In addition to offering for free the ebook, audiobook, & lesson plans for my novel, Courage in Patience in my capacity as an author, I have also been busy-busy-busy in my day-job as a high school English teacher. I have completed compiling resources that will result in writing a dystopian short story. As a basis for this, I used Christina Gil’s unit on Teachers Pay Teachers–IT IS EXCELLENT AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT. I had to put materials together in such a way that I could email them to my administrators and have them print out hard-copy packets for our students without access to the internet/technology/or whose internet data limit is depleted, crippling their ability to participate on Google Classroom.
If you are interested in my lesson plan/resource PDF to ease your own burden with respect to submitting your lessons, please contact me, but also purchase Christina Gil’s unit on Teachers Pay Teachers. You need her unit and its awesome information and the way she explains and builds the foundation in order to maximize success for you and your students. Even if we get to return to school prior to the end of the semester, I will still be using this unit. In addition to the materials in Christina’s Dystopian fiction unit, I pulled the texts off the internet where necessary and found nearly all the transcripts for the videos that are used in the unit, because I wanted to provide all the info even if kids can’t access the videos in the plan, and also included supplemental videos that I felt would be useful to aid student comprehension. Hit me up if you would like me to share with you what I submitted to my principals for them to print for students. http://bethfehlbaumbooks.info/contact/
We’ll get through this. Here’s some free stuff that could help.
I bought the audiobook, CALM THE F*CK DOWN. So far I like it a lot…
it’s also inspiring potential blog posts of what I, a person with
diagnosed Generalized Anxiety Disorder, am doing to cope. I’ll tell ya a
couple here–in case you, like me, are kinda wired to easily freak out:
(1) One thing I learned when I was in therapy was that having a PURPOSE
is key to getting out of my own head. That’s also emphasized in the
book, TRAUMA RECOVERY- SESSONS WITH DR MATT- that I cowrote
with Matt E. Jaremko, Ph.D., who is my former therapist. He taught me
that altruism goes a long way to pulling one off the pity pot. Even
though we are socially isolated, I try to think of something I can do to
ease others’ burden–and one thing I did was join with SCBWI in
providing resources for teachers. Check out this page–and help yourself
to downloading my first book, Courage in Patience. There’s also
teaching resources there–and I’m halfway through recording the audio of
the novel. If you prefer an actual ebook rather than a PDF, it’s on
Amazon for .99 http://bethfehlbaumbooks.info/courage-in-patience-novel-un…/
(2) I also learned that having a PLAN is HUGE. To-Do lists are still a
HUGE part of my life. I teach high school English and we are of course
moving to remote instruction. At first I spiraled, trying to come up
with ideas of how to best teach– and I think I’ve found it: we’re doing
a unit on DYSTOPIA! Timely, right? I’ll share those lesson plans with
y’all too, once I get them completed today. There are plans through the
last week in May, even though we haven’t yet been told we’ll be out
through then. I will simply adapt the lessons to in-person–happily so!-
if we get to return.
(3) I’m also planning further as an author–I
will be hosting Zoom meetings to talk about writing–but I’m still
working on those (for obvious reasons, the day-job that pays the bills
takes priority there..) AND I’m also querying literary agents, so that’s
giving me something to do as well.
🙂
(4) I know y’all can’t tell based on my newsfeed–but I’m really
limiting my consumption of political TV. I repost credible info
here–but shows like Morning Joe are just feeding my anxiety–so I turn
that off –turn the TV off completely–and listen to music instead. The
Avett Brothers soothe me immensely. Speaking of music– go here–http://drmattbook.com—
and check out the PLAYLISTS that accompany our book, TRAUMA RECOVERY:
SESSIONS WITH DR. MATT. There’s music videos, suggested TV shows &
movies–lots of good stuff that goes with concepts in the book.
STEADY ON, Y’ALL! We will get through this by being kind to each other,
thinking of others, not just ourselves, having a plan, washing our
hands!–and staying HOME!
TURN THIS UP AND DANCE IN YOUR HOUSE, Y’ALL.
Well I’ve been lockin’ myself up in my house for sometime now
Readin’ and writin’ and readin’ and thinkin’
And searching for reasons and missing the seasons.
The Autumn, the Spring, the Summer, the snow.
