The first draft of this post began roughly at 10 after 9 p.m. on the 31st while slipping into the most enjoyable, earned bubble bath. Tomorrow I have another treat, too. I promised myself I could read Nice Girls and Other Stories by Cezarija Abartis.

I finished you see. Early even. Is Ellie’s Elephants perfect? No. But it is at the point where (I hope) a copy editor can make sense of it and fix the gaffes that I cannot see.

This draft of EE is so much better than the first, but I could be daft and delusional. I want to talk about this book. It’s so much more than I thought it would be and I love it. Tomorrow, when I transcribe this and add it to my blog, I’m not going to be this happy. I know. All happiness is fleeting and terribly temporary.

I’ve been able to push aside housework and correspondence. I mean Sheila called this evening for a moment and the reason was because she and I hadn’t talked for a while. We haven’t. I know I do make for the lousiest responder to email, but to neglect one of my best friends for weeks when generally I talk to her at least twice a week? Shameful. It’s a good thing Husband and I share a bed so we at least see each other on a daily basis.

There has been a lot of shite going on in the background while I wrapped up this draft. Some I’ve been able to ignore, some I couldn’t. The changing out of the door–once the biggest change going on–is so small in comparison now. Windows, walls, old boyfriends, tomato harvests, wild grape hunts have all converged to be larger issues to thoughtfully consider and attend to. Plus, my beautiful niece is getting married in October. I just received the invitation yesterday and plan to talk to Husband about taking a day off of work to be there.(BTW, all of my nieces are beautiful–I truly lucked out that way.)

Funny how life goes on when you’re ignoring it in a race against a deadline.

So, two weeks from now, I hope to report  that I’ve caught up on at least one aspect of my life, even if it’s just checking in with you and asking how you are doing.

My bubbles are gone. I going to shower off then take a walk out to the pergola and concentrate on being grateful.

Thank you for stopping by!