Snow in the Forecast!

We're forecasted for 8-12".

I hope!

I know. I know. It probably won't do anything, but I can still hope for it!

I mean, I get that I don't really have to go anywhere, so it doesn't impact me as much as it does other people, but come on! Snow is awesome! (I was planning on going into the office on Monday though and my week is pretty crazy so I don't know when I'll get it, and it's important that I do)

It's been a pretty quiet weekend. 

We picked up my Jeep on Thursday. The price tag was almost twice as what I had budgeted for, but there was more work to be done than we thought. I am super happy with it though. The rattle that we thought was exhaust, was actually rust and it is no more. It feels solid and tight and we're good on paying our welder for a few years now. (Yeah, we'll need to do more work in a year or two, but my Jeep is an old lady) Next is the fuel lines, and then I should be good to go! I have trails to ride with my brother and my kid and my other kids. 

Friday night was pretty much chill. We made some good food and watched some stupid television. 

Today has been pretty chill as well. Though we did make a trek to the store for cat food and hamburgers. We absolutely needed the cat food. The hamburgers not so much, but they will make a great dinner tomorrow night. Especially if we grill them in the snow. Ha! 

The store was insane! People were coming out with heaping carts of everything. We got out of there as soon as we could. We would not have gone at all if it wasn't for the cat food. 

We were supposed to clean out the spare room. For why, I will tell you soon. We got the huge pipe out - this thing was in our attic when we bought the house. We moved it when we did K4's room, and frankly, it would have been a huge pain to try to bring it down via the stairs. It's like they put it together in the attic or something. I'm not sure how it came down the attic stairs. It went out the window. Ha! 

So, technically we were going to make the burgers tonight, but we changed our minds. I had a gift card for the food delivery place and we ended up ordering Indian food, which was amazing. I am full, but I am thinking about grabbing my leftovers out of the fridge. It was that good. 

Just checked the forecast and from the map, we'll be lucky to get a flake. So I guess we shall see...

Off to write now...

Behave!

  

Post Retreat

 Not much to report on the last morning of retreat. I slept in. Write a few hundred words. Packed up. And headed for home. 

K4 hurt her foot pretty badly and couldn't push in her clutch. She was at a friends, so we ended up going to pick her up. Mr. B's birthday present (that I ordered the day after Christmas) finally arrived, so we headed over to give it to him. He was excited and loved it. Little Mr. B was hysterical and is so attached to his pappy. 

Other than that, we're back to quiet around here. It sleeted over night, but not bad enough to make the roads bad. K4 has had to drive my car all week because of her foot, but since it's feeling better, she'll go back to driving her own. 

And that is all...

Behave!

Retreat: Day Three - Last Night

It's late and I should go to bed...

But I just finished a terrific word count and need to decompress a bit.

I am the only one up, but not for long. I have to say that this house makes a lot of weird noises when you're the only one in the space. Ha! 

Anyway...

I started the story after lunch. And it's going remarkably well. Things kind of just clicked into place and instead of doing extensive pre-writing like I normally do, I hit the bricks and started in chapter one 

I am on chapter three now. I'm excited and pleased. 

This retreat has been amazing in so many ways. To get to hang with my closest writing friends for days after not seeing them forever has been absolutely epic To be able to do my own thing and not have any kind of a schedule to adhere to has also been epic. To have my own bathroom and to take care of my own needs is awesome. 

To say I have loved this time is an understatement. To say I have needed this is also an understatement. This house was amazing and suited our needs pretty perfectly. Though it's doubtful we can afford it again. 

We have a few hours tomorrow morning and then it's over, but I highly doubt the energy gained here will wane for a while. We all made amazing progress on our goals. 

And now I'm going to bed...

Behave! 

Retreat: Day Three - Morning

Ha! Pretty much the same time as yesterday morning!

It's really cold and really windy here. The wind howling through the trees is epic, but kind of comforting at the same time. I wish this fireplace to my left was a working thing. It's ginormous--two-sided with a hearth on each side and an exposed chimney. It totally fits in with the aesthetic of the room. 

