Author: Angel Beldam

“Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing.” – Laurie Buchanan

It’s been a helluva ride on the crazy roller-coaster called 2023.

This time last year, I was meeting Tennessee for the first time in person. By the end of my visit, she was already certain we’d be together. I admit it took me a bit longer.

This New Year’s Eve, I’m living here as her fiancé and I am so grateful for all the things that happened this year to allow me to be in this place at this time with the most amazing human on the planet.

To follow through on the roller coaster analogy, this year has been full of ups and downs and twists and turns, many of which I have written about in previous blogs.

I’m still not “officially” here permanently according to my work as they still haven’t gotten the stalled process to approve my request up and running yet. However, I have a local bank account and library card as well as Tennessee license plates, so I’m still hoping it’ll be a mere formality.

I’ve also had some significant health issues since I’ve been here.  The latest is that I’ve been sick since Thanksgiving. First a virus then an ear infection which has not cleared up despite a round of antibiotics, so I’m getting ready to start on a round of steroids. I only cried a little. My history with prednisone is a hate/hate relationship. I know it works but the side effects are awful.

I had hoped to start the New Year off on a high note… but it looks like we’ll be crossing the finish line of 2023 limping and coughing.

Despite the health issues Tennessee and I are happy and we have some big plans for 2024.

In addition to getting married, we’re looking into buying a new house closer to her sister. Of course, this would mean that my goal to retire this year won’t be able to happen. I’m okay with that, so long as my agency gets its act together and approves my move permanently.

So much hinges on this one action, and truthfully it makes me inclined to retire anyway and start a new career elsewhere.  Not an easy thing to do when you have so many other plates in the air, but I totally will if that is what it takes to finally move forward. I’m done with living in limbo.

That brings me to my goals for 2024.  Not resolutions-goals.

  1. Get healthier – take care of the most urgent health issues

  2. Publish a weekly blog

  3. Set a wedding date

  4.  Find a new, or make this place our, forever home

  5. Retire and find a new job or set a new retirement date

  6. Read 100 books and give each a review (see#2)

I will work on making these SMART goals so they’ll be easier to tackle and track. In the meantime, I wish each of you, or as they say here, all y’all, a Happy New Year!

Y ‘all. Thank the gods November is over. It has been a crazy month culminating in an amazing Thanksgiving meal with my new family and friends.

We had Lil J-Dawg in the days preceding the big day and that was surely a test. I’d forgotten how much energy a three-year-old takes and the absence of a usually available learning tablet made it harder.  Tennessee was thrilled we had him and he really is so sweet.

Assuming his parents, who missed him terribly, let him come back, we’ll be better prepared. Also, we’ll hopefully get him when he’s not coughing or has a runny nose which he kindly shared with everyone. We’re still recovering from this bug. However, that’s probably impossible because kids at this age are always sick it seems. I had not forgotten that.

I will definitely make sure that we have that tablet next time though.

I also finally made it in to see my new primary care physician. She’s actually a nurse practitioner and I like her a lot. She listened to me and my issues and concerns, asked reasonable questions, and didn’t make any assumptions. They did blood work, and I got the results back yesterday.

I’m thrilled that my a1c, cholesterol, and all that are still normal. Something I suspected though proved to be true and I feel vindicated. I thought my hormones were out of whack and it turns out my estrogen is very high. High estrogen leads to weight gain and low moods, both of which I’ve experienced at significant levels since arriving here.

I’ve been fat since my pregnancy 27 years ago and my struggles with PCOS have made dieting and weight issues a totally traumatic nightmare for years but these past few months I knew something was different, wrong.

I haven’t been on the hormone replacement pills for long since my old doctor just took me off birth control pills not that long ago. Nothing felt the same once I switched to the HRT though. He was ready to retire and probably should have sooner than he did. I should have asked for a different doctor sooner.

Anyway, I now have a referral to a GYN specialist who will tweak my hormones and in the meantime, we’ve upped my anti-depressant to help level out the lows. Since I’ve been on the old dosage for a while it wasn’t working as effectively anymore, especially with the new biological changes.

I’ve done a lot of research, and I knew menopause was going to be tricky with PCOS. An added complication is that my blood pressure seems to be running high. I suspect that’s a result of the weight gain and the pain of the achy muscles and joints. I don’t want to be on BP meds so at the recommendation of my new Doc and my therapist I’m footing the bill for a coaching program for nutrition and exercise.

