I hope your Thanksgiving is filled with wonderful food, amazing company, and good things.
I hope you can overlook any rough spots and disasters knowing they'll make for awesome stories one day.
I also want to wish my oldest baby girl a wonderful birthday. I love you and I miss you.
And that is all...
Behave!
I missed Feel Good Friday & the Weekend Recap... Sorry, but you probably don't really care about the boring-ness that is my life.
I've been having a lot of weird dreams lately. Like bizarre and complicated. The problem is I remember them when I first wake up, but as the day goes on they fade away. I just remember my niece trying to put a sweater on a frog (because he was cold) and alpacas running around my house. My dad was also in one...standing against a wall with the mischievous sparkle in his eyes he often had. I remember that. How could I not?
I also woke up around 2 on Sunday wondering if horses taste food the same way we do. And then there was the random though while going to sleep last night...Who thought it was a good idea to drain the sap out of trees to make maple syrup? I'm sure I could look both of those things up and maybe I will.
Christmas is a month from today. How is that even possible? Now I'm wondering if I'm going to have time to get everything done. I do have a head start on a lot of the shopping and we have a food plan for K4's birthday dinner. So yeah, I'll be fine, but it's crazy how fast things are moving.
Also, That Man and I's anniversary is the weekend before Christmas. So far, we've managed to keep the weekend open so we can actually celebrate our 39 married years. I would like to go away somewhere, but we're having trouble figuring that out. I don't want to have to drive too far and I want there to be something fun/cool around, too. So we'll see what we come up with.
That is all!
Behave!
...but I'm attempting to be more positive about pretty much everything. Yeah, there's suckage, but pretty much all of it are things out of my control. So I'm trying to control what I can...
So here are some positive things for today...
1. My friends bolstering and giving me tools like fire, phoenixes, and a word for next year. (It's writing related and it's not going to make sense) But yeah, I was having a little bit of a professional crises and they jumped on it and helped me sort it out.
2. The rain. I know it's dreary out, but I kind of like that too. (Though I do wish for snow)
3. Being recertified in CPR today. It was a good and thorough class.
4. Crossing stuff off my "to do" list.
Four is a good number to stop at. See? I'm trying.
Behave!
Oh Sunday... why do you come so soon?
Man is it windy! We've been watching our neighbor's roof vent flap in the gusts. It looks like it's going to blow off. Unfortunately, we don't have a number for the landlord over there and the new tenant must work a weird shift. She's lived there for about a month now and we've never met her. So we'll keep an eye out for when she comes home and let her know. That's all we can do.
This weekend has been house stuff, errand running, camper winterizing, laundry, grocery shopping, truck work, and attempts at taking it easy. Oh and we both slept in both days, which is amazing and unheard of.
We'd put the truck in for inspection last week and our mechanic found some pretty rude rust that meant it would not pass. We called the guy who's done work on my Jeep and he said he'd give us an estimate. He could fit us in right away, so we told him to go ahead. He found even more rust. And after our bank account taking a huge hit, we got it back. That Man double-checked everything and it'll go back to the shop and hopefully pass inspection this week. Joy. Just what we needed right before Christmas. But what are you going to do?
Other than that... I made decent progress on my short. Not as much as I'd wanted/hoped, but enough that I don't feel unaccomplished. So there's that.
Back to the grind tomorrow.
And that is all...
Behave!
It's been a very long week.
I kept thinking it was Friday - on Wednesday, Thursday... Ugh.
Let's hit the list:
1. Making good progress on my short story.
2. Warm socks.
3. Not cooking dinner tonight.
4. The weekend and sleeping in. And I plan to.
5. Getting our truck back. That's a long story I'll save for another time.
That's it for now.
Behave!
Almost a month...
I don't know that the social media break did much good. I mean, it did. I did still peek at some of the sites, but made an effort not to spend a great deal of time on them. That will continue. I just can't do it.
So what's been happening?
Really, not a lot. Just your usual day by day stuff. Oh and now it's cold. Hate that.
The holidays are coming up fast too. I'm trying to get organized. It'll be a bit different than last year since I'm not also preparing to go under the knife. I think my holiday-spirit-o-meter is going to be okay this year. We'll see if that changes. Ha!
