This week was a blur for me, what about you all? Here’s five random things about my week:

1. It’s our wine tasting weekend with Middle Son, his wife and 2 dogs!
2. We took Maggie to boarding yesterday. Despite knowing she’s been there many times and always does fine, we still feel bad for leaving her. But as soon as I took Maggie through the gate and unleashed her in the dog area, she just walked off with her human friend. Um…I’m happy?? Ok seriously, Wizard and I are relieved and pleased when she does this at boarding. It’d be a lot harder if she cried when we left her. This way, we know she feel comfortable.
3. Yesterday was Youngest Son’s fiance, Vet Tech’s, birthday! We went over last night to give her gift, which is sooo nice now that they live ten minutes away.  She’s having a big year between buying a house, having a milestone birthday and getting married!
4. Over two weeks ago, I ordered shoes from Reebok to replace the shoes I use for walking Maggie. I’ve worn out two pairs since I’ve had her, LOL! But this time, Reebok tripped over their own feet or something. A week after I ordered, they sent me an email that the shipment was delayed. Then it took me a week of hounding them to get the truth–they couldn’t find the shoes they’d advertised on their website in their warehouse, and finally, they just cancelled the order. I was frustrated–not at the problem itself because that stuff happens–but because the way they handled it was not customer friendly. However, I found some shoes on Amazon, ordered them, and had them in 2 days for the same price so it worked out okay. All that said, 95% to 98% of the time, name brand companies deliver on their website promises, or if there is a problem, they find a way to make it right.
5. Monday is Labor Day in the U.S.! I’m wishing all of you a Happy Labor Day now, as I’m not sure I’ll have a chance to post on Monday. I’ll be back on Wednesday for sure!

And that’s my five random things. Now I’d love to hear your five even though I may not be able to answer. But I can definitely read your answers!

Have a great (and safe!) weekend!

Yep, I’m just being real today about who I am So here’s some randomly selected things I don’t understand:

1. Why people want to raise kids again midlife. Been there, done that, have the stretch marks and gray hair, thank you very much.
2. Wanting to retire and then open a Bed and Breakfast. Um…so you want to work harder after retirement; cooking and cleaning up after people in your home?
3. People buying bogus Emotional Support Dog certificates online to get their dogs (or whatever) on airplanes, or take their animal where they want to, disregarding rules, as well as other people’s comfort and safety. I’m 100% supportive of true, properly trained, service dogs and think they should be allowed everywhere as the ADA dictates. In fact, I’m a little obsessed with service dogs, and love watching YouTube videos featuring them. Well-trained Emotional Support Dogs and Therapy Dogs are important and valuable too, but they are not service dogs and have more limited access. Service dogs often have years of training, and are working to do things like guide a blind person, hear for a deaf person, alert for a diabetic, epileptic, and many other jobs. These dogs make the world more accessible to disabled people. The rest of the world, in my very opinionated view, should respect and applaud that, and not try to grab the perks these amazing working animals receive so they can do their jobs. **Okay, hang on a sec while I get a ladder to climb down off my soap box.**
4. People who always have their cell phones on speaker in public places. To me, it’s just odd, but I tend to like my conversations to be private, I guess.
5. Man Buns. Enough said, LOL!

Okay those are some of mine, now it’s your turn if you’d like to share some of yours!

We had a great weekend, aside from traffic. It took us nearly twice the normal amount of time to get to Turbo’s house for our babysitting gig. Wizard and I have a ridiculous amount of fun with that boy.  Maggie had fun too, but she was soooo tired when we got home and Sunday.

Wizard and I are living at a pretty hectic pace lately, and that combined with my other issues, keeps me from getting totally immersed in my book. But I was thinking about this a lot yesterday while I was stuck in more traffic. Right now, our adult kids are including us in their lives AND we physically able to do it after a few years of surgeries and limitations keeping us on the sidelines. We know this moment is fleeting in the bigger scheme of life and that we will have to slow down eventually (Wizard is older than me, so I’m thinking of him–but we don’t need to tell him that!). Doing all this requires us to put in a lot of effort (like fighting traffic for an hour and forty-five minutes one way to babysit Turbo), but the kids appreciate it, and it’s ultimately worth it to us. Plus my family is loving that I’m not always saying “I can’t, I’m on deadline.” And having Maggie takes time as well. Her daily walks are important, and she needs a certain amount of attention and structure.

At some point, though, I need to find a balance because I want to write. I am a writer too, along with being a wife, mom and all the other things. I’m hoping that I will regain a bit more energy to do even more in a day and that will help. It can be done, I just have to have the will, drive and discipline.

Anyway, that was my big thought process during traffic.

So how was your weekend? And do you struggle to find a good balance between work and play in your life?

