Wednesday Again...

So... the recap of the week...

1. I had a birthday. My kids were all home. They made dinner and cake, sang to me, and put skewers i my cake. It was a lot of fun!
2. My family threw me a surprise party over the weekend. It was also a lot of fun!!
3. Editing progress.
4. 21 Days until Retreat! Our t-shirts are done!
5. Having the top down in my Jeep!
6. Taxes were done and sent on Saturday. Hateful. Just hateful.
Back to six again...
Behave!

Nearly Half Way Through the Month...

And about 27 days until RETREAT!!

What's going on right now?

1. Tomorrow is my birthday. Ugh.
2. Changes at the day job. Nothing in my position, but overall, a change. We'll see what happens.
3. Editing. Making great progress!
4. The kids straightening up the house. And then singing... It was a good night.
5. Having a great time hanging out with the bff's last night! It's been forever, and that means, literally, almost a year or more since we've had any time to hang out. It was good and not long enough!
6. Retreat coming up soon! So excited!

Okay... So that's six...On a Wednesday... Not too bad...

Behave!

Feel Good Friday!

Hey! I did it! This is not an April Fool Joke!
Here's what is good about this week...
1. It's Friday!! Yay!
2. My house being clean! Kudos to That Man for being awesome and dealing with the bulk of it, including the cat peeing on the floor and the dog getting into the trash while he cleaned up the pee. Long story, but it's done...
3. Finishing my short story! Yay me!
4. Starting edits on a book I hope to get out the door soon.
5. Living through the work week. It was a little brutal and pretty grim at time, but there was survival!
6. Writing meeting tomorrow!
7. The weather today! Beautiful! I know it's going to get cold again and I hate that, but for now, I'm good!
8. Watching "Friends" with That Man... Brings back memories and hysterical laughter! (Yes, I'm editing, too, or I will be as soon as I'm done here...)
9. An adult beverage at the end of a long week. Yes.
10. Sleeping in a little tomorrow! Also, Yes!
That is all for now!
Behave!

End of the Month...

Yikes!
So this is only the second time I've posted this month! What the heck is up with that?
Just craziness... That's all...
March flew by so freaking fast! And tomorrow is April 1st... have no idea what kind of pranks will happen... I know some ideas and I only hope they don't come to fruition - some are hysterical and some are kind of on the mean side considering the week we've had at the day job. We'll see...
So today was my 2 year anniversary at the day job.
I don't think I told you that I got a promotion. That thing I interviewed for a month or so ago. I've been doing it for a few weeks now. I'm now in a position where I take care of the top tier customers and provide them with most excellent service. I'm digging it. It's super busy and I like that. I'm no longer on regular phone calls, and I really like that!
I finished my short story! That's super awesome! Excited about the short, and excited about finally meeting a writing group goal! I think I did meet one so far this year and I had not meeting them! And I'm excited about my edits!
What's coming up?
Retreat! 40 days! Tshirts are ordered! Whoot!
Selling the 'rents house... I hope... It'll be going up on the market very soon.
Camping and a special mother's day/mom's birthday tribute. We're coming up on a year since Mom passed. I thought it would get easier, but so far, no. I find myself missing her, and dad, more and more. I understand this is a symptom of the time of year and times we're passing, but it's not easy.
Getting our house back into shape. We still have much work to do, but hopefully we can get our stuff in order soon. We've spent so much time clearing out the 'rents...
Our 30th wedding anniversary. We want to do something special. Have a few ideas, but not sure what's going to fly...
I'm broken now... Long week so far. Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with Feel Good Friday...
Behave!

I know. I Suck.

So almost a month is a good try, right? Ha ha...
Things have been nuts here - more than usual and I'm spinning in massive exhaustion and deliriousness. No, I'm not going into all of it...
Instead, I'll leave you with this shark picture.
K4 caught this while we were on a boat at the beach.
Isn't he cute?
Behave!

Feel Good Friday...Again!

