Post Wilds

We did go to The Wilds this weekend and it was awesome!
I arrived late Friday night after driving my Jeep through a massive rainstorm - with the top down, and my computer in the front seat... yeah. Everything ended well though - I learned that I must have something to wipe the inside windows down when caught in the rain (which I did), and I found something to cover my briefcase with to keep the water out.
By the time I got there, the camper was set up, a fire was going. All I had to do was put away groceries and do my organizing thing. We were in bed at a decent time, up too early, but that's okay.
That Man and K4 went driving. Then we went to K1's birthday party, and picked up Mr. B to bring him back to camp. He had a blast. He was up so so early, but he was so cute.
We had a lot of fun and we relaxed a bunch.
Then we came home - laundry, dog baths, excessive heat... Today was back to work. Ugh.
K1 and Mr. B came over for K1's birthday tonight. J wasn't feeling well and stayed home. :( I can't believe my first baby is 27 now. How does that happen?
ALSO!! I got a big box of my BOOKS IN PRINT!!! How awesome is that!!
Super awesome!
That is all.
Behave!

Still Doing Stuff...

Memorial Day is this coming weekend! Holy Cow!

We're supposed to be going to The Wilds, but who knows if the rain will keep us from it or not. I hope not. I need The Wilds. I need the break! We all need the break. But even if it's too wet to camp, we'll be taking a break.

The 'rents house is almost ready to have a big For Sale sign in the front yard! The floors in the basement are almost finished and the painting is nearly done. A few more carpets need to be cleaned and we have some odds and ends to get rid of/figure out where we're storing them. We're all so looking forward to being done!

Other than that...
My dog has some kind of odd thing going on. She's making puddles and leaving drips on the floor. She was just at the vet and is on antibiotics, so... That Man will call the vet again tomorrow.

No writing tonight, but it's a first. I've opened my new manuscript every day since retreat, except for tonight and I still might. Progress is slow, but that's the norm post retreat. I plan to do edits on my short this weekend. I have critiques back from every one of my critique partners. I haven't looked at a single one of them yet, because I know it's currently a steaming pile of poo.

I have my first book signing with a print book coming up in August. I'm kind of scared, but hella excited!

School is almost out. Thank goodness. I'll have a Junior next year. How weird is that? My last one! And she'll be able to get her license soon! She's doing great with driving.

Also, my first born turns 27 this weekend. How weird is that? I can't even...

So there's your quick Wednesday update!

Behave!

Still Struggling...

Today last year was the day we went to our Momma's cremation. It was me, my sister, our brother, sister-in-law, and niece.
None of us wanted to be there, but all of us felt like we should.
We listened when they explained the procedure and soaked it in when they described how long it took. We declined when they asked if any of us wanted to say anything - we'd already said it all to each other and we know Mom heard us. None of us wanted to push any buttons to set the process in motion. We just wanted to be together and let Mom know we were there for that.
She was in a cardboard casket. We rented a casket for her funeral because it would have been a waste to do buy a casket and then watch it burn. Our funeral guy was more than helpful in letting us know the logistics of our plans. The funeral home already had Dad's ashes and they explained to us how they would mix them together - which sounds kind of creepy, but was perfect for them.
The funeral guy pushed her in, and we stood there for several long minutes. Our funeral home had sent a guy and he was amazing - kind, supportive, and understanding. He gave us the details and left us on our own with our grief, as he should - but he was in the background, should we need him.
And then we left, realizing the smoke went right over our brother's house. Maybe kind of creepy, but also kind of comforting to know that Mom was spread in the air over his house.
Our private viewing time of Mom was so bad. She was so full of fluid and so disproportionate to normal that it was not comforting. We were all in major distress mode. The funeral home did their very best for her, and apologized to us later because they'd done all they could do to make her look normal. Hell, they did a fantastic job considering how many IV's she had going and how much fluid they were pumping through her. It was rough. I kind of wish we'd done things differently, but there was no way to know...
I never blogged about this before because I couldn't. Maybe I still can't because I'm not catching the nuances of that day - of my sister and I talking nonstop on the way there and not saying a word on the way back, of going to our brother's before we went and drinking coffee and wanting to just sit on his couch and stay there forever. Of going back to Mom's knowing we had to go home that night and go back to our day jobs the next day. Just the two of us stayed that night and went to work from Mom's like we had so many times since Dad died.
And now we're looking at a year since we started clearing out the house. We're almost done. We're tired. We're sad. We're freaked out that within the next few weekends we won't be together every weekend, so we made a pact - we'll do what we need to do at our own houses (and FFS. trust me, it's a lot - I have a mini fridge in my dining room. AND a mini Christmas tree...) and then we'll each help each other with projects. We're going to be busy for a long time because the list is pretty freaking long... Ha!
But it's good, because we need to be together.
So, yeah. I know I'm a downer right now. I'm sorry for that. I don't even have a fraction of my grief out here and I don't know if it's possible for many people to understand the depth of it... It sucks. I do what I have to do and I look forward to the weekends spent at Mom's with the sibs. And that's going away soon... Weird stuff.
Behave!

Ugh... The Stuff...

So it's my momma's birthday today. It's also they day we had her funeral services last year. I'm having a whole lot of memories today and a whole lot of sadness.
That Man is amazing though. He cancelled his plans to stay home with me tonight, knowing that I needed him. He did the grocery shopping, stopped and picked up wine, made a great dinner, and has taken care of me all night.
I stopped by Mom's on my way home - mainly to pick up a charging cable from my brother-in-law for K4 and to check the mail. I am amazed at how much work we've done, and hopeful that we're almost done there. I couldn't go to far in - never made it into the living room. We have this weekend there to get things done.
It's not a fun day.
That Man sent me the most amazing email about my momma today. I'm not going to post it here, because it was private, but one of the things he said was... "Your Mom is Christmas Eve..." Yeah, that... She is. And now the celebration is mine and I will do my best to honor her...
So I'll do what I have to do and know my momma is with me every day.
Sorry for the downer...
Behave!

Post Retreat

Sorry I missed posting before we left the retreat center!
I was trying to meet my word count and then pack, pay the bill, all that jazz.
We left right on time. It was snowing when we left. How weird is that?
We stopped at a Denny's for an awesome lunch and got home late afternoon. It was great to see the family! I took a little nap with That Man. Those kids and That Man made dinner. We all watched a movie together. It was nice. We were in bed at a ridiculously early time.
Back to the day job today.
That was rough. My inbox was insane. The day was insane!
So now I'm catching up and exhausted...
Going to write now. And then bed.

Retreat: Day 4 - PM

Well... It's the last night of retreat... I have a sad...And I wish I had a time-turner.
I have accomplished far more than I even though possible this year.
Normally, everyone coming to retreat sets a goal that they'd like to meet. It can be anything from having fantastic nail polish, taking a nap, sleeping without interruption, to finishing a book, writing seven synopses, or just writing as much as possible.
My only goal for this year was to feel Immersed in writing.
I found that on my first day. The ability to just get into the story without letting anything take me out of it. I had my two stories to edit, and the one I wanted to start, but I wasn't thinking about that when I got here. I just wanted to do my thing and not feel like I couldn't focus on it because there were so many other things that required my attention.
Somehow, I managed to finish my edits and submit the story, finish the short and send for critique, and as of right now, write over 8K on a new story.
I feel accomplished.
I have not written anything new since my last retreat two years ago. Yes, I have published stuff since then. I have edited and I have written, but not with as much intent that I feel now. Mostly, I edited older stuff, which while productive, doesn't feel the same as starting out with a fresh idea.
And... I didn't have the current story idea until last night. I knew what kind of story I wanted to write. I knew where I think I want to send it, but nothing else was there. To be truthful, I thought I was broken.
Turns out, I'm not. I'm an author, dammit!
This retreat has rocked, despite the very loud couples therapy people who insist we need to interview them for fantastic story ideas (wtf?), our somewhat odd dinner that while okay, was still out of the normal desirable food stuff, despite the wedding, which is still kind of loud as they clean up and as we have spillage into our hall that includes little kids who cry a lot, (in my section of hallway, too) and after we witnessed two almost naked guys trying to swim in the pond and disturb our resident goose (who is still a jerk, but doesn't deserve the harassment). I won a prize, which is awesome and also very random. Simon and I pick the prizes and always think I shouldn't enter to win, but everyone tells me that's crap and that I deserve to win like anyone else. We always get prizes we would love to have ourselves, so to say I'm pleased is an understatement. (Oh and one of the items is an Avengers blanket. How cool is that?)
We had the best coordinator at the venue. The staff here took care of us before anyone else - making sure we had our dinner first and just generally being awesome. They realized the loud groups was an inconvenience and a stressor and took the time to talk to us about how things could be different next year.
I am satisfied beyond satisfied.
And I am an author. This is what I'm meant to do... Tell stories. I am more convinced of that now that I have been for a long time.
Now it's time for the last retreat sleep. I'm ready to go home and rock this thing! (and I miss those aliens I live with...)
Behave!

Retreat: Day 4 - AM

It's our last full day on Retreat!
I'm sad, but I am also missing my family a lot! I'll be ready to head home tomorrow, but not so ready to go back to the day job.
There's a chill in the air this morning - a put your socks and sweatshirt on kind of chill. I'm in the comfy chair in my room - feet propped up, cozy blanket over me. I will be napping again today. For sure.
So the loud group has not gotten any quieter or any more considerate. They tromp down our hallway talking at the top of their lungs, staring into our rooms, and generally being a pain. This morning there was one of those punching balloons being excessively played with. At 7:15 am.
Currently, someone is robbing the ice machine. I can hear them dumping the ice into a cooler or something. There will be none left for anyone else, which is also a jerk move.
And then tonight there is a wedding. We'll see what kind of chaos that brings.
We'll have our game and prize drawing this evening, which is always a blast.
Until then, I will be working on my new story. The only thing I need at this point is names for the main characters. Working on that right now.
Later.
Behave!

