It's been a heck of a while

Long time no post. Over a month, I think, since I've shared anything but book-focused or fluffy photo posts. I'm not even going to try to catch up on all The Other Things. Spring was a season of mostly lowlights with some big highs that were delightful but also made the dark parts feel darker. It's a huge effort to share now, but I need to crawl out of my protective shell and  stretch my word muscles.Here be the major doings.Firstly, my much-loved and amazing mother-in-law died in February. Not a surprise, she was 95 and suffered a bad injury leading to a sharp decline before Christmas, but it was a hard blow all the same. She was a powerful, complicated, wonderful woman who told the worst best jokes and was a shining example of how good a human being can be.Logistics put the memorial in April. Spouseman comes from a large family. Gathering together the three  children's households + eight grandchild households, including assorted lifemates, 2 great-grand-children & other loved ones from all the round earth's imagined corners = some heroic scheduling.My sister-in-law is a goddess. That is all.  While still steeped in the first raw pain of grief, she organized a huge multi-family celebration of poignant joy with grace and strength.It was a hard trip for Spouseman and me, but also a good one  filled with bright moments of laughter & hours of shared stories, with interludes of desolation and tears.Secondly, a week after returning, late in the month, our Scootercat went overnight from being a dear, cranky cat with a failing digestive tract & horrible arthritis who  still enjoyed sunny naps, treats, and petting to a pain-wracked, incontinent old kitty who couldn't walk more than a few steps and  had no more happy waking moments.He was our very good boy, the bestest of the best, but he was ready to go. With help from friends w we found our way to a very good emergency vet who got us in after hours the day we realized it was past time to say good-bye. I couldn't rest the next day until I cleaned the house from top to bottom, and while I did that and randomly leaked tears, I also struggled with guilt over being relieved that I wouldn't have to clean up after random puddles & poops any more. Grief is weird.Weeks later, I still glance at Scooter's usual sit-spots whenever I pass them and feel that aching hole inside because there's no one there.  All of his good, favorite beds and toys that a new kitty might like are set aside to await the day we're ready to embrace another fuzzball or two. Or three.  It's going to be a while before I'm ready. And even longer for Spouseman, I think.Thirdly, on the professional front, I did Indy PopCon with Bard's Tower, which was an interesting and entertaining con that took place on Pride Weekend, wherein the number of people in all kinds of cosplay boosted my hope for the future of humanity.  On the same weekend, good friends in Chicago took my books & bling to Printers Row LitFest, whereupon I learned people like book-bling even if they haven't read the books. (Go, Mercury Battalion!) So...that was a grand good thing.Same week, I found out a good and wonderful, talented friend was in the hospital, and another is facing the return of a deadly cancer. SO.  THERE'S THAT. Anger and helplessness just simmering away in the daily mix.And lastly, we expect to be moving in a couple of months. I'll post more about that shocking development when it's all finalized.  The whole thing came together super-fast, but it should be perfect and delightful...once it's a done deal. I have a deep, abiding fear of jinxing the whole thing by getting too talkative about it until All The Papers are signed.It's long overdue. It's a thrill to consider having enough living space for a guest bed and a dining table and a cushy bean bag chair AND a Spouseman's office plus mine. It's also going to be All New and Unknown, and thus I am scared 24/7 right now.Despite all appearances to the contrary, I do NOT uproot well or enjoy environmental change. Yes, I do change my surroundings regularly, (okay, obsessively) but it's a defensive strategy--if I don't push that particular limit hard and often, I will calcify, emotionally, into a fragile barnacle who would shatter if pushed to move or change at all.And I don't want that. So I seek change stress, and I'm all in on this move. All the same, getting used to a new space is going to be uncomfortable, stressful, and terrifying even though it's chosen and wanted.  There's no getting around it. Gotta just push through.So. That's what's happening in my world. We're all caught up.A lot of media has been consumed since the last Other Things post, but it was mostly brainless visual re-watches and comfort re-reading to offset the heavier topics trending in reality. I've also struggled against a blast of creative apathy that has yet to abate.Next up in my life, preparing for Gen Con, plus a whole lot of panic over ohmygerdIhavetofinishthesefershlugginerrevisions for Sharp Edge of Yesterday, and also SOMEHOW finishing the last 25% of my cozy ghost mystery.But that's all for now.