Summer is Over and the Monsoon is Still Missing

What happened, Arizona? Perhaps it was just nature spiting the meteorologists who were predicting a very wet July after years of basically no monsoon seasons. We need the monsoon rains in the desert. It provides a good deal of the moisture we need the rest of the year. Terence reminded me that July isn't over yet, but we'll see. Other places are getting too much rain (with heartbreaking tragedy) and we have had rain about once this month. (Well, it sprinkled a time or two, but if I don't even have to turn on my windshield wipers, I don't count it.)

As for the other part of my title? Yes, I know it's still technically summer. I feel the 111 degree days as much as anyone else around here. But the summer break is over, and it's time for another school year. It's kind of strange at this point. K is a junior, and S is an 8th grader. Pretty soon we won't have summer breaks any longer.

I keep wondering if I'll feel sad about it, and I don't think I will. But ask me again in five years.

Five years used to seem like such a long period of time. But I have now writing this blog for almost seventeen years. So...yeah. Five years will probably pass more quickly than I expect.

What do I want to happen in the next five years? Remember five year plans? I asked ChatGPT to come up for a five year plan for transitioning to a new stage when my youngest graduates from high school and apparently I need a vision board and a therapist and to update my resume, among other things. It suggested I publish something once S graduates. *snort* Well. Maybe I will.

Speaking of publishing, Aegis Stone (The Silver Vision, Book 4) releases August 1. I am mired in final revisions (this is the last-ditch proofreading stage, a tough one because I can't afford to hire someone to do it), but I do have a plan to get finished on time. Fingers crossed I manage it, despite whatever curveballs come my way--because they always do, right? I was planning to release book 5 on September 1st, but I need to make a schedule and see if I can actually manage it. Book 4 took longer than I was expecting (and the last three books of the series are significantly longer in length than the earlier ones). I can't decide if school starting will help me get more done or less. I would say I'll be driving a lot more, but honestly, I feel like I've been running all over even with school out. It's a stage that I'll miss when it's over, right? Right??

Good luck to all of you starting up the school grind again, and may the odds be ever in our favor!