Retreat: Day 3 - PM - Feel Good Friday

Here we go!
1. Finishing my edits on ItF and submitting! Whoot!
2. Finishing my short and sending for critique. Whoot!
3. Brainstorming with Misty and finding my next story! Whoot! (3 whoots in a row!)
4. Feeling like my writer self again!
5. Having one more full day here!
6. The last of our posse arriving safe and sound!
7. Finding out how great my kid did at her performance last night!
8. Talking to her school and hearing good news.
9. The lovely weather here. It was raining, then sunny, then big black clouds. The big storm never came, though I wished for it. I'll take the sun, white puffy clouds, and wonderful breeze though!
10. Napping.
11. Knowing that I will make my writing group goal for the first time in months.
12. Tonight's gathering plans, which will include laughter and possible game playing.

Things that were not so awesome about today:
1. Today is the one year anniversary of my mom's death. It's weighed heavily on me all day, well since last night when her brother called. Well, for a long time. It's been a really rough year. I miss my momma so much, but I also know that she's watching over me and telling me to write the damn books and be happy like she is now that she's with Dad. Love you, Mom.
2. Waking up with a ginormous zit on my chin.
3. The extremely LOUD group that has joined us. No kidding. This woman just ran down the hall screaming "Yoo Hoo", while looking into our rooms. It was made well known to them that we're writers who are working here, and this particular lady is quick to tell the other guests that we're authors, but not so quick to shut her mouth.
4. The poor hummingbird that crashed into the dining room window.
5. The rude goose right outside my window and his incessant honking. lol

Obviously more good than bad. Number one aside, the bad can suck it. (especially #3)
I'm off to our gathering!
Behave!

Retreat: Day 3 - AM

It's raining here. There was some pretty heavy rain overnight, which is probably one of the reasons I actually slept decently. My windows are open and there was a nice cool breeze coming in. I did set an alarm so I had time to shower before breakfast.
So far today I've taken care of Household Administration duties - paid bills, brought up the checkbook, scheduled appointments. Still waiting on a return phone call, but am just about at the point to begin writing.
I made really good progress on my short yesterday, but am taking it a break from it today to see if I can get another project that's been hanging over my head submission ready. I'm not sure if I'll actually be able to submit today, but that would be nice. Hey... You never know and I have all day to work on it.
Tonight we have our annual cocktail party. We gather in our meeting space to hang out and talk. It's like Happy Hour in your PJ's - without loud music and expensive food. Very nice. We might play a game. We might not. Just depends.
So far so good with the disaster thing...
I'll be back.
Behave!

Retreat: Day 2 - PM

Lunch stuffed us full. We eat so danged much here. The food is amazing and the portions are huge. We spend a lot of our meal times discussing our childhoods and why we are inclined to do the weird food stuff we do as adults. lol. I came back to my room and napped. It was a good nap until I had a very strange stress-like dream. I woke in a panic and it took me a few minutes to convince myself that none of it was true.
After that, I got back to work - cutting nearly 7K words on my short and adding at least 3K. Not sure if I'll finish this up today as I thought, but that's okay. I'd rather have a solid story than a mess and I'm getting there.
We had a terrific rain storm with thunder and everything. One of our members got caught in it and had to walk two miles back in the downpour. :( The sun is out again, but we're supposed to get more storms overnight. Yay! Not only do I love a good storm, the storms here are epic!
We've had dinner at this point. I had eggplant parmesan, rice, and green beans. Also, boston cream pie... like I said, we eat so much here... I'm stuffed. And sleepy.
The only plans for tonight is to get together and watch a documentary on writing we've all been dying to see. And writing.
I hope I can sleep! If it storms I will for sure!

*Disaster of the day: Part two: So when I blogged last, I was on my "writing bed" with my computer propped on my lapdesk. I smelled something cat pee foul and thinking it was my sweatshirt that might have been packed on top of my slippers, I ripped it off and went back to work. Or tried. No. The smell was still there. Moving everything, I realized it was the cushion on my lapdesk. Stupid cats... It reeked. I scrubbed it in the bathtub where the water ran yellow for a long time, but think I got everything out... It's currently drying in the bathroom with the heat cranked on high. Once it dries, I will move back to my "writing bed".

Tonight is K4's end year performance at school and I'm missing it. I'm very sad about it, but it wasn't scheduled until after I'd paid my money to be here. That Man is there and K3 - I'm not sure if any of the rest of her sibs could make it or not. That wasn't my department. I hope to get a full report later.

More tomorrow!
Behave!

Retreat: Day 2 - AM

 It's beautiful here! Look at that sky! And the pond and hiking trail!
I can hear the fountain from my room and last night there were baby frogs peeping out there.
The breeze is amazing as I currently sit on my "writing bed" with the windows wide open. We had a lovely breakfast, and a coffee station ready early this morning to tide us over with caffeine until the dining room opened.
Everyone has settled in and are working on their various projects. We have one member coming on Friday, but until then, my job as chairman is a supportive one. The work is done and it's time for me to do what I need to do. Which I have been. I found out what was missing in my short, and I will work on that until lunch.
After lunch, I plan on a nap since I had a horrible time sleeping last night. I tried this morning, but ended up thinking of a hundred things that I'd missed at the day job thanks to our computer systems going down at the end of the day yesterday. So now I'm regrouping and getting ready to get back to it. I'm not sure what my plan is after my nap. I have three options, so we'll see which one strikes me at that point.

I've kept my expectations of fantastic word counts low this year. My main goal for this retreat is to find my writer-self again. So far, I think I'm right on track. I'm excited again. This writing gig is what I want to do more than any other job in the world and it's only up to me to make it happen. And I will!

*Disaster of the day: It was a little chilly when I got up this morning (at a stupid early time, if I may add). I slid into my slippers, looking forward to their fuzzy warmth. Only that wasn't what I got... Oh, one felt lovely and nice. The other felt like I'd slid my foot into rotten honey. But it was nowhere near that...
I knew what it had to be, and I was right as I sniffed the shoe. Freaking cat pee. Gross! Needless to say, the slippers are now in the garbage. Yes. It was that bad. And now I have no slippers... :(
Hopefully that's the worse thing that happens today.
Be back with a PM post later! I'm off to work!
Behave!

Retreat: Day 1

Yay! Retreat! Finally!

I cannot tell you how happy I am to be here! I've already made some significant progress editing my short story. All but three people are here - two due to arrive in an hour or so and one on Friday.
We've had our dinner and have retired to our rooms for a little while (I'm sure we'll end up either in our meeting room or someone's room to take a break).

I have my very own room this year, which I'm stoked about. (not that I minded my roomie at all, but for me, for this year, this is what I need)

Our day started out a little crazy.
As we were pulling through a drive through, we saw a car back into an elderly gentleman. The whole thing happened in slow motion, until two of us jumped out of the car to help. The older man was knocked to the ground, hitting his head and scraping up his arm. He also said his ribs on the one side hurt pretty bad. We made the call to get an ambulance and the police and then waited with him until they arrived. Once we'd given our statements, we were able to hit the road. It was a total accident. The guy who was driving felt horrible.

We drove through some crazy fog. Had a fantastic lunch and finally arrived. Whoot!

Oh and another super cool thing! Prelude of Lies is now available in print! Woo Hoo! (Click the link)
I'm super excited to get my copies and be able to hold this book in my hands!

So that's pretty much the extent of Day 1. More later...
Behave!

Feel Good Friday!

Yay, I'm back! And it's Friday! So here's the Feel Good...
1. Friday. Yay. It was a Hell week at the day job. Upside is... I only have two more days to work until RETREAT!!
2. Chilling with That Man and watching some old TV shows... The children pick on us for watching this show, but we don't care.
3. Writing meeting tomorrow. Very cool. Miss my writing peeps and am happy to see them.
4. Adult beverages after a long week. Thank goodness for Friday... and adult beverages.
5. 4 days until Retreat... Well, two work days, and two weekend days, so yeah, 4 days! Whoot! I can't even give you the full scope of retreat yet... but I will. Once I get there.
6. I did have a day off of the day job this week. It was a doc appointment kind of day. Nothing to worry about there, and I did get to have lunch with That Man and I did take a nap.
7. The laundry in my house is caught up for the first time in forever and a day! I cannot even tell you the last time our laundry was caught up. Yay! (I know...lame)
8. My kids having friends over.
9.Weekend plans.
10. Skipping the sad Mothers Day stuff... Maybe later... Maybe...
Behave!

Five Days Until Retreat!

I have a lot to do between now and then, but I'm excited!
We added an extra day this year, which is awesome!
No cooking, no cleaning, no driving kids here and there, no orthodontist appointments, no grocery store, no cat boxes to change, no laundry to fold, no day job...
Yeah, I'll miss the family a lot, but I need this retreat so very badly. I need to find my writer-self again. That part of me has been on the fritz for a long time and I need her back. Big time.
I don't have a lot of retreat goals yet. I do have to edit a short for an anthology I'm in with some friends. (More info on that as we get closer to time). I also need to finish editing the story I'm working on and send it to my publisher. I want to start something new, but I haven't settled on what yet.
I know it sounds like I'm writing a lot, but trust me, this book should have been submitted a long time ago, and the edits on the short should also have been done ages ago. Time sucks around here until we get the 'rents house on the market and are done over there. We're getting close, which is awesome.
But it is what it is right now...
I'll try to be back tomorrow with Feel Good Friday. Note: I said try... No promises...
Behave!

