Aw Heck! It's Wednesday!

What a dumb week!
Crazy busy!
Unable to keep up!
Writing/revising as much as humanly possible. Before work. After work. I made really decent progress tonight despite a trip to the warehouse store, the gas station, and the grocery store!
New grandbaby coming soon! So freaking excited! Can't wait to hold my new little girl! (I keep saying that... but it's true!)
Mom's kitchen is almost done! I will try to post a picture! She is so excited as are the rest of us. Did I forget to tell you about Mom's new kitchen? There was wall ripping out and everything! It's going to be awesome!
That is all...
Behave!

Bloody Hell! It's Cold!!

It's currently 8* here, with a windchill of -12*
When I wake up, it's supposed to be -2*, with a windchill of -15 to -25*.
It's 34* in Anchorage, Alaska right now.
It's 41* in Juneau, Alaska
Heck, it's even warmer at the North Pole! It's 20*!
The highest temperature in the entire US today was 82*, and that was in the desert.
I'd give you more temps (I know you want them), but the site won't load. Ha!
The kids already have a 2 hour delay. We'll see if they actually have school tomorrow. I really, really hope they don't! I really, really wish I didn't have to go out either, but that's not going to happen.
We're supposed to get snow over the weekend, then the temps shoot to 40* on Sunday.
What the heck?
I can't get warm. The dog keeps wanting to go outside and play with sticks. There is a breeze over my legs and hands.
I'm going to my nice warm bed now...
Behave!

2014 Year in Review...Late

It's only 2 months late... Sorry about that...

I know I usually post this before the new year starts...I'm dealing with a lot of things right now, so that's why it's late...Please forgive me...
January:
Our Elsa! She's a year old now! She's still super cute and super smart. We love her!
Back then:

Now:

Actually that was September, and she's so tired, she can't even wake up enough to eat a pizza bone.. (that's what's beside her...) She's not as big as we expected, YET, (she'll grow until she's two) but she is super sweet and smart and she's such a good dog! We love her!








Also in January:

Super cold and A LOT of snow. It was good I was still home all day! I miss that this year! lol

For the Love of Isaac came out! Still super excited about this book and my publisher!

I dealt with some bad customer service, which was infuriating,but eventually turned out well.

Baby B turned 1! I was still looking for a job. We had the plague here. Lots of weather delays.
And this:

February:
Trying to watch the Super Bowl...Snow. More snow. Birthday craziness. More ugly weather. Job interviews. More birthdays. Puppy training. Awesome Author Event and Birthday Tea Party!
Sheltered was released! Yay!

March:
Theater stuff with kids. Helping with the musical. More craziness. Fun times. The decline of the rat. Writing process blog tour. Spaghetti dinner. Cousins. Clothes shopping. Stupid fraudulent job. Edits. Auditions. Getting a night out with That Man. My new Kindle! Vet appointments. A NEW good job! Death - the rat. Very Sad. Edits.

April:
Nick Cage jokes. Loving the new job. That Man becoming everyone's favorite person at my new job by bringing cake and coffee for everyone. Fixed dryer. Grandkids. Easter. Anniversary Party. Retreat on the horizon. Taxes. Sickness. New shoes. Writing. Puppy stuff. Report cards. Pie sale. Easter. Adjusting. Edits. Meadow clean up with the grandkids. Ice Cream. Cursed Fate released!!

May:
Retreat. 50/50 challenge. NYC with my girl! Awesome Broadway show! Ice Cream with the kids. Mother's Day. Retreat Shopping. My brother graduating - kind of... The beginning of the decline of my dad...Though we didn't know it yet... Retreat!! Cursed Fate released! Yay! My Dad failing... falling and needing someone with him..

June:
Surprise Birthday parties. Graduation Party for my bro. My Dad being in too much pain for his procedure. Dad going into the hospital. New kitty boys. Finding out K2 and J are preggers! YAY! No answers for Dad. And then the bad answer... Cancer. Not dealing well with things - trying to make it all fit and be there for everyone. Trying to figure it out...Orthodontist consult for K4. Street Fair. Out of town company. Too much. Bringing Dad home with Hospice.

