Third Time's the Charm? by Robin Janney

Crossing the Mississippi River into St. Louis. No longer in the rig, so I wasn't
in violation of any rules. I got to be a tourist for a few minutes!

If you've been following the drama that is me trying to learn how to drive a rig and team with my husband, then you know I've run into a few issues with finding a good trainer. Friday afternoon I was picked up by my third, and...I'm pretty hopeful about this guy.

For starters, he has thirteen years experience. And he reminds me a little bit of the psychiatrist in charge of me back in '94 - he doesn't understand why I had trouble with the last trainer. The doctor back in '94 outright told me, 'I don't know why you're here.' Calling into question not only the college staff who insisted on my hospitalization and the emergency room admittance personnel. But that's another story and much water under the bridge.

Leaving out many of the details, per orders not to talk too much about it, I just said that my last trainer's biggest complaint about my driving was lane maintenance. He watched me drive for a while, then said he saw no problem with my lane maintenance. Well, he said a few other things that I might talk about another time.

It's an easy enough run that I'll be doing...from the drop yard in St. Louis to the one in Indianapolis and back again. And I'll get to back up twice a day, once in each drop yard. Backing has always been my weakness, and he seemed patient enough the first time. I definitely need to learn to control my speed during the backing up process - even letting the rig go backwards under its own power (no throttle) it still can go too fast. But that's where practice makes perfect.

That moment when you realize
your mom gets you

Depending on how you look at it, I was lucky to get this weekend off. Usually he runs seven days a week. The weekend hours are different, which is going to mess with my head. Well, time is already messing with my head since I'm in a different time zone than usual. Does that mean I'll be time traveling every day???

I'm still giddy that I'm on the other side of the Mississippi River! For many, the Mississippi is a demarcation line similar to the Mason Dixon line...you're not really in the west until you're across the Mississippi.

I'm just across it, but I'm across it just the same. And actually, I'm on the other side of the Missouri River too. My home for the next few weeks is in St. Clair, Missouri. I'll pick my trainer up each morning, go to the drop yard in East St. Louis. I'll get to see the St. Louis Gateway arch at a distance every freakin' day! I'm not sure how long I'll be here, I have just over 200 training hours left. I'm guessing about two weeks. Ish. I hope to be able to get better pictures before I'm out of this area. I did get one of the Gateway Arch from the drop yard (featured below). I'll have to ask my trainer if he minds if I use his car to run out to a nearby park for photos. I don't want to assume anything.

I've always wanted to travel, even if it's always intimidated me a little. While Mr. Janney and I will be limited to what we can do driving a big rig, this is a step in the right direction. I might not always be able to get pictures, but there will definitely be memories made. Hubby's already told me how often he thought of me while he was training: "Yup, if Robin was here, she'd be taking pictures." Mountains and clouds...yeah, I'm a goofball who likes to take pictures of clouds, and my husband knows that. Clouds, the moon, flowers, sunsets...random seed puffs floating in the air. He has pulled over a time or two to indulge my desire to photograph something!

Not the greatest pic of the Arch, but...it's there just the same!

This post is jumping around a little bit, and I apologize. Just proof of how confident and excited I'm feeling at the moment. Another difficulty of being me, I can swing from one extreme to the other with little notice. Although in this case, it happened over the few days it took Mr Janney and I to get to where we needed to be for me to be picked up by my trainer. I will be forever grateful to our company for allowing us to do that and to the trainer for waiting for me. He didn't have to.

The trip west was one of the most relaxing I've had since this journey began. Not just my time with my husband, but even when I was driving the rig. I just had very little anxiety. Even during the heavy traffic we dealt with, because again - my trainer had no problem with my driving through it. He approved of the distance I was keeping, the speed I was going. He helped here and there as needed, shaking his head as I told him the previous criticisms I'd received.

Here's hoping the anxiety stays this low level through the rest of our time together!

Have a good weekend all...and here's a final picture for you.

Sunset as we crossed the Mississippi!

Hurry Up and Wait - by Robin Janney

It doesn't matter what job I've work at, "Hurry up and wait..." has been a recurring theme.

