Feel Good Friday on Sunday...Again

Yeah, I know... What can I say?

Well, here we are on Sunday evening again. I'm tired. Ha! What else is new? That Man is working on his truck headlights at the dining room table and I am trying to catch up with myself after a busy day. 

Here's the list:

1. Managing to get the words in despite a hectic week. 

2. The greenhouse booksigning coming up! I've ordered books and I cannot wait. It's one of my favorite events of the year and I would love it if you would come and see me! I will have copies of my first book with Soul Mate! It was out of print for a while, but it's back now! 

3. So...remember how I said things were quiet? Ha! We have stuff on the calendar every weekend going forward now. 

4. Getting to hang with my grand boys! Last night we had Mr. B over for dinner for his birthday. Uncle K3 and Aunt A came and we had a lot of fun. We had build your own subs and homemade ice cream cake at Mr. B's request. 

5. Then today was his friend party doing laser tag. We kept Little B and had a blast with him. He's very smart and always busy. (Which is one of the reasons I am so tired. We played chase a ton and then had to "race" in the back yard.) 

6. Hanging out with my son and daughter-in-law when they came to pick Little B up. We fed them and had a little dance party in the kitchen. Little B is offended by Nana's dancing, which was hysterical. 

7. The plans for the week are minimal. Day job. Regular chores. Nothing too crazy. That's good. Next weekend we have a birthday party for a friend and there's something on Sunday but I can't remember what. 

8. Making plans to head to the middle states to see our aunt and uncle. Looking forward to making the trip with my brother and sister-in-law, and maybe my sister. We didn't go last year because they came to us twice. But our uncle doesn't travel well anymore and whether we like it or not, he's getting up there in years. He's the only close family we have left, so of course we'll do whatever we have to do to see him. 

9. Okay, I'm procrastinating now. I'm working on a critique for a friend, plus I have my own words to write. And I need to shower. 

So I'm going now! Ha!

Behave! 

Feel Good Friday on Sunday!

I know it's Sunday, but it's still the weekend...

I don't really have a list. It was a relatively decent work week. A little crazy, but I managed to get my stuff done. It seemed both long and short, if that makes sense. 

On Friday we finally got to see our friend who worked through the holidays. He came for dinner and we had a really nice time hanging out. We made pesto chicken. It wasn't that good, but it wasn't terrible either. 

Christmas has been removed from the house. The snowmen are still hanging out because they're cute and it's still winter. But all of the Santa trimmings are packed away, even from the front porch. Though I still have a few things to put away. I'll get there this week. 

We did the shopping and errand running. I took a really good nap yesterday, but never really got that far today, though I did try. But the laundry is all done and the house is in decent shape. 

This week coming up is pretty quiet. I guess there's potential for some winter weather this week, though it's too far out to figure out for sure. 

Now we're in the long dark of winter--there's no holidays, no big plans, no social gatherings on the calendar. We're not going on our annual cabin trip this year, which makes me sad, but when we calculated the vacation time this year, it just wasn't happening. I am going on a writing retreat next month and I am very much looking forward to that! 

And that is all I have for now!

Behave!

Happy New Year!

I hope you rang in the new year in a way that was amazing for you! 

We had a nice evening and did stay up until midnight. I'm a little shocked by that because I hadn't planned on it. We'd watched a movie and were heading in the direction of bed when we realized we were close to midnight. 

Yesterday was amazing chaos. The grandboys and my boys were here. We had a fire outside and lots of fun conversations. The food was good and we didn't have a ton of leftovers. Dishes were done quickly and there was time to relax before everyone went home. 

We were in bed early and did sleep in a little this morning. And we've been absolute bums all day. We didn't get much Lord of the Rings watching done yesterday, so we're doing that today. I've taken two naps and got a decent amount of words on the page. 

Tomorrow is back to the day job and facing the long quiet of winter with not too many events planned or obligations at the moment. Which will be nice after the intense last few months. (Notice I said at the moment... Ha!)

And that is all! 

Behave!

Feel Good Friday - A New Year is Coming

So let's back up to last week...

1. Christmas Eve was good even though we were missing some ill family members and some working friends. Dirty Santa was a riot and the soup turned out pretty good. 