Wednesday Again...

So... the recap of the week...

1. I had a birthday. My kids were all home. They made dinner and cake, sang to me, and put skewers i my cake. It was a lot of fun!
2. My family threw me a surprise party over the weekend. It was also a lot of fun!!
3. Editing progress.
4. 21 Days until Retreat! Our t-shirts are done!
5. Having the top down in my Jeep!
6. Taxes were done and sent on Saturday. Hateful. Just hateful.
Back to six again...
Behave!

Nearly Half Way Through the Month...

And about 27 days until RETREAT!!

What's going on right now?

1. Tomorrow is my birthday. Ugh.
2. Changes at the day job. Nothing in my position, but overall, a change. We'll see what happens.
3. Editing. Making great progress!
4. The kids straightening up the house. And then singing... It was a good night.
5. Having a great time hanging out with the bff's last night! It's been forever, and that means, literally, almost a year or more since we've had any time to hang out. It was good and not long enough!
6. Retreat coming up soon! So excited!

Okay... So that's six...On a Wednesday... Not too bad...

Behave!

Feel Good Friday!

Hey! I did it! This is not an April Fool Joke!
Here's what is good about this week...
1. It's Friday!! Yay!
2. My house being clean! Kudos to That Man for being awesome and dealing with the bulk of it, including the cat peeing on the floor and the dog getting into the trash while he cleaned up the pee. Long story, but it's done...
3. Finishing my short story! Yay me!
4. Starting edits on a book I hope to get out the door soon.
5. Living through the work week. It was a little brutal and pretty grim at time, but there was survival!
6. Writing meeting tomorrow!
7. The weather today! Beautiful! I know it's going to get cold again and I hate that, but for now, I'm good!
8. Watching "Friends" with That Man... Brings back memories and hysterical laughter! (Yes, I'm editing, too, or I will be as soon as I'm done here...)
9. An adult beverage at the end of a long week. Yes.
10. Sleeping in a little tomorrow! Also, Yes!
That is all for now!
Behave!

End of the Month...

Yikes!
So this is only the second time I've posted this month! What the heck is up with that?
Just craziness... That's all...
March flew by so freaking fast! And tomorrow is April 1st... have no idea what kind of pranks will happen... I know some ideas and I only hope they don't come to fruition - some are hysterical and some are kind of on the mean side considering the week we've had at the day job. We'll see...
So today was my 2 year anniversary at the day job.
I don't think I told you that I got a promotion. That thing I interviewed for a month or so ago. I've been doing it for a few weeks now. I'm now in a position where I take care of the top tier customers and provide them with most excellent service. I'm digging it. It's super busy and I like that. I'm no longer on regular phone calls, and I really like that!
I finished my short story! That's super awesome! Excited about the short, and excited about finally meeting a writing group goal! I think I did meet one so far this year and I had not meeting them! And I'm excited about my edits!
What's coming up?
Retreat! 40 days! Tshirts are ordered! Whoot!
Selling the 'rents house... I hope... It'll be going up on the market very soon.
Camping and a special mother's day/mom's birthday tribute. We're coming up on a year since Mom passed. I thought it would get easier, but so far, no. I find myself missing her, and dad, more and more. I understand this is a symptom of the time of year and times we're passing, but it's not easy.
Getting our house back into shape. We still have much work to do, but hopefully we can get our stuff in order soon. We've spent so much time clearing out the 'rents...
Our 30th wedding anniversary. We want to do something special. Have a few ideas, but not sure what's going to fly...
I'm broken now... Long week so far. Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with Feel Good Friday...
Behave!

I know. I Suck.

So almost a month is a good try, right? Ha ha...
Things have been nuts here - more than usual and I'm spinning in massive exhaustion and deliriousness. No, I'm not going into all of it...
Instead, I'll leave you with this shark picture.
K4 caught this while we were on a boat at the beach.
Isn't he cute?
Behave!

Feel Good Friday...Again!

Apparently, no matter how hard I try, Friday is the only day I post! I hope to get better at this, but no promises... Ha!
Okay.. So the week...
1. Awesome book-signing! Didn't get a lot of action with folks interested in my work, but got to see a friend I haven't seen since high school (awesome) and our very good friends that we haven't seen in ages (and we love them). Those kids came with that grandson. It was awesome!
2. Dinner with most of the sibs after. We had a blast and good food! We needed that!
3. Getting stuff done at the 'rents. We have an overall plan and a heck of a lot of work to do!
4. Productive family meetings.
5. Seeing Baby C and her kisses!
6. Leaving early and delays at the day job due to weather.
7. Writing a little. Not a lot, but a little.
8. Seeing Baby B twice this week. He's so funny and fantastic!
9. Feeling my mojo slipping in... I think I'm going to be back in the writing game soon - like I was two years ago... It's been a long time. I never expected to be waylaid like this... I would prefer not to have been.
10. Working at the 'rents this weekend. With my sibs. Which is good for the grief. And the grief has been hardcore this week. I'm so grateful to have my family and friends. And grateful for our conversations...
That is all...
One day, I hope, I will be funny again. One day, I hope, to have relevant writing posts. One day, I hope, to stop whining so much about missing my parents. One day, I hope, to make you want to come back here to see what I've written... I hope...
Behave!

Feel Good Friday!

Again! It's been a week! I guess once a week is better than nothing!
This week... Oy!
The list in no particular order:
1. Losing a tooth! Yikes! It had been feeling weird for a few weeks, but Saturday, as I bit into an awesome hamburger, something happened. It cracked so loud everyone at the table heard it! So much for a fun family lunch! It hurt and continued to hurt with hot, cold, and air... Obviously not good and the rest of the weekend was Hell for eating. I called the dentist and left a message. They called me back first thing Monday morning with an appointment time that meant I went into work and then went back to work with a mouth full of painkillers and cotton.
Long story short, as much as my dentist tried to save the tooth, there was nothing for it. After an excruciating two hours in the chair, I left with a hole in my mouth and a whole lot of pain. I missed work Tuesday because of it and it took until today before I started feeling better... Still tender and sore, but no longer feeling like I was kicked in the face by a large dude wearing huge boots.
2. Having an awesome day job that understood. I, obviously, get an attendance point for not going on Tuesday, but everyone was concerned and wanted to make sure I felt okay.
3. Managing to cover my writing group blast on Wednesday and even actually writing.
4. Seeing my grandson and hanging out with those grownup kids.
5.  Superbowl Sunday. We don't watch football and we don't have "teams", but we vowed to watch. I made awesome food I couldn't eat. And we watched and discussed the game and how it works. It was fun.
6. Still writing. Making progress even though it's been slow this week.
7. Tomorrow is the annual book signing at a nearby greenhouse! I'm so looking forward to it!! But I do get to sleep in a little tomorrow, which is also awesome! And plans to have dinner with the sibs after my signing!
8. The K's still at home are gone to see "Deadpool", which means That Man and I are home alone in the blessed quiet.
9. That Man made an awesome dinner tonight. And I didn't have to. I often don't have to. He is amazing and takes care of so much stuff around here that it sometimes leaves me feeling guilty.
10. Dear God, it's Friday! Thank you for delivering me from this week of pure Hell. Thank you for the weekend, which I am seriously looking forward to!
Ha! Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow at the book signing!
Behave!

Feel Good Friday!

Hey! It's been a while! But here we are with Feel Good Friday (Shh... I know it's really Saturday, but I'm still awake so...)
1. Texting all day with the sibs (sibs also includes my sister-in-law who is really my sister)... Needed that! We spoke of nothing of consequence and spent the time being silly!
2. Three hour phone calls with my sister. I also needed that and it also included lots of silly!
3. Friday. Duh. It's been a Hell week. In so many ways...
4. Pizza and no cooking for dinner.
5. Writing group meeting tomorrow. Yay!
6. Even though we didn't get to go away this weekend, hoping there's some stress relief in the weekend plans...
7. First week of Braces... OY!!! She's doing well. She hurts. She's my first with braces, so I'm trying extra hard.
8. Meeting my writing group goal.
9. Which means I've been writing...And a lot, too.
10. Oh Hellz yeah... I am writing... Awesomesauce!!!
Behave!!

Groundhog Day...

I think this day is bogus, but I do like the movie with Bill Murray. (that's all I'm going to say about that)
So... Things that have happened since I posted last week: (not in order of occurrence)
1. K4 took her learner's permit and passed! She also had her first official driving lesson.
2. I interviewed for a new position at the day job. No idea when I will find out, but fingers crossed.
3. Writing is coming again. I'm 8k words into a short story and I'm digging it.
4. K4 is now the proud owner of a mouthful of braces. She's hating life right now. She's in pain and full of salt over it, but in the long run it will be good. (she's the first of the K's to ever need braces, so I am clueless to know what to expect!) In about 4 months, she'll need oral surgery to remove baby teeth, wisdom teeth, and to attach some flapper thing to encourage her eye teeth to drop to where they belong.
5. The snow is slowly melting... We're having higher temps and rain and I think there will be a flood in our future... Or maybe not...
6. I have a book signing coming up in two weeks. The same one I do every Valentine's day. I'm looking forward to it!
7. K3 locked his keys in the car today. We used to have 6 extra keys - and of course, not a single one could be found tonight... Have no idea where they all went! That Man busted him out and everyone arrived home safely.
8. The dog is totally freaked out by K4's braces. Seriously. It's weird.
Okay, it's only been seven days and that's eight things...
Behave!

After the Snowpocalypse...