Rush to meet the deadline of one kind or another, only to stand around waiting for the other shoe to drop - for the last page of the newspaper to arrive, for the cow line to get moving again, for the rush order cabinet door to be made and put through the final process of sanding. And now, we 'rush' to get the deliveries made on time all week while I try to learn the ins and outs of real life trucking, only to find myself twiddling my thumbs on the weekends.

Hela vs the Valkyries needs to be a movie of its own...

You'd think I'd welcome this "free time". I could use it to write or read. Work on either Bigger than the Beetles, the third book in my series, or on a blog post. Even blog ahead if I was smart. Instead, I sit here at my laptop binge watching old episodes of Deep Space 9. Okay, I also watched Ant-Man and the Wasp as well as Thor Ragnarok (the best Thor movie and in the top 5 for the Marvel movies in general in my opinion). Right now I have A Solo Story lined up to watch next, once I'm done cooking. But then I'll go back to Deep Space 9...although the more I watch the Harry Potter movie on the tv, the more I'm tempted to just keep watching that! It's early yet and I won't be going back to work until sometime tomorrow, so maybe I'll manage all of it!

I'm struggling with depression this weekend, with a smattering of anxiety. Some of it stems from the bit of the squabble I had with my trainer shortly before week's end. Some of it stems from being in a strange place all by myself. Granted, I'm in the same nice hotel I was last weekend, so it's not as strange as it was. I managed to go to Walmart today without panicking, and that's always a plus. I have 232 training hours left before I can join my husband and we can bring our dog along, thus reducing my anxiety and depression, and it seems unbearably long at this moment.

missing my girl :(

I did put in a call to the company's Student department, and we're going to see if we can fix the schism between me and my trainer. There was so little communication between she and I on Friday, that I don't know whether it can be fixed. It all boils down to poor communication in the first place. We shall see.

Just one more hiccup in this journey we call life. I know that I'll get through this and come out for the better. No doubt I'll use it for the characters in my stories. I just need to get through the worse part of this momentary bout the blues before I can channel it into their angst. I hate this part of my depression - I can never write when I'm in this certain spot. Pisses me off because writing makes me happy. I've never understood this quirk.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day, whether you're celebrating Easter or Passover or neither.

And We're Off - Sort Of by Robin Janney

I have started my training for the company...sort of. My trainer is on a dedicated route, and doesn't run on the weekends. Which means I've only been training for like two and a half days (was picked up late Wednesday afternoon and drove back)...and I'm already back in a hotel.

It's just for the weekend. Trainer will be calling my Sunday to let me know when I'll be picked up again (either Sunday night or Monday morning I think.) It'll be a day later next weekend because of the holiday (the store we deliver to will be closed on Sunday). It will make it harder to get my training hours, which is sucky - but on the flip side even after a couple days, I was ready for a break from the top bunk (pictured). Talk about anxiety triggering claustrophobia. I haven't had a true 'attack' but I'll be damned if I can sleep longer than a couple hours at a time.

So I slept late today and am just taking it easy for the moment. Watching Men in Back II and catching up on Clash of Clans and...I might even write later today. I am so much more comfortable in this little hotel room than I was in the one they had us in during Orientation and training. It's like a little apartment, even has a kitchen! A full size fridge and a little stove, even a dishwasher! Not that I'm probably going to use any of it. But it's nice to know that it's there if I wanted to. I might go out to Walmart later today...I need to get some allergy medicine too - my sinuses are killing me.

Training begins in earnest on Monday. I hope. A little nervous about backing in the real world, especially since my trainer has already proven to be a little impatient when it comes to back. I tried at the one store, she ended up getting in and finishing it herself. The store  employees opening the dock doors made her feel rushed I think. Well, next week is a new week. Maybe I'll have to tell her what I told the one instructor at school...just leave me alone and let me figure it out on my own, I'll ask for help if I need it. I know what I have to do, I just sometimes get my angles backwards. It doesn't help that none of the real world situations have looked "text book" but I think I should be able to figure it out...eventually.

I snapped a selfie while I was Off Duty in the passenger seat...

