Monday Sucks!

There seriously should be a third weekend day! A day of rest! Like years and years ago where everything was closed on Sunday - no groceries, no retail stores... nothing! So your choices are... stay home and clean up / do stuff, or relax for a freaking change! Ha! That day should be in the middle of the weekend. Or the first day of the weekend, because I think if it came on the last day, well... We'd still be just as tired and potentially hung over! Because we'll try to cram every single thing into that last day!  Oh wait! And I need one solid day to just write! No obligations, no errands, noting else that needs my attention! Just writing! That makes four days for the weekend.
Yeah, I'm tired. This weekend was insanely busy. But good. We ended up kid-less at the last minute and for two nights. That hasn't happened in so long, I can't even remember the last time. The first night, the kids all left at bedtime. No fun there. On Saturday, we were both busy doing stuff that wasn't together most of the day. I had my writing meeting, which was awesomely good and much needed. But then That Man and I met up and did some running around, came home and cleaned the house before crashing at a weirdly early hour. Up way too early on Sunday, but ended up being a really really good day.
We got to see the family and Baby C. C's mommy and daddy are doing an amazing job with her! So proud of them! Baby B was so cute and awesome! He was so happy with the T-ball set we got him. He jumped up and down before launching himself into my arms. Too freaking cute. The food was amazing and plentiful. We talked, laughed, watched movies, drank a little Sangria, and got home a little later than we'd planned!
The kids are the lucky ones in this scenario... Their last day of school was Wednesday. They go back tomorrow. Very lucky. Though I know tomorrow will feel like this Monday for them. They had a blast hanging out with their cousin this weekend.
Days off... That's what I need... Not just a weekend, but days...
Behave!

I'm Always at a Week...

In between posts...
Let's see...
The rest of last week was normal - chaos. Working quite a bit of ot, editing, kid stuff...
The weekend - well... That Man's mom went into the hospital Friday. Severe bladder infection that affected her kidneys and blood. She's still there. Her pain level was through the roof all weekend. She couldn't move, eat, or most of the time even talk coherently and she couldn't stand to be touched. We were beyond worried. That Man's sister was out of town, so it was just us to handle it all.
She was finally able to sit up today, which is a relief, but she has a long road of strengthening ahead of her. This infection has really kicked the crap out of her. And still is - she has several more days in the hospital with antibiotics and physical therapy before they move her to rehab. But her being able to sit up is like prize winning!
I will tell you that going to that hospital to see her is really really hard. It brings back a lot of memories I don't want to relive. I'm doing what I have to do, and coping the best I can. Because what else am I going to do?
What else...
Elsa has gone into her "doggy cycle". No, she's not fixed yet. She was supposed to be by now, but when the kitty boys started peeing on everything, they had to go first. (Thankfully, fixing them stopped all of that - as we'd hoped) But this dog... OY... all she does is drip.. Yeah, you didn't need to know that. But it's gross and she's confused as to why she can't be on the couch or sleep in K4's bed right now. Poor thing. I feel bad for her and I do not want to go through this again. Yikes.
This weekend is Easter. We have predictably fun plans with family. It's also my writing meeting on Saturday, which is always good.
I'm afraid to guess what else will go on this weekend.
The other thing...The book I've been working on has to be trashed. It has to be completely rewritten, which breaks my heart and soul, but I can't send crap out there. I know it's the right thing to do, but it kills me. So I'm in the middle of a creative thinking process - thinking up new titles for my summer release and waiting for edits on that, and getting my head on straight, thinking...
Today was my one year anniversary at the day job. We had snacks. I won't get my review until next week, because the bigwigs are out this week. I still love my job a lot. It breaks me most days, but I think most people face that.
And I'm still trying to make it all work - fit everything in - feel like I'm being a good mom, good wife, parenting enough, grandparenting enough, writing enough, being a good daughter and sibling, cleaning enough, sleeping enough, eating right and exercising enough, I don't think I'm alone, but it's still daunting...
Cloning machine? I could use one!
Ha!
Behave!

Well..

