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! 

Funerals Suck!

We all know this.

We've been to two in the past two weeks. 

One for That Man's aunt, and today for our granddaughter's grandpa. 

Today's was especially hard for me. Today is my momma's birthday and also the day we had her services. So yeah... a lot of memories. A lot of memories anyway, but couple that with being in a pew for a memorial service, and yeah...

Our weekend plans got changed a bit, so we're home this evening and that is wonderful. I'm editing and new writing. We're making burgers for dinner and just chilling. 

And that is all for now.

Behave!

Weekend Wrap Up

Oy! It's Monday again! Monday showed up too quickly and I don't like it. I definitely could have used another weekend day and some more sleep! 

It was a crazy weekend! 

A guy from work gave us some flowers, so on a whim and in the drizzle Saturday morning, we decided to plant them. Which meant clearing out the spot--removing a small tree and some vines. It took a little longer than we thought, but we got them in the ground and it looks nice. 

Then off to B's soccer game, which was good, except for the bathroom being six-hundred and fifty-two miles away. Ha! From there, food and flower shopping. 

Back home for a hot minute, and then off to a surprise birthday party for a former coworker. It was a lot of fun and it was so good to see some of my previous coworkers. We hadn't planned on staying long, but then we did. 

I did sleep in Sunday. K4 made me a german pancake for breakfast and it was so good. My boys and families came over for kebabs and hang out and it was fantastic. Lots of talking, eating, and laughing. It was a good day. I managed to get some editing done before everyone showed up and I'm making good progress with it. 

I'm tired today though. We have another busy weekend coming up, but thankfully, the week itself doesn't look too crazy. 

And that is all!

Behave!

Feel Good Friday

What is up with all of this rain? I feel like I'm growing moss... Ha!

It's been a really long week! 

Here's the list of Feel Good's:

1. Making progress on the book. I am 3/4 written and almost 1/2 edited. The goal is to input the critiques on section two, edit section three and send out and then plow through the final pages. Got a little stuck on section three, but I think I managed to make it make sense. We'll see what my crit partners say. 

2. Retreat coming up in a few weeks. I want this book as close to done or completely done before then so I can work on other things. Still haven't decided what yet, but it'll probably be deep edits on two other finished projects. Maybe. 

3. Sleeping in tomorrow. Sleep has sucked lately. Though it's going to be a busy day starting at like 11am. Good stuff planned, but lots of running. 

4. Winning a gift card at work for knowing our company values. That'll get me some more flowers!

That is all! 

Behave! 

Well, Hi!

That was a longer break than intended... But it was much needed. 

But here I am! I can't promise I'll be on the regular. There's a lot of craziness and really unexpected stuff going on around here, but I'll try. 

Mother's Day is coming. 

I miss my mom. A lot. It always gets rough now since this is the time of year she died. It's especially rough this year, without a doubt. We had a fabulous, and surprise - for once in our lives - birthday party for her, and then a lovely Mother's Day together, and then she went to the hospital and never came home. I know I probably tell that story every year. And I probably always will. It was the worst and I often think about how I could have made things different. In a lot of ways. 

I also miss my child who I haven't talked to in quiet some time. And I wish I could tell them how much I love them and miss their presence. How I miss their sense of humor, their elegant and sometimes messy but always fun, chaos, their wisdom, and their opinion. I miss the way we could talk things through and how their refreshing perspective brightened every single thing. How we could respectfully debate life and understand each others stance without anger or judgement and come away with some different perspective that made me think. Also, how much everyone in this family misses them, despite the angry words thrown. I wish they knew how I think about them all of the time and how I wish things were different. How I lay awake at night and wish them peace, joy, and happiness. Like my mom, there are so many things I would love to share with them. But I can't. And how, no questions asked, I would welcome them with open arms and an open heart if they ever decided they wanted to. I currently have no way to say that to them though. So I will wait and hope and wish them happiness. 

I know that's heavy, but it is what it is. Life happens like that sometimes. It's happened in my past with my brother. It was so confusing and painful, and still is in a lot of ways. The way it broke our parents was awful and I feel that now in a way I cannot describe. My heart also broke for everything he missed, everything all of us missed, especially when he realized all that was needed was communication and all of those years being angry were wasted. But our parents died before those fences could be mended, and afterwards he tried to be the brother he wasn't for far too long, but it was too late. We had learned to live without him and live life without him. And then he died. And now because of estates and property, I cannot have the relationship with my sister-in-law that started the whole thing. And I miss that. 

So yeah... I guess you might be sorry I came back with all of this deep stuff. I'll try not to be such a downer in the future, but no guarantees. Life is heavy right now. 

Behave!