Apparently, no matter how hard I try, Friday is the only day I post! I hope to get better at this, but no promises... Ha!
Okay.. So the week...
1. Awesome book-signing! Didn't get a lot of action with folks interested in my work, but got to see a friend I haven't seen since high school (awesome) and our very good friends that we haven't seen in ages (and we love them). Those kids came with that grandson. It was awesome!
2. Dinner with most of the sibs after. We had a blast and good food! We needed that!
3. Getting stuff done at the 'rents. We have an overall plan and a heck of a lot of work to do!
4. Productive family meetings.
5. Seeing Baby C and her kisses!
6. Leaving early and delays at the day job due to weather.
7. Writing a little. Not a lot, but a little.
8. Seeing Baby B twice this week. He's so funny and fantastic!
9. Feeling my mojo slipping in... I think I'm going to be back in the writing game soon - like I was two years ago... It's been a long time. I never expected to be waylaid like this... I would prefer not to have been.
10. Working at the 'rents this weekend. With my sibs. Which is good for the grief. And the grief has been hardcore this week. I'm so grateful to have my family and friends. And grateful for our conversations...
That is all...
One day, I hope, I will be funny again. One day, I hope, to have relevant writing posts. One day, I hope, to stop whining so much about missing my parents. One day, I hope, to make you want to come back here to see what I've written... I hope...
Behave!

Feel Good Friday!

Again! It's been a week! I guess once a week is better than nothing!
This week... Oy!
The list in no particular order:
1. Losing a tooth! Yikes! It had been feeling weird for a few weeks, but Saturday, as I bit into an awesome hamburger, something happened. It cracked so loud everyone at the table heard it! So much for a fun family lunch! It hurt and continued to hurt with hot, cold, and air... Obviously not good and the rest of the weekend was Hell for eating. I called the dentist and left a message. They called me back first thing Monday morning with an appointment time that meant I went into work and then went back to work with a mouth full of painkillers and cotton.
Long story short, as much as my dentist tried to save the tooth, there was nothing for it. After an excruciating two hours in the chair, I left with a hole in my mouth and a whole lot of pain. I missed work Tuesday because of it and it took until today before I started feeling better... Still tender and sore, but no longer feeling like I was kicked in the face by a large dude wearing huge boots.
2. Having an awesome day job that understood. I, obviously, get an attendance point for not going on Tuesday, but everyone was concerned and wanted to make sure I felt okay.
3. Managing to cover my writing group blast on Wednesday and even actually writing.
4. Seeing my grandson and hanging out with those grownup kids.
5.  Superbowl Sunday. We don't watch football and we don't have "teams", but we vowed to watch. I made awesome food I couldn't eat. And we watched and discussed the game and how it works. It was fun.
6. Still writing. Making progress even though it's been slow this week.
7. Tomorrow is the annual book signing at a nearby greenhouse! I'm so looking forward to it!! But I do get to sleep in a little tomorrow, which is also awesome! And plans to have dinner with the sibs after my signing!
8. The K's still at home are gone to see "Deadpool", which means That Man and I are home alone in the blessed quiet.
9. That Man made an awesome dinner tonight. And I didn't have to. I often don't have to. He is amazing and takes care of so much stuff around here that it sometimes leaves me feeling guilty.
10. Dear God, it's Friday! Thank you for delivering me from this week of pure Hell. Thank you for the weekend, which I am seriously looking forward to!
Ha! Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow at the book signing!
Behave!

Feel Good Friday!

