[Life Updates]

Much has changed in my life since last I blogged regularly...

• I'm no longer an English instructor, at least at present, nor have I been for about five years. I do...data entry and audit for shipping invoices. Good times, many many invoices, mucho stress. But things are in place to eventually help me transition to something that better fits me as a person. First on the list: I enrolled today for my first class for my second master's degree, a masters in Library and Information Science. I'm pretty excited about it, but it's going to be a bit of a journey, since I'll be going to school while working full time, so I won't be able to take on a full load. We're looking at 3 years minimum, and 5-6 years altogether to get certified as a school librarian and high school English teacher. More job opportunities, but definitely some hurdles before we get there.

(At this rate, I should get to settle into the right career just a few years before retirement age... that is, if retirement is still an option for the average Millennial. It's not looking good on that front--let's be honest here.)

• My sweet Sassy girl is now 11, fighting tumors in her digestive system, and generally starting to let it slip that's she, despite looking about 5, is indeed a senior dog, and meanwhile breaking my heart. She still has many more good days than bad, especially now we're treating the right causes of her upset stomach, and we're still hopeful prednisone and anti-nausea meds can shrink the tumors and calm her stomach enough to give her more time to be the happy girl she still is. Nevertheless...
  
• My dad passed in November after a long, heart-breaking battle with pulmonary fibrosis and COPD. He long outlived his original prognosis, and the fact he no longer is suffering is a genuine comfort because it was such a terrible ordeal, but it was a terrible way to go, and seeing what I saw only strengthens my hatred toward cigarettes and lackadaisical attitudes toward COVID-19. I lost several other loved ones last year, and I have several other loved ones nearing the end of some of their long-term illness battles, so I'm anticipating being hit with more grief in the near-ish future. This further fuels my determination to move toward work that makes me feel like I'm doing something to make the world better for at least one person who needs help or comfort or beauty, not just to keep enough money in my bank account to not have to foreclose on my house. Life is short, and the time to do what's right is limited.
  
• Mom's planning to move in with me later this year. That's going to be an adventure. Yes, indeed, especially after living on my own for the past 13 years. Definitely an adventure. Pray for us.
  
• There is more going on (besides the pandemic and fighting for long overdue reform in justice and system racism, about which I'm long past the point of tiptoeing around on social media so as not to offend my family and acquaintances who don't recognize the racism or selfishness in themselves--it's time to wake up and listen to what people are living on a daily basis and realize your life isn't the same life someone else has to live just because you don't see it personally!), but I don't think it fits in a neat little bullet-point paragraph, so that can wait for another day, so for now, enjoy these two videos of Sassy from last summer, since we haven't gotten to take her to the lake for a swim yet this year because of the flooding: