The Wolves are in the house! As I’m writing this, I have about 30 pages left of the book “Moonstruck Mafia: Boston” by Silver James. And I will have definitely have finished it by the times this blog pops up in the feeds. I’m just trying to get this blog done before I read, get distracted and forget until late at night when I don’t want to write it. Because I’m lazy like that!  Also, I’m so NOT a night person.

So the book — it’s long, well over 500 pages, but fast-paced with lots of action so it’s a pretty quick read (now that I actually have time to read after Thanksgiving). Honestly it’s several stories in one book so if you like to get more bang for your buck, this is your book! I wasn’t trying to be funny, but there’s also some banging…just saying. But it’s not as R-rated as some books so pretty safe for the typical reader. I think my favorite characters are Ronan and Maura. I especially love Maura, she’s tough, smart and knows her own mind. I’ve enjoyed the book and sort of dreading The End Which is also why I’m writing this blog first. Am I the only one who kind of dreads The End on some books?

In other “reading” I’m listening to “The Wedding People” by Alison Espach and I think I like it…it’s different than what I expected but I’m intersted so far.

That’s my reading so far this week. What are you reading?

Happy Wednesday!

A nice calm weekend, but dang, my knee is mad. So I’ve been upping my weight training, including squats with weights on my shoulders. But it doesn’t hurt when I do that. I carefully tested it to make sure and no pain. It’s walking, and even that usually starts off okay then begins to hurt. I’ve been trying to cut down on my walking and that was helping, but then yesterday I went looking for a wedding shower gift for my niece. Ugh…I walked probably two miles searching an indoor/outdoor mall type situation (and that’s after my mile and a half walk — cut down from 2 miles — in the morning). Now my knee is complaining. I don’t think it’s an injury, it feels more like a repetitive use/age/arthritis thing. Especially because I can calm it down, then I tick it off and it flares again.

In the good news, I got a gift I’m happy with for my niece. And the rest of the day, I’m gonna rest the knee. Maybe…cuz I’ve got things I’d like to get done pinging around in my head, but I’m trying to be smart. The weekend itself has been good. Thanksgiving is cleaned up. We haven’t decorated for Christmas yet, but we’re not having any events here, so we’ll do that when and how we wish for ourselves

How was your weekend?

TGIF! Are you out shopping on Black Friday (which now seems like two weeks long!)? If not and you’re here at the blog, it’s time to share five random things about your week. Here’s mine (all Thanksgiving related because I’m writing this right after everyone left and can’t remember the rest of the week!):

1. Thanksgiving went pretty well and everyone seemed to have a good time. It was semi-organized chaos, loud and messy, so it turned out right
2. One of my favorite moments: Turbo (he’s 6 1/2 now) brought one of his “baby” books to read to eleven week old Baby Girl. It was so danged cute! The baby loved the bright colors and happily let Turbo read her the whole book. It made my heart swell. It’s especially touching because in general, Turbo is a tornado of activity, but he slowed down and gentled because he wanted to read to his baby cousin and it was all his idea.
3. I stressed the first half of the turkey cooking, adjusted the temp down 25 degrees, and then…it all worked. Whew. It was the first year I made a compound butter out of ghee (clarified butter with no lactose) and covered the turkey in it. It really worked out well! And fun moment — one of my daughters in law was making gravy at the stove next to me while I was doing green beans. At one point, she reached over and added salt and pepper as I was cooking, and another time adjusted my heat. It’s rare to find someone you can cook with that well, and truthfully, she’s a better cook than me, so I happily accepted her help.
4. All the food was great, my daughters-in-law and sister all brought dishes and helped out overall. I appreciate the help so much, and it makes the meal so much more of a family effort which is a nice feeling.
5. Maggie is wiped out! But funny story — she heard Youngest’s car in the driveway and lost her mind in joy. She went and waited by the door for him, and barked impatiently when he didn’t come in fast enough. But by the end of the evening, she was in her bed in a bedroom, and away from all the commotion. She’s not as young as she used to be, LOL! It’s okay, though, because neither am I!

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours. I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and you all have a great weekend!

Its the time of year where I want to take a moment and tell you all how much I appreciate you. I’m thankful for this blog and what I hope is a special camaraderie that we’ve build here. We can come as ourselves, on our good days and our bad, to share and feel accepted. I’m thankful to each of you who’ve helped make that happen.

I also appreciate your friendship through the hard times!

Happy Thanksgiving and I hope each of you are celebrating with people you love!!

