Retreat: Day Three - PM

What an awesome day! 

Yeah, it got hot for a time, but this house has lovely air conditioning and I stayed inside. Well, except to go out and pet the kitty. And find baby bird feathers on the porch and a smug look on the kitty's face. 

Now it's storming and it's amazing. The thunder just rolls through the valley and the lightning is pretty epic. And the storm cooled things down, which was much needed. 

I now have a title for the new book and am a solid third of the way through. It's going well despite not really knowing where it's going yet, but I have an idea of where and I'm loving it. 

My brain is a bit broken though. But it's a good broken. 

I'm heading home in the morning. That Man and I have things we need to take care of and I miss him. So while the others will stay until early afternoon, I'll jet shortly after I get up. I'm okay with that. I need to recharge and think at this point and the home list is long. 

I don't know if I'll be back on here tomorrow or not. Don't expect it, but you never know. 

Behave! 

Retreat: Day Three - AM

Last full retreat day!

I slept like crap. Well, I slept good when I actually fell asleep, but that took until around 2am. Ugh. So I slept a little later than I wanted, but that's okay.

A full day is in front of me and I have a really decent start on this new book. This book without a title and with only a medium-solid premise.

But...here we go!

Behave!  

Retreat: Day Two - PM

It's still day two for another hour! 

Today has been a little crazy for me. 

I chucked the book I thought I was working on. Submitted the book I had sent before I learned my publisher was closing, which meant I had to write a synopsis and query letter. 

Then I was lost. I took a nap and wandered around trying to decide what i wanted to do. I read through old story starts and old manuscripts trying to get a spark, but it wasn't coming. 

I finally stumbled on two sentences I'd written on an idea. And by the time we finished dinner, I had a full blown direction. And I've been writing it. 

One more full day and I'm hoping to fly. 

But first I should sleep. 

Behave!

Retreat: Day Two - AM

Good Morning!

Wow what a difference in temperature! I think I might have to put my sweatshirt on and I love it!

Slept in this morning. Needed that. Well, I guess I slept the normal amount? It took me a while to fall asleep. But I was comfy and the room was cool, so there's that. 

Now I'm getting ready to get to work. Feeling kind of brain boggled and am not sure I'm heading down the path I want to go with the book, but I'll figure it out. 

That's all for now!

Behave!

Retreat: End of Day One!

Day One is in the bag... Kind of...

Two of us are still up. Just talking and being a little silly. 

I have five thousand words under my belt so far and I'm getting a handle on how this story needs to go. Currently I'm "pre-writing", which is what I do until I figure out my characters and what they're all about. Overall, I'm pleased and we brainstormed possible directions for this story, so all good. 

It stormed awesomely here earlier. And it cooled things down. It was amazing to watch the thunder clouds roll across the valley.

We had our traditional nachos for dinner and a lot of awesome conversation. 

And now I'm heading to bed. I've already advised everyone that I'm sleeping in tomorrow and I'm looking forward to that! 

More tomorrow!

Behave!

Retreat: Day One

Yay! I'm here!

I worked this morning for a few hours and then hit the very busy and dangerous road. I almost died. Twice. Once this big truck with a pod thingy on the back signaled and started for the exit. Last minute, he decided that was the wrong exit and whipped his truck back into the lane. Ugh. 

I stopped at the grocery store. I had added things from my retreat friends to my list. The store was closed. Then I miscalculated and ended up going the wrong way on a very busy and very touristy road. I mean, not against traffic or anything, but the wrong direction.

But I made it. 

We were at this house last year, so it's nice to know where everything is and have the same bedroom. Though they did rearrange it, and I think I like it better. 

I was going to stop for lunch, but was so frustrated by the traffic and my plan being thwarted that I didn't. But when I got here, everyone else was eating lunch so I had my cheese and crackers with them. 

And that is all for now. 

Time to get to work!

Behave!

Almost Time...

It's still hot and that sucks! Everyone is grumpy. Our bathroom is like the ninth level of Hell, complete with its own lava flow. The air conditioners aren't keeping up. Turning on a stove burner or the air fryer increases the inside temp far more than it should. 

Anyways...

This time tomorrow I will be in a very air conditioned house for the first day of retreat! 

I still have to pack. And go to the store. Well, go to the store again because I forgot stuff last night. And do laundry. 

I know what I'm working on and I'm ready to go!

Behave!

Wait For It!

You know what I'm going to say, right?

It's hot!