Currently, I'm on a loveseat with a dining room chair serving as my footrest. One of my companions has both arm chairs. They're situated so one is her foot rest. And the other two companions are camped out on the sofa. It's working for us and despite the fact that everyone said they were willing to move if someone wanted to try out a different spot, we've all stayed the same place the whole time so far. 

I slept better last night. Woke around four freezing to death. Grabbed another blanket. Then I woke around eight sweating like crazy. The temperature in my room had risen fifteen degrees. Yuck. Got up and showered, made breakfast, goofed off for a while and have spent some time going through old book files looking for an idea file I made a long time ago.

So what happened is that as I started editing the book that killed me to finish, I realized that even if it's published this time next year, it's still too soon. The similarities between the pandemic we're in and what's going on in the book are remarkable. (Yeah, it's way over the top compared to our pandemic, but still...)And I started that book over a year before the pandemic started. As I was editing, I was cringing. So... I stuck it in my "to edit" file and am now doing some research on one of the other books in the series. I've had to familiarize myself with what I said about this place in the first book.

I'm getting ready to start writing - hopefully no later than after lunch. I still need to figure out my characters and all of that jazz. 

That's all for now!

Behave!

Retreat: Day Two - Evening

This day flew by! 

I got my read-through done before noon. Whoot!

We began brainstorming another book I've been working on and was stuck with where to go next. The realization that the book is pretty much done where I am hit me hard and it's right. So whoot on that! I, obviously, need to do some editing, but everything I wanted to say in this book has been said! 

So, then I opened Sector Two to edit and immediately closed it. The gist of the story is that it's a post-pandemic world. I didn't think I could edit it because a lot of the scenarios are super close to what we've all been dealing with the last almost year. 

I took a break and decided to put my big girl panties on and actually edit the damned thing. I'm ten pages in and while I'm cringing at a lot of the similarities, I'm also working hard to enhance it as someone who's also been in the middle of a pandemic (just definitely not in the same way as the heroine, but I can still give her more emotions).

The day hasn't been super productive as far as output. For any of us. But it's been productive in the sense that we have hashed out a lot of personal concerns, we figured out my story was done, we booked our next retreat gig, we brainstormed stuff, we ate dinner together even though we all made our own food, and we have talked until we are all hoarse. We watched turkey vultures congregate and fly around our house. I did not nap. Nor did I shower. 

But.... as always, sometimes retreat is like that. Always retreat is just what you need. Which has, so far, happened for me. I have peace on my guardian story. I am editing the story that killed me to finish. I finished my read-through. I am with friends. I have no obligations except for what I want and need to do. Which is focus on my writing goals, even if I get no words on the page.

Retreat was already a success yesterday, but it's even more so after today! And we have one more full day here! 

Behave!  

Retreat: Day Two - Morning

Good Morning!

I know it's mid-morning, but it's still before noon! Here I am at the beginning of retreat day two! Whoo! It's still hard to believe I'm here and have all day today, all day tomorrow, and a half day Sunday!

We stayed up pretty late last night. Talking. Of course. When I finally did get to bed, I had a little trouble falling asleep. Of course. That's always typical my first night someplace different. The night light in the room was so bright I had to unplug it, and it was so very quiet I had to put white noise on. But the bed is comfy and once I settled in, I slept good and I slept in this morning. 

Even though I'm off from the day job, I have to cover the phone messages. They come into my work email, so I need to check them regularly. It's not a big deal and I don't mind. It's far more of a pain to switch the lines than for me to still do it. I just need to remember to actually do it. Ha!

I'm halfway through my final read through. I ate the most smashed muffin and despite its smashi-ness, it was good. I'm the only coffee drinker here and I've consumed pretty much an entire pot by myself. Ha! 

I will probably nap at some point, too. Which is awesome! 

That's all for now. My break is over. I want to get this read through done before noon and then move on to a different project. 

Behave! 

Retreat: Day One

Day One of my first retreat in five years!! Whoot!

We've been planning this sucker for about four months and have had to change dates a few times. I'm with my closest writing friends and we haven't seen each other in probably at least a year. We've all been super cautious and none of us are worried about making each other sick. We are just happy to be together. 

