Week Ending 1/14

 After a busy week last week, this week has been fairly quiet. Huddled in today, avoiding the cold.

This week was mostly dedicated to working on Raven's Apprentice, my new simlit story. The Prologue and Chapter 1 are already up and two more chapters are drafted and ready to go up next week. Actually, it's been really fun to work on.

So, yeah, did some writing, a little painting, played a game of Age of Sigmar with D. Oh, and I watched some of the "new" Doctor Who. OK, I'm several years behind on that series. Overall, I don't like it. I did like it, but they lost me during the Peter Capaldi years... which is a pity because I think Peter Capaldi would have made a great Doctor. I have no idea who they had him playing instead or why. I have been enjoying Jodie Whittaker's Doctor, though, now that I've seen more of her. I'm hoping to work my way around to watching the new specials from the holidays and see the new, new Doctor.

Like I said, quiet week.

Onwards

Week Ending 1/7

Well, it's been a busy week...

Let me get the big news out of the way first. My mom got the results back from her doctor, for the testing they did after the cancer surgery. Things are, to quote the pathologist - EXCELLENT (and yes, I am told they did use all caps).  There is no need for more surgery, no need for chemo, no need for radiation. More, she is just plain feeling better. 

So, yeah... that's a huge sigh of relief for all of us. 

In less exciting, but still welcome, news, I got a call from my lawyer. We won our appeal. The insurance company will once more pay up. My lawyer is thrilled (and not just because he gets paid). 

Now, consider this... my lawyer copied me on the appeal letter and it's dated 12/20. Even if it reached them quickly, the insurance company didn't really have it until 12/21. That's the Thursday before the holiday weekend. Now, assuming that anyone with authority had the vacation time it's unlikely anyone even looked at the appeal until Wednesday 12/27. They sent my lawyer the response on 1/3. So, the entire decision process was, at most, three days. Probably less.

People I cannot stress this enough. If you are being jerked around by disability insurance, get a lawyer and appeal everything. Yeah, the lawyer gets a cut, but 2/3 of your benefits is a lot better than 0. The insurance companies count on you being too sick, too frustrated and too confused to actually fight back. Like any schoolyard bully, if you stand up to them, they will back down... and it never hurts to have a tough kid standing up with you. 

Third thing... hey, I said it's been a busy week... I went to the dentist.

You may recall, I hate the dentist. I fear the dentist. I avoid the dentist for as long as possible, or longer.

Well, my front teeth have been bothering me to the point when biting wasn't really something I could anymore. I was at the point of cutting sandwiches into small pieces so I didn't have to use my front teeth to bite into them. So, I finally decided to see the dentist... new dentist, by the way (I'd let my teeth fall out before I go back to Smile Center in Huntingburg).

I was good and, when they called me to confirm the appointment I actually didn't back out. When I was exhausted and could leaning heavily on my cane by the time the afternoon appointment came around, I still didn't back out. 

I did, however, tell Juno that I had a Plan - we'd talk to the dentist, get his opinion on what needed to be done and, if was something quick and easy, we'd do it but if it required drilling or real work, we'd make another not-afternoon appointment. 

Well, long story slightly less long, the dentist listened to my story, looked at my teeth, said it was quick and easy... give him 5 minutes... and that was it. Five minutes later, teeth cleaned and feeling 1000x better, I walked out of his office. 

Oh, yeah... fourth thing... I've started writing the next installment of my Wyrd Tales stories. The prologue for The Raven's Apprentice goes up on Wednesday.

So, yeah... big week. 

Onward

Week Ending 12/31

 OK, let's see here...

My mom is recovering from her cancer surgery. Juno, after some adventures of her own, is in Vermont with her. By all reports, mom is doing well. She actually sounds pretty good the few times I've spoken with her. We'll know from the doctors later. (Touch wood.)

Meanwhile, here in the Midwest, D and I are on our own (with the note that Juno provided us with a lot of leftovers, clean clothes and supplies before she left). It's actually proving rather empowering. I've discovered that I can, indeed, cook for myself from time to time. I can even do dishes. D made a supply run a few days ago (we ran out OJ) and he and I did dishes together. He washed, I dried. I had to pull over a chair to sit in, but one can dry dishes while sitting.  All in all, it's nice to know that I can do things, as long as I take it slow and respect my limits.

So that's the news.

I can't help but notice that it's New Years Eve. I've seen a couple of websites that I follow doing Year in Review posts. I thought about that for about 30 seconds... my Year in Review.

I'm not going to do one.

As a student of history, I have a lot of respect for the past. We can learn a lot about ourselves, looking at our history. History has a lot to teach us... good ideas to continue, bad ideas to avoid. I also know that history is seductive. It's easy to get lost in the past... reliving old hurts and imagined glories.

So, today, on the cusp of a new year, I choose not to do that. I choose instead to go...

Onward

Happy Holidays (Week Ending 12/24)

 Well, folks, whatever winter solstice holiday you happen to celebrate, I hope you have a happy one.

That's it for this week. 

Onward

Week Ending 12/17

 It's been an excited week. So exciting that I'm posting a day late, because I was pretty worn out yesterday.

So, let's see... posted the last chapters of Bad Moon Rising, which is exciting. Finished writing it a couple weeks ago, I've found publishing more than one chapter a day to not a great idea. So, happy to have that done and working on ideas for my next SimLit story.

The big excitement, however, is that we've had a guest this week. I don't want to go into too much detail today (on the same principle as it being a bad idea to post your vacation plans on social media) but we've had a family member visiting. 

On a purely personal note, this is really the first time we've had a long-term visitor around the house since I got sick. It's been an interesting experience, if not always a perfect one. I wear out fast and so can't spend as much time with our guest as I would like. Still, it's been so wonderful having them here. It's also been a learning experience for how to deal with my illness in a new situation. 

More on this later, but for now... I'm just really happy to have been able to have them here.

Onward

Week Ending 12/10

 Another week down... 

Let's see. I've finished writing Bad Moon Rising. I have three more chapters to post, which will go up next week. Being done, I've actually been just playing my Sims game for a little bit... partly to set up the next story arc and partly just for the fun of it. So, that's been nice.

Otherwise, it's been a pretty normal up and down week. Some good days, some bad days. I'm still wanting to do too much, it seems. One day in particular, I felt great all morning and got really ambitious... only to hit the wall hard at 11:00 AM. Well, at least I had the brains to stop at that point and rest. 

Yeah, all in all, it's been a week. I'll take it.

Onward.

Week Ending 12/3

 Well, let's see...

I got my COVID booster and flu shot this week and then spent most of the rest of week recovering from those. 

My mom's cancer surgery is scheduled. Juno's going to fly out for it, to help her out. Juno offered to go, even before I asked if she could, and we all love her just a little more for that. I'm stuck here and wouldn't really be able to help anyway. 

Is it odd that I mostly don't feel bad about that? I mean, I would totally fly out if I could, but I can't. It's just a fact, like I can't give my mom a million dollars, a new car and a nice house. It's just not something I'm capable of doing. No point in feeling bad about it.

Finally feeling better today from the whole COVID/flu shot thing. Managed to get some writing in. Bad Moon Rising is coming along nicely.

Still, more than a little worn out. Going to rest a bit. 

Onward