We had 36+" dumped on us over the weekend...
It started Friday afternoon, which meant the day job gave us the option of leaving a little early to get ahead of the chaos. I, of course, took them up on it and headed home to a houseful of insanity. First I had to stop for gas in K4's car (yes, she has a car, but no permit yet - long story, but we were supposed to go on Saturday. We'd tried the weekend before, but they were closed.) so Bob would be covered for his snow plowing gig. K1, J, and Baby B came to ride the storm out here. K1 was supposed to go plow with That Man, but things didn't work out that way. Still, he was here to help take care of the furnace, shovel snow, and do whatever needed to be done around here. We had fun hanging out - playing games, watching movies, entertaining Baby B, and having some adult beverages. That Man plowed snow all weekend and was only home for a few hours. I really missed him being here!
The boys (K1 & K3) took care of 99% of the shoveling. I did some and so did J. It was crazy. There is still no way to park in front of our house, and getting in and out of the back is a bit dicey. It's okay for those of us with four-wheel drive, but K3 has to go to work tomorrow for the first time all week, and who knows how his car will do. (He works at a school). K4 is off of school again tomorrow. She just told me she thinks she might lose her mind... I get that. I felt a little stir crazy on Sunday myself. Ended up taking The Jeep for gas and supplies (that we really didn't need, but whatever).
I made it to work just five minutes late on Monday due to the back roads being crappy and me getting a little stuck in the drive. Our computer systems were down, which meant the only thing we could do was answer the phones and promise people we'd get back to them. We couldn't even log in or out for lunch. After lunch they said it was going to be hours and that we could go home if we wanted to. I bolted and picked up K4 to go to the cell store... K4 demolished her phone on Sunday - shattered it to the point of total destruction. I have been due for an upgrade for a really long time, so the deal was that I would get my new phone and she could have my old one since hers was years newer than mine and she's not due for months. It took freaking forever, but in the end, I have a brand new phone and she's reasonably happy with my old one...
Today we had a delay for our starting time at the day job due to ice. And then I had to rescue That Man due to K4's car shredding a belt. He managed to get the part, but sitting in traffic put him out of business and the thing is parked at the grocery store down the street...
Oh... Writing? Yeah, well, I'm trying. I've been reading a lot of my older stuff and feeling sparks come back. Opening a new document has been hard. I have an edit to plug changes into, but I've been avoiding it. I'm not sure what's up, but I'm trying to get myself through it...
And that is all for now...
Behave!

2015 Year in Review

January -
I only posted once due to chaos. Go figure.
February -
Revisions, waiting for Baby C to arrive, author event, overtime at the day job, more revisions, snow, finally getting the year in review up for 2014, puppy pictures, freezing to death, Mom's kitchen remodel.
March -
New kitchen pictures that will no longer show, snow, family time, embarrassing gift card stuff, Baby C arrives!, angry St. Patty's day cat, crazy schedules, Spaghetti dinner, chaos, Easter.
April -
Retreat countdown, Delaware trip with Mom, booking the beach house, chaos, fixing stuff at Mom's, the death of our xbox.
May -
Surprising Mom with a birthday party, great Mothers Day. My mom's unexpected and horrible passing. Missing Mom. Missing retreat.
June -
That Man's best friend dying. K3 Graduating. Aftermath of Mom. New roof.
July -
Cleaning the parents house. July 4th. Redoing our hardwood floors. Night out with friends. Estate stuff.
August -
Cutting down our tree. My new ride. Sick Baby B. Beach planning. The flu. Getting ready for release day!
September -
Prelude of Lies released!!
Family time, hanging with the grandkids, fleas, camping
October -
The beach for the first time in 10 years! My sister got married! Halloween parade. Hosting Mom's spaghetti dinner, birthdays, trick or treat.
November -
K5, new dishwasher, mini writing retreat, Thanksgiving.
December -
Chaos, K4 birthday, Christmas Eve, Christmas

There were a lot of sucky things going on in 2015. It was a sad year, but some good things happened, too.
Here's to a much better and brighter 2016...
Behave!

Post Christmas...

Sorry about more silence...
I'm sure I'm not the only one living in chaos. (at least I hope not!)
Christmas was good.
The family was here for Christmas Eve which was insanely loud, crazy, full of food, and fun!
Our teenagers were up insanely early for Christmas day, believe it or not! We took our time with the morning, which is our tradition.
K1, J, and Baby B came for breakfast, then That Man picked up his mom. He left to take her home right before my sister and her family arrived. We had a few drop in visitors. I took a nap with Baby B. We Skyped with our friends in Oregon, made awesome food, had birthday cake.
K4 had a pretty good 16th birthday! I can't believe my baby girl is 16!!
We got her eyes checked for her learner's permit on Saturday. She's not quite ready to take her test, but she should be soon!
So there you have it!
I'm not promising anything, but I hope to have the year in review up before Friday!
Behave!

After Thanksgiving...

Sorry I fell off the grid... It's been kind of crazy around here!
First was getting ready for Thanksgiving. That was nuts! So much to do since we haven't been home most of the time.
We still didn't feel ready when everyone rolled in for dinner (all 30+ people), but we had a fun and good day, even with the stuff we didn't get done. We're still cleaning up - not because the house was trashed (well, okay, it was, but not like you would think), but because there's no place to go with some of the stuff and many people left stuff behind, too!
My sister and her family spent the night (you surely remember our reasoning for that from several years ago). That was fun and we cooked our butts off.
Then we hit Friday. I had to day job it. That Man didn't. He and K4 went to work on her car (we're less than a month before she gets her permit! Oy!) and I came home feeling like I got hit by a truck and went to bed before nine. (Cold... I knew it was going to happen. Everyone at my work is sick, and so are my grandkids)
Saturday, I woke up feeling mostly okay. I paid bills, cleaned, we went to get K2 a birthday present, went to lunch, and then went to visit K2 and family. It was fun to play with Baby C. She's so funny. K2 liked her presents and the diaper covers we got for Baby C (snowmen and mittens). We hung out for a while, which was really good, and then headed to our friends for a party. That was fun, though I felt crappier and crappier. We left early and were in bed at a strangely weird time for a Saturday night.
Sunday was picking up K4's car at my sisters and dropping it off for inspection, grocery shopping, writing, laundry, the cold hitting me again in the evening and bed early...
And today... Day job. Writing. Trying to catch up with stuff. I did no Black Friday or Cyber Monday shopping. At all. I do have "some" Christmas stuff bought, and a general idea on some, but am in no way ready to think about the rest. I'll get there though. Right now, I'm heading to bed. Dang cold...
How exciting, right?
Maybe I should have stayed off grid?
Behave!

Weird Wednesday... Or Not...

Today is Wednesday!
So, why is Wednesday good?
1. Videos of Baby C. She was supposed to wave to Nana, but ended up shaking her head no as her hand was raised. Funny kid. I miss her face! I love that I get videos and pictures of her regularly and I can't wait to see her! (and her momma and daddy)
2. Getting to see Baby B tonight. We're going to make donuts for the elves for Christmas! I'm excited. He's hysterical and we are so blessed by him.
3. It's Wednesday, which means we're halfway to Friday.
4. My word count hasn't been as amazing as it was this weekend, but my brain is working again.
5. I won a five day trail of Thrive! I started on Monday and have slowly been feeling better and better. Good enough by today, that I signed up for a month just to see how much better I can feel. I do feel better - I'm thinking clearer, I have more energy, I'm not as hungry, I'm sleeping better, and I completely broke the rules (because I'm a bonehead and didn't pay attention) by having caffeine and booze... So tomorrow I start over and see if it makes more of a difference. I can't deny the difference in my friend. She's had an amazing experience and I love it! My old friend is back and it's awesome.
I'm looking to get myself back, too! My family has dealt with a lot of crap for the last 18 or so months and it's taken its toll on us in many ways and we're heading into our first holiday season without Mom. So...
6. The next week will be getting ready for Thanksgiving! I'm excited to host, but we have a lot to do to get ready. All of my chickens will be in the nest this year and I can't wait!
7. And then we head into Christmas... I think I'm ready. K4 turns 16 this year and I'm determined to make her birthday and Christmas awesome. Determined, even though I have no idea how I'm going to do this without my mom.
8. I miss my momma. I miss her every single day. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about her, wish I could talk to her, wish I could hug her. I'm grateful for what I did have with her, but I'm still trying to find my way in this world without her.
9. Adjusting. Because we have to.
10. This will be our first holiday season without Mom. The parade was hard. Trick or Treat night was hard, but now we move into even harder times. Mom loved the holidays beyond reason. She would already be playing Christmas music and laughing about it. She didn't care. She did what she wanted and never apologized. We teased her, but we all loved it!
That's a pretty screwed up, but honest, list...
Behave!

Amazing Weekend!

This weekend I went on a mini writing retreat with some friends.
We had a blast!
The best thing is that I think I found my hidden mojo! I haven't written like this in a really, really long time. I managed over 10K words this weekend, plus made some bookstore connections that I'm excited about!
It was good, though I missed my niece's birthday party and I missed the official first starting of K4's wheels. Everyone supported me in going though, which was great since I'd missed my writing groups annual retreat in May.
I need this more than I realized. And it was good. Really good.
So, now I continue on... excited!!
Behave!

A Monday Since....

