We Made It Back...

We actually got in Sunday... Mid-afternoon...

It was rough. We drove like 36 hours in a 65 hour time span.

The drive out was easy enough. We split it up into about 3 hour shifts, though I took an extra shift since That Man hit a wall. The rental car was okay, but the seats sucked. Definitely another "sitting on concrete" kind of thing.

We made it early Friday morning. Hugs and love and hanging out, then we took the rental car back. Stopped for breakfast/lunch, then back to the house. We were going to take a nap, but got caught up in checking out the camper and doing the legal stuff associated with our purchase. Went to dinner, and then pretty much crashed when we got back, though I did spend some "auntie" time with my aunt. Still in bed by 9pm though. Rough sleeping night due to the ultimate exhaustion - mostly That Man since he was still dealing with a horrible cough.

Got up Saturday, packed our stuff, did camper readying, and hit the road. Later than we'd hoped, but still okay. The drive home was pretty brutal. It was my turn to hit a wall and I hit it pretty quickly. I did drive for a while, but nowhere enough to make it fair. I could not wake up and focus. That Man had bonding time with the camper.

Anyway... It's a little rougher than we thought. The floor at the back is pretty much gone and the roof has several leaks. BUT all of that can be fixed. Overall, it's not bad at all. We have plans and a lot of the work will be done this weekend. Once the structural stuff is done, then we can tweak it to fit our needs. We've been doing stuff to it all week - the LP tank is full, the generator battery is new. We're slowly learning about it, but we're so excited!

We're camping this weekend, so we'll make a plan and start to get the stuff done. I wouldn't be surprised if the roof gets fixed this weekend, and possibly the floor - though I think that might take a bit longer. I'm just excited - this camper opens up a bunch of possibilities for us!

Behave!

Mid-Week Insanity

Only a half day at the day job tomorrow though! That Man will pick me up, we will pick up our rental car, come home to load up and hit the road. The house/pet sitter is already in place and everything is taken care of for that.

We're super excited. Not just for the camper purchase, but for the road trip together, and to see the midwest family - no matter how quick of a trip it is. We're mostly packed - just waiting on a load of laundry. The stuff has been organized. Other stuff has been taken care of.

We ran to the notary tonight to get the title taken care of for the 'burban so we can donate it to "Vehicles for Veterans". We're happy it's going to a charity like that, but we are both just devastated to have to get rid of it. It's been the best vehicle we have ever had and we have so many special memories with it. Ugh. The brain knows it's the right move, but the heart is not on board - especially after it was washed and looked so good.

Bookstore day was a ton of fun! My signing went really well. I met a lot of readers and other writers. After the signing, I found a corner to write in. Though some creep guy kept standing over my shoulder and I had to give it up. It was authors and readers after the store closed. We had pizza, a scavenger hunt, and so many other things to do. I ended up going home instead of staying over. There was no way my air mattress was going to fit anywhere inside the store, plus, I had been there for about twelve hours - standing on concrete. I was sore and had a killer headache. Next year, I will take a smaller air mattress. It really was fun though and I'm sad I missed the sleepover part!

The mammogram was good. Got the all okay results today.

That is all for now! Laundry is done and it's bedtime.

Behave!

Feel Good Friday!

For a four day work week, this was a long one!

Next week, I technically only work three days. Full day Monday. Leaving for mammogram/gyne visit Tuesday for a few hours. Full day Wednesday. Half day Thursday and then off Friday. It's going to be a long week though since I'm super looking forward to the end of the week.

We're travelling to Missouri to purchase a camper from my uncle. Yes. We are driving about 2200 miles in 3.5 days. It's fine and good. We were going to fly out, but the camper has sat for a few years and we felt more comfortable having tools and things with us. Plus, holy expensive flights! The drive will be That Man and I - there and back. We are excited to do a road trip just the two of us, and I highly doubt either of us will sleep while the other drives. We're excited to see That Uncle and That Aunt, and we're excited that we negotiated this camper deal with them. We've been talking about this with them for a while now, so this feels like a dream that it's actually happening!

After that we have camp! (With our new old camper! Whoot!)