The record will stop and the record will go. Latches latched the windows down,
The dog coming in and the dog going out.
Up with caffeine and down with a shot.
Constantly worried about what I’ve got. Distracting my work but I can’t make a stop
And my confidence on and my confidence off.
And I sink to the bottom and rise to the top
And I think to myself that I do this a lot. World outside just goes
It goes it goes it goes it goes it goes
And witness it all from the blinds of my window.
Three, four I’m a little nervous ’bout what you’ll think
When you see me in my swimming trunks
And last night in New York I got raging drunk
Remember one time I got raging drunk with you Now, I can recall a time when we made the city
Streets our playground, kissing in the fountains
Filled with cigarettes and bottles
Sped through Italian city streets of cobblestoneBecause we had to
Because I loved you
Because the damned alcohol
Because what ever at allNow I’ve grown to aware of my mortality
To let go and forget about dying
Long enough to drop the hammer down
And let the indolence go wild and flying throughBecause we had to
Because I loved you
Because we had to
Because we had to
Because we had to
Because we had to
Because we had to
Because we had to
Source: LyricFindSongwriters: Robert William Crawford / Scott Yancey Avett / Timothy Seth Avett
Celebrate my birthday in a very cool way!
To celebrate my upcoming birthday, I’m raising money for Building Better Kids. This is an organization within my school–although separate from the district–that provides food and more for some of our most vulnerable students. AND-because my FAVORITE part of my birthday is giving to others, everyone who donates at least 50.00 will receive a signed set of my PATIENCE TRILOGY! (See http://bethfehlbaumbooks.info/the-patience-trilogy/ for more info on those.) Your contribution will make an impact for Building Better Kids, whether you donate $5 or $500. Every little bit helps. Thank you for your support. Here’s where to donate: https://www.facebook.com/donate/229764884721557/10157762139163190/
Thanks!
So this doctor asked me, “What makes you such a determined person?”
I went to a rheumatologist today in hopes of getting answers to a year’s worth of mysteries (see yesterday’s blog…) and I got some encouraging news (for now, at least… I hope it’s permanent good news, or at least as permanent as good news is)–namely, he believes I have osteoarthritis rather than rheumatoid, and he’s not as on-board with the theoretical propositions that I have any serious stuff going on like myositis (which causes muscles to deteriorate/weaken). But the reason I am dropping in to add a blog post is that this doctor was amazed that I have lost a hundred pounds (imagine how he’d have responded if I told him it was the SECOND time I’ve done it , ha ha ha,) although I’m positive I’ve lost those same pounds hundreds of times in my life), and he was also blown away by the attitude I have, which is, “I’m strong because I’ve worked so hard to be strong, and nothing is going to get in the way of me continuing to be strong.”
He told me somebody should tell my story [me WHISPERING to you: I didn’t tell him my first 4 books are, in many ways, my story, and that my 5th book contains the most directly personal stuff since it’s non-fiction.]
He said, “You’ll be able to handle whatever is going on with you; I can tell. So–what makes you such a determined person?”
I said, “I rebuilt my life after it fell apart. I have worked incredibly hard to have the life I have today. I had a very traumatic childhood, and I had a mental breakdown when I was 38 and went through years of intensive therapy to become the person I am now. Being strong and feeling strong is very important to me. I don’t let things get in my way.”
I thanked him for giving me HOPE and told him I am incredibly ENCOURAGED. He did say I have more osteoarthritis in my hands than most people my age, but that he does not see evidence of the sorts of conditions I’ve been told I probably have.
Then he shook my hand and told me someone would come get me soon to schedule an appointment in 6 weeks–he wants to see me after the muscle biopsy results are in, and to see if the steroid he’s giving me for a few weeks to make what he called “the achies” to go away, works.
So I was on Cloud Nine, and I went into another room to wait, then somebody came & got me. I said, “Are you the scheduler?”
This lady said, “No, I’m supposed to take blood.”
I thought, “Wha—?”
Then asked her what she’s testing for, and I was told a laundry list of conditions including autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, etc… in other words, all these things I was just told I probably don’t have. I was like this.
So, to quote my husband, it’s more “Hurry up and wait.”
