Weekend Wrap Up... On Monday

I was going to post yesterday. But I was too tired. Holy moly we worked our butts off this weekend! We still have a long way to go, but progress has been made. 

We left the day job early Friday, hit up the warehouse store, and then got to work on the driveway project when we got home. We still have about 11 feet to go, but it's getting there. We opted for an easy dinner, which was a solid plan. 

Saturday was many errands, which is funny because we weren't going to go anywhere, but then we started thinking about what we might need for Sunday and did we want to brave the crowds then, so we hit up the home improvement store. And then the farmer's market. And the recycle center for mulch. Thankfully we'd already planned our food for the weekend, so we didn't have to join the craziness at the grocery store. 

The front of the house is done, including transplanting ground cover to the new dirt and mulching. And scrubbing the porch. I'm going to need to do something with the cushions on the outdoor furniture next year. The fabric has eroded so horribly and cushion is showing. The rug will need replaced too. Which is all fine because we're going to have to repaint next year. 

And the carpenter bees!! Holy moly! There were dozens of them buzzing around! We've been fighting them for years and so far this is the worst we've seen them. We're not going to have any wood left if they don't back off! 

Sunday was more working. We got the big flower bed taken care of and moved some things around so we can see the flowers along the shed. It was a beautiful day. Well, both days were. We had good food with little clean up and then rested. 

The only downside was that I didn't get any writing done. 

That's all I have!

Behave! 

Feel Good Friday

Here's the list:

1. Short days.

2. Sleeping in.

3. Lists.

4. Getting stuff done. 

5. Warmer temps.

That is all...

Behave! 

I Guess It's Thursday...

This week, man. It's a weird one. The days pass by quickly. And slowly. I don't even know what to think. Today is Thursday. Part of me wonders how that's possible and the other part wonders why it took so long to get here. 

Tonight is errand running. (Again) We have no plan for dinner yet, though we have chicken in the fridge to cook. We have to go to the mega mart. I have a list. We only go there maybe 3 or 4 times a year because we both dislike it. I've been sending him meme's all day...you know the ones I'm talking about. Ha! 

Tiny progress on the Old Lady story. 

We get out of the day job a little early tomorrow, which is nice. Hopefully we'll have all of the running around done before then and can focus on our chore list. We'll see... Ha! 

Obviously I decided against posting my social media rant. Well, maybe just decided against for now. And again, I don't say anything mean, call anyone out, or say anything even remotely controversial. I think it's just that there's already so much negativity going on...maybe I just don't feel like adding to it? That's probably it.

And that's all for now. 

Behave! 

Tuesday Tax Day

Did y'all get your taxes done? 

We did ours old school and on paper. I refuse to pay for "extra forms" for one line on each of the forms, especially when we typically owe. I can do them just as efficiently without paying so much more.

The face is healing but still hideous. I don't want to talk about it. 

I guess Easter is coming? There's nothing going on for us this year, which is fine. Easter is my least favorite holiday. The mere thought of it makes me groan and I'm not a fan of ham. We're staying home to finish up some projects we've been working on and we'll probably make something on the grill for dinner. I imagine we'll see the grandkids at some point over the weekend, but likely not until B has a soccer game. 

This week is a lot of running around. I hope to get back to the Old Lady story tonight, but we'll see how long it takes us to get the choring done. Ha!

I think that's it for now. 

Behave! 

Face Plant Sunday

I'm not going to show you the picture, but I screwed up my face. I tripped over a brick, hit a metal flower pot, and then got tangled with another big flower pot. And I went down. On my face. Hard. I have scrapes from my forehead to my chin. My glasses dug into the bridge of my nose and my eye is super swollen. So is my lip. It hurts. I also have a giant bruise on my surgical leg. Everything else seems fine with my leg though. It happened so fast! 

We got so much done before that. We made a potting area beside the house in an area that usually gets forgotten. We laid cute little rocks, a solar light, and an antique sink. We worked our butts off and it looks so awesome. I love it. I repotted a bunch of plants and we split some of the big hostas and moved them. Today was a trip to the big hardware store -- yeah, I went looking like I did sixty rounds with a heavyweight. That man has been working on his driveway project and I've been bopping around here and there. I helped stack some bricks, made some soup, did laundry, among other things, and so far I have taken two naps. 

My face hurts. 

The soup is for our dinner and some will go to our friends. He's been given less than two months to live and soup is one of the things he can keep down. She asked that we not bring too much because she doesn't want it to go to waste. It's so sad. 

I got a tiny bit of writing done, but concentration is difficult. And I'm going to have to explain why my face looks like this over and over tomorrow at work. 

I think that's it for now. 

Behave! 

Feel Good Friday

Happy Friday! 

The weather is yucky and I do not like, but other than that...

Let's just get to the list...

1. There's 100% chance I'll be sleeping in tomorrow. 

2. And Sunday. 

3. Weekend plans - they are light and home related, but need to be done and are not unpleasant. 

4. The plans revolving around food for the weekend. We're trying out some new recipes on ourselves before we think about exposing others. Ha! 

5. There's also 100% chance of writing time this weekend. I've done pretty well throughout the week, but had to take a break to do an emergency read-through for a friend. 

I can't think of anything else worth sharing here. I'm still working on my social media post. I'm just not sure if it's worth posting. 

That is all...

Behave! 

Tuesday Thoughts

It's cold. 

My plants all had to come back inside. Instead of the impossible task of dragging them all back upstairs, we sequestered them in the dining room -- closing the doors and hanging plastic over the smaller door. That has made the feline population insane. They are currently working on a plan to get into the dining room. You can see it on their faces. 

This weather is making me crazy. I'm so tired of being teased with a warm day only for it to turn arctic overnight. Yeah, I know it's spring. I know it's like this every year. I'm just over it more this year, probably because of the way this year has gone so far. 

I'm working on a ranty post. I don't know if I'll actually post or not. Suffice it to say I'm fed up with social media as a whole. 

In an effort to balance the negativity of above with some positives... I have been a machine of productivity today, which feels awesome. I hit my step count by like ten am, which is also awesome. I have texted with many of my beloved family over the last twenty four hours, which is always awesome. Those things make me smile. Well, I'm smiling on the inside at least. Ha!

Behave! 

Weekend Wrap Up...

