Update and Looking Forward

I was surprised to sit down and look at the calendar today to realize that it has been 3 weeks since my last blog post.  I knew it hadn't been as frequent, but 3 weeks?!  Where did the time go?  I wish I could say I've been off galavanting around the world, tasting exotic foods, and learning new languages.  But sadly, no.

I've been fighting off the mundane challenges that arise closer to home.  Have I ever mentioned that autumn is my least favorite season?  In fact my feeling toward the season is closer to hate.  I am in love with summer.  The sunlight (if they could turn it into a potion, I would drink it).  The green trees (it doesn't matter that I'm allergic to nearly every type of them, I would spend every minute near them if I could).  The warmth (oh, there is nothing else to say except the warmth, it is delicious).  All of it combines to cast this spell on me that makes me believe in magic and hope and beauty and dreams coming true.

Then, autumn comes along and steals it all away.  I get sick.  Right away.  Every single time.  I get better, then a few weeks later I get sick again.  Everything that once seemed possible in the summer seems suddenly agonizingly difficult or downright insurmountable in autumn.

I know it's just a phase, and life can't stand still in summer forever.  As winter nears, I will get over it and adjust to the colder days and the darker nights.  And eventually it will be okay again.  But in the meantime, please don't think I've abandoned my writing or forgotten about you, my dear blog readers.  I am just busy getting by.

And on a more positive note, I wanted to let you all know that I will be going to a 3 day writing conference starting tomorrow and I am so excited.  The mornings will be devoted to writing and the afternoons will have a series of presentations on all sorts of topics relevant to writers.  I just went back and looked at some of my writing on my children's chapter book, and even though it is mostly a jumble of writing that needs to be sorted out, some of it was way better than I remembered it.  It was inspiring to read right before my conference, and gives me a bit of a boost that this is something that I can do.  Even if it is autumn.

Update 11/3/16 @ 1:29 p.m. - Something else amazing!

Just after I published this post, I checked the news and found out something else to be really excited about - the Cubs won the world series!  I have been a Cubs fan since I was a little kid, and I still feel like this might be a dream that is too good to be true.  But there you have it.  Amazing things are happening.