I did make myself proud yesterday on the drive back from Philly. Across the top of a double-deck bridge, and through a tunnel. Two things that I don't like. But I did it, without flinching. I said to my trainer after we were off the bridge, "Is now a good time to say I'm terrified of heights?" She was surprised, said she hadn't been able to tell from how I handled the bridge...and later said she hadn't warned me about the tunnel coming up to see how I would handle that since it made sense to her that if I was afraid of heights I'd also be bothered by the tunnel. It wasn't a surprise, because I had been reading the signs for a while...but I also didn't ask if we'd be going through it because I was afraid the answer was going to be yes! Silly, I know. But she says I handled the tunnel well too. I did the only thing there was to do...just drove on. Focused on the task at hand.

Which is all I can do right now. Focus on learning what I need to so I can become a 'qualified' driver and get teamed with Mr. Janney. One thing at a time!

Until next weekend, be safe out there.

Ready...Set... by Robin Janney

Waiting on the GO!

If all goes as planned - which has seldom happened this past year - I should be meeting my company driving trainer late tomorrow afternoon.

I'm excited and nervous all over again.

All over again because the last time I was assigned a trainer, last week, turned out to be a false alarm. Not sure if it was a lack of communication (on others' part, not mine) or just bad timing. Especially since the initial phone number I was given turned out to be a wrong number! Regardless, it's over and done with and I was assigned a new trainer yesterday. And this time the number was the right one!

This trainer sounds as nice as the first one, so I'm optimistic again. It's hard forming an opinion of someone based on how they sound on the phone. Honestly, she sounds like a little old granny to me, so I think she sounds nice.

Isn't she adorable?

I've been trying to keep myself busy as I've been waiting. We aren't allowed to check out of the hotel, so I'm feeling the miles between me and my doggy right now. I know she's being taken good care of, I get the occasional picture, but it's hard when I hear reports of her not eating well. There's nothing I can do for her except get through my training as soon as I can without cheating myself out of learning time.

My trainer runs a dedicated route, so I won't be getting out of the east coast. Which kind of bums me, but once I can join Mr. Janney on his truck that will change so there's that much. If I understood my trainer correctly, I'll probably be in a motel room at least one day a week on the weekend. It is what it is. As long as I get trained correctly.

To keep myself entertained while I wait, I've read two books and watched a lot of Ion and USA when I haven't been doing one thing or another at the Terminal. I've been through the simulator and let me tell you it sucked - the motion of the screens as I pretended to drive around a virtual rig made me dizzy because I wasn't actually moving. I'd rather play GTA any day, and I hate GTA.

I've tried writing on Book 3. It's been hard because I've been battling depression and anxiety over the entire trainer issue from last week. I have made progress, but there has been more than one night I've opened the file only to add one word here and there before calling it good. Of course, right now I've got the excited anxiety going on so I might not be able to write much tonight because I'm too high strung with hope.

Hopefully I'll be able to check in later this weekend. Have a good week all.

Daffodils outside the hotel 

The Latest update by Robin Janney

Finally able to buzz my hair!

I think one of the hardest things about writing blog posts is coming up with a good enough title. I'd rather title a poem or a book. Those are almost easier...a few words to sum up a whole novel or poem theme. Blog titles need to be catchy and there's nothing catchy about 'The Latest Update' but that's exactly what this is!

So, I made it through orientation. My blood sugar behaved well enough to be passable that first day for the physical. I'm not sure why it hopped up from 105 to 170 after breakfast, especially since all I had was coffee and cheesy eggs...AND I even remembered to take my meds that morning! I don't know, but I've had much better readings than what I had during the first part of the month, so the changes I've made are working and I need to keep with them.

They are letting me try again even though my A1C (the 3 month average test) was on the too high side - up to an 8.5!! And they're giving me 3 months to bring it down to 7.9 or better. If I keep eating the way I am - low carb - and do my best to stay active even during training (which may prove difficult, but we'll see), bringing that number down will be the easy part. KEEPING it that way will be the harder part.

Especially since Mr. Janney doesn't have the same dietary restrictions I do. It's very hard to watch him eat something like mashed potatoes when it's something I should stay away from. He is very supportive though and I know that once we're in our own rig as a team, things will be a tad easier.

Speaking of which, it's to the right. I have ridden in it, and it's a smooth enough ride even though Mr. Janney is far from impressed with it. But it is new and still needs to be broken in so maybe it'll get better.