Tomorrow is Bookstore Romance Day! I am signing at noon and then in for the night for a slumber party! I'm excited! We're "sleeping" over. Though I have a feeling not much sleeping will be done. It's an awesome opportunity and I'm so thankful to have been asked to participate! I only hope I get to sleep a little! I am too old to stay up all night anymore! ha!

The writing has been crap all week. I have spent every single night doing estate stuff and other stuff I can't mention. I didn't make a single blast for my writing chapter.

Oh! We need a list:

1. Sleeping in tomorrow.
2. Bookstore day!
3. Next week!
4. Camping!
5. Not having kids going back to school! First time in like 25-26 years? (we had college last year) Ha! We did school shopping with the grandkids, but it was 1/100th of the scale of what we used to have to do and it was beautiful!
6. The PA part of the estate being done soon. Waiting for one more thing and then... hopefully we're done!

That's all I have! I need to make my list for tomorrow and get some sleep!

Behave!

Weekend Wrap Up on Monday!

It was a crazy, crazy weekend!

Started out Friday night with K5 and Mr. B. We had a "campout" in the living room. Pizza for dinner, s'mores, strawberry shortcake, The Princess Bride. Air mattresses in the living room. I don't think any of us slept well. The kittens were being crazy. The dog couldn't settle. It wasn't cool enough down here and the downstairs fan died.

But... still... It was fun. It really was.

We did the school shopping thing. Which was fun, but equally as stressful thanks to other people. How many freaking screaming kids can fit into a Mega Mart? Not my screaming grandkids. They were awesome and so well-behaved. (I'm not saying they always are, but they definitely were on Saturday) Both of them were like "that's ridiculous"! We did have a blast. Went to a bbq place for lunch and the woman running the cash register totally hooked us up. It was super cheap and very good. Dropped the kids off and came home and crashed for a while.

Later, we went downtown to hear K4's man's gig at the local wine shop. He did really well. We stayed longer than we planned, but it was really a good time. Got home and did some laundry. In bed later than we'd hoped, but still at a decent time.

Sunday morning, we went to see my sister in the hospital. We will talk about this at another time. We don't really know anything yet and I just can't.

After that... we travelled to MD to see Chris Stapleton in concert. The concert was amazing!! I had some absolute culture shock though. I haven't been to a lot of concerts, but still... How on earth can people afford to get trashed at these concerts? A cheap beer was $11. A good beer was $14-17. We saw people carrying four to six beers. For themselves. I swear we were the only sober people out of at least a thousand people! And the garbage left behind!! Holy crap!

But... Chris Stapleton! Amazing! His voice and is guitar skills. His encore was fantastic!

Our hotel had a shuttle service, which we utilized on our way to the concert (even though we ended up in the cargo area of the van! Ha!). On the way back, however, we chose to walk the mile to the hotel. We beat the shuttle back to the hotel by at least 10 minutes and it was fine. It was an easy, quick walk. We were so tired though. Our section of the hotel did not have an elevator, so it was three flights of stairs each time.

This morning, we went to the main part of the hotel for coffee and took the elevator to travel one floor. That's how done with stairs we were. Ha! Sitting by the lake was really nice and relaxing though. It was good to be off work today.

We stopped at a diner on our way back, took a nap when we got home, then did laundry. I did estate stuff while That Man went to help a friend with some construction.

Tomorrow is back to the real world. I'm not ready and I don't want to... But I must. The next two weeks are super crazy here.

Behave!

Mid Week...

It's Wednesday... Which is awesome, but I have to say that I'm so very tired of wishing my week away. It's not supposed to be like this.

And, by this point, we all know why... That brain draining day job. I'm frustrated. Well... beyond frustrated. I need to talk to the boss tomorrow. I'm exhausted - mentally and physically. Or physically because of the mentally. I'm not sure which. I know things are going to get better, but until we have these new people trained up nothing has changed. The pressure is intense.

But only two more days to work and then a full weekend ahead. We're getting K5 and Mr. B this weekend and taking them school shopping. Then, off to our concert on Sunday. No work on Monday!

