hey! hello! hi!
Good Lord, has it been almost 2 weeks since I’ve been here? What?!
So, hi! Apologies for my lengthy absence, friends. I’ve been — what’s the saying? — ah, yes, “taking care of business” — around these parts. So much has happened. Let’s catch up:
First, Alex returned to in-person school back in October. Even though the school did offer a virtual option, every single one of her friends were returning, and her high school is tiny, so the risk of being exposed to COVID, while still ever-present, wasn’t as huge as if she went to one of the big, thousands-of-students public schools around here. The school appeared to be taking every possible measure to mitigate COVID exposure, so, with constant nagging reminders to Alex to wash-her-hands-and-wear-a-mask-oh-my-God-we-are-so-not-kidding, we sent her off.
So guess what the email we received the Monday before Thanksgiving from the principal of the school said?
That’s right: there have been a couple of lab-confirmed cases at her very tiny school. Needless to say, the school has slammed shut, and this week, it’s back to virtual again. We’ve been watching Alex — and ourselves — like hawks, taking temperatures so often that I swear earlier today I heard our digital thermometer moan, “Seriously?!” So far, we’re all symptom-free, and it will be 14 days since Alex attended school on Thursday, so looks like we’re going to be fine. I’m hoping the school makes the decision to remain virtual through the end of 2020 so I don’t have to be the bad guy, but we’ll see. Fingers crossed.
In other news, on the Friday after Thanksgiving, I turned in the manuscript for my book, and the choir sang “Alleluia! Alleluia!” (I cannot tell you how much brain space this has freed up. I told Marcus the other night that it feels like I only have one full-time job, again!) And now, we wait for edits to come back from my publisher. Writing this book felt way harder than my last one, and not just because it was written in a pandemic: with my last book, I could rely on taking photographs to combat writer’s block; this time, not so much. Still, can I tell you a secret? I’m really excited about this one. The people who share their wisdom were so generous with their advice and counsel, and I’m just so honoured that I was the one who was able to hear their stories in this way. The book is expected to be released in fall 2021, but preorders will likely come early in the year. I’ll be sure to let you know when they do.
And finally: Thanksgiving was quiet. We made tons of food, dropped some of it off at my parents, and then Zoom-ate our meal with them. We were thankful. We put up our Christmas tree, and all the decorations. And the temperature has dropped in Houston, so today, I worked by the fire.
Life is good, friends.
I’m back.
Tell me something good.
