her!

Also, my Jeep got some fixing up this week. It was our last appointment with the welder for the frame and now I have a most solid frame! It's so different. Apparently one piece was completely broken, which is why I felt like I was floating when I went over bumps and things. It's awesome now. Solid and amazing. We have one more bit of work to get done in the next year, but it's not too major and has nothing to do with the frame. I'm ecstatic!

Anyway. We were talking about the weekend.

I will sleep in.

I will continue to work on the basement. I was a beast last night and cleared the utility sink and two surfaces. You have to understand that I still have boxes in my basement from when we were working on the 'rents house. I don't even know what's down there right now, but it must be cleared out. I can't even think about getting to my Christmas decorations at this point. Not that I want to, but I will soon. It's definitely been a forgotten space. And now it's a space I need cleared.

I will also write and hopefully blow my word count out of the water.

It's supposed to be cold, which is fine. We will have coal for our furnace by tomorrow. And I hope to not have to leave the house until Monday morning. That's my plan, and it requires planning. ha!

That is all!

Behave!

No Baby Yet...

No little Mr. B...

He decided he wasn't ready and they were sent home from the hospital. He was trying to come about three weeks early, and despite the doctor saying he could come at anytime a week ago, it's still so early!

Big Mr. B stayed over. They were going to come and get him, but he was already asleep and the chance that they would have to go back to the hospital was huge, so we just let him stay. He was supposed to be picked up in time for me to get to work, but there was oversleeping and I ended up being late to work. It was forgiven, but a bit frustrating for my morning.

So... now we wait more. I just want to hold my new grandson!

Behave!

Baby Watch

Our new little Mr. B is on his way! At least we think... No definitive word from the hospital, but we're waiting.

Big Mr. B was dropped off a few hours ago. He ate a ham and cheese sandwich, ice cream, and we read a bunch of books. He's nervous. He wants his baby brother, but he's not quite sure what that means.

My plans was to take him to work for a few hours, but that was nixed by the new boss. I'm not allowed to take him in. So now, That Man will take him and we'll figure out the rest.

She's about 50% effaced and 2 cm dilated, so who knows what will happen, but the truth is, this little man will come soon...

Behave!

Oh! Monday!

Not only was it dark when I woke up this morning, but it was dark when I drove home from work. Oy! Do not like. My sister told me to stop whining about it, but that's easy for her to say when she didn't have to work today and got to take a nap. So...

Anyway. The time change really does suck. It's only 9:30 now and it feels like midnight. I'm going to bed as soon as I'm done here. Exhaustion is probably going to be the key word this week. Both mentally and physically.

I did write many words tonight, which is awesome. We have our "blast" week in my writing chapter, which means we gather in our chat platform and write in blocks of time. It's awesome and many words fly! Tomorrow night I'm hosting one. As long as the day job doesn't interfere. I did make a new plan to get this book finished by January, so there's that.

The new boss comes to the office tomorrow. I'm excited to meet her. We'll have one on one meetings and a group meeting. And we'll see what happens next.

It's only about 2 1/2 weeks until Thanksgiving and I've yet to even start a plan! I need to get on that this week!

It's been raining since before I woke up this morning. Like it does anything else here anymore. That just made this Monday worse than it had to be... Ha!

That is all. Bed is calling me!

Behave!

Weekend Wrap Up...

Whoa! What a weekend!

K5 is a riot and we had the most absolute best time with her this weekend! She spent the night Saturday night. We made burgers here because since their house flooded, she wanted a home cooked meal. We watched movies, ate strawberry shortcake with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream, and then watched more movies. And we colored. And did hair. And played games. It was awesome.

She slept longer than we expected this morning, which was awesome with the time change. We had blueberry pancakes, bacon, oj, and all of the breakfast things. Then, we cleaned up and headed to see K2's new house!

K2's pregnant belly is epic! It seriously looks like she has a basketball in front! So freaking cute! And baby girl is due in about a month! Their house is also awesome! I'm so excited for the kitchen they now have! It's ginormous! Their house is super cool and perfect for their family! They have room to grow and it's just cool.