2. Christmas Day was equal parts chaos and relaxing. If that makes sense. We weren't up super early either. Scotch eggs and breakfast sandwiches were first. K3 & A came for breakfast and then skedaddled to A's family. We headed over to K1's to take the boys their gifts and hung out there for a while. Back home for a nap. Then it was birthday time. Lasagna and garlic bread for dinner. Chocolate cake with peanut butter icing for birthday cake. K3 & A returned and our niece and nephew to be came to harass K4. The young adults played a game while That Man and I watched a movie. We were in bed pretty early!

3. Monday was a completely lazy day. We did nothing but what absolutely had to be done. I slept in, then dozed on the couch. We had leftovers for dinner. Nice.

4. Back to work on Tuesday. So many people are on vacation that the office has been quiet. But there's end of year stuff to attend to, so the week kind of went fast for me. 

5. Off at noon today. We swung by our friend's house on the way home and spent some time hanging out with them, which was nice. We hadn't seen them in a while. 

6. And tomorrow is New Year's Eve. And I could not care less about it. Our plans are to lounge on our couch in our jammies, eat some shrimp, and go to bed early. I don't want to do anything else. 

7. New Year's day will be the traditional Lord of the Rings marathon; pork and sauerkraut, black eyed peas, and more chaos. I know my boys are coming for dinner, which is fun. The kids rarely get to hang out together since they work different schedules. We're off on Monday again, which will probably be another lazy day, but we'll see. We have car stuff to do and the tree to take down, though I'm not in a huge hurry to do that. 

So, I doubt I'll be back on here before Monday. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. 

Behave! 

Christmas Eve Eve & Feel Good Friday

Well here we are! Almost there!

And today is Friday! 

So let's just get to the list!

1. We were supposed to leave the day job at noon today. Due to the winds and potential for ice, the bosses kicked us out at eleven. That was cool. It was a super quiet day, though my system glitched and caused me a lot of hassle when I tried to write checks. But it's all good now. And we don't have to go back until Tuesday!

2. Getting home and getting stuff done. (And I took a nap!) Now all that's left is the bathroom, dusting, and vacuuming. And cooking. Lots of cooking. Which I love, so I'm good with that. (The cooking, not the cleaning.) (That Man and K4 will take care of the cleaning while I cook)

3. We did go out to dinner on our anniversary. We had a blast and then took care of some shopping. It was a really nice evening. 

4. We had no plans for dinner tonight and there was no way we were stopping at the grocery store. (we drove by. it was insane looking) We found some chicken patties and then made potatoes au gratin. It turned out pretty well, even though I accidentally shut the oven down halfway through the cooking time. 

5. Except for the cleaning and cooking, we're pretty much done. I'm sure I'll find a million things to do tomorrow that have nothing to do with what I've planned, but that's par for the course. 

6. Looking forward to hanging out with family and friends tomorrow! 

7. Despite the crazy week, I have managed to get some writing in. Yay me! 

8. Man, it's freaking cold out there! I'm sure if you live on the East Coast, you're well aware of that fact! But holy cow! My dog is so clueless though. She just wants to stay outside and play. She sulks when we tell her it's time to come in. Also, I almost froze my hand to the screen door after taking a bag of ice to the cooler on the back porch. 

9. Sleeping in a little tomorrow. Ha! Like that is even going to happen! 

10. It's not feel good, but I'm definitely missing my folks this year. I'm also missing other family members, but there isn't anything I can do about any of it. 

And that's about it! 

I doubt I'll get back on here until after! So I hope you have an amazing holiday!

Behave! 

Five Days...

Oof. I could have sworn I posted sometime in the last 11 days!

Obviously not!

Well, here we are at five days before the big day. We're mostly ready. 

The tree is up and so far the cats are just messing with it a little bit. Though when an ornament hits the floor, it's free game. Apparently. Yeah, we keep the fragile ones at the top. We did have to stuff some more lights in the tree. So... years ago we had a little gathering when we decorated the tree. Our lights didn't work, so we sent the young adults out for lights. They came back with bush lights. And ever since, that's what we've used, mainly because people keep giving them to us. Ha! So half of the bush lights went out. There's no easy way to remove it, so we just shoved string lights in so we didn't have to undecorate. It works and you can barely tell. 

The shopping is 99.9% done and wrapped. We went pretty small this year. There are too many expenses and upcoming expenses and let's face it, everything is more expensive right now. Not that we ever go huge on Christmas. 

And today is our anniversary. 36 years married and 40 years together. How crazy is that? I'm not going to get mushy, but I wouldn't change a thing. He still makes me laugh after all of this time and we still have tons to talk about. We're going to dinner tonight, and just goofing off.

We had the older grandkids this past weekend, which was an absolute blast. Little brother joined them for a few hours on Saturday and he was hysterical. We made cookies, did a present exchange between the three of them, and laughed a lot. Having the two oldest for the weekend was a lot of fun. They're at the age now where conversations are a little more real. K5 and I spent a long time talking about writing, which she loves. That was cool for me. There was hair fixing, sock races, stromboli making, and a lot (and I mean a lot) of scaring--hiding under the bed, popping around corners, and doing their best to get me (which they did. Once.). Oy! That Man and I absolutely loved the weekend, despite the fact that we were wore out! Ha! 

There are two and a half days to work the day job. Then it's cooking, cleaning, and prep. K4's birthday dinner has been decided and ingredients are mostly purchased. She wants stuffed shells, and we're having a heck of a time finding the shells, so we might have to slightly switch gears, but we'll see. 

And that is all for now...

Behave! 

Feel Good Friday!

Ho Boy! What a week!

But it's Friday! And Friday is always a good day even if you end up in the dental chair for twice as long as you expect and bleed a lot... But more on that later... 

Here's the list:

1. Ladies Night at the greenhouse! What a freaking blast! Hanging with my friends. That was amazing. We don't see each other enough even though we talk every day. Selling books! I did pretty well, which was unexpected and awesome! I'm super happy about that! Talked to a lot of really great people, too. It was an awesome evening!

2. Lunch out with the work people. We went to our standby place, which is never disappointing! The food is amazing. We talked about all manner of things not work related, laughed, ate cheesecake, and had a really nice time. 

3. Leaving early today... (Here's where the blood comes in) My hygienist (first time with this one) saw some stuff on my x-ray's and went to town on my mouth. She scraped and sprayed. I was a little stunned because I was just there six months ago and there was no mention of this crap. (and that's when x-ray's were taken. Apparently it was there and nothing was addressed. I'm at odds with that and will need to discuss with my sister who works there) Anyway. It's all fine even though my mouth and face hurt now. But my teeth feel good. And she suggested a water flosser, which has been ordered and I will use religiously so I don't have to go through what I did today again. Ha! 

4. Pretty easy weekend plans. We're getting our tree (I hope), and hopefully seeing the grandboys! Tomorrow is sleeping in. (I hope) We already did the big box store run, but we forgot a bunch of stuff. 

5. Making good progress on my story. Whoot! 

That is all! 

Behave! 

19 Days to Go...

Yeah, I'm counting down. But not really... Ha! 

It's been a long week so far and it's only Tuesday! 

One more full day to work and then some easier stuff. Thursday is our lunch out with the boss, so I'll be out of the office for at least two hours or so. And we always have fun on these lunches. It's been a while. We used to go out as a department every few months, but we haven't since last Christmas. Not sure where we're going yet. It's not my turn to pick, but I know it'll be good. 

Next week is our Christmas lunch for the day job with everyone. Things are coming together and it should be a good time. Our department is in charge of getting everything together and so far so good. 

And then on Friday, That Man and I have dentist appointments. We'll leave a few hours early and likely not make it back. We've been making up time, so there's that. Not that having a dentist appointment is fun, but it's not terrible either. 

What else?

The porch is decorated and the fall stuff is put away. The Christmas coffee cups are in use, and the dish towels are washed and folded (I only did it tonight because I need a tablecloth for tomorrow). The porch looks pretty good, though it still needs some touches. Tree procurement is this weekend. We've started the shopping and the birthday shopping. But I have no idea of anything else at this point! Ha!

We're still watching ridiculous Christmas movies. I know they're stupid. I like them because they're brainless. 

Tomorrow evening I'm participating in a ladies night at the same place where we do the Valentine's signing. I did it last year, too, and it was a lot of fun. I don't expect to sell a lot (or any) books, (last year it wasn't the right kind of crowd) but I get to hang with my friends, so there's that! I can hope though... 

That's about it...

Behave!

Feel Good Friday - The Trying to Be Here More Often Edition

I made it back! Yay me! 

So let's recap the good this week! 

1. Friday! Obviously! It was a long day job week. Very busy. 

2. Putting the day job Christmas tree up! It was a fun time. I had the help of a coworker, and I hooked the television that hasn't been used since we went home for the pandemic to the Internet and found some Christmas music. Every day since, I have put a fireplace background for the work day time and it's been a huge hit. I love it. 