I did get the August calendar completed and it's super crazy. Things are insane until the very last week of the month. I have two writing classes, an overnight book event, blast week with my writing group, a mammogram, a crazy random trip... and well... a lot of stuff. September looks a tiny less crazy, but I haven't gotten that far yet.

Writing has been slim this week. We had company Monday night. I had a massive headache last night, and tonight I had a million and a half things to do. I should get a few words done before bed though.

And that is all!

Behave!

Weekend Wrap Up!

Monday comes too soon! I need one more day! I know... I say that every week, but it's true...

Let's backtrack...

Saturday's writing meeting was good. Good business meeting. Good program. Good lunch. There was a lot of laughter and discussion. Definitely what I needed to recharge.

Got home to a houseful. K1 & J were here. K1 needed to work on his car and clean his crap out of the 'burban. They did some laundry, too. Friends came to help with car stuff. Got epic grandsons time. Baby B is so stinking cute. He's crawling and he's fast. He's such a chunky monkey! Mr. B was very busy and spent a lot of time reorganizing the toys we have here. Ha! I made spaghetti and meatballs because I know it's one of Mr. B's favorites and we had K1's bestie here for dinner, too.

So, the 'burban is going the way of the white wind very soon. We wanted to restore it, but we don't have the time, money, or space to do so. It won't be long until we get told about it from our borough because that kind of thing is happening all over the place around here. We've had many, many conversations about what to do, but have come to the conclusion that we have to let her go. I am super sad and wish there was another way, but logically, we don't need a vehicle that big anymore. We don't have time to fix her up the way she deserves, and the amount of mold inside those doors is dangerous. It's really, really bad. So...

Today was cleaning. I did a crapton of work - including washing the entirety of our bedding thanks to our old lady cat pooping and pissing on our bed last night! ARGH!! She got trapped in there and I guess it was long enough that she felt she had no choice, but...WHY on the bed? I mean... seriously! And, if you didn't know, we still have a waterbed. It's not just sheets and blankets, it's padding and a lot of it... but thankfully, a mattress that can be disinfected easily. It's a day long process. I managed to replace everything temporarily enough that we could sleep semi-decently last night, but today I had to wash... and K1 & J needed to finish their laundry, too.

It worked out. We had an amazing diner. Baby B continued to crack us up. Mr. B and I played "treehouse" and watered plants. The bed is nearly made and That Man's work shirts are done. There's a load of towels to do thanks to be stupidly overflowing the coffee pot yesterday. Dumb. But on the whole, we're in a good place to start the week.

I'm so tired though... Maybe tired thinking about the upcoming week, or tired from two days of constant peopling. I don't know.

What I do know is that this coming week is my only week in the next three weeks that I work a full five. We're going to a concert next weekend and will be coming home on Monday, so we're off. The next week I have my mammogram, and then we're heading out to parts unknown...Then it's labor day. By then it's September! Woah!

That's all I have... I am off to do the writing now!

Behave!

Feel Good Friday!

The kitty babies are doing well post surgery. Fred recovered far more quickly than Regi, but then again, Regi had super major surgery and Fred just got a snip. Regi was still a little slow this morning, but I let them out of confinement anyway. She snuggled in my arms before attacking the couch, but I still worried as I left her with "the boys" and the dog.

They are fine. Needy, but that's to be expected. Nothing bad happened, but K4 kept an eye on them as soon as she woke up. They are eating well and playing, albeit slower than normal. Elsa was super worried about them and was protective and annoying with them.

I have met my writing goals this week, which is awesome! Progress!

So, the kid got her braces off today! OMG! She looks amazing! What a great smile! I left work early to go with her! So awesome! The actual removal was quick, but then they had to grind off the adhesive, which took a while and they gave her dark sunglasses for that part. She will have to wear retainers for a bit, but... holy smile! My kid... And her smile! Beautiful! What a long road, but so worth it! (Still retainers, but...)

Tomorrow is my writing group meeting! So looking forward to it! I missed last month and that hurt. So many things going on. I am on the board right now, but I don't think I will be next year. I can't keep up and I can't do the things I need to do. I'm pretty solid in my decision. It kills me though. There are many reasons that I can't continue though. We will see...

And I think that is all I have right now...