Guess we’ll see…
Hope is the Opposite of _____________
I should be writing. My novel, that is. For the past, oh, two years (I’m positive I’m shaving off at least 12 months there), I’ve been writing the hardest novel of my life. With the help of Kate Brauning, founder of Breakthrough Writers Boot Camp, I found direction. With the growth of the protagonist, Kylie Briscoe, I found the story.
And I should be writing it.
Right now.
But I need to write this first–I’ve put it off for far too long–so I cleared out the cobwebs on this long-neglected website [READ: I had to unsuccessfully attempt to remember my log in info then go through a couple days attempting to reset it.]. I’m embarrassed that one of the most recent posts was some New Year’s Resolution for 2019 that had as its goal to finish my work-in-progress and find a new agent. Alas, this post burning to get out of my brain is oozing with navel-gazing. It’s gonna be a bit of a long navel-gaze, too. Pack a lunch.
Onward.
There’s a lot of my life in my first four books, The Patience Trilogy (Courage, Hope, and Truth)–which chronicled a teen girl’s journey to begin to recover from Childhood Sexual Abuse, and in Big Fat Disaster, in which the protagonist is the “fat girl” in an image-obsessed family. Being as “real” as possible in my writing and in my day-to-day life is how I connect with my readers (and family and friends and students.) I live my life out loud because I have learned that being human and fallible with others is a way of losing shame. Drag it into the sunlight and share the communion of being human and fallible. I believe that by acknowledging our struggles instead of existing in isolation, we are more able to see others as equal travelers on an arduous journey, so let’s tackle the trip together. Writing The Patience Trilogy and Big Fat Disaster led me to advocate strongly for others who experienced the same sort of trauma that lead my protagonists to destructive ways of coping–and I encourage people to seek professional help for what hurts. There is hope for recovery. Always.
It’s that same advocacy for recovery that led me to team with my former therapist, Dr. Matt E. Jaremko, to write Trauma Recovery: Sessions With Dr. Matt, again offering hope for recovery and practical steps to pursuing it while telling, if I do say so myself, compelling fictional backstories of traumatized people seeking relief while modeling application of the easy-to-understand concepts within the pages.
Anyone who reads my books and gets to know me eventually becomes aware that I rebuilt my life beginning in the early 2000s after decades of hanging on by a thread. My mind pretty much melted (nah, let’s be real: IT DID. IT MELTED, OOZED, SLURPED, BUBBLED, AND SLID AROUND FOR A WHILE. The years 2004-2008 are largely a blur; unfortunately for my children, those were formative years for them. Fortunately, their father, my husband is UH-MAZ-ING and any time anyone complements how fantastic my children are, I give their daddy all the credit. Fortunately, too, much of what they got into as far as trouble in those years is beyond my ability to remember it, AND also, when they tell me stuff that happened between 2004-2008, I’m usually hearing it as if for the first time, even though I was in fact THERE. )
I had a breakdown after decades of existing in a family-of-origin where I was only welcome as long as I was willing to pretend a lot of horrible shit did not, in fact, happen, and once I reached my saturation point and dared speak the truth, I–as well as my husband and daughters, were O-U-T out. It took a lot of time, blood, sweat, tears, money, determination, resilience, perseverance, other synonyms that mean “perseverance”, our pulling together as a family of five like YOU WOULD NOT EVEN BELIEVE, the steadfast presence and patience of Dr. Matt Jaremko, and mothah-effing-hard work to reach the point I’m at today, which is probably about as normal I’m gonna get [READ: not quite all the way but well-done enough that I can pass as “normal,” at least as “normal” as all the other quirky introverted East Texas bleeding heart liberals (the preceding descriptors, “East Texas” and “bleeding heart liberals” go together about as well as oil and water) who talk to her animals like they’re people and feed the neighborhood raccoons. Don’t look at me too funny, though; my husband bought the raccoons a wading pool. He’ll tell ya he did it for me, but do you really buy that?]