July:
My Dad passed away. He went fast and in a lot of pain. It was horrible. It still is horrible. It was a rough month after a rough couple of months. (and followed by a whole bunch of rough months) I miss my daddy. A tree fell on our roof on the day of my dad's funeral. How shitty is that? That was awful and continues to be... No new roof yet, though the money is in the bank. It's too cold to put a new roof on now... Much needed Date night with That Man. Summer Survival. Reflections...

August:
Our chimney getting repaired. The end of summer school. Oy! Renn Faire. Our favorite! Blogging award thing... School shopping!  Baby B. K5 getting into arts school! New baby on the horizon! Getting my truck back. Camping. School starting! New routine. Looking forward to Fall!

September:
Getting my truck back, finally! And power steering lines going bad! Oy! That man's car still being stupid and broken! Ugh! We had K5 for her first camping trip with us in The Wilds! She was only supposed to stay one night, but ended up with us the entire weekend! We had an absolute blast!! Hot tub time. Booking our mini vacation at the beach! Writing time! Official baby announcement! Baby B overnight! Having the plague. Lunch with the Big Boss. Dad's birthday. Helping Mom clear out stuff. That Man taking care of stuff. Date Nights. Bridal Shower. OT at work.

October:
Cat time travelers. Crazy dog. Vegan kid. 4 star review. Fall. Awesome mini vacation at the beach! K3 turning 18!! Getting my writing groove back! Missing my Dad.

November:
Wedding! House guest, which was awesome! Family parties. Birthday parties. Hanging out at my sisters. Feeling the new grandbaby move! Cleveland with K3 and That Man. What a blast! New contract with Soul Mate! Thanksgiving awesomeness! Getting a better shift at the day job! Missing Dad, especially with the holiday! K2's birthday and nostalgia. Awesome Thanksgiving Eve hanging out with my sister and bro-in-law. Getting Mom's house ready for Christmas! 50/50 challenge. Baby B and his "pappy" yelling.

December:
Author page. Time going by too fast. Shopping. Getting trees up. Friends in accidents and being okay. Crazy Christmas Wishes! The van breaking down. The 'burban almost catching fire. Great Christmas spent at Mom's. Missing Dad a whole heck of a lot. Good Birthday for K5. Having to work the Friday after Christmas. Suck. New boots! Rest time...

And that was the extent of my 2014 posts...I posted 122 times in 2014, which isn't my lowest year. (2013 - 98) (Highest - 2010 with 380) I'm sucking pretty good this year so far... Maybe I'll get better??

Behave!!

Lame Tuesday...

I know I suck...
So Saturday was a lot of fun! The crowd was small - maybe because it was 400* below zero and there was snow in the forecast. Dinner after was a lot of fun, too. After that we did a quick shopping trip and ran home to hang out with K1 & J. We had a blast.
Sunday was cleaning and getting ready for our day with K5. Only... Due to the weather, they ended up cancelling. The family still came over to hang out though. We made stromboli's, watched SNL, and had a really great time. It was good for Mom to get out of her under construction house for a little while. It was also good to hang out with K2 & J for a while. Baby is coming soon! We're in the homestretch!! I can't wait to meet my new baby girl and find out her name!!!
Now we're into the new week... Doc appointment to find out what's going on with K3's hip, OT at work, writing, new title search (Illusions won't be Illusions soon), writing, concerts, house stuff, and a really really early morning tomorrow. I have to be at the day job before 7am. Which means I have to get up at an unholy hour. Not looking forward to that, but my clothes are laid out and I'm heading off to bed very soon.
I am still working on my year in review... I'm sorry it's so late. It's a hard one to get through...
Behave!

An Event!!

Well.. Now it's February...

And I still haven't done the year in review... (still working on it) Or post much of anything... I am trying... There is a lot going on at the moment...

But.. I am writing. As much as I can, as often as I can. Currently doing revisions. Have a really great new story idea that I can't wait to start because it's creepy and awesome and I love it! But I have a bunch of stuff to do before I can get to it...

My new granddaughter will be here soon... another month or so... So excited!! So looking forward to knowing her name! (they won't tell us yet! :/)

That's all...

Behave...

Still Working...

On the year in review... It's more than I thought and things are crazy here! Like totally crazy-on-a-stick crazy!
But it is coming!
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!

Crazy Christmas Wishes!

