Another Year Older

It’s that time of year again when the acceleration of time once again slaps me in the face. My birthday last year was in the midst of the crazy to get everything packed into two small trucks to drive across country with all our belongings. It had already been a series of long, difficult years with little time for anything other than studying and working, so the move compounded all the stress. A year on, and I finally feel like I’m a crocus in spring, carefully poking my head out of the hibernation of just surviving into the sunshine of an interesting world. I’ve had the joy of discovering our back porch is an idyllic place to recline and watch birds dive-bomb each other while the clouds scud by. For the first time in ages, I could take a weekend for myself and stay up until 4am finishing a book that caught my fancy without worrying about crunching for a deadline because of it.

In other words… I’m a kid again. Indulging my bookaholic tendencies and finding more time for zen togetherness and happy cuddles.

Of course, that means I’m shirking my manuscripts… Though today I had an idea for how to handle my revisions that was more energizing than daunting, so maybe I’ll get on track soon. I’ve said it often enough that it rings hollow to me, but in the wake of a weekend with a massage and facial… my brain is starting to feel uncramped enough to kick into writing. Plus, I found a BuzzFeed post with happy-making doggie gifs that still makes me smile.

We also had a great week of walking: Every night, at least two miles, for a total of 14.7 miles. Of course, part of that was driven by the fact that our youngest pup (now 9.5 months) started her first heat cycle… meaning we couldn’t take them for their normal burn-off-the-excess-steam day at Affectionate… and KouKi spent several nights waking us at 2-hour intervals to see whether it was finally time to GO! Without at least some kind of work-out… I think we would count more than a rug, some toys, and two of our recliners as “creatively rearranged” by teenaged naughtiness. Our at-home date night was watching another episode of Sherlock and having the minor epiphany that I may have the heart of a mystery writer buried in my paranormal/urban fantasy inclinations. Which went hand in hand with my brainwave today about revisions.

I also get a day off tomorrow and am really looking forward to one of my birthday presents. Hubs has written me a song and has been hard at work polishing a mini-concert just for me. Since he’s played to hundreds before (and this week found an archived article in the Washington Post about his band), this is no small thing… and is another step closer to the recording I’ve requested. I’m blessed with someone who values creativity as much as I do, has the talent to create a ballad for me–and more, WANTS to do so. He found a list of 45 life lesson quotes this week that included the admonishment to recognize that EVERY day is special. I’m happy to say we have found that path together.

With all his plans for celebration, we’ll see whether I find time to be productive, though I’d really like to support Malala’s #booksnotbullets campaign with a review this week in any case. In the meantime, the other ROW80ers are documenting their progress, and I’ll be back next week once again to share mine.