We're at the dread time of day. Dreading tomorrow being Monday and dreading the week ahead. Oy. I hate it. There used to be a time when I looked forward to Monday because it meant my family went back to their obligations and I got to write all day. But what are you going to do except what you have to? 

The weekend was busy. We got a lot done, but there's still so much to do. Managed to get my huge plants outside with the help of K3, but now I hear we're supposed to have super cold temps Monday and Tuesday nights. Oy. We'll have to see if we can get them inside ourselves, or have one of the boys come back over. When I say they're huge, I mean, they're huge. 

The grandboys were here for chaos and snacking last night. Mom dropped them off on her way out for the evening and Dad picked them up after work. We painted suncatchers, made popcorn, and smoothies. B had his first game of the new season, too. We couldn't make it, but I wish we had. They won by a landslide, with B scoring a solid third of the goals. 

We also got to see K5 for a few minutes yesterday. And K3 & A came over for dinner today and to help with plants. It was a good time. It's always a good time. We made burgers and macaroni salad. 

I got a decent amount of writing done while That Man worked on the driveway project. All in all, a pretty good weekend. I just wish there were a few more days of it.

And that is all. 

Behave! 

Feel Good Friday

Woot for Friday! 

Let's just get to the list...

1. Sleeping in tomorrow. Though I probably won't sleep in too long. We have a crazy couple of days ahead of us, but not having to get up at the buttcrack of dawn will be lovely. 

2. Hopefully checking some stuff off of list. Our list is big. 

3. Potentially seeing K3 and A this weekend. And the grandboys, and maybe even K5. It just depends on how things work out. 

4. Maybe getting some writing done this weekend. I've been progressing, just not fast enough for myself. Not to mention the discouragement I talked about yesterday. 

...and that's all I really have. The rest is sad - a friend passed away, another friend was given two months. I'm struggling to wrap my head around it all. 

Behave! 

April Showers

It's raining right now, but it's supposed to clear up and make it to over 70* today! Whoop! Things are already turning green. It's going to be awesome with the higher temp. 

I brought two plants outside already. Yes, I'll watch the weather and bring them back in if needed, but they were looking pretty sickly. They always do in spring and they are pretty hearty so I don't worry a ton about them if the temps drop after they're outside. They had also grown enough over the winter that they assaulted you while you were doing anything in the bathroom--tickling the back of your neck, tangling with hair, generally getting involved in areas they had no business. Anyway. They are happier already. 

It's Thursday. I hate wishing the week away to get to the weekend. But that's what I've been doing. I need to stop and find the fun and joy in the weekdays too. We're not quite in crazy busy mode yet. Which is good because there's a lot we need to get done before that happens. It's coming though...

Writing is going slow. I'm in a discouraged place. It's not the book at all. It's my own emotions and frustration. But I'll soldier through it and hopefully have this book out for critique soon.

And that's it for now...

Behave! 

Weekend Wrap Up...

Well, it's Monday again. 

The weekend, as usual, went too fast. 

The book signing was a lot of fun. I didn't do so hot as far as sales. My content isn't something the folks there were into and that's fine. One woman asked what kind of books, with a book in hand, and when I said "the one you're holding is paranormal"...well, she couldn't put it down fast enough. And she wasn't the only one. It's okay. I still had fun. 

Tomorrow starts April already! What the heck? 

Our poor old pup is declining pretty rapidly these days. She's 11 1/2 and a large breed. She's such a good dog. Her hips are not good and she's prone to falling. And accidentally urinating when she's super tired. She's also far less tolerant of chaos and loud noises and she's sun downing in the evening. K4 came in late on Friday and she didn't recognize her at first. It was pretty heartbreaking. We have to make sure to tell her to "go potty" on the last potty break of the day or she'll just stand there. She has a vet appointment soon, so we're hopeful that we can at least manage her pain and symptoms and give her the best quality of life possible. I don't want to talk about the rest. 

That is all...

Behave! 

Friday!

Yay! It's been a long and cold week! This weekend is supposed to have amazing weather, but we'll see. 

I have a book signing tomorrow. It's about an hour away from home. We'll see how it goes. I'm doing this one as a favor to a friend. I don't plan on scheduling future signings at this point. I only have a few of most books left, none of some, so it's not like I have too much to offer going forward. It's sad, but I'm doing all I can to get back out there. 

Not much else. Life is pretty much back to normal these days and even if it wasn't, I wouldn't post about it here. (I had a little rant I was going to post, but changed my mind.)

Behave! 

 

It's Thursday!

And it's the first day of spring! 

We've been doing little bits of yard stuff all week. It's been so nice outside! We transplanted a few of the heartier plants and cut down the dried ornamental grasses. And, since the parts finally came in, starting to dismantle the wreckage from my Jeep so we can repair her. It's going to take a minute so I don't know if it'll be back on the road this summer or not. We'll see... 

We have a huge list of things to get done this summer. Last summer ended up being a wash for health reasons and it sucks. But we'll get there. 

I'm managing pretty good these days. Still some muscular pain, but it's not constant. Some stiffness, which is normal. I'm still pretty weak with that leg, so I'm working on it. And trying really hard to give myself grace when I get tired sooner than I used to or forget something. This healing is a process on many levels. 

That's about it. We have a crazy weekend coming up with grandboys, soccer games, and house stuff. The weather isn't supposed to be as awesome as it's been the last few days, but I'm hoping it's better than they say. 

Behave! 

Feel Good Friday on Saturday

I'm cold! I thought it was going to be a nice day today, but while it's not freezing and snowing, it's still chilly and raining. 

Anyway. Here's the list:

1. Sleeping in a little this morning. 

2. Cozy evenings with That Man. 

3. Backyard plans. 

4. Living through the work week. 

5. Getting writing done this week. 

6. Getting my mess of a pantry cleaned out. 

That's about it. I need a nap. 

Behave!

This Day...

My day started with me dropping my clean socks into the toilet. The toilet that was not clean. (well, it wasn't utterly disgusting, just not flushed)

Then, I went to pay a parking ticket for work and paid the wrong municipality. Though in my defense, I googled the correct one, but I clicked on the wrong link. It got worked out quickly, but I feel like a noob. The names were very very close. 

I've been submitting a lot of queries for the old man story. Got a rejection today, so that sucks. To be honest, I've probably gotten a rejection each day this week. 

I'm kind of afraid to see what else happens. 

