This weekend turned out really special. We celebrated my birthday (which is actually tomorrow) with a family gathering. We had great food and wine. A decadent chocolate cake and a lot of love.  Maggie also came, which made it more special.

My sister and brother-in-law were there too, which was so important to me. My sister has been there all my life and celebrated every special moment with me. As each year goes by, I love and value her more and more. And I know I’ve been very lucky to have a sister like her.

Wizard went overboard, getting me a watch that he searched and searched for and finally had a small jeweler in town order for me. I’m just stunned at how hard he tried. And he got me a handbag by a designer I like, which is so cool. I wouldn’t buy it for myself and he knows it. He was so worried I wouldn’t like the gifts, but he chose them and so I love them. I really don’t know how he found the time and energy to do all this while we’re dealing with all the house stuff. Honestly, until he told me we were having this family gathering, I was surprised. I’d had no clue he was working on it.

I did have one little story though. I came home from some errand one day, and he abruptly hung up the phone. I asked what was going on, and he said, “Oh it’s one of my racing friends bugging me about going to that track I don’t like. He won’t give up.” I was like, “Oh, yeah, that can be annoying.” It turned out he’d been talking to one of our daughters-in-law who was arranging a lot of the gathering. He told me later, he sort of panicked when I came home sooner than expected, LOL. Generally Wizard isn’t a good liar, but I just accepted what he said. My birthday didn’t really cross my mind.

The kids gave me a beautiful necklace that I will cherish forever. When I first opened the box, I was so stunned and overwhelmed I closed the box. But then I looked again and the tears started…sigh. How did the tough woman who raised three sons become this weeping sap??? Just asking, LOL! I love this necklace, but my sons, daughters-in-law and Turbo are my very heart.

It was a very special birthday.

How was your weekend?

TGIF! Time to share 5 random things about our week. Here’s mine:

1. Wizard and I finally made a decision on which living room furniture to keep (for now). We decided to keep the lighter weight stuff that we can more easily move it around for convenience in the new place. That means we had to get rid of the really old heavy furniture. We decided against donating it, just trust me on this. So we called for a pick up, then the two of us took TWO DAYS got carefully move it out of the house into the garage, then the next day from the garage to the curb. We did it with patience, careful lifting and a set of dollies. We were pretty proud of ourselves! Then the next morning the truck comes, and one guy hops out and loads all the pieces himself onto the truck in ten minutes. You know the sound the air going out of a balloon? That was the sound of our collective pride as we stood at the window watching this guy do it
2. We have a closing date on our house! August 29th! So we do a walk through on the 23rd, note all the issues (there always are little things, but hopefully not big). Then we go again on the 29th, sign off if everything has been fixed and close escrow. We are supposed to get keys sometime late afternoon (fingers crossed). However the dates are “subject to change” so we should plan accordingly. I am planning, for the closing date stated on the document we signed
3. Our is rental agreement for the house we’re in now has our last day as the 21st, but the owners have agreed to extend it to the 31st. Whew! That’s a huge relief as long as the house closes on time. We’ll be spending the next few days finding a mid-week moving company, or figuring out something. We will get it done. We are trying to make plans that doesn’t rely on the kids for actual moving since it’s midweek, then they can each come help as their schedule allows. There’s a lot of things we could use their help once the stuff is in the house (and they know as we’ve talked to them).
4. Yesterday we took Maggie and went out to see Wizard’s mom and her husband. It was a nice visit. I swear, if you saw his mom you’d never know she’s 90! Anyway, we’ve noticed that Maggie seems to bring her joy, so we’re making more of an effort to take her. Maggie loves it. They pet her, tell her she’s pretty, give her treats and they have awesome backyard to play in. What more could she want? (She’s conked out on her chair right now, worn out from the visit!)
5. We are planning a little gathering at Middle Son’s this weekend. That should be fun and I get to see Jett and Hazel, their two dogs. Maggie is going with us too (I think).  I’m hearing there’s supposed to be thunderstorms, so I’m hoping that doesn’t cause any traffic problems.

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

When Wizard retired, he got addicted to coffee. MY coffee, but whatever, I’ll share (did that sound grudging?) It took Wizard about two years to admit he is addicted. But he adds the caveat that he can stop anytime. LOLOL!

