Emergency

The Grandma Train is back on the tracks–my oldest one’s husband lost his uncle to cancer yesterday, and his whole family is going to Tennessee for the funeral. Which leaves her with no childcare for the night shift. She can’t go because she can’t get bereavement time since he’s not her blood kin. So I am flying down tomorrow to help out keeping the baby. I’ll be there until Wednesday. I am taking my computer so maybe I will still be able to work. We will see.

So I have to cancel and reschedule different things–I was going to meet friends for lunch tomorrow and today, and I also need to reschedule an appointment for my youngest. I will do that today, as well as laundry and maybe Christmas cards. And pack. I leave out early and have to go through Atlanta–they didn’t have a direct flight available on such short notice. I have a four-hour layover there coming back which is regrettable, but it will help me manage the switch and if we get delayed somehow getting out of Florida as well. Hectic.

Lovely. I got my notice of benefits from SSA yesterday–we got a big COLA increase, but since mine is taxed above regular Medicare benefits because of Bob’s income, I actually lose seventy dollars in the deal off of my monthly income. FUN.

Well, I have a busy day ahead of me. I may as well get started. Godspeed to all.

Happy News

Got a notification yesterday that a short story, Sow The Wind, that I sent off eight months ago has been accepted! No money involved, but it is a good publication so I am excited. It is supposed to be published in 2022 at some point. I have to fill out paperwork and such but that’s no problem. I am just happy it’s placed somewhere.

I had hoped to write the Sean Hunt story today, but I’m really tired and don’t know if I am mentally sharp enough. I have other stuff to do as well so I need to work on those things. We will see what all I get done today.

Our heater did get fixed–turned out there was a blocked hose that needed cleaning out so he did that. He said he should have thought to do that the last time he came and therefore wouldn’t take any payment. We protested that we should pay him for coming out on a Sunday, but he refused it. So that was interesting.

My middle one got back to Indiana safely. We heard from her once she got there, and I’m going to try to call or text her tonight and see how she is doing. She was so tired yesterday for good reason. But we loved having her, and she plans to come down Christmas and for our trip to Florida after New Year’s. I wish she would fly New Year’s but she insists on driving.

So everything is going well–I am in a good mood even if I don’t feel as sharp as usual. It’s not elevated–it is just lasting for a long time, which I think is good. I’m working hard to just stay aware and present with everything. I found out yesterday that I lost the adventure of trying to replace one of our Christmas trees last year. I remembered the lights had gone out on one of them, but my youngest informed me yesterday that finding the new one was a fiasco. I don’t remember it at all.

So if i am going to get back to work, I need to do it. Hope everyone is doing well here at the start of the Christmas season. Stay safe with the new variant. Get the shot! Godspeed.

A Very Good Day

Today is shaping up to be a very good day. We slept in a bit and I cooked breakfast–now my middle one is getting her car taken care of with an oil change and tire check. Our heater is acting up again so that is a bit of a bummer, but we’re going to run a portable heater this weekend and get it checked out Monday.

We went to the high school game and they won! So Brandon High is playing for the state championship next weekend in Hattiesburg. We won’t go but our youngest will as part of the band. We got cold at the game and came home at halftime, then watched it online until the end. Very exciting game but we won so that is what matters.

We will probably go to lunch in a while and get the trees down to decorate after that. Not sure if we’ll do them today while my middle one is here or if we will wait until tomorrow. Depends on what everyone wants to do.

My mood is still really good–we’re just celebrating having my middle one here. I suppose I need to run so we can soon leave to go get something to eat for lunch. Hope everyone else enjoys their holiday weekend and starts to turn their hearts to Christmas and the reason for the season. Godspeed.

Wonderful Holiday

We had a very good holiday time with Bob’s parents and my parents. We got to deer camp around four p.m. and met up with my in-laws and my youngest, then my middle one got in later after driving from Indiana. We were so happy to see her and she seemed happy to see us. We had a steak dinner that night then Thanksgiving lunch the next day.

