So Much...

It's been a long week. 

I am done. 

I have seen families fighting and calling names over differing opinions and political views. I have seen relationships broken and damaged beyond repair. Families altered and now estranged because of a social media post and an inability to scroll past or at least offer a respectful response. 

Listen. I don't care about your politics. At all. If I like you. I like you. Most likely we can have a reasonable conversation about the things we don't agree on. And if, over the years, we've found that type of discussion is not good for us, then we won't have it. 

Actually, I would prefer not to talk politics at all. That's not why we're hanging out. 

That seems to work face to face, but when someone is hidden behind a screen, it's different. And it sucks. Just don't comment. Or hide that person so their posts don't up your ire. It's responsible and mature. 

And, just so we're clear, I'm not talking about racism above. That's a totally different topic and I won't have any kind of discussion with you, ever, if you think racism is okay. It's not. Ever. In fact, if you think racism is okay, I am probably not your friend at all. 

All of it just makes me sad. I know we're all sick of the Covid stuff, we're sick of politics, murder hornets, the tiger king, not being able to find what we need at the store... we're sick of how life has gone pretty much all year, but we cannot lose our humanity or our compassion for each other. 

Just scroll on by, for crying out loud. It's not that hard. Do not make horrible comments and call names to someone because their opinion is different than yours. Don't continually seek them out to further make comments. If you are that vehement about what they post, then do your research and have an intelligent and reasonable conversation with them. Or block them. The choice is yours. Calling people names makes you look like an *ss and makes you lose people in your life. And if that happens, you have no one to blame but yourself. 

I know people are passionate and can be vociferous when they are projecting their opinions. They are allowed. Just as you are allowed to post what you want on your page. It's their social media platform and they can post whatever they want. Their opinions might not line up with yours. That's fine. They don't care because it belongs to them and they are making that post for themselves. Not to you. Not to change your opinion. Or make you angry. Scroll on by. Or block them. It's pretty obvious that you're not going to change their opinion by calling them names. 

Like I said, it's been a long week. No, I'm not going to tell you what family I'm talking about. I highly doubt you would know them anyway. They are not people I ever talk about on here. My heart breaks for them and my hope is that one day they can work through this and be whole again.

Be kind to each other. I know you're a little cranky from being in Covid-land for so long, but reach inside and pull out that compassion. I think we're all going to need a ton of it in the coming weeks. 

Behave!

A Week?

I guess so... Humph...

Not much going on.

I'm writing.
I'm working.

I don't have much else...

Behave!

Quiet...

Well... except for the fire siren that has gone off twelve-hundred times so far today... Ha! That's not what I mean though.

I've been quiet. I was going to post on Mom's birthday, but couldn't bring myself to do it. I didn't post on Facebook either. Just didn't want to...I think I said in a previous post that it's been a rough year.

We are supposed to move to Yellow Phase on Friday. It's weird.

Though a good friend's father is in the hospital with Covid. He's elderly and not doing well. She has symptoms and is awaiting her test results (he lives with her). That kind of brought this whole thing home and freaked us both out. She's an essential worker and has had to go to work every day through this. She's been worried about bringing something home to her dad. Though he could have gotten it through other means as well - the doctor's office, his therapist, his other daughter.

Looking forward to a long weekend coming up, though it seems weird not to be able to camp.

That's all I have.

Behave!

Feel Good Friday!

Let's get to it!

1. A brand new granddaughter! She arrived late Wednesday and she's beautiful and perfect. The whole family is doing well. Luckily, the had planned a home birth. She came so fast they would have never made it to the hospital. She also came on the anniversary of her Gigi's death, which has special significance. Now we'll have a happier memory to associate with the day and I can't help but think Mom had something to do with that.

2. Moving to the Yellow Phase next week!

3. Working on the camper.

4. Going to run errands at lunch today and driving the Jeep with the top down.

5. My downstairs staying clean and tidy since we moved upstairs.

6. Burgers on the grill for dinner.

7. Sleeping in tomorrow. We are putting the air conditioner in soon. Second floor after an 80 degree day is not a good sleeping arrangement.

8. Getting rid of $44 worth of one dollar bills today. K4 owed me money and paid me all in ones. When I ran into the grocery store to pick up a prescription and a few other things, I ran all of those suckers into the machine at the self check out. Whoot!

That's about it. Of course we will be home this weekend, but we have a lot of stuff to do...

Behave!

Five Years, Momma...

I miss you every day, Momma.
I miss our morning talks.
I miss any talk with you.
I miss your advice.
I miss your cooking.
I miss helping you with whatever you need.
I miss shopping with you.
I miss watching The Waltons with you.
I miss your random phone calls when something Dad used to take care of happened.
I miss family gatherings at your house.
I miss your optimism and your strength.
I miss the way you would jump in to help anyone and everyone who needed help.
I miss your hope.
I miss being able to call you just to ask a dumb question or hear your perspective. I could have used that many many many times since you've been gone.
I miss road trips with you.
I miss your face.
I miss everything.

This anniversary feels sharp.

Every memory is vivid and marked. Maybe it's because the days fall exactly the same. Sunday was our last Mother's Day together after an epic weekend of surprising you with an early birthday party. Monday was the day I called the ambulance. Today was the day you died.

I looked at the clock at the exact time, too. I did that several times today. "This was when we talked to the surgeon", "This is when they gave us the family room for our exclusive use", and so on... I remember heading back to your house afterwards and all of us just sitting in silence trying to wrap our heads around everything. I remember making phone calls and going to bed in the wee hours of the morning... not sleeping, but sobbing all night.

Next week, on your birthday, we had your services as requested by your brother and agreed on by your kids. The following day, we went to the crematorium and supported each other while the deed happened.

But I have also tried to stay busy today to keep my mind off of it. Only, like I said, everything is sharp and hurty. And I miss you so much.

Momma, I hope you and Dad are having a blast together. I hope you look down on us all and smile. I hope what I think are little signs from you all really are. You would have been 80 on this birthday. I think about that and how you'd be getting around, how you'd be doing, how you would react to what we're dealing with right now.

Actually we joke about that. You would be impossible to keep home. You'd always want to go and get more supplies to make more masks. You'd always be at the grocery store "stocking up" because you loved to stock up. You would be in your "helping" element. You would be going crazy without being able to see your friends or go to the craft store.

Oh, Momma. I know you're in a better place, but that doesn't help your kids left behind. I know you're there with your oldest, too, and I hope things are good between you now.

I miss you, Momma.

Behave!

End Of An Era...

I didn't renew my membership with the national writing organization.

There were many reasons. No, I won't list them. They won't make sense unless you are a part of the organization and have firsthand witnessed what's been happening since December (and before). I will give them kudos for trying to get things back to right, but I can't abide by being treated like sheep.

Anyway. With that change I also have no choice but to give up my local writing chapter. That was a HUGE decision because I have been a member for eighteen-ish years and I love my chapter! But, despite my love, I have come to the realization that I don't have anything left to give my chapter and I don't feel like I'm getting anything from it. (Not their fault. This is totally on me)

I was on the board for probably 13 or 14 years of my membership. I got convinced to take over being librarian within my second year (rules were different back then). I kept that job for probably five years before running for vice president. And then president. And then vice president again. I think I was secretary for a year. Maybe? I know I was never ever treasurer. But I pretty much did every other board position at least a few times.

I also ran the retreat for ten years or so. That ended. Mainly because the dynamic of our membership changed and no one needed or could afford the glorious retreat we had grown accustomed to. It happens. We started out as a young chapter. We all had little children. We all desperately needed writing time away from our families. And it really worked for a long time and grew and was absolutely amazing. And then, our kids grew up and were in high school or college or doing okay on their own. And we could write in the evenings and in our spare time, or if we were lucky enough to be able to write from home full time, the distractions were gone. Retreats were absolutely amazing and will remain my best memories ever!

After talking with my friends that I know I will see frequently regardless (well, I mean, once we can go to dinner or lunch again), we came to the conclusion that me leaving is like graduating from high school. You've learned your lessons, been bullied, and now are ready to strike out on your own. It's pretty much a perfect analogy.

I will miss my friends. I will miss so many things, but I know in my heart that I have made the right decision. So much so that I have written more in the few days since I sent my "goodbye"  email than I have in the past two weeks or so (since I realized it was coming up fast). As much as I love and have always loved my chapter, I feel like a weight has been lifted.

I can always go back. There is that. In the meantime, I have the lifelong friends I have made as a direct result of the whole thing - these are the people that I talk to nearly every single day. We text. We email. (We have our own email group - that's how committed to each other we are and have been for the past fifteen or so years) We check in with each other and we kick each other's butts when we're struggling. And we support each other no matter what.

I cannot explain our connection, but we seem to intuitively know if someone needs a hug or a push. And it always works.

Behave!

Happy May the Fourth...

...and we're still "sheltering at home".  We're at what 45 days now? At least for us.

Our industry began again today. They are well-equipped with safety gear and regulations. That Man had to be at the office early this morning to get everyone to sign off and recognize the safety supplies. The rest of us office people are still at home and will be for the foreseeable future.

I need my office space and hope to have it soon. I am done with the "coziness" of having my work station in my dining room. I want that space back. I want to be able to eat a meal at my table and I want the cats to leave me alone during my work day. Stealing pens, papers, chewing on stuff, and trying to remove my bank fob are unacceptable. And the hair! I brought a can of compressed air home the other day. We have so much fur in all of our stuff it was a necessity. Well, the first time I used it, it scared the bejeezus out of all of them. And then I did it again because I thought I was funny. I went to use it today because there is just so freaking much hair every-freaking-where and I discovered that they (the cats) had chewed the tube-thingy and it no longer worked. Ha! I just need an office chair and K4 to do some clean up in my office (her old room) and I'm good to go. Hopefully this time next week, I will be in there, despite it not being completely done.