I just made an ass out of myself...
Someone sent a "pirate site" link. I checked it out, and my books were on there. I immediately sent an email to my publisher and an email to the site to take my books down... and then dug into it more. Totally not a pirate site, but a legitimate site that links you to true ways to buy books. I feel like a jerk... I did sent an email back to the site apologizing and to my publisher, but... yeah... Not cool and way to look like an ass...
Lesson learned, I guess, though it'll take me a while to not feel like a total beyotch...Ugh!
****
We had a really good Christmas! It was so much fun to stay at Mom's Christmas Eve and Christmas night. K4 had a spectacular birthday. It was a lot of fun. We had a lot of tears and reflection, but we expected that and we endured. My sister made Mom a really awesome picture - the actual photograph that was taken by my niece the morning Dad died and she added words to it. It made us all cry. We did cry a lot. It was so weird to not have Dad with us, but we managed. We made new memories and will continue to do so. And we'll continue to miss Dad. In some ways, it seems to get easier and in some ways, it seems to get harder.
****
I had to work Friday. That sucked a lot. That Man had to take me because the brakes went out on the van and the headlight switch on the 'burban started smoking. Rude! Brakes are fixed, but now we need to deal with the headlights! Mom's house got cleaned up. (What an absolute mess!! Oy!) We ate leftover chicken rice soup for dinner (That soup is a Christmas Eve tradition.) and came home. I woke up feeling like a truck ran over me this morning. So did That Man, though he went into work for a few hours this morning. He then picked me up so we could go grocery shopping... OY! I hate grocery shopping.
Changed into my new jammie pants as soon as we got home and haven't been off the couch much since. I am working on revisions on a book I want to send to my publisher. It's going okay, though today was the first day I've written in more than a week. ugh! I've made decent progress today, but there will need to be another pass and potentially a critique eye. We'll see how I feel when I get to the end.
****
Next up is the year in review... It's probably going to be boring... Just sayin'
Behave!

I Have No Idea What Day It Is...

Time is going by way too fast!
There is much to do and while we are whittling away at the list, it's still overwhelming.
The shopping is started. The grandboy is done. The kids still at home are started. The kids not at home - there's a plan for that. That Man - also started. Others - well...
We're working on our plan for Eve and Day. And Birthday. (Gah! My baby girl will be 15!)
I do, however, seem to have a decent amount of holiday spirit this year. That's a good thing, though I don't have the time or the energy to get stuff done at this point. Ha!
2 weeks before the big day...
How does that happen? How do we go from zero to crunch time so fast?
It always gets done. That's what I keep reminding myself...
Anyway...
It's snowing here. Just a little. I love it.
I am writing. Editing and new writing. Both at the same time. It's working, so no complaints.
And... That's all for now...
Behave!

Happy Turkey Day!

I hope your day was filled with awesomeness and thanks!
We had a phenomenal day with the family! (Most of the family. K2 and J did their thing with J's family this year. We get them for Christmas, though! But it's K2's birthday today! And we just really missed them! I gave birth to K2 hours before Thanksgiving. I spent Thanksgiving day in the hospital and my mom brought me food because there was no way I was eating hospital food for Thanksgiving. I came home the next day and we had a proper Thanksgiving that weekend.) We had dinner at my sister's this year. It was chaos and craziness and a lot of fun and good food! We really missed Dad, too! A hawk flew over after dinner and we all knew Dad was watching over us.
Things that were awesome about today:
1. Hanging out with Baby B! He's so funny and so stinking cute! On the way home, he kept yelling "Pappy" and then he would yell in a really deep voice. He was also yelling for his Gigi (my mom), who was in the front seat. It was cute! (What was cuter was when we pulled into Mom's to pick up some corn and lima beans she'd forgotten on the way there and he started yelling for his Gigi.)
2. Playing "Cards Against Humanity" with the kids. They're not kids. I know. 99% of them are 18 or over. Which is good, because the game is so wrong, but so freaking funny... It's tag line is something like "a game for horrible people" - which in-itself is hysterical!
3. Thanksgiving Eve. Too much fun. Too much great music and chaos! Or not enough... Not sure about that. We were in bed at a decent time (which means... not too late or not too early), didn't drink too much, laughed our butts off...
(this list is in no cohesive order)
4. Well... Now it's Christmas. I'm ready. Bring it.
5. My sister has the best people in her life. I'm grateful for that. I'm so thankful she has R and his sister and her husband. I'm also thankful that R understands that she's still healing after losing T. R's a good guy. She deserves him and I'm so thankful she's happy.
6. I am very thankful for my sister-in-law's lemon bars and that she gave me the recipe!
7. And for the fact that the diaper bag was found...
8. And for being warm in my house. And for my bed.
9. One work day before the weekend. That's something to be thankful for, too.
10. My husband and kids... They're all awesome!
(Remember I said this list was in no cohesive order!)
... In other news...
Our "boys" need to be fixed asap! Charles is spraying. GROSS!! He's so rude about it, too! The fixing must happen like right now... I can't deal with it.
Ugh...
That is all...
Behave!