My initial reaction was no, no, no, I’m never doing a diet again. The Doc assured me it’s not a diet, but we’ll see. She says they’ll focus on my goals and my therapist and I agreed that should be to feel better, to be able to move more freely and without so much pain.

They will, in theory, help me get more active–guiding me to activities that will work for where I’m at right now. They will help me and Tennessee with meal planning that will work with our weird schedule.

I admit I’m skeptical and reluctant, but I know I need to move more and I don’t like how I feel and I’m not sure the hormone adjustment will be enough. So I’m apologizing in advance for all the bellyaching I may do every time I feel triggered by diet culture trauma.

I really have wanted to write more but I’ve just felt so awful lately that it’s been all I can do to get the minimum done around here, like help care for the five fur babies that are here. They don’t care that I feel achy or tired, they want food and water and ear scratches. I don’t blame them one bit.

Hopefully, I’ll get to feeling better soon because there’s lots more to tell.

Take care my friends.

I’ve had an interesting couple of days.

Yesterday started with a text from my new doctor’s office canceling my first appointment with her that I made months ago. Not the best way to start a day, but I got to sleep late so that felt really good.

When I got up out of the bed I was greeted with this:

Tennessee was so sweet! She insisted that I enjoy my day off and do whatever I wanted. I had no idea what to do and I was feeling weird so I did a little bit of a lot of things but couldn’t settle on anything.

Today I got to sleep late too, but the day started like this instead:

Nothing like rolling over in bed to a dog butt in your face to start your day!

I did finish Michelle Obama’s latest book and I loved it! Not only do I like listening to what she has to say I like listening to her say it.

Unfortunately, one of the drawbacks of listening to an audiobook is that I rarely just fully listen. I almost always multitask when I listen to a book–playing a game or making a hat. I don’t absorb the content fully when I do that though and so it was with this book. I think maybe I’ll check it out again only this time as an eBook so that I can give it my full attention.

I want to go to the section where she talks about her family motto of “When they go low, we go high”. She talks about how much we’ve lost and why it’s so important to her and who she is. I think I need to absorb that.

My next audible listen is not a book but a class. Included in my Audible subscription are a collection of classes called The Great Courses. I had access to the original video versions through my cable back home, but I can’t access the videos here. I can get many of the audio versions through Audible though.

The class I’ve started is called “The Mayo Clinic Guide to Pain Relief”. I still have another two weeks before I get to see my doctor (I was able to get a new appointment a few days later than the original date) and I’m hoping this class will give me some good questions to ask.

I have been doing a bit better in general. I’m moving more and stretching. And it seems to be working, which is good because living in a house when both partners are having bad pain days is not fun.

I think dealing, or not dealing, with the pain might be messing with my memory and cognitive abilities. I’ve made two really big errors when ordering stuff from Amazon in the past couple of days.  Tennessee pokes fun and it is funny in a totally ridiculous way. I have tried to be good-natured about it, but it really is starting to upset me. Not her teasing so much but the fact that I keep making such bizarre errors.

Worse, I’ve had some issues with the quality of my work lately. Anyone who knows me, knows how rare this is. Those mistakes more than the Amazon screw-ups really are starting to make me worry.

It might not be the pain, or just the pain. It could be menopause. Both memory problems and stiff and achy joints and muscles are common symptoms of menopause. I definitely need to have the doc check out my hormone levels.

I was supposed to be watching the Tennessee-Mizzou game today, but when mom called to say the item I was expecting here arrived there instead, my relaxing, eating Domino’s in bed watching the game moments were over.

So I’m here finalizing this blog and working on laundry instead. Hopefully, tomorrow will be an error-free day. That would be nice.

Take care my friends and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

We had another Blue Apron box delivered this week and we fixed the Lemon-Date Tilapia and Saffron Rice meal Saturday night.

It was so good!

We make these meals together. I’m the prep cook and the navigator, she does the actual cooking while I read the directions. We make a pretty efficient team and the time we spend together is priceless. My favorite part is when we turn down the lights, light a candle, and just enjoy the meal and each other’s company. I feel so connected to her during this wonderful quiet ‘us’ time.

I also love how delightfully surprised Tennessee is by how good some of these meals really are after her sometimes doubtful reactions to some unfamiliar ingredients. This time it was the saffron and the dates, but she appreciated both and said this was one of her favorites so far.