Waiting on the finalization of Thanksgiving plans. We're invited to friends we barely get to see and if that falls through, we'll be with That Man's sister. It's rare that I'm not heavily involved in the planning and preparation part of the holiday. If we celebrate with our friends, I don't have to do that. I'm kind of enjoying just worrying about my food contribution and what stretchy pants I should wear.
I burned the crap out of my hand with my new steam cleaner. The steam cleaner is pretty nifty though admittedly I haven't used it since I destroyed my hand. I had released the pressure and let it sit for a good forty minutes before opening it to get rid of the leftover water. It blew up on me. I spent the rest of the evening with ice, (I know you're not supposed to use ice, but I did and I don't regret it) aloe, and horrid pain. By the time we went to bed, the pain had eased, so there's that. It's healing pretty quickly though. I think because it's my hand and the skin is thicker. I have two major spots that are still red and my skin feels weird. It never really blistered probably because my hands are so dry right now. We'll see if it peels.
Let's see...what else?
Grandkids - we had the boys and K5 this past weekend. What a blast! We stayed in a state of absolute hilarity pretty much the whole time. None of us slept a lot and the kids ate a lot, but they were so much fun. We had an early soccer game for B, and then went to lunch. And for ice cream. By the time we did the drop offs, we were spent--emotionally, physically, and financially. Ha! We were supposed to go to friends that evening, but we were so tired we bailed. We didn't even do dinner and we'd made plans to either go out or pick up take out.
B's game was super stressful. They tied. 5-5. B scored all 5 goals. Well, technically he scored 7, but 2 were disqualified. But tying with the division champs was pretty darned good. It was definitely an "edge of your seat" kind of game.
I did get the Old Lady story spiffed up and out there. I'm now working on a short as a little prequel to the horseman story. So far so good.
And that's about it. Well, there are probably a ton of things from my month-long break, but I figure I've bored you enough.
That is all.
Behave!
Yeah, I suck. It's been almost a week.
Everything is the same or at least it feels like it.
With that said...
I'm going to take a little Internet break. Social media is draining. I feel like it's sucking out my soul and is making me sad and cranky.
I'm going to stay away from all of it, including here, for a few weeks.
Catch you on the flip side!
Behave!
Here's a list of suck...
1. I was ready to start submitting the old lady story when I realized my chapters were all wonki-fied and I had forgotten to double-check them. I corrected that, but now I need to make sure where I end the chapters makes sense, so back to work...
2. The last vestiges of this cold. Sinus drainage sucks.
3. I'm tired.
4. Traffic. My gosh, do people even know how to drive anymore?
5. Stuff not working the way it's supposed to.
6. It's only Tuesday. Yeah, there I go wishing my life away, but....
7. Road construction - it's everywhere and it's getting old.
That is all of my grumpiness...
Behave!
Oh Sunday...
1. My Jeep was on four wheels and I got to back it out of the shelter! I almost cried. We're not quite a third done, but it's amazing progress. Half of the lift is one, and I might need to get a step stool to get in. Ha!
2. My book is done and the synopsis is written. Whoot!
3. My freezer is cleaned out. Nothing like finding a bunch of green beans and one terrible looking shrimp.
4. BLT's with fresh garden tomatoes on sourdough bread.
5. Sheets washed and returned to the bed.
6. Most of the housework is done. Well, not really. The essentials are done. Next weekend is the big clean.
7. Our town's Halloween parade coming up. I do like the parade. I just hate the people who think they can park on private property and end up blocking our spaces.
8. Plans to take K5 to dinner this week. I miss that girl (even though we talk all the time, we haven't seen her in a while thanks to opposing schedules)
That's enough.
Behave!
Holy cow! What a very long week!
Let's just skip to the list.
1. Living through this head cold or whatever it was. I still have some vestiges, but compared to Wednesday, I feel a million times better. I ended up staying home from the day job on Wednesday. I slept until 1:30pm and then was back in bed by 8:30. I think that's what I needed because I woke up Thursday feeling far more human.
2. Taking most of the week off from writing, but hitting it hard yesterday. I made significant progress.
3. Tissues with Vicks. I believe these made the entire difference in how I was feeling and in my recovery time. I will fight about this.
4. Every single day this week felt like Thursday. Imagine my disappointment when it wasn't. Now it's Friday and I'm having a hard time believing it. Maybe because I lost an entire day? I don't know, but I hate it.
