10 Days Later...

1. I've had my birthday. It was good.
2. We survived my parents 54th anniversary without Dad. We wet out to dinner and it was really nice.
3. There was a little yardwork done at our abode and some work done at Mom's, though That Man and I weren't able to help.
4. We purchased our first brand new television in 25 years. And paid cash for it because That Man is a saving machine. It's not huge, but it's really nice to be able to see what's on the screen.
5. I had my one year work review and it was really good. And I got a raise!
6. With #5 came some new responsibilities, which I'm digging.
7. We got to hang out with Baby B's other grandma, which was fun, but too short. And Baby B is so stinking cute and awesome!
8. Birthday videos from Baby C. She is so adorable!
9. We're still dealing with That Man's Mom in the hospital and no idea what's going on.
10. The kids attempt to fix the XBox failed and we had to order new parts. Suck.
11. I'm heading out with Mom to Delaware very early in the morning to take care of a bunch of stuff. No work for me tomorrow. YAY! But... I have to get up at 4am. I should be in bed already, but have to wait for laundry to finish first. Talk about running around like a crazy person. We had a nice dinner out, an emergency trip to the store after I couldn't find any underwear at my house. Nice. Came back to mom's and have been getting ready to go ever since.
12. Not missing a day in the 50/50 challenge so far! Go me!
13. Plans to stop and see the beach on our way home! YAY!
That's all. I don't know that I'll be able to post this weekend. Not sure of the Internet ability. I'll be writing though! (I plan to!)
Behave!

Well..

I just made an ass out of myself...
Someone sent a "pirate site" link. I checked it out, and my books were on there. I immediately sent an email to my publisher and an email to the site to take my books down... and then dug into it more. Totally not a pirate site, but a legitimate site that links you to true ways to buy books. I feel like a jerk... I did sent an email back to the site apologizing and to my publisher, but... yeah... Not cool and way to look like an ass...
Lesson learned, I guess, though it'll take me a while to not feel like a total beyotch...Ugh!
****
We had a really good Christmas! It was so much fun to stay at Mom's Christmas Eve and Christmas night. K4 had a spectacular birthday. It was a lot of fun. We had a lot of tears and reflection, but we expected that and we endured. My sister made Mom a really awesome picture - the actual photograph that was taken by my niece the morning Dad died and she added words to it. It made us all cry. We did cry a lot. It was so weird to not have Dad with us, but we managed. We made new memories and will continue to do so. And we'll continue to miss Dad. In some ways, it seems to get easier and in some ways, it seems to get harder.
****
I had to work Friday. That sucked a lot. That Man had to take me because the brakes went out on the van and the headlight switch on the 'burban started smoking. Rude! Brakes are fixed, but now we need to deal with the headlights! Mom's house got cleaned up. (What an absolute mess!! Oy!) We ate leftover chicken rice soup for dinner (That soup is a Christmas Eve tradition.) and came home. I woke up feeling like a truck ran over me this morning. So did That Man, though he went into work for a few hours this morning. He then picked me up so we could go grocery shopping... OY! I hate grocery shopping.
Changed into my new jammie pants as soon as we got home and haven't been off the couch much since. I am working on revisions on a book I want to send to my publisher. It's going okay, though today was the first day I've written in more than a week. ugh! I've made decent progress today, but there will need to be another pass and potentially a critique eye. We'll see how I feel when I get to the end.
****
Next up is the year in review... It's probably going to be boring... Just sayin'
Behave!

The Week Goes By So Fast...

Sorry. Again.
I seem to have a real issue with getting on here any day but Monday! I'm not sure why. Except, things have been a little crazy around here. Let's do the Feel Good Friday on Monday list, shall we?
1. K2 and J making their official announcement. My new grandbaby will be here in March! We're so very excited. We've known for a little while, but they wanted to wait before posting on social media.
2. Having Baby B overnight on Saturday. Forget the fact he didn't sleep. He was adorable and we had a blast, despite him ending up with a fever before his mommy and daddy got here. He's fine now, but he was pretty miserable for a little while.
3. The cooler weather and my "Tree of Gondor" sweatshirt.
4. Writing time. Still making progress. I'm so close to the end, but am filled with uncertainty...
5. Last weekend going well, even though Mom and I stayed up way too late Friday night going through stuff and cleaning out her pantry.
6. Weekend plans coming up. It's going to be a rough one. Saturday would have been Dad's 75th birthday. We're all getting together to be together and at least we have that.
7. My bed. I am so very tired.
8. Fall arriving soon. I know that's similar to #3, but it's different. We have lots of stuff coming up, too.
9. Our bathroom almost being fixed.
Okay. That's enough. I'll try to come back before Monday.
Behave!

