Holding Pattern

Cats are doing well. Sneaky seemed depressed for the first couple of days she was in the house this week, but today, she is moving around more and settling in to her new lifestyle. I was going to take her outside this morning, but she wouldn't come out of the fireplace. I didn't push her. She can go out another time. Then I saw her playing.

Sapphire is spending time running the parlor and kitchen. She isn't interested in letting us approach her, but the price of freedom is snuggling in the morning.

Mr. L feels better...and worse. He's still not quite right, but he doesn't know what's going on. He has been able to putter around. I thought he might be able to drive to San Antonio for his blood test on Monday, but he may not feel up to it. If that's the case, I'll drive him down and back the same day. If he does feel up to it, he'll likely drive down Monday morning and come back Tuesday or Wednesday, depending upon how long it takes to get his energy back. We have to discuss it yet, but there's no point in doing so until he knows how he feels, which means I'll find out Monday morning.

Mr. L has everything working on his new laptop and is transferring data files over. The replacement from Delorme worked great. It's amazing how things load when the disk isn't defective (as in, empty of files).

After having no pigeons at the house for a couple of years, they seem to have returned. In force. I'm looking at at least eight in the tree outside the window now. Sapphire is fascinated! She can slap the glass and send the whole flock from the ground to the trees. It's awesome.

I love my new printer and it's ability to print in duplex mode. Mr. L likes to duplex things himself, so he eschews that feature. I prefer to let the machine do it, he has his printers upstairs, and this is mostly my printer downstairs, so I got the duplexer. I still let him connect his laptop to it. He doesn't have to use the full duplex capability.  So, there!

We had beautiful weather this past week, so I trimmed the bases of the crape myrtles. They will be so much easier to deal with this summer as a result. I'll finish the last of them tomorrow. Then I'll find the next bit of winter yard work to do. Those are the most important, so I'm thankful to be (nearly) finished with them.

Most of my writing has been non-fiction this week. I've been adding essential oils posts to my auto-responder series. Just realized there's another one I need to add before the series gets too far along, so I'll work on that one next.

I have an inkling of an idea for a story. Carmen and her dead husband, Richard. Not sure how it's going to develop. It may be irreverent. Maybe that's a good thing.

I realized if I'm going to contribute to Blackbirds Third Flight, I need to get everything written, revised, and approved before early April. That doesn't give me much time. To fit Mr. L's schedule of going to the New Braunfels Swap Meet at the end of the month, I need to have my knee done on April 12th (It's a long walk home from the hospital otherwise).  Since I know I won't be worth a darn for writing for several months afterward, all my BTF work must be done before then.

Decluttering efforts have slowly been paying off. You may recall how much clutter there was in this area on prior photos. I need to vacuum the rug, but I don't want to freak out the cats.

Have a wonderful week.

Looking Up

Mr. L is back on his feet and not taking as much of my time now that he's feeling better. If he'd been bedridden, I could have understood the time suck, but a zombie-like man sitting behind you and droning on and on about how he can't sleep and how he feels so terrible, and how he's going to go back to bed (but then he sits there for an hour and falls asleep in the chair) really kills any productivity for anything.

I've conducted an unscientific survey this week for Goldfish cracker substitutes. Neither Annie's Homegrown Cheddar Bunnies nor Great Value Penguins are competitive for flavor and texture to Goldfish crackers. Thought I'd save you the time and effort if you were curious.

I am completely off for writing and revising. I have, however, been building an followup series in Aweber for essential oils. It's 20+ messages going out over an extended period of time designed to teach about essential oils (geared for the absolute newbie). I'm going to need to create a checklist for things to make sure each message has before I finalize it. (Logo, signature, link to join, etc)

We're back to working with socializing Sapphire. I had to use gloves to get her out of the cage and tuck her under my sweatshirt yesterday, but once she was there, she snuggled in for a couple hours. Today, I used the gloves, but didn't really need them to peel her off the top of the cage. She snuggled under my sweatshirt, and, after three hours, she was purring. She was much more relaxed today. We're keeping this up until kitty surrenders and lets us approach her. She wants out of the cage. We want her out of the cage, and she's going to learn the way out is via the human. Rossie understands that. Sapphire will get there.

The week ahead:

• Write more followup series posts.
• Get back on track for writing and revising
• Continue working with the cats.

A listing report

As I shared last week, I started making lists again in an attempt to make my life more productive at least in the sense of things you can do that work on a list. For instance, listing that you want a happier life is a good goal, but hard to cross off when completed. If you follow me.

Thus my list contains items I can complete in a day, maybe in a hour or two or less. Mostly less. Nothing terribly exciting: making my bed, doing laundry, dusting, washing dishes, vacuuming, writing a page or two on my various projects, making birthday cards, and so on.

So far, so good. I'm getting things done. Getting out of bed. Moving. Movement is life, as the physical therapists say. The idea behind lists and schedules to give that movement meaning. To have a purpose behind the activity.

This week I should get the results from all the medical tests I took last week. Hoping for a good outcome. I'll let you know when I know.

How are things going for you? We've barely started 2016. Don't be discouraged if you've already slipped. Although we make a big deal about New Year's Day, that's just hype. You can start anew every day. Every morning is a new chance. That old cliche -- "Today is the first day of the rest of your life" -- isn't a cliche because it's not true. It's true. The trick is to remember to start anew and do better.

Anyway, I'll close now. Have a great week!

Tail end Charlie

It seems I'm the last to post this year. I looked back and realized it's been 2 months, but it would have been the same old litany: Company coming, working, not writing, overwhelmed. That seems to have been my word for 2015. Like all of you, I'm glad to see the end of that year. It wasn't all bad, certainly. There was a lot of growth.