5. Jeep work coming up this weekend. That Man's goal is to get it on 4 wheels. We still have a ton of work to do, but her being able to roll marks significant progress.
6. I also hope to make significant writing progress this weekend.
And that is all...
Behave!
Okay, virus... I am done with you.
I think I feel worse than I did yesterday. I did go to work yesterday. Our entire network was down and stayed down. That Man and I left at lunchtime because the only thing we could do was answer phones and we could do that anywhere. I slept and That Man worked on the Jeep.
Made it to the day job again today. Still feeling crappy. The network finally came back up, so it's a rush to get everything done.
These tissues I have suck.
The medicine I'm taking makes me feel stupid(er).
I have a fever.
I hate being sick.
Behave!
It's been a busy weekend and a crappy Sunday.
I got a lot done yesterday--many pages edited while cooking food for our friend who just had surgery. Plus, laundry, meal prep for the week, and house stuff... The usual. That Man continued with Jeep work and it's starting to come together.
We took dinner to our friend and spent a little time with her and her husband. It was a nice visit and she's doing well.
Then we got home...
And I started feeling like poop.
I feel terrible that I could potentially infected her. I would have never gone over! I would have rescheduled my meal. I texted her and she's taking it well (with her usual grace), though, I mean, what can you do? I really hope she doesn't come down with it. It's really the last thing she needs and I feel awful about it.
Today I woke up feeling bad. I slept late--way later than normal. I took a nap. But I still wanted to get some stuff done so I soldiered through. Laundry, shower, and the last forty pages on this editing pass. I talked to K5, texted with B, But now that all of that stuff is done, the malaise is creeping back in.
That Man went to B's game. (they're winning as of right now) We figured it was best if I didn't sit out in the blazing sun and also potentially infect my family too. That Man will stop and get me medicine on his way home and then finish up dinner.
I'm still planning on going into the day job tomorrow. We'll see if that changes or not.
That is all...
Behave!
We made it to Friday! And holy crap... we only have four more days of September left! How crazy is that?
Here's the list:
1. Not cooking tonight.
2. Tomorrow we will make a meal for one of our dear friends who had surgery last week. She organized meals for us after my surgery, so I am honored to be able to do the same for her.
3. Writing time this weekend!
4. The weather. Even with yesterdays rain, I cannot complain. Though I know our grass is going to be knee high by Sunday now. Ha!
5. Not having to wake up and rush out the door for two days.
That is all I have at the moment.
Behave!
It's finally raining! I don't know about you, but a good rainy day is needed from time to time. And the earth needs it, so I can only complain about idiot drivers.
We made it to Thursday! I guess that's something. Yeah, it's been that kind of week. I'm looking forward to the weekend, even though it's more list tackling. Ha! Hey, I crossed five things off this morning, so there's that!
Editing is going well. I missed one day this week. I'm hoping for a big push this weekend and then I can cross this one off my list. Then I will decide what to do next. I have three projects started. I'm not sure I'm ready for one of them, though I can world build and map out stuff. Two others are started - one is a quarter done and the other is half done. I have another one that's completed, but needs heavy edits. And a shiny new idea. Make that two. So...
That's all I have!
Behave!
Ugh! Tuesday is just a reflection of Monday.
It's gloomy out, but hopefully that means it's going to rain. I'm going to sound old and say "we sure need it". Well, we do.
Edits are going well. Except I'm at a part where I need to do some work. And I don't know if I'm going to have time to get anything done tonight, but we'll see.
They've started the big project across the street from our house. A whole lot of dust and machinery is going on. Currently there's a big old trailer blocking our parking. I'm hoping that's resolved by the time we get home so I don't have to pitch a fit. I'm not looking forward to this whole process, but there isn't anything I can do about it. We voiced our concerns and asked our questions and were brushed aside and given placebo answers.
My to do list has grown back to it's original size despite me tackling it every single day. It is what it is. Things are always like this at this point in the year. I'm used to it, which is why I make the big list.
And that's all I have...
Behave!
Oh h*ll. It's freaking Sunday evening again.
1. Jeep work. One step at a time. We're getting there through broken tools, missing parts, rust, and mosquitoes.
2. I think I managed to get about a half a mile done on my to do list. I spent all day yesterday running around like a crazed chicken. But I feel really good about what I got done. There's still about a mile of to do list (no, really) and it grows more than it shrinks.