We took K5 up to my sister's house for hanging out and for That Man to help my brother-in-law with a tree stand for the upcoming deer season. We let K5 go through our mom's craft stuff, which is a hard thing for both my sister and I. I don't know how to explain it, but it's good when the grandkids can go through it! A friend of ours came with his kids, and all of those kids had the best time playing together! It was awesome. They were building stick houses at the edge of the woods and having a great time.

We're still in the new stages of being able to get K5 for the weekends! We're looking forward to more amazingly good times!

And Happy Birthday to our adopted sister! You're old! Ha! But not as old as me!

Here we go into the holiday season... It's coming whether you like it or not!

Behave!

Feel Good Friday

Thank you, Friday! I'm so glad you're here.

Let's hit the list:

1. Living through the work week. Saying it was brutal would be an understatement, but we did get epic stuff in at the end of the day. And the new boss comes next week, along with our off site coworker, so that should be good.

2. Getting to see a friend on my lunch break.

3. Writing all the words. I made pretty decent progress this week. Not amazingly awesome, but still decent.

4. Writing meeting tomorrow.

5. K5 time this weekend. Whoot!

6. Running around with That Man this evening.

7. And - coming home. It's pouring out there. When we got home, there was no place to walk that didn't soak my shoes.

8. Quick take out Chinese food for dinner. Neither one of us were very hungry, so it was just enough.

9. Sleeping in a little tomorrow.

That's all I have for now!

Behave!

November the First...

Well, hello, Baby November!

We need to talk. Here are a few things I expect from you:

1. Don't go too fast. Please.

2. Plans going well and without too many hiccups.

3. No grand babies before their time. At least not too much before their time. We're at about four weeks and five weeks before due dates. While I'm excited to meet my new grandchildren, I want them to arrive healthy and safe.

4. Fun times. Just that. Fun.

5. Thanksgiving being fun and awesome. No excuses.

6. Writing all of the words.

7. Maintaining the day job.

What you will get from me:

1. A positive attitude.

2. Being realistic in the plans we make.

3. Grandbabies. When they come. As long as they are healthy, I am happy.

4. Yes, please on the fun.

5. Please.

6. Yes. All of the words will be written.

7. What else am I going to do?

I'm heading into this holiday season with the best intentions and the most cautious of attitudes. I want to be excited and I want to do all of the things, but I am also being super realistic. I want to have all of the joy with a little stress, so that needs to be worked on. A lot.

That is all.

Behave!

October the Last

Bye, October!

You went by so fast! It's not even funny! I feel like I didn't get much of a chance to enjoy you with everything that went on. It seemed like we went from one issue to another. Yeah, we got a little stay-cation, but we spent most of that working on cars. It was over before it even seemed to start.

You're one of my favorite months, and it's sad to see you go.

Next starts the craziness.

As you know, there is no such thing as Thanksgiving anymore.

I find that very sad. I love Thanksgiving. I love everything about it. I love the preparation. I love the cooking. And, of course, everything about the day. Except maybe the dishes, but they can be fun, too.

We're doing Thanksgiving here this year with That Man's family. It's our first year without That Mom, and it's important to be together. We're not even halfway through our firsts without her. I miss her terribly, but it's important to me to be the rock for That Man and That Sister like they were for me.

Already my mind is turning toward Christmas (and not in the "let's get our decorations up" kind of way, but in the "let's financially manage the expectations" kind of way). I refuse to go into debt to purchase gifts. That Man and I are discussing what's most important and how we can be fair and still not feel like cheap skates.

We'll figure it out.

I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about Christmas this year yet. I want to be excited. I want to go all out decorating. I'm just not sure I have it in me yet. We'll see.

That is all.

Behave! 

Tired Tuesday

Still exhausted.

The day job is not helping. It's like a swimming pool of stress. I'm not kidding. Three screens of absolute madness.

After work, K4 and I met up with a guy I went to high school with so she could interview him for her English project. That went well. I hadn't seen him in a while and it was good to catch up a bit.

That Man made dinner. We cleaned up. Took out the trash. Did laundry. Such a very exciting evening. I know how jealous you must be. Ha!

I did write a really good amount. I'm only a few hundred words away from meeting the lofty goal I set for myself at my writing meeting. We have elections on Saturday and I'm running for a board position.

Tomorrow is more of the lovely same... Joy.

That is all.

Behave!

Back To Normal...

Or as normal as it gets around here.

