I’ve got the eye of the tiger. My gaze is set firmly northward toward the prizes that I want to achieve in my life. Even though I tend to have low moods that come with being “too serious” or too hard on myself, I love every moment of the fight. I duck beneath the punches of life’s woes: money, illness, lack of time to do whatever I want; parry the tedious strain of my day-job; and grapple with the burden of being bombarded by outside social influences: politics, climate change, and war. All the while, I wipe the sweat from my eyes.

The Road So Far

The new year started off with a bang! I caught Covid-19. Yup. Just me though. Eric was perfectly fine (wtf, how is that fair? 😂). My symptoms were mild and went away after 5 days thanks to the fact that I was double vaccinated and boosted right before Christmas. I quarantined at home for 10 full days per CDC recommendation and came out across that finish line to celebrate by 32nd birthday!

That alone was thrilling! But she ultimately decided to pass on signing the book, which was disappointing. She gave me nice feedback and said that I have a good “voice”. Hearing that makes the rejection worthwhile. I will keep trying to query and keep working on my other books.

Eric and I started house hunting for our second home, an investment property. We settled on a location in Virginia near Shenandoah National Park, not too far from where I was born. The trip took three weeks. There was a lot of wasted time and money, the typical headaches, and more that come with buying a house. There are so many people involved and different factors that need to fall into place. Looking back I’m surprised by how smoothly our primary house went when we closed back in 2020. Still, we own the Virginia house and I couldn’t be more pleased!

I was able to visit my Matron of Honor-to-be since she is living temporarily in D.C. to complete a doctorate. Before that, the last time we were able to see each other was in 2018. She has three children, the eldest of whom will be one of the flower girls at my wedding! It was a lot of fun and I wish we had spent more time together.

I painted three bedrooms in four days at the new house including ceilings. The house has popcorn ceilings, and I have decided that whoever invented popcorn ceilings should be tried in court and hanged (<- obviously using hyperbole and sarcasm here). But seriously, what a horrible idea. We also had to find a slightly smaller than average washer and dryer to install since our laundry doorway was just a tiny bit too small. Then we had to find a part for the dishwasher, although even now closing the door to the unit is difficult to manage. It all worked out, but the time crunch was challenging! Every house is a lot of work, this one seemed to need more than some might and at the same time not as bad as having to completely renovate. We will have to pay contractors to complete the rest of the major work that the house needs. It’s a shame the previous owners did not take care of it very well. They were filthy people, and it took forever to clean. We gave it a good carpet shampooing, scrubbing, dusting, and fresh coat of paint, so the house is starting to look brand new!

To add further complexity to this endeavor, we took Tsuki with us on the trip. She did really well, considering how young she is. It was hard to get her energy out enough, but for the most part, she slept in the car. She saw horses and cows up close for the first time! She also “pointed” for the first time, which her breed is famous for as a hunting/game dog. It’s amazing how instinctual it is! Tsuki is growing so fast. She’s a little over 45 pounds at six months old! Her long coat is starting to fill in, and she’s finally lost all her puppy teeth which has been a relief. We’re working on her commands “come”, “stay”, and “leave it”. And we need to work on training her not to jump on people, which is by far the most arduous task. She is a good dog, if not stubborn. Eric and I need to devote more time to her, but with work and walking her for 2 hours a day that’s all we seem to be ready to do right now.

Now at the start of this, next quarter, I am planning our Kentucky Derby party, a trip back to Virginia, and helping my mom and bridesmaids with my bridal shower. Should be busy as usual and hopefully lots of fun! Eyes on the prize.

What I’ve Been Writing

I have taken a 3 month hiatus from writing, one month longer than I anticipated. I thought I would return to querying The Tower in March, but the trip to Virginia curtailed that notion.

What Else?

I enjoyed the sense of accomplishment from winning the fights, but I’m just not a good enough player to be an asset to the team. Adding to that, it was hard to focus on the fights with Tsuki being young and needing so much attention. Eric did his best to allow me the time I needed, but my game play wasn’t conducive to a good relationship at that point. The team ended up quitting after breaking through the door-boss (part 1) of the last fight. It did not feel good to give up, but ultimately there wasn’t really a choice. With my plans to go to Virginia and everyone else feeling burned out, it was for the best. I will be joining a few of my teammates when they go back and try to complete the series with our more casual friends.

TV show highlights have been two Korean-Dramas from Netflix Hotel Del Luna, Mr. Sunshine and an anime Demon Slayer of which I was able to enjoy the second season now that it was out on Crunchyroll. Hotel Del Luna especially embraces concepts that I have enjoyed reading about in other Japanese manga. I just love the idea of a hotel run by ghosts!

Three Favorite Reads

Next

I plan to resume submitting queries for The Tower to the last 27 agents on my list. My Dad gave me some good publishing links to check out so I will look into those. After that I will return to writing the first draft of the Nine Kingdoms. I think that might take me the entirety of Q2, but if it doesn’t I will continue self-editing The Red String of Fate.

I’ll keep fighting and meeting the daily challenges of living life as a human being on this beautiful blue planet.

Thank you for reading!