Oy! Tuesday!

It's not windy anymore and trees haven't fallen! (yet - we all know that even though it's not windy, that it could still happen)

It's cold though, thanks to the little bit of breeze still going on. Weather is so weird. We're supposed to have three separate weather events later this week. We'll see what actually happens though.

Today was pretty brutal at the day job. I came home with a massive headache and a massive dose of anxiety. I talked to my boss the whole way home and her support helped me feel a bit better, but I'm still in a kind of "crisis" mode. Everything is going to be okay though. But tomorrow should be nine kinds of fun... not.

We had dinner in the crock pot. It turned out well. I didn't think I was going to eat due to the stress, but I did and it was amazing. I am, however, ready for bed now. I have done my words. They are pretty much crap, but fixable crap. And the writing helps the stress go away. That's pretty much all I have the brain power for right now...

I'm super missing my mom and dad these days. And I'm missing my siblings. We try to stay in contact, but we're all so freaking busy with completely different schedules that we consistently fail. I know our connection is still strong, but I miss them all. I'll see some of them in less than two weeks, but not all. What we need is a sibling day...

That's all I have.

Behave!

Monday... Again

And we might blow away!

Though the wind isn't as strong as it was yesterday and earlier today. We surely expected our big trees to topple thanks to the ground being saturated. Luckily, a few twigs were all that fell - at least so far. Most of the cars (except my poor 'burban) were moved to the front. My Jeep remained in its shelter and was fine, but I checked it often.

It was a rough sleeping night last night. When the wind gusted - as it did each time I was dozing off - our bedroom window rattled like it was going to burst into the room. That freaked the dog out, too, so she would get up and move. I was up and down so many times, I felt like a yoyo and I maybe got about 3.5 hours of sleep.

Driving to work and home wasn't so bad. I only had a few moments of feeling like I was going to blow off the road, so that was good. The day job was long and busy, but what else is new these days? It was okay though. Monday's are always busy and my department is always quiet as a group. We check on each other throughout the day, but we never feel connected on a Monday.

That Man had to pick up K3 from work and take him to his car that had tire problems earlier. His friend had helped him out some during the day since he was off, and then That Man double-checked everything. Weird stuff going on with the kids car - tires all of the time lately. I had to stop and buy envelopes! Seriously! We had this major stockpile of envelopes from Mom's house. I have been using old Christmas card envelopes lately because I'm out. Anyway. Came home and did some household organizing - financially-wise. Forgot to buy freaking stamps! Geeze!

I didn't feel like eating. My stomach's been wonky all day. Though we did make some stuffed cabbage for dinner tomorrow night. I'm okay with that as long as my stomach feels better. It's not that it hurts or anything - just feels weird...

Plans are coming together for summer and fall though! I'm excited. We've got a few trips, a concert, and a Jeep weekend on the books so far. Excited!

That's all. I'm going to try to get some words down before I crash and burn...

Behave!

Saturday...

Saturday's are always good.

Slept in a little. Nothing like I needed to, but thanks to the kitten I was out of bed. He's just obnoxious in the morning and would not leave me alone. He's lucky he's cute. Fine. Coffee. Went with That Man to help a friend with her snowblower. Then bank and grocery store.

Home for Mimosa's. That was nice. That Man and I started dinner - we basically made a "meat stromboli". Ground pork rolled out thin with spinach, mushrooms, peppers, onions, cheese, bacon spread over the thin layer of meat, and then rolled up with bacon on the outside. It cooked slow for several hours and then was broiled to crisp up the bacon. Oh my God, it was delicious. We had it with mashed potatoes and corn. I'm still full and I could still eat more...

I took a much-needed nap after dinner was in the oven (we ate so early - like "early bird special" early. Ha!), except the dog woke me when the fire siren went off... and then I put together the newsletter for my writing chapter. Gah! What a struggle. I'm still learning, and multiple pictures made it a bit slow for me. But it's done and sent and so far the reviews are okay, so I'll take that.