Got home before eleven yesterday. The drive was fine, but shifting hurt my poor shins. Chilled a little when I got home. No nap though, and I desperately needed one.

We were supposed to go to dinner with K3, but the place he chose was closed. He ended up coming over here for vegan noodle bowls. The dinner turned out well and I made him a pumpkin cake complete with coconut milk ice cream and vegan whipped cream (which is super yummy! I think I prefer it over regular whipped cream). We watched a movie. It was a nice evening.

To bed way later than I wanted or needed, so I'm dragging today. Woke up with a killer headache that took hours to subside. Crazy busy at the day job.

Now I'm going to write my words and go to bed.

Behave!

HallowReads - Day Three

Yeah, I missed last night. It was a crazy, but good, day.

To the venue a little earlier than expected, so headed out to grab some breakfast. Adorable little cafe downtown and had Cream of Crab soup for breakfast. Awesome!

Back to the venue for a day of workshops and laughter. It went well. When it was done, our little PA posse headed into town for dinner. At at a pub with awesome staff and good food. Then a stop at the wine shop where the ghost stories were being told. We didn't stay too long because it was raining and it was pretty packed.

We were going to get together with the rest of our crew later, but everyone was exhausted.

Today was long...and good.

Started early. I snored like a lumberjack last night, so I owe my roommate a nice bouquet of flowers for not killing me in my sleep. Seriously.

We realized our room fridge froze everything yesterday and while we were gone today, a soda exploded and opened the door. So now everything is warm. Awesome.

Anyway. Went back to the same cafe for breakfast this morning. I wanted the soup again, but opted for something with a little more protein to get me through the day. Seriously good food. Bacon, egg, and cheese on an everything bagel like none I have ever had before.

Arrived at the venue and set up for the book signing. Then off to panels. I had two - one first off this morning and one after lunch. I think they went well. I was told they went well by friends in attendance.

We were supposed to have a food truck on site for lunch, but they cancelled. That sucked. So the coordinator ordered pizza's for lunch. Which was fine, but also the second day in a row I had pizza for lunch, so pizza is off the menu for a little while now. It was totally fine. I was just super disappointed that we had no food truck.

Grabbed food and booked it to my next panel, which was a lot of fun. After that, I desperately needed a break, so I went to the signing room and just chilled. Keynote Speaker was next, which also just happened to be Simon, so went to that. Then the signing.

I sold zero books, but a lot of folks picked up my promo stuff. I also met a lot of lovely people. I still call win, so I'm good. I did, for the first time ever, sign a baby today. Well, a baby's shirt. He was a cute little guy and his mom had come several years ago with his older brother and everyone signed his onsie. So she recreated it for her new son. It was pretty cool.

Then dinner with my writing "brother" and the gang. We laughed our butts off and talked about many things.

There was a haunted house after dinner, but my shins hurt like a mofo from walking the hills in town multiple times in boots, so I conned Simon into dropping me at my hotel on her way back to hers (her feet were killing her, too). I am told that it's a good thing I didn't go. There were like 2,000 steps to walk up to get to the facility. I seriously would probably be laying in the grass somewhere, crying in pain. I was bummed to miss it, but also, incredibly exhausted and I know I made the right decision to not go.

I had a blast here. It feels really good to be back in the world I want to live in with people I like and respect. I'm planning on returning next year and I'm excited about that.

Now to sleep.

Behave!

HallowReads - Day One

Well, technically it's not day one, but it counts since I am here.

Left the day job on time and hit the road. Made it in exactly the time I thought I would. Got to the hotel, checked in, unloaded, and went upstairs to find my roommate. Threw my stuff on the bed and then we left to meet the others for dinner.

Cute little Mexican restaurant. Awesome food. Awesome conversation. We were there for over two hours.

Back to the hotel.

I tried to pay bills but something funky is going on. I think it's the firewall on the hotel's wifi. Nothing will work. I think I managed to get two bills paid before everything refused to happen at all. Whatever. I will take care of them when I get home at this point. Frustrating though.

I did get my words in. Yay me.

Tomorrow is technically day one. There are workshops and ghost stories and all kinds of fun things.

Whoot!

That is all.

Behave!

Wednesday...

Tomorrow I leave! I'm still not ready, but I'm trying.