We're in the wilds in a "cabin" with about 18 rooms (yeah, for four of us, but to be fair there were supposed to be two more of us). (and we're still in our state, so no worries about travel restrictions) This house is super cool. We each have our own room and bathroom, though mines not connected to my bedroom (I think only one is), but it doesn't matter. It's so quiet here, outside and inside. 

We arrived around 4, finagled the parking situation, hauled our stuff up two flights of stairs, got settled into our bedrooms, put our stuff away in the kitchen, and talked and talked. We made nachos for dinner and we're now sitting in one of the living rooms talking and talking and trying to do our thing. Only the main thing that's happening is talking. And talking. Like I said, we haven't seen each other in at least a year and it's been even longer than it's been just the four of us. 

Tomorrow is Friday. My muffins are smashed. Like really smashed, so we'll see if I can even eat them. That's the thing its taking me the most to get used to. We did a shared meal tonight, but we are completely on our own for every other meal. It's taken some creative thinking on my part to deal with this, but I think I'm good now. I have my smashed muffins, a bagel, some energy bars, stuffed shells, and soup. I didn't really plan lunches because I usually either eat breakfast or lunch, but rarely both. I have a bunch of snacks, so I think I'm fine. But then, when I saw everyone else unload their stuff, I wondered if I was going to end up hungry. HA! I'm fine though, and there's a store not too far away if I run out of food. 

Tomorrow I will get to work. I have my final proof of my re-release to read through. I have a book to finish, and two to edit. I need to brainstorm the book to finish. So we'll see what happens. 

That's all for day one. I am so happy to be here! 

Behave! 

The Chair...

We've been talking about getting new furniture for a while now. 

We can't decide what exactly we want and we know we don't want to spend a fortune. We have cats with claws and a dog and a lot of pet hair. 

The last thing we want to do is pay a lot of money for furniture that they destroy. 

Plus, if I'm getting new furniture, then I'm getting new end tables, lamps, coffee table, shutters, and we're painting the living room. So it's kind of an ordeal. Ha!

Anyway. We needed something in the living room. We moved the sleeper sofa couch into my office before Christmas and we moved the "too big for the space" couch back to it's wall after the tree came down. And we were left with a blank space and a man who can't stand our current couch. He's been mourning the chair we had no choice but to get rid of for a long time. (He's still mad that it got put out for the trash despite the fact that there was literally nothing left of it.)

So we did a bunch of research and still couldn't decide on anything. Today we hit a local thrift shop that donates their proceeds to cancer patients and we found a leather recliner. It had a stain, which turned me off, but the price was really good. I was sure the stain was there because someone died in the chair. (They assured me that wasn't the case)

We decided to check other options and think about it. We hit a few stores and there was nothing we liked or felt it was worth spending the money on. That Man kept thinking about the chair. 

So...we ended up with the chair. The stain is not that bad. It doesn't smell at all. And it's super, super comfy. 

That Man is very happy. 

It's not new furniture, but more of a test to see if the cats will try to claw it since it's leather. So far, they have just sniffed it. But time will tell. In any event, it was worth it. 

New furniture is still on the horizon. I'm just not sure when at this point. 

That is all...

Behave!

Feel Good Friday

Here we are at Friday again!

Let's get to the list:

1. Friday! It's been a long, long week. 

2. Sleeping in tomorrow. I hope to, anyway. Sometimes it doesn't work even though I want it to. 

3. Our Hello Fresh meals this week were really good. We've had a lot of variety and some stuff we never thought of making before. We really enjoy getting Hello Fresh. We work well in the kitchen together and we have a good time making dinner together. I mean we usually do anyway, but with the list and directions and all of the ingredients right there, it's different. 

4. This time next week, I'll be on retreat! So excited!

5. Light weekend plans. We need to hit the big box store because I think we're out of just about everything. I'm not even lying. 

6. We need to clean the Jeep out this weekend because she's going to get the last of her frame rust taken care of very soon. Hopefully it's the last of it, but I supposed our welding guy will tell us if it's not. Then we need to replace the brake lines and adjust some stuff. I need to order new fenders soon, too. 

7. Finishing the Christmas story!! Woo Hoo!! Finishing feels good! I will take the weekend off - maybe - and figure out what I'm doing next... 