Sorry about the radio silence, folks! (Not that there's no one even reading this anymore!)
Okay so...
1. The new dishwasher is installed and is awesome!
2. We had an awesome weekend!I love staying at my sister's (both houses are calming and awesome). We had some celebrating to do with my middle sister and it was really good.
3. Picked up K5 on Sunday. She's a riot. We had a blast with her and she had fun playing with her cousin and running around my sister's house. I miss that kid! She's amazing.
4. Writing meeting on Saturday. Always great! I couldn't stay for lunch (see #2).
5. Back to the grind now... Oy, Monday!
6. Watching inspirational episodes of X-Files with my baby on a cold, rainy Monday night.
7. Thanksgiving is a little more than 2 weeks away. I'm excited and terrified about hosting. Only terrified because I have no idea how I'm going to be ready! I'm excited to have everyone here! It's going to be fun and I'm so grateful to be hosting this year. (I think I already said that!)
8. We're not going to make it to 10. because I'm exhausted and still have a million things to do before I can go to bed, but the best announcement of all is that...
I'm going to be a grandma again! K1 & J's 2nd is due in July!
Yay!
I'm on four and I am early to this Nana game... How many grandkids do you think I'll end up with? I still have two kids at home and two that are still in the early days of parenthood... I'm a little nervous. LOL
Behave!

New Dishwasher

It's still in the box and in my dining room, but it's here!! Finally!
We've been without for... aw geeze...since maybe... I don't even know - two years? Or more? I've never minded washing dishes by hand, but now....I do because there is no time anymore and my minions are overwhelmed by homework, school, activities, too, so they are no help at all. Sure, they'll put the dishes away, but the washing.... That Man does dishes as much as I do. (Disclaimer: Only sort of, sometimes I don't mind, but I have too much lately and I do mind most days, plus we are hosting all major holidays from now until New Years - not New Year's Eve - at least I don't think!)
We went on the trek to the home store, picked out the one we liked and then went to look for other things, finding an awesome and much-needed lamp for the living room in the process. When we got back to appliances, I got to push the "button" that magically announced that someone needed help in appliances. (always cracks me up). The guy was nice, but informed us that they were out of stock, but we had two other stores to choose from. I almost caved and got the cheaper model, but as That Man said, we were saving $10. for a lot of features we wanted. So fine. We buy our lamp and head to the next city where we were told they had 3 in stock. (Which I didn't expect to happen, but we were on a mission)
And they did have it. It was seamless and easy and the guy was great and even filled us in on how installation has changed since we bought our last dishwasher (16 years ago....oy), but awesome! And we got what we needed for that. Thanks to K3 for letting us use his van to pick it up, and we were back home and unloaded in no time.
That Man put the new lamp together. It's really pretty and fits in the living room. And we really needed the light. I love it. He will install the dishwasher this weekend, unless he gets a wild hair and decides to tackle it sooner (you never know with him).
I then wrote a bunch, caught up on emails, did some laundry, and now it's bedtime!
I need to get my plan in place for what's coming up next! There's a lot!!
Yikes! I must sleep now! The day job has gone crazy and I need to go in earlier than normal! And probably stay later, too. Oy!
Behave!

November First

Oh geeze!
Here we are at the start of a new month!

November is going to be crazy!
1. Writers meeting. Always amazing.
2. Private writing retreat at a friend's house. (Remember I missed my annual writing retreat in May. I need this so bad)
3. Birthdays!
4. OT at work. Which makes #2 even more amazing.
5. Thanksgiving!! I am so excited! It's been a really long time since we've hosted.
6. A new dishwasher coming soon! (tomorrow?)
7. Heading into the holiday season!
8. I usually get ticked off at seeing Christmas stuff so soon, but we have a lot going on this year, so I'm excited to start planning. I actually resisted buying Christmas plates at the superstore today. I wanted to, because I was afraid I wouldn't get such a good deal again, but then I decided I didn't like those plates as much as I should... Ha!

I'm trying! You see that?

Oh and I tripped up the stairs yesterday and did something hurty to my little finger. I didn't realize how much I use that baby finger for typing! Ouch!

That is all for now...

Behave!!

Trick or Treat

Tonight was our town's Trick or Treat night.
That Man and I bought candy in secrecy so it would still be here for tonight. Ha!
Baby B was here and was hysterical. He had a "trick".
When you said "Trick, B" He would stick out his finger and say "pull my finger" and then making farting noises when you did. It was hysterical.
He was an adorable dinosaur, but by the time they left he was so hyped up on candy that he was in meltdown mode. I remember those days with our kids. Glad we're out of that stage. So much.
K3 had a class tonight, so he left just as trick or treat night got started. K4 did her cool makeup, but stayed home, except for a brief trip to our very good friend's house to harass and get some candy. S and J came over - S was dressed as the Joker and looked adorable. J was dressed as a "travelling menstrual cycle" and was hysterical. Yes, red pants. white shirt with blood stains, and a string.
I got home just as the porch light went on. I miss the days of being here all day before. I miss the days of having things prepared and ready to go, but then, I don't have little kids anymore, so....
I do miss my folks being here though. Mom and Dad used to come over to hand out the candy. They were hysterical in their interactions with the trick or treaters. Last year, we had Mom and she had a blast.
It's sucky right now because our very good friend just lost her dad. It brings back all of the crap and sadness and makes me realize that we're now facing the holidays without Mom. It was bad enough last year - when Mom's grief class said the second year would be worse than the first - and now we're facing the second year and the first year, which sucks. And I don't put a lot of stock into the things said in that class, but it still sucks.
Anyway...
I'm still writing. Staying in the 50/50 challenge and have already met my monthly goal. I like where my story is going.
And everything else is as normal as it gets - crazy chaos and crazy busy.
That is all...
Behave!

Birthdays and Stuff...

K3 turned 19 today.
How does that happen? I don't feel any older than the day I had him (notice that I didn't say I don't look any older... ha ha)
He's a great guy and I'm so proud he is my son! He's got so many things in the pipeline and I'm so excited to see what he does next! Currently, he's working like crazy, looking for a second job, and taking classes. Like I said, great guy and I love hanging out with him!
*
It's almost the end of October!
Thursday night is Trick or Treat. I can't wait to see Mr. B and experience Trick or Treat night with him. I'm also really glad I don't have to take kids out! Ha! K4 is the youngest and is too old to go out. Bonus! Our old neighbor is coming over because she misses this street on Halloween night!
It should be a good night (if I remember to stop and get more candy!)
Halloween Night That Man and I have some plans which should be awesome! I'm excited.
*
Thanksgiving is coming!
We are hosting this year. We also have K2, J, and Baby C this year, which will be awesome! I'm really looking forward to it. It will also be our first Thanksgiving without Mom. We've had a lot of firsts without her the last five months, but this one will be big. (The Halloween parade, trick or treat night, and birthdays are also big... Okay, so every first without her is big. I don't know what to say about that. It's just the way it is, but Thanksgiving is going to suck without her.)
We will be getting a new dishwasher before Thanksgiving. There is no way I'm standing there to wash all of the dishes for hours! I already told That Man that it must be done and he agreed!
*
Christmas...
I know it's way early, but we are also hosting both days this year. K4 is turning 16 and her only request was that we do both nights - Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. She has never had a 'traditional" friend party. It's always been whoever can come on her birthday and whoever remembers on Christmas Eve - all has been fine for her. We won't have folks staying over, which is really okay and for the best, but I hope that it's a birthday to remember for her, especially considering it's our first Christmas without her Gram. And she feels that. And she'll be 16!
And then in the few days after Christmas, she will be going for her learner's permit, because if she doesn't she will have to drive for a year, instead of the six months if she gets it before the end of 2015. Yeah. my last kid will be driving soon. Weird. She already has a car - actually two, but that's another story.
I am forcing myself to get excited for the holidays. I will force myself for Baby B and Baby C and K4, K3, K2 and K1, That Man, and my siblings. I miss my momma, but I will honor her by going completely overboard this year! Yeah, it's like that!
*
I am writing! A lot! Not as much as I would like, but enough that I feel good about what I'm getting done!
*
That's enough for now!
Behave!!

Good Weekend!

This weekend we had our Mom's Spaghetti Dinner.
Mom wanted to have a Spaghetti Dinner after her kitchen was done to thank everyone for their help and to have a gathering to just celebrate.
She hadn't set a date, just that she wanted to do it as soon as her kitchen was back together. Her kitchen wasn't back together yet when she died. We decided to still have her dinner and have been working towards it all summer. This past Saturday was the day.
We just got back from the beach on Sunday. We had a crazy week readjusting to life at home, our town's Halloween parade, homework, writing, work - crazy. That Man and I met my sister and her husband at Mom's on Friday to start getting ready for Saturday. We had some tasty adult beverages and did some cleaning. Saturday was the big push. There was a lot to do, but we managed to get it all done with the help of my sister-in-law and the crew.
At one point, I turned to my sister-in-law and asked about the spaghetti. We had a miscommunication. I thought she'd gotten it and she thought I was getting it. Hysterical.
We didn't have as many people as we thought we would, but we still had a great time. It was really good and so much fun. The sauce my brother made was amazing. We had lots of tasty desserts and an epic bon fire.
It was a bittersweet night. Mom would have loved it.
Behave!

This Beach!

A few pictures (even though my formatting seems to suck)

This was only a few steps out of our back door all of last week! Perfect and beautiful!

This one is K4's little friend. She named all of the birds, which was hysterical. Baby B chased all of the birds, which was equally hysterical. 

O'Dark-thirty on the boat! We watched the sun come up and had an epic time!

When I can figure out this formatting thing, I'll be back with more pics! Behave!

I'm Baaack!!