Well this last month it has dawned on him that in the new house the office will be on the opposite side of the house from the kitchen. Were used to it being adjacent to the kitchen. And this worried Wizard that he’d be so far away from coffee refills. He told me this in all seriousness, but he had a solution. “We need two coffeemakers.”

That sound you hear is me laughing like a deranged witch. When I finally caught my breath enough to speak, I asked the obvious question, “Who will make the coffee in the second coffeemaker? Who will clean it?” Because I make the coffee now. You see, Wizard who can build, tune and race Radio Control Cars and operate the three mystery remotes that control the TV and streaming stuff, can’t figure out how to make coffee.

Wizard frowned, then grew a hopeful expression. “You? Because you’re making it anyway in one coffeemaker, so why not two?”

I laughed and walked away. He’s so cute when he believes in fairy tales.

So how’s your Wednesday going?

We saw Turbo this weekend, which was great. All five of us; me, Wizard, Turbo and his parents were all talking, and somehow, Grandpa and Turbo slipped away to play. I tried to follow but got sidetracked by Turbo’s parents. By the time Grandpa and Turbo came out of the playroom, Turbo wanted Grandpa to spend the night. Anyone else feel like I’ve been played???? I’m kidding! I got my turn to play with Turbo later. But it was just so danged cute when Turbo announced that he wanted Grandpa to spend the night. The love of a grandchild is a priceless gift.

Sunday Wizard went racing and I had plans to do some running around like buying new bath towels because we need them due to my cheapness and amazing skill at procrastination. But thanks to loud noises in the middle of the night, I was lower than usual on sleep, and once I did my morning walk and yoga, I couldn’t drag myself out of the house. Instead I stayed home with lots of coffee and looked online for possible transitional living ideas if we need them. I’m just gathering information. After lunch, I felt more human and surprised Maggie by taking her to the pet store. She was thrilled! I don’t take her enough places lately and she loved every second! She’s sure everyone in that store is there to see her, but overall, she’s pretty good. I bought her a rare chew treat that she picked out. Then we stopped by our house in progress and discovered the cabinets are going in! I nearly cried with joy. It looked as I imagined (so far) and I’m hopeful they are pushing to get the house done (without cutting corners, of course).

This week is supposed to bring more humidity and thunderstorms.

How was your weekend?

TGIF! Let’s jump right into sharing five random things about our week.

1. The stress of this week got to me and I made cookies. Some people have a drinking problems, some have a gambling problems…I have a baking problem It’s a real thing, LOL. So I ran to an outlet grocery store and got Belgium chocolate chunks in both semi sweet and dark chocolate. Then I make chocolate chunk cookies and I’m happy with the way they turned out. Hmm…wait do I have a problem and I’m bragging about it???? I may be too far gone to save!
2. Yesterday Wizard’s out of state brother came with his girlfriend. It was awesome to him!! He also stopped and picked up Wizard’s mom and her husband. That was lovely. But the day had some glitches. We took them to the only sit down restaurant in town, had a waitress who, when we didn’t order in the way she preferred, snapped instructions like a drill sergeant. The food wasn’t great and I wasn’t impressed with the cleanliness. Then we took them to the models of our new house — and there was a note on the door that they were closed for the day. I’m sure the restaurant and model home are facing staffing issues and stresses, but it made for a lot of frustration. However everyone seemed to take it all in stride, we came back to our house and ate cookies.
3. We took the beloved Mustang that is fast as heck but sucks gas at $12.00 a gallon, back to Wizard’s brother (another brother — he has 3 of them, LOL). The body work turned out great and the car looks amazing. Even more impressive, I managed to follow Wizard all the way there. Lets just say that Wizard can be a rather, um, aggressive, driver. It’s about 50 miles each way, so it’s quite a drive.
4. While at Wizard’s brothers, I ran upstairs to use the restroom, and met their newish dog. Wizard had warned me that this dog bites if he doesn’t know you. My sister-in-law had the dog in her arms, I saw hello, did my thing, then came out and talked to my sister-in-law doing my best to ignore the dog. (Eye contact and aggressive movements will trigger a scared dog) It turned out my sister-in-law is working with a trainer, and when the dog growled and worry-barked a little bit, she corrected him, and he stopped. I love talking about dogs and training, so we kept chatting, when all of a sudden to two guys called up the stairs,  “Isn’t the dog barking or growing?” I said no, and Wizard was soooo annoyed. “He barks at me!” I laughed and told him that’s because we have different energies and I’m not afraid of the dog just to annoy him. The truth is a combination of the amazing work my sister-in-law has been putting into this with the trainer and the fact that the dog is really sweet at heart. He just doesn’t know what to do when new people show up, but he’s clearly willing to learn. But annoying Wizard and amazing his brother was fun Although the real credit for the transformation goes to the dog and my sister-in-law and I had nothing to do with it. All this work they are putting into him will help him be more secure and confidant, giving him an even happier life. It also made me think about areas that I can do more work with Maggie.
5. I think we’re going to try to see Turbo this weekend if they aren’t busy. Our week has been so chaotic with various things, that I haven’t even asked yet. Otherwise, I’ll find something to do that doesn’t involve baking

