I really wanted to enter this one. Had a story started and everything. Planned to finish it last night. But then I slipped and fell on the ice on the steps of my son’s house and spent majority of last night on the couch barely moving. I can’t win lately. Just glad I didn’t break anything. I am looking forward to reading them all.

Just time for a quick stop in before the gym. It’s a chilly 58 F the morning. But it should hit 73 F this afternoon. Busy day culminating in an 80th bday party for my neighbor.

Happy Monday all y’all!

Hot tea, please and thanks. It's a bit chillier than I like here this morning on the beach. We decided to wait till later to take our walk.

Cleaning out closets today is on our list of chores. So much fun! (NOT).

Hope all y'all are having a good weekend.

Holy Hell, Rachel! I'm so glad you and Kate are okay. HUGS!

I tried to take a walk this morning, but the wind was whipping, and 63 F felt WAY colder. We went from hotter than normal to colder than normal. I'm ready for some normal temperatures, Mr. Weatherman, please, and thank you!

Sadly, I think my pickleball days are over. I guess we shall see when my arm and shoulder are fully healed (if that ever happens). My oldest daughter reminded me that I am ambidextrous and should retrain myself to play left-handed. I'm contemplating that plan.

Found out last night that they MIGHT be able to clear the pool of debris and get it running by the end of January instead of March as we were originally told. I have my fingers crossed because my brother will return for his three-month stay, and we depend on swimming as his only real source of exercise. And, although we are allowed to use the pool two doors down, their pool is elevated and requires steps (which he can't do) or taking the elevator...and theirs is currently broken, thanks to Helene.

Hope all y'all have a great end to your week!

Just peeking in for an afternoon soda. Coke Zero would be amazing...lots of ice please and thank you! Mother of the Bride dress shopping is thirsty work, especially when the bride has a specific color palette.

I've eliminated several dress styles that are not flattering. I've found styles I love, but not in the color palette. I found one I really like in a color that is an acceptable alternative. (The bride and groom are both engineers but also have a strong creative side. Two of the most perfect mixes of left brain and right brain that you could ever meet). Sooo, this is gonna be a process. Fortunately, I got an early start. (Wedding is next fall).

I think I'll scrounge around for a leftover cuppycake or snack of some sort. I've earned it.

Still not much in the way of progress as far as any repairs on the property. It's depressing to be at a stand still. BUT on a happy note, the bike shop will be able to fix our ebikes. It won't be cheap, but it will be much less than buying new bikes.

STILL waiting on the insurance folks to decide if the contents of our garage should be covered or not. We are on our 4th agent handling the claim. FEMA told us they are too overwhelmed and MIGHT be able to come out next week. 😕

Hope all y'all are doing okay! Hang in there Kimmi!

I'll take a Mimosa to go. I'm about to decide what I want on my new car. I've convinced myself that paying extra for the pearl white is worth it in Florida. Cheers!

Quote by LYFBUZ

Hi everyone. phew, there's a remarkable number of drunks in here given the early hour. I may have misunderstood the site title.

I am working furiously on my Comp entry, now at a stellar 794 words. I suspect this will be yet another missed Comp. There should be a Comp for unfinished Comp stories.

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!

I'm unlikely to finish what I started for this comp. There's just too much going on lately for me to do the theme justice. I was trying to see if I could turn my unfinished Noir Comp story from a couple of years ago into a Whodunit. It seemed to be working for a while until it didn't. Ah well!

I went to Disney with my hubby to visit some out-of-state friends for a couple of days. It felt good to spend time with them and take a little break from the frustration of the slow process of getting things repaired/replaced on our property after the hurricane hits. We took a walk along the beach on Thursday for the first time since we've been back from Europe, and it was so sad to see homes boarded up and pools destroyed.

On a happier note, I've been working on deciding what car I want, and I now have insurance money to use as a down payment. With a little luck I will be able to find a car this week. Fingers crossed. We thought we could wait it out another month, but the disaster relief rebate of $1000 will eventually expire, so I'm gonna make sure I don't miss out on that.

Hope all y'all are having a good weekend!

Cuppycakes??? YUM! Guess I will just extend my walk to make up for the calories. Worth it!

Taking off this afternoon to go visit some friends who are at Disney. I’m excited to see them. I’m also excited that there is a pool at the hotel. It’ll be March before our pool will be back in action.

Looks like I’m not gonna have a story ready in time for this whodunit comp. Life is just not cooperating. I’m still carless. Maybe this weekend. 🤷‍♀️

Happy Thirst-day!

Quote by fuzzy1954

5 infusions left

(daily) getting closer

I’m just starting to catch up a little on things I missed while away. Sending you many hugs (and a kiss or two) to help speed up your recovery my sweet friend! 😘

Quote by cydia

Tie them to a chair and force them to watch all 12 seasons of Letterkenny.

