Last Day of July...

That was a quick month! Seriously!

Tomorrow beings August and a month of absolute insanity for us. We don't have a free weekend at all. Some fun stuff. Some work stuff. Some necessary house stuff - which is not really scheduled into the crazy month, but stuff we have to find time for nonetheless.

Today is Wednesday... This week has been long already. Work... well... it's back into crazy mode. The new people started on and so far so good. I am hopeful. If I live through it long enough for their help to be effective. Today was massively crazy.

But... after work, we picked up Mr. B and took him to dinner. We went to the diner close to our house - it's been That Man and I's staple place to grab food over the last few months. The food is good, service is good, and it's reasonably priced. Mr. B impressed us with his word/math skills and we talked about a lot of things. After that, we stopped at the grocery store for a few things we needed (and Hot Wheels, because that's what we do), before hitting up the ice cream store. Or "Dumpster Lake" as Mr. B calls it. Last time we went there we pulled in and B asked what we were doing (not seeing the huge sign) and I told him we were going swimming in Dumpster Lake because the rain water had pooled in the parking lot around the dumpster and it looked like a huge lake. That name apparently stuck with him.

We had a great time with him. He was happy, too. Dropped him off and got Baby B snuggles and laughs. That boy is a chunk and is mobile now. He's so funny.

Tonight is the last night the kittens are he and she. Tomorrow morning, I will drop them off to get fixed. 9pm was the latest they could have food. They don't like that. Well, none of them do. Instead of secluding the kittens, we moved the food for all of the animals. Even the dog food, because the kittens will eat the dog food. So now, they are running around like crazy, following us when we get up and crying at our feet. It's a good thing we're going to bed soon.

I get to sleep in a little bit tomorrow. Just a tiny bit since I'm doing the drop off. They have to be there a half hour after my usual overtime start. That's okay by me. K4 will pick them up and bring them home.

And then Friday, I get to leave early to go to the Orthodontist with K4. Keep your fingers crossed, but hopefully, it's brace removal day!! So excited! It's been a super long road with her mouth!

I did write tonight. And I wrote last night. I am doing my best to get the words in!

That is all for now!

Behave!

Feel Good Friday on Saturday

Happy Weekend!

It was a long, long week! I worked overtime and I might work overtime this weekend. Next week will be the same. We have two new people starting. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, because the one will hopefully take a lot of pressure off of me.

Let's hit the list:

1. Sleeping in a bit this morning. Not a lot, but then we were in bed super early last night... Still, it was wonderful to lay in bed and relax.

2. Getting the grocery shopping done. It's a dumb chore, but must be done. I'm really thinking about signing up for either the grocery pick up program, or the delivery program.

3. That Man doing the dinner shopping and cooking the dinner last night. I am on for tonight since he's working, but I'm not quite sure what I'm making yet. I have a few options...

4. Driving with the top down most of the week! Beautiful days! It's a huge stress reliever after a hectic day.

5. Dinner date with That Man on Thursday. We went to the new Indian place down the street. It was pretty good - a little more expensive than it needed to be, but we were both pretty pleased with our meals. Will we go back? Probably... but not for a little while. We have a few other places we want to check out, too.

6. Not a lot of writing progress this week. Except for in my head. Which I guess is better than nothing. I do plan to remedy that here in a bit. I will write before I log into work!

7. I am stunned at how quickly July flew by! August is going to be insane. I think we have something every single weekend and lots of mid-week things, too.

That's about it. I am off to be productive!

Behave!

Wednesday!

Halfway through the work week... Oy!

The National Conference for my writing affiliation started! I so wish I was there! It's in New York this year, which is easily accessible, but I had to make a financial and vacation day choice. I know I chose wisely, but that doesn't help the wish I have that I could have gone.

I mean... It's New York.

It's a conference with my peers. There are classes. Meet-ups, and so many different things to do. I went to New York a few years ago and had a blast. So many of my chapter mates are going - we would have had an absolute blast together.

I will live vicariously through social media and plan for a time where I can go. Though, I really need to get my sh*t together so I feel worthy of going.

Which I am working hard on. I wrote again tonight. I am heading in slow. I wrote more last night than I did Sunday and I wrote more tonight than last night, by like 1/3, so that's something. The story is coming back into my head and it's easier to put the words on the page.

I can't be angry at myself for not writing recently. It is what it is and I did what I have to do, but I'm making a comeback now.

If I continue to live through the work days. And that's always iffy... Ha!

