Retreat: Day Three - PM

Winding down now.

I am officially halfway with this new story which is amazing and wonderful. It's going well and I am happy with it. It's coming together like I want it to. 

But I am fried. My head is killing me and my back hurts from the most uncomfortable couch in the world. (That I've been planted on pretty much all day, despite a failed attempt at a nap)

This has been an amazing and awesome retreat. Probably the best yet, and we are hoping to plan another one this summer. We'll hope and see if that works out. 

And that's all I've got.

There won't be a wrap up post tomorrow. I go from here right back into the real world.

So there you go! I'm going to bed! 

Behave! 

Retreat: Day Three - AM

It snowed!

Looks like maybe four inches so far, but it's still coming down. And it's blowy, so it'll be hard to tell how much we actually got soon. 

Everyone is in their spots and the writing is commencing. I've had my breakfast and shower and am on my third cup of coffee, so I'm ready to roll. 

Diving into part two of four now. 

Behave!

Retreat: Day Two - PM

 It's rocking! 

I'm making fantastic progress on my new project. It's four sections each with a unique subplot, and I am done with section one. Whoot.

It's going well and I'm happy with my progress. 

Now it's going to snow overnight, which is awesome. It's late and it hasn't started here yet. 

But even with my awesome nap today, I am done in. 

So that's it, folks! 

Behave! 

Retreat: Day Two - AM

Good Morning! 

It's the first full day of retreat! Wooo! And of course, on a day where I can sleep in a bit, I was up before my regular time. Oy! But that's okay. I can nap later. And believe it or not, I slept pretty good, and I usually don't on my first night away from home. 

The sunrise was gorgeous and the coffee is flowing. Bills are paid. Organization is underway for the homefront. I'll work on that in little bits over the next day or so. 

The new story is going pretty darned good. I have words and more than just a few. I have a plan and have done some really great brainstorming this morning. So in a few I'll be ready to rock and roll. 

After more coffee and a bagel. 

Later!

Behave!

Retreat: Day One

Here I am tucked away in the middle of Amish country for retreat! It has been far too long! 

It's been a hell of a week so far, so this is even more needed than previously! 

First off, the greenhouse event was fantastic! I had repeat readers, which is always amazing! 

So what else?

On Tuesday, on the way to the day job, we hit a patch of slush and black ice and wrecked my Jeep. It's pretty bad, but not unfixable. So it'll be our project going forward. There is no way I'm letting my Jeep go. We were both unhurt, except for the seatbelt bruises I'm sporting. The people at our work are amazing though. The guy I'm administrative assistant for got us a tow truck, and That Man's boss picked us up from the side of the road. By the time we got into work, every single person knew what happened and were so caring and concerned. 

At the same time, we'd taken the new vehicle back to the shop so they could address some of the issues. Which were addressed to our satisfaction, so that's good. Now we're just waiting to see if they'll help us with the unexpected bill for the wheel bearing. The nice thing is that the mechanic brought it to us, so we didn't have to get a ride to pick it up after work. 

Also, my cousin passed away this week. And one of my best friend's mom also passed away. 

So that's enough of that for now. 

I am here. I am in my comfy pants and gingerbread man fluffy socks that Little B got me. I have a nice cup of coffee and there's lots of talking, which is the norm for the first day. 

Getting ready to go to town on the new story. So we'll see how it goes! 

Behave!

Feel Good Friday

Hey! It's Friday! 

And it's February! Yeah, I know it's been for over a week, but...

Here's the list:

1. Tomorrow is the annual greenhouse book signing. It's always a fun day regardless of how many books get signed. 

2. Sleeping in tomorrow. 

3. Having a lovely time away with That Man for his birthday. The mountains were beautiful and the relaxation was too. 

4. Getting stuff done - the critique is finished, the planning for the next book is going. The short however is not finished. 

5. Retreat coming up in less than a week! I'm excited! It's been a year since I've been on a writing retreat!

6. The work week flying by. 

7. The weather being gorgeous today!

And that's about it!

Behave!

Weekend Wrap Up...

Ah, here we are at Sunday again...

