This week starts fall break. Thank goodness! This semester has been a typhoon of survival, and every day, I work to keep my head above water.
I knew it would be hard to return to teaching after 8 years away, so I was prepared to struggle for a bit this semester. The good news is that next semester shouldn’t be nearly as hard because most of my lectures are now written, and I’ve given them at least once.
Unfortunately, I also assumed that my sleep health would be consistently poor (my normal, thanks to narcolepsy) and did not consider that it could actually get worse when we moved to Lafayette. So that was a challenge that made everything much harder, to the point where I was convinced that some days I wasn’t going to make it to the next one.
Yet, somehow, I did. And somehow, I still have ambition, hopes, and dreams for writing and speaking that I refuse to give up on.
Sometimes, I think my life would be a lot easier if I didn’t have such high levels of achievement. But I do, and so I do my best to fit in my ambition, hopes, and dreams between teaching and taking multiple (yes, multiple) naps throughout the day. Yesterday, I took three. I even fell asleep AFTER my cold plunge when I estimated the water was a brisk 39 degrees.
Anyway, here are some of the other things I’ve been doing lately:
I recorded several answers for the Second Nature podcast, and they used one of them in their October 9 podcast, Sustainable Gifting Is Easier (And Cheaper) than You Think.
The whole podcast is worth listening to, especially if you are so tired of giving/receiving gifts that no one wants. My answer comes in at 10:11. You can listen here:
https://open.spotify.com/
I presented one of my favorite topics, The Psychology of Stuff: Why We Have So Much and What We Can Do About It, for Eco-Cycle in Boulder and Urban Villages in Denver.
Both went incredibly well, and I’m delighted we had over 100 attendees for the Eco-Cycle webinar, which you can watch here.
The ebook version of D Is For Doggo is now available on Amazon at $1.99.
I’m hoping that by the end of the week, the softcover book will also be available on Amazon through their print-on-demand service for $9.99. If you haven’t already, please buy a copy! As I’m querying another manuscript to agents over the next few months, some will ask if I’ve ever self-published and what my sales are. I want to be able to give a number that’s not embarrassing.
I’ve been leading a multi-week book discussion on Life In Five Senses for the Norfolk Library. We have readers joining from Connecticut, Colorado, New Jersey, Maryland, and London! It’s a great group, and the book is fascinating and thought-provoking.
I joined a romance trope book club at the Westminster Library. Now that I’m writing more YA and adult romance, I want to read more YA and adult romance. But the sheer volume of this genre completely overwhelmed me. So now I have a great group of avid readers making suggestions, and I’m loving the exposure to different authors, tropes, and subgenres.
And speaking of romance, I’ve entered into a brief (so far) love affair with this cat that shows up in our backyard.
Our lease very clearly states NO CATS, so she can’t come inside, but that doesn’t mean I can’t go outside to visit with Patches. We don’t actually know the cat’s name or if she even has one. But when I sent Heath photos of her that first day and inquired what we should name her, he immediately responded, “Sucker,” because that’s what I was. That name morphed into Patches by way of Sucker to Sourpatch (i.e., another type of candy), and since she’s so very clearly a Patches, that’s what we’re going with. I suspect the love affair will eventually devastate me, but I’m willing to accept that risk at the moment.
Have a wonderful week, everyone! I’m grateful for all the love and support as I navigate this new life of mine.