3. My class reunion was yesterday. I didn't make it. It looked like fun from the pictures I saw, but to be honest, I don't remember ninety-seven percent of the people. I'm sure it would have come back to me, but it's been a really long time and there were over six-hundred of us in my class. I really only hung out with That Man, my sister-in-law, and maybe two other people--especially towards the end of my school days, so...I donated books to the raffle and did reconnect with a classmate I do remember in the picking up of those.
4. We've been watching the progress of 3I/Atlas and some of the news stories are downright bizarre.
5. Loaded baked potato soup for dinner. Man, I was craving that. And now we'll be eating it for lunch all week. Ha!
6. Editing. I got through quite a bit today. None yesterday, but that's okay. I will continue through the week in the hopes of being done and ready to submit very soon.
7. Clean sheets and sleeping in. Okay sleeping past the normal alarm time.
That is all. A new work week looms and I'm already tired.
Behave!
Here we are! Man. What a crazy week! And what's up with it being hot again? Ha! I'm kidding. I know. I know.
Let's just get to the list:
1. Do you ever get to a point where even fun things require effort? Yeah. There we are.
2. Editing will commence this weekend. Believe it or not, I've made decent progress this week. And my head is very close to being screwed on straight for what's next.
3. No alarms in the morning.
4. My foot finally healing.
5. Picking up Jeep parts.
6. Cooking in the crockpot. Twice. And I turned it to the right temperature.
7. My list is a mile and a half long. It really is. I just checked it.
8. Already working on the Christmas party for the day job.
9. My sassy old lady puppy. She's got pain (we're managing it), and she can't see the best anymore, but she's still got attitude and is the best dog ever.
I have a ten somewhere, but I can't find it. So...
That is all...
Behave!
Time goes too fast. I feel like all I do is wish my days away to get to the weekend or something else fun. I need to stop doing that.
Today went fast. (that's another thing) Work was work--the usual.
There are teeny tiny ants in my kitchen and we can't figure out where they're coming from. We've pulled everything away and apart and cleaned, but no ant homes...
My poor ice maker can't keep up with four people in the house.
I dislike the work of trash nights, but I do like the absence of overflowing trash cans and recycle bins. (not always overflowing. You know what I mean.)
Both my washer and dryer are making terrible noises.
I'm making editing progress.
I am tired and feeling like I'm trying to fight off some kind of illness.
I don't like it getting dark earlier and I do like it at the same time.
I have a great love for solar lights.
That's enough random.
Behave!
I'm not going to say anything about the weekend going too fast! Ha!
Here are the highlights...
1. Fun dinner with our nephew.
2. Editing and making awesome progress on Saturday.
3. Jeep work getting done.
4. Finding more Jeep parts.
5. Tacos for dinner last night with meat done a different way.
6. Sleeping in this morning.
7. B's soccer game. They won. (It was hot. I got sun.)
8. Getting my pages back from one of my critique partners and receiving the kick in the butt that I needed to do this story right. Honest feedback is always important, even if it makes you cringe. Which it didn't because I really knew something was wrong with it, but I couldn't see it because of all the pressure I was putting on myself. I feel much better and more confident now.
9. Getting the shopping done.
10. More Jeep work.
11. Dinner in the crock pot for tomorrow already. And yes, I will quadruple check to make sure it's on in the morning.
And that's all I can think of right now.
Behave!
Yep. That's where the week stayed... well I said "this" side of crazy town, but we fully went into town!
And it's stuff you don't care about like work.
So remember my last post when I said I had dinner in the crockpot for the next day? Well... guess who left the crockpot on "warm" all day instead of the right temperature? And guess who had to throw out dinner due to the chance of bacteria? Yeah, I was not a happy camper.
Anyway... Let's have some feel good, shall we?
1. Pancakes for dinner after the crockpot disaster.
2. Not having to cook last night.
3. Making serious writing progress - maybe not with actual words but with figuring stuff out--which is almost as good.
4. Tonight's plans. Our nephew is coming over for dinner. It's been forever since we've seen him.
5. Light weekend plans. There will be more writing organizing and yard work and laundry and ... blah blah blah.
6. Let's not forget the sleeping in part. Ha!
That's all I have.
Behave!
