The Race Is On...

Wow, was my last post really in October? Thanks to those of you who nudged me back here. One good friend even used the word verklempt. As in she gets verklempt when I don't blog for a while. I have no idea what that means, but it does not sound good. And so I must write.

I have begun kind of a marathon existence, running from one activity to the next with barely time for mundane things like eating, let along blogging. This life on the run began a few months ago when I started a part-time writing job. Just a few hours a day, enough to get me up and dressed and out of the house every day. Or so I thought. And in theory it should work fine. But I'd literally only been on the job a few days when my Daniel needed that inconvenient emergency surgery. Between the new job, hanging at the hospital, and regular life stuff, there wasn't time for anything else. Once he was healed up, I started this new distraction:



Not the best picture, but as you know, I'm in a hurry. Anyway, when I wasn't at work I was helping my oldest learn to sew this adorable outfit. Yes, I failed as a mother and never got around to teaching her when he was still at home, so it was the least I could do. Awesome slam dunk for a first time sewer wouldn't you say? Yeah, it was ambitious, and kept us busy, but Jen learned a ton and I got to spend all that time with both my girl and grandbaby.

Things should have slowed after that, but two things got in the way. First my book group asked if they could review my book. Not my current one, but my new one, Perfectly Normal. Which of course meant FINISHING it. That was incredible by the way, with rave reviews, so watch for news on that. Working on the book took every spare second, at least it would have if it weren't for Thanksgiving.

This was possibly my last chance in a long time to get all the kids together, so we decided to spent the holiday at a cabin. And that meant gathering food, including a holiday feast, for over a dozen people. And even though I had a couple of weeks to put it all together, it still seemed like a marathon getting us all there.

During all this rush, rush, rush, I kept thinking that I could blog about all these great things while sitting by a fire at the cabin. First though, I did this:




That's me at the top of the hill, and again near the middle with my hubby, trying not to wet my pants. Good, good times. Oh the blog posts I had planned. They were hysterical.

But then this happened a few minutes later:



I stepped into the cabin for just a few minutes. Just a few. And when I came out they were in the trees. Stupid, stupid trees. We are so very happy she is alive. The collarbone is broken, and you can see the face. The worst part is that she's in the final weeks of her first semester of college. She is back at school as of today, but hurting like crazy.

Which leads me to my next activity...surgery!!! For me!!! Just two days away. A coconut-ectomy. Basically just preparing me for the real reconstruction in a couple of months. And honestly, I'm looking forward to the forced rest. Not to mention losing the coconuts.

And yes, the medical bills are staggering, both in number and amount. Let me go on record as saying I am so grateful for insurance. We're thinking they may just ask us to move into a hospital wing, to save on paperwork and such.

So there it is, my two-month marathon in a very fast nutshell.

If nothing else, while rushing and running and reminding myself to eat I am constantly reminded of what a rich, and very full life I have. Despite all the stress and pressures of day-to-day, I wouldn't trade a bit of it. (Well, okay I could do without broken collarbones and pancreatitis and cancer. But I'd keep the rest in a heartbeat.)