Our Sunday dinner was supposed to be the other meal–Delicata Squash & Chickpea Grain Bowl. This is a vegetarian meal and was my pick.

I say supposed to be because we ended up having to go into the city to pick up Olive and Duke, for an emergency visit. It seems that somehow Duke got up on the stove and accidentally turned on a burner causing a small kitchen fire. Had the humans been home it probably would have been averted but they were not. Nobody required medical help and the property damage is relatively minor but it will require them to find a temporary residence while it’s repaired.

The damage to the dogs’ ears and psyches due to the smoke alarms and then the firefighters has yet to be truly ascertained. They were so anxious when we got them, panting like crazy and they had soot in their fur. Poor babies. As I write this though they are both conked out, no doubt completely exhausted.

Needless to say date night dinner did not happen. Hopefully, we’ll get a chance to fix it before the fresh components go bad.

Have a great Monday, my friends.

Quote

“Its me, hi, I’m the problem it’s me.”-Taylor Swift

Song

“A Thousand Years” – Christina Perri

I love this song. For years I only ever associated it with the Twilight movies, which I loved so no hate, please. However, now when I hear this beautiful song, I think of Tennessee. The lyrics all seem to fit. All the years we’ve been waiting to find each other. Knowing so early in our relationship that we were meant to be together. Being brave so we can have our happily ever after. How can I not love it?

Books

“Summoned to Thirteenth Grave” by Darynda Jones

This was the final book in this epic paranormal series that I’ve been listening to on and off for months. The narrator, Lorelei King, was not a favorite of Tennessee’s but I liked her. She was Charley Davidson, Grim Reaper. I liked the author’s take on Heaven and Hell, and I was invested in the characters, not just the main characters but all the supporting cast too.

Here’s a link to the first book:

On the heels of this series, I found one on Kindle Unlimited by Sara Bourgeois. I am currently on Book 8 of 28 of the “Familiar Kitten Mysteries” series titled “Yule Be Magical”.

This series is fun, and I am curious to see how the author is going to take this main character through 20 more books. I admit I do not have high hopes as I’m already starting to get bored with the interplay between her and her two love interests. I’m not sure I’ll make it to number 28, but since I’m not paying for the books we will see.

As I said these have been fun so far, but the Darynda Jones’ series is superior in my humble opinion.

I have to be honest. I was supposed to be reading other books, books I committed to reading for one of my book clubs, but I just could not face either of those books. Both required a certain headspace I just wasn’t able to muster during these past couple of months.

Now that I’m feeling better I am going to go back and read them. I promised my friends that I would, but right now I’m in the middle of listening to a book that has been on hold for a really long time.

“The Light We Carry” by Michelle Obama

I wish I hadn’t waited so long to read this. I kept snoozing it in my library, but I loved her last book so much that I should have known I’d love this too. I’ll write more when I’ve finished it.

Go Small

There is so much hatred, violence, and division in the news right now: national politics and international wars. My doom-scrolling has not helped my mental health at all, and I’ve really been struggling with not doing it.

One of the stories Michelle Obama tells early on in her book is about going small when things feel overwhelming, or you feel helpless. She talks about picking up knitting needles during the pandemic and it made me smile. The reason?

I recently got all my cross-stitch, knitting, and loom paraphernalia that didn’t fit in the car and that my mother just mailed to me. A few days ago, just before I started Michellle’s book, I picked up my loom and made a child’s hat. And after listening to her sage advice, I realized that it had made me feel better and I need to do more of that.  

Does anyone need a child’s hat, or a toboggan as the locals call them? I already made one last year for J-Dawg though as I recall kids tend to lose hats and mittens often, so it would probably be alright to give him this one too. Or maybe his mama can pass it along to someone at her church.

Etymology

Speaking of toboggans here’s a small piece about why Southerners (and it is capitalized down here) call these types of hats toboggans.

https://www.southernthing.com/toboggan-hat-2648141814.html

Time Change

I’m one of those people who think the time change is completely unnecessary now that our farmers are no longer so dependent on daylight to do their work. But I have to admit I don’t mind the ‘fall back’ so much since it’s lighter in the morning and we got that extra hour of sleep. Not that it did me any good this morning since I was awake way too early, but the sun pouring into my office is nice.