No writing done yet, but that will change.

The kid is at her brother's doing nerd things, so it's just That Man and I watching vintage movies and talking about stuff. And trying to get a hold of K3 about his tire. He's not answering and his tire is on the front porch waiting for him to put it back on his car...

Tomorrow should be some sleeping in. Then I'm making loaded baked potato soup for an event we're going to. Then back for the rest of the laundry and prepping meals for next week.

And that is all...

Behave!

Feel Good Friday

Thank Freaking Everything that it's Friday!!

What a long, long, long week! Yeah, I said long a bunch of times. I'm not sorry. It's the truth. It took all I had to get out of bed and make it into work today. I should have started forty-five minutes before I got there (overtime), but I just couldn't get myself out of the door... So freaking tired.

What was good about the week?

1. Today - today at work was good. We had a food party with tons of awesome food! We had "appreciation" day, which meant we wrote each other sticky notes to tell each other how we appreciated them. That was nice. I liked it because I got to tell someone how they impacted me with some words they shared not too long ago. Everyone was in a good mood and there was so much laughter. The general mood has shifted and it's good.

2. Working from home during the weather. That was good, but there was definitely a kind of "hangover" from working from home. We discussed it and shared ideas on how to not have that happen again. We all missed the leisure of a snow day, but we far more appreciated not being so far behind and not missing pay. It's a balance we need to figure out, but we're so grateful we have this new opportunity. We were also able to work from home for our delay on Thursday, which was awesome, considering we could make up the delay before having to leave to get there on time. Bonus.

3. Getting words on the page. I hit my daily goal every day but last night. Last night I didn't even open my computer. My head hurt. Hell, my brain bones hurt. I fell asleep early and then, obviously, didn't want to get up this morning.

4. Not worrying about dinner tonight. See #1. I brought home leftovers. I am still not hungry.

5. A weekend with That Man... He doesn't work. I have no obligations. He has to help a friend in the morning, but he'll be back before I wake up, so it's all good.

6. Summer concert tickets purchased and hotel reserved. So excited! I had to do the reservations like three times. First I book a hotel like nine miles from the concert venue. Then I found a hotel within walking distance, except it was a stupid wrong room. We're good now. It was a pain. But I'm so excited!!

7. Video chatting with the almost four year old granddaughter tonight. She's a crack up! That Man and I were laughing so hard. She can't be serious at all and it's a giggle fest. Total crappy week made 199% better though!

8. Sleeping in tomorrow!

That is all!

Behave!

Snow Day...

Or not...

I worked from home all day. Started at 6:45 and finally gave it up around 4:15. So a tiny bit of overtime, less than I wanted, and I should have had lower expectations. I can't help that I woke at 4am and couldn't go back to sleep.

It did end up being a good day. It was quiet. I only talked to one of my reps all day and most of it was while he was in traffic and fighting the snow (speaker phone, he wasn't driving on cell - it's illegal where he lives).

Got a lot done. The kitten tried to take my headphones and then bit me, but then he went to find a place to sleep. Had a productive conversation with my boss. Got a co-worker more caught up.

The downside:

No nap.
No writing.
No epic cooking.
No phone calls to the stock people.

What I did get done besides work:
Laundry
Dishes

And those were both done while I was on the phone with either my boss or my rep, so...

So... I'm okay with working from home. I need to have more realistic expectations. My lunch break should have been spent writing, but it was more chaos and I didn't take my full break, because... come on.... It was the first time though, so there is hope...

We did have a good dinner. I am going to do the writing now, but I should so be sitting on like 7k words by now and I should have had a nap... I don't know...

That's all...

Behave!

The Snow is Coming!

At least I hope so!

They're calling for 4-8" around here. And some ice later in the storm. It's not supposed to start until I'm already at work though...

But...