Behave!

Last Day of July...

That was a quick month! Seriously!

Tomorrow beings August and a month of absolute insanity for us. We don't have a free weekend at all. Some fun stuff. Some work stuff. Some necessary house stuff - which is not really scheduled into the crazy month, but stuff we have to find time for nonetheless.

Today is Wednesday... This week has been long already. Work... well... it's back into crazy mode. The new people started on and so far so good. I am hopeful. If I live through it long enough for their help to be effective. Today was massively crazy.

But... after work, we picked up Mr. B and took him to dinner. We went to the diner close to our house - it's been That Man and I's staple place to grab food over the last few months. The food is good, service is good, and it's reasonably priced. Mr. B impressed us with his word/math skills and we talked about a lot of things. After that, we stopped at the grocery store for a few things we needed (and Hot Wheels, because that's what we do), before hitting up the ice cream store. Or "Dumpster Lake" as Mr. B calls it. Last time we went there we pulled in and B asked what we were doing (not seeing the huge sign) and I told him we were going swimming in Dumpster Lake because the rain water had pooled in the parking lot around the dumpster and it looked like a huge lake. That name apparently stuck with him.

We had a great time with him. He was happy, too. Dropped him off and got Baby B snuggles and laughs. That boy is a chunk and is mobile now. He's so funny.

Tonight is the last night the kittens are he and she. Tomorrow morning, I will drop them off to get fixed. 9pm was the latest they could have food. They don't like that. Well, none of them do. Instead of secluding the kittens, we moved the food for all of the animals. Even the dog food, because the kittens will eat the dog food. So now, they are running around like crazy, following us when we get up and crying at our feet. It's a good thing we're going to bed soon.

I get to sleep in a little bit tomorrow. Just a tiny bit since I'm doing the drop off. They have to be there a half hour after my usual overtime start. That's okay by me. K4 will pick them up and bring them home.

And then Friday, I get to leave early to go to the Orthodontist with K4. Keep your fingers crossed, but hopefully, it's brace removal day!! So excited! It's been a super long road with her mouth!

I did write tonight. And I wrote last night. I am doing my best to get the words in!

That is all for now!

Behave!

Feel Good Friday on Saturday

Happy Weekend!

It was a long, long week! I worked overtime and I might work overtime this weekend. Next week will be the same. We have two new people starting. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, because the one will hopefully take a lot of pressure off of me.

Let's hit the list:

1. Sleeping in a bit this morning. Not a lot, but then we were in bed super early last night... Still, it was wonderful to lay in bed and relax.

2. Getting the grocery shopping done. It's a dumb chore, but must be done. I'm really thinking about signing up for either the grocery pick up program, or the delivery program.

3. That Man doing the dinner shopping and cooking the dinner last night. I am on for tonight since he's working, but I'm not quite sure what I'm making yet. I have a few options...

4. Driving with the top down most of the week! Beautiful days! It's a huge stress reliever after a hectic day.

5. Dinner date with That Man on Thursday. We went to the new Indian place down the street. It was pretty good - a little more expensive than it needed to be, but we were both pretty pleased with our meals. Will we go back? Probably... but not for a little while. We have a few other places we want to check out, too.

6. Not a lot of writing progress this week. Except for in my head. Which I guess is better than nothing. I do plan to remedy that here in a bit. I will write before I log into work!

7. I am stunned at how quickly July flew by! August is going to be insane. I think we have something every single weekend and lots of mid-week things, too.

That's about it. I am off to be productive!

Behave!

Wednesday!

Halfway through the work week... Oy!

The National Conference for my writing affiliation started! I so wish I was there! It's in New York this year, which is easily accessible, but I had to make a financial and vacation day choice. I know I chose wisely, but that doesn't help the wish I have that I could have gone.

I mean... It's New York.

It's a conference with my peers. There are classes. Meet-ups, and so many different things to do. I went to New York a few years ago and had a blast. So many of my chapter mates are going - we would have had an absolute blast together.

I will live vicariously through social media and plan for a time where I can go. Though, I really need to get my sh*t together so I feel worthy of going.

