So...

I have a new granddaughter...
I'm not really allowed to tell you that yet, but since no one my daughter and son-in-law know read my blog, I figure I'm good. Besides... when do I ever follow the rules?
She will be called Baby C and she's beautiful and perfect!
I am so proud of these kids! They made an amazing human and are amazing parents! They are so relaxed - way more than I was with my first. But I see shades of That Man and I in how things are getting done.
It's awesome!
Pictures won't be posted, but stories will be. I'm so looking forward to getting to know my new baby girl! She is so precious and beautiful!
That is all!
Behave!

Thursday Stuff...

Okay, so...
I realized I mentioned I was starting my new job Monday and then never said anything else about it. I love my new job! I'm in training so I'm not so good at some things, but I'm learning. I love how everyone made me feel like I belonged there on my first day!
I think I'm catching on at an okay pace. I won't know until I get some feedback, but I feel like I'm catching on.
I will say how glad I am for tomorrow to be Friday. I'm exhausted, but it's a good kind of exhausted. For the most part. It's been a really long week without downtime around here. Not bad, but tiring.
That's it for now...
I am hoping to post Feel Good Friday tomorrow, but I might fall asleep...
Behave!

Weekend Wrapup...

Look at this face!!

 Isn't she the cutest thing you've ever seen?
Meet our new baby! She is still without a  name, but we're working on it!
We went to see her yesterday and instantly fell in love. She's four weeks old right now, and we have until the end of the month until we can bring her home.
The people we're getting her from are awesome! They spend a lot of time with the puppies (fourteen of them - all with homes), calling them their new names, loving them, holding them. She'll be very socialized when we get her, which is a good thing. Their other dogs are very well trained and lovable.
We're all in love. (Yes, I know I said that already). K4 was holding her and she snuggled in against her neck and went to sleep. She's just... so sweet and such a lovey.

I know we'll have days... days that make me wonder why we decided to add to our family. I know there will be frustrations, training snafu's, chewed up and destroyed things.
We've been talking and reading a lot about training and consistency. She's not our first dog, but we know there are things we could have done better with Abbie, and there are things specific to her mixed breed that will be different.
So, now we wait and gather what we'll need to take care of her.
And I go back to nursing this horrific cold that slammed me against the wall yesterday and hasn't stopped making me want to crawl under the covers and cry.
That is all...
Behave!

A New Year...

Well, Hello, 2014!
I'm not going to complain too much about 2013. There were a lot of good things that happened. Though, A lot of crappy things happened, too. On the whole, I'm pretty much okay with 2013.
Which means, 2014, you have to be better. At least a little!
This snow is a good start.
Actually, there are a lot of good things coming up!
Anyways -
Our New Year's Eve was kind of quiet. We had fun though - until K1 grabbed my jacket and knocked me down. He was joking, but I knocked over the ice and proceeded to trip. I have a lovely injury on the bridge of my nose, extending over my left eye. He felt so bad. I wasn't mad, still am not. Though he continues to apologize.
We had a lot of good food and good company - some stayed the whole time, some just dropped in, and the teenagers used our house for a picking up station while they waiting for parents. Fine by me.
New Year's Day was spent vegging on the couch watching stupid TV, playing with Baby B, and having my parents over for dinner. We were in bed stupid early, though we hadn't stayed up too late the night before.
Today I had to make a trek to the grocery store with the snow-crazed bunch. We were on our last roll of toilet paper, so I looked just as crazy as everyone else. Luckily, I got out of there as the parking lot was filling up. Spent some time doing edits for my next release with Liquid Silver (did I tell you that?), helping K4 with a backlog of homework, cooking, and straightening up this pigpen.
I hope your new year has been good so far. I'm off to do more editing and homework helping.
Behave!

Sunday Recap...

Today was cooking day. I don't know why... because I felt like it, because it's been so long since I've had the chance, because I wanted to...
I slept later than expected (like for ten hours straight), clipped coupons, and headed to the store. I only needed a few things, but ended up spending almost $60. (I saved $10 though)!
1. The homemade coffee creamer was excellent. I added the raspberry puree left over from yesterday's breakfast and it was so much better. (Plus, no chemicals and very little sugar)
2. The breakfast burritos are in the freezer. The kids are excited about them.
3. The avocado chicken salad is on hold due to not ripe avocados. Everything else is ready.
4. I made crockpot cashew chicken for dinner. The recipe needs tweaked, but it was kind of okay. (Everyone else loved it. I was disappointed.) Not sweet enough, not enough liquid, a little too salty (that could be me) though I followed the recipe. I added portabella mushrooms at the end. I should have added the broccoli, too, but there wasn't enough liquid. I'll try it again, but with modifications.
5. Tomorrow's dinner is ready to go. It'll be put in the crockpot in the morning.
Laundry is done. The house is in decent shape. I even put the Christmas dishes away and organized under the bathroom sink.
I'm not looking forward to the regular grind tomorrow brings, especially since I saw we're supposed to have a "wintry mix".
I'm going detox tomorrow - no diet soda, no booze, limited caffeine, nothing prepackaged or manufactured - a modified system tailored to my personal findings. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm excited about it because I hope to give my metabolism a boost and begin getting rid of the last of the tonnage I want to shed. Less than 8 months until the wedding, and I need to rock my mother-of-the-bride dress. Also, I need new clothes and refuse to buy them until I'm at my goal weight.
And now... I must make some serious writing progress. I have a few hundred words so far, but that's not enough...
Behave!