Politely, of course.

Pitter-patter, let's get at 'er!

Just popping in for a midday tea. The weekend in Alabama was amazing. Lots of fun with my adult children and plenty of bonding between the two families at the engagement party for our youngest.

I still don't have a car. This week has been so busy. But I think this weekend I should be able to hammer out what I want.

Drunk modding? I'm in!

Happy Hump Day, all y'all!

Good morning! Had a wonderful dinner last night with our daughter and her fiancé. She officially asked if both her father and I would walk her down the aisle next October. So much joy!

Our son and his wife arrived in the wee hours this morning and our oldest daughter is en route as we speak. The groom-to-be’s mother, brother, and sister-in-law all arrive today. should be a fun weekend.

Cute little video, bear. Thanks for the warm welcome, ape. Glad to see life returning to normal after so long. Hope you enjoy your weekend!

TGIF! Just time to eat a quick bfast before the nail salon. 😎🥰

Morning Rumpies!

Back writing ✔️

Back modding ✔️

Catching up… well that is taking some time. Slowly but surely.

This morning we are headed to Alabama to spend the weekend celebrating my youngest and her man. Their friends are hosting an engagement party on Saturday. excited that my oldest two will be there as well and my son’s wife. It will be nice to spend time with friends and family, especially after the punch in the gut this election caused.

Hoping all y’all have a great Thursday. I’ll be around on and off this weekend. We rented an Airbnb for our brood. So, I will have some down time here and there.

Hugs for all… be well.

Hello my Rumpie friends!

Back from Europe and dealing with Hurricane aftermath and getting over the nasty sinus infection I picked up in Paris.

I am back writing and will be back modding after my gym and morning appointments. Feels good to be back with my Lush peeps.

As far as the election, I'm stunned that there exists a person so popular that he is beyond reproach. Any other person in the same situation would have been cast out. And that's all I can say at this point. I will keep praying.

On a brighter note, my daughter's engagement party is this weekend so I will get to see my kids.

Hope all y’all are doing well. I've missed being here and I'm glad to be back. 🥰😘❤️

Great tunes, Bear. Just popping in for some COLD caffeine. Though we have power and AC back, I have some time outdoors ahead of me this morning and it is muggy. Coke Zero, please and thanks!

Slept like the dead last night. Exhausted from our clean-up efforts yesterday. Back at it today.

Be well my Rumpie friends!

Good morning Rumpies,

I am back in Florida. Checking in. I’m just overwhelmed with how much damage there is to the property. But our living space was untouched. And we are safe.

We have power back on and internet restored finally. The bridge to the island finally opened to residents later yesterday afternoon. So I was finally able to rejoin my husband. It’s been very emotional. Half our pier is gone. Our pool deck has been destroyed. There is a tiki hut and one of our volleyball stanchions, as well as most of the brick pavers are in the pool. The beach was flattened still there, but all the contour is gone. My neighbors’ garages were decimated. Somehow ours remained intact for the most part. Today we tackle getting the items they were destroyed inside cleared out

Our cars were tucked away in a little alcove that is usually safe. But the surge water was like we have never experienced before. Both our cars are more than likely toast. But it is what it is and we are safe. Things can be replaced.

30 years we have owned our place on the beach and have never experienced this level of damage. It was hard to be safely tucked away in Michigan while hubby lived through all of this, but I put on my happy grandma face and made my grandson feel special for his birthday. I’m just grateful the inside of our home was not destroyed.

I leave for Europe on Tuesday, so I have much to do between now and then. So if you reach out and I don’t respond right away, please be patient.

Quote by Milik_the_Red

Hi, Kimmie! Simplicity is well. I retired and we moved off to a little piece of rural nowhere in Tennessee. I think she misses some of the convenience of Ca but otherwise we are good. Now if we could just finish the home renovations…

I have been having an itch to write again. Who knows. Maybe something will come to mind anyway it’s good to hear from you

Milik! You're back! So good to see you here. Hugs to hug and Simmie! Congrats on your retirement.

Just stopped in to wave before I head to the dentist for some joyful repairs. 😳 I've been playing hostess to some friends that are visiting. They head home on Saturday. We have loved spending time together, but we are ready to have a little more down time. 😎

My youngest said yes to the dress last week on our shopping excursion and will be a stunning bride in roughly 13 months. Now they just need a venue. Since she is the most frugal of my kids, I won't have to worry about her going over budget. 🥰

Take care all y’all! 😘

Quote by JamesLlewellyn

.

Uh … thanks, Kat, but may I clarify?

Do you mean you will pay for the drinks, or did you have a more, um, literal meaning in mind?