It was a super nice weekend and I was so thankful! We worked on scraping the peeling paint from our front porch so we can paint. It's a terrible, terrible chore and despite doing very little scraping yesterday, I am still hurting. I did, however, do a lot - just not that - laundry, cleaning, making mac salad (thanks to my sister-in-law for the formula), making pickled eggs, etc. That Man, however, worked three times as much as I did on it yesterday and he is even more hurty. I also repotted a few plants and got some flowers taken care of. I need flowers though! And it's ticking me off that I can't get them right now!

We never got any alligators and The Wilds survived the flooding. Still waiting on word about camping. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

So now we have "Murder Hornets"!!?? What the crap is that? I looked them up. They are ridiculous! Who needs them at all? My only hope is that people don't see the cicada killer bees and think they are murder hornets. The cicada killers always live in my patio. They are non-confrontational and are cool to watch. They grab their cicada's and go back into their holes (we imagine a hobbit-like system underground, but that might just be a little silly). They are huge and scary looking though.

I did write tonight! I am so happy! It's been at least a week, if not longer. I hit a dead zone again, which is, I guess, normal right now, but not writing does not make me feel better about anything. I cut off at a point that makes me excited to get back to it and I'm not too far from the end, so there's that.

I also talked to two out of three siblings tonight, which is good stuff.  I mean, my brother butt dialed me, but we had been texting previously, so we talked anyway. Good stuff. I miss them all and can't wait until we can hang out together again. I also got hysterical videos of Little Mr. B. That kid is a freaking riot and I'm sure he's plotting to take over the world. I miss my boys!

That's all I have!

Behave!

Thursday... Why Have You Been Such a Long Day?

We went into the office today...

Had to get some supplies and do some things. That Man had a pretty big task and I had a bunch of stuff to do. We had to get our temperature taken as soon as we came in and sign the "book" to prove we had our temperature taken and record it. I totally get it. It just feels weird.

We were there until lunchtime. I was getting hangry because my large cup of coffee ended around ten. I took all of my drawer snacks home and hadn't brought anything else to drink. Finally got home and ate a delicious leftover hamburger for lunch and some potato salad.

Then we worked some more.

And then it was time to be done, though we both worked past our normal time. Me more than him, but he had later phone calls and stuff. And we both felt like we'd worked a solid two days straight. I don't know why - maybe the long morning in the office and then the long day working at home. We're both worn out and our shoulders ache. It was a damned stressful day.

And it rained all freaking day long. Our yard is a swamp. I'm just waiting for alligators to show up...

Our front porch is pretty big. That's where our mailbox is. It's covered from the rain. But, despite arriving home about ten minutes after the mail person came, our mail was so wet. Like, I had to set it in front of the little fireplace to dry wet. That will tell you how crazy the rain was.

Our "The Wilds' are flooding currently. The last update I got was that the flood was up to the pavillion. That's pretty far over the banks of the creek. Like over the road. The hope is that we will get to camp in 31 days, but we will see. It's a private space and the typical picnic probably won't happen, but there should be no reason we cannot camp in our favorite place. But... We shall see.

Tomorrow is Friday. I hope it's a quick day. But I am no convinced it will be. I have a pretty big list of things to do.

And I haven't written a damned word all week...

Behave!

Dear...

It's been a super long time since I've done one of these and since I'm out of creativity at the moment, this is all I have.

Dear Employer -

Thank you for taking us off the week-to-week schedule and keeping us working from home. I appreciate you more than I can say. There is a need to get my office back to right, but we are figuring that out.

Dear Neighbor -

Please put a damn curtain up in your window. Your light is bright and I don't need to see you in your kitchen all of the time. Also, please keep your trash can out of my yard. And please stop throwing the neighbor kids basketball into my yard. We don't have basketball playing kids despite having a basketball net.

Dear Virus -

Please go the hell away and stop doing what you're doing. We're all sick of you and we want our lives back. I think we all agree that we're going to be different when we get out of this. I don't mind working from home. I don't even mind the social distancing thing. But I do mind not getting to hug my grandkids and kids. Videos and Facetime aren't covering it.

Dear Weather -

I know you were nice today, but you're not supposed to be tomorrow. Please be nice enough so we can get the camper fixed. Please be nice enough so I can take my plants back outside. Please stop raining on the weekends so we can get some stuff done. And maybe get our garden done? I know you're doing your thing the way you now how, but it's time to be warmer out. It's time to be able to save my electric bill, too.

Dear Zoo Living in My House -

Please stop shedding. Your hair is driving me crazy. It's everywhere no matter what we do. I am so tired of having it stick to me constantly. Also, please stop being so crazy when we're working. I need that pen and those papers and I need you to get out of my box. Also. You're cute and funny and I love you, so whatever. Ha!

Dear Other Neighbor -

Stop yelling and fighting in the middle of the night. Stop parking in front of my house and hitting your lock button seventy-two times so your alarms beeps constantly. Stop doing the thing I'm pretty sure you're doing. Stop letting your very cute dog poop in my flower bed. Stop throwing your trash wherever. And get someone to come and finish cleaning up the tree in your backyard - though I get that is probably on your landlord and not you. Still. It's a mess.

Dear Summer -

Please be awesome.

Dear Writing -

Please come back. I did critiques of two very awesome books, but I haven't done my own stuff in a few days. I will, but I need an infusion of creativity stat.

That's all I have.

Behave! 

Day Four Thousand and Twelve...

Or something like that...

Today has been a tangle of frustration.

The working part is okay.

The home part is okay.

It's just one of those days.

I woke up around 2am to use the bathroom and when I looked out my window, I saw a pile of water bottles and a tea container on the roof to our front porch. I did my business, came back, and looked again. Yep. There they were, with a plastic grocery bag to my right. I laid in bed and tried to figure out how they had gotten there and who was going to retrieve them.

When I told That Man about it, he looked and saw nothing but the grocery bag. That is all that is out there right now and there is nothing on the sidewalk or in the street out front so it didn't blow off with the rain or anything.

I am losing my mind.

I made another batch of danishes. They taste delicious, but they look like... in K4's words... Octopi spawning. I used a layer of blackberry jam under the cream cheese, but my base flattened when it shouldn't have, so I need to think that one through for next time.

I bought the wrong conditioner. It's K4's scent. Not mine. And while I don't mind it, I do. So she now has a brand new bottle and I need to get some. I'm trying to order some online, but I can't seem to find my smell.

We are making gyros for dinner. Decided to cook the chicken a different way. We piled it up on a skewer poked into an onion and slid another onion on the top. I'm worried it's going to fall over, but so far so good. It smells amazing. The chicken has been marinating since Saturday, so I hope everything works out. Last time I made this I used the dill stems from the tzaziki sauce in the marinade and forgot to rinse them. The chicken was amazing, until you hit a bite of sand. With that, I was done. We rinsed the marinade off and it was still there. The dill was definitely rinsed this time.

That's all I have...

Behave!

Feel Good Friday!

And it's actually on Friday!

Let's just hit the list!

1. Working another week. So grateful.

2. The massive amount of day job stuff I crushed this week. Except for Wednesday's glitchy issues, I had a very productive week.

3. The weekend. Hey! Guess what? We're staying home! hahaha! But I am sleeping in. And I hope it's warm enough outside to do some stuff. We will have to make a supply run at some point for the stuff I couldn't get with my grocery delivery.

4. Getting groceries delivered. It was a pain to actually get a time, but other than that it was awesome! We'll definitely do it again and will probably continue after this whole thing is over.

5. I made Cream Cheese Danishes this morning. They turned out so good. Definitely adding this one to my list of "make again". So easy! And I made raspberry sauce to go with them. I've eaten three of them so far and I really just need to back away!

6. Pringles.

7. Critiquing a friends book and getting a little writing done this week.

That's all I have.

Behave!

The Winter of Our Quarantine

Is it ever going to get warm?

The wind is howling. It's rude. We have a fire lit. It's wonderfully warm in here, which I appreciate, but at the same time I would prefer to have the windows open.

I am sick of it being cold outside!

I want to work in my flower beds.
I want to sit by the fire.
I want to plant vegetables.
I need it to be warm enough to get the camper floor in.
And replace the fence.
I need to sit in the sun. (I get brief moments, but it's not exactly what I need)

I can't remember if  it's usually warmer than this right now, or if this is just spring... I don't think this is normal though. Or maybe that has something to do with being on lockdown. I don't know.

But, again, I would do far better on lockdown if I could do the above... I don't need to leave my house. I don't feel the lack of socializing thing. I just feel the lack of sun and warmth.

I know. I'm complaining. I can't help it today.

We were supposed to be at the beach right now. That Man and I had rented a really sweet little beach cottage. On the beach. On our favorite beach. We were going to leave early this morning and we would have been there by late afternoon. We were so excited for this trip!

And we're not there... And the property owner refuses to answer me on a credit or refund. I don't expect a full refund. I understand, but the likelihood of us booking another trip without a partial refund/credit is highly unlikely... (We're not even going to talk about next month's already paid for hotel... )

I have a bunch of being bummed...

It didn't help that my work afternoon needed dynamite or something. Nothing wanted to work correctly and I spent the last hour or so in total frustration. The good news is that we're working next week too. I definitely won't complain about that.

So after a month or so at home and being jealous of everyone talking about how much stuff they're getting done at their homes, I finally, after it being on my "to do" list for probably two years, cleaned out my linen closet.

It took the most of my lunch break yesterday, but it's amazing now! I have one whole empty shelf. One shelf of sheets. One shelf of the stuff that goes in a linen closet - the iron, extra light bulbs, first aid stuff, etc... I went from a stuffed full closet to the bare essentials and I couldn't be happier. I can't tell you when I cleaned it out last, but it has definitely been a long while.

Today I tackled the vanity cabinet in the bathroom, which was actually super easy and quick. Took like ten minutes. But again, bare essentials, and it's good.