TGIF!! Don’t ask me where time goes! I’m doing this quickly after a long day on Thursday, so let’s count all my typos Here’s my 5 random things about my week:

1. Yesterday was a marathon, I think we put over a 150 miles on the car. First we went out to visit Turbo. Special K works from home now, so we watched him for a couple of hours. It was a blast as always to play with him! After that, we came home, took care of Maggie, then headed out for another long drive to meet a friend for dinner, and had more fun.
2. I found shoes to go with my dress for Youngest Son’s wedding in November! It took a lot of searching as I need 3 1/2 inch heels to work with the long dress I’m wearing, but since I have the RA (Rheumatoid Arthritis) everywhere including my feet, plus having had neck surgery, it’s a challenge. I really jazzed as I think I’ll be able to tolerate these heels and really like them. I’m going to look for a pair of inexpensive nude-colored sandals to change into later at the reception when no one will care if my dress drags on the ground a little bit. Everyone will be looking at the bride, my beautiful daughter-in-law, anyway! I wore the shoes last night to start breaking them in, and am very hopeful. And the shoes are nude colored, so I can wear them again if I want to.
3. Saturday we are going out again to babysit Turbo so my son and Special K can go out to a lovely dinner to celebrate their anniversary. Maggie is very excited because she gets to go with us this time.
4. Next weekend, Wizard and I are going up to Paso Robles to do some wine tasting with Middle Son and his amazing wife. They are camping in their super nice trailer, and we’re staying in a hotel. Shh, don’t tell Maggie, but she’s not going on this trip even though Middle Son is bringing his dogs. I know, not fair, right? I feel bad, but we haven’t really conditioned Maggie to traveling and staying in pet-friendly hotels, so she’s probably better off at the boarding.
5. I rewrote a scene and I think it works. And I might even have more time to write today after my early morning hair appointment.

Now I’d really like to hear five random things about your week! I have everyone has a great weekend!

Grandma, I’ll drive you!

Who could say no to that face???

Happy Wednesday!

I heard a rumor that there was a weekend???? Can anyone actually confirm that? LOL! As usual, we had a busy weekend. The two highlights were:

1. Saturday, we went out to Middle Son and his wife’s house to meet their newest addition, a sweet dog named Hazel. They now have two dogs, Jett and Hazel. Jett is a Dude, where’s the party? kind of guy. While Hazel has a little more refinement to her. She’s still a puppy at about 10 months old, but she truly has old soul energy about her, very calm and centered. Maggie met her with no problem. It was a good morning there, but I didn’t take pictures because we were very focused on introducing the dogs right–and that includes walking them together, etc. I handed Wizard put my purse and phone to put in their house and forgot all about taking pictures until we left. I have to say, really admire my son and his wife, as they are both committed to having big, power breed dogs, but they make sure the dogs have consistent structure, training and are never exposed to aggressive behavior. As a result, they are very balanced dogs and a pleasure to be around. Jett, however, has no clue he’s a big dog, LOL! I was sitting on the floor talking to all the dogs,  and Jett backed up to me, sat on my lap then leaned back so that I was holding him and rubbing his belly. So I was pretty much holding a 70 pound love bug. He’s absolutely ridiculous and irresistable at the same time.
2. Sunday, Wizard went racing, and I went to Youngest Son’s house and helped my almost daughter-in-law put a special primer on the walls of one of the bedrooms. That particular room is bugging her allergies, but we’ll get it all fixed up. Man that girl works hard! She rolled the whole room while I did the trim work. Youngest was patching holes and texturing walls in that room, and in other rooms too. Plus he was moving the ladder around for me. I’m sure I’ll be a little sore today, but it’s been 9 1/2 months since my surgery, so I’m past having to worry about causing any real damage. It’s so nice to feel useful again!

That was the two highlights, and I’m back trying to work on my book around life. The stops and starts are really bad for being able to get into the story, but on the other hand, the time away has helped me to see more clearly how I can make my heroine stronger as my critique partner suggested.  I’m just diving in and trying.

So that was my weekend, how was yours?

TGIF!! Let’s dive right into five random things about our week. Here’s mine!

1. Baking cookies does not help one lose weight. Nor does, you know, eating. And I have a dress to fit into in November. I need to clean up my eating habits. But I so love to bake! And eat. Sigh.
2. We got our car back Tuesday night! Yay! I’m so happy about that. It’s been a somewhat quiet week though. I just don’t have the energy to run all over right now.
3. I have gone to the gym though, where I learned I like the smell of Coppertone way more than stale cigarette smoke. Some people bring smells with them to the gym, and it’s not always pleasant once they start sweating. Once I was on the treadmill next to a guy wearing strong, pungent aftershave. I think he must have dumped on the whole bottle of the stuff! Every time I inhaled, my nose burned and my eyes watered. I had to move to different equipment. Just a caveat though–I don’t run into that problem a lot at the gym, so it sticks in my mind when I do.
4. Hmm, and now I’m second guessing if I used the word “caveat” correctly. It sounded correct in my head.
5. Target has let me down twice now. In a week’s time, they charged me twice for the same six-pack of Diet Coke, and they delivered a gift a day late from their promised two-day delivery. I am sad as I love Target. Now I’m wondering if I’ve given my love too easily?

That’s my five random things, now I’d love to hear yours! Have a great weekend!