Took some fits and stops and starting over but as of today I am, at the ripe age of 53, in what I’ve thought of as “the best shape of my life”, which means in pretty good shape (I think…er I thought), and at a healthy weight (being able to write the preceding two words involved a lot of those fits and stops and starts, seeing as how Colby Denton, the protag of Big Fat Disaster, and I share Binge Eating Disorder,) but I’ve worked hard for the life I’ve carved out which includes rising at 3:15 A.M. Monday through Friday so that I can get my morning chores done–feeding animals mostly–yes, including those damned raccoons who are not above beating on my front door if I don’t get out there quick enough. You think I’m lying, but I’m not. I feed myself too and try to start working out by 4:30 A.M.–45 minutes on an elliptical–that’s my time to roll stuff over in my head and think about my day to come while listening to a podcast or audiobook OR while watching some true-crime TV show OR catching up on Colbert, etc. Then I hop on the recumbent bike and that’s my “write the book”-time and I do that until about 6:00 A.M., then I shower and leave by 7 to educate adolescents who fully recognize my weirdoness and seem to like it; at least most of ’em do, and those that don’t? Well, I generally wear them down to at least a smirk by Spring Break. I did have a girl tell me to my face that she hates my class and I told her that’s okay, ’cause some days I don’t like those people, either.
I believe it’s a trueism for humanity–pause to remind you and myself remember how I’m all “into” being human and fallible and all that–that anytime one thinks one has it all or even semi-together, that’s time for life to throw a curve ball.
December of 2018, I had some blood work that came back weird: my liver enzymes were high. Throughout 2019, the enzymes continued to rise, and I had every blood test you can imagine, gall bladder sonogram, liver scan, a liver biopsy, all arriving at the same conclusion: there’s nothing wrong with my liver enzymes. I considered replacing my job description on my tax form–“teacher”–with “lab rat”–because I feel as if I have been the subject of trial and error for the past 12 months. Anyway, the only other organ that produces the weirdo enzyme levels is the muscular system. I had a muscle biopsy on December 5 and I’m still waiting for the results, but at this point the strong suspicion is an autoimmune disease such as myositis, which causes muscle deterioration, and I’ve also developed symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, leading my primary care doc to suspect connective tissue disease. I see a rheumatologist tomorrow, hopefully to get some answers that will inspire hope.
I value being healthy and strong and the person I fought so hard to become–and yet even though I can look in the mirror and see muscles where none were defined before, I am dealing with fatigue and other symptoms of stuff beyond my control and that is painful to me. Yeah, the other stuff like the hands being a mess and the biopsy site being a mess and the leg and the knees and elbows and blah blah blah I’m boring myself–that’s painful too. But what’s most painful is the “what if”-part.
I’m exhausted from the uncertainty, the lack of surety–and other synonyms for WTF (NOTE: the results for that synonym query led me to this)–the lack of answers and I’m worn down and tired from those same conditions in our country. I value truth. I value authenticity. I value care for others and myself.
At this point, we are at the mercy of a person who assassinated the leader of another country’s government and his lack of consideration for the long-term effects is stunning. Jaw-droppingly STUNNING.
To coin a phrase my friend used long ago to describe one of his passions, “Politics is my favorite spectator sport.” Anyone who peruses my Facebook timeline would conclude that it’s mine, too, although mine is not so much politics in general as it is making an attempt to inform others of what the truth is in a country currently (but please, God, PLEASE NOT FOR MUCH LONGER) helmed by a pathological liar and overall Worst Person. I despise Donald Trump. I abhor his enablers. I remain in a fairly constant state of awe (not the good kind, either) of those otherwise apparently intelligent people who support him, and when he was elected, I wept. When I woke in the middle of the night to the news that Trump was elected, my only living blood relative outside of my children–the only person I have left from my family of origin– texted me to tell me how great this would be–to just give the man a chance–and I responded with my frank assessment that has borne out to a degree that is stunningly awful.
Two days after the election in 2016, I was in South Texas to do a series of school visits in conjunction with a book festival, and I stood in my hotel bathroom attempting to get ready for the first visit but could not do so because I was sobbing into the phone to my husband. My heart was shattered–broken into shards, y’all–that people I am related to–the aforementioned one blood relative I have left–as well as members of my husband’s family–people whom I love and trust– would actually vote for a man who admittedly sexually assaults women. I did not understand, and still do not understand, how people who witnessed what I experienced to recover from being sexually assaulted as a child could, in any way, allow themselves to vote for a person who put others through the same hell I’d endured. Who were these people? Who are they? I am still uncertain, and fear that they will vote for him again in 2020 keeps me from asking where they stand now. I don’t want to know. I won’t be able to continue to interact with them if their answer remains “I support him.”
