Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Well, it's the last day of November.  According to my mental schedule, I should be at 20,000 words right now in my WIP.  I'll end the month at 18,000 which is 2,000 short.  Not bad, considering I'm dealing with my mom's illness, trying to find my dad a house so he can move here (and daily phone calls from both of them as well as a realtor), a puppy with severe food intolerance issues, and my husband had eye surgery today.  So I'm frazzled and it's nearly two pm and I haven't written a single word.  To hit the 18k mark, I only need to write 600 words today.  So that's my goal.  I can make up the rest next month or one of the months after.  I have three more months - December, January, and February to go.  Since I have to be at 80,000 (or 85,000) by March 1st, that's how I came up with the 20k per month goal.   I still say not bad with all I've been dealing with and including the cleaning, cooking, serving, cleaning up, and then decorating for Christmas that I've done last week.

Onward, I say.  Onward.

On the exercise front, I've been nearly two weeks now without exercising.  That sucks.  I feel sluggish and fat and I've gained a pound or two over the Thanksgiving holidays.  So - no matter what - come Monday I am starting back to four days a week minimum at the gym. 

That's my tale of woe for today.  At least I have a goal to focus on.

Now, I've been promising a sneak peak at some decorations.  Here's one picture of my tree and my mantle.  I'll post more in another post.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Sorry I have been MIA lately.  As I mentioned, I hosted Thanksgiving here at my house.  Last Tuesday I cleaned all day, Wednesday I cooked, and Thursday the family all came and we ate.

My table looked beautiful.

I had purchased these crock pot warmer things, plus had other warmers so all the food was hot.  Those things saves my sanity.  Since I'd premade everything, I cooked them Thursday morning and put them in the warmers.  No stress trying to get everything ready all at once and keep everything warm.



We all had a feast!  My youngest brother picked up my Mom and her oxygen tanks.  She was thrilled and so moved that she cried when she said grace.

Here is a typical plate.

I didn't put pics up of the family here because they wouldn't like it.  But everything was delicious and everyone at their fill.  After the cleaning, Lonnie and I drove my mom home. 

Friday and Saturday, as is our tradition, we decorated for Christmas.  I'll post pics later of that.  On Friday we also went and looked at a house for my dad, who is moving here in December.

Then Sunday was our wedding anniversary.  We've been married 24 years and together for 29.  We went to eat at Texas Land and Cattle (steak, as we were tired of turkey!).  I got smoked sirloin with grilled shrimp.  (I'd already eaten part of it - sorry!)

And for dessert, we had peach bread pudding.  Yumm!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Today is cleaning day.  I'm really stressing about not writing, though I'm sure I'll get over it.  Maybe I'll just write 500 words to tide me over . 

I've made cornbread so it can sit out for me to make the stuffing tomorrow.  Next up is ironing the tablecloth and then I start.... shudder.... dusting.  And polishing.  And cleaning stainless and granite and...  yuck.  The one thing I miss the most from my having a day job paycheck is having the cleaning service. 

Ah well.  We can't have everything.

In case I don't pop in tomorrow (that's cooking day!), have a Happy Thanksgiving folks!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Thanksgiving week!  One of my favorite times of the year.  And since it's at my house this year, I always do the same things in pretty much the same order.

Tuesday I clean.  All day.  And iron and starch the table cloth and napkins.  I pre-do some prep work for the cooking, such as boil the eggs for the deviled eggs. 

Wednesday I cook.  Again, all day.  And though my feet and back will be aching by the end of the day, I love it!   I am baking three pies from scratch (except the crust, which I bought frozen and pre-made).  Apple, pecan, and pumpkin.  I'm also making cornbread and sausage stuffing, my husband's pea salad that no one else likes , sweet potatoe souffle, corn casserole, green bean casserole, and butternut squash.   And of course, the turkey is at Red, Hot, and Blue, getting smoked, so all I have to do is warm it up.   My daughter, who no longer spends the night on Wednesday, is bringing over mashed potatoes and mac and cheese.  My sister in law is bringing a broccoli casserole and fruit salad, cranberry sauce, and pickle/olive tray. 

That's right, we are having a HUGE feast.  It's funny too, because the rest of the year I try to eat clean, but on this one day (ok, and Christmas), the hell with that! 

Saturday, November 19, 2011

I'm writing today.  While I usually try not to work on Saturdays, the upcoming holiday has me feeling the need to get some extra words in.  I already knew I'd be taking off Wednesday to cook and Thursday to eat , but I will also need to take off Tuesday to clean my house.  And believe me, it needs it. 

So I'm writing and it's oddly warm outside and my hubby is doing outside "stuff".  Once I hit my word count, I plan to iron the tablecloth - at least I can do the table - though I might do that tomorrow. 

I am very happy that my family is all going to be together. 

Friday, November 18, 2011

Once again, sweet Friday rolls around.  Today - after I write my words for the day - I'm hitting the grocery store to buy my Thanksgiving meal.  That's always a long, convoluted ordeal, but strangely pleasurable too.

And this week, I learned someone got a hold of one of my credit cards and ordered themselves a laptop from Best Buy!  On Tuesday, I went into that CC account online to check my balance and saw a pending purchase from Monday for $503.74 at Best Buy.  Since I didn't make that purchase - hadn't even been near a Best Buy even online - I immediately called Discover and alerted them.  We cancelled my account and they issued me a new card. 

Last night, UPS rang my doorbell with - you guessed it - the new laptop.  It appears the dumbasses who ordered it didn't have it shipped to them.  I called Discover who told me to call Best Buy.  Best Buy is sending me a prepaid label to ship it back to them.  They did give me a phone number for the person who ordered it.  It's in El Paso, TX, but I did a reverse phone lookup and it appears it's not a valid number. 

Either way, in the middle of all this with my mom, and my dad moving here, and my foot, and my husband having eye surgery, and my puppy having food intolerance issues, some idiot tries to steal my credit card.  I'm pissed.  I hope the fraud unit at Discover catches them and they're charged with theft. 

Rant over.  Now I need more coffee and to get writing. 

Thursday, November 17, 2011

One week from today is Thanksgiving!  Tomorrow or Saturday, I'll shop for the groceries.  Since my mom still doesn't know whether she'll be well enough to come, I'm just going to go buy stuff and cook anyway.  If no one comes, then I guess I'll just have a lot of leftover food, right?

Here are the cute decorations I put on my mantle every year.

I got those several years ago and have used them every year. 

On the writing front, I'm back to writing today (couldn't yesterday, had to go to Dallas and my mom's doctor visit at the hospital there).

Also, I'm reading an absolutely fascinating book called Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Amazon named it one of their top books of the year, though I'd purchased it before that.  I bought it because of a Romantic Times review.  It's amazing - fresh and original and keeps me guessing.  Give it a try!