Monday, November 26, 2012

Sliding Into Home

Yes, I know it's still November, and I'm  not supposed to be here until next week, but you guys know me by now. I can't stay away. I miss everyone too much.

I'm almost finished with the old house. Yay. It's about damn time too. One "big" and one "small" thing left to tackle and then I'm home free. Or perhaps I should say, free of the home. Gah, this thing is an albatross around my neck. (an expression I don't quite understand, but it's useful here.)

Trying to work on the latest novel. Halfway through, and if you'd like to take a gander at how real life ends up in my books, you can find that here.

Spent almost the whole Thanksgiving Day raking and blowing leaves in my mother's back yard. Kept me busy and burned off all the calories I ate during dinner. So yay.

Gearing up for the Monster's Birthday next Sunday. She'll be 8, thinks she's 19. I cannot believe she's going to be 8. I mean, really, where did the time go? I can't help think what's going to happen in 8 more years when she turns 16 and wants a car for Christmas. This year she's getting a laptop. (My mother bought it for her.) Think she's spoiled? Definitely spoiled. Rotten. I don't even have a laptop.

Spent the weekend on the computer doing stuff (because I overdid it raking on Thursday), got over to Goodreads, LinkedIn, even managed to Tweet on Sunday. It's been too long since I've done any of that so I'm glad I had the chance to finally catch up.

Okay, enough about me. What about you? How are your NaNo numbers? How was your Turkey Day? Did you get your Christmas shopping done?

26 comments:

Patti said...

You sound incredibly busy, and I know about how fast kids grow up, my youngest is ten now. Crazy.

Carol Kilgore said...

I know how happy you will be to be totally finished with the old house. And happy birthday to your oh-so-grown-up daughter :)

Anne Gallagher said...

Patti -- Just yesterday she was sucking on Cheerios watching Elmo. Now she wants a cell phone and her ears pierced. Help!

Carol -- Oh, let me tell you how happy I'll be to have that house finished.

Karen Baldwin said...

Busy lady. Will you have pics of your remodeling?

Anne Gallagher said...

Em -- Sad to say, no I do not. Well, I'll have the after, but not the before. Suffice it to say, everything before it was painted was BEIGE. and when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING -- walls, trim, door frame, window sills, closets, and two ceilings. I painted my room and Monster's room when we moved in, but that was it. all the other rooms were beige.

Yvonne Osborne said...

Seriously...she's getting a laptop? Hmmm. It is nice to get caught up on "stuff". I used to tweet but now I seldom do. If I get a blog post up once a week I think I'm networking! Happy holidays to you and your family.

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

I have one of those albatrosses, too. Trying to sell my mother's place has been one setback after another, seems like. I'd love to start the new year fresh and free to write.
Here's to that for all of us.

Laurel Garver said...

Sound like you've been having a very productive November! Cool.

I'm lining up the next two projects, poetry and a nonfiction writing resource. The trick for me is balancing new projects with marketing efforts.

Johanna Garth said...

Aww, happy birthday to her. Maybe you can borrow her laptop while she's at school :)

Optimistic Existentialist said...

Turkey day was awesome! Great blog you have here!!

S.P. Bowers said...

Where did the albatross expression come from? I mean, did someone really wrap an albatross around themselves?

Sarah Ahiers said...

Yay for almost being done with the house and yay for Monster Child's birthday!

Linda G. said...

Hey, good to see you back! And Happy Birthday to Monster Child. :)

Cate Masters said...

What a relief it must be to finally finish! Renovations throw everything off kilter.
Happy birthday to your daughter! I have two, now grown, so I can relate to the 8-going-on-19 thing, lol. Cherish the years before the hormones kick in! :)

Gina Gao said...

Happy birthday to her!

www.modernworld4.blogspot.com

Anne Gallagher said...

Yvonne - Seriously, she's getting a laptop. However, she will be in school all day, so guess who will end up playing with it most of the time. And I had to laugh -- "if I get a blogpost up once a week, I think I'm social networking." THAT is too funny and too true.

Tricia -- Here's to that for all of us. As soon as the old house is done it's going on the market, but of course it's still a crappy market. I know how you feel.

Laurel -- Oh yes, the balancing act. I'm right there along with you. I sort of wish the holidays were over already. They take up so much time.

OE -- Thanks so much for stopping by. Glad you like the blog.

S.P. -- You know, that's a very good question. I'll have to look it up. I do know however that albatross are extremely large birds, so maybe that's why.

Sarah -- YAY!!! And yay for you!!!

Linda -- Thanks. Good to be back.

Cate -- Oh, the hormones. Some days I swear she's already PMSing. And with me going through menopause, it's not pretty at our house.

Gina -- Thank you.

Stina said...

Our raking days are over. Before the leaves fell off the trees, it snowed. Heavy. :P

Good luck, Anne, with your two final projects. :D

Stephanie Thornton said...

I know what you mean about the kiddo--my daughter just turned 6 and suddenly knows everything. In fact, my husband and I marvel at how we somehow manage to get stupider with each passing day.

Sigh.

Glad to see you on my blog roll today!

Susan Fields said...

I'm glad to hear you're almost done with the house, and it sounds like it's going to be a very happy Christmas around your house. I made a big dent in the Christmas shopping over the past week, but still have a few gifts left to figure out and buy.

Deniz Bevan said...

Happy birthday to Monster!

Oh, and if you and Sara are wondering, I'm pretty sure the albatross thing is from Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner

:-)

Anne Gallagher said...

Stina -- Lucky you. Leaves have been falling for almost two months here and I've been raking and blowing forever it seems.

Stephanie -- "...stupider with each passing day." LOLOLOLOL spit soda onto my screen I was laughing so hard. But it's so true isn't it.

Susan -- Good for you, almost done. I haven't even started yet. But I'm always so last minute, most of the time right down to Christmas Eve.

Deniz -- Thank you so much for the albatross find. I eventually would have looked it up, but I'm glad I don't have to be crazy until then.

Talli Roland said...

Sounds busy! I still have SO much to do, but the good news is, I'm ready to publish my novel on Friday. Can't wait!

Lydia Kang said...

No Nano for me, and Thanksgiving was a lovely, yummy affair. Don't even get me started on Xmas shopping! eep.

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

Looks like somebody beat me to the punch about the albatross. (sigh) A very happy birthday to your daughter, and ya know what's freakier than thinking about her becoming a teenager? Having grandchildren who ARE teenagers. Yipes, I mean reeeeally? Wasn't I just a teenager a few years ago...? Congrats on almost finishing all the work on the house. Gonna have to get you your own show on HGTV, now.

Heather said...

My nano numbers are terrible. *weeps* But a positive word count is a good one I suppose. :) Happy early birthday to your monster!

jabblog said...

Happy Birthday to your Monster - hope she had a good one. Children grow up incredibly fast, girls particularly so. With good people around them they make it into happy adulthood:-)