Cinder, age 8 weeks When I first introduced the kitten to my friend group via pictures and video, it was with the full knowledge that at least one of my friends (Hi Stella!) had torties. (Tortoiseshell cats.) And my first question was, "Are torties like calicos in that they're almost always female?" The immediate response was, "Yes." Which is what I figured, because torties are just the darker versions of calicos, it seems like. The next thing I got was, "Torties have somethi

So this blog post is technically going to be late for the week. (Meaning it'll publish on Sunday, even though I've begun writing on Saturday.) This is because a lot of stuff happened this week, and I have things to share with you. Let us begin with: Coworkers keep having health issues and my time spent at Job 2 has been significantly wonky. It will continue to be wonky throughout the month as more coworkers have requested overlapping time off, meaning the rest of us are scram

Happy Anniversary to me and the bf! Today marks 14 years that we've been together. At this point, we've been together for so long, I barely remember what things were like before him. Not that I want to. This man is, quite genuinely, the love of my life. He's also stuck with me until the day I die. (Yes, I go first. That's the rule.) Now, I'm not typically the public displays of affection via the internet type. Hell, the one and only time I made a very specific anniversary pos

Well, this has been a hell of a week. I don't even remember the beginning of it too well. I just know that on Monday, I'd made the decision that we would go to The Island on Wednesday, as it was basically my only day off this week. (Mackinac Island, for those of you who don't know, is always referred to as The Island in Michigan. We have tons of islands in our lakes, but that's the one that matters most.) I've said this before and I'll say it again: The Island is my favorite

I have officially hit 150 days in my writing streak! (As of Saturday, May 30th.) (Sorely tempted to end this with a 'That is all.' and just post this, lol. Alas, I shall say more...) So far, this is an accomplishment hard won. A lot of nights, I've sacrificed time with my significant other in order to keep myself on task. It's been tough, but mostly rewarding. And I still haven't read all the new books I have! (Though we're getting closer to that Deceptive Inheritance review

Am I maybe, finally, hitting my stride when it comes to Demon Kin: The Lovers?? No. No, I absolutely am not. And I felt so confident when I first wrote that sentence. I was moving things along for the plot. Conflicts with other characters were about to be exacerbated. People were finally going to start dying. I was ready for it. Here for it. Thought I finally found my groove... Life sucks. Work sucks. This has been a shitty, shitty week. I want to fall into a hole and stay th

So I'm just stopping in to say that this has been a not good week. I've been very emotionally/physically burnt out in regards to work. Even the accomplishments I was proud of got overshadowed by the overall stress. Today has given me more stress and worry, so I'm not going to try to be cute and fun in this post. I'm still here. I'm still writing. I had ideas for what to post, and I'll probably start a draft of that, but right now this feels like yet one more thing on my plate

There were many possible topics for this blog post. I thought about 'Vacation's Over, Back To Work' or another Ori Diaries segment. (He was not the best behaved while we were gone.) Or even something to do with the cats. Mostly what I could have done was drown you in images of my trip. (Which I might add to this post at a later date.) I'm not doing any of that. Some of it requires too much effort, and others are just boring. Instead, I'm going to talk about my vacation. Obvio

My friends were supposed to remind me to write this. They failed. Which is fine, because I forgot our last writer date due to working too late. We're even. That said, there's a lot to say and yet almost nothing at all, so I'm diving in. No. Literally. This week is all about scuba diving. At least, it would be if health and equipment failures would stop messing with me. This week, the bf and I are in the Cayman Islands (Cayman Brac) for diving. We went with an awesome group le

Drowning is silent. There are no frantic splashes. No cries for help. There is only the weight of your body. The waves crashing over your head. The current tugging you to the depths. You grow too tired to fight. Your lungs have no air to waste on crying out. Instead you focus on that tiny little gulp you can take between the waves. You try to ignore the exhaustion settling into your bones. You know that the waves will not let you float at the surface, and if you cease fightin