Then we went to my parents and my nephew was just not having anything to do with anyone but his daddy. He screamed like a banshee when his daddy put him down and told him to go play. He was like that until we got to eat. My cousins Kristi and Sunja came, too so we just had a good time except for my mom. She took out the ham to season it one more time and the liquid was boiling hot and spilled on her pants leg and sock. Burned her foot pretty good. My sister treated it with Preparation H really good all over the burns and we did our best to get her to sit down and the rest of us finish the rest of the heating up and work. She says she is fine this morning but I cautioned her to watch it really carefully and go to the doctor if it started hurting worse or the skin started pulling loose. I hope she does get some attention to it after the holiday.

So we came back this morning and went out to lunch and I’ve just now had time to sit. I feel better now than I did when I was up there. I was very tense, took my Klonopin kind of tense. My father-in-law was not doing well at all; he finally wound up getting sick after the game last night. He felt really bad this morning. The State-Ole Miss game was atrocious. We had three passes dropped in the send zone on the last drive of the half and never quite recovered from that. Wound up losing 31-21. Which is just what happens when you drop passes in the end zone.

My mood is good today. I am so proud that I made it through the holidays with a minimum of disruption to my mood. I need to go take my lunch medicine so I will run go do that as soon as I finish here. Hope everyone has a good start to the Christmas season. Godspeed.

Goofing Off

Looks like I’ll be goofing off again today–I’m waiting for people to call me back on my work so I can wind up these stories. I sent in my BPHope story last night and want to work more on the prospective NAMI blog post as well. So if I write today, it will likely be on that topic. We will see. I may also start on the Christmas cards. I have options!

Another good mood day today–I seriously hope the mood holds up well. I like having a good mood and feeling happy. I got anxious last night about this story on police brutality–I don’t want any blowback on it for my parents and other family who still live in the area. But all I can do is pray they will be safe and protected. It should take these people a while to put together that they are my kin because I am writing under my married name. So I hope that protects them.

We have another high school game tonight; they have to win to continue playing in the championship playoffs so we will see how that turns out. My younget will go Sunday to see my parents and then see her other grandparents starting Tuesday ahead of us coming up on Thursday for Thanks1giving. I’m looking forward to it all! I will enjoy seeing my middle one. Hope her back is getting better so she can do the drive.

I suppose that’s all for now. Time for lunch. Hope everyone has a great weekend! Thanks for reading! Godspeed.

Another Hectic Day

Had another wild day yesterday with lots of phone calls on the Hunt story. Had to go through backchannels to get some information on it and now I am waiting for people to return phone calls. Going to be interesting.

Need to go back to the grocery store to get things I forgot; likely will do it after lunch with Bob. He’s coming home today, and I will go once he is gone. I need to get meals for the weekend. I don’t like going this often but it’s what needs to happen.

My mood is good; I had kind of a bad night’s sleep so I slept in this morning after everyone left. I thought at first that I was going to be too restless to sleep, but once I got in the bed, sleeping came slowly. But apparently I needed it since I feel so much better now.

I also need to do laundry for Bob today so I think I will start that once I finish here. Go to the store, and by the time I get back, it should be done drying and I can put it away. That’s the hope, anyway.

My middle one threw her back out Sunday and went to the doctor–they prescribed physical therapy for her so she is getting ready for that. She still plans to come down Thanksgiving which will be nice. We will enjoy seeing her and spending time with her. She knows if her back gets worse and she needs surgery that I will come and help afterwards–I reminded her again last night when we talked over text. I just hope she can recover quickly. My oldest is in a similar shape–she went to the doctor, and they told her she had a “frozen” shoulder. She is trying to find a chiropractor that takes her insurance and has an opening on one of her days off. I hate to think about my girls being in pain.

Well, I suppose I will run start that laundry. Hope everyone is ready for the weekend and the holidays. Godspeed.

Wow

Got the telehealth story done last night and working on the rest of them. People are so funny about talking to the news. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.

I need to go to the grocery store today and I need to pick up meds from the drugstore. I will go do that as soon as I finish here. Tillie told me that with my history of anxiety at going to deer camp for Thanksgiving that I really needed to refill my Klonopin in case I need it on the trip so I won’t pop off at anybody. So I am going to get that.