8. I cleaned up all of the plants in my office and the bathroom this week. The asparagus fern was ridiculous. So were the spider plants. They all look really good now though and the spider babies have a new home. What a crazy amount of plant debris though! 

9. We're in the long, dark sleep of winter, so there's not much going on... We need snow.

That is all. 

Behave!

January 12

2021 isn't starting out well as I'm sure you're aware. There is just too much... It might be time to ask for a refund...

We did get the tree down last weekend. First we worked in the basement storage space, getting that 3/4 cleaned out and organized before putting the decorations away. Got rid of a bunch of stuff, made a mess. Got Santa and his sleigh put away, but we left the snowmen on the front porch, because... Snowmen...

We'll be back at the basement cleaning this weekend. One more section of shelves, and then we hit the main basement space before getting to the nooks and crannies. We'll need to get the boys over here for some heavy lifting soon, but for now we can work around.

Talked to Mr. B on his 8th birthday! He's such a funny kid! They didn't do anything this year because of non-sleeping toddlers. We're still waiting for Mr. B's present to arrive, so once it does, we'll take it to him. I ordered that thing the day after Christmas... 

Got a call from my gaggle of grandkids earlier. They are so funny and cute. K2's boy thought we were coming over to their house today and then insisted K2 call me. We talked for a long time. The kids were tacos, unicorns, and other weird messenger face thingies, and told me all kinds of things. They asked for their pappy constantly, but he was still at work. That was such a great call! Totally made my day! 

This book is still not ending and I've taken to being super brief... "the rest of the day went great" kind of thing with no action. I have to resolve about four threads and then it should be done? I want it done by this time next week, if not before. Hopefully before. Then I have to decide if I'm going to go back to the project I was working on before this book came to be, or start edits for the next book in my series... Or start something else new. 

We had a little scare about retreat, but all is well now. A little over a week! I cannot wait! I need to figure out my food for the weekend. We have a collective meal on Thursday, but are responsible for our own meals the rest of the time, which is kind of daunting and freeing at the same time. It's been forever since I've only had to fend for myself (last time would have been when all of my family was away at some form of summer camp years and years ago - like eight years?) I will probably end up with chips and dip or cheese and crackers all weekend! Ha! Other than that, it will be friends, writing, and no responsibilities other than writing. Whoot! 

That's it for now. We need snow and we need a lot of it. I know that's an unpopular opinion, but...

Behave! 

 

Feel Good Friday

First Feel Good of the Year...

1. It's Friday!

2. I had to work a full day at the office today. Inventory day. I have not combed my hair or put jeans on at 6am in almost 10 months. That felt odd. It was a weird day and I am exhausted! First, I stood on a concrete floor with a clipboard for many hours. Then I sat in the office chair (that I hate, but my office chair is here at home) entering numbers for the rest of the day. But it really was a pretty good day. I got to see and talk to coworkers I haven't seen for ages while I did my job. (well, some of my job) I think the whole day was good for the office staff. 

3. Sleeping in tomorrow. Oh, and I mean to. 

4. De-Christmas-ing the house tomorrow. Hopefully.

5. Writing time this weekend. 

6. Writing retreat coming up in less than two weeks! Whoot! It's been over five years since I've been on a writing retreat and I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to this! 

That's all I have. It's been a long, wicked week!

Behave!

Dear...

Dear Winter - 

We're in the long, dark cold now. Nothing coming up to look forward to, made even worse by Covid. (except my retreat, but I'm not getting too excited yet) The sun hasn't been around for days. Today it was dark all day, just varying degrees of darkness. I don't know whether to wish you away, or just wait and let you fly by on your own. 

Dear Rude Woman - 

Okay, she's a distant neighbor. She was kind of friends with my mother-in-law when she lived behind us. (kind of) That Man helped her out with some stuff a few times, at his mom's request, but the tendency for advantage to be taken is there, so we keep our distance. The last time we saw her was when she marched right under the bucket of the tree trimming truck, while the chainsaw was running, and demanded to know what we were doing. (umm... hello?) She does not speak to me. Ever. Even if I'm with That Man when she sees him. She does not even acknowledge my existence. Which is absolutely fine with me. I'd rather not.

