I haven’t blogged for a couple of months and I want to assure all of you who missed me (and those who didn’t notice) that I am not dead, defeated, or drunk. I’m dealing with change and change in any form tends to throw me off schedule and occasionally makes me wordless.

After a year, Capt. Mark’s therapy ended. For a stroke patient, he’s made remarkable progress. Now all the impetus for improvement is solely on him (hours of exercise every other day) and me (his caregiver). Because we both want continued improvement, the new strategy confines us to the house. Stroke patients start relying on their wheel chairs when they give up on their exercise programs. Mark isn’t going to do that. Progress is slower now, but can still be made.

My novel writing schedule continues. In July a venue for novellas owned by Amazon called Kindle Worlds is ending. That means the four novellas I had published with them revert back to me (a good thing). They are all being slightly rewritten to fit into my own Love in Wine Country series (a time suck). Earlier this month my rights reverted back on A Touch of Chardonnay, a book I’ve been itching to revise.

Now I get up around 4 am instead of 5 am so I can get my word count in before my day starts. Mark still reads a ton of books, but he has developed new skills in line with mine: photography to be used in marketing my independent books; and commercial design via the internet so he can design and produce my book covers. He’s become very skilled at both—pretty good for a guy who has full use of only one hand.

Dealing with a new reality is never easy. As of today we are boatless. I never thought I’d say that. In two months, our home will be sold. We are still not sure where we will end up. But we are grateful beyond belief for the blessings in our life, the support of our family and friends—even though they are all far away—and our God-given gifts we can still use.

Blogging is once again on my to-do list. Not dead yet. Just the opposite. Full of life and looking forward to the future.