As of right now, my office is closed and we're all cleared to work from home tomorrow. Awesome! If the forecast changes overnight, we'll have to go in, but I'm hoping that doesn't happen. We'll know for sure in the morning.

I know working from home is hard. The scenery change can be distracting. Not having the same technology is challenging. I work on three huge monitors and will be down to one decent-sized one. I might not have access to some programs I need, though I tried to foresee that kind of thing and make sure I could get where I needed to be. I know the work is not going to flow as fast as usual because of the computer screens and challenges above. But I'm still excited.

I can stay in my jammies, do laundry, and listen to loud music. Or put my favorite shows/movies on as a backdrop to my work day. And there is no ringing phone. The only calls I'll have to answer are from my sales reps.

The suck part is that typically a snow day means a writing day for me. I'm going to miss that part, though I do still have to take a lunch, so I can use that time to get my words on the page. And if it does snow, our evening obligation will likely cancel, so I will have that time, too.

It's just awesome that the bosses recognized our workload and how stressed we are by the weather messing up our work day and offered this solution. I'm hoping that we can make major progress in getting caught up.

And that's a wrap. I'm going to get my words in now and then crash. Been fighting a sinus headache all day...

Behave!

Monday - Post Weekend

Today was a Monday like most others.

Woke up tired, though I fell asleep on the couch shortly after the Bosses left. Busy, busy day at work. Phone calls were slow. Emails were slow. So I did get a lot caught up. But my coworkers are drowning, so that's what my tomorrow will be - helping them dig out. I've been trying when I work overtime, but it's like taking water out of a sinking ship with a quarter-teaspoon.

Yesterday, we had both boys.

We met them at Big B's Pinewood Derby race. Yes, we're doing the scout thing again with our grandson. It's fun. We're there to watch and support where needed, but we're definitely not doing more. We love scouting. We did it for about twenty years or so - in so many capacities. We definitely loved it or we wouldn't have been so involved. It's going to be exciting to see our son and grandsons evolve in scouting. We're here for support, but definitely not taking on any kind of leadership roles. Though the leaders there tried. Ha!

Did Big B's scout meeting after. With a slightly fussy, but smiley, Little B. Finally got home and Little B fought sleeping so hard. He wasn't crying or anything, but "unsettled" would be a good word. He required all attention and That Man and I passed him back and forth to try to keep him happy.

K4 and Big B hung out for quite a bit of time - they played video games and talked and she didn't even realize how much she was helping us until I thanked her. She was just having fun with her nephew. I love that so much.

That Man ended up having to help K3 with a tire that blew on a busy highway, so it was just me and the boys for a bit. Little B finally gave it up and slept while I was trying to get Big B fed. He continued to sleep until the parentals got here, which he needed to do. And Big B and I had fun in the meantime. He did my hair. We read. He's doing a fantastic job reading! We made smoothies and talked about a bunch of stuff and watched the music videos Big B thinks are funny... Ha!

It was good, even if it was exhausting. I'm super happy that K1 and J got to have some time away. It was the first time since Little B was born, so there's that. And she only texted me once to see how they were doing. (Though I told her that the boys had taken over and little b had pappy in a choke hold...I'm not sure that was appreciated, but I thought it was funny)

And that's that. I'm going to write now. I did super good on Saturday and nothing on Sunday (obviously).

Oh and it's supposed to snow Wednesday. I say bring it. That man says Meh! He doesn't believe it. I really don't either, but I want to.

Behave!

Saturday...

It was good to sleep in. So good.

I got words written this morning. Actually hit my modified daily goal before eleven. (Modified so I can catch up to where I need to be.) I am going to try to double that here in a bit. If I can stay awake. Ha!

Did the adulting thing - sheets washed, stuff cleaned, bills paid. Then ran to the mega mart for new pillows and random stuff. That Man wasn't happy that I threw his pillow away, but it smelled like dog butt and had to go. I found the chopper-thingy I've been missing for way too long. I love this chopper-thingy. I broke my last one about two years ago and have been majorly missing it ever since. So freaking happy to have a chopper-thingy again! I also snagged a blender because ours crapped out and I've been craving smoothies. Believe it or not, I didn't spend much at all...