Which I am working hard on. I wrote again tonight. I am heading in slow. I wrote more last night than I did Sunday and I wrote more tonight than last night, by like 1/3, so that's something. The story is coming back into my head and it's easier to put the words on the page.

I can't be angry at myself for not writing recently. It is what it is and I did what I have to do, but I'm making a comeback now.

If I continue to live through the work days. And that's always iffy... Ha!

That's all...

Behave!

Taco Tuesday

I guess so? We did have fish tacos for dinner, so...

Long week already. Day job continues to be what it is... I'm super overwhelmed and can't keep up and I hate it. Hopefully the person they hired to take the stress off of me works out, but it'll be a while until they're trained up. We'll see... It's hard not to just walk out some days though.

I have been writing! Whoot! I got words in both Sunday and today. Not a lot, but more than I'm required to for our 50/50 challenge, so it's worthy!

That's all I have. Just wanted to check in and my computer battery is dying!

Behave!

Weekend Wrap Up!

Sundays are hard! I'm good until about 3 on Sundays and then the stress over the coming week starts to settle in. So that's where I'm at right now... full on dread. And I hate feeling this way.

Friday night was a cookout with friends we have known for a super long time - delicious food and good conversation. There was a fruit pizza which was to die for. I will definitely be getting that recipe! And the coolest thing is that they get new pizza boxes from the shop down the street and use them to store/transport them. Luckily their house is right down the street. We could have walked, but it was way too hot for that! We went from there to the grocery store with our plans to not have to do too much over the weekend.

Slept in on Saturday. Paid bills. Laundry. Blah blah blah. Hung out in the air conditioning all day. Damn it was hot. That Man did some weird outside stuff before I got up, but was done by like 10, so that was good. Continued to hang out in the air conditioning, though we did cook on the grill and it did cool down enough to have an enjoyable amount of time outside after the sun went down.

Today was also another sleep in day. Though we were in bed before 10pm last night. Ran some errands. Got to see K3 and A for a bit. Cooked on the grill and are now trying to finish up the rest of the laundry before bedtime.

So, a pretty chill weekend - not literally, though. The heat was just rude - like super rude. Our air conditioning in our room froze up, so we had to deal with that. It's dropped by like 10* in the last hour and a storm is supposed to be rolling through here soon. Thank goodness.

I'm going to see what kind of writing I can get done now. Heck, even 100 words will make me feel like a success. We shall see.

Hail to the new week! Not!

Behave!

Over a Week!

OY! Sorry for the silence! It's been insane around here!

The kitchen came out looking pretty darned good. I've yet to cook a real meal in it. I did make breakfast on Saturday, but it was quick. We're still babying the floor and the countertop, and everything has been scrubbed. We're at a lack of space, but we'll see how it goes when it's just our regular...

So what have I been up to?

Release day was last week and that was awesome!

We spent the rest of our week getting ready for company!

Friday night we picked up K5 and had the absolute best weekend with her. We did rockets on Saturday (which she absolutely loved), she learned to skip rocks, had a blast with the kitties, and got to watch Sponge Bob (she doesn't have the ability at home). We ordered subs, giggled a lot, and had the best time!

Saturday night That Brother, That Niece, and That Niece's Boyfriend came to stay. We had a great time and it was good to see That Brother and get to know That Niece and That Niece's Boyfriend. We had a family cookout here on Sunday, which was good. That Man's siblings and most of the kids. We grilled, blew bubbles, had a fire, and a good time. They left this morning for the next leg of their journey - only leaving behind a pair of sunglasses and bedding washed and folded. K4 and That Niece hit it off and stayed up way late last night talking.

Now it's super quiet here. We worked our butts off for so long that we haven't had a chance to sit back to relax and admire our hard work. That's the plan for the weekend. It's going to be a scorcher around here, so chores are getting done bright and early Saturday and then the plan is to stay in the ac all day.  And we will nap!

One more work day... And the work days have not changed.

Writing has been super scarce, but that will hopefully be remedied soon! Tonight is the first night I've really been on my computer, except for a having to email attorneys for the estate. And all I've done tonight is this blog... Bah!

That is all!

Behave!

Release Day!!