But on the upside, I've written a bunch this week. Monday I did some on the old lady story, and yesterday and today have been a different project that I'm not 100% sure of yet. I like it so far. But yay... that's something! 

Tomorrow is Friday, which is also upside. 

The weather has been pretty decent and it's lighter longer, which barely begins to make up for the missing hour. 

That is all...

Behave!  

Weekend Wrap Up

Well, it's Monday again. Sigh.

And we moved the clocks ahead. Sigh. 

I'm tired this morning. It took everything I had to crawl out of bed. Why is it that Monday ends up being the morning you could really sleep in? 

So in reality, there's isn't much to report from the weekend. I didn't get any writing done. 

I did get to see K3 and A, which was awesome. 

I did sleep in a tiny bit on Saturday. We did a lot of chores. 

That's all I have to report. 

The promise of beautiful weather is out there. The only upside of the time change is that it's lighter later, which is good. Soon it will be time for plants. 

That's all I have...

Behave! 

Feel Good Friday!

Yay Friday! It's been a long week! 

Here's the list: 

1. Monday's very positive surgeon visit. I'm still having pains, but they are muscular and related to new shoes and things healing. 

2. Visits from nephews and friends. We had a wonderful dinner with them on their road trip journey. 

3. Making progress with the writing. I'm still not sure I've started in the right place, but I'm getting there. 

4. Summer retreat house is booked! Whoot! 

5. Light, but not light, weekend plans. 

6. The forecast next week! Seventy by Tuesday? Yes, please!

7. Sleeping in tomorrow. At least for a little. 

8. New shoes. 

That's about it. 

Behave! 

Hello March!

Yeah, I know March actually started on Saturday. I was busy! Ha! 

I got tricked, too. It was so lovely Saturday morning and I am so sick of cold weather, that I let myself get lulled into "false spring". I planted flowers. Outside. The pansies are okay. It's the other "hearty spring flower" that are dead. Yeah, I know. I'm an idiot and should know better. But my porch looked really cute for a few hours. All of the snowmen/snow themed items were removed and spring showed up. Now it's dead spring. 

Saturday was hella busy. We ran errands, did house stuff, ran more errands, went to dinner, and then to B's soccer game. What an amazing game. It was intense. B's team won 3-2, with B making two of the three goals. But talk about a good game and awesome sportsmanship. We won't talk about the uncomfortable metal bleachers. I sat on my puffy coat (because by then, the wind was so cold it would cut you in two and I needed a puffy coat to survive), and it still wasn't enough. Lesson learned. I'll take a chair next time. Also, on this day, I hit the highest step count I've had since my hip started hurting in December of 2023. And with only a little muscle soreness. 

I don't have to go back to my surgeon for six months! He said everything looks awesome and I have no restrictions. Just do what I think I can do and work up to the rest. My xray's looked great and he was pleased with how I'm walking. 

And that is all. 

Behave!

Last Day of February!

Good Riddance! 

February seemed long. I don't think I'm the only one who feels that way! We have about three weeks until it's finally Spring! And I don't care what you say, March is a horribly long and awful month too. It's warm one day, cold the next, there's mud everywhere, flowers start to come up and then die. Our thoughts turn to gardens and planting, and then...it snows. So yeah... 

Let's do the Feel Good. 

1. Healing coming along. I can put my own socks on now! Still sore at the end of the day, but it's a "muscles getting back to normal" sore. I'm not doing steps like a normal person all of the time, but I'm getting there. I have driven an automatic, but not our manual shift yet. That's coming. I'm ready. Doc appointment on Monday. 

2. Writing. Well, I'm hoping to get back into things this weekend. I figured out that I started in the wrong place, so that's a help to me feeling stuck. I also know the surgery/healing has a lot to do with everything and I had already promised myself I would take the time I needed to not feel like I'm forcing myself. I know I've had successful days over the past six weeks, but not so much lately. I do feel like I'm ready though. So there's that. 

3. Not so feel good is that my besties are all on a writing retreat this weekend. I so wish I could have joined them. I wasn't sure what kind of shape I would be in when the plans were made and I didn't want to burden them with having to help me so much when it's their retreat. I know they would have gladly helped me, but I just didn't know where I would be physically and mentally. And I didn't want to stick them with my cost portion if I realized I really couldn't go. I know I made the right decision, but it's sooo hard! I think (hope) we're planning one for summer, so that's a definite for me. 

That's about it! Life is not that exciting right now. I have a few things on the calendar to look forward to. One is a booksigning at the end of the month, and the other is an alone trip That Man and I have planned. And that's it. Like I said before, I know very soon I'll be lamenting the fullness of our calendar and wishing for the quiet time. 

That is all...

Behave! 

Silence...Well, Some.

Sorry for the silence! Though I guess it's only been two weeks! Only. Ha!

I'm healing. It's been almost 5 weeks. Sleep is getting better, but is still an issue. The old pain is gone completely, which is amazing and wonderful. However, I still have weird and random pains. Every day is different. I know it's from the actual surgery and the fact that my muscles were cut, etc. And my knee is figuring out how to support me correctly again. I keep feeling like my foot is turning inward, but it's not. Like I said, every day is different, but it's getting better every day too.

I can almost put my socks on by myself. I have to be careful to not over do physical activity and to react slowly in certain cases. I can get into our vehicle without my step stool, though I still keep it handy just in case. I'm not doing the stairs like a normal person yet, but that's coming. I still have a little swelling, which is normal.

Other than that...This particular long dark of winter is incredibly obnoxious for me. I'm equal parts stir crazy and snuggled in. I'm not quite sure how to explain it, but I'm ready for warmer weather, sun, being more active, and for some of the stressors to go away. 

Come on, Spring! 

Behave! 

Snow Day!

Well, not really. It's a work from home day. 

We got ice. I'm not sure how much. All I know is that we received an email last night saying we wouldn't open until after 9am today. Then, this morning, there was another that said to work from home. So we did. 

And yeah, I'm back at work. Since my job is a desk job, the doc was fine with me returning. My brain was atrophying. Ha! 

My healing is going well, but it's a process. Every day is a little better. Sleeping has been an issue, but (knock on wood) that was better last night. I just need that to continue. 

Looks like we're supposed to get more bad weather over the weekend, and then again next week. I say bring it. 

That is all. 

Behave! 

Feel Good Friday!

It's rainy here. And chilly. But I'm snuggled up in my chair with a blanket. It's quite possibly my last Friday home. I go to the doctor on Monday and we'll see what he says about clearing me for return to work. 