I work with people that I know support the Orange Anus Howler Monkey in the Oval Office; I teach students who wear Trump 2020 gear (I don’t acknowledge it; I may be a quirky weirdo, but I’m not a stupid quirky weirdo); I live in an area so Red that Democrats do not even run for office. (Don’t ask me to do it, either. I won’t even phone bank or door-knock because even though I’m GREAT on paper/a computer screen, and I even have one of the scariest jobs (to some people anyway–but not to me–that is, standing in front of adolescents and talking to them about stuff they are not interested in a lot of the time–which is why ya gotta use Jazz Hands, y’all!–I have social anxiety that is palpable enough that I know I am NOT your public office-type person)– and I am at a loss as to what to do to make a difference other than continually sharing FACTUAL reports, TRUTH, about what Trump is doing and how we can fight it.
I give to candidates I support. I do behind-the-scenes stuff like writing letters/helping register voters in underrepresented areas. I write and call my Congressional rep & senators (Gooden, Cornyn, & Cruz: like they pay one whit of attention to anything I say or do).
And I’m coming to realize that I have to change course, find another way to cope– and I have to do that with the new reality I’m facing with respect to what I’ve come to think of as my “normal”–the physical self I’ve worked hard to gain, and what I am facing with the onset of condition(s) I did not ask for and it doesn’t look like there’s a whole lot positive to do about them but I’m gonna try my hardest and keep doing what I can to the best of my ability, damn the torpedoes– and I don’t know what to do with respect to our country except apply the same approach, albeit with less useless stuff like sharing news stories and more STUFF THAT MAKES A REAL DIFFERENCE.
To that end, I just completed John Pavlovitz’s Hope and Other Superpowers, and I cannot recommend it highly enough to you, too, whether you are dealing with health uncertainty or world uncertainty. It’s really uplifting and has concrete steps one can follow. And it’s got some fabulous quotes in it, too, one of my favorite being that John Pavlovitz would rather have explosive diarrhea or sit in a fire ant pile than have Trump in office (high five, John. Moi aussi.) And he also quoted Viktor Frankel, which is what I will leave you with:
Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.
Big Fat Disaster named as a “Compassionate Novel for Teens Who Have Always Felt Different”!
Hey, guys, Ezvid Wiki, who named my novel, Big Fat Disaster, as a “Compassionate Novel for Teens Who Have Always Felt Different,” requested that I link to the video they made for my book and others. I updated my Awards & Reviews page, if you’d like to check out the “Compassionate Novels” video and read a little about my work. 🙂 Here’s the link to that page: http://bethfehlbaumbooks.info/awards-reviews/
And this is the direct link to Ezvid Wiki’s site featuring Big Fat Disaster & other novels as well: https://wiki.ezvid.com/m/11-compassionate-novels-for-teens-…
COOLEST. THING. EVER.
The tiny Creative Writing Club at my school, in conjunction with support from an educational foundation grant & support from colleagues, has produced an Anthology of writing & art. I am as proud of this book as of the 5 books I’ve written myself. It’s beautiful.
In fact, I have submitted a proposal for presentation at an event in Texas, the topic being how our school produced the book, and how my background as a teen author bent on authentic writing came in very handy.
Energized.
Hasta later, 2018! Welcome new year, new beginnings, and ONE resolution!
Hey, all! Hope you are having a fulfilling holiday season. As 2018 wraps up, I thought I’d do the same with a reflective piece, then I’m spending the rest of the day working on my newest teen novel, a contemporary (realistic) fiction story.
My ONE resolution for the new year is to complete my work in progress–partner with a new agent & get my book-baby on submission!
2018: Personal Stuff: I lost 92 pounds
The Physical/Emotional/Mental Stuff–and isn’t it all that, pretty much???