It's Thursday...

Thank goodness.
One more day of the work week.
It's been an insane week. In so many ways. In more ways than I can even describe.
I might be back tomorrow with a Feel Good Friday post. It will depend. I'm on deadline and I'm sucking big time!!
That's all for right now.... Deadline... Remember?
Behave!

Wow... I Suck... Feel Good Friday... The I'm Trying Not to Suck Edition...

I thought I posted at least once this week, but as I think about it... I didn't. This week was crazy! But... let's focus on the Feel Good part of the week...
1. Hanging with Mom tonight. It's been nice. Pizza for dinner. A little Captain. Teaching her how to use her new smart phone (K4 is mostly in charge of that.) The boys are at home - working on stuff and dealing with the pets, and us girls are hanging. Nice.
2. K3 finishing summer school! Yay! The deadline is today and he finished at almost 9pm! I am so glad he's done. The poor kid has had no summer whatsoever. He's spent 97% of his time (when he wasn't sleeping) working on school. UGH! (and there are only two weeks until school starts again! How unfair is that?)
3. It's Friday. This was a very, very long work week. OT and insanity. I still love my day job though. I'm just glad for the weekend rest.
4. Writing time this week. Not much, but it's a start. My hope is that once school starts, I'll be able to get into a real schedule. I'll probably write in the morning once the kids leave for school since I'll have about an hour and a half until I have to leave for work... We'll see how that goes... I'm not setting anything in stone at this point...And I'm not stressing out about it yet.
5. Renn Faire in our future. Don't know when yet, but I can't wait! It must happen for all of our sakes!
6. Our chimney being repaired after the tree damage. Next is the roof... But, we're ready for that. We need it to happen soon.
7. Hearing awesome news from an awesome friend!
8. Granddaughter time coming this weekend! I miss my girl!
9. Grandson time this week. He is so adorable and has started to say NaNa! Aw!
10. And... ummm. Shawshank... Love this movie!!
That's all for now... I do have a blogging award to do. Hopefully I'll get to that tomorrow...
Behave!

Feel Good Friday...

Oh! It has it been a long week...
Let me try to put a positive spin on things...
1. Losing my day job on Tuesday. Surprise! No idea that was coming. Though That Man's first words were... "Thank God." He said he felt as if a weight had lifted from him when I called to tell him. I guess that speaks volumes about the stress I was under for a very long time. Now if I could just figure out how the mortgage is going to get paid, and how we're going to have Christmas.
2. Other than the money aspect, I should be feeling less stressed? I'll let you know when that happens.
3. Getting to see Baby B twice so far this week. He is so stinking cute and getting so big.
4. Vodka.
5. Still staying in the writing challenge.
6. K3 passing his driving test! Yay!! (On the same day I lost my job. He didn't find out about the job loss until Wednesday because I just couldn't harsh his buzz...)
Okay, yes. I was completely thrown off kilter and in total shock. I had no idea I would lose my job. I had no warning. It hurts a lot and it's going to take me a little time to recover. I was there for three years and did not see this coming. It sucks.
There are a lot of good things in my life, a lot of good things...I need to remember that. My identity wasn't wrapped up in my day job - as much as I loved my coworkers and customers. My identity is in this house with the people I love and the friends I rely on.
Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise?
I'll let you know once I figure it out... Like I said, I'm still in shock. It's mind blowing, really.
Behave!

Feel Good Friday - The Weekend Edition

Yeah, I know it's late on Sunday....
It's been quite a weekend around here. Busy and fun!
Here's the list!
1. Writing time. I've had to fight for it, but I win!
2. Not cooking Friday night! Yay for delivery and stuffs...
3. Revisions done and sent!
4. Renn Faire on Saturday. Very, very cool day! We had a blast!
5. Chilling with the younger K's and a lot of comedy videos Saturday night!
6. Sleeping in times two!
8. Laundry and grocery shopping done!
9. Meeting up with a very dear friend (and her daughter) on Saturday and getting to meet our dear friend's new man. Very fantastic to see her and he was very awesome. We are so glad for her! (Yes, they work at the Renn Faire!)
10. Managing... Because sometimes that's all you can do...
And in a few hours the week begins again... Oy! I know I'm not ready, but what can I do? (Can I get a rewind?)
Behave!

