Face the Future Storms
The cat, for some strange reason known only to herself, is in the bathtub. It's not for water - the tub should be dry from last night, and although Texas apartments have this weird feature where the AC drains into the tub, the AC isn't running and won't be for a while. I have no idea. Sometimes I can read her tiny furry mind. Like when she wants me to open the balcony door. That's pretty clear, she does everything but point, while she's weaving through my legs of a morning as I try to prepare for the day. If I have time, and it's not pouring cold rain like it has been, I'll let her go smell all the things. I keep reminding her she's going to have to share with a dog again, and she keeps looking at me like 'I thought we ditched the dog? What dog?'
Speaking of the dog joining us, that may or may not happen by Thanksgiving. The house had a closing date of November 9, but the buyer's appraiser couldn't get his act together, so it got bumped up to November 13 instead. Lesson learned for the next house sale: put NO FHA in the listing. Future Cedar, you can thank me later. It's a massive PITA. Also, for those of you who have never bought a house: it goes much more smoothly if you do your research ahead of time, prepare all your documents, and go through the pre-approval phase so everyone is on the same page. Trying to pull it together after you've put an offer on a home is just annoying to everyone involved.
If this sale falls through - and I am not sanguine about it - then we are back to square one. It starts to get really hairy about then, too. Which is part of why I've been so quiet here on the blog. I'm dealing with anxiety and that means I have very little brain left, much less capacity to be relentlessly cheerful. But I need to be. And I was reminded of that recently. I need to find a routine, get in it, and square my shoulders against the storm. No matter what comes, we are in a good place, and there is much capacity for improvement, but I can handle this. I have the ability to manage it, no matter what it is. I've been through worse and had less resources to deal.
First thing I'm going to do is finish up this story and tie the loose ends on the anthology. Can't Go Home Again is coming out in time for Christmas. I've sent out all the acceptance letters, I'm working on editing. I have a cover image in mind, need to finish that up and shoot it off to the authors for review.
After that, I'm going back to the Friday live chats. You can subscribe to my channel and click the notification bell, or you can set an alarm for 5:55 pm Central Time and I'll go live at 6 pm. Be there, or be square. More news then. Topics for discussion always welcome.
Oh! And I have the boxful of author copies of Adventure Stories for Young Readers in hand, as it turned up yesterday. So if you were looking for a Christmas gift for young friend or family member, this is a good book for that! If you have already read it, please leave a review. The authors always need encouragement.
I should know. Am author. Need encouraging.
(header image is not the current cat, but little Wendy from years ago)