Either way, my leonine friend and I will each have a double Jameson's. Neat.

And congratulations, Poetry Girl! Well deserved!

Neat? Are you sure you don't want it messy? 😉

Quote by Seeker4

For those of a more poetic leaning, the winners of the "Beyond the Veil" poetry competition are up over on StoriesSpace. Congratulations to Rump's regular Kat who took the top prize!

https://www.storiesspace.com/forum/site-announcements-and-members-feedback/announcing-the-winners-of-the-beyond-the-veil-competition

Thanks so much! I'm still a little stunned that I won.

Drinks are on me today!

Quote by fuzzy1954

Limpin Lion heard the sounds of Miami which makes for a strong cup of black coffee and (shh) two of Kat's cuppycakes.

I'll hubble over to a table with my walker.

Hospital rumors they will kick me out this afternoon.

Beware All

in closing

Congrats Kat we here all know the depth of talent.

Hugs for my favorite Lion! You take it easy my sweet friend! You can have as many cuppycakes as you wish. 🥰

Quote by simplyjohn

That page is actually an error page but for some reason it rather implies the site is unavailable which is not the case. The 'Activity' aspect of the site is scheduled for 'replacement' Q3/Q4 this year since it is known to be flakey.

It has happened A LOT to me in the past few days. Not just clicking on notifications, but other things as well. Its more than a little frustrating. 😢

Is it really hurting anything to leave it available and make it optional for Omnium?

So what if authors who are going for the badge now don't have to write a novel? It doesn't bother me. I enjoyed doing so, but not everyone does. Cool, make it optional. But I just don't see the need to make those of us who have more than one novel here with many different chapters (that really can't stand alone) go through the process of rebranding things.

Nothing needs to be locked, nothing needs to be moved, just simply make it optional for those going to Omnium and let authors who like the category do their thing. Less hassle for everyone in my opinion.

Soooo... it's been a rough week getting over the side effects of three shots in one day. But I'm feeling nearly back to myself. Heading up to see my girl today! Tomorrow we shop for wedding dresses! We are both so excited it's beyond!!

I'm hoping to do some writing here and there this weekend to finish up the next part of Mac and Grace's story. She's switched directions again on me and it's been a lot of rewriting, but I'm happy with the changes.

Happy Thirsty Thursday!

I'm finally feeling human again. Yesterday was rough. On Monday, I took advantage of getting my COVID booster, flu shot, and RSV vaccine all at once. It seemed like a good idea at the time. But by yesterday afternoon, I was so incredibly achy that I had to leave my friends at the beach and curl up on the couch.

I'm heading up to Alabama tomorrow to do some wedding dress shopping with my youngest, so I'm glad I'm feeling better.

Happy Hump Day, all y'all!

Gettin’ Busy is a fun lil micro I've recently added to my collection. 😘

It’s one of those mornings where I feel like another hour or two of sleep would be divine. Unfortunately I have to go for an early workout as I have the AC repairman supposedly showing up this morning after waiting all day for him to show yesterday. Between 11-2 my ass! I’m grateful that my AC is under warranty but the $300 room AC unit was not. But in this heat, we need at least one room to be cool.

Anyway, I watched no football last night (blasphemous, I know). But my psyche needed some repeat episodes of Ted Lasso and that’s futbol so it sorta counts right?

Cheers!

Just a quick wave (and a Coke Zero) to let y’all know I haven't disappeared.

The wedding was amazing. And now we have already started planning the wedding for the youngest daughter who got engaged in early Aug. Looks like a fall 2025 event!

My brother-in-law passed away the same day as the wedding. (they didn't come as he was innthr hospital). I keep trying to remind myself that he is no longer suffering, but Fuck cancer!

My AC crapped out the night before last. Waiting to hear back from the repair guy on when the coil will be in stock (he said 2-3 weeks 🤪) Hubby got us a room AC unit. And I've closed the blinds to keep the heat from the sun at bay. It's always something!

Hugs to all y’all!

Congratulations to the winners and the rest of the top ten! Wonderful stories, indeed! 😎

Popping in for a quick cuppa! Engagement pics for the youngest later this morning and then rehearsal followed by fun activities starting at 4:30. Everything is going to plan so far. Including the youngest remembering to bring her portable steamer for when her sister freaks out about wrinkles in her wedding dress. Tomorrow is the day we have all been waiting for! Been a long time coming! New Son-in-law has been dragging his feet for years. Now he seems to really be into the whole finally getting married thing. Glad the youngest’s man knew better than to wait so long. 🥰

Hope all y’all have a great weekend! 😎

Flight leaves soon. Will spend the next two days getting things ready for the wedding, then it's time to enjoy an event that has been a long time in the making. 😎