Let's do the list...

1. Making a successful trip into the day job yesterday to say "Happy Retirement" to my boss. It's bittersweet. He was a great boss and I'll miss him, but I'm happy for him to get to enjoy his retirement too. He's been talking about it since I started over 5 years ago. 

2. Feeling pretty confident in my new boss. He definitely has a different style, but it's good. I think things are going to be just fine. 

3. Putting on my very loose comfy socks all by myself. It took a very long time and the help of my grabber thingy, but I did somehow manage to get my left sock on. It's crooked, but my foot is warm. 

4. Getting writing done. I have made decent progress this week, and I will continue to make decent progress. I am re-finding my focus and my spark so that's something. And I'm doing my best not to overdo it and burn myself out. 

5. Working hard at not overdoing things. It's absolutely amazing to not have the pain level I had before. It's super easy to forget that my body is still healing. And that I do still have pain that shouldn't be ignored. I am mindful though. 

6. Starting to look forward to upcoming things. I feel like I haven't been able to do that for a little while. And yeah, I did look forward to the holidays, but not without a huge amount of trepidation and frustration over how I was going to get things done and survive with the amount of pain I was dealing with. Now it's with more of a "I should be able to do that" attitude. If that makes sense. 

That's about it. 

Behave! 

I'm Here!

I'm not even close to 100% yet, and that will be a while, but every day is getting better.

The pain of the bad hip is gone. Whoot! Now I'm left with surgical pain - or you know - someone reaching their hands inside of my body and taking out my bones pain. And there's a lot of that! Ha! The bruising was epic. So are the muscle cramps. Mostly gone now, but there's still a little. My scar is good. Healing nicely. Sleeping is a crapshoot, but it always is. Ha! I'm walking around the neighborhood some and can do steps better than I could before though I still have to take it slow. 

I will be venturing out for the first time in two weeks on Thursday. My boss is retiring and I need to go to the shindig. It's at work, so it should be easy and there are plenty of spaces for me to rest if I need to. Then I see my surgeon on Monday and hopefully he'll release me to go back to work. 

In the meantime, I'm in my chair watching dumb tv and organizing stuff. I haven't gotten back to writing yet, but that's today. I hope. 

That's all I have! 

Behave!

I'm Back!

Sorry it's taken me so long! 

I'm doing well and making progress!

I'll post more detail soon! 

Behave! 

Here We Go...

I report bright and early tomorrow morning. Well, actually I have to be there before it's even bright and early. Ha! My surgery time is first thing in the morning. I'm the first one of the day. 

I received my call with my instructions and I'm good to go. 

So I guess I'll catch you on the flip side. I'll post as soon as I can/feel up to it. 

And then I can get back to living life! Living life without constant pain! 

Let's go! 

Behave!

2 Days Until Surgery...

I'm all set... I've been medically cleared for Friday. I'll get a time to report sometime tomorrow. 

I have my bag packed. The house is almost clean. Stuff has been organized. 

I have to use this super weird smelling body wash. I can't sleep with my dog. 

Our bed part came, but it's taking it's time warming up so we're watching it. It will be a pain if we have to send it back. 

No writing has happened. My brain is working and I cannot wait until I can put some words on the page again. 

And that is all...

Behave!

Feel Good Friday on Saturday...Again

Well, here we are at Saturday again. I kind of fell down on posting this week, but in my defense, the week was absolute insanity. 

To back up, it barely snowed. So we trudged our way into work Monday to inventory data entry and report making. And trying to catch up on everything that didn't happen due to getting ready for inventory day. That continued until Friday. About the only thing I can say is that it was one of "those" work weeks. 

And it was one of "those" weeks period. So many stressful things. 

Still up in the air about whether or not surgery is really going to happen. I'm told not to worry and to continue as if it is, but there seems to be one thing after another. The "don't worry" is a ridiculous thing to say to someone. And I am continuing like everything is as it should be, but damn, so very much stress. 

We're still waiting for the part for our bed. the original place refunded me after I emailed for status (they apologized and said they were out of stock)and I had to do a pretty intense search for another one. Which I did find, and I paid way too much for it, but I had no choice. It's supposed to be here today and we're ready. There's a hose running through the living room in preparation. The hope is that we can be back to normal by Monday night. Fingers crossed. 

No writing has happened this week, and we'll see if I get to it this weekend at all. My brain is a little broken, but I might be able to spew some ideas out for later. I also want to go through the old man synopsis and query again, but I'm giving myself grace on that all of it. 

That's it for now. Hopefully this coming week will be better than last...

Behave! 

Weekend Wrap Up

Happy Sunday? 

I am torn about being happy it's Sunday. I mean, it's been a pretty decent weekend, but after Sunday is Monday and...well...no one wants that. 

Christmas is gone from this house. We packed it all up and put it away. There are some snowmen things here and there. The sleds and "winter flowers" are still on the porch along with the big snowman. I'm okay with that. We did some minor organizing in the basement. Well, we did a lot of organizing of various things and laundry. 

I spent most of yesterday writing. I think I figured out the beginning of the old lady story. That's progress. I'm just now getting to it today. 

My main purpose in posting was to update on our dinner tonight...

So this time last week, we dumped an entire bottle of wine into a pot with various vegetables, spices, and beef broth and cooked it into a marinade. Once that was cooled, we placed a small roast into a bag and poured the marinade on top. By Wednesday, we had to move the whole thing into a container due to leakage. It smelled like wine. 

This morning we pulled it all out, dried off the roast, braised it, and then put it all back together with the marinade and popped it into the oven at 300. It was supposed to go for 3-4 hours. 

Well, with all of the organizing we were doing, we lost track of time. 

And we burned it. 

We were supposed to take the marinade, strain it, add gingersnaps, and make gravy. Pssh. Instead, we made beef broth gravy with no gingersnaps. 

The meat was dry, but not inedible. It didn't taste burned so there's that. I can't say I loved the taste, but I didn't hate it either. If that makes sense. 

There was also a red cabbage side dish to go with it. That turned out awesome and we sunk the meat in the pot while we finished up the gravy. The red cabbage dish is going to stay in our back pocket for future meals. 

And there you have it. That Man is working on cleaning the burned dutch oven. I have opened my document and am getting to work. We have precious few hours until the week starts, but hopefully we'll get the snow they're talking about and tomorrow will be a work from home day. 