Hey! It's been a while! But here we are with Feel Good Friday (Shh... I know it's really Saturday, but I'm still awake so...)
1. Texting all day with the sibs (sibs also includes my sister-in-law who is really my sister)... Needed that! We spoke of nothing of consequence and spent the time being silly!
2. Three hour phone calls with my sister. I also needed that and it also included lots of silly!
3. Friday. Duh. It's been a Hell week. In so many ways...
4. Pizza and no cooking for dinner.
5. Writing group meeting tomorrow. Yay!
6. Even though we didn't get to go away this weekend, hoping there's some stress relief in the weekend plans...
7. First week of Braces... OY!!! She's doing well. She hurts. She's my first with braces, so I'm trying extra hard.
8. Meeting my writing group goal.
9. Which means I've been writing...And a lot, too.
10. Oh Hellz yeah... I am writing... Awesomesauce!!!
Behave!!

Groundhog Day...

I think this day is bogus, but I do like the movie with Bill Murray. (that's all I'm going to say about that)
So... Things that have happened since I posted last week: (not in order of occurrence)
1. K4 took her learner's permit and passed! She also had her first official driving lesson.
2. I interviewed for a new position at the day job. No idea when I will find out, but fingers crossed.
3. Writing is coming again. I'm 8k words into a short story and I'm digging it.
4. K4 is now the proud owner of a mouthful of braces. She's hating life right now. She's in pain and full of salt over it, but in the long run it will be good. (she's the first of the K's to ever need braces, so I am clueless to know what to expect!) In about 4 months, she'll need oral surgery to remove baby teeth, wisdom teeth, and to attach some flapper thing to encourage her eye teeth to drop to where they belong.
5. The snow is slowly melting... We're having higher temps and rain and I think there will be a flood in our future... Or maybe not...
6. I have a book signing coming up in two weeks. The same one I do every Valentine's day. I'm looking forward to it!
7. K3 locked his keys in the car today. We used to have 6 extra keys - and of course, not a single one could be found tonight... Have no idea where they all went! That Man busted him out and everyone arrived home safely.
8. The dog is totally freaked out by K4's braces. Seriously. It's weird.
Okay, it's only been seven days and that's eight things...
Behave!

After the Snowpocalypse...

We had 36+" dumped on us over the weekend...
It started Friday afternoon, which meant the day job gave us the option of leaving a little early to get ahead of the chaos. I, of course, took them up on it and headed home to a houseful of insanity. First I had to stop for gas in K4's car (yes, she has a car, but no permit yet - long story, but we were supposed to go on Saturday. We'd tried the weekend before, but they were closed.) so Bob would be covered for his snow plowing gig. K1, J, and Baby B came to ride the storm out here. K1 was supposed to go plow with That Man, but things didn't work out that way. Still, he was here to help take care of the furnace, shovel snow, and do whatever needed to be done around here. We had fun hanging out - playing games, watching movies, entertaining Baby B, and having some adult beverages. That Man plowed snow all weekend and was only home for a few hours. I really missed him being here!
The boys (K1 & K3) took care of 99% of the shoveling. I did some and so did J. It was crazy. There is still no way to park in front of our house, and getting in and out of the back is a bit dicey. It's okay for those of us with four-wheel drive, but K3 has to go to work tomorrow for the first time all week, and who knows how his car will do. (He works at a school). K4 is off of school again tomorrow. She just told me she thinks she might lose her mind... I get that. I felt a little stir crazy on Sunday myself. Ended up taking The Jeep for gas and supplies (that we really didn't need, but whatever).
I made it to work just five minutes late on Monday due to the back roads being crappy and me getting a little stuck in the drive. Our computer systems were down, which meant the only thing we could do was answer the phones and promise people we'd get back to them. We couldn't even log in or out for lunch. After lunch they said it was going to be hours and that we could go home if we wanted to. I bolted and picked up K4 to go to the cell store... K4 demolished her phone on Sunday - shattered it to the point of total destruction. I have been due for an upgrade for a really long time, so the deal was that I would get my new phone and she could have my old one since hers was years newer than mine and she's not due for months. It took freaking forever, but in the end, I have a brand new phone and she's reasonably happy with my old one...
Today we had a delay for our starting time at the day job due to ice. And then I had to rescue That Man due to K4's car shredding a belt. He managed to get the part, but sitting in traffic put him out of business and the thing is parked at the grocery store down the street...
Oh... Writing? Yeah, well, I'm trying. I've been reading a lot of my older stuff and feeling sparks come back. Opening a new document has been hard. I have an edit to plug changes into, but I've been avoiding it. I'm not sure what's up, but I'm trying to get myself through it...
And that is all for now...
Behave!