Oy! I Really Suck!

I know it's been a really long time! I'm sorry! It's been insane here!
What's been going on?
Crazy stuff!
1. My niece got married! It was awesome and fun and she was so beautiful!
2. My brother-in-law came in for the wedding and stayed with us! We had a blast! (Actually, he's still here...)
3. Awesome family parties!
4. Writing! My time has sucked, but I'm doing it! Loving the new story and wishing I could get way more words on the page!
5. Birthday parties, hanging out at my sister's - weekends that aren't long enough....
6. Even though it's super early, I'm looking forward to the holidays.
7. Talking to my sisters and brothers.
8. Feeling my new granddaughter move for the first time! So awesome! So excited!
9. My kids and kid-in-laws! I love them all and we've been having so much fun and special times lately!
10. My mom. Still the strongest person I have ever known. I'm so proud of her for how she's handling things - head on and up and front! I know it's not easy for her! But she's doing so well. The holidays are going to be rough on all of us, but especially mom. We have plans to all be together. We're going to get through the season together...
That's all... I will try to do better, but no promises... I can't even return phone calls like I should right now...
Behave!!

The Way It Is...

The siblings who can take shifts staying overnight at the 'rents. The spouses stay when they can. It's not ideal, but it's working for now. We can't leave Mom alone. We can't leave Dad.
He's restless and on heavy pain meds. Every day it's something different with the meds. And the pain.
I'm here tonight. That Man is here too, but has gone to bed because he works much earlier than I do and I had to give the pain med dose at almost 11. He will be up and checking things before he heads to work. My sister will be here before I leave for work. I can't remember who is on shift tomorrow night. Frankly, every day is running together right now. Wait. I think it's my brother since Friday is the 4th. We're having a cookout here and when I told Dad what we were doing he was happy and looking forward to it.
Tonight we rearranged the living room where Dad is so Mom's chair is right beside him. I also did some work in her kitchen to make it easier for all of us to cook and clean up while here. All of us kids (and our spouses) are very cooking oriented and the kitchen is kind of small. Space was needed. She was scared of my plan and told That Man and K2 that I was hiding all of her stuff. (ha! She cracks me up!) It looks good though! She helped and we talked and it was good.
Dad had a hair cut tonight. One of That Man's good friends is a barber and he came after hours to cut Dad's hair. It went well, though it took a while because he was "this" side of being a wholly mammoth. (ha!) He was sore afterwards, but pleased with the results. K2 and J stopped by. That was good. K2 was silly and made Dad laugh a lot.
We finally (I think) made him comfortable, but I'm waiting a few minutes before I try to go to sleep. I'll be sleeping in the living room with him, just in case. There is so much noise in this house I would never hear him call me. There are air conditioners, fans, fans, fans.... And it's freaking hot outside... Geeze!!
Tomorrow is everyone's Friday though. That's a good thing. A very good thing.
One day at a time...
Behave!

Merry, Merry, Happy....

Happy Birthday to my baby girl! She won't see this because she doesn't look at my blog, but she is the very best present I have ever gotten. She may have been a little unexpected, but she has been totally loved and wanted from the very beginning. She's amazing and I can't imagine ever being without this kid! Her sarcasm and imagination are epic and she is just...the best! I love her so much... Even when she doesn't love me....
We have had a pretty fantastic day at Casa Smith. The big presents for the kids never showed, but they now know what they are and are patiently awaiting the arrival... who knows when that will be (but it better be soon or I will be very angry) We had a lot of fun... just the four of us... with presents, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. We were up as early as days past... before the sun... K4 followed me to the bathroom at 4 am asking why we had to wait so long until morning. I patted her head and said Happy Birthday and told her to go back to bed. She texted me at 6:05 and asked me why she couldn't wake me up... And then I was up... Making coffee, tea, and hot chocolate...
We opened presents... The two at home got some from their lists and some from ours... That's the thing... these kids are grateful no matter what... They know. They get it. They are awesome people! They know this Christmas sucks because of my job loss and the subsequent half income thing... They don't care... They accept what they get with a smile and a thank you. And don't even seem to realize this Christmas is different.  (Except for the fact that we should have a new TV)
I have some pretty awesome kids....
Not just the ones here this morning, but all of them...
We have had a very blessed Christmas! I hope you have had the same!
Behave!