I can't tell you that I have big plans to do anything else... I don't. Between writing and the day job, there is not a lot of time or energy left...

Anyway... I am going to take my complaining *ss to bed now... It's been a longer than normal day...

Behave!

Actually...Feel Good Friday on Sunday

I realized that while I said my post yesterday was a Feel Good Post, it actually wasn't even close! So we're going to try again today...

Here we go:

1. Working another week. At least. We'll see...

2. Ordering delivery Friday night. Though... the computer never printed out my order. Two phone calls and almost 3 hours later we finally ate. They did comp us with a free 2-liter of soda though it wasn't their fault.

3. Sleeping in. I slept in yesterday and today, though I had a rough time sleeping last night.

4. Getting the words on the page. I did pretty good this week. Not as good as I wanted to yesterday, but still way more than normal

5. Ordering stuff online. The pet food came yesterday. I'm still trying to put my grocery order in and am not having a lot of luck. I'll keep trying though. I'd rather not go out if I don't have to. Most of the online ordering works well, but there are frustrations and delays that make me nuts.

6. The sun today. I need that.

7. Living through a slight case of the stomach crud. I started feeling crappy Wednesday after dinner. Won't provide any details, except to say the stomach cramps were horrible. It hit That Man Thursday. By yesterday I felt normal and he's finally feeling normal today. Just kind of scary if you think about it. We've both worn masks and gloves and hand sanitized every time we go out. And we don't go anywhere or touch anything we don't have to. We sanitize everything we bring in the house and we let it sit for a few days if we can.

That's all I have.

Behave!

Feel Good Friday on Saturday...

It's another cold and dreary day around here...

I don't think I'd mind quarantine so much if I could at least work in my garden or sit in the sun. I think I've said that before.

That Man had to go into the day job to get the stuff ready for the new regulations. Yesterday, we had to run out to get supplies for that. (We'll talk about that ridiculousness another time)

K4 is dealing with allergies. She's a mess right now. (Yes, I am absolutely sure it's allergies. She hasn't left the house in a month and this is her really bad time of year.) The dogwood tree in the side yard gets her every time and the various flowering trees in the neighborhood. Luckily, we grabbed allergy meds last time we were at the store, so she's dosed up and taking a nap currently.

I'm in my "nest" on the couch. I've already written a bunch of words and as soon as I switch laundry and check mail, I will get back to it. Since I had my epiphany, it's been going well, so I'm grateful for that.

The event I was supposed to be at today has been cancelled for this year. We have a date for next year and I'm so glad. It's a lot of fun and the delay means it's going to be so much more epic next year. I'm looking forward to it, even though it's a year away.

That's all I have for now. My timer is going off, so it's time to do the thing. 

Behave!

Thursday?

I'm aware I haven't done a "Working from Home" post in a week. Not much has changed on that front. The cats still harass us, steal our stuff, and sit in our boxes daily. The dog is always in the way. Our space continues to be too small for both of us. We are still working though and will work next week, too.

I had to go into the day job today. I needed some stuff and so did That Man. He went a different direction to deliver stuff to one of the crew. I was in and out with my list and back home quickly. I am crazy busy with stuff to do, so it's good we have at least another week.

Otherwise...

My wild story idea is going to be something I use. Not in this book I'm working on right now, but probably in the next one. But, that idea was just what I needed to kick my butt back into shape. What I had forgotten is that the story I'm working on is supposed to about rebuilding and new life, not death and destruction and I let everything going on right now color that perception. So thanks to the new story idea, I figured that out and I am again in a good place. I have written many words so far this week and I have a really solid idea/plan for the next book.

I call win. And I'm going with it. I feel a lot better about what I'm doing, so there's that.

It's freaking cold here again. One of the plants we took outside last week had to be brought back inside. It can't take the current temperatures. The others are fine though. I'm ready to plant flowers and my garden though.

That's all I have.

Behave and be kind to each other!

Happy Birthday to Me....

Yeah. It's my birthday. It's definitely a weird one.

I had no presents. No cake. No dinner or lunch out or work cake. I am still in my jammies and I'm not sure if I combed my hair today.

But I had a lot of awesome stuff.

And I am so grateful.

Texts from friends and family. A lot of them hysterical. Some super cute.
Emails from friends and discussions about movies.
Facebook messages.
Videos from my kids and grandkids.
Special pictures of things and people puking from my grandson. (omg. I laughed until I cried)
A socially distant visit from the oldest son today and the youngest son yesterday.
Phone calls from the uncle and aunt.
An easy work day.
Birthday emails from work people.
Hugs from K4. (She lives with us. It's allowed.)
A day long text session with my sister.
Tacos for dinner and no prep or clean up on my end. (I did make the guacamole, but I didn't have to)
That Man making a fire because it's cold in here and going to stay cold.

A wild story idea about geese and bounty hunters while standing on the porch with That Man that has turned into something I am actually excited about. We will see how this shakes out, but it could be good. It could be pretty awful, too, but for right now, I am pretty excited. (The story is not about geese at all)

Wait. I wasn't right about no presents. I did get the pictures from Mr. B. AND I got a bottle of toilet cleaner from my son and his family. Ha! It's a reciprocal gift of the meat, spaghetti sauce, and diapers we dropped off at their house on our daughter-in-law's birthday. And it's funny. And appreciated. We were out due to an accidental thing that happened the other day. (no explanation here. it's too weird to explain)

All in all, it's been a pretty good birthday. One to remember for sure.

Behave!

So... Happy Easter...

I guess?

I really missed my family today! A lot! We all texted about how much we love and miss each other. That made me even more nostalgic. We talked to our granddaughter twice today. Once this morning and then again a little bit ago. I talked to K3 and texted with K1. We didn't do anything for Easter as far as baskets go for the little kids. We'll make it up to the grandkids when we see them again. I did buy K4 a peanut butter egg at Sheetz the other day. I missed getting to Facetime with my boys today though. Their dad just started a new job, so things are discombobulated in their house right now.

I miss my folks a lot. Easter was one of Mom's favorite holidays. And we're entering the season where everything went bad for both parents, so it's still rough. My memories are good, but I miss them.

We made chicken fried steak and chicken fried chicken for dinner. Mashed potatoes. Fresh asparagus. The chicken fried chicken definitely took center stage. It was amazing. The trick is to beat it up and then soak it in milk, garlic, salt, pepper overnight... The milk soaks in and makes it so moist. (Yeah, I said the "moist" word) The gravy was okay, but I feel like I kind of ruined it. We had a lot of mushrooms to use up, so I cooked them off earlier and then added them to the white gravy. It was too much. It was still really good, but I wish I wouldn't haven added all of them. Now we have a week's worth of leftovers, which does make me happy.

I also made a lemon cake. Added lemon zest and juice to the mix and then made my own lemon icing with cream cheese and lemon juice. It turned out pretty good. I was happy and so was That Man. When we told K5 about the cake, she was decidedly jealous.

We watched like three Disney movies. I can't do anything but fluffy right now, so...

We also finished watching Picard. Which was super awesome and not fluffy, but familiar enough that it's good. It started slow for me, but once Riker and Deanna came back on the scene, I was hooked. It was good. I cried many tears though. Then we texted with our adopted son about it, which was cool.

Tomorrow is a work day for us. I do have to run out for a quick supply run at lunchtime. Hopefully it's quick, but they are only going to be letting so many people into the store at one time. We'll deal with it. That Man has to go into the office, so I will do the supply run while he's doing that.

I wrote last night. I managed a couple of thousand words. Today. Not so much. I kind of figured I'd take today off though. I cooked a lot. I ate a lot. I goofed off a lot. I also sat in the sun for a while. That was awesome. I talked to the kid about my story, too, and his encouragement was helpful, so there's that.

Tomorrow I will write more words. I will work the day job. I will not lose my mind. I will comb my hair.

That is all.

Behave!

Working From Home Survival Journal: Day Four Hundred and Twelve

I have no freaking clue what actual day it is... I don't care either. It doesn't matter.

We get another week of working from home, That Coworker and I. That's good and it alleviates some stress.

Despite the extension, our taxes are filed and paid, so that makes me feel less stressed as well. We have cars that need inspected though. There's not much we can do about that right now.

So many people are talking about what they "cleaned out", "painted", "fixed", blah blah blah. Not here. We're working. Same as normal. We finish our day. Rustle up some grub and decompress. Some evenings we go for a walk, but we have sucked at that lately, too. We do what we need to do on the weekends. The only difference is that the laundry is always done now and the house is de-animal-haired and dusted on a daily basis. We do try different recipes, though we always do that.

This morning we made homemade biscuits. They were very delicious, but flat. We were discussing what could have gone wrong - we used half and half instead of milk because we're out of milk. And then I looked at the container of Cream of Tartar. Umm. Yeah. It expired 10 years ago, so there's that... It's on the list to replace on our next supply run. Then we will make biscuits again!

But... Holy Wind, Batman!

My big plant blew off the porch. I kid you not, this thing weighs about thirty pounds. It broke the weld on the pot and bent the hook. The plant is fine. Thank goodness. This thing is like our baby.

The phone calls for service at work are insane! That's all we've been doing all afternoon. It's literally one after another. I guess with 60 mph (or whatever) winds, you will have this. Supposedly the winds are supposed to end around 6pm, but we'll see. 

Tomorrow is a half day of work and then the weekend. There will be sleeping in.

Sadly, no Easter family dinner this year. I'm sad. I miss everyone. I want to hug my grandkids, my kids, my siblings, siblings-in-law, nieces and great nieces, nephews... you get the picture...and hang out and laugh and talk with everyone. I know we will plan a big gathering when this is all over. We have birthdays to celebrate, and Easter.

That's all I have. Here's hoping working from home day fifteen (see I have it now) goes quickly. (I mean, my little nest on the couch needs me) Ha!

