Welcome back to Memoirs of a Forty Something Fat Chick here at Not Enough Time in the Day. I'm "The Fat Chick" and this week is my first post after our big move to Washington state.
To get everyone up to speed, my husband officially retired from the Coast Guard on September 1st. He is a Washington native and wanted to move back home, so...here we are! Being a Michigan girl, I'm happy to see all the green compared to the burned up, dried up landscape of California. It's not secret I hated living in that state. Here, I feel more at home. It's like Michigan with mountains. LOL!
Okay that's an exaggeration, but I do feel better here even when driving through some of the worst traffic in the country. Even when cutting you off, Washington drivers use their blinkers!!! Novel concept I know, but it does make a long commute tolerable.
The last two months have been exhausting to say the least. Not only did I have to work at the veterinary hospital two days before we drove to Washington with our first carload, we packed and purged and stored more crap than I thought humanly possible. With the help of one great friend and his son, we managed to get a good deal of it moved around and put into a POD. The rest we had to haul ourselves in our cars.
Now the military was supposed to move us...on their dime but they conveniently lost hubby's orders. So instead of having us on stand by after the active duty members, they had to put us further down the list. The added expense of the POD, an additional storage unit in California, hiring Two Men and a Truck to unload the POD, and renting an SUV to bring the last of our things all fell on us and depleted the nest egg we saved up as a cushion to help while we settled into our new apartment.
With all of that raining down on us, the sister in law flaked out repeatedly when asked to get her crap out of our house. She got ten years of free storage at our place and yet couldn't find the time to collect her crap or haul it to the dump. Thankfully, our old landlord agreed to take care of it. Her loss and his gain because there were a few things I thought she'd want to keep.
My license to practice veterinary medicine took FOREVER to become active in this state but it came through at the last minute and I'm bringing in the paycheck again. Whew! I'm still with the same company/group of hospitals and really enjoying the Seattle group I'm in now. They've welcomed me with open arms and made me feel right at home. As a salaried relief veterinarian for our region, I get to work with many different hospital staffs and so far it's been a hell of a lot of fun.
My writing cave isn't set up all the way yet, but after having to put the writing, editing and publishing of three books on hold for this move, I'm ready to jump back in again. My hope is to have all three out by Thanksgiving...Christmas at the latest. I'm trying not to burn the candle at both ends while we're still settling into this place.
Now I have to find a new doctor and dentist since I had to change medical plans. I'm sad to leave my last doc in California because she was great, but in order to get my health back on track, I need medical supervision. All the stress of this relocation has caused me to lose 14 pounds. I'm happy about that, but not happy that I had gained that and a little more in the first place. Having a doctor help with my routine blood work and wellness plan will help keep me on the right path.
I wanted to thank all of you for sticking by me through all these changes. You've encouraged me to keep working on my health and have been so patient with the delay in these books. Several of you have signed up for my newsletters and continue to visit this site and my others. At my lowest, I've been able to keep going because of YOUR support. Thank you!
I'm off to update a few more blogs and the Sassy Vixen website. Then I'm burying myself in edits. Until next time...
"The Fat Chick"
It's been a while since I've updated everyone. Sorry about that. I've been all over the place with promotions for all four of my pen names, attending RomCon in Denver, and trying to figure out where we're going to end up now that hubby has retired from the Coast Guard.
We're heading to Washington. The Seattle area to be more precise. Not that would surprise anyone who knows my hubby. His home port is in Washington. His family is there and more job prospects. Unbeknownst to me, I was supposed to be the one to decide if we stayed here in California or moved.
That bit of information would have been great to know six months ago! LOL! Instead, I've been on pins and needles waiting for hubby to figure out which job offer he'd like to pursue or go for his BA or Masters degree. He talked about all of it...all the time and confused the hell out of me. When I thought he was going in one direction, he'd blindside me with something completely different.
It got bad enough I turned to my old comfort...food. So as you can guess, my weight loss plan went out the window. My blood pressure has still stayed under control, but my diabetes control took some effort to reign in again.
Whew!
I did have a wonderful time in Denver. Unlike last year's RomCon, this one had a completely different vibe. I felt welcomed, accepted, and genuinely loved! I know that sounds sappy, but it's true. This year I was able to get involved in many author hosted events and interact more with readers and fellow authors. I didn't feel the disdain from people this time because I write erotica...and would you believe my bigfoot erotica FLEW off my table at the book signing?
Believe it! We're all closet monster erotica freaks! bwahahahah!
Because of that wonderful experience, I was able to escape the pressures hubby and I were under at home. Now we have a clear direction. Why? I pursued a transfer to a veterinary hospital in the area. The corporation I've worked with for the last twenty-one years, has hospitals all over the US and Canada. Lucky for me, two hospitals in the Seattle area have openings available because those docs are transferring within the company too. Win Win!
You would not believe the relief that washed over me after the phone interview with the Seattle recruiter. It's as if my vision cleared and I can finally see we are meant to go to Washington. We're not supposed to continue with the status quo. Both of us hate it here. We need this!
Another thing...no more panic attacks.
That's right. I said panic attacks. I've been suffering from those and insomnia something FIERCE over the last three months. It's been wonderful to get full night's sleep now. The vibe in our house is so upbeat. No more fear...
no more writer's block!
The deadlines I had set up for my projects have of course been pushed back, but now the dates are solid again. Season of Sun and Sin will be out in the fall. Two of the three stories that will be in it are completed. The third will be a dark fantasy I'll pen as Tawny Savage. Her last book in The Bigfoot Chronicles will be out before the end of the summer as well. Stephanie Ryan's debut romantic suspense Dangerous Medicine will be released in the fall.
So many other projects are in the works and will be out in their own due time. I'm not going to push myself to get them out before it's time. Edits have to be done properly. Cover art has to be chosen and covers designed that won't be rejected by Amazon and their new guideline Nazis.
That's a story for another day.
I want to thank all of you for sticking by me through this. It's been crazy, but so worth it!
Until next time,
~The Fat Chick