3. That Man and I having a impromptu date night. We had to stop at the store and we ended up going out to eat just the two of us for the first time in forever. We went to our usual favorite place, but the service was terrible. As it's been the last three times we've been there, so unfortunately, I doubt we'll go back. 

4. Words on the page! I've done reasonably well this week, so I'm happy with that. 

5. Watching ridiculous Christmas movies. Most of them are so poorly acted and filmed, but some have a good story. It's just something we do. It gives us something to talk about, I guess. But it's fun. 

6. Sleeping in tomorrow. I need it. 

7. Being warm when it's so cold outside. 

8. Plans to get our tree and get the decorations done. No, I haven't gotten the fall decorations put away yet, nor have I made any progress on getting Christmas stuff out. But it's coming. 

That's about it... 

Behave!

Gone Too Long

Yeah, I know... what else is new? I seem to always be missing... I'm trying to keep up. I swear. 

So what's been going on? 

1. Our youngest son got married. It was a beautiful day and they did a fantastic job with their decorations and the ceremony. They sang to each other during the ceremony and it was amazing. I will admit that this momma cried several times. They both looked fantastic in their wedding clothes. The bride was absolutely gorgeous. 

2. The funeral was as nice as a funeral can be. It's a hell of a way to see people you haven't seen in a while. The work place is adjusting, but he'd pulled away from actively running things a while ago so the transition has been mostly easy. 

3. Thanksgiving was nice. We had a good time and good food. Both of us had to work on Friday so we were home at a decent time and in bed early. 

4. We've been running around so much. And we're freaking exhausted. This weekend we did not much of anything. Yeah, we did the usual stuff like laundry and cleaning up after ourselves, but nothing more. (not like the extreme leaf raking we did last weekend) We both took naps--many naps. And we made food. We only left the house to go to the grocery store once. I slept in both days and it was glorious. 

5. We'll start getting Christmas decorations out this coming week. I have no idea when we'll get our tree. Our weekends are all booked. And there was talk of an Ugly Sweater party, but I have no idea how we can fit that in, so I think it's going to be a no go this year, which is sad because it's been a hot minute since we've had one.  

That doesn't look like much of a list as far as not getting on here goes, but there's, of course, far more that I don't/can't share. Lots. 

I will say I'm looking forward to Christmas. I think. My brain is turning with ideas and things I need to do/take care of. It's not going to be a big and fancy day for sure, but it should be fun. 

That's about it...

Behave!

Feel Good Friday - The Gone Too Long Edition

Sorry for the silence! It's been a little crazy! 

Let's get to the list, okay?

1. Friday! It's been a rough week. Not just this week, but the prior weeks as well. Work has been crazy with changing of job duties and learning new things for me and regular insanity for That Man. We also had the crud here. Tested negative for the big C more than once. The flu probably. It was pretty gross and rough around here. K4 missed almost an entire week of work. I missed time, too. But we're better now except for a lingering cough. 

2. A new book! Yeah, I know I haven't completely finished the one that's already finished and currently in rewrites, but I got this crazy idea and I couldn't do anything but write it. I'm about a quarter way through it and the words are coming really easy. I love it. I haven't had a moment of doubt about it since I got the idea and the words have been flowing. 

3. Trick or Treat night was kind of lame here. It was a rainy night. We didn't have a lot of trick or treaters--probably half of what we had last year. And only one puppy! Last year we had so many! In the past, our house has been used as a base for friends and family trick or treating or just visiting to hang out and hand out candy. This year was probably the first time in ages (excluding the past few Covid years) where we didn't have that. It's kind of sad and kind of not. It was really nice to sit on the porch with That Man and chill while we waited for the costumed ones. 

4. The weather has been really nice this week. It's been my perfect temperatures. I can wear a sweatshirt and have the windows down. Cold is coming though... But I am excited for snow. Like stupid excited! 

5. Our youngest son is getting married next weekend. It will be a super small thing--like immediate family and their best friends only. I'm sad that my siblings, nieces and nephews, and mutual friends can't come, but I get that weddings are expensive and that sometimes smaller is far better for the bride. We're helping as much as we can to ease the stress and take care of things.