Behave!

Working From Home Survival Journal: Day Thirteen

I know it's been a week since I posted one of these... Everything is the same. Every single day.

Well, pretty much.

We're still working. We'll find out tomorrow or Friday if that will continue for another week or not. The week-by-week stuff is emotionally draining. I just have to keep reminding myself that we'll be okay in the end. Even if we do get laid off, we have jobs to go back to and the rest of it is whatever. We do have a half day on Friday for Good Friday.

The furry coworkers are literally hanging from the windows...
The big furry canine one is at my feet impeding the movement of my chair and making me crazy.

Moods are much improved. That's a plus. The irritation level has dropped significantly. We're casual (I mean really casual - I'm in striped fuzzy jammie pants and striped fuzzy socks). That Coworker at least gets dressed everyday. I do the basics, but haven't had jeans on since Monday when we had to make a supply run.

I did get an inbox added to my own since our controller is officially on maternity leave. Which means now I monitor three separate email accounts. It's kept me pretty damned busy today so far. It's okay. We have a brand new healthy office baby and mom and baby are doing fine. Obviously we won't get to meet him for quite a while, which is sad, but it is what it is.

On the to do list for today is to clean our "office". The furry office companions have been in destroyer mode. Half of my pens are missing and there are sticky note "bombs" all over.

That's all. My inbox is filling up so I need to get back to it.

Behave!

Thursday Random...

Today wasn't much better than yesterday. My scanner hates me. My printer decided to be a lousy b*tch. I got everything up and going again, but it was super frustrating.

I had to cancel our beach trip in a few weeks. I don't know if we'll get our money back or not. We paid in full when we made the reservation. I'm waiting on that one and will call probably next week.

I need to change our hotel reservation for our May thing. We also paid for the rooms there. (one for us and one for my brother and sister-in-law) It's telling me that the reservation can't be changed or cancelled. No money back. I did get trip insurance, so I hope that helps. But the hotel could do nothing for me and she was rude. I have to talk to the place I made the reservation through. Ugh. I will keep trying though. All I need to do is transfer the dates.

K4 made awesome sugar cookies. She cut them like mushrooms and decorated them with royal icing. They are so cute. We had made stuffed cabbage for dinner the other night, so tonight we made a soup out of it. So much soup. So very much soup. That Man dropped some off at a friend's house who just had a pretty bad car accident. We sent some to the neighbors. We have some for K1 and family. And still more leftovers than we'll eat. Because honestly, I do like stuffed cabbages. And the soup was good. But I am done with it. (Let me know if you want some... ha ha)

That's all I have. Tomorrow is Friday.

Behave!

Working From Home Survival Journal: Day Eight

Today has not been a good day.

Tempers are raw. Irritation reigns supreme. Nothing is going right.

The human coworker had to go to corporate again today. He is tired of having to go out. Quite frankly, he's worried to keep going out. We're trying to order the things he needs online, but some places won't let you do that, which means, despite him being an essential employee doing things for the safety of our crews, he's putting himself at risk. He hates that. It makes him cranky.

Nothing wanted to work correctly today. Our system had a huge lag which meant hours of frustration and ridiculousness.

We're not mad at each other mind you. Just irritated with today. We stopped speaking to each other right after lunch and communicated via notes. For a visual on this, our dining room table seats 6. We are working directly across from each other with the backs of our computers touching. He would send me a note to ask me to print something, and I would send him a sarcastic reply.

Yesterday I drew him a picture of a thermometer and said some crazy things on the note. He sent it to his boss. His boss told him he was on his own and that he'd better be nice to me.

What's frustrating? I mean, besides the system being slow... Not knowing if we will work next week. The traffic in front of our house being busier than it was Monday. Knowing one of us will have to go for supplies by the end of the week. Not having everything I need for work at home. There have been a few situations that I am not prepared for. I have figured it out and made it work, but it ticks me off that I didn't think about them when I covered every single other base.

What's good about working from home? Taking a nap at lunch time. That Man making me lunch. Being able to do laundry and start dinner. Knowing everyone else I deal with in my job is also working from home, so there's an empathy there. Being able to wrap up in a blanket while I work. (I can do this at work, too, but I haven't had to yet thanks to my handy dandy space heater) A more relaxed pace - though it's forced thanks to things being slow. I guess I'm learning more patience or something.

We laugh through our irritation and frustration, so that goes on the good side. We haven't said a harsh word to each other.

The Spawn Coworker has been checking in and doing her thing. She's made baked treats and done a lot of choring. She laughs at our weirdness.

I don't know...

Tomorrow's another day.

Behave!

April 1st

Wouldn't it be cool if we found out this whole thing was some kind of grand joke?

Yeah, I know.

I don't think too many folks are feeling like pranking anyone today. I know I'm definitely not. K4 just came down and said there better not be any April Fool's happening around here because she is not in the mood. The best I can do is text funny memes to my kids, family, and the besties. And typically I try to come up with some kind of joke for That Man...though admittedly most years it backfires on me.

Not a working from home survival entry yet today because or system is down and I'm not working yet. It is what it is, and frankly, I expected this to have already happened a few times by now. The fact that today is the first time in two weeks isn't too bad at all.

We ordered take out from one of our favorite little places last night. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love to cook, but we both needed a break. And we feel it's important to support our local small businesses that might not make it through this. The food was amazing. The system they have set up not so much. But That Man said everything was clean and everyone was being good with social distancing. So at least that's something. I'm not sure how many more times we'll do that, but it was a nice change.

Writing has not been going too well lately. Still. I'll have a few days with some decent words, and then a stretch of nothing. I know most of my writing friends are dealing with the same thing. It's still hard though.

Whelp. The system is operational again and I have a pile of work to get through.

Behave!

Working From Home Survival Journal: Day Seven Thousand

And it's really just beginning... That is... if we get to work beyond this week.

We are under a "Stay at Home" order in my county. My coworker and I have already been doing this, but having it be mandatory is unsettling.

My coworker and I went into the corporation yesterday to gather some things and take care of a few projects. The coworker has several large projects he's in charge of currently. I'm doing my regular thing and helping him. He's lucky he's cute.

The furry coworkers are an absolute mess. We think the orange one was fixing to pee in my shred box which just happened to have the coworkers jacket semi-draped over it. Not sure if that's what the orange coworker was up to or not, but he has a history of this type of thing. The littlest furry coworker keeps fighting with the ancient coworker. The gray one stays with the human spawn coworker, so we rarely see him. The big brown one follows us like we will dissipate in front of her eyes.

The office is cold today. I need socks. But The Coworker made me some breakfast and is planning on making a fire to warm us up.

I'm trying to focus and get my stuff done, but it's difficult...

That's all I have...

Behave.

Feel Good Friday on Saturday...

I know most of us don't even know what day it is anymore. I feel luckier than some because I still have my day job for now, so at least I have that way to keep track of the days. K4 has no idea what day it is most of the time. She's heading into her third week off.

So let's get to the list...

1. Work for another week! Whoot!

2. Sleeping in a little this morning. We were in bed stupid early, so that's actually quite a feat. I did wake up at 5, but forced myself to stay in bed and actually fell back to sleep until almost 8.

3. That Man had to take care of some work stuff, so I headed for prescriptions and provisions. We were out of coffee and I needed creamer, too. Found both no problem, though they only had one other can of coffee. Still no paper products at the store and barely any cleaners. I got the last container of dishwasher detergent. Didn't really need anything else, so avoided the urge to fill my cart.

4. Getting words on the page this week. Not a lot, but I did make some progress. I think I'm figuring stuff out, so that's good.

5. Warm blankets! It's kind of chilly in here. Not quite chilly enough to start a fire, but enough that I am feeling cozy in my blankets on my couch.

6. Dinner in the oven. Actually it went into the crockpot at like 10am, but I think the crockpot has perished, so... Stuffed cabbages. Haven't made it in a long time, so I hope it's good.

7. The forecast is for a nice day tomorrow. I really hope so! I need some sun!

8. The constant of funny memes between K1 and I. We've been cracking each other up for days. The same with my brother-in-law in California. He sends me hysterical pictures and I do the same to him. It's a break and a distraction for sure.

That's all I have. We're about to tune into some Disney channel and watch cartoon movies even though it's just the two of us. Ha!

Behave!

Working From Home Survival Journal: Day Five

It's Friday! Whoot!

Got the word this morning that we will be working next week! Relief! It's a week by week decision, so...

Anyway.

My human coworker had to go to corporate with some safety supplies. This has left me all alone in the home office with the furry coworkers.

They are jerks.

I am trying to get the payables done and those jerks are stealing my pen, trying to put their paws in my ink pad, biting my envelopes... It never ends. I put music on my laptop and it was like a siren song for them. I guess Jack Johnson does something to them. They were trying to walk on my keyboard, trying to lay in the printer... ack...

It's cold in here.

I'm hungry.

I'm out of coffee. (Not really - just in my cup)

This day is going slow.

That is all...

Behave!

End of Work: Day Four

You wouldn't think you would be exhausted after working from home all day. But I am.

I was very busy today though, and also did laundry, washed our sheets and remade our bed, made spaghetti sauce for dinner, folded laundry, provided constant emotional support for That Man, K4 and our very stressed out dog, cleaned the work area, organized the household administration items, reorganized the fridge, ate cheese balls, and well...

(I did most of the stuff on my lunch break. We still take our usual hour, so there is time, especially when you eat all day and don't have to source lunch.)

We've been taking a walk every evening to stave off cabin fever. Except last night since it was pouring.

Tomorrow is possibly our last day to work until this BS is over. Guess we'll find out tomorrow at some point. We'll have to sign up for unemployment and figure it out from there. I keep telling myself that it is what it is and we'll be fine, but...