It's that time again! Time to bore you with my Crazy Christmas Wish List...
Here goes...
1. I would like all of our vehicles to work properly and not threaten to die at any given moment.
2. I wish for a house that cleans itself.
3. And laundry that not only washes and dries itself, but also folds and puts away.
4. I wish to be home to write full time again.
5. And I want a cabin in the woods with a fireplace, a big deck, and a huge kitchen.
6. A bank account that has more money than I could spend in a lifetime.
7. To be the size I want to be without effort. (ha!)
8. A beach house! (Hey, why not? It's a crazy list!)
9. A college scholarship for K3.
10. To have a liquor cabinet that never needs replenishing! lol
There's more, but that's enough for now! Ha!
Behave!

Feel Good...Sunday

This weekend has gone by way too fast!!
But here are the good things...
1. The Bff being okay after a bad bad car accident!
2. Getting our tree and pizza for dinner Friday night!
3. Saturday's work day going by quickly!
4. Hanging with the family and the grand boy Saturday after work.
5. Sleeping in this morning.
6. Getting Mom's tree up today and getting some other stuff done for her.
7. Going to a surprise birthday party for a friend this afternoon.
8. My bed. I'm going there now.
That is all!
Behave!

I Have No Idea What Day It Is...

Time is going by way too fast!
There is much to do and while we are whittling away at the list, it's still overwhelming.
The shopping is started. The grandboy is done. The kids still at home are started. The kids not at home - there's a plan for that. That Man - also started. Others - well...
We're working on our plan for Eve and Day. And Birthday. (Gah! My baby girl will be 15!)
I do, however, seem to have a decent amount of holiday spirit this year. That's a good thing, though I don't have the time or the energy to get stuff done at this point. Ha!
2 weeks before the big day...
How does that happen? How do we go from zero to crunch time so fast?
It always gets done. That's what I keep reminding myself...
Anyway...
It's snowing here. Just a little. I love it.
I am writing. Editing and new writing. Both at the same time. It's working, so no complaints.
And... That's all for now...
Behave!

Pretty Cool!

My author page is up on Soul Mate's Author Blog!

http://smpauthors.wordpress.com/meet-victoria-smith/

I'm so excited!

Behave!

What's Good About Saturday...

1. Sleeping in this morning.
2. Online shopping.
3. Surprising my brother for his 50th and Graduation party.
4. Hanging out with Mom.
5. Making progress on the Christmas preparations.
6. Still managing to stay in the 50/50 challenge. (Yay, word count!)
7. Texts from my granddaughter!
8. Hanging out with my grandson and hearing him yell for his Pappy!
9. Coffee.
10. Mom bringing me snacks! Good ones, too!
That's all...
Behave!

Feel Good Friday - The Post Thanksgiving Edition

Yay Friday! Here's the list:
1. The day going by rather quickly at the day job. Busy and crazy, but fast is good.
2. Chilling at home tonight. I have a million things to catch up on, though 3/4's won't get done at all. I'm making progress on my list though.
3. Sleeping in tomorrow. It's been a while! I'm so excited!
4. Weekend plans.
5. Only two more days of the 50/50 challenge we're doing in my writing group. No less than 50 words a day for 50 days. I'm happy to have made it through! I've been writing and I'll continue, but I need to switch gears and work on something for Liquid Silver now. I know what I'm working on. I just need to chop it up and get it edited.
6. That Man doing the shopping and cooking dinner. Now he's cleaning up. Well, putting away dinner. The kid will do the dishes.
7. Getting a welcome email from my new publisher! So exciting!
8. Not running out of gas on my way home.
9. Christmas parties coming up. We have two in one day next weekend.
10. All of the stuff coming up! I actually listened to Christmas music on my way home from work! After the summer, I realized it's about family and fun and being with the people you love. Not about presents or spending money.
That's all for now.
Behave!

Happy Turkey Day!