2015 Year in Review

January -
I only posted once due to chaos. Go figure.
February -
Revisions, waiting for Baby C to arrive, author event, overtime at the day job, more revisions, snow, finally getting the year in review up for 2014, puppy pictures, freezing to death, Mom's kitchen remodel.
March -
New kitchen pictures that will no longer show, snow, family time, embarrassing gift card stuff, Baby C arrives!, angry St. Patty's day cat, crazy schedules, Spaghetti dinner, chaos, Easter.
April -
Retreat countdown, Delaware trip with Mom, booking the beach house, chaos, fixing stuff at Mom's, the death of our xbox.
May -
Surprising Mom with a birthday party, great Mothers Day. My mom's unexpected and horrible passing. Missing Mom. Missing retreat.
June -
That Man's best friend dying. K3 Graduating. Aftermath of Mom. New roof.
July -
Cleaning the parents house. July 4th. Redoing our hardwood floors. Night out with friends. Estate stuff.
August -
Cutting down our tree. My new ride. Sick Baby B. Beach planning. The flu. Getting ready for release day!
September -
Prelude of Lies released!!
Family time, hanging with the grandkids, fleas, camping
October -
The beach for the first time in 10 years! My sister got married! Halloween parade. Hosting Mom's spaghetti dinner, birthdays, trick or treat.
November -
K5, new dishwasher, mini writing retreat, Thanksgiving.
December -
Chaos, K4 birthday, Christmas Eve, Christmas

There were a lot of sucky things going on in 2015. It was a sad year, but some good things happened, too.
Here's to a much better and brighter 2016...
Behave!

Post Christmas...

Sorry about more silence...
I'm sure I'm not the only one living in chaos. (at least I hope not!)
Christmas was good.
The family was here for Christmas Eve which was insanely loud, crazy, full of food, and fun!
Our teenagers were up insanely early for Christmas day, believe it or not! We took our time with the morning, which is our tradition.
K1, J, and Baby B came for breakfast, then That Man picked up his mom. He left to take her home right before my sister and her family arrived. We had a few drop in visitors. I took a nap with Baby B. We Skyped with our friends in Oregon, made awesome food, had birthday cake.
K4 had a pretty good 16th birthday! I can't believe my baby girl is 16!!
We got her eyes checked for her learner's permit on Saturday. She's not quite ready to take her test, but she should be soon!
So there you have it!
I'm not promising anything, but I hope to have the year in review up before Friday!
Behave!

After Thanksgiving...

Sorry I fell off the grid... It's been kind of crazy around here!
First was getting ready for Thanksgiving. That was nuts! So much to do since we haven't been home most of the time.
We still didn't feel ready when everyone rolled in for dinner (all 30+ people), but we had a fun and good day, even with the stuff we didn't get done. We're still cleaning up - not because the house was trashed (well, okay, it was, but not like you would think), but because there's no place to go with some of the stuff and many people left stuff behind, too!
My sister and her family spent the night (you surely remember our reasoning for that from several years ago). That was fun and we cooked our butts off.
Then we hit Friday. I had to day job it. That Man didn't. He and K4 went to work on her car (we're less than a month before she gets her permit! Oy!) and I came home feeling like I got hit by a truck and went to bed before nine. (Cold... I knew it was going to happen. Everyone at my work is sick, and so are my grandkids)
Saturday, I woke up feeling mostly okay. I paid bills, cleaned, we went to get K2 a birthday present, went to lunch, and then went to visit K2 and family. It was fun to play with Baby C. She's so funny. K2 liked her presents and the diaper covers we got for Baby C (snowmen and mittens). We hung out for a while, which was really good, and then headed to our friends for a party. That was fun, though I felt crappier and crappier. We left early and were in bed at a strangely weird time for a Saturday night.
Sunday was picking up K4's car at my sisters and dropping it off for inspection, grocery shopping, writing, laundry, the cold hitting me again in the evening and bed early...
And today... Day job. Writing. Trying to catch up with stuff. I did no Black Friday or Cyber Monday shopping. At all. I do have "some" Christmas stuff bought, and a general idea on some, but am in no way ready to think about the rest. I'll get there though. Right now, I'm heading to bed. Dang cold...
How exciting, right?
Maybe I should have stayed off grid?
Behave!