6. Next weekend is going to be insane for us though. The owner of our company passed away. It was expected, but still rough. He was a great guy and will be missed terribly. The funeral is the Friday before the wedding. Work is closed for the day. We were invited to the luncheon afterwards, and of course, we're going. So we'll go directly from the funeral to the rehearsal, and hope that we have enough time to do everything we need to do and get there on time. I still don't have a shirt or shoes. That Man needs to try on his clothes and find shoes. K4 is in the same boat. It will all get done for sure and it will be awesome. 

7. We have a lot of birthdays this month! Well, starting last month with K3. Then my brother-in-law, our adopted sister, my brother, my niece, and my niece. We used to have a family birthday party for everyone, but that kind of fell by the wayside. It would be fun to bring that back. 

8. Okay... I will admit that I'm excited to decorate for Christmas. But I will wait until after Thanksgiving. There's no shame in making plans though, right? 

And that is all! I will try to post, but please forgive me if I don't! I promise I will be back!

Behave!

I'm Not Missing...

Just a little buried...

Instead of boring you with the details, I will leave you this picture of my dog...

Behave!

Feel Good Friday

Woo! Made it to Friday! 

This has been a crazy week and next week is even crazier! If you don't hear from me, you'll know that I got sucked into the miasma of life! Ha! 

So here's the list: 

1. Living through the Parade. We already talked about that! Ha!

2. Not cooking tonight. That Man has a plan for dinner and has said he doesn't need my help. Nice. 

3. Upcoming plans! Most are good things! But the next month is going to be nuts. 

4. Leaving the day job early today! 

5. After a week of not sleeping well, I am hoping for some good sleep over the weekend! Seriously. I woke up at 3:30 this morning and could not go back to sleep, so I got up and did laundry. 

The stupid things this week:

1. I was gifted a cool 3-crock crock pot. I decided it needed to be put away to make room for whatever people were bringing for the parade. I took it downstairs, set it on the washing machine, and headed to the storage room to make sure there was space. The second I hit the door, the washer went on spin. And the crock pot crashed to the floor, breaking every single crock. I had used it once...

2. I typically keep a basket in the Jeep with things that might be needed - Wipes, masks, fixaflat, flashlight, bug spray to name a few. I had placed it in the back and I knew the gate didn't latch, but didn't think much of it since I wasn't done messing around with the Jeep yet. Only I got sidetracked and never got back to it. As we were driving to work, a truck behind us was flashing its lights. We couldn't figure it out. Until we heard the gate slam shut. Yep. Tossed my nifty basket right into the street. We couldn't find it, so someone must have snatched it up. 

3. I had to replace the battery in my Jeep earlier this summer. On Wednesday, That Man was trying to grease the joints underneath and asked me to move it. Again, I figured we weren't done so I left the key. And I left it on... Overnight. Luckily, everything is fine. But Geeze! 

I've had my fill of insanity this week! I sincerely hope there is some relaxation in my future!

Behave!

Parade Survived

We made it! After running around like crazy people, we were prepared and ready for guests. 

The weather was gorgeous. The chili turned out good. We had plenty of chili and hot dogs. (Not a heck of a lot of chili left though--which is good) We had amazing treats and sides brought by folks. 

The whole grass strip in front of our house was full of chairs and friends. And, no "Karen". Ha!

Everyone had a good time. The little ones in attendance were dancing and cheering. That was fun to watch. 

An old friend from the old day job showed up and surprised me. That was fun! We were missing a few, but I was still surprised by how many people came. 

It was a good mix of people. It was hard for me to remember that, as the hostess, I needed to mingle. Ha! It's been a long time since I've played hostess. 

The parade itself was good. The bands played as they got onto our street, which is always fun. There were dance schools, who also did their dances instead of just walking by like in years past. Also, back in the day, they forbid the parade participants from throwing candy. Well, that rule seems to have gone by the wayside. They threw out tons of candy and even had some left when they got to us. The little ones (and teenagers) were excited about that.

It was over by 9. We cleaned up and relaxed a bit. I was beat. I think I sat down maybe a total of ten minutes all night. The house held up and there wasn't a ton of clean up. 

And that's all until next year. 

Next up is Trick or Treat night. We usually have a bunch of people that come over since they don't have trick or treat in their neighborhood, and that's fun. It's fun either way. That Man and I enjoy sitting on the porch and handing out candy.

Behave! 

Monday...Again...

Man, last week went fast! And this week looks to be about the same. 

Our town's Halloween parade is this week. Now for me, I could not care less about it, but since it goes right in front of our house...