It's Redemption: Sector One release day! Whoot!



















Isaac lost everyone he loved in the government's attempt to take over their lives, but losing his child to their evil drained the last of his mercy. Or so he thought. When he receives one of their soldiers as a debt payment, his last flare of compassion won’t allow the woman to die. When Casey awakens with no memories except her name, he sees good in her he didn’t expect. Through Casey's self-recovery, he learns she’s the soldier that kidnapped his child. He has to decide if he can overcome his anger to trust the woman he healed, not the soldier who hurt him, and decide if it's worth the risk to use her military-induced enhancements to help him rescue other kidnapped children.
Casey used to be a soldier. Now she doesn’t know what or who she is. She doesn't even have a last name. Her slowly returning memories of the things she was forced to do devastate her, and she believes her only route to redemption is to convince Isaac to let her help rescue the children everyone thought were dead. As she learns who she is without the government's control, Casey discovers she's not the monster they forced her to be. She can only hope her newfound sense of self is enough to save her.

We're up on Amazon and other retailers! Please check it out, and please leave an honest review if you do! 

Behave!!

Feel Good Friday! And Sadness!

I had a two day work week, which, despite the utter ridiculousness of my work-week, I do not feel bad about! I did what I could. I kept with my "killing it" numbers and it is what it is!

Yes. I am off today. Thank Goodness! I wasn't supposed to be. Heck. We were supposed to be camping, which is why I took today off. But here I sit in my dining room. K4 and the puppy went to camp on Wednesday, but That Man was still sanding floors. We got the first coat of poly on the floor yesterday morning, the second on last night, and he did the third this morning. We'll check tonight to see if another coat is needed. If not, we'll start the clean up process. But we'll see.

It's a sad sad day for our family. My sister and brother-in-law had to put their puppy to sleep. Nezzie was almost 17 and was such a great dog. She's been failing for a little while now, but yesterday I think she managed to let them know that she was ready to go. She had one last night in The Wilds and they took her this morning. Everyone is sad. Obviously she was a part of all of our lives for a long time. K3 and K4 don't remember life before her. They grew up with her as their own dog, as did the older two.

I don't think my niece really remembers life with her puppy either. Those two literally grew up together and my heart just breaks for all of them.

As she aged, we called her the "fun police" because any time the other dogs, or even the kids were being rowdy, she would step in and shut it down. She was so patient with the kittens and with Mr. B. I used to tell my sister all of the time that she was my dog, not hers, and I gave her all of the treats.

In between coats of poly yesterday, we went up to say goodbye to her. We stopped at got some bologna and cheese to spoil her. It was hard, but Nezzie knew it was time. You could see it in her eyes. As I was saying goodbye, she looked up at me with eyes that seemed to say "thanks for being my friend and thanks for the treats".

My sister texted me this morning to say that she was gone. :(

I'm heading up there in a few. I just feel like I need to be there. That Man is helping a friend out today and I've been cleaning up as much as I can around here and taking care of household administration duties. I have to get out of this poly smell, too. It makes me sick to my stomach and the house is well ventilated.

That is all.
Behave!

The First of July..

I took off work today. Woke up at midnight with a horrible belly. Laid awake for about five hours feeling like utter crap (that's all I'll say about that...eww). When the alarms went off, I'd only been sleeping for about forty minutes. There was no way this work day was happening. Texted my boss and went back to bed for four hours. Woke up feeling some better, but still not great. And so it goes...

That Man took a day as well. I had no idea he'd already planned it. He's been sanding our kitchen floor and wanted to make more progress. By the time I got up, he had another round of sanding done, some patchwork areas, and had stained the new wood we had to install. It's coming together. He's currently sanding again, but we're getting close to new polyurethane. In the meantime, both doorways into the kitchen are covered in plastic. There is sawdust literally everywhere. My countertop is in the dining room and my kitchen is basically unusable. It's worth it though.