Christmas Eve...

As I sit here at the dining room table with K4, trading funny videos and discussing the plans for today, I find myself looking at Christmas's past and at how much my family has changed.
Fourteen years ago I was heavy with child. It was K4's due date. I was running around like a crazy person trying to make Christmas as perfect as possible - cleaning (again, because it was constant), doing laundry (also constant), cooking, herding three kids ages 3, 8, and 10 and being in the early stages of labor. (and not taking the time to realize it since I was so busy)
This year I am not heavy with child. (ha ha) I am not running around like a crazy person trying to make Christmas as perfect as possible in an attempt to be Superwoman. The house is clean, the laundry is done, the food for today and tomorrow is prepped. I have to pack up the items for going to my parents later, shower, and possibly run the vacuum, but that's all I have to do. The presents are wrapped (except for two things, really four, but That Man is finishing up last minute details on two, and two will most likely not arrive in time) - most are already under the tree, except for K3's and K4's.
This is not the Christmas I envisioned two months ago, but I think it's still going to be a good one. I am blessed beyond words with great kids, awesome grandkids, fantastic family, great friends, and the best friend in the world. We don't have a lot in the way of presents, but we have more than many people - maybe not material things, but with love and a mutual enjoyment of each other's company.
I am looking forward to hanging out at my parents later and the kids coming back here after to do their Secret Santa exchange. We'll also have Christmas with K2 and J since they are with J's family this year.
In the morning, we'll have Christmas with our down-sized family. Just the four of us for the first time ever. We'll have presents, good coffee, tea, breakfast, That Man and I will have mimosa's. K1 & J will arrive and we'll do Christmas with them before switching gears for K4's 14th birthday. Tacos, friends, family, more presents for K4...
I am looking forward to it.
Many blessings upon your family!
Behave!

Ugly Sweater Head....

We had our First Annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party tonight... It was low key due to funds. We weren't able to invite as many people as we would have liked. It was family this time! We're hoping next year is way better! (So if you didn't get invited, you most likely will next time!) It's going to be a tradition! Because... We had a blast!

This is That Man's Ugly Sweater Head... He and K4 had this secret scheme cooked up shortly after we decided to have this party. They went shopping for paints Friday night - hiding the whole process from me because it was a surprise. I died laughing. K4 did such a good job painting this ugly sweater on her dad's head. Yes. His head is shaved to look like male pattern baldness. It was epic!
There was a lot of food. A lot of good food. Not much booze, which was absolutely fine. (it was byob and it's Sunday night. Most people have to work tomorrow!)
The winners of the Ugliest Sweater Contest were divided into several groups.... Cutest. Most Creative. Ugliest, New Category.
My niece's boyfriend went all out. He had a really ugly sweater that included battery operated lights. He won first prize. My not-biological sister's (but should be) boyfriend won for most creative. My adorable grandson won for cutest with his elephant sweater that included a trunk and a tail. The new category was created by my awesome brother-in-law who showed up looking like an identical copy of Eddie from Christmas Vacation. Perfect and AWESOME!! (I would post the picture, but my phone is not dropping photos to iCloud like it's supposed to and I can't access the pictures! Something is wrong with my new iPhone! Yikes!)
Besides the ugly sweaters, we had a ton of fun! A ton!
I can't believe Christmas is in less than three days! That Man and I had a blast yesterday during our day mostly alone in honor of our 27th anniversary. We had K5 in the am...for breakfast and shopping for her momma - which has been our tradition with her. K5 wanted to buy her mom a razor to shave her face! LOL! Silly and no, S does not need to ever shave her face. K5 found some good and some silly gifts after not eating the pancake she was dying for... We had a snowball fight, a lot of selfies, Great-grandma visiting, pretending we were sleeping, bunny slippers, plan making, and fun. God. I love that kid. So much.
After we dropped K5 off, That Man and I tackled our immense shopping list while K1 & J took the younger K's home with them (because they are awesome!). And we got the shopping done, except for two things... Two things that are stressing me out! I hope to take care of that stress tomorrow!
Other than that, we're ready. Presents are purchased (even though some might not make it under the tree in time! Dammit!) We took care of the wrapping and had a fantastic day alone with Chinese food, adult beverages, watching movies that were then wrapped and put under the tree! LOL! I missed being with him like that! It was so good! We slept in this morning, cleaned, grocery shopped from now until Christmas, cooked, and laughed a whole hell of a lot.
So... It was a good weekend!
I hope your pre-Christmas weekend was good as well!
Behave!!