Anyway. When That Man got home today, she was putting her trash out. She asked him how his mom was doing. He was floored. (His sister went and told her specifically that their mom had passed). He told her she passed a few years ago and she acted like she didn't believe him. No, seriously. Like he was lying to her or something. That Man walked away without another word, but I am dumbfounded. 

Dear Current Work in Progress - 

Why won't you end? Every day I put words in you and every day there are more words that need to go in. I am so close to finishing. And I'm writing decent word counts every day. I would think you would be done by now?

Dear Animals - 

Can you calm the shedding down a little? Please and thanks!

Dear Christmas Decorations - 

Can you maybe put yourselves away this year? I don't feel like messing with you right now. Because to put you away, I need to organize my storage room. And that's not going to be fun. It's not going to be hard, but there's a lot of stuff I want gone, so... Plus, I feel like your holiday came and went in a puff of smoke and I want to keep you around a little bit longer. 

Dear White Car - 

Stop parking in stupid places. Stop parking in front of my dedicated, stoned parking area. Stop parking in the middle of the road. Stop parking in front of the neighbors garage. Just stop. 

I've already called the police on you once when you blocked my off street parking for hours on end. I will call every single time you park on my property and inconvenience my life. I mean, who does that? It's very clearly someone's private parking area. It's very clearly not your garage. 

You are infuriating and I don't like you.

Dear Social Media - 

It's in my best mental interest to stay away from you. I thought you would get better during the holidays. You didn't. In fact, in a way, you've gotten worse. I want cute puppies and kittens back. And kids doing funny things. And funny memes about the pandemic. Heck, food pictures are okay, too. I am sick to death of politics and fighting and people being rude to each other. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Your comment is not going to change their mind at all. Surely you know that already? Because does your opinion suddenly change when someone comments on your comment? No. So maybe just stop fanning the flames, okay? 

Please. Be kind. Just that. Be kind. 

That is all for now!

Behave!

2020 Review

 Let's review one of the fastest years on record!

January:

Feel Good Friday, Booksigning, the one time it snowed last winter, Mr B, birthday parties, hanging with the boys, Freddie goes to the vet, tree trimming rescheduling; lots of same old, same old. 

February: 

Cabin time, kids moving, eye doctor, tree trimming, greenhouse book signing (not happening this year - boo!), camper repairs, more kids moving, random stuff.

March:

Yard work, Birthday dinners, being excited about plans, first of the pandemic, the panic buying, us already planning on being home, and then forced to be home, K4's work closing, struggling to write, getting the camper back and camper work, working from home, stress cooking, Working From Home Survival Journal, working on a week-to-week basis and the stress of that.

April:

Still working from home, new office babies, working in pajamas, taxes, pandemic insanity, Easter cancelled, our beach trip cancelled, our May trip cancelled, my winery signing cancelled, struggling to write, lots of rain, confirmation that we were no longer on a week-to-week work thing, struggling with not seeing my family, ordering stuff for delivery.

May:

Porch work starting, missing Momma, quitting the writing groups, murder hornets, talking to siblings, same old same old.

June: 

Office moving, That Man going back to the office while I stayed home to work, porch work continues, Zooming with our oldest friends, car issues, camper work, girls weekend, Social media drama.

July: 

Heat, K4's new car, camping, porch work, venting, selling cars, updating the Internet, still working from home, still Covid.

August: 

Re-contracting previously publishing books, finishing the porch, K5, zucchini bread, pineapple upside down cake, working in the yard

September: 

Fence replacement, cooler temps, Zooming with friends, K4's room work, only posted three times. 

October: 

Mr. B time, working on the room, brake issues, That Man's car issues, Trick or Treat, prepping for winter, still working from home. 

November: 

More home improvement work, seeing K3, cabin time, totally different, but awesome Thanksgiving, beginning the Christmas prep.

December: 

Edits, random weirdness, seeing my siblings, snow, Hello Fresh and Blue Apron, prepping for Christmas, working from home, Christmas, birthday.

What a weird year. And there's a lot that happen that I didn't post about. It went so fast for me and I've heard other people say the same. 

I hope 2021 is better for all of us!

Behave!