Weird Wednesday... Or Not...

Today is Wednesday!
So, why is Wednesday good?
1. Videos of Baby C. She was supposed to wave to Nana, but ended up shaking her head no as her hand was raised. Funny kid. I miss her face! I love that I get videos and pictures of her regularly and I can't wait to see her! (and her momma and daddy)
2. Getting to see Baby B tonight. We're going to make donuts for the elves for Christmas! I'm excited. He's hysterical and we are so blessed by him.
3. It's Wednesday, which means we're halfway to Friday.
4. My word count hasn't been as amazing as it was this weekend, but my brain is working again.
5. I won a five day trail of Thrive! I started on Monday and have slowly been feeling better and better. Good enough by today, that I signed up for a month just to see how much better I can feel. I do feel better - I'm thinking clearer, I have more energy, I'm not as hungry, I'm sleeping better, and I completely broke the rules (because I'm a bonehead and didn't pay attention) by having caffeine and booze... So tomorrow I start over and see if it makes more of a difference. I can't deny the difference in my friend. She's had an amazing experience and I love it! My old friend is back and it's awesome.
I'm looking to get myself back, too! My family has dealt with a lot of crap for the last 18 or so months and it's taken its toll on us in many ways and we're heading into our first holiday season without Mom. So...
6. The next week will be getting ready for Thanksgiving! I'm excited to host, but we have a lot to do to get ready. All of my chickens will be in the nest this year and I can't wait!
7. And then we head into Christmas... I think I'm ready. K4 turns 16 this year and I'm determined to make her birthday and Christmas awesome. Determined, even though I have no idea how I'm going to do this without my mom.
8. I miss my momma. I miss her every single day. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about her, wish I could talk to her, wish I could hug her. I'm grateful for what I did have with her, but I'm still trying to find my way in this world without her.
9. Adjusting. Because we have to.
10. This will be our first holiday season without Mom. The parade was hard. Trick or Treat night was hard, but now we move into even harder times. Mom loved the holidays beyond reason. She would already be playing Christmas music and laughing about it. She didn't care. She did what she wanted and never apologized. We teased her, but we all loved it!
That's a pretty screwed up, but honest, list...
Behave!

Amazing Weekend!

This weekend I went on a mini writing retreat with some friends.
We had a blast!
The best thing is that I think I found my hidden mojo! I haven't written like this in a really, really long time. I managed over 10K words this weekend, plus made some bookstore connections that I'm excited about!
It was good, though I missed my niece's birthday party and I missed the official first starting of K4's wheels. Everyone supported me in going though, which was great since I'd missed my writing groups annual retreat in May.
I need this more than I realized. And it was good. Really good.
So, now I continue on... excited!!
Behave!

A Monday Since....