The grocery store, however, is a completely different story. I'm not even sure what happened there, but I was kind of in shock when the total came up. Plus I forgot fabric softener, dishwasher soap, and cereal. So...

Missed seeing my work friends. A bunch of things happened that prevented me from going. It's okay. I guess.

Made a banging lasagna for dinner - not on me. That Man made the sauce. All I did was throw the ingredients together. And a major banging appetizer. Saw it on the food channel this morning and it fit with our dinner theme, so I tried it. Little caprese tomatoes, stuffed with basil and mozzarella and topped with breadcrumbs. OMG... So good! Of course, I modified it a little. I couldn't part with the almost $10 for the little mozzarella balls the store had, so I bought a fresh block for 1/3 of that. I didn't have breadcrumbs (still think there's breadcrumbs in the pantry somewhere, but I couldn't find them), so I took some flavored crackers and made crumbs out of them, seasoned them with italian stuff and garlic. Definitely something I'll make again.

Tomorrow is Boss day. We're meeting them at big Mr. B's scout pinewood derby race and will take it from there. It'll be a long day, but that's okay. The kids have a meeting for an event they're heavily involved in and it's the first time they've left little Mr. B with anyone. So it's a big day.

And that is all...

Behave!

Feel Good Friday!

Yay! Friday! Thanks for being here!

What a week! It seems like it was way longer than normal.

What's good about this week?

1. It's done!

2. Easy dinner. We're both too beat to go out. Even a trip to the grocery store felt like too much work. So BLT's with avocado's it was. Yummy.

3. K4 coming home tonight. She wasn't going to come until tomorrow, but she's on her way now. I haven't talked to the kid except for a few texts all week! She has a long weekend, too.

4. A friend of ours doing okay after surgery. They said the mass in his throat was bigger than expected and they think it's cancerous, but there are no details yet. He's doing okay. Just nervous about the results - as we all are. The poor guy needs a break though. He's had enough going on the past year or so. We've known him and his wife for over twenty years. They're good friends.

5. Getting a tiny bit of writing done this week. Well, okay, a decent amount. I'm working hard to use writing as a stress escape instead of letting the stress do the other thing and keep me from writing. I need to get this book done and submitted soon.

6. Sleeping in tomorrow! Please and thank you.

7. Plans to see some old work friends tomorrow. It will be good.

8. Having my Boss boys on Sunday. It'll be a long day, I'm sure, but we're excited to keep them and excited for mom and dad having some away time. It'll be the first time since little boss was born.

9. My work family. They really are the best. There is no way we would be getting through our current crisis without each other.

That's about it. I'm in a writing blast right now and have to report my word count, so I'd better get to it!

Behave!

Happy V-D! Not!

Sorry. Not Sorry! I really don't care about Valentine's Day. That Man feels the same. We've both felt the same since we were dating (oh so many years ago). 

Oh I had a big old post written on my thoughts about Valentine's Day, but it wasn't coming out the way I wanted it to, so...

Today is Thursday. 

I worked overtime. 

It was a stressful day at the day job. Working overtime, but it really doesn't count since I'm missing ten hours this week thanks to the snow.

Tomorrow is Friday. Yay. 

The kitten is a rude jerk. He just attacked me for no dang reason. 

I had the best thing happen today! K5 surprised me at the day job! It was epic and so great! We took a selfie and sent it to Pappy and he was like "What!? That's the best day ever!" and it was. 

Tomorrow is Friday...

Bedtime now.

Behave!

Wednesday!

I can't believe I didn't post the snow day post yesterday!!

So, it did snow overnight Monday, and by morning, work had called a delay until noon. I went back to bed. Finally got up and had some coffee, did some writing, started the laundry, caught up on emails, ate my favorite breakfast, almost bought another laptop, but my logical-head prevailed before I got to the checkout (it was such a great deal. I'm kind of kicking myself.).

