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

Week Ending 11/26

 Let me say... this week was head and shoulders above last week.

It helps that, being a food lover, I really enjoy Thanksgiving. Juno made us a lovely, moist and delicious turkey with her signature stuffing, fresh homemade rolls (which were so good we're trying to figure out how to make them regularly), a nice salad, terrific gravy... and that on top of the pies (one pecan and one pumpkin) and various other delicious baked good she made the night before. It was fantastic.

Yes, I am thankful for my wonderful wife. 

Of course, living a thousand miles from my nearest relatives is not having to have the storied uncomfortable Thanksgiving dinner with said relatives. That's a good and bad thing, I guess. 

The rest of the week was good too. I'm trying to find ways to sleep better and working on managing my expectations of myself more reasonably. I need to remember my own lessons from the early days of my illness - rest when tired, eat when hungry and, above all, take the wins and don't get hung up on the rest.

I dare say, it's good advice in general. :)

Onward

Week Ending 11/19

This is going to be terse. This week sucks. I'm exhausted and I feel horrible.

The people responsible for coming up with the business of medical billing should die screaming in a fire and then burn in hell.

Cancer sucks. Not me, not my immediate household, but someone I care about deeply. Cancer Fucking Sucks.

I'm exhausted and in pain. 

I am loved. 

There is hope. 

They caught the cancer early. 

Also, The Good Place (2016 comedy series currently on Netflix) is really funny... and the people responsible for coming up with medical billing should totally go to The Bad Place. Still not getting over that one quickly.

Anyway...

Onward