Bad Blogger

Yes, I suck!
I love this blog, and I hate not posting!
Not going to make excuses, because I always found time to blog before, so let's just move forward, okay? I will do my best to do better and maybe even try to be interesting. Maybe. No guarantees on that! Ha!
Okay... So what's been going on around here?

1. Total vehicle annihilation. Lost the tranny in That Man's Clown car a few weeks ago. Today, the drive shaft took a crap in our stupid mini-van. Which leaves my truck - my dying 'burban with over 200K miles, an electrical issue, and a tire that will need to be replaced soon. The Clown car is going to the Great Salvage Yard in the sky, but other than that, I have no idea what's going to happen, or how much anything will cost.

2. Crazy kids - Nothing has really changed in that department. It is very much chaos in this house, more lately. I really thought it would relax some once the wedding was over, but that hasn't been the case. We seem to be stuck in some kind of perpetual weird loop.

3. Writing - I am doing that! Have had to do some retraining with the new school schedule, but so far so good. Signed up for a conference in October and am very excited!

4. Other stuffs - This weather is so weird. It was so stinking hot today. I can't stand it! Time is moving by way too fast! Laundry never seems to get done. I suck at Twitter these days. I need to get some clothes for this conference. The day job is still very intense. My cat is shedding like crazy. My daughter could not move her very fat rat into their new apartment, so we are still "babysitting" the spoiled stinky beast. We will have a new driver in the house soon. (too bad there's no car for him to drive! Oy!)

Okay, I'm done blabbing for tonight. Sorry for the uninteresting content. Ha!
Behave!

Holy Crap!! I Suck!!

Wow! Has it really been that long since I blogged?
Unacceptable! And I'm sorry!! That is if anyone is still here?? *crickets* Okay, so maybe no one is here anymore. Dang!
I have reasons and excuses, but there really isn't any... There are, but you know... Let me give a brief (or not so) list of why...
1. The day job... it's been brutal. Busy, training new people, busy, and totally brain dead by the time my shift ends....
2. Wedding planning. Wow. Crazy stuff...
3. Kid stuff... There's been a lot of this, and to be honest, this is more of the reason I haven't been here than #1. Maybe I'll be able to blog about it all someday, but right now, I just can't.
4. Just crazy busy stuff! Egads! Really!!
5. Lack of sleep!!
But...
1. I have been writing!!
2. Day job should get better soon.
3. Kid stuff.. Some of it is a work in progress. Some of it scares the piss out of me... I'm not ready to talk about it yet, but when I am...
4. Wedding planning... is only going to become more intense, but I love it.
5. Retreat is in a month! WHOOT!!!!!
That is all. I promise to try to be better about blogging.
Behave!!!

Oy! Monday!

What a day! And I don't mean that in a good way!
It's cold! Horribly cold and the wind is blowing. I know it's January, but like I always say, if it's going to be cold, it should be snowing! It did snow a little earlier. Definitely not enough, but it was pretty coming down.
And the furnace was dead this morning. Neither That Man or I had time to restart it, so the kids (who had off today) had to deal with a frigid house. They did fine. Luckily we have the little fireplace that does a good job of warming the downstairs. It really wasn't too cold when I got home, which is good.
We won't talk about the bulk of my day... It should be sufficient to say that when it was over, I was glad.
I got some crappy news and that sucked!
Still... there were good things!
Baby B stopped by to see his Nanners. Well, technically, not to see me since he barely opened his eyes. He slept pretty much the whole time he was here, but he got lots of kisses. He is so cute and perfect!
Easy dinners. Still had to cook (and go to the store), but it could have been worse. (I'm ignoring the things I should have bought, but forgot, which means I'm also ignoring the fact that I'll have to go back tomorrow and then go other places in the frigid freezing cold.)
The kids cleaning up. The guys had a meeting here tonight and even though the guys they were meeting with don't care and probably wouldn't have noticed, I was still very glad not to come home to what I saw when I left this morning.
Weekend recap:
The kid didn't get his permit, because the testing place was closed due to the holiday. Oy! We were both very disappointed and I had to soothe his pain with a trip to the fancy grocery store for loose tea. (His new thing) That Man is taking a half day to get the permit done this week. If he doesn't it'll be March because K3 can't go on the weekends now because of the play.
The rest of the day was shopping, cooking, laundry, writing, bill paying, a quick trip to see Baby B. I filled my truck for $23.96 - saving $88.00! Not my best, but close! Love it!
Saturday night was good and fun and so needed!
Sunday with K5 was also good and fun and perfect! She said to me: "Nanners, I love you. You are my best friend." And my heart melted. God, I love that kid.
I did need another day to recover from my weekend, but that wasn't going to happen. Thank goodness this Monday is over... Though the week ahead doesn't look like a fun and shiny one at this point...
Whatever!
Behave!