It’ll suck later when it’s dark and the animals insist they need to be fed earlier, but whatever, I’m a morning person.

Have a great week my friends.

On Monday Tennessee, T’s Bestie, and I drove over to surprise T-Dawg’s Mama for her 40th birthday. She was very surprised and happy to see us. Her husband was in on the surprise but apparently not very good at subterfuge. He was acting sketchy over the weekend, and she noticed. I guess it’s a good thing to be married to someone who is bad at lying to you, but it makes it hard to plan surprises!

The drive over there took a little over an hour and we took the back roads. It was such a beautiful drive as the leaves were at full peak there. Something new I learned about living here that I am not all that thrilled about–fog! It was so thick that night. It was seriously spooky, and it didn’t help that we almost ran out of gas again. That would have totally freaked me out… stranded in the fog in the dark in the back woods of Tennessee. Does anyone hear banjos?

Fortunately, it all worked out and we had a lovely evening talking, laughing, and enjoying a very good meal. I have to say I feel so lucky to have these three amazing women in my life. It was great to see Lil’ J-Dawg too. He’s such a smart boy and watching him play makes me happy. Also, we got a great idea for a Xmas present for him.

For Halloween, we decided to go dark. I don’t mean like dressing up goth or anything. I mean literally turn out every light dark. Tennessee had to work and I’m just not into hearing the dogs go nuts every time a kid stopped by and that would have made it very difficult for her to work.

I enjoyed Halloween when my son was little and if J-Dawg lived near here and wanted to trick or treat we’d have gone all out to make it the perfect Halloween experience for him. However, there aren’t many little kids in this neighborhood, which by the way, is why having the school bus stop be our driveway is just weird. Anyway, most of the kids nearby are middle-school age, who we all know are notorious for being too cool for trick or treating.

So I had a quiet night sitting in the dark playing my new addictive game on my laptop until it was late enough to turn on the lights to make my now ‘world-famous’ potato soup so that we can keep warm in these next couple of days as the temps drop down below freezing overnight. This below-freezing thing is unusual for so early in the year here or so I’m told. I must say that I had forgotten how much colder humid-cold could be.

A friend of Tennessee’s, and now I guess she’s one of mine too, is currently recovering from surgery and Tennessee is going to take her some of the soup. She really likes this recipe I’ve been using that J-Dawg’s Mama passed on to me. Who’da thunk I’d ever be making potato soup on the regular?

OMG… Where did that sentence come from? Y’all, y’all is the gateway word.

I love listening to Tennessee talk and not just because I love her.  I love her accent, though I guess technically I’m the one with the accent around here. Can I just say though that some of the things they say around here I just don’t get? Maybe I’ll start a list to post someday.

Have a great first day of November my friends.

Tennessee and I had a great day yesterday, the first anniversary of the day we connected. We didn’t leave the house or make a fancy dinner, but it was the first day in a while that we both felt pretty good and had energy, so we checked off several of our to-do list items, including organizing our laundry room and pantry. We built a shelving unit together which, to be honest, she could have probably done by herself, but it was fun doing it together.

This is so not what I originally had planned but it really was a great day.  What was even better was that my mom was sending me texts and pictures of how cold it was and how much snow they got, and we were running the A/C because it was 80 degrees outside.

When she asked me if I missed the snow I said, “Nope”.

And I don’t. I don’t miss having to go out into it to shovel or to try and drive in it around the idiots who don’t know how to drive in the snow. I suppose I may eventually kind of miss how pretty the yard looks blanketed in the fluffy white stuff, but I’m good for now. However, I will say a nice hard freeze would be nice to kill all these bugs. Have I mentioned how much I hate bugs?

Speaking of my mom, she decided last week that she wanted to get a puppy. The son of a friend said he was selling puppies, so she bought one at a discounted rate and brought her home Friday night.

Mom’s 4-year-old rescue dog, Aspen, who does not share well…toys, food, or her humans…was okay with it at first but when she realized the pup was not just their for a play date, she started becoming more and more aggressive. Also, the puppy ate one of mom’s insoles and peed on the carpet so by Sunday afternoon the puppy was on its way back to the seller. Mom didn’t want her money back, so she essentially rented a puppy for the weekend to see if it would take.

It did not.