Behave!

Feel Good Friday on Saturday

Made it through the first few days of the year, but honestly... this year is not starting out so great. 

Let's get the crap out of the way first, shall we? You know how they say "crap happens in threes"? Yep. In just four days we've managed to fill the crap-o-meter.

1. Potentially having to delay my surgery due to a missed test scheduling. (Not my fault) For now, we are continuing like things are happening. But I won't know if we're a go until the last minute unless there's a cancellation. 

2. Our heater going out on our bed. That happened New Years Eve. We ordered a new one, but it hasn't even shipped yet. I'm in the guest room and he's been sleeping on the couch. It sucks because I have a week until I'm in the guest room full time for a bit. 

3. There is a three. 

So, let's do our best to side table the crap and focus on some good stuff. 

1. Work inventory going well. There's only a bit of entering numbers to do. We were done the earliest we've ever been and so far, things are lining up pretty well! Lunch was awesome and it was a good day even though it was a really long day. 

2. Snow in the forecast. Though I just saw an update that has the storm pushed to the south and shows us as not getting anything now. I hope that's wrong. I haven't had time to check it out yet. 

3. Since we're in self-imposed lock down, we've been trying new recipes. Next up is sauerbraten. I will let you know how it comes out tomorrow or Monday. The roast has been marinating for a week. 

4. Figuring out what the old lady story needs. I'm picking my way through, but it's a slow go right now. 

Okay. That's all I have. At least the good was more than the bad? Yeah. I don't think it works that way...

Behave! 

End...

Well, this is it! The end of this weird year! 

I have a lot of hope for 2025. Well, not really. We'll see what happens after surgery and recovery. Right now, that's all I'm focused on. 

I don't know if I'll do a year in review or not... Maybe. But it'll be short since I didn't post a lot in 2024. 

Mainly I spent the year in pain and it impacted so many things for me. I'm ready for the pain not to be an issue anymore. 

It's good that we opted out of the various evening invites we had. Everyone is turning up sick. I'm not convinced we're not going to end up with some form of crud, but we're trying our best! It is what it is though. All we can do is our best. 

That's all I have for now. 

Behave! 

After the Chaos...

It's done! 

I hope your holiday was as awesome as ours!

There was a ton of food, laughter, conversations, and good feelings. I wasn't allowed to do much as far as prep and clean up, but I did what I could and tried my best to be okay with sitting out. 

We had a blast, but I have to say, I'm glad it's over. Now it's just the clean up and reorganization of my house. 

We'll get to that this coming week. This weekend was about relaxing. This is the first weekend in months that we haven't had an obligation. I slept in both days and we just hung out watching dumb tv. And napped.

We also figured out our plan for New Year's Eve. Well, we knew our plan already. We're home. Staying away from germs and therefore missing out on any and all of the gatherings we've been invited to. But we're having an epic dinner that includes an appetizer and dessert. Yeah, we're going fancy. Ha! 

Hopefully you'll hear more from me in the next few weeks before surgery. I'm going to do my best. 

That's all I have for now though. 

Behave! 

Very Merry!

Well, here we are! Christmas is commencing in just a few hours!

I'm almost ready. No. I'm not.. We still need to get our dog a present. Trust me when I say this is a very important thing. She loves to open presents, which is why you won't find any wrapped gifts under our tree unless we're home. 

We also have a few gifts to wrap, food to make, and a house to straighten up, but we're in the homestretch. 

Christmas Eve should be a hoot. Most of the family is coming. There will be a lot of talking, laughing, eating, and talking. Though I do hope for an early evening. I will explain a little further down. 

Then Christmas Day and a birthday. K4 will be 25. We're having stromboli for dinner and her usual ice cream cake. The kids are coming over, which will be fun chaos. And lucky for us, we're off the day after Christmas. 

So, this time last year I started having consistent pain in my hip. I'd had on and off pain for months before, but once I laid down it would stop. Then that stopped being a thing and it hurt all of the time with very rare times of no pain. I thought it was my sciatic. At the beginning of summer I couldn't take it anymore and went to the walk-in orthopedic clinic. 

To make a long story short, I'm having my hip replaced in two weeks. Things have progressed horribly. I am in constant pain and it's hard to get comfortable. I don't sleep well. I can't do half of the things I want/need to. I'm using a cane now and have a special step stool to get in our truck. My tolerance for chaos is pretty much nonexistent right now and I'm exhausted all of the time. I'm very frustrated by my own limitations and it doesn't take much to make me cry because the pain keeps me on the brink already. 

That Man is a saint. He has to put my sock on for me and help me with so many things. He's taking care of the majority of the household chores and has to deal with my whining and restlessness. 

And that's where we're at. I haven't touched my writing in at least a week. But hopefully I will get back to it over the next two weeks. Christmas is my social cut off. I can't take the chance of getting sick and delaying my surgery so I'm quarantining. There won't be any New Year's Eve gathering for us, but I'd probably just be cranky and uncomfortable anyways. 

And that's that. 

I hope you have a wonderful day however you celebrate. 

Behave! 

Holy Cow!

I definitely didn't mean for there to be that long of a silence! 

Sorry about that! 

So what's been going on? 

Insanity! Or maybe just chaos. It's hard to know for sure.

We have like 2 weeks until Christmas. I'm not ready. I'm not even a quarter ready. Our tree is up, but that's about it. And it's a fake tree for the first time ever. It was kind of a necessity for a few different reasons. 

Every weekend is full from now until Christmas. And not just one day full. But it's all good stuff. 

Writing is slow. Very. 

That's all for now! 

Hopefully it won't take me another forever to come back! I'd like to do a more detailed post about what's going on.  

Behave! 

Oh Hi!

That was a little longer than I'd planned. And I won't say I'm fully back. There's a lot going on, so I'll do the best I can. Nothing has really changed with life. Same stuff, different day. 

Let's just jump right into to Feel Good Friday, okay? 

1. Sleeping in tomorrow. 

2. The work week not being as crazy this week. That's a nice break. 

3. Finally a weekend at home this weekend. Still busy, but at least we're home.

4. My office.  

5. Holidays coming up. This is our year with That Man's family. I'm not exactly sure what I'm making yet, but I'm working on it. 

This year is flying. I am stunned at how few weekends there are until the end of the year. 

That is all. 

Behave! 