Feel Good Friday - The Anniversary Edition!!

Here's the list!
1. Celebrating 27 years married to the love of my life today! Not going to get sappy, but....
2. Christmas break... for however long it lasts for me!
3. Very good interviews! Waiting for a call!
4. Other good news I cannot disclose yet!
5. Picking up K5 tomorrow for breakfast and shopping! Yay! I miss my baby girl!
6. A semi clean house. It's passable.
7. Tomorrow's plans with just That Man and I. (After we safely deposit K5 with her momma and figure out what the younger K's are doing in our absence.)
8. Hopefully getting a handle on the shopping tomorrow!
9. Looking forward to Sunday!
10. Shrimp and mushroom rice for dinner. Tomorrow night is our night out, which may be fast food, but it doesn't matter as long as we get some time alone.
That's all for now...
Let the final weekend before the holiday begin! Woooo.....
Behave!!

Happy Turkey Day!

I hope you have a wonderful day filled with family, food, and fun!
And if you don't have anyone to be eat turkey with, I hope you have a day filled with peace and contentment.
My Thankful List:
1. That Man because he loves me even when I don't feel like I deserve it.
2. The married K's and their spouses. I love how my family has grown and I love that all of them get along so very well.
3. The younger K's. They're amazing people.
4. K5 and Baby B. Both are huge blessings full of joy.
5. My friends and family, including my awesome writing group.
6. Being home all day for now. The money part of that is pretty awful, but the financial bull crap aside, I could get used to this.
7. Surviving this year (so far). It started okay, turned awful, got a little better, turned awful again...I hope the pattern means we'll finish okay.
8. Spending this day with family we have never been able to celebrate with on this day!
9. My kids and their big hearts. We'll be spending part of today helping to serve Thanksgiving dinner to people who wouldn't have had one otherwise. I so love that they are so willing and excited about being able to do this again.
May your day be awesome and your turkey coma satisfying!
Behave!

The End of the Holidays...

Or the beginning of the end...
The tree is down. The millions of needles are in the trash, on my porch, and stuck in places I'll find for the next ten months. Let's just say that dead thing should have come down at least a week ago, maybe even the day after Christmas. (But K5 loved that it was still Christmas here!)
The decorations have been wrapped and stored. Okay. Most of them. I still have dishes to pack away, kitchen crap to take care of, but I'll do that another day. The special "scary" Christmas box I use for my oldest every year has been successfully hidden so he doesn't find it to take it away. (It's from probably the 1970's and has the scariest looking little kids on it. I always find something to wrap in it for him!)
The cat is freaked out beyond belief. Her little buddy, the rat has been moved to a place that's not quite comfortable for her to watch. She came here after the tree was already up, so she is a little confused by all of the rearranging.
Oh... and it's still Monday... Hopefully by this weekend, we will have a new learner's permit in the house. Oy!
Now to write!
Behave!

Everything is Shiny and New!