The bag is on the couch waiting for the last few things to be shoved into it. The laundry is in the dryer, but it just got put there, so I have to wait. Ugh, but it is what it is. The briefcase is waiting for the computer to be shoved into it. All charging cords are gathered and working (which is important. Last time I went out of town, my cube was fried).

Tonight has been crazy town. I rushed home from work to get to an event on time and started the laundry before I left. The event ended sooner than we expected, but still... the dryer takes forever. And I even put stuff on the rack to dry over the heater.

My book signing stuff is ready to go. Clothes are almost ready. Bathroom stuff will be ready in the morning. I need to get cash, gas, and a few items necessary for the weekend. But first I have to work all day. You know how that's going to go... clock watching...

When I get there and get settled in, I'm meeting up with a group of friends for dinner. I haven't seen some of these folks for a long time, so it's exciting.

I hope to post updates from the trip!

I'm so excited!

Behave!

Hallow Read

This is where I will be this weekend! 

I'm so excited. And a bit crazy trying to get ready! This is my very first time at this event, but from what I've heard, it's right up my alley! I have many friends going, and I'm looking forward to meeting new friends. 

I'll miss our Trick or Treat night, but That Man has that handled and everything else. I'm leaving right after work on Thursday and will find my roommate, and get settled in. Then we'll meet up with friends.  

Friday is workshops, then a bonfire.

Saturday starts with a book signing, and then panels. I'm on two. Yay! Saturday night is a haunted house. There are food trucks and a Wine Bin tour and dinner with friends. 

Sunday is coming home day.

Yeah, I'm a bit nervous since this is my first time and I haven't been to anything like this in about five years. It's going to be awesome though, and I think, just what I need. 

Then, in about a month, I'm in Shippensburg for a signing!

I'm making progress preparing, but still have a ton of stuff to do. Tomorrow night is crazy busy, too, so I'm not sure how I'm managing it all, but I will. 

Behave!  

Weekend Wrap Up...

Ugh. It's Sunday.

What a long weekend.

Saturday was baby shower day. It didn't turn out so great. I mean, it was super nice - we had great decorations, games, and food. It was just that very few people showed up, either due to work or last minute emergencies. It was sad and I feel really bad for my daughter-in-law.

After cleaning up from the shower, we headed up to my sisters to check on the progress of the car. They were done, so we headed to a friend's party for a little while.

Finally got back home and crashed.

Today has been chilling all day. We finally started a fire for warmth. Doing laundry. Writing. Ordered pizza for dinner.

It will an early bedtime. My head is killing me.

Behave!

Feel Good Friday!

Thank you, Friday!

It was a long day at the day job, but every day is long at the day job lately. Lots of crazy stuff going on. And crazy busy. The one thing that remains constant is that I love my coworkers like they are kin. I guess they are - just a different sort. I know I say this a lot, but that just means that I have the best coworkers in the world.

Oh! And did our kitten just have surgery? No way. He's acting like nothing happened and being as obnoxious as ever. We put him in solitary last night after he tried to go after Granny Cat, but that lasted until right before we went to bed. That's when we heard his terrible cries and him trying to get the doorknob to turn so he could get out. We figured he'd hurt himself trying to be with us and let him out. I slept with him on my chest most of the night. If he wasn't on me, he was on my sweatshirt beside the bed. So cute. He was soaking wet when I left for work this morning. I don't know what it is with this cat, but he loves water. He's either in the sink or the shower or playing in the shared water dish.

Anyway...

The feel good...

1. Cheese steaks for dinner. So good and so needed.

2. Mr. B and him being himself. He took over my office as the "principals" office and freely used my "easy" button, my crazy pen (which is now his) and a lot of paper. LOL

3. Prepping for the baby shower tomorrow. It's going to be good.

4. K4 coming home later tomorrow. She has to stay for open house and she's excited about that.

5. Sleeping in a little tomorrow. Not too much, but hopefully just enough.

And that is all...

Behave!

Too Tired Thursday...

I did do the writing, but not nearly as much as I did last night.

I'm exhausted.

Tomorrow is Friday! Yay!

Max is doing well post-surgery. He's supposed to be in K4's room in the quiet, but he's such a social cat that we felt like it was better for him to be with us. He's currently beside me, playing with a napkin.