Just as I was about to get ready for work, they called us off for the day.

Yay!

I took a nap. Nice.

Finished the laundry. Wrote. Watched stupid television for a little bit. (Cooking shows - and I had nothing to cook. We'd already decided on leftovers for dinner and I didn't grocery shop right, so didn't have the random ingredients! Boo!) Did some household stuff. Watched the snow/sleet/rain.

It was nice.

That Man did work, so it was just me and the animals. I wish he'd have been here, but it was probably the first time I've been home by myself in ages. So, okay. The dog was glued to me all day, which was totally fine. She's warm and cuddly.

Today was back to the grind. They did delay us for two hours, but I made it there an hour before opening because I was bored. There is always someone there early when we have a delay. Stopped to see K1 and S at the coffee shop on my way. I need to do that more, but with overtime right now...

Yeah... Some overtime. Now I need to attempt to make up 9.50 hours or something like that. I already have some time in, but I'll never get that much made up this week. I mean, tomorrow is Thursday! I'll get as much as I can done, and figure out the rest later. I could take time - time I am saving for fun and cool things, or I can eat it, but who can afford that? Like I said, I'll figure it out.

And I'm sooo far behind at the day job. So. Far. Behind.

I did talk to 3 out of 4 kids today, so that's a win. K3 didn't answer when I called, but I know his schedule is nuts right now.

It is what it is...

We had a busy night tonight that left us eating takeout at the kitchen counter at 9pm... Bad takeout, too. I mean... the food was good... but 9pm for that kind of food was probably not the best idea... Whatever...

Going to write for a few now.

Behave!

Potential Snow!

Well, Okay. It's been snowing since last night, but it's actually supposed to accumulate now! We have maybe an inch or more on the ground. The roads were mostly fine this morning. I went in early and only slid a few times. They were perfectly fine on the way home.

Now overnight it's supposed to snow like crazy and then ice and stuff. We can only hope. I'm, at least, hoping for a delay, but a closure would be best. I have no problem driving in the snow, but ice is another thing altogether. I don't care what you drive, or how skilled you are, ice will always win. So we'll see...

Fingers crossed for sleeping in...

Behave!

Weekend Wrap Up...

I can't believe the last time I posted was Wednesday!

Though K1 & J and the Boss babies were here Thursday night. And Friday night we went out after work in tribute to the woman whose last day was Friday.

Our night out after work was a lot of fun. But sad. I have no idea what's going to happen next at the day job, but it's going to be rough for sure. I'm already dreading going the tomorrow.

The book signing was a lot of fun. Sold a few books. Talked to a lot of people. Got to see my friends. We went to dinner afterwards - our tradition. Fun.

Then home to chill. I was peopled out and there was no way I wanted anymore social interaction.

Today was pretty chill. Taking care of household administration stuff. Next to the writing.

I'm tired...

Behave!

Halfway Through...

Or I guess over half... But OY!

The OT is exhausting. But, yeah, I'm working it because... extra money, getting caught up... Both good things. I'm waiting to hear if I can go over the allotted time, but that answer hasn't come through yet. With the Jeep being down and That Man having to take me to work, well, it makes sense... But who knows, because I have no answer at all... Harumph!

We shirked our regular Wednesday night commitment mostly due to That Man not feeling great and the need to take care of some meat... Ha! That sounds funny! But we purchased some fresh ground beef from one of the farmer's at That Man's work and we had to package and freeze it. Twenty-four huge burgers, six ginormous meatballs, smaller and larger packages for various meals. We have more ground beef in our freezer than I've purchased in the last six months, so I would say we're pretty set for the moment.

We had burgers for dinner and they were delicious. Salt, pepper, and a slow cook in the cast iron skillet. Oh man! Yum.

