I have no guilt for whiling my summer days away going shopping (and more shopping), hitting up The Ex, trying my luck at the track, partaking in a little mini golf (RIP winning streak), celebrating the wedding of 2 good friends (a great excuse to wear sparkly shoes), and lazing on the beach listening to Carbon Based Lifeforms and Hammock (yes, goths go out in the daylight, but we also slather on SPF 50, wear floppy hats and carry a big shady umbrella).

It was a fantastic summer, and even though I managed to pack all that fun into it, I can't believe it’s over already.

Then again, anyone who knows me knows I have a To-Do List a mile long. 2011 was pretty good to me. 2012 is going to be epic (apocalypse notwithstanding).

Details forthcoming…

In one of them, there was a broken hand mirror. We jokingly said that our run of 7 years of bad luck would finally come to an end in 2011 then.

The thing is – I’m not joking here. Whenever something goes wrong for us, it comes in 3’s. Always. ALWAYS.

So as the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve, I decided to put all the bad things that had happened behind us and start anew.

Then our kitchen sink pipe broke a few days later and it overflowed under the dividing wall and drenched part of our living room carpet. We still have to pay from the damage the leaking washing machine did to the unit below us so we frantically mopped it up and ran fans on the carpet all day.

We finally bought our new washer/dryer and have it scheduled for next weekend. There was a notice on the delivery elevator yesterday that it will be out of use until the end of the month. So we will have to reschedule delivery.

Last night after our workout we decide to make smoothies. Then the blender broke mid-blend resulting in lumpy frozen berries, milk and a bit of juice.

I know – not devastating (when compared to some of the other things that went on in 2010). But I couldn't help but chuckle today. I went out early one morning last week for an appointment. I figured it would be a long wait but when I got there, I was able to go in right away and when I left, the bus was there within 5 minutes (hooray, since it was quite nippy out).So I figured maybe my luck WAS changing. And then when I got home my sweater got caught on something, creating some pulled threads, and I dropped my scarf and stepped on it with my wet, snowy shoes.

See. The Universe really does balance itself out!

Obviously, with everything going on, I abruptly stopped working on it last week. In fact, most of the month, I struggled with hitting my word count until late at night because most of the day I was either cuddling Zoey (on her good days) or worrying about her (when she wasn't feeling well enough to cuddle).

I surprised myself by writing almost an entire first draft of a new short the other day. Maybe it's the comfort of getting back into routine but it was actually a bit of a relief, to tell you the truth. Something tangible to hold on to with so much turmoil going on around me. Either way, I'm not sure if I'll "win" NaNo this year. But I'm not going to abandon my book either, no matter how long it takes me to finish it.

* * * * * 

In other Writing Wednesday news, have you seen the trailer for Aaron Polson's Loathsome, Dark & Deep yet? That guy knows how to entice! Check it out and don't forget to pre-order the book while it's still only $8.99. And take part in A Very Loathsome Contest!

While we knew she was sick (she had a mass removed last December), it was still a shock as her health only took a turn for the worse very quickly within the last month with the disease spreading aggressively to her lungs and it was an awful decision to have to make to let her go.

There are so many things I'll miss about her but one in particular is my morning ritual of showering, getting my coffee, giving her a treat and then sitting down at my writing desk. She got into the habit of joining me and sprawling under my desk between my feet so I put a fuzzy blanket on the floor and she would lay there with her head on my foot and sleep while I wrote.

She would only give me an hour or hour & a half tops before I would feel a little tap on my leg, look down, and see her up on her back feet, trying to get my attention for a proper cuddle and I'm glad that I took her up on her suggestion as often as I did.

It's still surreal – looking at photos of her. Seeing her captured in still-frame when I expect her to come waddling out of the bedroom and bounding up onto the couch or hopping up onto the bed and snuggling between us (stealing my pillow in the process – which I secretly loved because that meant being able to bury my face in her fur and listen to her purr).

We miss her terribly.

Making friends online is, in my opinion, akin to making them in real life. We share our thoughts, our words, our lives, often in a way that is more intimate and in no way less meaningful than were we to meet face-to-face.

Although I had never "met" Jamie Eyberg, he was a friend. We shared chit-chat, jokes, commiserated over the push & pull of life on our writing time; bonded over music, encouraged and lent an ear, a shoulder or just a friendly 'hi' throughout the day.

As many of my readers are fellow writers and friends of Jamie's as well, we were all shell-shocked and devastated to hear of his & his wife Ann's passing in a tragic accident on their farm last weekend. It took me some time to gather my thoughts for this post because I was literally blind-sided, almost winded, when I heard the news, as I know everyone else was. It's still difficult to believe.

To the outside observer, we may be considered as "only" online friends. To me, "only" doesn't matter. "Only" denies the importance of these friendships and the impact virtual friends can have on our lives. There is still a hole in all of our hearts as we all miss a wonderful, funny, creative, loving friend and mourn for the loss of his wife, ache for the pain his children are feeling and feel deeply for their families and friends.

"Only" doesn't matter – to me or to those who never had the pleasure of meeting face-to-face with Jamie. We miss him all the same.

RIP, friend. 

If you want to get involved:

• Aaron Polson is donating the proceeds of this year's 52 Stitches Anthology to Jamie & Ann's children
• Doc Pus & Kody Boye are collecting donations & auction items whose monies will also go to the Eyberg children
• Doc Pus & the Library of Horror will donate proceeds from the Witches Anthology to the fund
• You can sign the book of condolence & find out more about the Memorial Fund here