November 5, 2016

6:32 p.m.

Autumn is my favorite time of year, but I hate the time change, and it's happening tonight. Ugh!!

(I'm almost certain I've complained about this before, so I apologize in advance, because I'm about to complain again.)

I will never understand the necessity to change the time. Supposedly it adds an hour of daylight in the summer--it doesn't, there are the same number of daylight hours regardless of what time the clocks say it is. And in the winter, when we really need some extra daylight, we turn the clocks back so it gets dark by four in the afternoon in December. 

WHY????

I don't know about you, but I didn't appreciate walking home from after-school activities in the dark, and I really don't want kids in this day and age walking home in the dark. 

In my opinion, the whole thing is just dumb, dumb, dumb. It's already getting dark early enough, thank you very much. It's pitch dark right now, and it' not even seven o'clock. Who needs this happy crappy?

I can hear you now--"But you're a night person! Why do you care?"

I am one of those people who really, really need light. I need it. Winter darkness can literally make me a sad sack. 

Besides, this is no longer a country full of farmers, who supposedly benefited from daylight savings time. I don't know how or why; I already told you we have the same number of hours of daylight regardless of what the clock says. Farmers are going to rise with the sun and work til they can't see anymore regardless of what the clock says, anyway. 

So who is getting anything out of this arrangement? I don't get it. 

Ugh!!

So tomorrow at this time it will be 7:50 instead of 6:50. What a bunch of hooey!

Ridiculous. 

Okay, I'm done.

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Still doing the NaNoWriMo. I went to a "write-in" on Thursday evening, and it was kind of fun. However, I didn't realize I needed to take a lap-top or tablet with me--there are computers there at the library--so I ended up hand-writing. Ouch! Not so good at that anymore. I guess using a keyboard has gotten me pretty spoiled. 

Today is double word-count day, and here I am blogging instead of working on my book! I'm having to do a lot of research on New Mexico, and wishing I could just hop in a car or a train or a plane and go visit in person. The last time I was actually in the state was years ago, and I've never gotten to do a good tour of the area I'm trying to pretend I know about! Haha!

Science fiction is easier--I just make it up as I go. Who can prove me wrong when I say aliens hold my character in a white room, or whatever? But I'm certain some of my readers might actually know what the museum looks like. 

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Those who know me know that I am a pretty low-key person for the most part. I like drama only as a genre of books, television and movies. In my own personal life, I prefer everything calm, cool and collected. Totally predictable. No surprises, no conflicts, no drama. 

That said, things around here have taken an unexpected turn. 

Last summer I suddenly acquired a couple of little dogs. they are cute and cuddly and well behaved. 

Unfortunately, they are a make and female, and neither have been fixed. So for pretty much the whole month of October they were a nightmare come true. Never again. Snip, snip, Rex. Snip, snip.

Now my daughter and her family--all five of them--have joined us and the house is full.

I'd forgotten what full-time kids was like. Busy, busy. There's a teenager, and nine-year old and a toddler. Whew!

Did I mention busy?

My grandson started his new school this week and already made a friend in the neighborhood. My granddaughter should start in her new High School next week, and she's a wreck, of course. Changing schools is hard enough without having to do it mid-semester. 

The circumstances don't matter, except that there was drama. Ugh! I'm just hoping everything will go better now.

In the meantime, I do not have a toddler-proof home, and storage is a problem, so yesterday I bought a pantry from Lowe's and when my daughter-in-law started to assemble it, one of the parts was the wrong size. Jeez! It just figures, right? You trust that everything in the box will be correct, you know? What a pain. 

It's times like these, though, when I realize how much junk I've collected over the years that should have already been donated or discarded. I am such a pack rat!

So right now the kids are playing video games and the baby is pretending to play video games. My daughter and son-in-law are grocery shopping and my son and daughter-in-law are trying to get the correct part for the pantry.

Me? Trying to get a constipated little dog to poop. Poor thing. Can you give a dog a laxative?

Also trying to do research and write, but I am not feeling particularly enlightened or inspired at the moment, so I am griping about daylight savings time, family drama, Lowe's and constipated dogs. 

Wow, my life is so exciting!

Can I just add that election day is coming up? And the whole year has given my stomach ache a stomach ache! What a nightmare election year. The idea of the next four years has me feeling pretty low. 

So, yeah, not the greatest week around here. 

Wow, the grocery shoppers have returned. We need that pantry! Yikes! I hope they can get the part we need at Lowe's.  

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8:58 p.m.

Man, I can't catch a break. No part available, pantry defective. I think I need a nap. 

On the plus side, my brother is coming soon to fix my roof, and it's not going to be as bad as I had thought. Plus my dad is coming, and he ordered some of the materials as my early Christmas present.

I have the best family. 

No matter what. Just the BEST.

And now, I'm going to sign off before I can even think about complaining about something else.

Good night!