Feel Good Friday

I'm so glad the rain finally stopped. I love rainy days, but that was a little much! 

Okay, so here's the Feel Good list: 

1. Today is Friday. 

2. Sleeping in a little tomorrow. Which is good since I've been up and moving since 4am. 

3. Cooler temps.

4. Even though I've made little progress on my story this week, I feel good about the decisions I've made. 

5. Spending last Sunday with the grandboys. We carved pumpkins, played, and watched weird tv. It was a good day. 

6. Weekend plans. They aren't crazy, but they're good. 

That's about it. I'm sure there's more, but my brain is literally broken. 

Don't be surprised if I don't show up for a few weeks. I think I need to take another social media break. I'm weary, so I'll be on hiatus for the next month or so. 

Behave! 

Feel Good Friday on Saturday

Okay, enough with the rain already! I think I'm growing moss! 

In reality, I don't mind it so much. We did need it, and my plants are loving it. 

Anyway. Here's the list:

1. Living through the work week. It was a long one. 

2. Sleeping in a tiny bit this morning. It definitely wasn't long enough, but I did take a nap this afternoon. 

3. A phone call I've been wishing for. 

4. Realizing the old lady story needs something. Except even though I know what now, I'm not sure how I want to do it. Sigh. 

5. Getting stuff done around the house. 

6. Maybe sleeping in a little tomorrow. 

7. Having the boys tomorrow. We're going to carve pumpkins and hopefully do some plant rearranging. 

8. Mr. B winning his soccer game today, and him scoring every goal in the game and taking the title of the most goals in his league. 

9. Naps. Oh wait. I said that. 

10. Chicken Rice soup for dinner. 

That's all. I should try to figure this old lady out. 

Behave! 

New Beginnings...

I mentioned about my publisher closing down a few weeks ago. I'm still sad about this, but at the same time, I know it's time for me to spread my wings a little and go a different direction. It's been brewing for a little while now and things happening the way they did kind of feels like the push I needed. 

None of my books will be available after the end of the month. Though I will have my full rights back to each. I also get to keep some of the covers. I don't know what I'm doing with them yet though. Yes, I can self publish them, but that's a lot of effort that I could be putting towards other things. I'm still thinking. 

A few years ago, I had an idea while on vacation. It was definitely not typical of what I usually write. It was a story about the struggles, love, and life of a couple that met when they were teenagers and are now at the end of their lives. That's the Old Man story. Then, I wrote about an older woman re-finding her first love. The Old Lady story, which is what I'm currently editing. And now I have at least four other ideas for these types of stories. 

So that's what I'm doing at the moment. It's a very different direction and I find I'm super comfortable with it. I still love the post apocalyptic stuff and can't say I'd never write another one, but for now I'm writing what I guess you could call "family saga" or just women's fiction. 

And there you have it...

Behave!

Feel Good Friday on Saturday

 Yay for Saturday! 

Here's what's good. 

1. Sleeping in this morning! It was much needed after a really bad night of sleep Thursday night. 

2. Living through the work week. It was a rough one. 

3. Fall being here! Finally!

4. Getting stuff organized. 

5. Having most of my weekend chores done already.

6. Moving on to editing the Old Lady story. 

7. Lots of stuff going on, but feeling like I have a handle on things. 

And that's about it!

Behave!

Feel Good Friday

Yay for Friday! It has been an insanely long week! 

Here's the list: 

1. Managing to make it through the work week despite crappy sleep and overburdened schedules. 

2. Ticking off a few big things from the "to do" list. 

3. That Man's truck running again. 

4. Plans tonight to meet friends for dinner. We used to be neighbors and we saw each other every day. We talked on the phone every day even though we lived a yard apart. Our kids grew up together. H*ll, we grew up together. They moved away and we miss them. So we're meeting them for dinner tonight, which should be a blast. 

5. Saturday plans. They are necessary and organizational, but they should still be fun. Even though there is no food plan at this point.

6. Having the boys on Sunday. We have a surprise for Little B. After him riding my great niece's bike at camp, we managed to find him his own bike. He has no idea. And I can't wait to hear how school is going for both. 

7. This is not feel good, but waking up this morning to find unauthorized charges on my debit card. What a freaking pain! And what the h*ll is wrong with people? It's being resolved, but it has created a bunch of frustration for me. 

8. Finding time to write this week even though it was short and spotty. I'm getting there. 

That is all! 

Behave!

Oh Hi, September!

Yay for fall! I mean, it's not really fall yet, but it's coming! 

We had a good time at camp. We had both grandboys all weekend. We were tired--well, tired is an understatement. Little B did pretty good, especially since it was his first time at camp without his parents. And it was his first time away from home for that long. And no, he did not eat marshmallows all weekend. More like chicken nuggets. Ha! I took my little air fryer, and it was the best decision. 

The other big news is that my publisher is closing down. It was a shock. A very sad shock. I've been with them for ten years. I absolutely love my editor. I've learned so much from her and really enjoyed talking with her. It's going to be weird going forward. I have no idea what I'm going to do with my backlist yet, but I'll likely self publish them. I'm working on my plan. 

In the meantime, I am finishing the Old Man story. I've gone through all of my critiques and now just have my own notes and then a final read through. I also have the Chaos book to figure out what to do with. 

I'll get there. 

That is all. 

Behave!

Weekend Wrap Up!

I know it's been a while. The month is almost over! No excuses!

So what's been going on? 

Ha! Pretty much the same chaos as usual. 

Chaos is submitted and the Old Man story has been critiqued and is waiting for me to input the changes. I have two critiques to do first though, but I hope to get to it quickly. And then I have three ideas to write and another story of mine to edit(actually two more, but...). I'm getting there though. It really felt good to finish two books so close together. 

Camp is coming up! We'll have both grandsons for the weekend. It'll be Little B's first time for more than one night. The only thing he'll tell me he wants to eat is marshmallows, so this should be interesting. Ha! Most of the family will be camping, so it should be a good weekend. I still have no idea what to make for the picnic, but I guess I'll figure it out soon. I'm hoping the weekend will be cooler than this week is supposed to be! 

Nothing else new here... the day job is busy with no signs of slowing down. We had an epic company wide kickball game a few weeks ago and it was an absolute blast. Next up is planning for the Christmas party, and then my boss's retirement party...along with everything else. At least I'm not alone in the party planning. There are three of us to get stuff done. 