Maybe you didn't notice I was gone? Sorry about that! I guess if I posted on here more regularly, you'd miss me more! Ha!
Anyway...
I'm back from our first OBX vacation in 10 years!! What a needed and tremendous trip to our favorite place in the whole world!!
Yeah, we had some crap - our Jeep being dumb on the way there, while there, and back, That Man's car (which K1 drove) doing some crappy losing the bolts things, high water, being trapped in the house all day Tuesday due to the storm surge (but, really... we had wine, beer, pina coladas, a pool, two hot tubs, and beautiful sunny beach so we didn't care) stress in some form or another... But on the whole it really was an amazing trip. We did things we've never done before - like go out on a charter boat to fish (very cool for those that weren't chumming all day. At one point, we'd lost 1/3rd of our group, despite motion-sickness medicine, but it was super, super awesome and K4 caught a shark!), shared our beach with people who have never been before (some loved it and some not so much), had some amazing family time (family soup & a ceremony), had a few injuries, got to watch Mr. B loving the beach, aquarium, life in general (he was so stinking cute!!), hang out with cousins, and our uncle and aunt, had an awesome ashes ceremony for our folks, saw a lot of sunrises, sunsets, stars, laundry, sand, shops, food, a fire on the beach, driving my Jeep on the beach (even though that was super stressful, when it should have been fun, thanks to losing my radiator hose in the parking lot - it was fixed super quick, but still)...
I could have stayed another week, if not, forever....
We got back pretty late last night thanks to stupid traffic. Our Elsa was waiting for us. Our awesome friends had her all week and then dropped her off at home for us so they could get their brand new puppy. Our other awesome friend watched our kitties and facilitated the puppy drop off. Everyone was safe, happy, and healthy when we got home.
It's good to be home. But not at the same time. I'd like to start the vacation over again, please?
We were all off today, but tomorrow is back to the grind. And it's our town's annual Halloween Parade, so we'll have a houseful of company.
Oh and did I mention I was one of the injuries? Yeah, scraped the back of my foot on a rusty metal block as we were waiting for everyone on the docks after the charter boat. It was just a dead skin thing, really. We doctored it up Thursday night, and it felt really good until today. Now I'm soaking it in peroxide and dreading having to wear actual shoes tomorrow.
So now we're back to the grind...
We're in the 50/50 challenge in my writing group and I've already exceeded the daily goal. Awesome. I'm trying to get back into my groove. This challenge will totally help.
That is all for now! I hope to have pictures soon!
Behave!

Oh Man...

It's been 12 days since I posted! What is wrong with me?
Well...
It's just been crazy here!
We lived through the "flea outbreak of the century". It was bad. Real bad. We're still paranoid as hell. Thanks to some kick ass flea treatment from the vet, we kicked those jerks to the curb. Now we're dealing with the aftermath - making sure everything is vacuumed and clean. Luckily we don't have carpet, but we're still vacuuming like crazy. All of the animals are clean now. Thank goodness.
I'm nearing the end of my short story. Also... thank goodness!
We're slowly, but surely getting our house back to normal. It's been 17 months since we've been home regularly. We're still not, but we took September off to take care of our own much-needed stuff. It's been really weird, but good, too. The house is back under control...mostly. We still have much to do, but we have a handle on it.
Working overtime at the day job. Oy! That's a crazy all by itself! There is no time to take care of stuff and things. I go in early and get home late. And then have to take care of all of the normal stuff. What to do...
This week will be insane! Every night is booked with stuff.
Anyway...
I found a four star review of my book on Amazon and Good Reads! Yay!
I hope to be back this week, but if you don't hear from me for another two weeks, just know everything is good. I'll post when I can. We have some epic stuff coming up and I'm so excited!
Behave!

Tuesday Tidbits...

1. I knew Ghost Hunters was back, but I hadn't had time to actually watch. Thank goodness for "on demand". I am now pretty much caught up and have not lost my love for this show! Awesome!
2. Mostly quiet night around here. (see above) Laundry working.
3. I wrote a whole bunch tonight! Yay! I'm at the "official"  halfway mark on my short, thought it will need some serious editing. It feels good!
4. I ordered my swag for Prelude. It should be here by Thursday. Yay!
5. The weather is gorgeous!
6. OT sucks. The day job is sucky right now, but what are you going to do?
7. My house is slowly getting back on track. Yay.
8. Weekend non-plans. We have a bunch of stuff to do, but no "commitments", which means we'll be spending the weekend getting much needed stuff done! Yay!
9. Thank goodness for finding a beer in my fridge! It was much needed after today!
10. It's almost time to take the air conditioners out! I can't wait to have a fresh air breeze again! Just not quite yet...
That is all...
Behave!

Monday... Again...

Ugh. Monday.
Today sucked. We lost a person at work and we're already down two....  We're super hyper busy. OT is open again. Which means I'll be working my *ss off until I'm caught up. My brain is broken... I want to stay home to write full time again!
The weekend was good though...We're taking a break from clearing out Mom's house. A much needed break... It was strange to wake up in my own bed and not hearing "It's Yard Sale Time" being screamed along with some kind of obnoxious country music being blared.
Friday night we went to the races to see my nieces boyfriend drive his car. Sweet! It turned out fun and we could have stayed longer, but we had other commitments. Then we went to hang at our friends house - we haven't seen them in forever and I've never seen their new house. It's awesome and we had a blast.
I slept until 10 Saturday, but got a lot done. Completely rearranged my kitchen and put away most of the boxes I've been lugging home week after week. Got rid of a ton of stuff, too. I'm pleased with my progress and I even cooked both nights! It was really nice to be home and not have to go anywhere.
Sunday, I slept in, too. Got up, made coffee, and caught up on some shows I never get to watch. K1 and J came over with BOSS. (Actually Grand Uncle dropped him off here since they watched him the night before) B is so stinking cute. We hung out, played, read some books, took a 'yard ride' in the Jeep, and had fun.
I will have my dining room back soon and I will finish my short story soon!
And it's almost Fall! Happiness is coming back, I think...
Behave!

Weird Wednesday...

So...My computer is being really dumb. I finally managed to load the Internet after an hour plus of BS! Damn!! I can't say that it's Windows 10 glitches or not... I have had this computer for about six weeks, and honestly, have spent most of my time in Word documents.
My plan was to write tonight. But I'm just now back on and it's pretty much bedtime. (or not... we'll see)
It's Wednesday. For work purposes.. Simplified... It's been at least three weeks packed into 4 days.. only it's been two days at this point... Yeah... that's what kind of week I'm having... Argh....
I'm going to bed now... Tomorrow will be better...

Train Wreck Tuesday

So, it's Tuesday! It's September.
We did camp this weekend. It was awesome in so many ways! We didn't get there until Saturday afternoon, which sucked, but couldn't be helped. I had my meeting. That Man had his stuff. But we got there. I'm so glad.
We had a blast Saturday night with K1, J, and Baby B. Baby B is so stinking cute! But they left after the picnic on Sunday. K2, J, and Baby C were there. Baby C is so stinking cute! I was in Nanners heaven!!
Our friends came up to hang out and ended up staying the night. Totally awesome! Our adopted sister and our adopted brothers. It was epic and awesome! We had so much fun hanging out, talking, laughing, singing. That's no regrets right there... You can't plan that stuff...
I'm not sure I got to relax as much as I needed to. I slept for crap both nights. The first night was due to K4 and a migraine with symptoms that had us both on edge. She was fine in the morning, but we had some rough times through the night. The second night I had a dream that is now written down for story fodder. It was so real and scary and it hung with me all day. And I don't know if I slept for more than an hour or so... I woke up grumpy and exhausted. That Man and I took some time together to go on a mission. We got lost. My phone died, but it was good. We got back and my head was killing me. He and my bil starting working on beach stuff. I took some headache meds and a nap. Then we had to pack up.... Ugh...
So last night I also slept like crap again! Or didn't sleep. I don't know.. I couldn't decide if I'd slept or not. I worked the full day job today. I felt lost and crabby most of the day.
Got home and picked K4 up to take her for new headphones since hers died. We did that and hit the grocery store and finally made it home. Ugh. I'm tired...and probably still a little crabby. I have no idea why...
Behave!!

Woah Wednesday...

Woah! My book... Prelude of Lies... released today! So excited!! I got an congratulatory email from my editor this morning and several people told me they got it on their Kindles. Nice! I hope you're watching, Momma! I wish you were here to share this with!

Woah! Apparently, I am allergic to adhesives! Be prepared... this is a long story... There was this skin tag/mole on my neck that had been there for a long time. My sister told me how ugly it was when we were taking down the tree in my backyard, and quite frankly, I knew that, which is why I rarely put my hair up or wear a shirt that shows any skin. That Man and I have been discussing "the mole's" demise for a while now, but I never moved forward on the ideas of remove it.
My hair would get tangled around it a lot. Certain shirts rubbed it. I was always aware of its presence.
Friday night I had a dream that it was disintegrating. I think my hair had gotten caught in it again. It bothered me all day Saturday. I kept touching it, expecting it to fall apart in my hand, but sadly, that never happened.
Cut forward to Saturday night... We had a yard sale at Mom's. It was a Hell day - hot and no customers, lots of leg work, and cleaning out box upon box of old papers that should have been thrown away thirty years ago. Once we cleaned up, the adult beverages came out, and yeah, I had a couple... My hair had yet again gotten tangled in "the mole", and I grabbed a pair of scissors on my way outside. Everyone was hanging on the back porch, relaxing. I asked if anyone wanted to cut of "the mole" and through the groans and "no way", my daughter-in-law jumped up. The pair of scissors I grabbed were dull, so that hurt a lot. She ran inside and grabbed a better pair and cut that bitch mole right off my neck.
I was/am ecstatic. It didn't bleed much at all and it didn't hurt much either. Then, I asked her if she'd cleaned the scissors first... She hadn't, so my sister dragged me inside to properly clean and dress my neck. The bandage lasted like 11 minutes because it was so stinking hot and I was so sweaty. I left it to air until Tuesday morning when I stopped at the pharmacy to get bandages and antibiotic ointment. It still looked really good at that point, but I was concerned enough to think I should do something. Slapped a latex free bandage on it and went about my business. By the time I asked That Man to check it last night, it was red. He said about the adhesive, but I'd woken up a few times the night before with my hair stuck to "the mole's" grave, so I wanted it covered.
By the time I was ready to leave the day job tonight, my neck was sore and uncomfortable. I took the bandage off and it looks like I have a severe sunburn where the adhesive was. Everything else is good, but that rash or whatever is way more uncomfortable than the actual "mole wound". Ugh! Aren't you glad I shared that with you?