I hope your day was filled with awesomeness and thanks!
We had a phenomenal day with the family! (Most of the family. K2 and J did their thing with J's family this year. We get them for Christmas, though! But it's K2's birthday today! And we just really missed them! I gave birth to K2 hours before Thanksgiving. I spent Thanksgiving day in the hospital and my mom brought me food because there was no way I was eating hospital food for Thanksgiving. I came home the next day and we had a proper Thanksgiving that weekend.) We had dinner at my sister's this year. It was chaos and craziness and a lot of fun and good food! We really missed Dad, too! A hawk flew over after dinner and we all knew Dad was watching over us.
Things that were awesome about today:
1. Hanging out with Baby B! He's so funny and so stinking cute! On the way home, he kept yelling "Pappy" and then he would yell in a really deep voice. He was also yelling for his Gigi (my mom), who was in the front seat. It was cute! (What was cuter was when we pulled into Mom's to pick up some corn and lima beans she'd forgotten on the way there and he started yelling for his Gigi.)
2. Playing "Cards Against Humanity" with the kids. They're not kids. I know. 99% of them are 18 or over. Which is good, because the game is so wrong, but so freaking funny... It's tag line is something like "a game for horrible people" - which in-itself is hysterical!
3. Thanksgiving Eve. Too much fun. Too much great music and chaos! Or not enough... Not sure about that. We were in bed at a decent time (which means... not too late or not too early), didn't drink too much, laughed our butts off...
(this list is in no cohesive order)
4. Well... Now it's Christmas. I'm ready. Bring it.
5. My sister has the best people in her life. I'm grateful for that. I'm so thankful she has R and his sister and her husband. I'm also thankful that R understands that she's still healing after losing T. R's a good guy. She deserves him and I'm so thankful she's happy.
6. I am very thankful for my sister-in-law's lemon bars and that she gave me the recipe!
7. And for the fact that the diaper bag was found...
8. And for being warm in my house. And for my bed.
9. One work day before the weekend. That's something to be thankful for, too.
10. My husband and kids... They're all awesome!
(Remember I said this list was in no cohesive order!)
... In other news...
Our "boys" need to be fixed asap! Charles is spraying. GROSS!! He's so rude about it, too! The fixing must happen like right now... I can't deal with it.
Ugh...
That is all...
Behave!

Random Stuff and I'm Sorry...

The suckage is getting annoying, isn't it? My apologies...
I will say that things are kind of getting more even around here. So, I should be able to at least try to post more often. No promises, but I'll do my best...
Lots of stuff going on around here...
1. We spent last weekend in Cleveland. K3 had an audition at a college for a scholarship. We dropped him off on Friday and That Man and I had a weekend to ourselves. K3 had a blast. So did we. We ate a ton of really good food. Hung out. Laughed. Slept. Visited A Christmas Story House (super cool). Walked around the city and just had fun being with each other.
2. Thanksgiving is the day after tomorrow. We'll be with family and friends. It'll be chaos, but I think good. Definitely won't be the same without Dad, but we'll do the best we can. The holidays are going to be different, but we have a plan and we're going to have a blast while honoring Dad. Despite Dad no longer being with us, our family does have a lot to be thankful for - each other, for example, and the relationship that has gotten us through this horrible time.
3. The days are crazy any more, but I just got word that I'm moving shifts. I'll be getting home a little early in a few weeks, which is nice. It'll be a while until I manage to get on the shift that's perfect for me, but it's progress.
4. I found my writing mojo again. My head is swimming with ideas and I'm making really good progress on a story I've been waiting to write for a really long time. I probably have six other stories in my head at the moment. And I'm so excited!
And... One of the coolest things...
5. I just signed a contract with Soul Mate Publishing for my haunted campground story. So very excited! This book will eventually be in print, which is super exciting! I am very happy to work with Soul Mate. I still absolutely adore Liquid Silver and am working on something for them as well, but I'm thrilled to have both publishers.
That is all for now!
More later... Hopefully!
Behave!

Oy! I Really Suck!

I know it's been a really long time! I'm sorry! It's been insane here!
What's been going on?
Crazy stuff!
1. My niece got married! It was awesome and fun and she was so beautiful!
2. My brother-in-law came in for the wedding and stayed with us! We had a blast! (Actually, he's still here...)
3. Awesome family parties!
4. Writing! My time has sucked, but I'm doing it! Loving the new story and wishing I could get way more words on the page!
5. Birthday parties, hanging out at my sister's - weekends that aren't long enough....
6. Even though it's super early, I'm looking forward to the holidays.
7. Talking to my sisters and brothers.
8. Feeling my new granddaughter move for the first time! So awesome! So excited!
9. My kids and kid-in-laws! I love them all and we've been having so much fun and special times lately!
10. My mom. Still the strongest person I have ever known. I'm so proud of her for how she's handling things - head on and up and front! I know it's not easy for her! But she's doing so well. The holidays are going to be rough on all of us, but especially mom. We have plans to all be together. We're going to get through the season together...
That's all... I will try to do better, but no promises... I can't even return phone calls like I should right now...
Behave!!