The weekend came and went while I cleaned and baked. I made chocolate cupcakes from scratch using a new recipe and froze them unfrosted. I made gluten free dairy free brownies (for Youngest of course) and froze those. And then I made white chocolate/macadamia nut/cranberry cookies. I ate one and whoa, those are some heavy duty cookies stuff FULL of mix-ins. Not sure how I feel about them, but I froze the rest and hope it all is fine for Thanksgiving day (with pies that I ordered).

I also cleaned which was pretty boring. I listen to podcasts and that helps.

And I had my tele-visit with my doctor and basically he had no concerns right now. My tests are all pretty good and he’s happy with how I’m doing. I’ll be monitored forever, but that’s okay. My next set of tests and visits are in March so I get a break! We’re also going to lower my thyroid replacement hormones as my blood work shows I’m currently overtreated. I’m hoping that will also tame my drive that has me going nonstop all day too. I’ve noticed it’s getting a little out of hand lately So much so that I rarely can make myself just sit and read (and I’m reading Silver’s book!) That could be a lot of things, but lowering my dose might help. It’s also very possible that I’m feeling better and healthier than I have in two years and I’m just in a little overdrive due to that. Or I’m just crazy, which…totally possible!

Otherwise, the week was, as predicted, productively boring. I will say it’s not just me. Wizard has also done a ton of work on the back hill and it looks so amazing. Maybe we’re both relieved and a bit more motivated lately.

How was your weekend?

TGIF!! This month is sure in a hurry just zooming by. At least for me! I can’t believe it’s Thanksgiving already next week! But let’s focus on now and share five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

1. Tis the season and Monday I trudge to another town to hit some stores for wine glasses and decor. Surprise! I was not the only one to have that idea…it was so crowded. And then I stood in massive lines so long they wrapped around aisle an didn’t move. After 15 or so minutes of this — I heard an employee tell a customer the lines were long because they had to manually put in each and every bar code. When the lines didn’t move for five minutes–like didn’t budge at all–I left. This was a craft store and people had carts piled crazy high, and I just couldn’t stand there for an hour or two to buy a few things. I went home, ordered some stuff from Amazon and will do without have fancy Thanksgiving decorations. I’m sure my smile and sparkling wit will be enough Plus…we have wine so there’s that! If I’m super ambitious, I might even get some flowers to make the tables look prettier.
2. Tuesday we did grocery shopping. Whoa! We have had super small groceries bills lately, and this week we more than made up for it! It was shocking and the selection of produce and meat was frustratingly bad (but of course, there were plenty of cookies, chips and soda!) This store was not making me happy. Then I went to Wal Mart, and guys, it wasn’t bad at all. I found a turkey, got a few other things, all the lines were open and moving and I was out of there in record time! Color me shocked and pleased!
3. Wednesday was my Happy Day! I got to see my granddaughter! She’s delightful! Her mom went to Costco then took the dogs for a walk (normally my son walks the dogs but he was out of town on business) while I babysat and we had a blast! Right now Baby Girl likes everyone, but I choose to believe she especially likes me She’s full of smiles and babbling now. At one point I put her on her tummy on her playmat, and watched in shock as she rolled over. At ten weeks! Turns out she’s been doing that for a week or more. But the point is, she was the absolute highlight of my week. I also very much enjoy seeing my daughter in law, and she’s a huge help to me when I’m doing the holiday meals, which I so appreciate.
4. Thursday I got a small start on Christmas shopping, and trying to organize Thanksgiving on paper. I like to have a working list and any recipes organized to keep me focused.
5. Today I have a tele visit with my doctor to follow-up on my tests. It was supposed to be in office, but they called yesterday and asked if I’d do it by phone. YES!! It’s a long drive so it’s a win for me. The rest of the day is just stuff and maybe I’ll bake some cupcakes. And this weekend I think I’ll stick close to home and keep it productively boring :-).

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

…And Maggie is winning!

So she came home from boarding refusing to take her pill in the pill pocket. Why…no one knows. Seriously. The boarding lady is great with Maggie, it’s not her. It’s allllll Maggie.

Last time when we went to Hawaii, I got her back on track in three days.

This time…Maggie is making me bring this pill into a powder, and use wet food to roll it into a meatball. Wait…she loves a wet food meatball in her dry food. Is Maggie….manipulating and controlling me? Bwhahahaha!!

Happy Wednesday! And do you have a story you want to share about your pet controlling you? Or is it just me????