Last year we kept it low key. That Man and I still weren't feeling the best so we didn't make a fuss about it at all. We had a few drop ins to watch the festivities despite that. 

And I had a near altercation with a "Karen". 

She parked her chairs right smack dab in front of my porch. 

I politely asked her to move down to an area of curb that is not directly in front of my house. At that point, we knew we were getting company, so yeah, we were using the space. She came back at me and said "it's a public street. I know my rights."

To which I replied..."I pay taxes and maintain that area and I know my rights, too. I politely asked you to move so that I, the homeowner, can use the space I maintain."

She moved, but she bitched about it constantly and let her little kids run all through my flower bed. 

So... We decided since the parade will happen whether or not we care, we might as well go with the flow. 

We are making a huge batch of chili. We have extra chairs. 

I don't know how many people are coming, but it could be a lot. And the entire area in front of my house will be full of friends.

Take that "Karen". Yeah, I know it's a little petty, but she was so rude. In all of the years we've lived in our house, that is the first time a visitor to the parade has acted like that. I typically don't mind if someone parks their chairs along our road frontage as long as they aren't in front of my house, but right in front of someone's porch is rude and entitled. 

And that is all I have for today...

Behave!

Weekend Wrap Up

Well, it's Monday again... 

Having another day involved in the weekend would be amazing! 

Anyway...

The book signing was pretty good. It rained, so they moved us inside. The crowd was small, probably due to the torrential Ian rain. There were a lot of kids. Sales were slow. I did meet an amazing author and I really enjoyed talking with her. I talked to a teacher from the nearby school and enjoyed talking with her as well. I got to see friends I haven't seen in a long time and my sister came with me as my helper. We went to dinner after and that was really nice. 

Rain all weekend. And cold. I mean, it's fine. Saturday it didn't matter, except for highway driving in a heavy downpour and taking a wrong turn. Ha! 

Breakfast and supply shopping with That Man on Sunday. This is the second week in a row we've decided to grab breakfast out before our provision run. And the second week in a row that we've both been disappointed in our food. And expensive! Holy cow! But we purchased supplies and things and were back home at a decent time. Changed back into my comfy pants and did a metric ton of laundry and vacuuming. 

Our daughter-in-law and her bestie were driving by and randomly stopped in, which was really nice. I had stuff for Mr. B and my son, so it worked out perfectly. We had a nice quick visit. 

Our nephew came over for dinner and we had a nice visit with him, too. 

I was exhausted by bedtime, but couldn't get out of my own head so I could sleep, so I ended up roaming the house for a bit and then was finally able to crash. And, of course, after early wake ups both weekend days, today was the day I could have stayed in bed for a lot longer. 

The next few weeks are a little on the crazy side, so expect a disappearance from me. I will try not to, but you know how that goes...

And that is all.

Behave!

Feel Good Friday!

Yay Friday! 

What a long week! Seriously! 

Let's hit the list!

1. Tomorrow is the big book signing! I am ready! I have books, a tablecloth, and change. And my Square now takes "tap to pay". I checked it out and it works great! Fingers crossed that the rain doesn't keep folks away!

2. Pizza for dinner. Tonight was K4's turn to take care of the meal and pizza was her idea. It was very good and the fact that there are no dishes is epic. Our pizza shop just changed owners and I love the new people. She delivered and we stood on the porch and chatted for a few minutes. 

3. Sleeping in a little tomorrow. At least I hope. Lately, I've been getting up super early on the weekends, so I can only hope. 

4. In that vein--good sleeping weather. I love the cool. And it's supposed to start Ian raining here soon, so we'll see what that's like. 

5. Getting many words on the page this week! Woo! 

And that's all! 

Behave!

Scary Stuff...

We had a pretty big scare the other night...

Around midnight, K4 kicks our door open screaming "fire"! We run up to her room, and sure enough, an electrical cord had shorted out and started a fire. (Apparently extension cords can do that randomly. Scary!) There was nothing turned on that was plugged into the cord either. 

Luckily, she did all of the right things and stopped what could have been completely devastating. As it was, the wood floor had a hole burned almost through, and the smoke was toxic and thick. 

If she hadn't heard the sizzle and pop, or if she wasn't home, we would have had a much different outcome. 

It was completely freaky. We all tried to sleep in the living room after because there was no way any of us were even sleeping anyway and there was no way she could sleep in her room. We checked and double-checked and made sure every single smoke detector we own worked (they did), but every noise had us all on edge. 