We've decided not to put the old countertop back in. Instead, we'll get a butcher block piece and install it over the "floating cupboard". We need to have counter space and this is the most logical way to have more floor space and be able to get stuff done. I'm actually pretty excited. It's been about 20 years since we've done any updates in the kitchen, so this is much needed. My kitchen is super tiny - like I have two drawers in the whole space and only three lower cabinets and three upper cabinets, not including the one over the fridge. I do have a big pantry, which helps, but space is tight - which makes it hard when you both like to cook. I'm hoping this new arrangement will work out well.

I did manage to eat something, which was questionable, but turned out okay. Rested a whole bunch and will attempt to make dinner here in a few. It was kind of hard doing my resting thing while That Man worked his butt off, but it is what it is... I'm still exhausted, but now only have two days to work until a long weekend.

Camping is up in the air at this point. We have so much to do and not much time. Also, the weekend will be broken up by estate meetings and other obligations. I'm not able to make my writing meeting because of the estate meeting, but that's okay. July is typically one of the least attended meetings of the year, and I have done all of the stuff I need to do for my board position.

And that is all for now. The plan is to get some writing in this evening and go to bed early. I can only imagine what my work day is going to look like tomorrow with taking off today, but it is what it is.

Behave!

Thursday Again...

It's hot... I know. It's almost July, it's supposed to be hot. At this point, I'm not miserable. We have air conditioning in our rooms and a small unit running downstairs. I know it's going to get hotter, too. Whatever.

So I went to the Bingo thing and won $30.00. Hanging out with the work friends was fun. There was a lot of laughter and conversation. Came home and spent my earnings on dinner. Ha! That Man was doing stuff and things and I didn't feel like cooking at all, so I ordered food. So there's that.

The day job... Well... I'm not going to get into much of it. Except to say I have spoken my piece and relayed That Man's opinion of how the last few months have affected me. I don't know if it will help and if it doesn't, then I guess my decision is made. We shall see!

The writing hasn't been so good as of late. See above. I'm hoping to change that this weekend. That Man has to work and my plan is to find somewhat of a balance between all of the things I need to do around the house and writing. That Brother, That Neice, and That Boyfriend are coming in about two weeks and we must prepare.

Little "Bootsie" kitty went home with her new momma. She's adjusting wonderfully and these guys left here are also adjusting well. We had a lot of crying last night and this morning, but they seem fine now. Freddie is laying beside me all snuggled in, which is what he does. He's so lovey and snuggly, though my leg has an epic set of cat claw marks. He was loving on me while I was sitting at the table, lost his footing, and scratched the hell out of me on his way down. Not his fault, but...Ouch.

Besides the kitty going to her new home, the animals have adjusted well around here. Max is still a bit of an a-hole at times, but he's getting much better. Spenser doesn't give a crap and doesn't want any other cat around her, though she's still loving with us. She just waits until the kittens have tuckered themselves out. She's a pretty old gal. We don't know how much time she has left, so we're okay with her quirks. Elsa tolerates the kitties, though Freddie absolutely loves her. Last night Fred was licking her ears and "petting" her while That Man was petting her. It was pretty hysterical to watch. We'll see what happens there, but props to my puppy for being so patient with the baby 1/15th of her size. The biggest change is how much cat food we go through. And how much litter. But K4 helps out with that, so it's not a huge deal. Oh and the hair - Fred sheds as much as Elsa it seems, so the vacuum is in constant use.

Tomorrow is Friday. That's a hugely good thing. I had kind of thought about taking a mental health day, but I have too many customers relying on me to finish up their stuff tomorrow. I'll make it through and then enjoy the weekend. I have off next Thursday and Friday, so I need to look forward to that.

That's all I have...

Behave!

Partial Weekend Wrap Up...

Only partial because it's early and there are still things to be done today...

Friday was a rough one at the day job. Okay. So every day is a rough day there. I still don't know what to do.

The dryer is still broken. The new belt doesn't fit properly. That Man will work on it some more when he gets home. Currently, the dry rack we use in the winter is sitting on the patio with clothes drying. It's slow, but undies are needed.