Mr. Janney was in the general neighborhood when I began my orientation this week and he was able to get a load even closer so he could take a few days to visit with me. It was so nice! The last we'd seen each other was on Valentine's weekend when I drove out to Michigan to visit him while his trainer was on vacation. We were only able to get a room one night, so the other night we had to sleep in his rig if we wanted to be together. That was fun, since the bed is technically only meant for one person, but we managed.

So here I sit in the hotel room, waiting for a trainer to become available. I have to report in to the terminal every morning during the week until I'm assigned a trainer and can take off with them. If I stick with my desire to have a female trainer, I may be here for a while. It's not an easy decision to make, because I'm going to feel weird even with a female so I can't imagine how awkward it would be with a male. Especially if whichever trainer I end up with sticks me in the top bunk, as is their right. I climbed up into the top bunks of 'our' rig, just to see if I could do it. It's not pretty, just like my 90 degree backing maneuver, but I can do it.

I get paid either way, so there's that much. I either take walks on the treadmill, or around the hotel building. There is a shuttle van available, between here and the terminal and other places like Walmart and the laundromat (tomorrow's agenda). I spent most of yesterday trying to fix my smartphone. Not sure what changed all of a sudden, but I was getting pop ads outside of apps. Not cool. I can't be having that happen when I'm out on the road because the phone is needed to do the job. I tried restarting the phone, deleting apps, restarting again. Then I decided to do a factory reset, and things were okay for a while...but then they started happening again.

So when one was playing, I saw an Info button and I hit it to see what I'd get. One of the options was 'Why am I seeing this ad?' DO TELL! So yeah, the answer was - "Facebook". Really? So I disabled the app on my phone...the closest I could get to uninstalling it. And haven't had an ad pop up since.

Doing what I do best - waiting!

Look Facebook, I have no problems with ads when I'm on Facebook. But as soon as I close that app - the ads should stop!! I can't be having random videos playing telling me I'll lose my reward if I shut it down while I'm trying to do business and math, because dammit - math is hard enough!

Rant over. I'll probably finish my even either by working on book three or reading or binge watching 'Blue Bloods'...or, knowing me, all three. With the A/C on because it was in the 70's today and my room is still a little warm! My roommate already got her trainer, so I have the room to myself, for the time being. It'll probably change tomorrow or as soon as another female employee gets a trainer.

Stay safe everyone! I'll do my best to check in once in a while.

Waiting and More Waiting

Well, I shouldn't be surprised. Very few things have gone 'as planned' in my life for over a year now, why should it start now?

I began my Orientation as planned, and was sent home in the middle of it for a doctor's note and a blood test. All because I had half a slice of french toast with my breakfast which was enough to drive my blood sugar over the limit for the physical - if they'd warned me they were going to prick my finger, I'd have skipped breakfast all together and given them a fasting reading!

So, the very next day I was put on a bus and found myself back home.

I have had my blood drawn. My A1C reading is higher than what it was a few months ago, but still within the legal limits for a Professional Driver. The A1C reading gives you the average blood sugar reading for the last three months. I don't know how that works, just that it does. And I also received the medical release from my primary doctor. My doctors have all been behind this plan from the beginning.

The papers were faxed Monday afternoon, and I was told to call on Wednesday if I hadn't heard anything. Which I did. And was told they never received the fax!! So I took pictures with my cellphone and emailed them to my recruiter. She's been great, trying to help me get through this. I gave her the information she needed today...but I called back a little while ago only to find out I'm STILL in review.

She enjoys having me back home! lol

If there's a cosmic reason for this, I would love to know what it is!!

In other news, Mr. Janney has finished his training and is being dropped off by his trainer sometime tonight. Somewhere out in Ohio. Probably at a hotel. Hopefully he won't have to wait for too long to be assigned a truck.

Also in other news, as I was heading out for my daily walk yesterday, another piece of book three fell into place and I've been pecking away at that. So I guess this waiting time isn't a complete loss.

The Road Goes Ever On and On by Robin Janney

The road goes ever on and on...

And sometimes there's road construction, detours, and unexplained delays!

Well, the good news first! Mr. Janney has successfully passed his CDL road test. The bad news to that is: I didn't and I have to start the process over! He gets to "Pass Go and collect $200" and I don't! Such is life, I guess.

