End of May

First thing... Happy Birthday to my oldest! 

It's hard to believe you are as old as you are! I very distinctly remember the day you were born. I am so proud of the man you have grown into!

Camping was a blast! We had amazing weather and a lot of laughs. Mr. B slept in his tent all weekend and had so much fun fishing, swimming, and playing with the other kids. We had a pretty full meadow, which was awesome. K1 and J came for the picnic and Little B had so much fun with his cousin. They were super cute, even when they busted into a fellow campers tent and started ravaging toys. Friends came to visit, which was also great. It was a good weekend. 

We dropped the camper off for inspection on our way home and retrieved it last night. So good there. When we picked it up, we dropped our car off for inspection, so hopefully that's ready tonight or tomorrow. Then that's all done. 

This weekend That Man and I are sequestering ourselves at home. We've been on the run so much that we need a weekend just the two of us. So much. Yeah, we'll be working around the house, but that's one of the other reasons we're staying home. There are many things that need taken care of. I'm looking forward to it. Sleeping in a little, planting flowers, working on his truck, and hanging new curtains in our room... Oh and grilling. Nice! 

Other than that... the writing has been super slow. The goal is to change that asap. My brain is working, but my time hasn't been. The calendar is filling up, so I need to make a concentrated effort to put my writing at the top of the list. 

And Geeze! Tomorrow starts June! 

And that's all I have for now! 

Behave! 

 

Touching Base...

Here we are at Tuesday again... Time goes by so fast. Well, except sometimes. Ha! 

My edits and art sheet have been finished and returned to my editor. Now I just wait for the next round and the cover art. Excited for both. I don't have a release date yet. This one will only be available as an ebook since it's way shorter than my other books. 

So the weekend with the grandboys was a blast. Little B barely slept Friday night, but Saturday night he conked out early and slept until five am, which is amazing. Of course, he was exhausted. We spent the day playing outside. Took him to where we camp to run off some energy and he did so good. But That Man and I are still tired. Ha!

Camp is coming up quickly. We're trying to get ready, but it's a crazy week. The camper is almost ready, but then we need to drop it off for tires, so we're trying to get it packed up with everything but the cold food before we take it since we'll pick it up and drop it at camp when it's done. (The shop is only a few miles from where we camp) I've been rearranging cupboards in there and so far I'm okay with the results, but not completely. There's so much wasted space. I'm still thinking about how to maximize. 

I'm very much looking forward to the camping weekend. A little sleeping in. A lot of camp fire. A lot of chair sitting and hanging out with some of my favorite people. I am also looking forward to That Man and I going camping on our own somewhere. I've been looking at places, but so far haven't found a place that I want to go. 

And that's about it! 

Behave! 

Happy Birthday, Momma!

Hi Momma!

It's been eight years since you left us to go and be with Dad. Eight long years of missing you both and wondering what life would have been like had you both been able to stay a little longer. You would be turning 83 today. You were taken far too young. 

I know Covid would have seen you making masks and running to the fabric store even though you wouldn't have needed to because of your already impressive stockpile of fabric and supplies. That makes me laugh to think about because I could fully imagine our conversation in my head. Dad would have been annoyed, but he probably wouldn't have said much to deter you from your mission. And he would have been happy to sit in his chair and not have to interact with the world during that time. 

You've missed so much, Momma. I guess part of me knows that you've only missed things physically. That you're still here, watching and smiling at most of it. Your great grandbabies that never got to meet you. The weddings. The shenanigans. Triumphs. 

And you're not smiling, but you've seen the bad stuff that's happened too... the deaths, disappointments, stress, rejections, and the severing of important family ties. I wish I could talk to you about all of that. I can't help but wonder what you would say and do about some of it if you were still here. 

Not a day goes by when I don't reach for the phone to call you or text you something you would find funny or interesting. There have been so many times that I just needed to hear you tell me that everything was going to be okay. Knowing you weren't worried was enough to keep me from worrying. Now, though, I know that you really were worried, but didn't want me to be. 

But we go on without you. Not that we have a choice. This year has been especially hard for some reason, though it's never easy. I find myself remembering your last few days with absolute clarity. The surprise birthday party we managed to throw you for the first time ever. The relaxing Mother's day. And then everything bad that came after. 

I just miss you, Momma. 

Happy Birthday in heaven!

Better?

Hey! It's only been a week! That's better, right? 

Same old, same old around here. Mostly. 

I got my edits for my new short story. Not sure when it comes out, but it will only be an ebook, which is fine with me. I'll be digging into them over the rest of the week and will hopefully get them done before total chaos erupts this weekend. 

We'll have the grand boys this weekend. Sleepover at Nana and Pappy's! It should be a blast, but I'm a little nervous because Little B does not sleep well or much. We'll figure that out. K4 is borrowing our car for her camping trip to a festival, so we'll have to borrow K1's car to haul them around. I think it's going to work out okay though. 

This past Sunday was Mother's Day. So bittersweet. Saturday was the anniversary of my momma's death. I know it's been eight years, but this year felt harder. There was a lot of nostalgia and memories. The day was good though. We had a fire in the backyard, good food, lots of laughter, and my boys and grand boys came over. 

Next weekend is our first camp out of the year. So getting the camper the rest of the way ready has to happen soon. We'll figure it out. Still waiting on tires, so there's that. Mr. B will be along with us for camp. He's super excited and wants to sleep in a tent, so we'll figure that one out. It'll all depend on what the weather is supposed to be like. 

And that is all...

Behave!

Feel Good, Weekend Update, and Stuff

Yeah, I know I suck! 

Hectic is the only word I have...

1. The Jersey signing was fun, but somewhat of a bust at the same time. But it's a fantastic experience. It rained all day, which is controversial regarding did it keep people home or encourage them to come out since it was not a day to do yard work? No idea on that one.

2. The day job has been absolutely insane. I came back from being off and had one day to try to reset before I had to cover for my counterpart for eight days. It was crazy busy for both jobs and I still don't feel like I am caught up with myself.

3. Which leads me to the writing going super slow right now. Well, okay, not super slow...halted. I'm working on a critique and then I have another one to do, but I haven't touched my own stuff in far too long. That will change very soon, but it's killing me. 

4. The warmer weather is so nice. We've gotten the yard mostly cleaned up. Next is to get our fence fixed. We've been holding off because the tree in the neighbors yard is half dead and has already taken out a huge section of our fence. And you know exactly what will happen... We'll fix our fence and the damn thing will fall. This tree is the one that was hit by lightning two summers ago. It's ginormous, but half of it is dead. And of course, it's the half that faces our house. We've spoken to the landlord about it, but so far he's done nothing. So we'll see... We really can't put off the fence project any longer. It looks like absolute heck right now and I hate it. 

5. Camping season starts soon! The camper is partially ready. Well, if you don't count the fact that it needs new tires. And state inspection. Those will be taken care of very soon though. It's been de-winterized. Now we just need to clean and load for the season. I am looking forward to camp fires and relaxation. 

And that's all I have at the moment...

Behave!