I haven't really been writing much. A friend challenged me to write just 10 words the other day, but I managed 38. I'm mostly taking notes about things I want to add to the story. I know I'm not alone in not writing. Much of my writing group is feeling the same way. We encourage each other constantly, which is nice, but it doesn't change the fact that it's a bad feeling not to be writing.

I'm hungry for a burger and fries. There's a little place down the street that delivers. We might check that out tomorrow. We'll see.

At some point over the weekend, we'll have to venture out for supplies and such. Don't really want to, but there are a few things we need.

That is all.

Behave!

Working From Home Survival Journal: Day Four

The theme song today is "Cat in the box". Actually, everything is a theme song.

The human coworker and I are a little loopy today. We've already consumed one pot of strong caffeinated beverage and are encouraging the caffeine maker to hurry and finish making the second.

We are both incessantly talking to ourselves, our computers, our papers.

The non-human coworkers are on edge. The big one is still following me everywhere I go. To the sink. To the pantry. Like these are four steps away from each other. I'm going to fall and break my neck soon.

The other ones are fidgety and each of our movement makes them jump and run. Our boxes continue to be a source of interest for them. The big one is growly at the small ones.

Yesterday, we had a small reprieve from our designated working space. We had to go to the building that houses our offices. I needed to grab my mail and work order folder, and he was on a special mission. It was odd to be out and about. I even showered and put real pants on. The upside is that they still fit.

We had other missions to complete for the corporation, which meant going to places that sell things. That was also strange. My human coworker is currently making a trip into the corporation. It's very odd being in our workspace alone. The spawn human coworker is still sleeping. She was still up at 5am when her patriarch coworker awakened.

So... this just happened... My big glass mixing bowl was on a towel on the sideboard. Drying. One of the feline coworkers decided it would be a grand idea to jump up there. Well, she missed and reached out with her claws, hooking the towel and bringing my bowl crashing to the floor. In a million pieces. There was glass from one end of the workspace to the other. It was not pleasant and now I'm out of the bowl I seriously use constantly. Pssh.

That is all.

Behave!

Working From Home Survival Journal: Day Two

My coworkers are strange.

One hovers over us like she's afraid we're going to vanish. One could not care less about us. She wanders around, throwing up on random parts of the floor, and then sleeps. Two are always in our space - sitting in boxes, stealing pens, getting hair on stuff. The other is a mix between the rest, except the puking part.

Any movement away from our temporary work space causes alarm and panic. And following. It's like having toddlers in the house again. You use the bathroom and there are body parts reaching under the door for you.

Our spawn human coworker is fine. She appears every so often for coffee and sustenance, but rarely comes to communicate during our working hours. That's a good coworker right there.

The coworker I share office space with (i.e. the dining room table), is kinda crazy. He talks to himself an awful lot and if the light flickers a bit he starts muttering. Mostly he leaves me be, too. Though I'm sure he will say I talk to myself an awful lot as well. He has to be on the phone at times, so I try my best not to be annoying with my scanning and self-discussion.

We take feast together mid-day. He's pretty cute, so, who knows... We talk about pretty much everything and he makes me laugh. I know it's taboo to get involved with someone from the office, but...

Ha!

That's all!

Behave!

Sunday...

I slept in this morning. Only a little bit, and maybe even not considering I got up at 4am and couldn't go back to sleep until 5:30! And we went to bed late! That Man got up just as my brain started shutting down again, so I had the bed to myself and I refused to get up until a certain time! Ha!

We decided to try to get our pet food this morning. That did end well, though we ended up having to switch Elsa's food. Same brand, but a different kind. We'll slowly incorporate it into her regular food so she doesn't have any digestive issues with it, but when we let her try a bit she liked it a lot, so that's a bonus. Cats are good now too. And I guess, so are we since we won't be their next meal now! ha!

Store is still out of pretty much everything. Did manage to get a package of chicken, but it was the last one, and we're pretty sure it was only there because it was an ugly package. Luckily, the pet food was all we needed. (besides the chicken) Though I did buy a lemon cake mix and some cream cheese for dessert making. Except I forgot powdered sugar. I guess I can make my own with regular sugar and my food processor?

The stress-cooking continues! This morning I made western eggs with bacon. We made burgers with a million different toppings for dinner. Who knows what I'll come up with tomorrow? Or, I think I might organize my pantry to make sure I know where everything is and am not letting things go to waste.

Got the vents back on the camper. Fixed the one that was really broken, and while it won't last long, it's good for now while we search for a new one. They don't make that same one anymore, so we have to find a replacement. Cleaned up all of that stuff and parked the camper until the remaining gross floor dries out a little and we decide how to tackle replacing the floor. Did a little laundry and vacuumed. Cleaned the kitchen like six times.

We had to cancel the rest of our tree trimming for this weekend coming up. Pretty sure that falls into the "non-essential" category. Talked to our tree guy and he said the same thing. Plus, spending the money probably isn't in our best interest at the moment.

Turned off my early alarms and left the "work from home" alarms on. That means an extra hour of sleep in the morning. Which I guess is good, but as it turns out, it doesn't really matter because sleep isn't good anymore anyway. The coffee is ready to be plugged in to brew, so there's that...

I'm thinking about getting some writing done next. I'm not sure I'm in the proper head space, but we'll see what happens.

That's all!

Behave!

Well... How Are Y'all?

I hope good. I know it's rough and it sucks, but we are going to be okay.

We're hanging in there!

It is weird that there's not much traffic at all. The cars going by outside are less than they are on major holidays. When we picked up our camper, we were the only vehicles on the road. That's good. Stay Home people, or else we will be absolutely stuck at home!

We do need dog and cat food. If we don't procure some soon, they will eat us, I am sure! The grocery store had none yesterday. Neither did the big box store. So... We'll probably venture out tomorrow or Monday to see if we can feed our beasts!

We're both working from home now. At least for this week coming up. After that, we're probably both on unemployment, though That Man might get called back since they updated the mandates on essential services.

We did go to pick up our camper this morning. Came home and started ripping out flooring. It's an ungodly mess and will need some creative solutions, but it can be done. That Man replaced the screens in the vents, so that's a plus. The actual units were fine, but the bug screens were damaged. We happened to have a roll of screening and some good glue, so that's a done deal now. Saved us about $60 x 3 to replace the vents. We just need to replace the air conditioner vent. It's in super terrible shape, plus someone drew a penis inside of it... Ha! We should have enough primer and paint to begin painting the cabinets once it gets a little warmer, so that's a bonus. It's nice to have the camper home, because just looking at it gives me hope.

I am not writing. I will again very soon. Probably tomorrow. I think I have my head in the right place now, so that's a bonus. I guess.

I cooked a lot today. I made brownies. I made cheesy jalapeno cornbread. I made some weird concoction of cuban beans, cumin, onions, potatoes, and chicken broth. The whole meal cost less than $5 and it fed 3 people. So much food that we didn't make dinner tonight. That's a bonus, right?

I also took a nap. I don't know what I did, but my lower back and hips are hurting a lot. I was on my knees in the camper for a while, and then I had to be done. After I made lunch, I crashed on the couch for a little while.

Now we are watching a movie and chilling on the couch.

That's all I have at the moment!

Behave and Be Safe!

Crazy Times!

Hope you're all doing okay!

It's stressful. I know as much as I say and do really believe that everything is going to be okay and this is what we need to do to "flatten the curve", I'm still in a state of shock!

I didn't sleep well last night at all. I'm sure no one is sleeping well these days.

We're home to get set up to potentially work from home. They had fast-tracked it to yesterday, but there was something wrong with our server and it had to be switched to today. We've been home for over an hour waiting for IT to call. My huge-assed printer is setting on my dining room table so I can test it. Then I have to drag it back to work tomorrow. Then back home on Thursday since we're doing a test work from home day. It is what it is. That Man is probably going to have to go in a few times a week (if possible), even if we do work at home, so we'll see how this is going to work out.

One thing I wonder is how on earth people can afford to buy as much stuff as they've been buying? That Man says they can't, but they don't care right now. He's probably right.

K4 is off for the next two weeks, given her business-type is one of the ones the governor wanted closed. She's freaking out a little, but can sign up for unemployment, which is good.

My struggle is that I write that kind of thing that's happening currently. It's hard to put the words on the page and then realize that the current world isn't much different. My current work in progress is about an unknown illness that wipes out a lot of people. I don't have a safe place anymore. So I'm thinking of writing something much lighter for the next little bit.  I just need to figure out what that is. Then I will be able to have writing as my safe place. But who knows. Maybe this current situation will help me with my work in progress.

I think that's it. Check in with your elderly family and neighbors. Don't buy all of the toilet paper or meat. Other people need to eat too and the grocery stores are still open.

For now, we're still going to the day job. The office is pretty well isolated and the field guys are as well. We have a few at risk people in the office, so that's a concern. But we're working on a plan for them. And all of us.

Behave and stay safe!

Feel Good Friday?

What a crazy day!

State of Emergency! All schools closed! Library closed! Borough Offices closed! We're still up and running at work, but field precautions are in place. Meaning our guys have specific instructions on interacting with other teams, customers, and what to do. If our field guys don't work, there is no money coming in, therefore no paycheck. We will get set up to work from home on Tuesday afternoon, including That Man and I taking the phone calls that come in through the switchboard. And then we'll wait to see if we actually can/have to work from home.

K4's work is on basic shut down. They won't take any customers in the store at all anymore. Only drive through and they are cutting the staff back. She's worried. She works about 46 hours a week now, but this will greatly impact her schedule. Several of her coworkers are asking to be taken off the schedule, especially the pregnant ones. She's super worried about her bills and money. She's out with friends tonight, but when we texted, she was so overwhelmed she decided to shut her phone off. Her boss's message was worrisome, so I totally get it.

Hell. We're all worried. The financial impact of this is huge. For all of us. 

