Catching Up

Hey there! It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted anything, and there are reasons for that. Really. So I’m a little catch up on the past 2+ years in a quick post.

It all started in June 2018, when I ran away from home for the month. Okay, in reality, it was a work-related sabbath. But I did kind of run away. I spent most of the month on the road visiting Illinois, Missouri, and Virginia. It was fun seeing family and friends, some whom I hadn’t seen in many years. I also had some time alone. The highlight of that month was probably seeing the Cubs at Wrigley (a bucket list item checked off) and visiting two other never-before visited ballparks in St. Louis and Cincinnati.

Okay… enough about that month…

A month later, I put an offer on a house and closed on it in September. The following two months were busy with home renovations and packing. However… the renovations weren’t done before moving in. I moved in without a toilet. But don’t worry, it was installed the next day. Anyone who has moved into a new house knows how long it takes to unpack all… those… boxes.

Then came 2019…

It seems that 2019 was unmemorable. I suppose that means I have no excuse for not blogging that year. My niece’s family visited one July weekend, and she made fun of my blog schedule. For the first six months, my blog topic was “Slacker month #__”. She thinks she’s funny. But it was a wonderful weekend hanging out with her and her kids. And her husband, too.

The good news is I haven’t neglected my writing. Except for the first 4-6 months after buying the house. Speaking of which, I wrote an essay about my home renovation experience and it was published in the June 2019 issue of Pilcrow & Dagger. It’s entitled, “Homeowner v. Renovation.”

Since then…

I have been diligently working on two short stories, “A Hiking Disaster” and “A Family Love Story”. They’ve been in the works for several years, so it was time to give them a shine and polish for submission. “A Hiking Disaster” is almost ready. But while it’s out with a reader, I’ve turned my focus to a book.

Yes, a book. It’s an untitled murder mystery that’s been in process off and on for 12-15 years. Are you seeing a trend here? I’m slow. This time, though, a friend of mine is pushing me to keep at it. She has threatened to beat me with a wet noodle if I slack off. I have been a good girl and working on it almost every day. In fact…

I stayed up late working on it while watching a Cubs game and had some dreams about murder. Hmm… guess I need to be careful about what I write at midnight.

That’s pretty much about it. I can’t promise anything, but I will try to post book updates as I go along. And who knows? Maybe I’ll even introduce Benji, the main character, to you one day.

Stay safe out there, my friends!