My mood is still good–I handled a very rushed, busy day yesterday very well. So I was proud of that. Bob is supposed to et me a list of addresses for his office so I will start on Christmas cards once he brings that home. I am looking forward to Christmas this year so that is a good thing as well.

Got in a new book yesterday–I once had a book called 642 Things to Write About, and I gave it to my middle daughter since she showed such an interest in writing. I decided I wanted it again after I found the sequel, 712 More Things to Write About, at Barnes and Noble. I’m going to spend time doing freewriting to each topic they have starting after we get back from seeing my oldest and her family next year. Just try to jumpstart my creative side again.

Well, I need to get to the grocery store soon. Hope everyone as a good rest of the week and looking forward to a good day myself. Thanks for reading! .

Exciting Morning

I have been intensely busy this morning and so unable to type here. But I can catch my breath now and get back to writing my articles after a flurry of interviews this morning. Between two interviews, seeing Candy and Christy, going to see Tillie, and eating out with Bob, I have been on the run. But it has been good work to do. I should turn in my telehealth story this afternoon and then find out what I still need to do on my missing-person/police-brutality story. We will see how all of this goes.

Tillie said I seemed to be doing well but that of course, I need to watch out for excessive anxiety or mania. I don’t think I’m manic at this point, but of course, I could be wrong. We just had a really good talk about all I am doing and how everyone else is doing. I have my next appointment with her in December mid-way through–after Thanksgiving but before Christmas.

Making Thanksgiving plans–my youngest will go up and spend time with mom and with my mother-in law before we get there so that will be nice. We plan to goof off as much as we can while she is gone. Bob will have to go to work up to Wednesday right on Thanksgiving so we will travel upstate the day of Thanksgiving. Then depending on how this weeks football game goes for the high school whether we come back Friday or Saturday morning. My middle one is supposed to come down as well and spend some time with us all so that is good as well.

I guess I will et back to work and find out the rest of what is going on with my stories. Hope everyone has a good weekend and stays safe. Godspeed.

Up and at ‘Em

I got going good this morning; I’ve made phone calls and got balls rolling at various places. Got an appointment to call someone at 3 p.m. so that will be good. I am still kicking around my telehealth story and the Sean Hunt story. Have the other story lined to to work on next week. I hope to have the other two turned in by the end of the week.

I just discovered that NAMI, the national alliance on mental illness, has a blog that they recruit writers for! It looks like the same kind of setup that BPHope has, with some blog posts having the chance to go in their magazine. I think I’m going to try to write for them and see if they will take it. Not that I necessarily like unpaid work, but the visibility will be good as well.

I’m halfway through my new post for BPHope; I plan to work on that more this afternoon. I also may start on my Christmas cards today, too. I’l just have to see how energetic I get later today.

As you can tell, my mood is good. My oldest called this morning and said my grandbaby crawled just a bit on his blanket today–she was so excited. I told her he was getting ready to get into everything, and she agreed. He is going to be a pistol.

Getting ready to eat lunch. Hope everyone has a good day today. I am enjoying how my week is starting so far. Godspeed.

Unexpected

Well, Mississippi State pulled off the near-impossible yesterday, scoring 40 points after being down 28-3 to Auburn University to win 43-34 on Auburn’s home field. Such an entertaining game after the halftime. A whole lot of people gave up after the first half and went and did other things, only to come back and see that we won. I was one of those people; I went and surfed the Web because they way we were playing was lackluster, to say the least. But apparently, the coach lit a fire under them during halftime, and they came out and won. Amazing.

The whole day was kind of an afterthought after that victory–I just researched and got ready to write the BPHope blog post today. We will see how this post goes. I think if I do a good enough job, I might wind back up in the magazine with this one. I just have a good feeling about it. But I have to write it first.

Had a good Sunday School this morning–different people brought food for a potluck breakfast. That was yummy. The lesson was good, on the differences between Catholicism and Baptist beliefs. So that was interesting. Church was good, too–he was lit up about how the Holy Spirit could change the world if we just let it change us first. Very good.

I’m seriously considering a nap this afternoon–I usually take one on Sundays but I may write my BPHope blog beforehand. Not sure if I’m up to doing that before a nap. I have yawned and yawned all morning. I think I will go lie down. Godspeed to all today and throughout the week.