The First Day...

Look at that! Two posts in one day!
I have several friends who believe you should do everything you love and want to do often in the new year on New Years Day. It's taken me a while, but I've slowly shifted my thinking and actions to do the same. I think it's pretty cool and what a fun day!
Here's my day:
1. Sleeping in. (maybe a necessity due to not going to bed until 3:30 am, but it was still nice!)
2. Retreat planning and emails! Gotta love retreat!
3. Eating breakfast with my family.
4. Writing!
5. Talking to friends!
6. Sharing the house stuff with the family, so not one person is doing everything!
7. The movies with my family and friends. Loved Les Miserables so freaking much!! I'm thrilled the K's loved it as much as I do, and That Man, too.
8. Napped.
9. Visited friends. We dropped off their baby gift, got a tour of their new house addition, got a very good puppy fix, a bottle of wine, and some laughs!
10. Ate good food.
11. Laughed. A lot.
12. Talked to That Man about a lot of things.
13. Scratched my kitty girl and listened to her purr.
14. Didn't sweat the small stuff - there wasn't a lot of it today, but I tried to keep most of the negativity at bay.
So in all... a very good day. I could use one more day to relax and recharge, but it's back to the grind for all of us tomorrow...
The crazy busy weekend is coming... Oy!
Behave!

On Resolutions...

I never make resolutions for the New Year. I will, however, make writing goals, but I specifically try not to make "life" goals. But...
I heard something, or read something, or something - I'm not sure exactly where, so if you said it to me, credit yourself in the comments...And I don't remember it word for word, either.
Anyway.
The gist of it was, that you never face something new - a new job, a new chapter in your life, a new year, without wanting it to be your best, without wanting it to be "different". Even if you simply want to be a better person, or enjoy things more, or do the best job you can.
I guess that's why people make resolutions - because it's new. And maybe there's a lot to be said for the hope in that. If you start something new with no hope that it will be different than the old, then how do things ever change? You don't, because you're stuck in that hole of "well, same crap, different time/place/thing". And that's kind of sucky.
Maybe I'm talking about two different things - hope and change - but you can't have good change without hope. So, maybe I do believe in resolutions a little - in the hope and the excitement and the promise of the new. Maybe my problem is with how resolutions are made. You know, the ridiculous laundry list of things that are either beyond your control, or are in your control, but you're never going to do it. Maybe you only say you will because you feel like you have to.
For example: You're a smoker and you know you should quit. You don't really want to, but on New Year's Eve you make a big deal out of quitting because you have to have a resolution. Then, by 12:05am, you say "After I finish this pack", then, the next morning your boss calls and gives you heck because you messed up the Davis account and you say "I'm so stressed right now. I need a new pack, but once that one's done, I'm done too". If you really wanted to quit, nothing would stop you. Stop lying to yourself.
I think that's what bugs me about resolutions.
But the hope thing...I really like that. I do have hope that 2012 will be an awesome year. I also realize some of the things that will help to make it awesome are things within my control. And that's what I have to think about...
Behave!

Changes...

I've already mentioned some of the changes that will be going on around here for 2012. Weddings, engagement parties...Oh, and there are the milestone birthdays...3 of them...to consider. (K2 turns 21. K3 turns 16. K4 turns 13. And that's just in my immediate family - there are also a few 40's and more milestone birthdays and anniversaries than I can even remember at the moment)
In addition to all of that, I have - just today - been elected to oversee my local writing chapter as president.
Now, I've been vice-president for four years now, so it's a natural step. I only have one more year to serve on the board before I have to take a two year break. I am honored (even though I ran unopposed). There are big shoes to fill. I don't even think I can come close to our current/former president. In fact, I know I can't.
But I will do my best to be a good president in my own way.
One of my biggest problems is my terror of public speaking...
I'd gotten over this many, many moons ago because I was forced to. Years and years at home with no one but the spawn to speak to retracted all of the progress I'd made. That's not a bad thing, but now I find myself barely able to say the things I want to say when I have to stand up. I can talk to a group of people and be intelligent and effective, but the second I have to stand I turn into an idiot. So...I'm going to work on that. Maybe I'll be a "sit down" president for a while.
What's good is that I love my chapter. I love the people - my friends. I love writing. I love meeting day.
I will manage this. I will overcome my obstacles and be an effective (mostly unfunny president). Cool thing is that I have an awesome VP (I don't think she has any idea what she's just gotten herself into!) and almost all of the previous board remains the same, so that's going to help.
It's going to be a great year regardless of my lack of speaking skills. And a busy one!
That is all for now...
Behave!