I'm not sure what to think about 2016. The last two years have been so chaotic I'm afraid to wonder. Surely things will settle down long enough to get into a rut at some point, won't it? I'm beginning to think not even as I hope so.

I am looking forward to writing more this year, and I'm already planning what I'm going to plant in the back yard. I'm going to plant asparagus for sure, just as soon as I can. I won't get a harvest this year, but I could have planted it at the last house, and I didn't, and I'm still kicking myself. I'm also looking forward to having one house again, with all my junk in it. Well, the junk I'm keeping. I expect I'll have to store some things for the kids off-site. I think I'm going to have Vicky find something on her side of the river for her things. The people who own the place where we're storing now are as nice as they can be, but the facility isn't great. I think the roof is leaking, and I've got books and pictures in there. It's served the purpose, and it's almost over, thank goodness.

We leave for Florida in three days. Eric finally has vacation time, so he's going with me this year, and we're going to camp beside Dad and Linda instead of me camping with them. My house is a wreck with gear everywhere, but it will go out to the van tomorrow, probably. We had to reconstruct part of our camp bed, but that's squared away after two trips to Home Depot. It's such a bother not to have everything in one place. I left some tent poles in storage that we need, but Dad said they weren't that good anyway, so we'll make new ones when we get there. He's forgotten important things in the past, so this is no big deal to him. It's going to be fun. Maybe I'll get to tell some stories, but frankly, if I only tell them to Dad and Linda, that will be fine. It will be good to unplug for a while, read a book, visit with family and friends. There's always shopping down there. Try not to miss me too much while I'm away. We are shooting for being back the 25th.

2016 Getting Started But Same Stuff

It's a new year, but like Stephen, I'm continuing my efforts begun during 2015. I'm working toward a couple of specific goals -- harmony with Mr. L, true health, and recognition for creative expression. A few other things have wormed their way in. At least one thing that needs to leave I have not taken the steps to make sure that happens.

I had not realized how disruptive to planning and executing repeated trips to San Antonio would be. I'm not even sure how to schedule a dentist appointment, because everything revolves around the trip to San Antonio. Ordering packages is a challenge, because I have to try to calculate if they'll be delivered while we're gone. Do we take all the cats or just a couple? We gambled on just taking two last week, and when we got home on Thursday, the towers only had crumbs remaining. Thankfully, they hadn't toppled the water tower.

Then there was the cat bite. Poor Rossie. My hand is responding well to the antibiotics and is going to be fine. Despite feeling ill since last Wednesday, I've accomplished a surprising number of chores.

For the week ahead, Mr. L provides a blood draw and visits his primary doctor, which means we'll be hitting the road for SA on Wednesday with the plan to return on Thursday. I have some errand work on Monday, a webinar on Monday night, and, in theory, plenty of time to write and revise, but I have so much to do around the house as well. It's bizarre, but I think I'm going to need to schedule it to fit it all in. I shouldn't have to, but I'm not getting it done otherwise.

Listing in 2016

And now we face a new year. 2016. I thought about doing a post about 2015 and looking at my successes and failures, but frankly, I don't care. 2015 is done. Glad it's done. Looking forward to what comes next.

This week, I go for another diabetes checkup. I'm both looking forward to it and dreading it. I think I'm doing better -- in fact, I'm sure I am -- but whether or not I'm doing as well as my doctors would like, I don't know. If not, it may mean new meds or a new diet or whatever. It's always worrisome. Well, it will take place, and I will adapt, come what may.

No real New Year's Resolutions. Just usual: Write more, get my weight under control, control my diabetes better, publish a couple of books, etc.

I am making lists again. I hadn't for a while. I let the depression pull me down and take my will and productivity. Going to work on that. And make lists again. They motivate me. I need motivation. And maybe a good kick in the pants sometimes.

Anyway, here we are at the beginning of a new year. Got your snacks? Got your playlist? Okay, then. Let's get this trip started!

Welcome to a new, brighter new year. Hopefully.

Hey, everyone.

I know I've been scarce, and I apologize. I'd like to say it'll get better, but, honestly, it'll probably be rare and random for quite a while longer.

Depression during the holiday season is always awful for me. I have a lot of built up anger, resentment, and fear tangled up with Christmas, plus all the regular holiday stressors. This year seems worse than most years, but maybe it's just my imagination. I dunno.

Other than facebook posts, the very few blog posts, some to-do & grocery lists, and checks to pay bills, I've written two things this year: A GhoulBane graphic novel, and a Lars-faces-wereboar (like a werewolf, only a boar) graphic novel. I've made virtually no progress on any novels or other standard narrative since SPORE, which I wrote in 2011.

Some writer, huh?

Most days, my brain is a tangled up mess and I cry quite a lot. Pretty much daily. I try not to let it show, but, well... A person can't hide everything. The one thing I tried to sew for a Chistmas present I completely boogered up, so much it was unrepairable.

It melted. Literally melted. Ten hours worth of machine embroidery, totally destroyed. I cried for two hours and haven't sewn a thing since, except to repair a pair of my granddaughter's pants. Took two seconds to sew a few inches of unraveled seam, and I turned the machine right back off.

I'm trying to get my day organized, trying to get my head organized. I've been using a planner for a little more than a month now, and it seems to be helping. Some. I'm scheduling tasks ahead of time. I have an interview, a questionnaire, and three chapters to read for a friend this weekend listed in my planner. I've scheduled an exercise day. I've scheduled housework.

It seems to be helping me.

I don't know what else to do.

{{hugs}}