My physical/mental/emotional transformation actually began before 2018 started, and if I had to trace a seed that was planted, it was when I co-wrote a book called Trauma Recovery: Sessions with Dr. Matt–Narratives of Hope and Resilience for Victims with PTSD. The book came out on 12/14/2018, but I began writing it with Dr. Matt E. Jaremko in summer of 2016. One of the storylines in it is of a woman named Felicia, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse/sexual assault, who has coped with her pain through Binge Eating Disorder (BED). I’ll let you read the book to get Felicia’s full story, but suffice it to say that I came to realize how much I’d relapsed as I wrote Felicia’s experience of BED, her trepidation about being honest about it: her revelation–real, honest, authentic exposure of how she was using food as a drug, and experience of Dr. Matt (the character based on Dr. Jaremko) recommending Leora Fulvio’s book, Reclaiming Youself From Binge Eating Disorder, (which I read along with Felicia), I had to face harsh truths that I’d been lying to myself again, because it felt so awful and shameful to admit it: I had slipped, fallen, slid, and now actively wallowed in a puddle of my binge foods on my back, like a tortoise trying to right itself on its shell.
I have body dysmorphia, so what I see in the mirror is not necessarily reflective of reality, so I didn’t realize how big I had gotten until I saw pics of myself.
When I was in eating disorder relapse, what I saw in the mirror depended on how much shame I was feeling about how I ate the day before. (I know, I know…. they call it mental illness for a reason, mmkay? That’s one area of my life I am no more ashamed of than if I had some other disease like epilepsy or something like that. Nothing to be ashamed of.)
I won’t rewrite my entire post, When I Made Up My Mind, that started this journey, but you can go read it if you want.
I had gastric sleeve surgery on my 52nd birthday in early March, but I began in October 2017 to eat the way I learned I would need to eat after I had the sleeve, which is an emphasis on “protein & produce.” The 2 “P’s.” That’s the key. Other “keys” I learned in the education program prior to having the surgery included: 10 & 10– which means– at every meal, try to get at least 10 grams of protein and LESS than 10 grams of sugar. Other “number-y” tools include: 30 & 30: don’t drink anything 30 minutes prior to or after eating (although I’m not a really good adherent on this one–but I try, I try!), and:
64: minimum # ounces of fluid intake per day ( I usually get much more than that; more like 140 or so).
80: minimum # of protein grams per day (I usually get over 100, which is good, because it helps with not losing as much hair as one otherwise might. Rapid weight loss means you lose strands of hair at a greater rate than you normally would. I have really fine hair anyway but I think the hair loss is slowing to normal now. For awhile it was, “Holy cow!”–but still nothing like other people have had. Plus I take a biotin supplement every day.)
Some surgeons recommend a certain # of carbs per day, but mine does not.
Which brings us to another slew of numbers– what I take every day so I do not become malnourished:
3: Three calcium supplements per day (chewable, with Vitamin D)….
2: Two chewable multivitamins per day….
1: One meltable B12 supplement per day
1: One meltable Biotin.
I’m always asked how many calories I eat per day. At the beginning, most people can’t get in more than 400 calories a day, then it’s about 700, and now I take in between 1000-1200 calories a day. From what I understand, the very low count at the start is in part due to the swelling of the stomach, which is only 15% of what it once was. It’s now the shape of a skinny banana. Some people fear “stretching their pouch” and I’ve read conflicting things about this– but if one follows the rules and pays attention to “full signals,” it’s supposed to keep its small size. (No carbonation allowed– I actually gave up Diet Coke, y’all! My last Diet Coke was 12/23/2017– and I was so addicted to it that I guess I remember that date like an alcoholic remembers giving up booze… I also have not had caffeine since January 2018. Giving up tea was NOT easy but I drink a lot of Crystal Light Green Tea which is caffeine free.)
On a day where I eat more, it might be like 1280 calories a day–and that would be a day when I work out plus clean my whole house or do a lot of other physical stuff. The breakdown between protein/carbs/fat percentages usually works out to about 40 protein/30 carbs/30 fat, but it can vary and some days the carb intake is a little higher, but that’s unusual.
I track my daily food, liquid, & exercise on an app called Baritastic. I don’t worry about liquid intake tracking being precise like I did at the start, though, because I drink water throughout the day and am careful to stay hydrated.