Woah! Its Wednesday! This weekend is my writing group meeting, which I am very much looking forward to, and it's a camp weekend. The jury is out on whether or not we'll make the camping trip. There's a lot going on and it's supposed to rain. I want to go, so we'll see...

I'll let you know if "Mr. Mole" comes back to life. I flushed him and have visions of him growing and procreating in the septic tank...

Behave!

Guest Blogging!

Come check me out over here!

I'm guest blogging on my publishers site!

Two more days until release day!

Behave!

And NOW!!!

Available for preorder now!!
Officially out September 4th!!

I am so happy for this book to come out! This is my Momma's book! The first one I let her read! Mom loved this book so much! I love this book so much!
I wrote this book after a fantastic camping trip with friends. The idea started the minute we got there, and grew and grew. I had a whole notebook of notes by the time we left, and still had time to have so much fun. It came together in a month - the first month after all of Those Kids were in school full time and I could concentrate on writing without interruptions. (Yes, it was a while ago, but trust me, it's been edited a lot)
Some time later, Mom and Dad had stopped by our house one evening. We weren't really doing anything, just hanging out - watching a movie or something, I don't remember exactly. Mom and Dad had been out to dinner and saw our front door open as they passed by. They circled the block and came back to stop in. We were happy to see them.
We broke out some adult beverages. Had a blast talking about all kinds of stuff. They had just gotten a new laptop and were confused about stuff. We had them bring it in, hooked it up to our wireless, and downloaded all of the things they needed. (they couldn't get wireless at their house at that time, though they lived just a few miles from us.. and yeah, it was a few years ago...maybe more than a few... (When they got a new laptop, mom transferred the file onto the new one because she would read it every few months)
So...Mom and I's conversation turned to writing. She always asked me what I was working on and what was happening. She was always excited about this story. I had brainstormed it a bit with her. I had already submitted it a bunch of times and no one was interested. I decided to let her read it... I downloaded it onto their new computer for her, after she'd read several chapters on my computer.
Mom loved this story... even in it's unedited state. She'd call me to tell me she found an error, but that it was minor to the fact that she couldn't stop reading. She defended this story to the end. Every time I'd get a rejection on this, she was mad for me. Even when I signed contracts for my other books, she'd ask about this one... wondering when someone would take a chance on it. At last count, this had over 110 rejections.
After Dad passed, I was floundering a lot with writing. As we sat with him in the hospital, I was working on a Halloween short for my other publisher. After submitting it and discussing with my editor, we agreed it wasn't really something that would fit with the Halloween line, and that there were a few plot holes that needed to be addressed, and how it would really be better as a full novel. I wasn't sure it would, so we backburnered it... and I continued to feel lost and without spark.
We do a publishers showcase in my writers group every year and my awesome editor from Soul Mate was part of it. I really liked what she had to say and I loved that they accept many different genres. I thought maybe it was time to dust this book off again and give it another shot. So, I submitted and within a few weeks had a request for a full. I didn't tell Mom. I didn't want to have to disappoint her again.
About a month after I submitted, I was spending the weekend at Mom's. She had bought this awesome desk and needed someone to put it together for her and needed the company. She was in a lot of pain due to a sciatic nerve problem and needed help getting certain things done. I had conflicting feelings about going, only because some of my writer friends were having a mini retreat and I wanted to go, but I couldn't leave Mom in the lurch. I was so glad I went.
I got there and went to work on the desk (only had to take it apart 3 times to fix something)... We ordered food, and after we ate, I took a break to check email. That's when I got the contract offer. I had walked outside to check out the sky and after pacing and calling That Man, I went inside.
Her face when I told her is something I will never forget. I knew right then that I was supposed to be with Mom when I got this news. She was so ecstatic. She clapped, stomped her feet, and nearly cried. It was an epic moment. She wasn't too happy when I said she could only tell her best friend until the contract was signed, but not a real unhappy - just an impatient unhappy. (I had to text her once the contract was signed so she could tell her other friends.) :)
So, fast forward to May. The day Mom started feeling bad was the day I got my first cover shot. The title was incorrect, but the basic cover is the same. I was so excited to show her, but she was sick and in pain. We got her to the hospital and they pumped her full of morphine. By the time they were nearly ready to take her to surgery, her pain level was low enough that I asked her if she wanted to see. She couldn't really talk thanks to the tubes and dry mouth, but she grabbed my hand and squeezed when she saw it. I'm so glad I got to share that with her.
And now I'm a week away from release day! I very much miss my momma and I will miss sharing this with her, but I know she's still here with me for it - just in a different way.
That's my story...
Behave!

It's Done...

This is the tree that fell on my house last July. Or what's left of it... (yes, that's my finger at the edge of the picture. I'm very talented that way.)
It took four cases of beer, 16 lbs of taco meat and the stuff to go with tacos, some cash, a few injuries, several sore backs, and a lot of very appreciated help, but the deed is (mostly) done. The mess you see there isn't the same. it's better, but there's still clean up to do.
So weird in my backyard though... I miss my tree, but as the branches came down, we realized how lucky something major hadn't happened.(Like a brand new roof and a few windows wasn't major...) It was in really bad shape - rot and carpenter ants.
The guys spent Sunday splitting wood and getting a major amount of cleaning up done. Monday, That Man and That Neighbor put the fence back up.
I'm still not used to it. Our major shade is gone, and of course, it's stinking hot outside right now. (and how considerate of us to plan the tree take down on the hottest weekend of summer... Ha ha! Ugh... Was not what we wanted at all, but we all lived)
And on top of all of that, I received my final edits on Thursday. So instead of cleaning my filthy house, I trekked over to Mom's and hunkered down so I could work without interruptions. It was a good call. When I left for work Friday morning, I only had 98 pages to read through. Finished that up by Saturday morning and sent them off before the crowd got here. Turns out no one cared about my dirty house but me... Ha!
So that's that...
Behave!

Weird Wednesday...

Almost a week again...Sorry about that... Someday things will ease up. I think. I hope.
We have discussed that once we're done with the house and the estate that we won't know what to do with ourselves. I have no idea if that will be true... But my house and my family hope it is. I do know that once we come to the other side of this, that I will see my sibs as much as I do know - which is completely awesome and will be good for all of us.
I am waiting for the next round of edits... my book is supposed to come out in two weeks. I'm a little nervous...
We have a crazy weekend ahead... Our big tree - the one that fell on the house the day of Dad's funeral is coming down. We have a huge crew coming to help, besides the guy we actually hired and will pay. The deal is food and beer once the job is one. I'm on the fence as what to feed everyone... guess I should decide soon. My house is still destroyed. We're working on it.
For  now... I'm working on stuff for my new book! I'm working on a short that kind of tie into the new book. I'm dealing with estate stuff. That Man is fixing up the Jeep... The Day Job is insane...
There is never enough time.
I did take Baby B out for ice cream tonight. He's been begging me for a few weeks now. I really wanted to cancel tonight because I hurt all over, but how could I do that to my little man? He was so stinking cute! I'm so glad I went despite my neck ache and list of things to do - spending time with him was so worth continuing to be behind...
That's all for now...
Behave!

Feel Good Friday... On Thursday...

Doing this now, because I know I won't have time tomorrow... I'll either be busy at Mom's going through stuff, or busy puking my guts out since my entire family has had the flu this week, except for me!!

1. Getting my Jeep inspected! Yay! We're legal now and while we have some work to do, we're good. I love her.
(I was trying to upload a photo, but haven't figured out how with the new computer! Rude!)

2. Stuff is done. Not everything, but the major stuff. Or most of it. I can't keep up.

3. Living through the week. Brutal. Between the flu, running constantly (like so much, we didn't cook in this house except for one night and that was That Man), and everything else....

4. Tomorrow is Friday. Yay!

5. Weekend plans! It will be busy, but good.

6. So yeah... I am the last man standing... I'm scared. That Man came home from work early today with the bug. Everyone else in this house has had it. I do not want.

7. My brand new "Beach 2015 OBX" notebook. Yeah, you heard that right. We're going to the beach this year!! WHOOT!!! It's been 10 years!!

8. My new book releases at the end of this month. I know you know that, but I'm excited!!

I got 8. That's pretty good after so long without a feel good Friday!!

Behave!!

Wait? What? August?