And that is all... Sunday is winding down, which means Monday comes too soon. Boo! 

Behave!

Feel Good Friday on Thursday!

Yes, we're mixing things up a bit over here! Ha!

I just happen to be off from the day job today, so I figured I'd stop by and say hi!

I've been busy... washed the sheets and remade the bed, ran the vacuum, made a birthday cake for work tomorrow, and I have done a whole bunch of editing. 

But I'm also waiting for both the gas company and the water company to come and do whatever it is they need to do with our meters. That's why I took a vacation day today. That and I needed a mental health day. 

So here's the list:

1. Going back to bed this morning. I got up with That Man and after he left and the dog went potty, I crawled back in. That was nice. 

2. Being super close to the end of this book. I need to add some words, but the amount is dwindling. 

3. The quiet. I have had a few work related things pop up, but I knew the day was going to be like that and it's fine. 

4. Getting the laundry done. I mean, I would have done it tonight if it was a regular week, but it's nice that I don't have to now. 

5. Wearing a sweatshirt! Yeah, I have shorts on, but still. The fact that it's cooled off this much makes me happy. I even had socks on earlier and I shut the air conditioning off. 

That's all for now! 

Behave! 

Feel Good Friday!

It's hot again. What the hell? 

Anyway. Here's the list:

1. Making it to Friday. It was a long, long week. 

2. Air conditioning. 

3. Bringing back birthday cakes at the day job. People love it and we get cake!

4. Buy one, get one deals. 

5. Our grandson doing great with his eye surgery. 

6. Relaxed weekend plans. (I hope)

7. Sleeping in tomorrow. I need that. 

That's all... It's been one of those weeks. 

Behave!

Feel Good Friday!

Yay for Friday! It's been a long week! 

Here's the list:

1. Finishing and submitting the book. Now I wait. 

2. The heat subsiding even though it's only for a few days. 

3. An easy weekend? I think? We have nothing on the calendar. Which is good since the weeds are threatening to take over the back yard. Mr. B is supposed to come over and help so he can earn some cash. 

4. Sleeping in tomorrow. It feels like it's been forever since I've had the chance. 

That's about it for now. Ha! 

Behave!

Random

My intentions are good, but I never seem to find/make the time to post here!

Here's a random list of random things: 

1. I am sick of the heat. The last few days have been better, but still. I'm ready for fall. 

2. Finally meeting up with K5 to take her out to eat for her birthday, which was almost a month ago. That kid has been running all summer. We had a fun dinner. 

3. Watching Mr. B play soccer. He's amazing and I'm not just saying that as a proud grandparent. He now holds the record for the most goals in a season for his soccer club, and he came away from the tournament with 9 goals under his belt. 

4. Getting to hang out with Little B. He's such a crack up. He's now calling his pappy "grandfather". And he says it all fancy too. He makes me laugh. 

5. Being days away from hitting submit on my horsemen story. I have a few things to do and then it's ready. Then I'll round out the one I began editing on retreat. That one is close as well. I need to add a few more words, edit it, send it for critique, and then I'll be ready. 

6. I'm tired of our calendar. I thought we'd be in the "not busy" zone by now, but heck no. I would love a weekend at home to get stuff done, rest, and chill. It doesn't look like that's on the books for quite a while though. 

That's some of it! 

Behave!

Weekend Wrap Up!

I know you don't want to hear it because everyone is saying it, but I'm freaking sick of it being so hot!

It's impossible to get anything done outside. We had so many plans this weekend--tackle the weeds that sprung up while we were gone, work on the truck, clean up around the shed. We did none of that. 

Instead I worked on the horsemen story. Sent the last section out for critique and started reading through the story from the beginning. Made a lot of progress today. 

I mean, it's productive for sure, but it doesn't help the weeds in the backyard. 

That's all... 

Behave! 

Back Again!

 I'm back! Again! This time I was out of state! Like several states away from home! 

We went to see our aunt and uncle who live in the midwest. It's a very long drive! This time, however, we got a hotel room both on the way there and on the way home and that made the trip not as exhausting (thought it's still hella exhausting). I'm too old to drive straight through anymore, plus my hip hurts too much to sit in a car for that long. 

Anyway. 

We get up Sunday morning from our mediocre and slightly scary hotel, do our thing, and head out. Got a few miles down the road when the battery light came on in our big blue truck. Found an open auto parts store and grabbed an alternator. Debated about putting it on in the parking lot, and decided to soldier on due to lack of some of the tools we needed. The last two hours or so of the trip was hairy--winding roads and a quickly dropping battery--and no cell signal. And absolutely no place to pull over, not even a parking lot or gas station. 

We pulled in and everything just died. We had enough juice to barely put the windows up. Oy! But we had the part and putting it on was relatively quick. Except we didn't do that until Monday. 

It was a relaxing, but super hot, week. We basically did nothing but talk, eat good food, and talk more. Oh and we did some tasks our aunt hadn't gotten to yet like clean the hot tub, replace some door knobs, and fix the toilet in our space. We did go to the corner store a few times, and out to lunch and out on their boat on the 4th, which was nice, but so very hot. Almost lost the uncle to heat stroke, but we got him cooled down before he jumped into the lake. 

Left yesterday morning, hit a hotel with psychotic air conditioning and a room at least a mile away from the only entrance last night, and arrived home late this afternoon. The ride home is always far worse than the ride there. 

Our puppy was as happy to see us and we were to see her, and our orange cat who had gone a little nutso during the week is fine, so there's that. 

Now I'm just waiting for our air conditioner in our room to make it's magic so I can go to bed! Ha!

Behave!

Weekend Wrap Up!

We're back from the Wilds!

We took Mr. B camping this weekend! We were supposed to have K5 and him, but K5's schedule is out of hand so we had to settle for having her last week. 

But, damn, it was hot! Thankfully the camper has air conditioning. And thankfully, Mr. B has some good sense and decided not to be a "foil baby" in his tent. He crashed in the air conditioning with us, and it was good. He slept in and so did I! It was just the three of us in the Wilds and it was so much fun! 