Yeah, disgusting. The AC's barely keep up. The dog is disturbed. The squirrels have been hiding out until almost dark. It's supposed to be like this for most of the week I think. 

On Thursday I leave for retreat. I'll work a few hours in the morning and then take off when our IT guy gets there to install my new computer. I'm still in the process of figuring out what kind of food I want to eat and how I want to pack stuff. 

I'm also super excited to start my next book. The Old Lady story is going to get one more read through and then sent to my critique partners (after retreat). I do have a little bit of this new book down, but I'm feeling like I'm going to start it in a different place so I'm probably just going to freefall with it.

I'm looking forward to a productive time! It's been a year since I've been on retreat and we're at the same house we were last time I could go. So I know what to expect and where everything is. 

That's all. I hope you have air conditioning! 

Behave! 

Feel Good Friday!

Let's get to the list:

1. The sun is out! Woohoo! (Though we won't talk about how hot it's supposed to be next week)

2. Finishing the Old Lady story! Woohoo! 

3. Deciding what I'm working on at retreat. And now I have this weekend and a few more days to rest my brain before I hit it hard and fast. 

4. An easy day yesterday. We had no obnoxious parkers. No one asked to use our bathroom or sit on our front porch. We worked at the dining room in the morning and then spent the afternoon together talking and stuff. 

5. Less than a week until retreat!

6. Friday! Some sleeping in is going to happen tomorrow for sure. 

7. Weekend plans. I'm not really sure what's going to happen yet. There are a few options and it's going to be hot so we'll see. 

That's about it.

Behave! 

It's Raining Again...

Is it ever going to end? 

I mean, the nice thing is that I haven't had to water. And the grass seed we just planted has been amply watered. But... 

That Man just cut the grass on Saturday and it's ready to be cut again. There are things we'd planned to get done this week and... And the constant rain has kept my groundhog remedy from working so he's eaten my cone flowers almost to the ground. 😠

This week is our town's huge street fair. Ugh. We decided to take the day off so we wouldn't have to fight to get home. (One year the rent-a-cop patrolling the end of our street didn't believe us when we said we lived here. He said "doesn't everyone?" We ended up driving around him to pull into our drive. What an *ss.) Another year, someone blocked our driveway and didn't leave until the next morning. Jerks. (I have so many stories) 🙄

Well, we're working from home for a half day. Both of us have to answer phones anyways. The whole company is shutting down early for the annual kickball game. Which we'll miss, but there's not much we can do about it. If we tried to go, we'd get home even later and that would be disastrous. If they reschedule kickball because of weather, That Man will make it next week, but I will be on retreat. I do feel sad to miss it. It's a lot of fun, but I'm also not giving up precious retreat hours.

I'm very very close to being done with the Old Lady story. 😁I'm ready to start the final read through before sending it off for critique. I'm excited to be done. I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to start on retreat, but I have a pretty good idea. We'll see.  

(and yes, I just discovered I can put emojis in here.) 

That's all. I'll try to check in with anything interesting that happens on street fair day... It's supposed to be hot and thunderstormy. 

Behave! 

Happy Father's Day!

I miss my dad. I know my siblings miss our dad too.

It's been 11 years since he had to go. It's been 15 years since That Man lost his dad. It sucks and there's nothing else to say about that. 

I do have a lot of awesome dad's in my life. That Man is at the top of the list. My son, my brother, my uncle, my brothers-in-law, and good friends. I texted them all this morning. Well, texted most and talked to my son since we have his youngest all weekend and Small Boy wanted to talk to Daddy.

Not sure when they will get here. B won both games yesterday but they lost this morning, so I don't know what's going on yet. 

We're having a chill day so far. There's a list of things that need to be done and we're thinking about it. Ha!

That is all. I might update later...

We'll see...

Behave!  

Feel Good Friday...on Saturday

Yay for Saturday!

It was a long week, but I think you probably gathered that. Ha! 

Here's a list:

1. We have the Small Boy this weekend. His brother is in another state at a soccer tournament. Last time I checked the score, they were kicking butt. The Small Boy is currently running the loop around our downstairs. It's kinda rainy so... He's been so good and we're having fun. 

2. While there was no sleeping in this morning... The Small Boy woke up at 5am. We were in bed really early last night. There will be no sleeping in tomorrow either. 

3. Making super progress on the old lady story this week. I have a bunch of scenes to add and I have a critique to do, but so far so good on getting it done before retreat.  

