I haven’t posted here since July! That’s banana pants! To be fair, life has been super busy, and I’m so glad it’s Friday, even though this coming weekend is super busy as well! I’m fueled a bit on caffeine, so I might as well post.

So much has happened! 

Adam and I had our ten year wedding anniversary. Like WHAT?? Can you believe it? First of all, I can’t believe I’ve even been in Chicago for ten years, let alone that we’ve been married that long. But then I look back at all the stuff that’s happened, and well, yep. Indeed it has been ten years. I mean, the proof is in the teenager that my Aidan has become:

I KNOW!

He’s going to be old enough to drive on his next birthday. Which is in 23 days. HOW IN THE HELL

Anyway.

August and September were slow and relaxing. I spent an extra long summer with Aidan. His best friend spend 9 days with us and that was fun. WeE went to the Wisconsin State Fair and really just hung out. But as soon as Aidan went back to Ohio, things started really picking up here!

I knew it was time to kick the job search into gear, but the job search found me! I started getting contacted by recruiters and interviewing. I had a feeling things were about to turn around, so I high-tailed it out to Ohio to spend time with my mommy before things got too wild.

It was fun! I got to see Mommy and spoil her, and I got a bonus visit with my Buttercup Jennifer, who was in Cleveland for some exciting stuff of her own!

While I was there, I got a call that I’d been offered a temp job, lasting through Dec 31, starting that next Monday! So I had to run around and do pre-job paperwork and drug tests during my week, which wasn’t as relaxing, but the facials and mani-pedis and yummy lunch with Jennifer made up for it!

When I got back to Chicago, I had one day to recombobulate myself (not sure that’s ever actually happened tbh) before I was thrust back into the working world. Not only that, but back in an office. That meant commuting and long days and totally rearranging my schedule.

Commuting downtown, when you already live so close, is a nightmare. The trains are almost always packed, and some days I had to let 2 or 3 go by before I could get on. And even though the office was maybe 3 miles from where I lived, I had to leave an hour before I needed to start because of commuting headaches. And getting squished in the morning is not fun at all.

After a few weeks at the temp job, another recruiter reached out to me. A job more in line with my skills, paid more, and had a REVERSE commute. Temp to perm. I ended up landing that gig and I’m there now, and so far I really, really like it. First of all, the commute is so much better. I get on the train going AWAY from the city, and I always get a seat, sometimes one to myself the entire ride. No squishing. A shuttle takes me from the train station to the office, and my desk is in a quad right by the windows, so a lot of natural light! Second of all, the people there are great. I realize I’m still in the honeymoon period, but everyone seems to share my sense of humor and seems to respect each other and our/their work. Plus they’re fun. Next week is Spirit Week. We are to decorate our desks, wear holiday PJs, and party, party party. I can get behind this. We work hard and play hard, but the hard work isn’t overwhelming (at least not yet). I’m happy I made the switch.

In between all that, I traveled to YALLFEST, a teen book festival that takes place in South Carolina, and I got to hang out with some really amazing writer friends!

But it’s fall, and fall is B U S Y. Freelance, plus full time job with an even longer (albeit way more relaxing) commute, and well, a lot of work on the BIGGEST THING to happen since I last posted:

For those of you who follow me on social media (twitter and instagram), this is not new information! But it’s still exciting (to me) and I’m learning and experiencing so much! It’s amazing, and it feels like home!

The book has a publication date of November 12, 2019, and it even has its own Goodreads page! Give it an add, will ya?

It blows my mind that something I worked so hard on for so long is finally going to get to be out there. It’s scary and exciting and incredible and I am loving all of it, even the hard stuff. My editor is incredible and fierce and so cool, and I feel very supported by her. 

I’m going to be an author!!!!! 😭

So in between all of the other stuff, I’ve been working on edits, doing all sorts of cool author stuff, and yeah. Just really enjoying the journey. Working really hard. I’m tired a lot. I spent spring and summer playing The Sims. Now I might hop on once a week. I’m too tired to spend a lot of time with it, and I don’t have a lot of time anymore. I miss it.

(Let’s not talk about all the laundry I need to put away and the suitcases I haven’t unpacked…eeek.)

I do plan to keep this blog open, but I don’t know how often I’ll be updating it. For my PROFESSIONAL AUTHOR STUFF (omg), I am about to launch my official author site (click the banner!):

Eeeeeeee!

So yeah, that’s a bit why I haven’t been posting as much! Lots going on in my world, and I’m happy for all of it. (Especially since Mercury Retrograde is over!)

What’s going on with you?