That's all...

Behave!

Taco Tuesday

I guess so? We did have fish tacos for dinner, so...

Long week already. Day job continues to be what it is... I'm super overwhelmed and can't keep up and I hate it. Hopefully the person they hired to take the stress off of me works out, but it'll be a while until they're trained up. We'll see... It's hard not to just walk out some days though.

I have been writing! Whoot! I got words in both Sunday and today. Not a lot, but more than I'm required to for our 50/50 challenge, so it's worthy!

That's all I have. Just wanted to check in and my computer battery is dying!

Behave!

Weekend Wrap Up!

Sundays are hard! I'm good until about 3 on Sundays and then the stress over the coming week starts to settle in. So that's where I'm at right now... full on dread. And I hate feeling this way.

Friday night was a cookout with friends we have known for a super long time - delicious food and good conversation. There was a fruit pizza which was to die for. I will definitely be getting that recipe! And the coolest thing is that they get new pizza boxes from the shop down the street and use them to store/transport them. Luckily their house is right down the street. We could have walked, but it was way too hot for that! We went from there to the grocery store with our plans to not have to do too much over the weekend.

Slept in on Saturday. Paid bills. Laundry. Blah blah blah. Hung out in the air conditioning all day. Damn it was hot. That Man did some weird outside stuff before I got up, but was done by like 10, so that was good. Continued to hang out in the air conditioning, though we did cook on the grill and it did cool down enough to have an enjoyable amount of time outside after the sun went down.

Today was also another sleep in day. Though we were in bed before 10pm last night. Ran some errands. Got to see K3 and A for a bit. Cooked on the grill and are now trying to finish up the rest of the laundry before bedtime.

So, a pretty chill weekend - not literally, though. The heat was just rude - like super rude. Our air conditioning in our room froze up, so we had to deal with that. It's dropped by like 10* in the last hour and a storm is supposed to be rolling through here soon. Thank goodness.

I'm going to see what kind of writing I can get done now. Heck, even 100 words will make me feel like a success. We shall see.

Hail to the new week! Not!

Behave!

Over a Week!

OY! Sorry for the silence! It's been insane around here!

The kitchen came out looking pretty darned good. I've yet to cook a real meal in it. I did make breakfast on Saturday, but it was quick. We're still babying the floor and the countertop, and everything has been scrubbed. We're at a lack of space, but we'll see how it goes when it's just our regular...

So what have I been up to?

Release day was last week and that was awesome!

We spent the rest of our week getting ready for company!

Friday night we picked up K5 and had the absolute best weekend with her. We did rockets on Saturday (which she absolutely loved), she learned to skip rocks, had a blast with the kitties, and got to watch Sponge Bob (she doesn't have the ability at home). We ordered subs, giggled a lot, and had the best time!

Saturday night That Brother, That Niece, and That Niece's Boyfriend came to stay. We had a great time and it was good to see That Brother and get to know That Niece and That Niece's Boyfriend. We had a family cookout here on Sunday, which was good. That Man's siblings and most of the kids. We grilled, blew bubbles, had a fire, and a good time. They left this morning for the next leg of their journey - only leaving behind a pair of sunglasses and bedding washed and folded. K4 and That Niece hit it off and stayed up way late last night talking.

Now it's super quiet here. We worked our butts off for so long that we haven't had a chance to sit back to relax and admire our hard work. That's the plan for the weekend. It's going to be a scorcher around here, so chores are getting done bright and early Saturday and then the plan is to stay in the ac all day.  And we will nap!

One more work day... And the work days have not changed.

Writing has been super scarce, but that will hopefully be remedied soon! Tonight is the first night I've really been on my computer, except for a having to email attorneys for the estate. And all I've done tonight is this blog... Bah!

That is all!

Behave!

Release Day!!

It's Redemption: Sector One release day! Whoot!



















Isaac lost everyone he loved in the government's attempt to take over their lives, but losing his child to their evil drained the last of his mercy. Or so he thought. When he receives one of their soldiers as a debt payment, his last flare of compassion won’t allow the woman to die. When Casey awakens with no memories except her name, he sees good in her he didn’t expect. Through Casey's self-recovery, he learns she’s the soldier that kidnapped his child. He has to decide if he can overcome his anger to trust the woman he healed, not the soldier who hurt him, and decide if it's worth the risk to use her military-induced enhancements to help him rescue other kidnapped children.
Casey used to be a soldier. Now she doesn’t know what or who she is. She doesn't even have a last name. Her slowly returning memories of the things she was forced to do devastate her, and she believes her only route to redemption is to convince Isaac to let her help rescue the children everyone thought were dead. As she learns who she is without the government's control, Casey discovers she's not the monster they forced her to be. She can only hope her newfound sense of self is enough to save her.

