It's almost Christmas and I have the blues.

It's almost Christmas and I have the blues. Dark, gloomy, in an apartment, my youngest kid moved out and in the Air force, won't be home for Christmas. Sigh.

At least my house is going to be beautiful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQBFjCF3eQw

We're bringing our goats...home. Ish. Closer, anyway. We decided it was too risky to keep them on the property, no matter how well fenced, so they'll be with someone from church who's previously had goats. We cleaned up the pasture last weekend, stashed some alfalfa and straw, minerals, etc, and now we'll fetch our critters. Three goats in dog kennels in a minivan, one of them a young (not too smelly yet) buck. I'm sure it will go completely smooth...

We're excited, can't wait to have critters to care for. We're also looking at ordering a hundred trees to border our property, and we saved enough wood from the framing to easily make a chicken coop. Spring chicks! Garden! A puppy!

The returning of the light and dawn of the new year are cheery thoughts, and we have a lot to look forward to. At lot will happen over the next few months, and I can't wait for 2020!

Meanwhile, I'm going to keep poking at my frost giant story, turn on Christmas music, and possibly bake some cookies. I hear butter is good for warding off the blues...

new hobby: YouTube uploads

Writing is going, slooowly. Also, we're going stir crazy in this apartment. Thus, we've started a new hobby: YouTube uploads. We're chronicling the house construction, our adventures with goats and whatever crazy schemes a bored creative mind comes up with. My husband has endured the wackiness for years, and now it's time to share. Enjoy!

House foundation, foggy day: https://youtu.be/wWf3TOx4jQM
Our dwarf Nigerian goats: https://youtu.be/648TjryZs54

Frost Giants, Greenleaf Snow Angel Plum

Next Convergence book will feature frost giants in North Dakota. No release date yet, but about 30,000 words in, aiming for 75,000...maybe. 60 pgs so far. Doesn't have title yet, so calling it Greenleaf Snow Angel Plum...because calling it "latest book" isn't cool when you have several half finished works.

Working at last

So...I'm writing things. That's all I've got to say about it right now.

I never understood writer's block until the last few years. Maybe they should call it stress block. Turns out one can't get sick/repeatedly injured/home school/plan wedding/sell house/build house and keep on rolling. Nice thought, but no.

The good news is that once everyone is married off, in boot camp and employed, life settles down. One learns to breath again. It's no longer crisis mode 24/7, and creativity starts to trickle back. Me time becomes a thing again.

My health is good, I have a dog that ensures I climb 3 flights of stairs a minimum of six times a day to keep me fit, a farmer's market outside the apartment two days a week with fresh, healthy veggies, and much less stress.

Everything's going to be okay.

Lost fan mail

 Between sharing a laptop and moving, I think I lost some fan mail in the last few weeks. If you haven't heard from me, I'm not being mean. Please, resend and I'll get back to you.

Apartment life

Moved into an apartment. Decided to ditch camper idea; this is more comfortable.

Crammed a house worth of stuff into storage and a 3rd story apt, no elevator. My shoulder's still recovering, but kids and friends were big help.

Pollen and smoke started, but I'm setting up my desk so I can work. Books to write!

Moving shortly

We're moving at the end of the month, which is both wonderful and a terrible amount of work. Sooo much paperwork! We're having a house built on 10 acres, but meanwhile we'll spend a couple of weeks in an apartment, then move into a camper, soon to be parked on the land until fall, when the house will be hopefully complete. It will be just us and our eldest son, since our daughter's married and the youngest is off to air force boot camp shortly.

Castle had to go back to the breeder; another painful thing. The transition was just too hard on him, and it was the only fair thing to do. Sometimes it's like that, especially with Aussies, but it still hurt. The whole family is grieving. We'll try again with a puppy when we're settled, probably a golden retriever.

Pollen is lame, but other than giving my a headache for a couple of days and general fuzzy brain, it's not too bad.

I'm packing, survival crocheting/stress knitting.

So, I don't have a book. I have the start of one, will work on it as I can. Should be an interesting summer.

Castle

This is Castle. He'll be 2 in May. It's fair to say he saved my writing.

My imagination, which had been supercharged my whole life, faded over the last year. I thought it was stress (teenager with senioritis). I couldn't even look at the computer, unless it was news or Pintrest. I was just going to look at dogs, make a connection with a breeder and maybe get a puppy in the fall. It's an awkward time, as we're selling our house and plan to live in an RV until our new house is built. Besides, we already have a terrier mix, Buck. Don't be greedy, right?

Castle was available. He was the pick of the litter, a show dog...until he lost two front teeth to a bone. His owners loved him, but they're professional breeders and they have a responsibility to their business. They let us adopt him.

Two days later, not only am I sleeping better than I have in a long while, I'm writing. It's a Convergence book, from scratch, and involves ice giants. I thought I was broken, thought about finding a day job. Turns out, I was mourning my Aussie Jack, who we'd lost last year.

Castle isn't Jack, but he filled the Aussie shaped hole in my heart. He's the grace I didn't know I needed, a shy, goofy bundle of love that refuses to let me mope. He's also crazy pretty, with a gait like poetry in motion. I'm so grateful he's mine.❤