Health: My health is better than ever. Though I've weighed less than I do now (not including my stint as a toddler), it's the first time in my life I've ever suffered through the kind of sustained diet and exercise plan I'm on now. My blood pressure has gone from very high to perfectly normal, my cholesterol has gone from dangerously high to only slightly elevated, I've lost somewhere north of 14 pounds so far, and my Fitbit (thanks, Mike!) has kept me on track to reach or exceed my steps goal for each day.
Home Life: Andy and I recently began our 9th year as homeowners, and while our list of things to do seems to be forever growing, we're both generally very happy with our house and property. Andy's been absolutely driven lately to re-grow the grass on our front lawn, and his efforts are definitely paying off. We recently purchased a new vacuum cleaner, as the one I bought from Target eight years ago never really worked. It took us all eight years to fully admit this, but at least now we have a new one. (We'll un-box it sometime in the next two years.)
Work: All's well at my job. No six-figure salary to speak of, but I love working there, and I'm forever grateful for the free gym and close proximity to my house!
Writing: After writing and publishing five books nonstop since 2013, I took the first seven months of this year off to completely rewrite and re-format my first book from top to bottom. While I kept 75% of the copy the same, I don't think a single line went untouched in one way or another. I commissioned a new cover, added new copy, cleaned up old copy, and just took the time to overhaul the whole damn book in every way possible. It desperately needed a refreshed, improved version of itself, and now, I'm pleased to say, that new edition is live on Amazon.
Vacations, Big and Small: I have four big trips still ahead of me this year: Maryland, Vermont, Florida, and North Carolina. Maryland will just be a weekend trip to visit a close friend and her family, Vermont will be my usual week away in the mountains to fish, read, write, and explore, and North Carolina will be a long weekend away for Thanksgiving, to visit with Andy's parents, aunt, and uncle. Florida, however? Well, that's my big vacation for this year, and it'll be a whole week away in a special land known as The Magic Kingdom. I haven't even been back to the state of Florida in 30 years, so I'm really looking forward to a jam-packed week of adventures with Andy and a few close friends.
ROAR (Random Other Artful Rants):
1) I need a new mattress. My current one is literally hurting me on a daily basis. While the springs have yet to break loose from their prison down below, they're threatening to do so. It's a bumpy, brutal night of unrest each and every night, and I hate it.
2) Every time Andy hears the words "President Trump", his face does this weird collapse maneuver, and he goes from happy and peaceful to shocked and disillusioned in half a second flat. And while I agree with him 100% politically, his facial mechanisms do at least make me smile.
3) My Aunt Jane isn't doing well. We don't talk about it publicly too much, and even mentioning it here gave me pause, but it's just very sad. The woman turns 85 this month, so in many ways, she's blessed. We just wish her dementia wasn't so much of a constant. Her lucid moments are less and less frequent all the time. Please keep her in your prayers.
4) Andy's mom isn't doing so well either. She falls a lot, and she fell again this week. Andy showed me a new picture of her last night that his dad took. She had to have stitches put in around her eye after her most recent fall. I swear to God, the woman was an unstoppable force just a few years ago, but now it's as if she's having trouble all the time.
5) I have a half day at work tomorrow, and I'm off on Monday, so I'm looking forward to a lot of relaxation this weekend. That's more of a rave than a rant, but whatever.
And that's it! If you can, and I know you can, please LIKE my public Facebook page for my writing at this link. I don't care if you end up hiding all the notifications you get from me there, rare though they are, but please just LIKE the page to support me. Many thanks!
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Have a good day!
-Sean