Yesterday was a mostly relaxing day. Slept in, which was awesome. Paid the bills, hit the grocery store, took a short nap with my kitty. That Man worked his second job, so I was pretty much on my own all day. Decided to make some shrimp tempura for dinner. Major suckage. Okay. I guess it was alright, but it definitely didn't turn out like it was supposed to. No part of dinner did. Made fried rice and the rice got to mushy. The veggies didn't do well with the tempura either. Drat. I put a lot of time and effort into it. The only thing that did turn out awesome was a sauce I made - sake, hot sauce, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, cilantro, and something else I don't remember right now. That was downright tasty and made a difference in how poorly the tempura came out. That Man didn't mind, but I was disappointed.

Today I am going with the work friends to a Bingo fundraiser. I have never played bingo a day in my life, but they conned me into going. It will be fun just to hang out with them outside of work - we always have a good time when we do that. I did tell them I will be petting the old ladies troll dolls and generally being a nuisance, but they still wanted me to go, so... we'll see.

When I get home, I will hit the word count. Going to start on it in a few. I have about an hour until I have to leave. I need to make progress after the past few weeks of mainly edits. This book is the second one to the one coming out in July and I've been way too slow on it.

That's all I have!

Behave!

So Much Thursday....

I was off from the day job today! I needed this day so much! Mainly, I took off because today is our annual street fair and I just couldn't even think about dealing with the traffic and bullcrap with leaving and coming home. Plus. I had stuff to do....

1. Estate stuff. Lawyer phone calls and emails. Phone calls were scheduled and productive. Many questions were answered. We're getting close. Just waiting for one thing and some other things. But we're at the place where we need to begin making decisions about some stuff. Talked to my brother. Talked to my cousin. Texted the siblings. We're getting there.

2. Made appointments.

3. Slept in. That was first and foremost. It was beautiful, though I didn't sleep too long.

4. No laundry. Currently the belt is broken on my dryer (ha ha - no surprise in that one) and we're waiting for the replacement to arrive. (tomorrow)

5. Hung out with K4. She did the running for the things we forgot to get last night.

6. Made baked beans. From scratch. I soaked the beans overnight. Made two batches - a vegan batch and a bacon loaded batch. They are more "cuban" than regular, but they are tasty. I cooked them all day and I'm pretty sure they turned out okay. They are a mix of all of the dried beans I had in my pantry - garbanzo, pinto, lentils, northern, red, and idk what else...

7. Street fair today. I have not and likely will not go down. Though one of my best friends from school is down there. I want to go see her, but I am not motivated enough to put on real pants and venture from the safety of my home. The dog has been a mess all day - barking at random noises and being defensive about nothing. K4 and J and K are down there. They will be here soon for food and stuff, so...

8. Final line edits are done and changes sent back. Twenty days until release! Whoot!

9. And now the house is full of kid friends and kid friends I haven't seen since they were in high school. Nice.

Signing off now...

Behave!

Sorry For The Silence...

Wow! Two + weeks! I'm not really sure how that happened, except the last two weeks have been insane!

Let's see...

Got my edits done and returned. Now I have my final galleys to proof. Just got them, but I have to hustle since my book is already up for preorder on Amazon! Whoot! This is what I'll be doing the next few days. I've already cancelled my Wednesday commitment, and I am off from the day job on Thursday, so you know what I will be doing.

We went to the Jeep festival and had a blast! Ended up signing up for stuff and got super muddy! Awesome! We did their "playground", which was fun driving stuff . We both went through a bunch of times and on my last time through I hammered it through the mud. We were covered and it was a blast. Ran into a little issue with overheating since the radiator was packed, but got that taken care of and continued to have a blast. Took a trail ride through a beautiful forest. That was amazing except for the guy about four Jeeps up from us who got stuck constantly. The weekend was so much fun and we had a great time.

The day job - well... It's probably for the best that I don't go into it right now.

Anyway.

The kittens are so crazy and silly. They are getting big. We're still fostering one, but she should be picked up this weekend. Fred is huge (huge as in 3# to the other two at 2#) and is quickly becoming the boss of the cats. He's such a sweetheart though - always wants to be picked up and gives headbutt kisses. They are into everything and literally get stuck everywhere - in the pantry, the closets - I have to be super careful when I close the dishwasher, the fridge, and the dryer.

And below... finally... Is my new cover! Search it on Amazon for preorder! It comes out July 10th!

Behave!