Under Construction - MHWA Retreat

How was the end of the 2010s for you? How has the start of the 2020s gone?
The end of 2019 was a busy one - I started a new job as an Executive Assistant to the CEO and then moved immediately to San Antonio. The start of the year saw me very busy with fireworks stuff as I work for a fireworks company. I also started school again in October 2019 so my full plate became even more full. I still try to write, blog, and participate on WDC as time allows.

What have you been up to lately? Any new year (or decade) resolutions going on?
Work, school, kids, a little writing here and there, applying for scholarships so I don't run out of money for school. So far that seems to be working as I have a scholarship for $1400 a semester, which covers all but about $600 each term. The rest I'm covering with student loans. Only $16,000 to go! Lol

How were your holidays? Did you travel? See family? Get any nice gifts?
My holidays were okay. I traveled from San Antonio to Temple on Christmas Eve since that's where the family was and then back again the day after Christmas. I worked on New Years. We don't generally celebrate with anything other than a nice meal, but the kids got each other gifts which was nice.

How has your mental health been lately? Any new therapy, medication, or self-care progress?
I finished therapy in November 2019 and I feel a lot better, like I'm back in control of my life and my mental space. I didn't realize just how depressed I was until after it finished. I also didn't realize how much of an impact my job was having on me until I got my new job. I feel so much better about life now that I'm earning a decent living again and doing a job I really like. I was so miserable in Temple - it feels good to be in a decent size city again with easy access to things (although traffic sucks).

We tried to do family therapy for a while and boy was that complicated! I did not enjoy that at all. We ended it when we moved and haven't been able to start it again. At this point, I'm not sure what we really need. Libby has been home with us for spring break and everything seems to be going well, she seems stable. Hopefully she'll come home this summer if she stays stable. A lot of that depends on the medication and whether her symptoms progress anymore or not. So for now, we're just waiting to see what happens.

Anything new with your writing or other hobbies? What have you been doing on WDC lately?
I'm taking a fiction writing class this term that has me focused on my novella How to Adopt a Dragon. I'm revising and expanding and I'm pretty excited to dive into the project. The goal is by the end of next term it will hopefully be ready to publish. Then comes the usual battle of pulling together enough money to pay for cover, editing, etc.

I haven't been terribly active on WDC, although I do try to keep my blog,

BOOK

Loving Libby  (18+) A blog dedicated to my daughter, Libby, as she battles not to lose her mind. #2177657 by Charity Marie - <3

updated as often as I can. That's housing all of my life updates, news about Libby, etc now. I'm also judging for the Quills and plan to participate in the hangouts whenever that happens.

Do you have any non-labor intensive ideas for the group? (ie. things that would be fun to do together as a group that wouldn't require a lot of time/planning?)
What about doing another group-wide review contest thing again? I try to review for MWHA as I can. That could be something Jayne, I, or Brooke could help with so it's not too demanding.