Just realized last night, when I started writing this post and then didn’t finish it, that I’m doing that thing again.

The thing is, as soon as I get a decent, easy blogging & writing routine going I build obstacles that get in the way of that routine.

Blog posts don’t need graphics. I don’t care about SEO descriptions or clever titles or whatever. I just wanna write. And yeah, show off pictures of my cat and whatever. But mostly write. So, yeah.

On a similar topic, it occurs to me that one of my other Things is ending my day being grumpy at myself about doing nothing, but when I say “Boo, I did nothing,” out loud, I remember a whole list of things I accomplished. (Not necessarily BIG things, or dazzling, dramatic ones, but things nonetheless.) And that cheers me up. I’m thinking I should skip the grumpy step & go straight to the satisfaction-with-self, but I dunno if that’s realistic.

Things I have done other than sit on the couch and eat cookies during this holiday week of rest and relaxation (so I don’t forget them & get sad about doing Nothing)

• repaired a door that’s been broken since we moved in

• annual HEPA filter changeouts for our air purifiers, plus ordering spares for next year’s changeout.

• ordered 2 kinds of decaf tea (Assam & Darjeeling since I am still off caffeine for another month. Both are much better than I expected, the darjeeling especially so.

• Tried Blueberry Hibiscus “tea” from our friendly local boba shop. It is also decaf & tastes like Sweet Tarts in the best way. (Despite being unsweetened.)

• Made 3 kinds of Hibernation cookies & cooked a Hibernation feast so nobody’s had to do meal planning or cooking all week.

• Deposited checks that had to be done in person & got a coolio free planner for 2025 out of the deal.

• Invested in new stainless steel cookware and packed up the still-usable old pots & pans (not all were in good enough shape to pass on, it was past time to do replacements) for donations.

• updated my office pin board with all the gift pins I’d been squirreling away all year.

• Finished all of Person of Interest, which was awesome but kinda heavy given its resonances with Current World Events. Other viewing included Die Hard, of course, but also The Holiday and Hot Frosty (surprisingly fun & sweet) Then I rewatched Blast From the Past (because Hot Frosty reminded me of it) and Crazy Rich Asians because it was on a list of best revenge flicks.

• I have now started a Leverage rewatch because after I needed a hope infusion that comes with watching social justice rebels beat the bad guys.

Recovery report: I am back to my usual daily walking distances, I’m no longer freezing at reasonable temperatures, and my pulse no longer swings like a pendulum from 45 to 145 on a whim or with any change in activity. All of that is nice. I still don’t have great stamina, I nap regularly, which is NOT a usually thing for me, and I know I’ve lost muscle tone because of the weight restriction.

It’s hard to remember I should not pick up the 22 lb cat. I’ve only forgotten twice, and both times my abs immediately reminded me to stop.

The really good surgeon won’t be taking my insurance next year (Blue Cross is having a spat with Advocate Aurora Healthcare) so I guess it’s a good thing I got the surgery done THIS year. Next unfunny thing will be finding out if I have to find a new PCP & clinic because of the bullshit. Can’t do that until the new year, tho. Because ‘Murica. So I am filling that annoyance in a drawer for now.

Anyway. Happier things. We’re planning a celebration Fancy Takeout Food Dinner for next week, since I have reintroduced all the usual foods except booze & caffeine without too many bad Consequences.

And I’m enjoying doodling around with a new scenelet that came to me in a dream and might turn into a new Rollover story. Or not. In the meantime, I’m having fun with it.

And Pippin is allowed to sleep on the bed with me again, which is making him happier than anything. Here are happy cat pics to wrap the post.

Or! OR! if you like your local library, you could request a purchase. Free for you, sale for me, everyone wins.

Most libraries need the following info for ordering print books:

• Title: Relics From A Traveling Show

• Author: K. M. Herkes

• ISBN: 9781945745201 (paperback)

  Every library system does things a little differently, but most want their collections to serve their communities, so most of them are very responsive to patron requests.

If you like novels more than short stories, I recommend my series The Rollover Files for hopepunk tales of about an alternate world where moms with midlife crisis superpowers have been saving the world and making the military nervous since 1943.

I also have a completed, quirky slow-burn science fiction thriller duology with a romance chaser: The Stories Of The Restoration.

All my titles are available from Amazon, Apple, Kobo, Hoopla, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Overdrive and many other fine booksellers.

Support your favorite independent bookseller! Find a local shop via Indiebound