Hello 2013!!
It's nearly 2am in the very early hours of the brand new year. Our New Year's Eve was spent playing Xbox games with the kids and 'rents. We chopped fruit, laughed, played arcade games, raced, ate, drank a little, laughed, ate some more... Things were quiet here and that's how we wanted it. Yeah, we missed our friends and family, but this was how New Year's Eve worked out for us this year... It happens... (and we're still recovering from "the cold")
So... here's my Thankful list for 2012:
1. My family - I couldn't ask for better people to share blood and last names with! And there are none better than the people who are in no way related, but are family no matter what!
2. My friends - There is no way I could have survived 2012 without them. (1 & 2 are kind of a merged thing)
3. That Man... Always. After 26 years of marriage and 4 years of dating (holy crap... that's 30 years!!), all I have to say is.. He's a Saint!
4. K5... because she's the best.
5. My son meeting the love of his life and saying "I do".
6. My daughter planning her wedding with the love of her life.
7. My son (the younger one) finding his calling and reaching for it with both hands and feet!
8. My daughter (the younger one) coming into her own and being so much like me that it scares me! lol!
9. The ideas in my head, because it means my dream is not dead.
10. New babies - my grandson due before the end of January, my "adopted" sisters daughter due this week,  our very good/best friends new grandchild due in the summer... New babies are hope and love and awesomeness!
Happy New Year!
Behave!!

Post Christmas...

Christmas was wonderful. And yes, that feeling I posted about stayed until late evening when I realized it was time to go back to reality!
It's Thursday already. Yay for short weeks!
Today was my 2 year anniversary at the day job. Unbelievable that I've been there that long. I got a delivery of beautiful pink flowers and was thanked for my service. And it was a crazy busy day.
The snow didn't last long, but it was cool while it did. Now the wind is howling as we watch another storm roll in for the weekend. Yay! Hello, winter!
I also seem to have received K4's illness. Joy. At first I thought it was the flowers, not that I'm allergic, but smelling them constantly all day... well, I'd hoped that was why my muscles were aching, my head and throat hurt, and my sinuses filled up. Apparently not. While the flowers are now in my house (being eyed up by the cat), my symptoms have gotten worse. I feel like I've been up for four days straight - every muscle aches, my head feels detached, I'm sneezing and my nose is running.
Still...I'm doing laundry, the dishes have been washed and put away, lunches packed... and I'm done... I'm catching up on email and thinking about how to get through the day tomorrow.
This time next week, I'll be deep in baby shower / housewarming / wedding shower mode, finishing up my term as president with transferring some official documents, and it'll be 2013. Then, the official wedding planning begins. We'll be having Christmas with K5 somewhere around there, and then the new grandson arrives. Also, my adopted sister's baby girl is due any time now and I need to deliver the baby gift.
Oy! I'm going to bed...
Behave!

The Night Before...

The younger K's are in bed. (K4 on the verge of another cold. She reeks of Vick's. K3 is busy downloading music thanks to his gift card.) K1 and J are safely at their home after hanging out with us at the 'rents, hoping baby B doesn't decide to make an early appearance. (She's been having some strong contractions. He's not due for a month!) K2 and J are here, sipping adult beverages, and watching a movie with us. They're spending the night. This is their last Christmas as an unmarried couple.
Laundry is in the washer, though it'll probably stay there all day tomorrow. I have frosting, guacamole, and taco prep to do tomorrow. And a birthday present to wrap. Santa has already dropped his load because we'll be in bed soon.
It snowed! It's so beautiful outside.
My only Christmas wish is for the way I'm feeling right now to continue through tomorrow. I am happy, excited, content, peaceful, and feel loved.
I hope all of your Christmas wishes come through.
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Behave!

Wow! I Suck!

I will blame my lack of posts on the insanity of my current schedule!
Feel Good Friday was spent hanging out with my sisters! We had a blast! I slept in a supposedly haunted room (nothing happened), watched hookers, pimps, and some odd dude dressed in red that we named "Freakademous" and was the official "lightweight" of the evening.
There has been chorus concerts, room cleaning and switching, sick kids, new sinks, car repairs....
Christmas is kicking my ass!
I have not finished shopping yet. Okay, I've taken care of one thing each for the younger K's, one small thing for all of the kids, and one thing for That Man. And I have to take care of the shopping for work (don't know how that happened), help That Man with the Scout shopping and party prep... And we have dentist appointments, clean up Scout nights, Christmas parties, and our anniversary is Friday...
At the same time, I am in the middle of planning a party (wedding/housewarming/baby shower) for K1 and J, planning K4's 13th birthday, K2's 21st birthday get together...
Having fun though. I haven't baked a single cookie...
Even though the end of the world will happen soon... Then it's wedding planning and new babies...
Wow!
Behave!

