Spoiled brat.
Glory Bee, waiting to be milked. I tried to tell her the time changed and I’m really not late if it was yesterday. Right?
Several people have asked about Rodney. I don’t like to go into a ton of detail for the sake of his privacy, but I can give you an update, and thank you for asking! Some of you may remember that in June of last year he had a very bad vehicle accident while driving a work truck. He was in ICU for a week, and in total, was in the hospital for over a month. That incident, and subsequent recovery, explains a lot of my absence here. I was at the hospital every single day, and since he got out of the hospital, there have been a lot of doctor visits and therapy appointments, and so on. Needless to say, this was the most important thing in my life. Taking care of him, and helping him to recover. Almost nine months later, while his life will never be exactly the same as before the accident, he is certainly doing better. He’s walking, getting around, etc. He hasn’t been able to go back to work, but fortunately has been well taken care of by workers comp.
It was definitely a life-changing accident in a lot of ways, for both of us. It was hard for me to find time to squeeze in work, for a long time, much less anything else. Then just as things began settling down, the holidays and mass orders hit. I was working ’round the clock. As this early spring comes on, things are finally settling down all around. Etsy does keep busy all the time (thank goodness! visit my shop!), and I’ve been milking Glory Bee these days and starting to enjoy actual free time. I hadn’t had any free time in so long, I didn’t know what to do with it, but it seemed like a good time to rest. I decided to learn how to sit down and do nothing, at least on the weekends when I’m not baking and shipping.
I figured out how to use Netflix (I know, I’m so behind the times because I’ve hardly ever had time to watch TV for years) and forced myself to start binge watching just to keep my feet off the floor. I watched all the Grace & Frankie seasons then Rodney and I discovered Longmire and watched every season of that. I told Morgan I’d watched an entire series in three weeks and she said, “Three weeks to finish a series is weak sauce, mom. You gotta finish it in under week if you want to keep up with the millenials.” She was not impressed! That was a lot of TV for me, though. Then we watched all of Hell on Wheels in two weeks. Though I think I still can’t keep up with millennial-style binge watching, I’m doing better at doing nothing. By the way, I highly recommend all three of those shows–very binge-worthy–and if you have any to recommend, let me know!
Eventually, though, I decided it was time to get off the couch. And back to the computer. Find out if I still knew how to write. A few other quick updates—Morgan will graduate this spring with degrees in English and History, and has been accepted into the direct-admit PhD program (in History) at WVU. (She is such a smartypants!) Ross is still going to WVU, too, and Weston gets out of the Army in two months, yay!!! I’m not sure where he’s going, but he will also be going back to college. Thank you for asking about them, also!
There are other changes I’ll be writing about soon. Another reason for my increasing absence here has been my Too Many Jobs problem. Several years ago I added workshops in addition to writing. Then I added my Etsy shop job. How many jobs can one person do (and do well)? Not three, I’m pretty sure. Last summer and fall, in particular, it became very difficult to keep up. Something had to go. With orders pouring in, workshops already scheduled, and a crucial need for my time and attention at home with Rodney, writing was what had to go. While things have settled down in that situation as his recovery has gone on, we made a number of decisions about our life together and our future. A life-altering event tends to help you re-evaluate everything, you know? While I may offer workshops again, either private workshops or regular scheduled ones, for now, I’ve decided to set workshops aside to focus on my Etsy shop and get back to writing. I need to cut down the number of jobs I’m trying to work in order to give my best to the jobs I choose to continue. Through all this, and nearly losing someone I love, I also was reminded that it’s important to leave yourself some time in your life to just enjoy it. Life can change in an instant. Take time to binge watch with the one you love.
Meanwhile, I’d really like to be a writer again!