This weekend was a blur. 

Well, back up a bit. The work week was chaos, but a decent kind of chaos. It went fast, so that's good. We're in crazy time around here and will be until mid-March. 

On Wednesday we went to look at a vehicle. That Man has had his eye on this particular type forever. We figured, what the heck? What do we have to lose? So we checked it out, test drove it, and said we'd think about it. (We had just decided we weren't trading in our Honda.) 

We went to K5's basketball game on Thursday, which is always awesome. 

Friday night we drove home in our new-to-us vehicle. That Man is over the moon happy. And I will say it's pretty damned sweet. 

Saturday was errands and the semi-professional soccer game with B. While we were running errands, we found out that B's first game of the season was in a few hours. We rushed to finish what we had to do and made it to his game on time. He scored two goals and his team won, which was super cool. Then we had less than two hours until the other game and we were an hour + away. And we needed to eat. So we met at a diner, ate, and made it to the game with minutes to spare. It was a lot of fun and B was so happy. They got to meet the team and then run onto the field with them. Home late. Exhausted. But totally worth it. 

Today we had to run a mercy mission for K3 and A. They have the 'vid and are not feeling well at all. A needed a prescription picked up and they needed a few groceries, so we got them taken care of. Got home and made chicken pot pie. Our nephew came for dinner, which is always good. Got some house stuff done and now it's time to crash... 

I have a critique to do. I've started on it at least three times today, but keep getting interrupted so I think I'm going to pick it back up tomorrow. My short story is going pretty good and the planning for the new series is also going well. 

And that's that! 

Behave! 

Feel Good Friday

I'm trying! It's still insanity all around me... 

Here's my list:

1. Friday! Which means a bit of sleeping in tomorrow. 

2. Weekend plans to take K4's Boy to dinner for his birthday. The car repair fell through because the Boy has to work now, but that's been rescheduled and everything is as okay as it gets. 

3. Having dinner in the crockpot.

4. I started working on a short story and it's going pretty good. I also have a fantastic idea for four connected short stories that I hope to start on retreat. I'm letting Sector Two rest for now because it needs more work than I thought. I will brainstorm that on retreat and get the kinks ironed out. 

5. Not dying when I took the mail for work today. The roads sucked and I watched some guy slide into a stop sign and rip the bumper off his car. 

6. Oh yeah... it's snowing!

7. Getting caught up at the day job. Well, mostly. 

8. My dog not exploding the house yesterday. Yeah. We forgot to put the trash can away, and she helped herself. Somehow turning on the stove. We walked into the burner clicking as if trying to start, a burner on, and a house full of gas. We got her outside asap, cleaned up, opened windows, and thanked our lucky stars that the gas didn't ignite the propane heater. No long term damage from the trash eating or the gas, but yikes. 

9. No plans this evening except to veg on the couch. Much needed after this week. 

10. Upcoming plans to go to a semi-professional soccer game with Mr. B. It should be fun.

That is all!

Behave!

Weekend Wrap Up

Well... Here we are at Sunday evening. I say Boo to that!

We had a pretty nice weekend though. It snowed! Which was awesome, except that it changed our plans to get together as siblings. That was a bummer, but we do have a new date on the calendar (in pen). It just sucks that our schedules are so very different. 

Anyway. We spent yesterday hunkered down. Took Christmas down and stored it properly. Made some awesome white chicken chili. Took naps. My sciatica has been acting up (probably since all I've been doing is running around like a crazy person), so it was nice to rest. And I got some stuff organized, though I still need to clean my office and put away the wrapping paper. 

We've got the greenhouse signing coming up in about a month! Looking forward to that! I'm going to be starting on a short this coming week. Though I'm not sure what it's about yet. My brain is working that out. 

And that's about it. Tomorrow is back to the grind. We had inventory on Friday, so there's that to finish up, but generally, things are nuts. It's that time of year though, so it is what it is. 

Behave!

Well Hey There!

I know it's been a long while! 

So here we are on the precipice of a new year!  I am meh about the changing of the years. I will make no "resolutions". Usually I try to think about goals, but I don't seem to care about that right now, so...