4. Knowing we have a day off coming up this week. We took off for our town's annual street fair. Not to go, but to defend the parking. Our niece and a friend have to work a booth downtown so they'll be parking here. Other than that, hopefully it's a day we can get some stuff done. 

5. Dinner in the crockpot and a plan for tomorrow. I do have to run to the store, but that's a tomorrow problem. 

6. K4 and her man coming home this afternoon. Yeah, she was just here last weekend, but I miss her. 

7. Hopefully seeing K3 and A tomorrow. I know they have a full day, but their planning on stopping by to see That Man. 

8. I don't know when K1 and J and Mr. B will be back tomorrow. It depends on how the games go. If they win, they have an afternoon game. But we'll get to see them at some point when they pick up Small Boy. 

9. Getting a text that said Mr. B's team won the first game!

That is all...

Behave!

Tuesday...

I saw a meme the other day that resonated with me...

"Everyone complains about Mondays, but Tuesday can go f*ck itself too"

And yeah, that's right. 

We were at the grocery store earlier and the cashier (we usually do self check out, but I was too tired to fight with the 'put your item in the bag' bullcrap) asked how our week was going and I said 'long and I know it's only Tuesday'. Ha! 

Why do the work days go so slow and the evenings go so fast?

Which isn't entirely true. Today went fast at work, but I still was counting down the hours until we could leave. 

We got home to a strong smell of cat pee. Yep. My fat boy...displeased about something...God knows what...decided to pee on the kitchen rug. So that's outside and has been hosed off. Gross. I honestly don't know what his problem is. We've tried all of the things, including multiple trips to the vet. She gave him meds, but giving him the meds stresses him out even more, not to mention it makes him a zombie cat. He's such a sweet boy and I wish we could figure this out. 

Work on the Jeep is commencing. I'm so excited to have her back. It's going to be a while, but it'll be worth it. And the pile of parts will be gone from my living room. Ha! 

I took last night off from writing since I'd had a terrible nights sleep the night before. But tonight I kicked butt. I'm close to the end of what's already written, but I have quite a bit to add. My goal is to finish before retreat (two weeks!) so I can start something new and I think that'll happen. It might not be fully edited and ready for critique, but I'm okay with that. 

And that is all...

Behave!

Weekend Wrap Up...

Oh Sunday... Why do you come so soon?

We're in the last few hours of the weekend. I'm tired, and I want another weekend day. 

Let's get to the weekend list:

Friday night: Grocery store. Quick trip for just dinner stuff since neither of us wanted to go anyway. Good dinner. Writing. Bed early. 

Saturday: Mr. B's soccer game in the rain. Pizza shop for lunch. Actual grocery shopping. Jeep stuff. Writing. K4's man made dinner. 

Sunday: My boys coming to help take the old furniture out. Tacos for lunch. Hanging out with my kids and grandkids. Grass mowing. Plant tinkering. Laundry. Writing. 

Oh and I got a shot on Saturday. I haven't had a tetanus shot in probably twenty years. My old doctor kept saying I need one, but she never followed through. My new doctor, upon having an actual conversation with me and finding out how often I'm doing weird stuff in the yard and that I'll be wrenching on the Jeep, insisted I get updated. Let's just say I'm happy with the doctor change. It's really nice when someone actually listens to and hears you. 

That is all. 

Behave!

Feel Good Friday

Hi Friday! 

I know I've been lame and vague all week. It's been a busy one. Like every single evening there's something we need to take care of or do. 

Monday - Eye doctor appointments. K5 softball game.

Tuesday - Pick up Little B from school and wrangle him until his family picked him up. This meant a pizza shop dinner, a trip to the park, and ice cream. And dirt digging. And hilarity as he told me babies are blind until they're three and that there was a baby "looking at him like a psycho". 

Wednesday - Take the camper to get inspected. Grocery shopping. 

Thursday - Pick up camper after paying a ridiculous amount. I finally get some writing done. 

Now we're here. And guess what? We've got nothing. Well, except a mountain of laundry. 

I will say, everything was good except for paying to pick up the camper. It was a lot and I'm still stunned. 

I am looking forward to sleeping in a little tomorrow. And to clarify, when I say "sleeping in" I mean I'll get up at 7am instead of 5:30. It's very rare for me to sleep past 7. 

Mr. B has his last regular soccer game tomorrow, so we'll be going to that. And then it's Jeep stuff and yard stuff. And writing. 

And that is all...

Behave!

Here Comes the Heat...

It's currently 86*. 

Summer is coming! We have on air conditioner in. We'll get the rest soon. 

That's all. 

Behave!