Okay. Scratch that... It was really good for him for a little while. He loved on That Man, took a little nap in his lap, ate some food, and rested. Then... He decided he wasn't post surgery and heavily drugged and went after our old lady cat, wobbled a lot, almost ran into a chair, and had now been put to bed. Seriously... Go to sleep drunk kitten!

This weekend is crazy. Car fixing. Baby shower. I just hope Sunday turns out to be a real day of rest and writing.

Oh! And It's cold here! We brought all of the plants inside. They aren't all where they should be, but at least they won't freeze overnight. For example - my huge fern is in the bathtub currently. I'm not sure where it's going to go because as of right now, I have a ginormous asparagus fern and a crazy pothos in the bathroom and I don't think I have room for that in there, too.

I'm off to get my list together for this weekend.

Behave!

Word Count Wednesday

I wrote more words tonight than I have written in a long time!

The new story is, obviously, moving along well. The ideas are flowing. The excitement has remained. It's all very good.

Today was a super super crappy day at the day job. The only way to not wallow in that was to write my fingers off. And that's what I did. It's been a super long time since I wrote to escape the day job, so I take that as a very good sign. And I wasn't only writing crap. I was writing good story!

I ended up at the day job almost an hour later than my clock out time for conversation and discussion and reassurance. After a conversation with That Man on my way home, he cancelled our plans for tonight - not just because of my bad day, but because he was dealing with a bad headache, too. We ordered in for dinner, which was awesome. And we both have lunch for tomorrow.

Tonight, we've been watching people restore the kind of cars we love while I write and we talk intermittently about a lot of different things and plans for the weekend. It's cold outside, but warm in here. Despite it all, it's been a pretty decent night.

Max gets fixed tomorrow. He's locked in K4's room right now with a litter box, water, and a crate. I have to have him at the vet by 8am tomorrow. He had his super awesome treat tonight and honestly, I think he knew something was up. He's going to hate me the most tomorrow, which, I guess, is okay. He likes That Man far more than me anyways, despite me being the one to mainly bottle feed him in his early days. He did sleep with me last night - his purring helping me to actually sleep. (we won't talk about what a shit-show of sleep last night was - okay we will - it was awful. I didn't sleep and at that one moment where you think you're actually going to fall asleep... something happened - either the dog moved, or the kitten decided to bite me, or some random crap happened.... yeah...)

No. I'm not bitter about the lack of sleep. Ha! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for sleep tonight.

That is all!

Behave!

Tired Tuesday

It's still cold. I'm not complaining. It's nice for sleeping and drinking coffee and cuddling up on the couch with a blanket and my fuzzy socks. And yeah, I'm perfectly aware that this is going to feel warm in a few months and I'll be freezing to death.

And yes. I'm tired. It's only Tuesday, but it's been an exhausting week at the day job for many reasons. I'll be heading to the big warm bed in a little bit... Because, guess what? I have to do it again tomorrow. Ha!

The new book is going well! I've managed to write every day but one in our 50/50 challenge. I didn't write Saturday because of the eye thing.

This time next week, I'll be prepping to go to an author event in Maryland. I'm super excited. I'm on two panels, and have volunteered to help out wherever I'm needed. I'm sharing a room with a friend, and will be hanging out with other writing friends while making new friends. I get to sign books, go to a haunted house, and check out a winery. I'm excited!

And that is all...

Behave!

Last Day of Stay-Cation...

Yes. It's a sad day. No more vacation.

And it's freaking cold. Like a forty degree drop since Tuesday.

Friday was car working and the part did not come. We ended up watching movies and hanging out, though we went to bed super early.

Saturday was another home day. I woke up with something awful going on with my eye and sinuses. We went and got eye drops and took a nap. It was a bit better when I woke, but still yuck. We did manage to go out to dinner, which was nice, but again, I was in bed by 8:00. And I slept until 8:00 this morning. It's better today, but I am still swollen and not right.

Today we've been prepping ourselves. There's some napping going on. Blankets are out. I'm moving onto the writing next before I make dinner. (Which going to be awesome!) (Both the writing and the dinner.) I started a new book and I'm excited!

That is all.

Behave!

Stay-Cation: Day Two

It's Thursday, but it feels like Sunday to me.