What's been going on, you ask? 

Well, the normal insanity. We had a lovely and very full Christmas. So many good days surrounding the holiday. It was a lot of fun, but I am ready to be a hermit this weekend! Ha! We're not participating in any hoopla for New Year's and I'm glad. 

Our calendar is already full for the beginning of the year, February especially. Well, January, too. March is so far quieter. And we just booked our trip to the beach for the next month. We were priced out of our usual location, but we managed to find a super cute little house for just the two of us. Super excited for that. 

I did finish the book and I am hours away from finally sending it off for critique. Then I need to do a critique for a friend. Then I will decide what I'm working on next. I have a retreat in February, and I'd like to start something new either right before or while there, but we'll see. I feel like I've been in editing purgatory for a long time, and well, I guess I have. 

I'm going to try to get back here again on the regular, but you know how that goes!

Behave! 

Taking a Break...

I'm going to be taking a personal break from social media for a bit, so no worries if you don't see me around. 

I'll be at Ashcombe's for their Holiday Open House on November 11th from 10-4pm. I'll only be there Saturday, but if you can only go Sunday, you totally should. 

That's the last of my scheduled booksignings for this year. I'll be back at Ashcombe's in February for our annual event, which is right before I go on a long awaited writing retreat. 

If I don't get back here before the holidays, (I'm pretty sure I will be) I hope yours are happy and satisfying. 

Behave! 

Want To Hear Something Gross?

Of course you do! 

So, Friday night I took my water cup to bed like always. 

I get up during the night to use the restroom, return, and grab my cup for a drink. 

I feel something in my mouth. The first thing I thought of was a piece of plastic from the ice bag. I pull it out, mush my fingers on it, drop it, and crawl back into bed. 

Then...

I smell it. 

Stink Bug. 

I turn my flashlight on and look at the floor. 

Yes. A stink bug. 

In my mouth. 

So freaking gross. Needless to say, I spent the rest of the night in abject horror. And every time I think about it, I get grossed out. And I haven't taken my water cup to bed since. 

Gross!

Behave!

Time is Flying...

Yeah, I know I slipped off the face of the earth again... 

Turns out, there isn't much to say, even though we've been insanely busy. 

The car is still in the shop.

Editing is going slow. 

The day job is busy. 

I'm exhausted and overwhelmed with all kinds of "stuff". 

There's not much worthy of the blog.

Well, K3 has a birthday coming up super quick. It's almost Trick or Treat for our town. I do enjoy Trick or Treat night. I believe K1 and J are bringing the boys over to home base at our house, which should be a blast. 

The holidays are coming. The cool thing is that the day after Thanksgiving is now a paid holiday at the day job. That's wonderful! 

I don't know what Thanksgiving is going to look like yet. Technically, it's my turn to host the family, but I'm not sure I'm up for it. I've given myself two weeks to decide for sure. 

And that's all I have...

Behave!

Wait...What? October!

Yeah, I know it's been October for almost two weeks now... But still...

Really not much has been happening around the old homestead. Well, beyond the usual and a few not so usual. 

That Man and I got ourselves a good case of some kind of crud. It was yucky and inconvenient and we both felt like crap. We're still dealing with the last vestiges of it, but overall the mending happened fairly quickly. 

I finished Sector Two! Well, it needs edited, but the pages are all written (or should I say "rewritten" since I had to redo the entire last half of it). I'm very far behind on the goals I had to get everything on deck edited, but there's not much I can do about it at this point. Sector Two has been hanging over my head for far too long, so it became priority to finish it. I'll start editing it tonight, and hopefully have it to my critique partners very soon. I'm itching to write something new, but I have all of this editing to do... but we'll see what happens. 

To much outrage (not from me), they cancelled our town's Halloween Parade. Something about the streets being unsafe because of delayed construction. I do enjoy the parade and seeing the people who come to hang out, but I didn't miss the chaos. So it was fine for me, but man, some people in our town were having a full blown conniption over it. 