I did the writing. I'm over my projected word count for the day of the month, which is awesome, and I'm not going to slack because I want this book done. I'm so grateful that I'm able to write with as much stress as I'm handling at the day job. I would be one pissed off person if the day job sucked my writing away. I've already experienced that suck with other life events and I will fight tooth and nail for it not to happen again. At the same time, I try to be logical and gentle with my expectations, which is why I'm super happy that my word count is what it is right now. It gives me wiggle room for the evenings when I'm so fried I can't see straight.

Tomorrow we will have the Bosses here for dinner. We're making chicken curry and rice. It should be good.

And this weekend is the annual greenhouse book signing. I'm so excited. It's probably my favorite event of the year. Well, it is my favorite event. I'm pretty much ready. Just need to grab a bag of chocolate and some change and I'm good to go.

That's all. Morning comes way too early this week.

Behave!

Tuesday...

Ugh...

The worst part about today...
Well... Getting up earlier than normal to work ot? The mountain of work that was and still is waiting for me at the day job? (I did get a lot done today, but the work just keeps coming in) The in your face knowledge that one of our favorite coworkers is done forever on Friday?

My head and shoulders are killing me and I'm about ten minutes away from dropping in exhaustion...

The best part about today...
That Man picking me up from work (The Jeep has a stuck brake caliper or something weird like that. We'll get it taken care of this weekend and it works since I'm working overtime right now.), making fish tacos for dinner. My bed soon.

That Man's birthday dinner was awesome. Good food. Good conversation. The place we went gives a discount if you go on your birthday, so that was awesome. This is the second time we've gone there, and we'll definitely keep going back.

It's too soon to start thinking about the weekend... but I want to. At this point, the only thing I know is that we're going out after work Friday night for our coworkers last day. There will be tears.

That is all...tomorrow will be a repeat of today, with a bonus staff meeting... Joy...

Behave!

Feel Good Friday & Weekend Wrap Up... All in One...

Efficient. I know! Ha!

Nah. It's just been that kind of a weekend.

Friday was rough. Well, hell, the entire week was rough, so by Friday I was so tired, I don't even remember the drive home. Got home, ordered a stromboli, and fell asleep on the couch about ten minutes after we were done eating. We were in bed by 8:30. And I slept until 8:30 Saturday morning.

If that doesn't explain it, I don't know how else to say it...

Saturday was my writing meeting. So good to have my group back. The laughter, support, and friendships are back and it's amazing. We had a productive business meeting and an awesome speaker. That Man picked me up (well, yeah, he dropped me off, too) and we headed for a few groceries. K4 went to her cousins, so it was just the two of us for dinner. Made amazing chicken sandwiches and again, went to bed early.

I was up pretty early this morning, though. Got started on the house. Put more Christmas stuff away. The only thing left are the Christmas dishes in the hutch. We're hoping our niece still wants it, and I'll just put the dishes away when/if it goes out the door. I do want it to go. There's too much furniture in my dining room and we would love to take the wall separating the kitchen and dining room out, so...

Household maintenance took up a good part of the morning and afternoon. The sheets were washed, the vacuum run. The K1 & J, K3 & A, and my little bosses came over. Got some grandson time, made ham & green beans for dinner, and a cake to celebrate That Man's birthday tomorrow. Little Boss is so stinking cute. He's smiling now, and cooing, and interested in the lights and shadows around him. Big Boss is also cute. He loves his brother and is so good with him. We threw the football for a bit - well, until he decided soaking in a freezing cold puddle before he threw it to me was jolly fun. Ha! The kid has a good arm though.

The older kids played a game. J did some laundry. Pappy and I got some baby time. The dog got super muddy, which was not cool, but whatever. It is what it is. The temps warmed up and the yard is like an icy, muddy swampland.

And... tomorrow is Monday again. It is That Man's birthday, so we have dinner plans tomorrow night that I am excited about. His other gift will be here before we head out. That's the best part about tomorrow.

And that is all... I have writing to do!

Behave!