I am disappointed in myself for failing, because I know this is something I can do. All my instructors at school agree with me. Some of it has been nerves, and some of this last failure is because I was just out of practice driving the big rig. I wasn't able to afford a refresher drive before this last test. Even though I drove part of the way down to the test sight, it just wasn't enough. But part of the reason why we fail is so we can learn from our mistakes.

But I am tickled pink that Mr. Janney has passed! I'm proud of him. This was his idea in the first place, something we'd talked about on and off for a while. We tried a year ago to apply to a truck driving school, but it didn't work out. By then the die was cast because he'd already quit his job. So we fell to Plan B. We'd continue as is until my surgeries were out of the way and try again. One thing led to another which in turn led us to the school we attended together and a job together.

Obviously, we won't be starting at the same time. But we were both talking with the recruiter last night and it won't be a problem. Mr. Janney will be through his training and running solo until I can join him, simple as that. It's not what we had planned, not even for Plan B...but sometimes in life you have to go through the entire alphabet to find what works! You just have to keep trying and not give up.

Easier said than done sometimes, I know. You know I know.

I'm a little anxious, but then I'd have been that way even if I'd passed and we were starting at the same time! I'll just use the late start to my part of the adventure to wind up my editing and reworking of my first two novels and continue to work book three. I know it's been forever for my fans, but it was the decision to make these changes which unlocked my writer's block and enabled me to work on book three again.

Though I can't see what's beyond the curve,
 I know the best thing is to keep on going.

As anxious as I am, I'm also excited. Because even though it's just one of us who's passed, we're still in this together. We're one step closer than we were before. I will take you all on this life's trip as much as possible. It's what I do, and why I have no problem posting about my failure and down times online. You get the good, the bad and everything in-between when I write here. Any silences are when I'm trying to process the bad and the down times...the only thing I can do. I hope you'll all stay with me on this journey.

Until next time, much love.

Quietly Thinking by Robin Janney

So, I've been on the quiet side recently. Just posting pictures and I'm sure you know what that means if you've been around following me long enough.

Depression has been visiting again.

I was kind of expecting it, especially when it came time for me to try going back to work. I kid you not, I was in tears as I drove myself to work that first afternoon. Four hours into shift the tears were now because of the pain I was in from being back on that concrete floor and that didn't exactly help the depression either. I thought - I'm right back where I started out at, if not worse. I won't go into the details, but I no longer work for the factory.

Instead, I am waiting for my 401K to be available so that I can pursue a new line of work. Mr. Janney had originally planned on being at my side for it, however, his driving record isn't good enough at the moment so I will have to go to truck driving school on my own. I am not exactly pleased about this, but then...life doesn't always go as planned, does it? A line from Ring of Fire: Does the future never scare you? Yes, all too often.

So yeah, I'm dealing with circumstantial depression hoping it doesn't turn into chemical depression. (Keeps fingers crossed) And honestly, I don't even want to talk about the anxiety at the thought of driving a big rig even brings to me. But that is probably another subject for another day. I've already had my first nightmare about it...driving into the median to avoid hitting vehicles in front of me.

I've still been working on my stories. The Farmer's Daughter is out to a few different people for a read through. I've made the original set of changes to Ring of Fire and have sort of finished my own first read through of the draft...it was a struggle when I reached a certain point, because I'm still struggling with the center where I'm STILL doing too much telling and not enough showing (Curse you Dragon Queen aka Veronica!). I think she scares me almost as much as she does Craig, the male protagonist. So right now, I'm going through Ring again fixing typos and looking for that center fudge to fix.

And yes...I've also been working on Book Three aka Bigger than the Beetles. Right now as I'm typing this post, I have four words documents open (Farmer's, Ring, Beetles, and one for flashback freewriting) And four internet tabs open (blogger, Youtube playing music - Mumford and Sons at present) Facebook, and one random tab for googling stuff - like hair colors, and drug interactions. Which - if you ever want some eye candy, google black men with hazel eyes...oh my...)

A Survivor by Robin Janney

Well...I have survived my first night back to work.

Probably all I'm willing to say about that! Although, it's that time of year again where I shower before and after work - it's very hot work.

