Good evening, everyone!!!
I've had a lot going on over the course of the last month. I will give you the exciting stuff first :)
The Hope Chest Anthology came out this past week. This has been a long time coming, we've been working on this since the second weekend in December of last year :) It was a learning process for sure, but a process we are definitely working on doing again. A group of nine authors, two editors, one photographer, a cover artist, a formatter and uploader, and a lot of time and energy went into this project. If you click on the beginning of this paragraph you can find our kindle version and paperback over on Amazon. We're also on Kobo and iTunes and you can access these sites just by clicking on the pink words in this paragraph.
Not only have I been working toward helping get this anthology out into the readers hands I have also been working on my own project, getting The Cheyenne Bride out in audio book :) This has also been a learning experience but it has also been an exciting experience as well. I am very excited to announce that very soon you will be able to get The Cheyenne Bride on audio book. We finalized things up this week and it is now in the approval stages before going live. I will keep you updated on its progress :)
I am also working on NaNoWriMo which I'm behind on, but still am holding out faith I can do this :) I chose to work on the fourth book in The Cheyenne Bride series, Jessie's Revenge. If you've read The Cheyenne Bride, yes, this is little Jessie Carter, can you guess who her hero is??? :)
In all of this we've welcomed our fifth grandchild into the world, a beautiful little girl you will hear me refer to as lil one from here on out :) She was pretty stubborn coming into the world, took 26 hours for her to make her arrival into our world. She came out watching the world, eyes open, turning her head toward every sound. Her love for her big sister, Lil Miss, was very apparent.
If all of this wasn't enough, (we'll get into what I refer to as the voodoo aspect of this blog now), things came to a head with this menopausal bullshit for me. I'm a firm believer in taking care of issues yourself as most of you probably know from reading my blogs. I've researched all aspects of menopause, prepared myself for what I thought was the worst. Then BAM out of nowhere a symptom I had no clue about hit me and I've struggled on and off with it for at least a year. Depression.
Depression is no laughing matter for sure. It is also not something you take lightly. My rational side told me, this is just menopause, you will get through this. I would make a small step in the right direction and think, I've got this. Then boom out of nowhere it would hit again, worse than the time before.
Two weeks ago this week I finally gave in and asked for some assistance on this issue. I had reached an all time low and in my mind, for no other reason than this stupid aspect of life every woman must go through at some point.
After being given a low dose of antidepressant, I can say why did I wait so long??? I feel like I've been given my life back. Sure, I wait for the other shoe to fall, because yes, I've had those weeks where things have been good before, but I can honestly say, that is just the skeptic in me :) and this I am positive of.
I would research the causes of depression during menopause and none of them fit me. Empty nest is something I long ago dealt with. So that wasn't a huge issue for me. Alone time, I am one of those women who thrive on alone time (the writer in me) so it made no sense why I was worried about being alone. So I would tell myself, you just need to get your groove back, quit wallowing.
It wasn't that at all. Hormones are a tricky and crazy aspect of a woman's life. My daughter-in-law reminded me I have no thyroid to assist in helping my body sort this out. Sure I have meds for that, but I will tell you, even those meds are not as helpful as having a thyroid.
So I swallowed my pride, admitted it was time for some help, and got that help. Today, I feel more like the old me. I started listening to my body again and if its tired I sleep, if its full of energy I work, and the creative juices are starting to flow once again.
Ladies, there is nothing wrong with strong women knowing when they need help and asking for it. Sometimes we need just a little assistance to help us get through each day when life seems to bowl us over. I love being independent, have for many years. But this menopause ordeal is definitely something even I didn't expect. Don't suffer alone, reach out, if you find yourself in this position. This is one of those changes in life that is beyond our control and there is help out there, I promise.
Everyone have a lovely day!!!
Blessings to all!!!
I've had a lot going on over the course of the last month. I will give you the exciting stuff first :)
The Hope Chest Anthology came out this past week. This has been a long time coming, we've been working on this since the second weekend in December of last year :) It was a learning process for sure, but a process we are definitely working on doing again. A group of nine authors, two editors, one photographer, a cover artist, a formatter and uploader, and a lot of time and energy went into this project. If you click on the beginning of this paragraph you can find our kindle version and paperback over on Amazon. We're also on Kobo and iTunes and you can access these sites just by clicking on the pink words in this paragraph.
Not only have I been working toward helping get this anthology out into the readers hands I have also been working on my own project, getting The Cheyenne Bride out in audio book :) This has also been a learning experience but it has also been an exciting experience as well. I am very excited to announce that very soon you will be able to get The Cheyenne Bride on audio book. We finalized things up this week and it is now in the approval stages before going live. I will keep you updated on its progress :)
I am also working on NaNoWriMo which I'm behind on, but still am holding out faith I can do this :) I chose to work on the fourth book in The Cheyenne Bride series, Jessie's Revenge. If you've read The Cheyenne Bride, yes, this is little Jessie Carter, can you guess who her hero is??? :)
In all of this we've welcomed our fifth grandchild into the world, a beautiful little girl you will hear me refer to as lil one from here on out :) She was pretty stubborn coming into the world, took 26 hours for her to make her arrival into our world. She came out watching the world, eyes open, turning her head toward every sound. Her love for her big sister, Lil Miss, was very apparent.
If all of this wasn't enough, (we'll get into what I refer to as the voodoo aspect of this blog now), things came to a head with this menopausal bullshit for me. I'm a firm believer in taking care of issues yourself as most of you probably know from reading my blogs. I've researched all aspects of menopause, prepared myself for what I thought was the worst. Then BAM out of nowhere a symptom I had no clue about hit me and I've struggled on and off with it for at least a year. Depression.
Depression is no laughing matter for sure. It is also not something you take lightly. My rational side told me, this is just menopause, you will get through this. I would make a small step in the right direction and think, I've got this. Then boom out of nowhere it would hit again, worse than the time before.
Two weeks ago this week I finally gave in and asked for some assistance on this issue. I had reached an all time low and in my mind, for no other reason than this stupid aspect of life every woman must go through at some point.
After being given a low dose of antidepressant, I can say why did I wait so long??? I feel like I've been given my life back. Sure, I wait for the other shoe to fall, because yes, I've had those weeks where things have been good before, but I can honestly say, that is just the skeptic in me :) and this I am positive of.
I would research the causes of depression during menopause and none of them fit me. Empty nest is something I long ago dealt with. So that wasn't a huge issue for me. Alone time, I am one of those women who thrive on alone time (the writer in me) so it made no sense why I was worried about being alone. So I would tell myself, you just need to get your groove back, quit wallowing.
It wasn't that at all. Hormones are a tricky and crazy aspect of a woman's life. My daughter-in-law reminded me I have no thyroid to assist in helping my body sort this out. Sure I have meds for that, but I will tell you, even those meds are not as helpful as having a thyroid.
So I swallowed my pride, admitted it was time for some help, and got that help. Today, I feel more like the old me. I started listening to my body again and if its tired I sleep, if its full of energy I work, and the creative juices are starting to flow once again.
Ladies, there is nothing wrong with strong women knowing when they need help and asking for it. Sometimes we need just a little assistance to help us get through each day when life seems to bowl us over. I love being independent, have for many years. But this menopause ordeal is definitely something even I didn't expect. Don't suffer alone, reach out, if you find yourself in this position. This is one of those changes in life that is beyond our control and there is help out there, I promise.
Everyone have a lovely day!!!
Blessings to all!!!