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours! I hope everyone stays cool, and has a fun weekend!

I have a question: Does the genre of Women’s Fiction exist anymore?

There was a time when it was a genre in the publishing world, but I recall it was a problem for bookstores to shelve. I believe the major debate was whether it should be shelved under General Fiction or Romance.  If anyone is mildly curious, I thought they belonged in General Fiction because the stories didn’t have the same romantic relationship focus with a happy, or at least hopeful, ending that is generally accepted in romance.

But now I don’t know if the Women’s Fiction genre exists on it’s own anymore, or it’s been absorbed into something else?

Does anyone know?

Okay that’s my question. In other news, my week has been set to cranky. Nothing is truly wrong, but a bunch of ant-sized irritations mixed with this heat have set the dial to cranky. Maybe today I’ll coax that setting into something more positive!

Despite a miserable hot weekend, Wizard and I kept busy.

Saturday: Wizard ran errands while I cleaned, then we went in the pool. After that, we were hanging out in the Jacuzzi, and Wizard was trying to convince me that we can fit a pool in our new backyard. Um…okay. Being a good wife, I found the perfect pool to fit our backyard:

He doesn’t think I’m as funny as I do.

Sunday, after doing more busy, boring stuff, we went to our new house. Guys, it’s looking like a real house! It has stucco and drywall and it’s awesome. The covered patio is going to be exactly what we wanted. While there, Wizard tried again to convince a pool will fit. He was laughing as he said it It’s a darn good thing Youngest has a pool.

Speaking of youngest. He told me the cupcakes cookies I made him were good. Before I go on, these are like a thick and large chocolate chip cookie cup filled with a safe-to-eat cookie dough topping. They are sweet and rich. I texted to Youngest that “Dad ate two with ice cream.” Youngest evidently saw this as a competition and replied that he put peanut butter and chocolate sauce on his.” After some serious consideration, Wizard agreed with me that youngest won that weird competition.

Then Wizard added “Chocolate Sauce” to the shopping list. I swear it’s true.

I added “Tums” for obvious reasons.

In other news, I was trying to persuade myself to get rid of some old books that are falling apart. When I say old, I mean like a few are around 100 years. Some are totally falling apart. Wizard looked at them and said, “Absolutely not, we are not getting rid of these.” And he started planning a special display bookcase in out entry hallway. I don’t know if we’ll ever do it, but I love him for that. So much. We’ve been trying really hard to seriously downsize our stuff. For example, we tossed my wedding dress. We planned to take it to Goodwill, but when we opened it, it just wasn’t in a good enough shape. So we tossed it. (I did take a couple formal gowns in good shape that I hope someone else can buy cheap and use).

We also swapped the living room and family room furniture. We put the stuff we plan to move to the new house in the family room, and put the stuff we plan to sell or give away in the living room where we can take pictures, etc. It’s a solid plan, but it doesn’t looks right and my brain is lodging a protest, LOL. Packed boxes stacked on one living room wall aren’t helping either, but too bad. This is all working toward a goal, and my brain is going to have to learn to live with a little chaos for a few months.

So it was a good weekend. We missing seeing Turbo (our grandson), but we all seem to have stuff going on so we’ll all catch up soon.

How was your weekend?