Back From the Beach...

Sorry for the long radio silence...
I've been at the beach... soaking up the sun (a little too much sun), having fun with that man and those children (some of them)... It wasn't our regular trip to the Outer Banks, but my close second choice. Also, it wasn't just our family, but a scout trip - but since some of the scout families are like family...
Things I learned at the beach:
1. I can go nearly 5 whole days without Internet, my iPhone, and laptop. A good lesson for me. I feel pretty danged free and without worry that my phone or laptop would get broken or sand/water damaged. In fact, my crappy temporary cell ended up locked in the truck the entire time we were there because I did not care.
2. The ocean and cell phones do not mix. Ask K3. He forgot to take his cell out of his pocket and is in the process of ordering a new one.
3. Spray sunscreen sucks. I am sun burnt. So is that man. He has stripes on his back and I have burn in weird places...
4. Horse Flies are the devil.
5. Porta Johns suck. (I knew this from last year)
6. My future daughter-in-law is a trooper. 5 months pregnant and her first time sleeping in a tent for more than a night. It was her first "real" camping trip and she did wonderfully and without K1. We had a blast!
7. That man with a fishing pole at the beach equals a real smile. (I already knew this, but it was good to see) And I have not seen one of those smiles in quite a while.
8. Also, even though I already knew that man is awesome... He willingly dealt with the chaos of picking up my iPhone on the way home.
9. Sometimes you have to make 65 million trips to the closest pharmacy because they have the best tea in the world on sale.
10. Laughter really is the best medicine.
It was a good trip. But I am glad to be home. I missed home. I am not looking forward to Monday morning though...
Behave!

Wow! I Suck!!

Sorry for the long radio silence! (not that there's anyone left reading this blog by now!) *crickets*
Anyways, last week was long, crazy, stupid, intense...and I lived through it! Whoot!
How about a Feel Good Friday - The Sunday Edition?
1. A rare evening out with the man. We had a blast!
2. Sleeping in - a little bit Saturday, a lot Sunday.
3. My monthly writers meeting. It was a great one.
4. Retreat planning. 73 days!
5. Managing to continue to write through a really crappy week.
6. That man cleaning the house.
7. My kid talking my ear off about everything.
8. Orange juice with extra pulp!
9. My oldest kid being okay, though the car was totaled.
Going to stop there... I find myself with an extra block of time this morning and I need to get some words on the page!
Behave!

Moving On...

We're moving on around here...
Moving out of elementary school for good and going to middle school.
Moving out of middle school and going to high school.
This will be the first time in 17 years that we have not had a child in elementary school. Wow.
Tonight was 8th grade "graduation" - only they don't call it that.
It was everything a "graduation" should be - long, with unnecessary speaking, hooting and hollering from the crowd, and a huge crowd.
I almost cried.
And I feel very old...

Summer is about to start around here and I will mourn it.
I have traded no shoes and sleeping in for a work schedule and a steady paycheck.
I'm not adjusting well...

I'm sure I'll whine more about that later...
Behave!

Man, I Suck!!

I swear I thought I posted on Saturday!
But nearly a week? That is so not cool! There's probably no one left reading this crappy blog by now!
I don't have a lot of news to report...
K2 is home from college. Mothers Day was great. My dog is becoming incontinent. The writing is going slow, but it WON'T BE!!
The biggest and best is that my RETREAT is in a little over a day - in the wilds with no civilization for miles. I am so excited! I am packed (for the most part), shopped (I think I have everything), and absolutely ready to go! One more day to get through, and that day includes major field trips for kids, work, and all kinds of stuff that will hopefully help the day go fast.
I will do my best to post from the retreat. No pictures this year, unless I can have some of someone's or take them with my cell. Our camera took a crap and I haven't found a decent replacement yet.
So there you have it...
Is anyone still here?
Behave!