Holy Crap!
This summer has flown by! We have less than a month until K4 starts her sophomore year of high school! That's crazy! (Eww... and it means school shopping!)
So, I know I was gone for a little while. Sorry about that! I was in crazy mode working on my edits! Got those sent back in, but will have at least one more round before my book comes out!
We had Baby B on Saturday night. He'd stayed Friday night with K2. (Mom and Dad had their first weekend away and had no cell reception!) K4 and I picked him up Saturday afternoon. He had a blast with K2, J, and Baby C! We did some running around, played in the backyard for a little, and then he came into the living room and plopped down on a bean bag and said he needed a nap. I picked him up to try to figure out what was wrong and he threw up all over me and the floor. Wasn't sure what was up at that point. Checked the juice I'd just bought to make sure it was good. It was. He bounced back a bit and was hanging with That Man and I as we worked on my new ride (more on that in a bit). He was sitting in the front seat and ended up throwing up again. And then again, and again. Poor baby! We felt so bad for him! It wasn't as bad of a night as we expected. He was up early and hungry. Thankfully feeling better! Mom and Dad came to get him shortly after noon. They felt really bad he was sick, but we wouldn't have called anyway. Been there, done that. Plus we could have reached them in an emergency, but some puke isn't an emergency.
And NOW... K4 has it... She is currently moaning and has thrown up several times already. Poor baby! That Man and I made a run for Gatorade, Ginger Ale, ice, and soup. We're kind of afraid. I mean, I was puked on several times. He cleaned up puke several times. K4 quarantined herself after the second time Baby B threw up and she's in rough shape right now... So...
So, my new ride! I got a fantastic deal on a 99 Jeep Wrangler. I love her! Her name is Polly after my momma. She is fun to drive, has a sweet convertible top, and is a 5 speed. She needs some rust tlc... more than we thought (we just found something unpleasant tonight and I'm a little scared!) We took care of the one spot and discovered another in the process. Ugh.
I'll post a picture of my new ride and my new book cover within the next few days!
Behave!!

What's Going On?

It's Thursday. This week has gone fast and has been insanely busy.

1. Our floor is crap. There are spots were the polyurethane is rubbing off. It makes no sense. 90% of it is gorgeous. Of course, the spots are in the high traffic areas... We're not sure what to do. We can't put any more poly down. I guess we'll be looking at rugs. Argh.

2. We managed to get Mom and Dad's vehicles transferred to their new owners. Yay!! But...Ordeal. Per usual.

3. We managed to get the Estate account opened. Ordeal.

4. We also managed to pay the pressing bills - funeral and mortgage. The mortgage company is filled with buttholed idiots. They have the short certificate listing me as an administrator, but said they couldn't talk to me. Jerks. And again... Ordeal.

5. Because they deserve a special shout out - The funeral home is amazing. They are so caring and wonderful. Everyone is awesome, but Funeral Bob is a great guy and has checked in with us frequently over the past two months. We are so lucky to know him. He's become a friend over the last year and I'm grateful.

6. I did manage to take a half day on Wednesday. Got a lot of editing done, which is awesome. I came home to a still sleeping teenager, which gave me time to get busy.

7. Edits are going pretty well. I need to do another read-through. Punch up some emotions and things, and I'll be ready to send it back! Yay! Of course, this is going to take time, and we have an insane weekend ahead.

8. First yard sale at Mom and Dad's this weekend. We're not even remotely ready, but we will be. This is the first of many. We've only scratched the surface there. It's all hands on deck, though. Basement will be started by whoever is not working the sale, and then we'll switch out. And we'll be having a birthday party for my future brother-in-law's twins.

9. My puppy got fixed two weeks ago. We were able to remove "the cone of shame" permanently. We actually did it days early, but watched her to make sure she wasn't licking. I still have bruises. She's done with restrictions, which is awesome. She has been wanting to run so badly. She still has a day or so of antibiotics to take, but she's doing well! I'm so happy I don't have to deal with a doggie period anymore!

10. Here's an all in one for ten.... I am exhausted. I keep forgetting things I wouldn't normally forget. I don't sleep. I need a new car. I wish I was in New York for the National conference going on now. I want to go away and have some fun. I want my living room back. I want to spend a full weekend at home and have a jammie day. ... I'll stop there...

I may be back for Feel Good Friday tomorrow!

Behave!

Where were we?

Let's see...
I last posted on Tuesday... That seems like a lifetime ago...
Wednesday was crazy. Running around and trying to get stuff done.
Thursday I took a very much needed break and went out with friends to see Magic Mike XXL. We'd all gone to see the first one and had made a pact that if they released a sequel, we would all go. Dinner was really nice - great food and company. The movie was surprisingly good. I expected it to be as dark as the first one, but as it turns out, it was a really feel good, women empowering, sexy men, buddy, and growth movie. I really enjoyed it, and for more than the beefcake.
Tonight we sanded, cleaned, and put another coat of polyurethane on our floors. Fingers crossed! It already looked better when we cleaned up and left. Got back to mom's and ordered food. I got my edits and looked over them. I'm good with everything, so just need to make it happen.
Tomorrow is crazy busy. I have to be in Ship first thing to take care of Estate bank accounts. The way things are written, my s-i-l and I have to be present for every transaction. What a pain. But once we get the account open, we can start paying bills. Once we get the vehicles transferred, we're good for a while.
Then we head to my sister's to help with their annual wing cook off competition. Should be fun. And work.
Sunday I will start edits.
I was supposed to take some time off from the day job next week. Was looking forward to it for editing time until I realized I might have to let my time go for someone who needs to lose time since OT is not approved right now. Damn.
I'm a little... okay, a lot... overwhelmed right now... I have a hard time shutting my brain off these days, which makes sleeping interesting and makes me teary during the day. I think it was after two until I feel asleep last night and it's been the same all week. I keep a notepad beside my bed so I can write stuff I don't want to forget down, and I end up with a lengthy sticky note on my phone by the time I leave work. I check one thing off and add three more...
This, too, shall pass.
Behave!

Summer Survival...

*My last post was written on the 9th, but then edited and posted on the 11th. I didn't realize the date would stay... you would think I would know that by now.... Ha!

I miss those days a lot... Being home with the natives - their antics, their perceived boredom, they way they occupied themselves... Summer was a lot more fun back then. Although it didn't seem like it at the time, I had a lot more time to do things. I was writing a lot, my house was clean and organized.
Now it's just same thing, different day. Or so it seems. I have a lot on my plate these days. I don't have time to do half of the things I want and need to. It's been ages since I've been able to "just" relax - not take a break from a task to relax, not relax after a long day of doing whatever, but to spend a day doing what I want to do, instead of what has to be done...
I'm not trying to complain, though it does sound like it. This is life at the moment and I have to do what I have to do. And I am. I'm just feeling a big of nostalgia for simpler times. This will pass soon enough into yet another phase and I'll deal with that, too.
So... my floors need another coat of poly. I thought they would be okay, but the more I look at them - as lovely as they look in many places - we're not pleased with the end result. We knew it wouldn't be perfect, but we didn't expect the floor to look "this" bad. The didn't all fill, there are spots that were somehow missed with the final coat, and all of those areas are not places we can cover up with furniture or rugs. We'll lay down another coat this weekend and see where we end up. Has to be better than right now.
My dilemma is now that I don't want to put my crappy ugly furniture back. I'm searching for something reasonable to replace it. I can't spend a lot and I don't want to considering the three cats and dog, grandkids (and messy teenagers). So we'll see what happens...
Okay... time to write...
Behave!

I Am Trying...

There is a lot these days.
Estate stuff, family stuff, work stuff, writing stuff... OH HEY!! I am writing again!!
Or I was until my computer DIED!! Getting used to the new one is a pain! I haven't had much time to actually play with it! I do like it though, but the learning curve is steep! Red lasted me for 7 years, so there's a lot of new stuff to get used to!
But I lost my story...That sucks hardcore....
I expect my edits soon as my book comes out in August. We're going to have to be quick, but my editor and I are confident we'll get them done in time!
I had to write a letter to a family that were a part of our lives from the time we were little. There was a long stretch of not seeing them, following by a long stretch of seeing them, then followed by another stretch of not seeing them. They aged. My parents aged. They moved to Montana. We had no way to get a hold of them. Mom's address book is missing. It wasn't until she sent Mom a birthday present that we knew how to contact them. It's been almost 2 months... That sucks... It took me over a week to write the letter. The first letter ended up being 14 pages long and was a lot of spew of how things are going now. The second letter was to the point and just had the facts, but it still sucks. This letter has been hanging over my head. But it's done now. And I still feel bad for having to tell them that way.
There are a lot of things like that these days. We got through the anniversary of Dad's death. Hard, but what are you going to do.
Our Uncle and Aunt are the best! They aren't too very far away and they are making sure we're good. Our cousins are doing the same. Texting, calling... we're supported, and that's great, but we're still doing this with just us...But I will say that my sibs are the best. The four of us that have been here through thick and thin are still here through it. We agree. We get stuff done. And we're so much closer than we've ever been, which is saying a lot! A whole lot. We had our first fourth of July campout without our parents, and it sucked, but we did good. We have each other.
My family stayed at Mom's all last week. We started redoing our hardwood floors over the 4th and the dry time is insane and suckage! I made sure the kitchen and dining room were comfort places - completely free of boxes and stuff to go through.
We spent the weekend working hard - got the office gone through, boxed up for yard sale, and cleaned enough that K3 could actually sleep in there. We'd been using it as a storage room when Mom was having her kitchen redone and were still going through boxes when she died. It was a horrible mess, so it's a huge accomplishment! We also got the garage organized. We had a family meeting, which was productive.
I'm beat though. Home again, but there is no furniture in my living room, except for bean bags. The floor didn't turn out like we expected, but it's still beautiful. There are still a few tacky spots, so we're waiting to put the furniture back. I still have a bunch of dust to clean up. Our cats are happy to be free again - we had to keep them contained so they wouldn't get on the floor. They had everything they needed, but they didn't like it.
Elsa got fixed on Thursday and is now wearing the cone of shame. My legs are covered in bruises. So are everyone else's. She's knocked over so many things, broken glasses and beer bottles, gotten stuck on furniture and in doorways, and is generally pathetic. She's doing really well though. No ill effects from the anesthesia or surgery. Except we left her antibiotics at Mom's, so she'll be running a day behind on them. We took the cone off once we got settled in at home. She's not licking at all right now, but we'll be putting it back on before we go to bed. I hate it, but I understand why she has to wear it.
I'm done in. Though I did write a few words tonight. I'm still learning this computer, so everything is a little strange.
That is all...
Behave!