Christmas Partying...

Tonight we had my day job Christmas gathering.
We met for an awesome buffet dinner in a private room with much good conversation. Then, we moved over to see a play. There's a local theater in our area - I've been there once, but not for a play. The grounds are gorgeous and the history of the estate is very intriguing. That Man got a tour of some of the cool aspects of the dinner house. We tried their world famous sticky buns, and stuffed ourselves to the gills with shrimp, salad, chicken, grilled veges, prime rib, and ice cream.
The play was fantastic. Set in the 1940's during World War II - it was full of singing, dancing, and romance. I (of course) loved it and I think everyone else did, too.
We were supposed to go for drinks afterwards, but that fell through. It's okay, because my heels were killing me like you would not believe. I'm trying to remember the last time I wore heels and I can't... My feet still hurt. The closest I get is my clogs and they're not that high. I'm glad I didn't wear the shoes loaned to me by one of my co-workers... I got a nosebleed when I put them on. Yes, they are that high. Given the rain and the fact that they're open-toed and I'd neglected to by nylons, I decided not to wear them. Thank goodness. I love me some girlie high heels though...
Anyway. It was a good night. I could use another weekend day...
That is all...
Behave!

Another Day...

I could use one to recover from the weekend! Please?
Our kitty finally came out late last night and hung out pretty much all day. She's still not ready to snuggle and is skittish, but she's coming around. I think she'll be up all night though, since she's been sleeping for a very long time now.
Here she is:

My day consisted of writing, getting the Christmas dishes into the hutch, cleaning, and then a shopping trip with my granddaughter. She's a riot. We took her shopping so she could get a present to give her mom. She wanted everything and picked the most random things for her gift - 2 bottles of glitter nail polish, a jingle bell charm bracelet, fuzzy socks with a white cuff (like Santa - which is what she said when she picked them out), and these:

Yes. They're men's shorts and they say "booty hunter" on them. We repeatedly tried to redirect her and convince her mommy would really love the Sponge Bob pants, or the Elmo Santa hat pants, or even the Grinch pants, but she was desperate for these. She finally had enough of us trying to change her mind and grabbed the pants and threw them into the cart. Any time one of us reached for them, she made that face - you know... the one that predicts a meltdown. We finally decided it was her present to give, so whatever. It was only a pair of pants. She picked her wrapping paper - Santa - and kept putting tape into the cart, conned us into a candy cane full of M&M's, and then convinced Pappy that she needed ice cream.
We got ice cream, came home, then wrapped everything with her. A lot of tape was used. A lot of tape. I loved watching her face when she saw the Christmas lights on the way home. She sang us Guns 'n Roses (Paradise City) - so stinking cute. And then very nearly fell asleep. As soon as we got to her house, she showed her mom the present and then commenced to open it, eventually letting mommy help. Too funny and this will be a new tradition for us.
I'm exhausted and need to write more...
Behave!

Feel Good Friday - The Post Thanksgiving Edition

Wow....Time really got away from me... All of the holiday prep, moving, tree sale stuff, and trying to make sure there is food in this house...
Let me sum up with a list...
1. Holiday cooking. I didn't have to do much this year - a few pies and some sweet potatoes. Bob made his apple turnovers. I love being in the kitchen the night before Thanksgiving.
2. Thanksgiving with the family - we drank a little wine, ate a lot, laughed, trekked through briers to reach old buildings on my sister's property (in good clothes and heels), looked at antiques and had a blast!
3. Helping K1 & J move into their place. We're still not done, but it's mostly done. They are thrilled and we're thrilled for them.
4. The tree lighting ceremony in our town. We work it with the scouts and then always go out to dinner afterwards. We had a lot of fun, except it took K4's dinner way way too long to come and then when it did, she choked on the cheese. That was awful. (She's okay)
5. Hauling Christmas trees with the scouts this morning. It was freezing and the wind nearly knocked us down. Even though it's a lot of work, it's fun.
6. Grocery shopping with That Man.
7. Naps!
8. Short weeks at the day job.
9.  Playing video games with the K's.
10. Writing time tonight.
That is all for now!
Behave!