We had to stop at the big box store on our way home. We needed cat litter because Jesus, these cats poop a lot! We also decided to get charcoal since our goal is to grill all weekend. So, anyway, I thought, well... we'll just look at the chicken, because it's always cheap and why not have a little extra in the freezer. Ha! No meat at all... It was all gone! So crazy! When we got there, the cart area was full. When we left, like 20 minutes later, it was empty! And they have a lady at the wipe dispensing area, handing out one wipe per cart...

I do get it. Especially if you have kids now stuck at home for the next two weeks. That's mostly what we saw. Families with carts full of mac and cheese, snacks, and pasta. Milk and eggs were gone, too, and bottled water. Most folks were not overbuying, which is heartening. Some people were. Some people were total jerks. Some people weren't.

I know everyone is in panic mode. I get it.Though I don't understand how people can afford to overstock. We're buying the basics. The stuff we buy every week.

I don't know what to think at all. I do know that we're going to be okay. This is a temporary thing. And I think the right things are being done. And taking care of our families is the priority. Making sure we're safe and that our communities are safe. We're going to get through this. It's going to suck, but it's going to be okay in the end. I have also stayed off Facebook for most of the day to save my sanity. I can't deal - it's the virus, politics, and politics and the virus. Ugh. And I will continue to stay away. I just can't. I am seriously thinking about deactivating my account.

But our weekend is yard clean up and that's what I'm focusing on. And we have to do that to stay sane. We have a dumpster pass at a friends, so we can take the stuff that our regular trash guys won't take, which is super epic. We will get up early, load the trailer, go to unload it, and then probably stop for breakfast. Then we'll load up again.

Then we will grill kabobs. The meat is already marinating and we're making mango salsa and rice! The fact that we're home all weekend is amazing. We had already had this planned, so it has nothing to do with the current state of affairs.

I love you all and I hope you're all good.

Behave!

A Bunch of Craziness!

What the Hell is with this new virus?

I know the media is hyping it, but now it's a freaking pandemic! So...

Yeah... I worry about my friends with health issues. I worry about my new moms and my new moms-to-be. I worry about my sister having surgery. I worry about my elderly friends. I worry about my family and friends that are family. But I don't know yet how much to worry...

We went to the grocery store tonight. We typically go to the store for our weekend/early week needs on Thursday night, because our weekends are crazy and we like to go out to eat Friday night. It was insane and we barely checked off all of the things on our list. The parking lot was full. Getting through the aisles was ridiculous. There was absolutely no toilet paper and very few paper towels. I didn't check the napkins, but I saw a guy going to the parking lot with at least four big packs of napkins as we were going in... What the F***?

We didn't need toilet paper, but we did need paper towels. We were sitting on exactly one roll... Our Granny cat pukes a lot, otherwise I wouldn't worry about paper towels. She's almost 18, or 19 (We're not sure since we got her as a rescue), so she can puke if she needs to. We won't have her much longer, so...

I get a ton of emails from "bonus cards" I have... about how things are clean... blah blah blah... Okay... We all get it. I don't think anyone believes that no one is taking this seriously. Though...

Anyway...

I guess we'll see what happens next??

Behave and be safe!

Oh Hey! It's March!

Not much new has happened this past week...

The reservations for the May Jeep event were changed. The house wasn't available, so we opted for hotel rooms. Separate ones so my sister-in-law doesn't die from all of the snoring. Ha! Our buddy is booking at the same hotel, so it should be a lot fun! And we're about five minutes from the venue which is awesome! Last year we were twenty minutes away and we paid more for the hotel! I know my brother and our buddy will get along awesomely. Our friend is almost like a son to us (in fact, he was our son's friend back in the way back days, which is weird, but awesome too.)

Our future daughter-in-law's birthday. They came for dinner last night. It was a kind of surprise for her. We had spaghetti and fantastic bread and a fire outside. It was nice to play games and talk. K3 made her an awesome cake. It turned out to be a good night. I know she's not used to our weird family dynamic, but I think she's getting used to our sense of humor! lol!

Writing all of the words! Well, not all of them because that wouldn't be nice. But writing my own words! I did very well last week and I hope to do the same this week.

Writing meeting on Saturday. First, I had breakfast with a friend which was awesome and much needed. I am at a crucial point in deciding whether or not to renew with the national chapter. There's been a lot of terrible things going on at the national level. Things I'm not sure can be fixed on the current course. Things I am so against and appalled by. I've been watching since December and nothing really has changed. We have a special election coming up since 99% of the board resigned, but honestly, the people now running are really no different than the folks we've had in the past. I've been trying to gauge what the national level does for me at this point in my career and I can't say it's much. The rub is that I can't be a part of my local chapter without belonging to national, and that's going to hurt. I have about a month to decide...

We did a lot of yard work this weekend. Many trips to the yard waste recycle center. A bunch of garbage bags. We're making progress. And we are tired. We also made some awesome grilled chicken and potatoes for dinner tonight. And I made some awesome queso. The house is clean and the laundry is 90% done (K4 had the washing machine all day today).

Tomorrow is back to the grind. I am on the phones all day tomorrow, which is fine. It breaks up my week, even though I have to run around for a good part of the morning to get my second check run done. Things are slow right now, so it's all good.

And that is all...

Behave!

Last Friday in February - Feel Good Style...

February seemed long, didn't it?

For the shortest month of the year, heck!

Tomorrow is Leap Day! I know a couple of people who have birthdays! One will finally be a double-digit midget.

Let's get to the list!

1. Getting trained on a whole bunch of new things at the day job this week and doing it all myself today! I can now do the feet inventory, process checks, and credit cards (I taught myself how to run the credit card machine). I think I might have screwed up a couple of things (I will find out Monday when the real accounts receivable manager comes back), but I think I did pretty well on my first solo run. My boss thought so...

2. Work baby shower! It turned out well. Our Controller is due in about 3 weeks. She's having a boy. She didn't expect a shower from us, but we did it anyway. She turned red and said we sucked, but was so grateful. Good food. She got good gifts including a bucket full of cash.

3. Making our reservations for our Jeep events. We have May and June reserved, including hotels. Though we may change the May hotel to a rental house depending on if my sister-in-law can get off work and if my old work buddy can make it. So much cheaper and closer to rent this house I found! So excited though!

4. Still waiting to get our camper back, but glad the roof seems to be a non-issue!

5. Remember how I told you that the new house owner next door decimated my flower beds in November? On my last day at the old job? Well... he also just put up a fence that spans 1/4 of our yard! This saves us a ton of money. Our plan is to totally fence in the yard. So now 1/4 is done, which is amazing! Someone did move in. We haven't met her yet, but she has the cutest pug. (I saw him through the un-curtained window last night. Curtains are up now.)

6. Watching my boys tomorrow while K1 & J move - one building down and up one floor. I'm glad to not have to lift heavy boxes, but K1 has made me nervous about Baby B's new skills and abilities. Nothing will be safe and I am pretty much on my own. That Man is working the second job all day tomorrow. K3 and K4 are helping with the move. It'll be fine. I will have Mr. B to help me and the house will be baby proofed before I return with them.

7. The rest of the weekend plans. Some involve heavy lifting. Some involved organization. Some involved hilarity. I hope it turns out good.

8. Oh and I get to sleep in just a tiny bit tomorrow!

9. Writing the words! I did relatively decent with the word count this week. Not great, but at least something.

10. Having a relaxing evening with That Man. The kid is gone for the night, so we're chilling and watching "Better Call Saul". We had no dinner because we had so much food at lunch. I thought about ordering a sub, but probably not now.... Ha!

That is all!

Behave!

Feel Good Friday!

Yay for Friday! I am happy to see you, Friday!

Let's get to the list already!

1. One of That Man's oldest friends stopping by work yesterday! It was a spur of the moment thing, but it was good to see him. We were late for where we were supposed to be, but that's okay. We haven't seen him for a super, super long time, though That Man and him text all the time.

2. After dealing with the stabby headache for most of the week, it is finally gone. Though there is still remarkable sinus pressure going on.

3. Our poor Mr. B getting better from the flu. Poor boy was a mess most of the week.

4. Getting to see a good friend tonight. She's had an even rougher week than probably a whole bunch of people. We took her and her dad dinner and got to talk for a bit. She's a sweet person. Her dad's been dealing with some health issues and just when she thought things were getting better, he fell and broke stuff in his foot. We've been there and done that, too, so we wanted to help.

5. Our camper getting a new roof! Hopefully it will be done soon. We dropped it off at our friend who owns a roofing company last week. He wants to branch out into doing camper roofs, so we're his test case. Once we get it back, we will tackle the floor and get the new subfloor down. Then we will paint the cabinets, then put the nice floor down and attach the new toilet. I'm excited! I can't wait to get it camping!

6. That Man and I reserving a little beach house! It kind of happened on a whim. He sent me a picture of us on the beach. I said let's go and the next thing we knew we had reserved a tiny house for a long weekend coming up. I am so freaking excited! This was just what we need to get through the next few long months of constant work and projects!

7. Plans for a day out with my girl tomorrow. She needs her driver's license picture taken and we both need to do some shopping, so we're set for the day. (She and That Man tried to go last Saturday, but they were closed. That Man got his done today.)

8. Despite the stabby headache, I have written every night this week but one. I am making amazing progress and loving the story!

That's all I have right now. I'm beat and my shoulders ache.

Behave!

Moaning Monday...

Eh... It's not so moaning. Except I'm tired and have a stabby sinus headache and I'm cold. Okay, so maybe it is more moaning than I thought. Ha!

Anyway...

The greenhouse event was a lot of fun. Didn't sell any books, but no one else really did either. The crowd was light. Folks that normally come couldn't. It is what it is. That's something that's definitely beyond control. But, like I said, it was fun. Got to talk to my author peeps and meet some authors I didn't know before. Caught up with old friends and bought some super cute gnome napkins.