We're up on Amazon and other retailers! Please check it out, and please leave an honest review if you do! 

Behave!!

Feel Good Friday! And Sadness!

I had a two day work week, which, despite the utter ridiculousness of my work-week, I do not feel bad about! I did what I could. I kept with my "killing it" numbers and it is what it is!

Yes. I am off today. Thank Goodness! I wasn't supposed to be. Heck. We were supposed to be camping, which is why I took today off. But here I sit in my dining room. K4 and the puppy went to camp on Wednesday, but That Man was still sanding floors. We got the first coat of poly on the floor yesterday morning, the second on last night, and he did the third this morning. We'll check tonight to see if another coat is needed. If not, we'll start the clean up process. But we'll see.

It's a sad sad day for our family. My sister and brother-in-law had to put their puppy to sleep. Nezzie was almost 17 and was such a great dog. She's been failing for a little while now, but yesterday I think she managed to let them know that she was ready to go. She had one last night in The Wilds and they took her this morning. Everyone is sad. Obviously she was a part of all of our lives for a long time. K3 and K4 don't remember life before her. They grew up with her as their own dog, as did the older two.

I don't think my niece really remembers life with her puppy either. Those two literally grew up together and my heart just breaks for all of them.

As she aged, we called her the "fun police" because any time the other dogs, or even the kids were being rowdy, she would step in and shut it down. She was so patient with the kittens and with Mr. B. I used to tell my sister all of the time that she was my dog, not hers, and I gave her all of the treats.

In between coats of poly yesterday, we went up to say goodbye to her. We stopped at got some bologna and cheese to spoil her. It was hard, but Nezzie knew it was time. You could see it in her eyes. As I was saying goodbye, she looked up at me with eyes that seemed to say "thanks for being my friend and thanks for the treats".

My sister texted me this morning to say that she was gone. :(

I'm heading up there in a few. I just feel like I need to be there. That Man is helping a friend out today and I've been cleaning up as much as I can around here and taking care of household administration duties. I have to get out of this poly smell, too. It makes me sick to my stomach and the house is well ventilated.

That is all.
Behave!

The First of July..

I took off work today. Woke up at midnight with a horrible belly. Laid awake for about five hours feeling like utter crap (that's all I'll say about that...eww). When the alarms went off, I'd only been sleeping for about forty minutes. There was no way this work day was happening. Texted my boss and went back to bed for four hours. Woke up feeling some better, but still not great. And so it goes...

That Man took a day as well. I had no idea he'd already planned it. He's been sanding our kitchen floor and wanted to make more progress. By the time I got up, he had another round of sanding done, some patchwork areas, and had stained the new wood we had to install. It's coming together. He's currently sanding again, but we're getting close to new polyurethane. In the meantime, both doorways into the kitchen are covered in plastic. There is sawdust literally everywhere. My countertop is in the dining room and my kitchen is basically unusable. It's worth it though.

We've decided not to put the old countertop back in. Instead, we'll get a butcher block piece and install it over the "floating cupboard". We need to have counter space and this is the most logical way to have more floor space and be able to get stuff done. I'm actually pretty excited. It's been about 20 years since we've done any updates in the kitchen, so this is much needed. My kitchen is super tiny - like I have two drawers in the whole space and only three lower cabinets and three upper cabinets, not including the one over the fridge. I do have a big pantry, which helps, but space is tight - which makes it hard when you both like to cook. I'm hoping this new arrangement will work out well.

I did manage to eat something, which was questionable, but turned out okay. Rested a whole bunch and will attempt to make dinner here in a few. It was kind of hard doing my resting thing while That Man worked his butt off, but it is what it is... I'm still exhausted, but now only have two days to work until a long weekend.

Camping is up in the air at this point. We have so much to do and not much time. Also, the weekend will be broken up by estate meetings and other obligations. I'm not able to make my writing meeting because of the estate meeting, but that's okay. July is typically one of the least attended meetings of the year, and I have done all of the stuff I need to do for my board position.

And that is all for now. The plan is to get some writing in this evening and go to bed early. I can only imagine what my work day is going to look like tomorrow with taking off today, but it is what it is.

Behave!