I think I am satisfied with my revision of my second novel and have put it to the side for the moment to work on book three. Once my readers are done with the draft of The Farmer's Daughter, I'll ask them if they want Ring of Fire as well.

Had I been smarter, I'd have my blog posts all written for this week. I did try yesterday, ah...Sunday that is...but my brain wasn't working as well as I'd have liked. But of course, now I'm tired and achy and just wanna write lol

I'll try to pull something interesting out of my hat for later in the week.

Much love!

One Week Left by Robin Janney

The one spot I asked my husband not to weed eat or mow...
cuz....daisies!!

So, for those of you who remember, I've been off work for about three months now. I returned to work in April after my March surgery only to have another problem crop up. 

I've been going to physical therapy for a while, and having been receiving a steroid treatment to the trouble spot. It's not 100% better, but it's well enough to try going back to work next Monday.

Looking forward to getting a paycheck again...being out of the air conditioning and away from my computer - not so much. But still, there are bills to be paid, so until I hit the big time, "day job" it is.

I was told that my specific position was put up for bid since I've been out longer than 90 days, so I'm not even certain what I'll be doing when I go back (no anxiety there!). I'll find out more about that tomorrow.

I've been working my way through my second novel while the first one is out to people to be read. I'm afraid I'm going to have to end up reworking the entire middle section of the book because it feels to me like I'm doing more telling than showing. I will probably wait on doing that until I've worked my way through the novel for the first set of changes.

So I have a week to finish that first going through. I do have One Drive installed on my smartphone, so as long as I have internet on my phone, I'll be able to work on my stories anywhere. It's not my most favorite way to write, but it is better than nothing. I'll go back through my blog posts about Farmer's Daughter, see what I hit and missed on what I wanted to talk about in the first place. I can't believe I pounded out 3 posts last week, all in one sitting. Especially since I'm sitting here now thinking 'wut r words?'

That said, I'm signing off for my Monday blog. Here's hoping to a productive week!

Much love!

Silence

I know that the longer I put off posting on any of my blogs, the harder it will be to post after that. 'Well, it's been soooo long! What do I say? Do I apologize? Is anyone still there?' So here goes nothing, throwing words out into the vastness of cyberspace on the chance that someone is still out there waiting for a new post. 

The past few months (I'm not going to count them!) have been filled with work. There have been many 12 hours shifts, many weekend shifts that have left me with only one day to catch up on everything I slacked off on during the week, and even a couple weekends which I had to work both days. But the paychecks have been worth it, so there's that much. I do apologize for how long I've neglected this blog and my own, but I hope that all readers will be understanding.

The music video I posted above is completely random, although it is one of my favorite songs. Probably the only one by Disturbed that I truly like (no offence, just not my style). I hope that you enjoy it; either way don't  be afraid to share your thoughts about it in the comment section.

Going to keep this short, because since I'm actually on my computer I'd like to get some writing done. Or at the very least some proofing of what I've already written. It's been a while since I've tried.

Reading Indecisions by Robin Janney

Time waits for no one...

While it is certainly no excuse, boy have I been busy!  You can read about my recent life Transitions here.

The shift change, coupled with the time change, has been interesting and beneficial to say the least.  Overall, I am feeling better and happier.  Except at first break at 5:15 pm when it is now dark...I have to admit that's a bit of a downer.  Let's turn the clocks back and keep them there so we have more daylight longer in the winter!

Other than that, I'm enjoying my new job.  It's warmer than my old, sweat dripping warmer...which I'll enjoy much more once it becomes colder this winter.  I love the smell of wood, and despite the potential splinters enjoy handling each door front I'm inspecting and repairing.  Door fronts for cabinets and cupboards and the like.  Technically I'm not allowed to say online where exactly I'm working, so I won't.  I find it a little paranoid of the  unnamed company, but in this day and age it's understandable I guess.

I have two breaks during the shift, first break and lunch break.  Well, on those nights we work long enough for a lunch break. I signed on just in time for their slow season and all last week I ate my packed lunch while waiting for Mr. Janney to get out from his department a few hours later.  And one thing I do on breaks and while waiting for hubby is read.

BUT - One thing has me at a loss right now --- what to read next.

Have you ever been there?  It's a little frustrating.