After the signing, a bunch of us went to dinner. That was fun. A lot of laughter and conversations. That Man and Simon's Man came, too. When we were done with dinner, we weren't ready to go home, so we went to see friends. That was fun. We didn't stay too late, but we did have a good time.

Sunday was a quick run to the store for ingredients. We whipped up some spinach artichoke dip and headed to a different friend's house to watch the Daytona 500. We only get to see them maybe twice a year, so it was definitely a good time. They made meatballs and other dips. We talked and laughed and well.. since the race was rained out, we ended up home sooner than expected. At one point, I'd gone out to the car for something and it looked like the radiator on the car had busted. There was a huge spray of liquid and it was puddling on the ground. I called That Man out, and we quickly discovered that their male cat had sprayed our car. Gross, but definitely good for a laugh.

Now it's Monday again. It was a quiet Monday at the day job. No mail. No bank. Very few phone calls. Very few emails. I had to cover the phones all day, which is fine. I cleaned up some receivers and purchase orders and organized my day for tomorrow - which will be busy since there are checks to write and bank stuff to do...

I'm about ready to crash now. I've already done my words, caught up on my emails, and took care of a few other household administration duties. It's time to find a blanket and rest my stabby head.

Behave!

Thursday... Pre-Weekend Prep...

This Saturday is the annual greenhouse signing! I love this event so much!

It's just a super fun day with author people, cool greenhouse stuff, good food, and just awesomeness.

My mom loved this event so much. She would come and be with me for it. I made her a special place at my table and was always so grateful for her to be with me. Her friends would come and she would delight in walking around with them and me and meeting everyone. I will always miss that, and I always am aware of it. I miss my momma so much and this event is always a tribute to her in my mind.

So, it you live in my area, think about maybe coming to see me! It starts at noon and goes until three! Heck, it's not going to be winter this winter, so you might as well start thinking about your spring planting. I know I am already! You know... replacing the flower bed that was decimated by the stupid homeowner next door... (I'm still super angry, if you can't tell...)

Anyway...

It's Thursday. This week has been pretty okay. My only complaint is the excessive amount of spam email I am getting. Like 100 spam emails a day. I hate it. So much. We all know that you can't just "unsubscribe" because when you do it automatically subscribes you to five million more spam sites... ugh!

The day job has been pretty good. I've been at the receptionists desk for most of the week until today. I equally love and hate being at the desk. It is what it is. When I'm told the phones are busy, I usually roll my eyes. Yesterday, the phones were the busiest they've been since I started, and, I roll my eyes. That was not busy. It was. But not like I'm used to. Obviously, I'm still adjusting.

Though I was very busy all day today. Busy enough that I didn't get all of the things done! So woohoo! (I do know how ridiculous that is... lol)

We stopped at the store on our way home tonight. That Man is making my favorite dinner tomorrow night. Scallops and pasta. We bought all of the ingredients and grabbed stuff for dinner. Quiche - which was mostly good.

I don't have a lot of love for the traditional Valentine's Day stuff. That's just me! We, also, haven't really ever celebrated Valentine's Day, so this will be a first for us... I might change my opinions...

That's all... The laundry is done. The words, and more words!, have been written. (my story has direction again! WHOOT!)

and that is all...

Behave!!

Woah! Long Silence!

Sorry about that! It's been kind of crazy around here.

Let's back up...

Last weekend we took a day off work and spent a long weekend at the cabin. It was warm and comfy and we had a really relaxing time. We set our air mattress up in the main area, which was pretty cool. We watched Lord of the Rings, and made some really awesome food. Scallops & Pasta and Shrimp & Grits. I absolutely love scallops, but the shrimp & grits were the most amazing. It was so easy to make, too. I always get it on vacation on our way home, but last time I just couldn't do it because they don't devein their shrimp and that totally grosses me out. But I've been craving it. Amazing.

On our way home, we stopped at our niece's new house to check things out. They bought a really cute place not far from us.

Then back to work. It was a rough work week for some reason. A lot of weird stuff happened. But I got through it and my supervisor said I'm doing a good job, so there's that.

I had my eyes checked for the first time in a over a decade. Not nearly as bad as I thought. I did need glasses - bifocals, which I expected. I had them leave the lines in them so I could better train myself on where to look. They are fine for reading and driving, but not for computer work. Ugh. So now instead of worrying about one pair of glasses, I need to worry about two. And then three when I have sunglasses. I almost wish I would have gotten them tinted so the sunglass factor was out of the picture. But whatever.

Critiqued an awesome story for a friend and got some writing in. Then prepping for the weekend.

Our second attempt to trim our tree in the back was more successful, but still not a complete success. We started early with a light crew, but the rest of the gang showed up and worked their butts off. Both of my boys and both of our "adopted" sons. They are an amazing team. We only got about halfway done though before we lost the light. Rope lowering huge branches through the power lines ate up so much time. And our finish up date is not for another month. Ugh. Once the tree is done, we'll start on the fence back there. K4 crashed into a few weeks ago...It was already broken though. It's semi-leaned up, but looks like crap.

I made white chicken chili, cornbread, and tons of coffee. We fed them breakfast, too, and kept them hydrated. It was a lot of work, but also a really good day. I didn't do a lot of tree work because there were many hands helping, but I had enough to do with the food and coordinating and cleaning up.

We were in bed stupid early last night. Up stupid early this morning. K4 and I did some shopping. The craft store down the road is going out of business so we hit that up. Then the mega store since we both needed socks. They had the kind of sweaters I love on sale for $5, so that happened. Then grocery shopping. We had a good time!

Back home and paid bills, made lunch, watched Toy Story 4, and tried to take a nap. That Man is making dinner. The laundry is done. The house is in decent shape. Back to work tomorrow. Next weekend is the annual greenhouse signing. I'm looking forward to that!

That's all I have!

Behave!

Holy Lost Week!

I can't even tell you what went on last week!

I know there was a lot of craziness and a lot of stress. The stress wasn't the day job, writing, or immediate family, so that's a good thing.

We did have our great-niece's first birthday party! She's so stinking cute. Her cake face was awesome! We took the B's. They wore us out and they had a blast.

This week is going fast. I mean it's Tuesday already.

The rest of the week is crazy, so you won't hear from me again until at least Sunday.

Behave!

A New Week...

So the snow was pretty disappointing. We spent the morning talking about how we could have gotten the branches down and mostly taken care of before people needed to go home so they weren't driving in the freezing rain. But... it is what it is. Who knows what would have happened had we proceeded? Maybe something bad? I'm going with that.

We have rescheduled, but there's still always a chance of inclement weather, so we'll just take things as they come. Again, it is what it is... The bonus is the delay of the hit to the checkbook, so there is that... Ha!

Anyway. We did stay in our jammies all day. Watched movies, read, took naps, did laundry, cooked, and generally goofed off. We made chicken cheesesteaks for dinner and went to bed super late. And we didn't go outside other than to take the dog out. It was a good day.

Sunday we made a quick trip to the grocery store because we had a dinner epiphany. Did some more napping, though it was interrupted by this weird smell... We'd smelled it on Saturday, but couldn't pinpoint it. By Sunday, it was so bad we thought we had a break in the furnace. It was a exhaust-type/burning smell. We kept walking around sniffing and finally figured it out. They make these plug in diffusers for cat anxiety. My sister had given me the ones she'd gotten (they turned their one cat into a demon - it happens, rarely, but it does happen) for Fred. Both were super, super hot and the one was leaking the oil into the outlet. One of them was starting to burn the plastic. Holy Fire Hazard!! Yikes!

The sad thing is that I think it actually worked. On Saturday and Sunday morning, all of the cats were in the living room all chill. They were sleeping together and there was no stress. No one is crazy now, so I can't say that it did really work or it didn't. I don't think we had enough time with it to know for sure... So now I don't know what we're going to do. I won't plug them in again because I don't want my house to burn down. (Read some reviews and found that it is a common problem with this brand and of course, there are no other brands that appear to work and not catch on fire.)

Other than that... Today was Monday again. It was a weird day at work because I thought I was only on the phones for the morning and I had planned my day around that, but it turned out to be all day. I screwed up my check run - twice, and have a crap ton of research to do tomorrow on three problems that started before I did. (That part is fine...I like the research)

I got my words done. Took laundry downstairs, but didn't start it. Ha!

And that is all...

Behave!

Feel Good Friday....

Yay for Friday! Right now, with no immediate holidays to look forward to, Fridays are all we have... Ha! It's what we talk about at the office.

We had to reschedule our tree trimming! It was supposed to be tomorrow. We had all of the "crew" on board - brothers, brothers-in-law, kids, adopted kids - they were all going to be here. Some of them are calling us "wussies" for rescheduling, but it's all about their safety. (They are joking, but...) I am not a happy person about this weather. Everything was planned. Food was purchased. My day was scheduled. Ugh. I even bought first aid supplies, just in case. But the Tree Trimmer made the call so we can't feel bad.

Now That Man and I are looking forward to a "jammie day". We have decided that we are staying in our jammies all day and take a literal day off for a change. We will read. I will write. We will do laundry (because we have to, or maybe we won't) and we will cook amazing food. I am definitely looking forward to staying in my super soft jammies all day. And sleeping in.

I am really looking forward to that!

We, unfortunately, had to stop at the store tonight. Mainly because we were so sure about our weekend plans that we stopped last night. So while everyone else was buying bread, milk, and toilet paper, we were buying hamburgers, perogies, beer, and snacks. We went to the store that only the old people go to and got out of there pretty quickly. Still brutal...

I am spot on with my writing goal! I didn't write last night because I felt like utter Hell, but I made up for it tonight, which is awesome. And I have the weekend since I generally don't count weekends in my writing goals.

That is all...

Behave!

Update on Fred

Fred is still being skittish and standoffish. But he's still hanging out in the common spaces with us, so that's good. He seems to be more mad at That Man than me, though That Man had nothing to do with the trip to the vet, or what happened to him. I'm the one who put him into his cage, drove him to the vet, and left him there.

