It's been well over a year and a half since I have posted, and it's for predictable reasons: I got a new job in early 2022. And I realized I was never going to Make It as a professional food writer or blogger so I just stopped trying.
But I still pay for my URL and some blog plug-ins, it's always good to keep my minimal WordPress skills up to par, and I just like having an outlet in which to write randomly. So I am going to plan to start blogging again, but with some changes. It's nice to have a chronicle of my life to look back on and remember what happened throughout a year.
I won't have a set schedule, or a niche topic of "food". I am returning to 2010s style, where I write what I want, without considering SEO or marketability. I also won't have styled photos, any that appear will likely just be iPhone snaps since I haven't used my mirrorless camera since early 2022 earlier, oops. I had meant to keep up with learning to use it but it too, fell to the wayside when I didn't have a pressing need to haul it out and set it up and remember what all of the numbers and buttons meant simultaneously.
So what's been going on the past year and a half?
Work
I have a job I really enjoy doing, with supportive people, and it's consistent with the challenges to still learn and adapt because technology always moved forward. It's 100% remote, and was long before covid changed things so there is no fear of being made to return to the office. In fact, I don't know of any coworkers who live in South Carolina, much less Columbia! I got the job through a fellow blogger, who I will be grateful to forever.
We do keep having to learn new tools, which is annoying because I like getting into my grooves, but it is good to have to learn new software. For once in my life, I feel totally settled in my career and am not waiting to make the next move. Joke's on me though, because now I have a slight undercurrent of fear about being laid off even though there's no signs pointing that direction at all.
Writing
I freelance a lot less these days and only take on a few assignments that I really want to from editors I enjoy working with. The reason for this is because I get paid more at my day job, and because I am focusing on writing novels.
Yes, I have written one 73,000 novel that I am querying(ish) to publishers in hopes of gaining an agent. I am also working(ish) on a second one. Getting into the habit, the burning need to write daily(ish) is part of what brings me back here. I get really into my novel writing in the cold months, but once it warms up, I'd rather lay outside and read, or take walks, instead of tapping onto the computer.
If you are an agent and want to know more about my novels, I will tell you everything, or the exact amount you want to know.
Home
In 2022 we had both bathrooms re-done. The full bath was done in April, and the half bath was done in December. I figured why not go ahead and have the same crew do it, before material and labor prices went up as time crept on?
This is the full:
And this is the half:
As you can tell, I do not care about the HGTV-ification of people's tastes and go for the exact colors I want with no thought about re-sale or changing tastes. I do not plan to move, ever, until I am orphaned and widowed, then it'll be time to move to the Cayman Islands to read books, write books, work out, and lay under an umbrella on the beach.
People and Creatures
Generally, everyone in my life is fine. Radar is 15 and a quarter and is having trouble walking, but not to much yet that she doesn't follow me around the house incessantly with her toenails drag-scraping the floor beneath her.
Cherry Pie is on Prozac but I don't know how much it is helping with her Jack Russel-y anxiety. She needs $1000+ worth of dental work done, but I will get it done later this summer.
Meatloaf continues to love going for walks but with it being July, we have to adjust and walk in the mornings sometimes, or after rain cools it to a balmy 83 degrees. I took her to a pet store's washing station this weekend to give her a bath and she was not pleased but she did get a treat afterwards.
Patrick is good, he also has a great work-from-home job, and we celebrated 14 years married, 17 together this past May.
And I have started doing intense pilates classes on the Megaformer machine (the Lagree method?). I honestly don't know what to call it. But I somehow freaking love it. I go 2-3 times a week, and it's my new third place. I feel incredibly strong, lean, and like I could tear someone in half, all without the devastating impact on the joints like you can get from running. The impact is on my bank account, because memberships there are NOT cheap.
Travel
How about this? I finally went across the Atlantic! In April, I traveled to Nuremberg, Germany to visit Summer. I flew by myself and had an incredible time. I will have to write a whole post on it soon.
I also went to Baltimore in June and loved it, plus my usual spring trip to Savannah. I went to Sullivan's Island for a day trip the other week, and want to try to do that a few more times this summer but it's that time of year where it is triple digit blazing hot. I prefer my beach days to top out at 90 degrees, thank you very much.
That's all for now, if I have any readers left still, thanks for not removing me from your Feedly reader and/or clicking on the social media post link I shared to guide you here.