My poor blog has languished as my life has writhed through a year of turmoil. That tripe about how the Chinese character for crisis is the same as for opportunity may be smarmy, but I hope it's true.

In the past 12 months since I went to Washington, my marriage of 17 years ended (his call), I'm on the brink of becoming certified as a public school teacher (my call), my beloved oldest daughter started a PhD program in the Midwest, my novel was rejected by yet another agent (not to mention being poorly reviewed by members of my book club), and my darlng cat died. All of that stuff commenced last October and it's now coming to fruition, by dint of Superior Court and the Department of Higher Education. Also the Humane Society because I have two more lovely cats who needed a home in addition to my surviving dog who is around 14. I need him to live until the age of thirty as he is the only male companion I trust these days, aside from my dear 14-year-old son.

My goals for the summer are to find a teaching job for September (no small feat in this budgetary environment), to spend an inordinate amount of time in my kayak, to find some way to turn my entire backyard into a maintenance-free patio rather than a dustbowl, and to go camping for a long weekend with my friend Jan. Also to write another novel. It will either deal with the demise of my marriage or the Norman Conquest of England. Stay tuned, comrades.