Snowmaggedon! Working From Home!

It was nice to wake up about 10 minutes before I had to log in. That's the longest I slept in all weekend. Oy. 

That Man had some issues getting logged in, but we finally overcame. Now our dining room table is a work space. He has way more "physical" things spread out. I have a tiny pile, but our work is very different. 

The cats are a mess. Our female cat wants to be in the middle of the papers and is generally being a pest. The boys are watching the birds from the dining room window. And the dog is just happy we're home. She's curled up at our feet under the table. 

Now we have to shovel. Well, shovel and work. The two upstairs will be helping as soon as they get up and moving. We're not in a rush. They'll be the first ones to leave in the morning, so we technically have all day. Traffic is so quiet. 

That's about it...

Behave! 

Snowmaggedon!

It's still coming down. Only now it's a freezing rain, sleet, snow mix. 

It's so quiet and beautiful outside! 

You can hear the little birds talking to each other. And the squirrels making their little noises. We had to put more bird seed out since they emptied the feeder between yesterday and today. It's amazing when there's no traffic noise!

Mainly we've been cooking/eating today. Made homemade boston cream donuts this morning. Not too bad, but will need tweaking if I'm going to do it again. It's K4's boy's birthday today. We did steak and eggs for breakfast. Well, the rest of them did. I just did steak and mushrooms since I didn't feel like eggs. Warmed up homemade white pizza for lunch. And a milkshake. We're having lasagna for dinner and then banana splits in lieu of cake. 

Then a nap, which was lovely. Now I'm going to see what kind of writing nonsense I can get into until K4 decides to start making the birthday dinner. IDK if she'll need my help or not, but I'll be available to bother her at least. Ha! 

No word on tomorrow's work schedule yet, but it's pretty obvious we'll be working from home. 

That is all. I hope you're staying warm and dry if you're involved in this storm and cold. The forecast definitely doesn't look good for the next 10 days. 

Behave! 

The Eve of Snowmaggedon!

Well, here we are... waiting for the snow...

So many unknowns with this storm. 

But we're ready. I guess. We'll see?

We were out earlier. B had a soccer game. Which was epic. He scored three goals, including a headshot. We ran into friends there. Their son plays a league above B (though we played them last summer and our boys beat them pretty solid). It was nice to catch up a little though. 

Then we decided to hit the store. (I knew we would) It was fine though. Busy, but not insane and there were plenty of milk, bread, eggs, and toilet paper. Actually I don't know if that's true because I didn't look at that stuff. Instead I got ice cream, whipped cream, my favorite coffee creamer, and cheese--which was the only thing we were out of. Ha! 

K4 was out and about today and sent me a pic of the mega stores parking lot. Whoa. It was packed. 

So now we wait. The snow blower is ready. The shovels are out. It's so freaking cold though and it's supposed to stay like that for the foreseeable future. I hate that part. 

My plan is to spend as much time as possible writing tomorrow. But we'll see. It's possible we'll have guests if power goes out. Plus, I have no idea what I'm writing yet. I spent some time writing out an idea I had, but I don't know if it'll go anywhere. It's more of a "backstory" kind of thing anyway. But I'm getting there. 

That is all...

Behave! 

Feel Good Friday!

It's about time! This has been a long week! 

I'm trying to rally up the positives, so let's just get to the list!

1. SNOW in the forecast. How much is anyone's guess at this point, but they're saying "significant". I'm all about that. 

2. Plans for our snow day that include food and relaxation. 

3. We have done our store run and "should" be good. I have a feeling we're going to realize we either forgot something or decide we need something we didn't get though. But oh well. We'll brave the "bread, eggs, and milk" crowd if we have to. 

4. Getting to do two awesome critiques this week. My friends are awesome storytellers and writers. It's actually quite humbling to be in their company. Especially when I currently feel like a hack. 

5. Having the ability to work from home restored. It had been shut down when we had a slight system compromise. With the weather coming, the bosses made sure everyone had the ability again, which is awesome. 

6. The potential for my brain to decide to be creative again this weekend. It's there...shimmering just under the surface. I can feel it. 

7. Definitely sleeping in on both days this weekend. After a rough week where we thought our bed heater was doomed, our temperature is back where it's supposed to be. (It somehow got turned down...we think it might have been when the dog leaked pee on our bed and we ended up stripping the bed at 5am, but who knows?)

8. 34 days until Retreat! 

And that's it! 

Behave! 

Off Rails...

So January has become one big calendar page of stress and nonsense. Almost three weeks into this new year and I already want to write it off and start over.

I'm so off my game writing-wise. I thought I had the "best" idea, but it fizzled out a few thousand words in. Then I had another "great" idea and it said "nope" about 800 words in. So...fine. Right now I'm critiquing for friends in the hope that my brain starts sparking again. 

I did get a small "what if" sizzle this morning which was exciting. We'll see if it goes away or if it becomes something I can work with. 

I have retreat coming up in 38 days. I'm so excited to go even though I have no idea what I'll be doing. 

And that's it... Yeah, there's a lot of stuff going on and it's really affecting me, but now we're at the point where there's not much I can do about any of it beyond what I've already done, so... It's time to let it go. (we all know how hard that is)

We soldier on...

Behave! 

Happy New Year!

Yeah, I know it's the third. It's been the new year for 3 days. 

We didn't think we were going to make it to midnight on New Years Eve. We somehow did and were then in bed at 12:02. I know, we're such party animals! Ha! 

We did have some excellent pork & sauerkraut and a pretty chill New Years day. Yesterday we practiced our relaxation skills and it was lovely. We slept in and did very little for the first time in forever. Well, the washing machine was torn apart and the new pump motor was ordered. We took naps and had an easy dinner with minimal clean up. 

Today was a grocery store run, writing, and dismantling Christmas. The tree is down and put away. Most of the porch decorations have been stored away. The snowman are still out, but they're allowed to be for a few months. 

So far we've managed to avoid the sickness, but one of our coworkers came in very sick on Wednesday. We avoided him, so hopefully...

One more day off before the day job insanity of January. Inventory and end year stuff will be crazy. 

And that's all I have. I started a new project and I'm picking my way through setting up the story. So far so good. 

Behave! 

Last Post of the Year...

Happy New Year! 

I typically do a "wrap up" of the year, but there doesn't seem to be much of a point. The year was mostly focused on surgery and recovery with a few other things thrown in for good measure. Or bad measure...idk which...

The best things about the year were getting rid of my pain, grandkids, and husband stuff. 

The whole thing seemed to pass in a flash. 

Am I looking forward to the new year? I mean, no. I don't see how it's going to be "better" or "new". It's all the same. 

Yeah, there are things to look forward to, but on the daily it's the same grind. I don't think that's cynicism...just reality. Yeah, I hope 2026 is better than 2025 and I'll do everything I can to make it so, but that's all any of us can do. 

Anyway. 

Don't drink and drive tonight (or at any time). Have fun with your friends and family and remember to drink water in between your cocktails. 

We're staying in. We've never been huge fans of NYE. We'll get some snacks and watch some dumb tv and go to bed at our normal time. Works for me. 

Behave!