Just below where the fire started is where we opened the top of our closet and made a very deep and wide book shelf. Had the fire burned through any farther, and that would have gone up like a dry Christmas tree. 

It was scary! Still is, but the burned area cleaned up okay and the smell is gone. She's back to sleeping in her room and we're checking all of the cords. 

I know time helps with stuff like this, but I hate it. 

Behave! 

Mid-Week Check In

I was doing good posting for a couple of days there... Ha! Things got busy and I didn't even have time to write. I don't think I even turned on my computer. 

The first thing that happened besides the super crazy day job was That Man and I ended up with some dumb sinus crap. No. Not Covid. Confirmed not. But it sucked. We're still dealing with the last vestiges of it, but it is getting better. And now allergies have joined the party. In all of my life, I have never dealt with allergies, but apparently things change as you age, and here I am. The neighbor cut his grass the other day and it was not good with my sinuses. Whatever. It is what it is. But that's one of the main reasons for my disappearance. 

The weekend was mostly dealing with our moaning selves and a little bit of house/car stuff. I felt like I'd climbed a mountain after catching up with laundry, so there is that. And I took a day off from the day job and slept most of the day. So that's saying something. I haven't taken a sick day in almost two years. 

Anyway. It's been a year since I've been sick, so there's that. Last year though, I did have Covid and am still struggling to get my smell back. It's coming though. I'm getting more and more of it back and the nasty smell I used to get seems to be gone. That's amazing and I am very happy about it. (And no, I didn't go into the office with Covid. We were working from home and I managed to work and moan about being sick at the same time.)

Cool stuff is coming up. We have our town's annual Halloween Parade, which should be fun. Well. It's not, but we're going to make the most of it. And we have a birthday party. And a beach trip. (woohoo!)

Next weekend is the big library book signing. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, but I know it'll be fine. My sister is tagging along to be my helper since they strongly recommend having someone to help/watch money/give bathroom breaks. That Man and That Sister are heading to see their brother so That Man can't help. The brother is coming to the east coast for his son's graduation and they are all meeting up. K4 is working. My sister was my helper at the winery, so she knows the routine, which is awesome. 

And that's about all I have. I have managed to get quite a few words on the page the past few days, so that's good. That should continue for at least the next little while. 

Behave! 

Weird Stuff...

Yeah, don't say anything about me being back so soon. Ha! 

Here are some weird things...

1. Smelling something that was like "almost" overbaked food in our bedroom. It was not from our house. We didn't use the oven and K4 didn't either. It only smelled in our bedroom. Our window was shut. That's not the first time we've had a strange smell in our room, but it was very powerful this time. Usually it's a dryer, or the smell of cigarette smoke, a few times it's been bacon. I just don't get it though. The house next door really doesn't have windows on our side. It's weird. 

2. Weird bugs. The Spotted Lantern Flies are bad enough. I mean, they are everywhere! It's hard to sit on the back porch in the evening without getting dive bombed and we can't park our car under the tree out back because it becomes covered in their pee. No. That's not an exaggeration. It rains out of the tree. The bushes are shiny with it. But now! Now I found out that we have a "monkey slug" in our area. No kidding. It turns into a Hag Moth. And it is the scariest looking creepy thing I've ever seen! Google it! 

3. Noises. The other morning That Man got up and said it sounded like there was a chicken in our neighbor's yard. Not the rooster that crows all day long every single day, but a clucking chicken. Also, the Blue Jays have started mimicking the hawk. Which freaks out the squirrels, but I kind of think they're doing it on purpose so they can gather all of the nuts? 

4. Cats. I think I've talked about how weird our cats are with water. Especially our oldest boy, Max. He's the one we found abandoned in the back yard. He had fleas really bad, therefore he received a lot of baths. I think that's why he loves water so much. Bath time made him feel better, plus he got cuddles afterwards. (Not that he likes cuddles now, but that's a different story) Every morning we turn the faucet on to a trickle. Instant cat magnet. They all hang out there, but it's mainly Max. A few months ago we had to get a new faucet and this one has the sprayer built into the main faucet. Just a few days ago, we started turning the sprayer part on for them instead of the regular one. Lordy. He loves it. He soaks himself and is the happiest boy. 

Okay. I think that's enough. I know there's a ton more weird stuff, but I'm not getting anything done this way. 

Behave!