Other than that... grandkid wrangling, soccer games, house stuff, car stuff. Our one car has been at the shop for five weeks now. They were waiting for a part, but no one is quite sure what's wrong with it. It's frustrating and I'm wary of what the bill is going to be, but it is what it is right now. 

This has been both an exceptionally long and also very short work week. The days have been far busier than normal, or maybe this is just the new norm as I continue to find things that are now my job to handle. I don't mind. I like being busy, but I don't like knowing there are things I don't know about. If that made sense. Ha! 

That is all!

Behave! 

Weekend Wrap Up!

Oh Sunday! How I love and loathe you so! 

It's been a quiet weekend around here and continues to be so. Thank goodness. I absolutely love the fact that it's been pouring! This is exactly what we needed both for ourselves and for the plants! 

We had no plans, except for the "must do" normal things. And the rain prevented the outside things. The inside things are getting done and they're not much. We hit the store on our way home from work on Friday so we wouldn't have to venture out over the weekend, which turned out to be a great thing. 

So we've napped, watched movies, napped some more, made some soup, and generally have been taking it super easy. Which, see above, is exactly what we needed after the past few months of running around like crazy people. 

I finished the critique that took me far too long to do, and have been writing my own stuff. I'm just a few thousand words from the end. And then I need to edit. Again. I won't lie about being disappointed that my plan didn't work out, but it is what it is. This book...this book is a real *ss kicker. But I'm happy with how things are going with it, so that's something. I still have three books to edit after this one, so I'm not quite sure what I'll be doing next...

That's all for now. I've gotten a good start on words so far, and now I think it's nap time! 

Behave! 

Mid-September Already!

Sorry for the silence! It's been a super busy few weeks and I haven't gotten anything done writing-wise. 

Our niece got married last Saturday. It was a beautiful day and we had an awesome time. The niece was in my care since from newborn until elementary school. She's like one of our own and we still have a very close relationship. We were included in pretty much every aspect of the wedding planning, down to That Man performing the ceremony. The K's were all in the wedding, including the boys spouses, so that was pretty cool. 

We spent the week before the wedding at my sister's helping to get ready. Lordy, it was a lot of work! We hauled our RV to my sister's side yard and while we worked our butts off, we did have a blast. Though physically, we're still recovering. Ha! 

Between family and close friends, it was definitely a day full of smiles and laughs. Friends who moved across country over five years ago came in for the wedding and it was so awesome to see them. We caught up and laughed. It was like no time had passed.  

We got home on Monday after helping to disassemble the wedding stuff. Well, there was still a lot to do when we left, but it was more manageable. Back to the day job on Tuesday, which was insane and still is. 

Hopefully I can get back to writing now! 

That is all! 

Behave!

End of August

Can you believe that? I know! 

Things have been pretty insane around here--both at the day job and on the Homefront. Which should explain my absence. Well, that and the fact that my computer is being a grump. 

I have barely touched my edits recently. Or a critique I need to do for a friend. Okay, I've touched them repeatedly, but it feels like I'm going backwards. By the time I get to an hour where I can concentrate, I'm barely keeping my eyes open and feel pretty ineffective. Plus, see above regarding the computer. 

I don't want to have to buy a new one, but I might not have a choice soon. It ticks me off because I love my laptop, but she's so slow and doesn't want to keep up with what I need to do. 

On the author front, I don't have an event until near Christmas, which is fine due to how crazy things have been. But the writing retreat I go to with my friends every February is already booked, so that's pretty awesome. The winery signing is not happening next year. Well, it is, but not for me. It is what it is, and it was a pretty far drive for very little return. 

I'm really hoping to get this book edited and turned in very soon. And then I have to edit two loosely related books, and a Christmas themed book. God only knows how long that's going to take me! Ha! I had wanted to have all of that done by now, but I hadn't expected to have to rewrite the ending of Sector Two and I didn't count on things being this busy. 

Ultimately, I would love to be able to take the entire summer and the month of December off from writing, and I guess I could, but time off doesn't do anything to move me forward at this point, so...

