Wow – heat, humidity, and lots of family.

That’s July in a nutshell. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know how people work full time and write on the side. I’ve been doing it for 11 months now and I can barely see straight. Add lots of trips to and visits from family and month has been as unproductive as a snow plow in Las Vegas. All of that’s about to change, though …

I can finally make an official announcement: Aunt Linda’s moving in.

Aunt Linda and my brother-in-law enjoying a day on the lake

My Aunt Linda is mentally handicapped and has lived the past 30 years in the same care home. It’s a great place, and her caregiver loves Linda as much as Linda loves her. After so much time, however, Linda needs a change. She’s “retiring” from Donna’s house and moving in with my husband and me. Aunt Linda is a very capable, high functioning woman, but she’s gonna need someone around the house with her. That means a change for me, too. At the end of August I’ll be leaving my job as an accounting/marketing assistant and staying home to care for Linda.

This is going to be a huge change for all of us. Linda will be in a new place. Our income’s going to take a big hit. I’m going to be home – a lot. Without 40 hours of work, plus 1-1 1/2 hours commuting everyday I’ll have time to cook again. I can clean … no, I won’t clean (I’m not gonna lie). I can WRITE!

I’ve been getting a little bit of writing done this past year, but most of it was in the first 6-8 months. I can’t keep up with this schedule anymore. I can’t squeeze a full-time job, part-time writing, exercise, healthy cooking, housework, and a social life into a week. Something always suffers, and it’s usually my sanity (because I can’t decide what to cut). In a few weeks, I won’t have to worry about that.

The hubs and I know that this will be a big change, and we don’t have a clue what to expect. All we know for sure is that we’ve put a lot of prayer into this and it’s the right thing to do. Since I’ll be spending the next month wrapping things up at work and getting ready for Linda to move it, I don’t have a clue how much writing I’ll accomplish. My only goal is to read and write as much as I can. I can re-evaluate in September.

So here’s to a new season and, hopefully, a lot more writing.