Personal Update: Of Beginnings, Endings, and Intermissions

My most popular Instagram posts from 2017

Happy (belated) New Year! It’s a good time for change, I’ve heard. But 2018 in the Dreamer household got off to a bit of a rocky start. My husband had the flu, though thankfully I managed to avoid it. We’ve gotten less than happy news about our oldest dog; her health is declining, which we knew but weren’t really accepting. She’s 14 now, and starting to show it. She’s slowly losing the use of her hind legs, her eyesight is diminishing, and she’s having heart problems. We’re doing what we can to keep her happy and comfy, and she still seems in good spirits and still gets the occasional bout of the zoomies.

My father-in-law is not doing well, either. We’re not entirely sure what exactly is wrong, but basically the approach seems to be the same: try to keep him as comfortable as possible until we can’t anymore.

We had a scare with the pregnancy as well; I had some complications but we quickly ruled out miscarriage or any injury to the baby. Everything looks fine but I’m just supposed to take things (relatively) easy and monitor my condition for changes. So far, so good … things have only gotten better, and I’m nearing the end of Month 3. It’s hard to believe how quickly it’s going by, but I get the idea that feeling is going to be pretty much permanent from now on.

So … ultimately, things have been a bit stressful since the holidays. I made the difficult decision to take the Spring semester off from graduate school, though I’ll be returning to my studies as soon as possible, which in all likelihood won’t be until August. (They don’t tend to offer many online options in the summer). And while it does seem like all bad news, things really aren’t all bad. I’ve started seeing a new therapist (10/10, highly recommend) who, after just a handful of sessions, has already helped me make some great strides in my stress and anxiety management. It also means that Tuesday Reviews Day will be returning, so look for new reviews content starting January 30!

Anyway, thanks for putting up with my inconsistencies and my ramblings. I hope you’ll be back for TRD, and let me know in the comments what you’ve been reading!

Personal Update: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

So the radio silence since August 29 was not planned, but a lot has happened!

I’ve completed my Fall semester at last. If you haven’t read back, I took Literary Theory and African-American Literature. Both of my professors were great, and I’m glad I enrolled in those courses. I’ve gotten grades back, and I got another 4.0 this term!!!! I’m so stoked. I really was aiming to get a 4.0 for the whole program, but my complete inability to read my Film professor really boned me on that goal. Oh well. Next semester begins on January 18, when I’ll be taking American Literature in Perspective and Theories of Teaching Writing. I’m not as excited about that semester as I was about this one, but I’ve had one of the professors before and got on really well with him, so that’s a plus. And I’ve already had a breakthrough in my plans for my thesis, so I’m really excited about that. (I’m also pretty thrilled about the month-long break from classes; let’s be honest.)

In other very happy news, my husband and I found out that I’m finally pregnant!! We’re expecting our first child in July of 2018, which is actually really great timing. I’ll be out of class for summer and have about a month before Fall 2018 classes begin, which will (hopefully) be my final term. I’ll be down to one course and my thesis, provided I can take both of those simultaneously (I’m not sure yet about my uni’s restrictions on that).

I also started seeing a new therapist, who has recommended me to remain cautiously optimistic about school post-baby. I’m worried it’ll be too much, but she agrees with my husband that it may actually be easier to finish on schedule, while the baby is small and mostly stationary, ha. We have a huge amount of family locally, and they’re over the moon, so thankfully we’re in a really good place with regards to childcare. I’m not going to become a mommy blogger or devote my IG account to the little bun, though; I know too well the distinct pain of infertility, and while I will certainly be posting about our addition and possibly sharing photos, I’m committing myself to not overdoing it because I remember how hard that was. I remember having to unfollow/hide people on Insta or Facebook, not because I wasn’t happy for them, but because I couldn’t stomach the depression, the jealousy, and the anger. Why her? Why not me? And I’m not going to do that to others who feel that pain and suffer alone. On that note, if you want to speak with me privately about this issue, feel free to comment and we can exchange info.

Moving along … I have not been doing much reading on my break. The holidays are always pretty hectic for me and mine, and this year is the first year that my husband and I will be hosting his family’s Christmas dinner. I’m excited about it, but it means we’re doing a lot of cleaning and recipe trial runs and getting packages wrapped earlier than usual which … still isn’t all that early, to be honest. I did start reading The Clockwork Dynasty thanks to some excellent reviews, and I’m already in love with it. Reviews posts might start back up again, but with all the changes in store for 2018, I’m not sure yet what the regularity will be. Just bear with me, please! I’d love for you all to stick around through the new year and navigate new frontiers with me.

What have you all been up to? Read any good books lately? Drop ’em in the comments!

Post-surgery, Pre-semester: Personal Update

Image: Photo of a flowering tree on a university campus taken by the author, April 2017

My last personal update covered a lot of ground, so you’d be forgiven for not remembering everything or skipping it altogether. Since that post, there hasn’t been a lot going on, but enough to bring y’all up to speed a bit.

‘Tis the Season…

…to be sick, apparently. I even had a book review post outlined and ready to post, but the plague descended on our house like an unwanted fruitcake (that’s probably redundant), and I’ve only just started feeling back to 100% in the last few days.

I’ll do my best to get back on schedule. At least I’ve got that review lined up! Right now I’m reading Chasing Shadows by Swati Avasthi. So far it’s an excellent read, but it’s also really emotionally heavy, especially on the heels of the last book I read, which was a light and airy teen romance. Not my usual style, I know, but I’m really glad I read it. That’s the book featured in my upcoming review, which will hopefully go live tonight, so you’ll hear more about it later.

In the meantime, we have managed to decorate the house for Christmas. Despite feeling like a pile of garbage, I was still able to get the tree up.

This year, some friends gave us some great decorations, including an artificial tree. I put that one upstairs since I have room for two trees now (you have no idea how happy this makes me; I’m a huge nerd for Christmas).

And we actually got to decorate the porch! Ugh, this is the best Christmas ever, already. I love Christmas. Yes, I know I still have pumpkins out. But they’re so cute! Maybe I’ll put little bows on them. And no, I don’t leave my poinsettia outside. It was only there for the picture.

At any rate, regular content should resume soon, now that I don’t feel the heavy cloud of death and head colds hovering over me.