The parade was okay. Long. Hot. Buggy. Busy. Seriously, it was the hottest, most packed parade I ever remember. Usually we're freezing and drinking coffee, but not this time and we had squatters trying to overtake our space. Sweaty was the word of the night. There were a lot of good things - K4 getting things ready, my boss coming over with her crew, hanging with my sister, getting to see and hug K5 as she danced by, (awesome! her group came in second!), Mr. B - even though he was still not feeling awesome, knowing I didn't have to go to work on Wednesday.

Yesterday was Stay-Cation Day One. That Man worked a half day, so I slept in. Really not that long, but it was still nice. Got up and sat on the back porch drinking coffee and deciding what I wanted to get done before That Man came home. I started cleaning up our room - we wanted to move some furniture around and I got it about half-way done before That Man came home. Laundry started. Dishes done. More coffee. When he got home, we headed out to gather our things for going to work on the car. Still waiting for insurance, but the people are nice enough to let us work on it even though we're waiting. Ugh.

Did that. Made fettuccine alfredo for dinner at my sister's. We were home by 8:00 and I was in bed by 8:30. Headache. Exhausted. I don't know what's up with that, but K4 was sent back to her dorm by her shop teacher today for the same reason.

Today is Stay-Cation Day Two. Slept in, though since I was in bed so early last night, I woke at 2:30 and couldn't go back to sleep until 4. Ugh. But at least I got to sleep until I naturally woke up again. We drank a bunch of coffee and planned our day. Since we're waiting for insurance and parts, we decided today would be a home day. Ran out for supplies quick. We've been equally lounging and working. Moved furniture, went through our clothing and got rid of a ton of stuff, organized stuff, and soon we'll be making dinner. Since we're on vacation, we decided to have fun stuff for dinner. Yay! Except... neither of us are hungry yet. Meh.

Tomorrow. We'll we don't know yet. I'm hoping the whole vacation thing actually hits me by then! We will probably go and work on the car again, since the parts should be in. I want to do fun stuff , too. We will be sleeping in, but after that... We'll see...And it's only Friday, which means we have three more vacation days! We are totally missing the beach, but it is what it is. We're going to make the most out of what we do have!

That is all.

Behave!

Monday Madness...

Sorry I missed the weekend wrap up. I went to bed at a ridiculous hour last night thanks to an awful headache and feeling like I got hit by a truck.

We found a car for K4. Just need the insurance to do their thing. She's pretty happy. So are we. Despite it needing a little work, it's great on gas, great in snow, and will fit her stuff as she travels back and forth from school.

Chicken Pot Pie for dinner last night. K1, J, and Mr. B came for dinner. It was a whim thing and it was good. K1 had/has hives and needed benadryl. Mr. B wanted to come along because he misses us (and then he tried to convince us to let him stay over, even though we had to work today). We'd made a ginormous batch of pot pie and it just worked out. K1 took a nap on the couch after his medicine. J and I talked baby shower. They took a decent amount of leftovers home. (yay!) It was a nice evening, though I was in bed by 8:30. (see above) They are all not feeling good now. Fevers, more hives, headache, sore. Viral?

The work day wasn't too terrible. I caught up with myself. Yay! I also changed my days off to start with Wednesday, so tomorrow is now my Friday. We still don't know what our time off will hold, but at least we're off and ready. We will probably not be doing the fun thing, but the car thing, and that's okay. We'll be off work and together, so there's that.

Tomorrow night is parade night.

It's okay. I equally like and loathe it. I would like it a lot more if I were home all day to do my thing. But, sadly, I'm not. (though it is my Friday! Yay! ha ha) We didn't put out the word at all, so have no idea if people will really show up beyond the kids (and K1's family is an unknown right now due to the feeling awful). Everyone knows about parade night, and things have been crazy here, so it is what it is.

I still made an insane batch of chili. It's more meat than beans, which is fine. I also made a batch of vegan chili since K3 is supposed to come over. Now if it would just cool off enough to put away until K4 gets home tomorrow to warm it. Seriously. It's been on the counter cooling for two hours and I swear it's still hot enough to burn me. I've also been running around straightening things and sweeping, though I didn't get too crazy with all of that. There is no point.

Okay. That's it.

Ya'll do your thing... I'm going to bed.

Behave!