I work out 6 days a week, starting out with 15-17 minutes on an elliptical (I try to go up on the resistance by 1 point per week, because I am working on strengthening my hip muscles to help support a partially torn tendon I have–the pain from that was also a motivator for losing weight because I realized I was in so much pain when I walked that I was waddling). Then I move to the stationery recumbent bike for 45 minutes (that’s my writing time, too– I have a “surf shelf” that attaches to the dashboard of the bike that I strap my laptop onto.) I take Sundays off, usually don’t get out of my pajamas, and write all day as much as possible, anything I want to write (including blog posts like this one), but usually I work on my current manuscript. I LOVE SUNDAYS!!!
When I’m working (I am a teacher), I get up to work out at 4 A.M. Mon-Fri. so I have time to feed our menagerie & give them their medications, drink a protein shake (I take all my meds/vitamins with it, because I take meds for stuff unrelated to being a bariatric patient), and generally wake up enough to get started on the elliptical no later than 5:10 A.M.
There are days I do not want to exercise, but usually I wake up looking forward to the “me” time–the “writing time”–because it touches a part of my soul that nothing else does. It’s very, very satisfying to know that I’ve made progress on my manuscript + done something positive for my hip recovery + started out my day by activating endorphins that help me cope with a stressful job.
All this work–this tracking, exercising, food choices, mindfulness, and perseverance are paying off. I’ve lost 92 pounds at this writing, gone from a size 18 to a 5, gone down one shoe size, and I no longer limp/waddle, I don’t have sleep apnea anymore, I work out daily (well…6 days a week) to become stronger and stronger, and, most important of all–even more than all those other things: when I wake up in the morning, I don’t immediately feel self-hatred because of the way I treated myself the day before. For me, being free of self-loathing is worth maintaining eating disorder recovery, and it is a daily–sometimes by the hour or minute–deliberate choice of being sane, rather than falling into the pit of relapse.
2018: Professional Stuff: a hella-hard decision
I separated from my agent and decided to seek representation elsewhere when I complete this manuscript.
BUT: 2018: Professional Stuff: hella-cool
My most recent published book, co-written with Dr. Matt E. Jaremko, Trauma Recovery: Sessions with Dr. Matt–Narratives of Hope and Resilience for Victims with PTSD, released in December 2018, and the reviews for it are nothing short of gratifying. Matt has done a great job in interviews on top-10 podcasts; the professional endorsements we’ve received are strongly positive, and readers are receiving the message(s) we meant to convey when we wrote the book. SO. COOL!!!!
2018: More deeply in love with my husband than ever
My husband is an immeasurable blessing, my best friend, fountain of unconditional love and support, and amazing partner and father to our children. We’ve been together for 38 years and he is my soulmate.
2018: Ch-ch-changes and growing and evolving children–and always, always, ALWAYS, fierce love for each other
This year saw one daughter meeting her love, another daughter beginning the process of figuring out who she is and what she wants for herself and in a love, and another daughter seeking adventure through travel for her job.
As I write this, one daughter and her love are rising from a night of sleep after driving from our house in Texas to Ohio, as they head to her love’s family’s holiday gathering; another daughter hit the road 4 hours ago, to head back to North Carolina, and another daughter in Colorado but due home to Texas for a late Christmas with us in 11 days (I’m counting….) before she heads off to Reno for the next assignment.
But no matter how far apart we are, we have a connection of unconditional love and support that time and space cannot weaken. We have each other’s backs fiercely, and that means when someone treats one of us badly, that person done effed up with all of us.
Example: I am incredibly thankful that I can send my husband & kids a group text about one of the craptastic things that happened to me the past few months, and I get answers that include, “I’m so sorry you have to deal with that…” to “OMG! That is such a violation of [censored so as to not reveal details]!” to “I wish I was closer ’cause I’d key [redacted]’s car….” to “What a —-.” (Censored).
At the same time, we tell each other the truth and address problems when they come up. I value that authenticity so much.
2018 and beyond: A note for Americans
Our country needs every citizen to take note of what’s going on and fight for what America is meant to be: a democracy, not an autocracy, with results of an election determined by the voters, not a foreign country.
Please be informed and aware of what’s going on in America. Please go beyond partisan news sources to learn more about what you’re reading on Facebook, seeing on cable news channels, and hearing from family and friends. Verify stuff before you share it on Facebook. If you google something you read and you cannot find it on scholarly/non-partisan news sites in addition to the site it came from, please think twice before sharing it. Here’s a resource that you could find helpful.
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