Sorry about the radio silence, folks! (Not that there's no one even reading this anymore!)
Okay so...
1. The new dishwasher is installed and is awesome!
2. We had an awesome weekend!I love staying at my sister's (both houses are calming and awesome). We had some celebrating to do with my middle sister and it was really good.
3. Picked up K5 on Sunday. She's a riot. We had a blast with her and she had fun playing with her cousin and running around my sister's house. I miss that kid! She's amazing.
4. Writing meeting on Saturday. Always great! I couldn't stay for lunch (see #2).
5. Back to the grind now... Oy, Monday!
6. Watching inspirational episodes of X-Files with my baby on a cold, rainy Monday night.
7. Thanksgiving is a little more than 2 weeks away. I'm excited and terrified about hosting. Only terrified because I have no idea how I'm going to be ready! I'm excited to have everyone here! It's going to be fun and I'm so grateful to be hosting this year. (I think I already said that!)
8. We're not going to make it to 10. because I'm exhausted and still have a million things to do before I can go to bed, but the best announcement of all is that...
I'm going to be a grandma again! K1 & J's 2nd is due in July!
Yay!
I'm on four and I am early to this Nana game... How many grandkids do you think I'll end up with? I still have two kids at home and two that are still in the early days of parenthood... I'm a little nervous. LOL
Behave!

New Dishwasher

It's still in the box and in my dining room, but it's here!! Finally!
We've been without for... aw geeze...since maybe... I don't even know - two years? Or more? I've never minded washing dishes by hand, but now....I do because there is no time anymore and my minions are overwhelmed by homework, school, activities, too, so they are no help at all. Sure, they'll put the dishes away, but the washing.... That Man does dishes as much as I do. (Disclaimer: Only sort of, sometimes I don't mind, but I have too much lately and I do mind most days, plus we are hosting all major holidays from now until New Years - not New Year's Eve - at least I don't think!)
We went on the trek to the home store, picked out the one we liked and then went to look for other things, finding an awesome and much-needed lamp for the living room in the process. When we got back to appliances, I got to push the "button" that magically announced that someone needed help in appliances. (always cracks me up). The guy was nice, but informed us that they were out of stock, but we had two other stores to choose from. I almost caved and got the cheaper model, but as That Man said, we were saving $10. for a lot of features we wanted. So fine. We buy our lamp and head to the next city where we were told they had 3 in stock. (Which I didn't expect to happen, but we were on a mission)
And they did have it. It was seamless and easy and the guy was great and even filled us in on how installation has changed since we bought our last dishwasher (16 years ago....oy), but awesome! And we got what we needed for that. Thanks to K3 for letting us use his van to pick it up, and we were back home and unloaded in no time.
That Man put the new lamp together. It's really pretty and fits in the living room. And we really needed the light. I love it. He will install the dishwasher this weekend, unless he gets a wild hair and decides to tackle it sooner (you never know with him).
I then wrote a bunch, caught up on emails, did some laundry, and now it's bedtime!
I need to get my plan in place for what's coming up next! There's a lot!!
Yikes! I must sleep now! The day job has gone crazy and I need to go in earlier than normal! And probably stay later, too. Oy!
Behave!

November First

Oh geeze!
Here we are at the start of a new month!

November is going to be crazy!
1. Writers meeting. Always amazing.
2. Private writing retreat at a friend's house. (Remember I missed my annual writing retreat in May. I need this so bad)
3. Birthdays!
4. OT at work. Which makes #2 even more amazing.
5. Thanksgiving!! I am so excited! It's been a really long time since we've hosted.
6. A new dishwasher coming soon! (tomorrow?)
7. Heading into the holiday season!
8. I usually get ticked off at seeing Christmas stuff so soon, but we have a lot going on this year, so I'm excited to start planning. I actually resisted buying Christmas plates at the superstore today. I wanted to, because I was afraid I wouldn't get such a good deal again, but then I decided I didn't like those plates as much as I should... Ha!

I'm trying! You see that?

Oh and I tripped up the stairs yesterday and did something hurty to my little finger. I didn't realize how much I use that baby finger for typing! Ouch!

That is all for now...

Behave!!