Met up with J to pick him up outside of the mega-mart Friday night. Ended up shopping at the mega-mart because I needed a new air mattress. (Did I post about that?) We finally got out of there, came home, and ran around like crazy people trying to get everything and the dog packed. (The rv and the truck were packed like wild monkeys packed them)

Got to the Wilds late, made dinner (sausages), and got set up enough to sleep. Saturday was our friends anniversary/pool party. Which was a blast! Got to see friends we haven't seen in a while and swim. Mr. B got to hang with his friend who will be in middle school with him, and the anniversary part of the party was so sweet. (Think wearing your wedding dress for the first time in 25 years sweet!) The pool was also sweet and I got in with my regular clothes on and I have no regrets! (I forgot my suit)

We got back to camp late, made some food because there was nothing Mr. B would eat at the party and they had a ton of food. (Even though all he does is eat! I'm not kidding!) The dog fell off the bed while B and I were playing Rummy (he beat me so hard), and there was a lightning bug in the camper. 

After breakfast this morning, we packed up and came home. Did Mr. B's laundry because there was a lot and they don't have a washer and dryer. Dropped him off at home. Got back and started editing the old man story. 

Managed a lot of pages and added a lot of words. Got the laundry done. Took a shower. And now am prepping for the work week. Oy! 

And that is all...

Behave! 

Feel Good Friday - On Saturday

It's a beautiful day out there! Actually, the weather this week has been very nice and I love it. Not looking forward to the high temps next week, but...yeah...it's summer. 

Let's get to the list:

1. Living through the work week. It was a brutal one. 

2. Having K5 overnight. She wanted to go to work with us and since her schedule is as crazy as ours, we made it happen. She helped Pappy with some stuff and earned some cash. We had a nice dinner the night before and she even got up on time. It was fun, but definitely not enough time. 

3. Sleeping in this morning. Man, I needed that. 

4. Making progress on my story. I just got through the whole thing again. I need to add a bunch more words, so hopefully I can make that happen on this next round. The story needs some empty places filled in, so fingers crossed. 

5. Plans with friends we haven't seen in ages tonight. We've had this planned for a long time. Except I forgot and kind of double-booked us, but we figured it out. He's already got the meat on the smoker and we put together some veggie kababs to add to our meal. 

That's about it for now!

Behave!

Retreat: The End

Things are wrapping up now. 

It's been a very lovely weekend. We have had lots of laughs, lots of serious, and not so serious, conversations. (There's a teepee in this house for kids, and we might have taken pictures in it) The writing, editing, and brainstorming we've done has been immense. Every single one of us has made fantastic progress. 

The family that owns this house lives right across the street and they stopped over this evening to say hello. They are the nicest people and we had a very nice conversation. Their kids are adorable. At first I was a little annoyed when I found out they like to say hi to their renters, but after meeting them, I'm glad to have met and talked with them. 

I did get through the entire manuscript and am over halfway through a second run. I had to cut quite a few pages of repetition and things that didn't fit, well, it was a lot of pages, so I need to add about twenty thousand words now. Which is fine. I still love the story and I'm so happy to be back in it.

I think I'm done for this retreat though. I'll be packing up and hitting the road in the morning, so I highly doubt I'll post again.  

And that is all...

Behave!

Retreat: Day Three

 
Last full day! 

I slept in, which was awesome. It's a gorgeous day. 

After I finished my book yesterday, I thought I knew what I was going to do next. Turns out, I didn't. 

I putzed around with a short story I'd started before last retreat, started working on the Sector series, but it was not going well, and I ended up opening the "old man" story. And that's what I need to be working on right now. 

I'm five chapters into editing and so far it's going well. I know it gets rough coming up, but that's okay. I don't know if I'll finish the edit this weekend (see previous about rough), but I do love this story, so...

Here's some pics of our view:

Lovely, right? And Cows!

Behave!

Retreat: Day Two - Done!

The book is done! Whoot! 

I even took a nap, though it was a brief one. 

I will let this sit until I return home and then edit this last section to send for critique. I need a little space from it so I can edit with a clear head. 

The work stuff I thought would affect my time today didn't happen, so that's good. I only had a little bit of day job stuff compared to the parade I expected. 

I have titles for the newly completed book and two other projects waiting to be edited. And now I will move on to the next thing on my list! 

That is all! 

Behave! 

Retreat: Day Two - First Full Day

Woohoo!

I slept pretty good and I slept in, which was amazing. That's not to say that I wasn't up a lot during the night. But it's fine. I can nap if I need to and I probably will, more because I can. Ha! 

I made good progress last night. I got a lot of words! I will finish this book! Maybe today? And then I will decide what to do next. I have an idea of what needs to be done, so there's that. 

I also need to get some titles nailed down, but that's on our agenda list to take care of, so I'll get there. 

It's a glorious day so far. The sun is shining. It's not super hot. The view here is incredible. I'll try to post a picture of that later. We also have a visiting kitty. We've named her "Debbie". She's very cute and dramatic. And obviously someone's pet as she's well cared for. 

And that is all for now!

Behave!

RETREAT! Day One!

Finally! 

I am here in a lovely home surrounded by my writing friends! We have unloaded our cars, chosen our rooms, put away our food, and chosen our spots in the living room. And now it's the talking part...

I will finish this book this weekend!

Tonight is our traditional "Nacho Dinner" and I am looking forward to sleeping in a little tomorrow. The bed looks super comfy!

That's it for now!

Behave!

I Suck!

I didn't mean for so much time to pass. It's just... life, I guess. 

It's been kinda crazy. Well, normal for around here. 

We went to the Wilds for the holiday weekend. It was a blast. My kids were there together for the first time in years! We had Little B in the camper with us and he did really well, except for being too excited to fall asleep at first. But once he settled, he slept well and he slept in. Then, just as we were preparing dinner Saturday night, the wind started, blowing pollen and making us all cough and sneeze. Then the rain. A lot of rain. It finally stopped, we finished dinner and got the clean up done before it started to rain again. The rain was fine. The mud was not. The grandboys parents went home and Mr. B stayed with us. And since it was supposed to continue to rain later Sunday into Monday, we packed up and came home after the picnic. And then it didn't rain. But it was fine. It was nice to be back home and have time to get stuff done before heading back to the day job. 

Since then it's been day job, stuff, more stuff...

I'm almost done with my book and it will be done by this time next week, because... I'm going on retreat! I am looking forward to it a whole lot! My original plan was to finish before I got there, but that's not going to happen (see above about stuff). I'm close, so I will finish and likely get through my critiques on section three and edits on the last section. I have no idea what I'll do after that. We'll see. 

And that is it for now! 

Behave!