Worked out for the seller though because now he can sell the pup again. I’m not sure why she thought a puppy was a good idea, but I’ve been speculating that she misses taking care of a being who makes a mess and isn’t very well-behaved. However, I am Tennessee’s problem now and there’s no take-backsies.

Anyway, I’m off to enjoy my Monday. I’m taking annual leave today to take care of a few things. I hope y’all have a great day.

So much has happened since I last wrote and in some ways hardly anything at all also. I hope y’all don’t mind if I just pick up as if I didn’t leave off. I’ve very much missed writing this blog.

Today is the first anniversary of the day Tennessee and I ‘met’, the day we starting talking online. It’s hard to believe it’s been a whole year. We’re actually going to celebrate next weekend due to some stuff that’s been happening but I did buy her some flowers which smell so good and she loved. So much has happened in a year and I’ll write some more soon about my reflections on those happenings.

We went to visit one of Tennessee’s friends yesterday (another ex—it’s so very lesbian). She was very nice, and I got to see some more of this beautiful state as she lives on the other side of Chattanooga. The leaves are finally in full color now and it’s so very pretty.

Last weekend, we went up to Kentucky for the annual reunion of Tennessee’s father’s family. I met so many of my future in-laws and most were very welcoming. That would seem to imply that the others were not, but there was no hostility at all directed at me. There were some observable tensions but nothing that had anything to do with us and that was nice.

I really like my future mother-in-law, Tennessee’s stepmother who she usually calls her father’s wife. That’s probably because the woman is literally one month older than her. It’s a bit odd, but my in-laws have been married since both women were in their 20’s so they’ve had a bit to get used to it.

My future father- and brother-in-law are very much what you would expect for their ages and where they live. Not sure I’ve ever heard the word ‘whore’ so much in my life let alone in one weekend. I was worried I’d have to defend her or myself, but I didn’t feel compelled because they obviously adore Tennessee. Apparently, they were on their best behavior, so a couple of dozen whores from their distance past which they spoke about where I could over-hear but was not a part of the conversation seems a small price to pay for family harmony.

I got kind of busy this week, so I haven’t read the full paper yet, but I did check out the library column. Whoever is selecting the books of the week at the Sequatchie County Public Library is doing a really good job and picking some surprising selections.

This week’s pick was a book about magic and monsters in NYC called “The Dead Take the A Train” by Richard Kadry. I put it on hold and there’s a 17-week wait. Guess we’ll find out sometime in March if it’s any good.

One of the selections from a couple of weeks ago is a YA book called “When It All Syncs Up.” by Maya Ameyaw. It is currently on my eBook shelf and I’m on chapter 4. To be honest, I’ve been on chapter 4 for a while now. Not because it is not a good book but because I’ve been struggling with reading and writing and really doing anything other than this game I’m currently addicted to. Partly that’s because I’m still struggling with my medical issues, and this is what I do…I check out for a bit.

The book I was supposed to read for book club this weekend I tried to read over and over again but I just couldn’t. I have no interest in it at all and I’m going to have to fess up to my friends this morning. This is the second month in a row that I didn’t finish the book.  Oh well, I’m guessing that since half our group is Jewish we’ll probably have something else to talk about today anyway.

Sorry if that all felt a bit disjointed, but I got up way too early for a Sunday morning and I’m still working on my first cup of coffee. I hope to be back to writing regularly again soon and that I find my rhythm again.

Have a great week my friends.

Thank you to all those who reached on here or directly to give me your support. It means the world to me.

I am having a good day so far and I’m enjoying my coffee while not watching the news or TikTok or doom-scrolling of any kind, at least for the moment. I’ve missed writing but I really did need the break. I don’t believe I’ll be able to go back to daily blogs but hope that I’ll be able to write a few blogs a week.

It’s the first really cold day we’ve had since I moved here–we won’t even get out of the 50s today. The leaves are changing up on the mountain, according to a friend, and you can see the leaves here are on the verge. I’ve heard it’s really pretty here when they change so I’m looking forward to it.

The only sounds I hear are the birds, the neighborhood dogs, and my washing machine. I got a bit behind on that chore, so I’ve been actively working on it for the past few days.

Part of the reason I’m feeling emotionally pretty good today is that yesterday I was able to let go of and share something that was troubling me with someone important to me. I feel a wee bit guilty having unloaded on them but so very grateful they were so gracious about helping me by sharing that burden. It was way heavier than I thought.