Feel Good Friday

So... I have no idea what happened to Wednesdays post! Obviously it was there, but... somehow gone?

Anyways... We're on to Feel Good Friday!
1. Awesome Beach trip! We had a blast. I almost got killed by a crazy raccoon (not really, but... I had a moment), we spent good time on the beach, caught no fish, ate out way too much, saw many of the places we have missed so much, missed all of the great sales we normally hit - so souvenirs were slim, had a pretty decent condo... It was just good! And so needed!
2. This dog... oy... She's in heat... but we're just about through it. This is the first time we've ever done the heat thing. It is also the last time. We purposefully waited to get her fixed due to many reasons... My sister's and our friend's dog have a bladder leakage problem from supposedly being fixed too soon.  We also dealt with that with our Abbie. So we decided to wait - a collective decision... like when were we supposed to do that over our horrible summer? She will be fixed very soon!
3. Well... It's 2 months until Christmas Eve. How crazy is that? We are all planning on spending Christmas at Mom's. We have a lot of work to do to make multiple air mattresses fit in the basement... But I'm excited!
4. This weekend is the "baby gender reveal"!! I'm so excited to find out about my new grandchild!
5. We're also celebrating K3's 18th birthday! EIGHTEEN!! No freaking way!!
6. Talking to old friends... So good and so needed...
7. Writing! I am! And I love my new story!!
8. Getting my groove back - in more ways than one!!
9. Catching up on The Walking Dead... Love it!!
10. Still missing my dad... There is no way around that. I miss him. I wish he were here. I wish things had turned out differently. I wish we would have known more of how he was feeling and his symptoms.. the things he didn't tell us... It's still rough for all of us... Every thing brings a memory and/or a regret.... Dammit!! But we're taking care of mom and that's what we need to do right now! None of us are complaining!
Behave!!!

Fall...

Fall is here! 

I love fall! I love sweatshirts, candles, blankets, soft socks, pumpkin spice, baking, comfort food, pumpkins, mums, Halloween, cooler weather, leaves falling...

You know...the whole thing!

I'm really far behind on the decorating, baking, comfort food, and mum thing... But it's early. Right? 

Yeah, I know, I'm about nine kinds of cliche. I can't help it. 

We have a lot of fun stuff coming up this month! I'm excited! And I'm ready to start a new story! So very excited! The story is forming and the ideas are piling in. I love it! My writer brain is not broken! That's a very good thing to know! 

Anyways... Sorry I suck at this blogging thing these days. I'm trying... my days go so fast right now. Too little sleep, too much to do, too many obligations...

Behave! 

Wednesday Weirdness...

1. It's October already! Holy Crap!
2. This time in 13 weeks, it will be Christmas Eve. You're welcome.
3. This time in 14 weeks, we'll be welcoming 2015. You're also welcome. And yeah... how weird is that?
4. My dog ate a paint brush this morning.
5. I think my cats are time travelers. Seriously. I go upstairs after seeing one of them in a basket moments before, and the same cat is sleeping on my bed like he's been there for hours. No kidding.
6. K3 has become a vegetarian. This is interesting. Not weird. We totally respect his decision, but meals have become complicated. Grocery shopping has become complicated. The only food I can buy without reading the labels thoroughly is dog and cat food.
7. My laundry is 99% caught up. For right now. I think that's a first in about 5 months!
8. Finding out I had a 4 star review of Sheltered on Amazon! Whoot! (and only weird because it was a month ago!)
9. This week! Really? My neck is killing me. I'm exhausted. Work is crazy busy. I'm working OT right now, so there is no time left in my day...
10. And... I had an awesome story idea today. Out of the blue. It's only weird because I really thought my brain was broken! Apparently, it's not! Yay!!! I'm letting it form and grow right now, but I think I can make it work! Awesome!
That is all! See # 9 regarding being exhausted!
Behave!!