I woke up Sunday morning with a swollen nose right where my glasses sit. I didn't get injured or anything. It still hurts and this morning it was even more swollen. It's annoying. My research said that it's probably my sinuses, and I think I can agree with that. I was splitting wood on Saturday and most of it was starting to decompose pretty badly, so I guess it's likely to be some kind of allergy or irritant from that. It can go away anytime now though! 

And that's all of the crap I have for you today!

Behave!

Feel Good Friday!

Yay Friday!

It has been a super long week! The day job has been insane and intense. Thankfully today was quieter.

So let's hit the list:

1. Finding the blinds that fit our old house windows and for a reasonable price. For years, no one had our size unless we wanted to pay eighty bucks for one window. But they're back! We replaced four of them. So far. There are still six windows upstairs that need them, but it's a start. 

2. Scoring two chairs to go with my rehabbed outside table. Well, I don't have them yet, but they're coming and they look cool. 

3. Dinner with K5 this week. She's a hoot and we had a blast. Mexican for dinner, thrift store shopping, a little time with our dog, and then ice cream on the way home. 

4. Sitting on the boys so Mom could go to teacher orientation and a meeting. They both make me laugh. Mr. B got a hair cut from Pappy, and Little B and I played Playdough. 

5. Today being Friday! Though I have some errands to run tonight, but I'm not planning on cooking dinner, so there's that. 

6. Minimal progress on my edits this week, but I'm so close to being done. 

7. Sleeping in on the horizon. 

That's about it! 

Behave! 

Catching Up...

Yeah, I suck, but I had good reasons!

This was going to be a Moaning Monday post about my aching body, but since there was nothing leading up to it, we'll get to that in a minute. 

So here's what's going on...

1. Life After released! If you bought it, thank you so much! I appreciate it! If you're so inclined, a review on Amazon would be so helpful! And if you bought it on Kindle Unlimited, just know, I only get paid per pages read. (I only mention that because I've talked to several people recently who had no idea that's how it works.)

2. The fence is 99% up! Last week was brutal with fence work every single night, late dinners, and not much else done. Hence the hurting body, multiple bruises, blisters, and scratches. The only thing left is some trim work, and one more solar post light. (Because apparently we can't count) It is awesome and I love it. Our backyard feels like a little oasis. Especially since...

3. We managed to get a great deal weeded yesterday and rearranged a bunch of stuff. I don't ever remember weeds growing this fast before. 

4. I found a glass-topped table in the neighbor's trash. No cracked or broken glass, just some rust. Brought it into the yard, cleaned it up, painted it, and it's amazing. I love it. Granted, it won't last too long, but that's okay. It has another chance at life and my solar lights look amazing on it. 

5. That Man's family reunion was good. We had a smaller crowd, but it was still really good. Good food, lots of laughs, and good conversation. Our niece and nephew are a lot of fun to hang out with, and the littles are adorable. And it was a gorgeous day. 

6. When everyone left and we finally got cleaned up, it was just That Man and I overnight at our creek. It was lovely to sit by the fire and the creek just the two of us. We were in bed early and slept really well thanks to an epic thunderstorm. 

7. Home early. See #2. Weeding... all of the weeds...also hence the hurting body.

This week should be calmer. Let's hope. 

That is all! 

Behave! 

Feel Good Friday

Yay Friday! 

It has been a week around here! And not a good one. 

But here we are at the end of the week!

Here's the list:

1. My book being up for preorder on Amazon. It's $2.99. Into the Fire is also Free starting today (I think). 

2. Finally moving forward on fence replacement. There's still a huge worry that the lightning struck tree in the neighbor's yard will fall, but we cannot wait any longer. Our old fence is falling down and looks like absolute crap. We ordered and picked up the material, and are in the prepping stage now. I don't know if I'll be able to walk come Monday. Ha! 

3. Hanging with the grandboys twice this week. Little Man wore us out the second time. He's so cute though and says the funniest stuff. He was watering flowers and after spraying the hose, he'd say "that took some damage". Even though there was no damage.

4. Cooler days this week. That was much appreciated. And I appreciated being able to drive my Jeep with the top down most of the week. 

5. My kid and The Boy coming to hang out this weekend. I miss her. 

And that is all. 

Behave!