Trick or Treat

Tonight was our town's Trick or Treat night.
That Man and I bought candy in secrecy so it would still be here for tonight. Ha!
Baby B was here and was hysterical. He had a "trick".
When you said "Trick, B" He would stick out his finger and say "pull my finger" and then making farting noises when you did. It was hysterical.
He was an adorable dinosaur, but by the time they left he was so hyped up on candy that he was in meltdown mode. I remember those days with our kids. Glad we're out of that stage. So much.
K3 had a class tonight, so he left just as trick or treat night got started. K4 did her cool makeup, but stayed home, except for a brief trip to our very good friend's house to harass and get some candy. S and J came over - S was dressed as the Joker and looked adorable. J was dressed as a "travelling menstrual cycle" and was hysterical. Yes, red pants. white shirt with blood stains, and a string.
I got home just as the porch light went on. I miss the days of being here all day before. I miss the days of having things prepared and ready to go, but then, I don't have little kids anymore, so....
I do miss my folks being here though. Mom and Dad used to come over to hand out the candy. They were hysterical in their interactions with the trick or treaters. Last year, we had Mom and she had a blast.
It's sucky right now because our very good friend just lost her dad. It brings back all of the crap and sadness and makes me realize that we're now facing the holidays without Mom. It was bad enough last year - when Mom's grief class said the second year would be worse than the first - and now we're facing the second year and the first year, which sucks. And I don't put a lot of stock into the things said in that class, but it still sucks.
Anyway...
I'm still writing. Staying in the 50/50 challenge and have already met my monthly goal. I like where my story is going.
And everything else is as normal as it gets - crazy chaos and crazy busy.
That is all...
Behave!

Birthdays and Stuff...

K3 turned 19 today.
How does that happen? I don't feel any older than the day I had him (notice that I didn't say I don't look any older... ha ha)
He's a great guy and I'm so proud he is my son! He's got so many things in the pipeline and I'm so excited to see what he does next! Currently, he's working like crazy, looking for a second job, and taking classes. Like I said, great guy and I love hanging out with him!
*
It's almost the end of October!
Thursday night is Trick or Treat. I can't wait to see Mr. B and experience Trick or Treat night with him. I'm also really glad I don't have to take kids out! Ha! K4 is the youngest and is too old to go out. Bonus! Our old neighbor is coming over because she misses this street on Halloween night!
It should be a good night (if I remember to stop and get more candy!)
Halloween Night That Man and I have some plans which should be awesome! I'm excited.
*
Thanksgiving is coming!
We are hosting this year. We also have K2, J, and Baby C this year, which will be awesome! I'm really looking forward to it. It will also be our first Thanksgiving without Mom. We've had a lot of firsts without her the last five months, but this one will be big. (The Halloween parade, trick or treat night, and birthdays are also big... Okay, so every first without her is big. I don't know what to say about that. It's just the way it is, but Thanksgiving is going to suck without her.)
We will be getting a new dishwasher before Thanksgiving. There is no way I'm standing there to wash all of the dishes for hours! I already told That Man that it must be done and he agreed!
*
Christmas...
I know it's way early, but we are also hosting both days this year. K4 is turning 16 and her only request was that we do both nights - Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. She has never had a 'traditional" friend party. It's always been whoever can come on her birthday and whoever remembers on Christmas Eve - all has been fine for her. We won't have folks staying over, which is really okay and for the best, but I hope that it's a birthday to remember for her, especially considering it's our first Christmas without her Gram. And she feels that. And she'll be 16!
And then in the few days after Christmas, she will be going for her learner's permit, because if she doesn't she will have to drive for a year, instead of the six months if she gets it before the end of 2015. Yeah. my last kid will be driving soon. Weird. She already has a car - actually two, but that's another story.
I am forcing myself to get excited for the holidays. I will force myself for Baby B and Baby C and K4, K3, K2 and K1, That Man, and my siblings. I miss my momma, but I will honor her by going completely overboard this year! Yeah, it's like that!
*
I am writing! A lot! Not as much as I would like, but enough that I feel good about what I'm getting done!
*
That's enough for now!
Behave!!