Last week I wrote about the misery that was close on my heels. I spent a pretty good amount of time praying, and thanking God for the good things He’d given me. I realized that you need the rain for the crops to grow, and while we don’t like the muddy slough we’ve wandered in while trying to find our ways, that slough is where the floodwaters find the nutrients for the fields we sow.

Is that too poetic? 

Perhaps. But it is indeed what I did for the last week. And eat. Man, I blew out several people’s diets with the amount of great food I consumed. They don’t call it comfort food for nothing.

This week, as I’m writing this on Friday morning, things started to turn around. For one thing, the anniversary of Ed’s death was a pivot point. Once that was in the rear-view mirror things got better. I spent some quality time thinking about the dogs I’ve been blessed to know in my life. Not one of them would have approved of me being down in the dumps, and each of them – including the non-physically-demonstrative Stormy – would have clung to my side and tried to cheer me up if they’d been around.

Now when my phone turns on, or my Facebook page comes up, that picture of Stormy on the opening screen is the source of a smile. Yes, I miss her greatly, and still look for her to be coming around the corner when I sit down in the living room. But it’s not that mournful ache that it was a week ago. Now it’s a wistful smile and a memory of her good heart. I still get the tug at my soul, and the lump in my throat, but I know we’ll meet up all too soon in Heaven.

The last week also brought restoration physically, and the torn/bruised/whatever muscle in my calf has healed. I walked about 3 miles total on Thursday, and had no pain and pulling. Great Scott! I may have learned not to push the envelope when I’m hurt… Then again, maybe not. I’ll resume my long walks Monday and start weight-loading the pack the following week.

The giant hole in the ground next to my house now hosts a basement, and is being filled in while I’m at work today. Mind you, they had to cut another few feet off my property, and there literally isn’t room to push a lawn mower between my air conditioner and the edge of the hole. But it’s not 9 feet deep anymore, and I’m not worried about the house crumbling into the excavation. I also know that in about 2 weeks, give or take a week, the contractor will be putting my landscaping and fence back in place. 

And that leads me right back around to dogs. Once the layer-one barrier is back in place, we can have the rescue people out to inspect the joint and certify us for a new family member. My heart is in serious need of a furry friend. I’m more than optimistic that we’ll find a dog who needs us as much as we need them. 

Also, I’m really writing again after a month-plus of starts and stops. Good stuff, literally taking turns working on the three books that I’ve got in progress. For those of you who were pretty sure I’d never finish the sequel to Assault on Saint Agnes, you should plan on a sequel in the next 6 months. My goal is Christmas, but I’m not going to promise that on my soul. As I’ve discovered in the last month, things can happen that stop you dead in your tracks.

In addition, I’m almost ready to pick up the script and record the next audio book. We’ve not had as many early morning thunderstorms as last year, and I’m going to see if I can start out doing a couple of chapters a week during August. I love doing audio books, and Michael DiMercurio at Crossroad Press has been most patient in giving me time to turn them out.

Finally, I’ve been working on an invention for the last year. It’s gone from a rough idea to a final version, and the final version has now included ruling out alternative designs that would do the same thing but be much harder to manufacture. Included in this progress is the fact that I’ve gone from a single product to an entire product line. Yup, something kicked loose in the creative department after reading a book on inventing. I thought I knew how to think, but the author really opened my eyes to another approach that has benefited me greatly. I’m more than happy to recommend Stephen Key’s book – One Simple Idea, Revised and Expanded Edition: Turn Your Dreams into a Licensing Goldmine While Letting Others Do the Work. 

Thank you all for your notes of concern and encouragement this past week. It has meant a lot to me to know that the readership of this blog is out there cheering me on.