I had been reading the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.  It is 14 books long...started in 1990 and not finished until 2013, almost 6 years after the author's death.  The last three novels were completed by Brandon Sanderson going from the notes Jordan left behind.

This was a reading jag that lasted months because of the sheer length of the series and the books themselves (several novels reach almost 1000 pages in length).  I love being immersed in an imaginary world, and this series delivers.  The only problem is, nothing else is interesting me at the moment.  I have books on my shelf to read...I have books in my Kindle archive to read...and nothing is striking my fancy.  I've started a few different books, and have abandoned them because they just didn't draw me into their world.

I'm not sure if it's due to a different writing style, amateur writing, or just because I'm "burnt out" for reading at the moment.  Perhaps one day next week I'll sweet talk Mr. Janney into leaving for work early and stopping by our local library to see if there's anything different there able to grab my attention.  He himself is not a reader, but he is wonderfully supportive of my love of reading and writing.  Even if it comes with some good natured ribbing from time to time!

We did just buy ourselves a new lunchbox, one big enough for us to share.  As I sit here typing, thinking about the small notebook I carry in my purse, I see the pink notebook I just recently bought at Walmart.  If there's enough room in one of the many pouches in our new lunchbox, I might start carrying that instead to write during breaks instead.  Maybe I've absorbed too many words and they need to come back out in a different combination???

Just a thought.

So tell me readers, what book or story are you reading right now?

Long Time No Hear! by Robin Janney

My keyboard misses me...

It has been almost 2 months since either Carol or I have posted here, and for that I apologize.  Life cane be a whirlwind sometimes and catch you up in it's fury before you know it!  Carol has been very focused on getting her oldest daughter off to college, and I've been adjusting to not only working 8 hours a day again, but also 6 days a week, and my husband starting back to his second shift job

I don't know about Carol, but I'm exhausted...I get a ride into work now and she leaves earlier than I used to so my alarm - when it remembers to go off - wakes me at 4am...after having woke up once when Mr. Janney comes home around 12:30am and later when he comes to bed. I try going to bed earlier, but all too often I lay there wide awake for far too long.  I can be dead tired, up until I try going to bed and then...then!...does my second wind kick in!  Although it's often not enough to convince my aching body to get back up and do something constructive, so I read instead.  I'm even in the draggy part of the series I'm reading and that's still not enough to help me drop off!

Today I was lucky enough to have only worked half a day.  We were done shortly before 11:30.  I feel halfway decent at the moment.  I have weekend chores calling my name, but I don't feel like doing them just yet.  I want time to write and relax and enjoy myself just a little.  Especially since I have the house to myself as Mr. Janney had to work today as well.  Had he not, I'd be hanging with him instead.  No doubt I'll be watching the clock closer to the time he might be home in anticipation.  I usually only get to see him for a few minutes in the middle of the night, although we usually do chat on his lunch break...it's just not the same!

Especially if I'm irked at him over something.  It's hard to have an argument with someone when your constrained for time and have to also fight with autocorrect.  But it's also easier to let that kind of stuff blow over.

My health is improving, although that torn tendon in my foot still likes to give me issues.  I see my foot doctor again next Thursday and we'll see if he's happy with my weight loss of about 25lbs and a lowered A1C reading of 6.1 instead of 7.  I'm not sure whether he'll consider doing surgery yet, but at any rate I'd like a new MRI before we even think about going ahead with it.  I mean, it's been 10 months since we decided on surgery.  If there has been ANY healing at all, I think we ought to consider other options if there are any.

Writing has been sporadic, not only on my blogs but in my third novel as well.  I work on it here and there, but often when I come home from work my brain is dead...so tired that I have a headache.  Oddly enough, the nights I have a headache are usually the easiest ones to fall asleep on.  It's been so long since my last foray into my crazy imaginary world that I will probably have to reread what I've already written so I can remember where I was at and where I was going...or at least how I was going to get there as I already know where I'm going with my story.  Sometimes the the trip from beginning to end can take a writer places she wasn't planning or even expecting.  That's half the fun!

Now that I've gotten the ball rolling again, at least here, I plan to post regularly again on my appointed week.  Provided life and my body and brain cooperate with me!

Enjoy what's left of the weekend friends!