I haven't gotten him on my lap for more than a few seconds yet, but he is taking his meds. Currently he is sacked on the couch. Thanks to my brother, I was able to get his pain meds into him. He gave me the best way to do it and it worked!

There has been no pee though, which is good. You can tell that the bladder meds really make him feel better. Within twenty minutes, he's himself again. That Man has taken over administering the meds since Fred wasn't being the friendliest to him before staying at the vet. That Man would rather Fred be himself and in my lap. Sweet.

It's Wednesday. Today was a rough day at the day job. Probably my roughest yet. But I got through it and it's good. My immediate coworkers are amazing and so is my boss. I'm still 100% sure I made the right decision. Though, I am still adjusting. I guess when you think about the length of time I worked like a crazy person, it makes sense that it's going to take more than 60 days to work through it all.

I'm sitting at almost 3,500 words for the week so far and it's Wednesday. That's awesome to me. It's been a long time since I've written like this and I love it. I am over halfway to my goal for the month! My brain actually is working again. For the first time in a very long time, I have random story thoughts and ideas throughout my day and during the night and when I wake up. Brain healing?

I had a dream last night that I don't remember much of, but I do remember that my mom was in it. And so was my Suburban. I remember being freaked out about something and then I got into the Suburban with my mom. As soon as I closed the door, everything was good. What does that mean?

That is all!

Behave!

Freddie is Home!

He's not a happy kitty, but he's home and I'm glad.

He has an inflamed bladder and severe anxiety. Geesh!

There are so many factors that can cause this. We're still researching and hopefully can figure out how to connect the dots. I mean, he was only three weeks old when we found him.

The vet put him on pain meds because it hurts when the bladder is inflamed. And they have him on a bladder med. We have a few things to try as far as lessening his stress - who knew there's wet food for stress? We're also going to try the cat calming diffuser.

But the ultimate thought is that he's still very young and it's really possible that he'll grow out of it. That's what we're hoping for.

When we got home, we took him to K4's room since we had to go to the grocery store. None of us wanted him to be alone roaming around the house and there was a huge chance he would hide and we wouldn't be able to get his meds into him. K4 got the liquid med into him and then we let him come downstairs. He only took part of his pain meds, but it seems to be enough. He's currently laying on the living room floor all stretched out.

He's with his people and his buddies and that seems to be what he needs.

That's about it... I did my words and some other household administration duties and now I'm ready to close up shop and relax - hopefully with my orange kitty on my lap. We'll see if he's mad at me or not...

Oh! Snow is forecasted for the weekend! While I'm happy about the possibility of snow, I'm not happy about the way it could change our plans. We'll see.

That's all...

Behave!

Monday...

Oy! It's Monday...

The book singing was good! I sold a few. Got to talk to my author and bookseller friends. My sister came. I met some cool people. It was good...

Mr. B came in fourth in the pinewood derby. He's such a good sport. He was supportive of his pack mates and had the right attitude when it came to the end. He's such a good kid. Then, they had a family race. K1 put little Mr. B in to race with one of K1's old pinewood derby cars. (Little Mr. B fell asleep so wasn't a part of any of the thing) The old school bus was K1's entry when he was like 8. He lost horribly this time, but it was a blast. So many jokes and much obnoxiousness! When they found out how old the schoolbus was, one of the leaders brought out his oldest car and they raced. It was awesome. And then they sat at our table and discussed cars and races and scouts. It made me miss our time in scouts.

Sleeping in was marginal this weekend... that's all I have to say about that.

The most important thing today is that my Freddie boy had a vet appointment tonight. He's still at the vet...I am sad. They think he might have a urinary tract infection, which would explain the peeing on everything (occasionally) that is going on. We took him because of the peeing. It's not terrible, but it's not good either. But he peed on K4's coat right in front of me and didn't run away when I caught him. Something is wrong...

And he's at the vet still. I am distraught. I miss my baby. They wanted to give him fluids and get him to pee and check him out. Trust me, the kitty wasn't sick in any way when we went. The boy weighs 15 pounds!! He's only like seven months old!

I don't know what tomorrow will hold yet. They will call me... and I will leave work to pick him up...or whatever they suggest.

I miss my boy though. By now, he is in my lap, purring and wanting love. I feel so bad for him being stuck in a cage at the vet's office...

That is all I have...

Behave!!

Feel Good Friday!

Let's just get to the list!!!

1. Friday! Whoot!

2. K4 taking care of dinner & clean up tonight. No cooking. No cleaning up. Nice!

3. Getting to see Mr. B on his birthday for a few minutes. They are in Cub Scout pinewood derby preparations and stopped by for some advice on the car. I asked Mr. B how he could possibly be seven already and he told me that I hadn't been paying attention. LOL! He's a crack up!

4. Sleeping in tomorrow! Yes! It's been a rough sleeping week. I don't know why.

5. Dinner with "the boys" last night. We had K3 & A, K3's best friend and his partner, M, over. K3's best friend just found his mother deceased. It was super bad. We assisted as "pseudo-parents" at the funeral home since the poor guy has no one with experience around. (He and K3 have been best friends since early high school so he is like our son, too.) He's an only child and has absolutely no close family. So dinner was a way to catch up after the horrific time and make sure he's okay. He's doing well. He's a great guy. M is also a great guy, and we had a really awesome time getting to know him. We approve. I was going to ask K3 to bring a game to play, but as it turns out, we didn't need one. We laughed our butts off just talking about random stuff. 

6. Book Signing tomorrow! I'm excited to go with my new books!

7. I did not write last night, which I had planned for. I did a few words tonight - not as many as I have been doing, but enough to keep me on track. And there's always the chance I'll not sleep again and decided to get some words down...

8. Did I mention sleeping in? K4 is taking the dog tonight, which means I won't have to share my blankets, share my leg space, or fight for air since I'm stuck in the middle. Don't get me wrong, I normally don't mind the dog sleeping with us, but sometimes it's nice to have a break.

9. Going to see Mr. B's  Pinewood Derby race on Sunday and giving him his presents. That Man is super excited to go to a derby race. It's been a long time. We've done countless derby races - served food, made french fries, carved out cars, painted cars, did last minute weights on cars, baked cookies and pies, organized, cleaned up, gone to the next level with some pretty cool cars. In fact, Mr. B took home several of his dad's old pinewood derby cars for inspiration. It will be interesting to see what has changed.

10. Also Sunday... Oh wait... Laundry... nevermind...ha!

That is all!

Behave!

Mid-Week Mayhem...

Okay, so there's no mayhem. I made that part up... Ha!

It's, so far, been a pretty quiet week around here.

We did have some most beautiful snow yesterday. It's still pretty, but now it's freaking cold and blustery. Which is fine. I mean, it's winter, it's supposed to be cold. And with snow on the ground, I don't mind it so much. Well... I do mind the cold wind. That's pretty much bullcrap.

The day job is good. Still learning new stuff. Obviously that's going to be the case for a while. Went to the dentist for a cleaning for the first time in a long time, which was good. Not as bad as I expected, at all. I also made an eye doctor appointment, which also hasn't happened in a long time. (Do you see the thread here? Hmm...) (I have, however, had my mammogram regularly...)

I feel like I'm becoming a regular, whole person again...

I got my print books for Redemption: Sector One! They are so beautiful and I am so happy! I have my first book signing with them on Saturday! I'm so excited! And then, the next event is the annual greenhouse thing next month, which I am also excited for.

And... the writing is going spectacular! I have written every single day since last Friday, and not just a few words either. I made a pretty lofty monthly goal, and I am overachieving that so far! The story is going well and falling into place. In fact, I finished my words about a half-hour ago, which gives me time to goof off on the Internet. As I increase my stamina to normal proportions, I will be writing more and more words each night and still have goof off time. Oh! And I need a good chair for my office, so... I need to put that on my list!

The crap going on with the national writing organization is so epically ridiculous that it's like riding a crazy train through a ten-ring circus, or maybe worse than that... Today was especially crazy. It's like watching a superbad and cringey tv show that never has any kind of redemption or understanding. And I am not kidding at all.

Other than that... It's Wednesday...

And that is all...

Behave!

First Feel Good Friday of 2020...

It's 2020...

First Friday of 2020...

Let's get to the list.

1. New Year's was good. Lord of the Rings all day. Perfect. I was in bed early and up early the next day.

2. Back up... New Year's Eve was also good. We stopped downtown to see Funeral Bob's new gathering place. Hung out and talked to him and a bunch of people. Went to the grocery store (horrible mistake). Went for food. Visited friends. Visited more friends. Stayed up too late.

3. Back to work on Thursday. It was a long gruesome day of boredom. Seriously. I kept thinking it was Monday, which sucked.

4. Today was inventory day at work. We all made side dishes for the subs work ordered. I had to run checks this morning, but as soon as I was done, I went and helped count. Then lunch. Then entered as much inventory as I could before the end of the day. I was busy, and it was good. We left almost a half-hour late because That Man and I were both caught up in what we were doing and it was hard to tear away. But it will be there on Monday.

5. Chilling tonight. We brought leftovers home from today, so no cooking. I caught up on emails, paid the bills, and talked to my aunt.

6. Tomorrow's Writing Group meeting. Looking forward to it. There's a crapstorm going on with our national organization right now. We have only questions and no decent answers and everyone is ticked off and confused. It should be an interesting meeting.

7. After that... there is hope for lunch with some non-writing friends...

8. Taking the tree down either tomorrow night or Sunday. It's time for it to go. I also need to run the vacuum and clean this pigsty. It's not horrible, but it's not great either.

9. Writing goals... Getting back into the game. I fell short of my goals, but not that short, so I am still on the right track...

That's all I have... January is supposed to be a quiet month, but we're finding every weekend is full... Crazy.

Behave!