Everything is not all roses and rainbows again, but I do feel lighter. I’m still struggling with my health issues, but I’ve been able to put a few things into place that are helping.

One of the things I still need to work on is to stop the aforementioned doom scrolling. When my mental health tanks the worst thing I can do is binge-watch the news and TikTok. That is unfortunately what I tend to do anyway.

And it’s so hard not to with the world being such a mess right now. The atrocities in the Middle East, the idiocy in the House of Representatives, the neo-Nazi running for mayor in Franklin, and a murder here in Dunlap.

How can I not be glued to the screen?

That line between staying informed and drowning in the cesspool really isn’t that fine and I blur it way too often. There is absolutely nothing I can do about making any of those happenings better.

The latest war in the Middle East and the neo-Nazi in Franklin don’t even affect my life at all except in the butterfly wings aspect.

The debacle in D.C. isn’t actively affecting my life at the moment, but if it doesn’t get resolved in the next 32 days it will because I’ll be furloughed without knowing how long it’ll be before I get paid after the funding runs out.

The only thing I can really say on the matter is wouldn’t it be a hoot if Jefferies became the Speaker?!?

As for the murder…that has really kind of freaked me out and I am not really sure why. I don’t know the people involved nor does anyone I know. It was a domestic violence incident where the husband shot his wife then called 911 himself and was sitting on his porch waiting for them to come arrest him.

Having come from a suburb where multiple mass shootings have happened and where there were more than 50 murders last year, why would I be bothered by this one single murder? Probably because like many city folks I think of small towns as safe.

But in a place where there are so many entries in the local paper detailing drug-related crimes every week, I’m not sure why I’m surprised. This week’s Tribune had 22 court proceedings listed and 11 of them were drug related. There’s a pretty big step between minor drug possession and murder, however.

It has me a little on edge. Last week I heard a gunshot, and I wigged a little. Tennessee said it was probably just hunters.

It is hunting season here–deer, turkey, elk, and bear are all fair game right now. If it hadn’t been for the murder I might not have paid much attention.

So I say to myself, you have enough things causing you anxiety that you don’t have any control over do you really need to add fear of a stray bullet or getting murdered to it?

The answer is no. Logically, any sane person would say no.

I’m going to be that sane person and try and focus on the things I can control. Doing a load of laundry, emptying the dishwasher, looming a cap, organizing the kitchen cupboards, and making our next Blue Apron meal with Tennessee.

By the way, last night’s meal was BBQ pulled pork with mac ‘n cheese… OMG, it was so good!

Tonight’s meal was supposed to be Panko Crusted Cod and Romescu Mayo, but Tennessee is not feeling great so I’m going to make her some potato soup instead. I need to put in a quick delivery order from Wallyworld for a few of the fixings, so I’d better get moving.

It’s been good writing this and thinking about you all. I missed you. Take care of yourselves, my friends.

Hello my friends,

On the advice of my therapist, I’m no longer going to be doing a daily blog. There may be times when I do post several days in a row, but then there might be gaps of a week or more at a time.

I’ve been putting too much pressure on myself regarding this blog. Every day I did not publish a blog I felt guilty and writing was beginning to feel like a chore.

Writing was an outlet for my anxiety and fear before, but it was becoming one of the reasons for it. I have sufficient anxiety and fear already in my life, I don’t need any more.

I’ve also been struggling with my physical health and that has been contributing to my wonky mental health. The fixes for my physical self will take time so I need to make some immediate adjustments to how I spend my time to ensure I am the healthiest mentally I can be.

Honestly I’m not even sure who is still reading this beside the few who check in with me from time to time. That is another reason I’m cutting back. The lack of feedback has become discouraging.

Also, quite frankly, my life here is quieter and less eventful so I have fewer interactions that produce interesting things to write about. This is not a bad thing though. I love being here with Tennessee and her family and friends. I adore Lil J-Dawg and his mama. Tennessee’s friends have welcomed me into the fold and I am so very appreciative of that.

However, it has required a bigger adjustment than I anticipated so I need to focus on the things that bring me peace and joy. Since writing this blog is not doing that right now, I need to step back for a bit.

I have started writing cards and letters to some of my friends, so if I have your address, you might start seeing some pop into your mailbox. I like the idea of pen pals. Letter writing is a lost art, so I’m definitely open to that if you like.

Take care of yourselves and be well my friends.