Healthier Kittens and Sicker Me, New Hair and Imagining 2023: Re-Entry Fears

Me with new hair and kitten Charlotte

The Second Week of the New Year: Healthier Kittens, Sicker Me, New Hair and Imagining 2023: Re-Entry Anxiety

So, if you read last week’s blog post, you know I was up most nights taking care of two kitties who both made Emergency Vet Hospital Visits, and then as soon as they were better, I got sick. Not covid or flu, but sick enough. I’m just now getting back to normal so yesterday I got my hair done (a little shorter and blonder?) and thought about 2023 (including making some event plants for my birthday and the book launch).

We did have a rare sunny day yesterday, during which we finally took down our outdoor holiday lights and walked around a little bit around the wineries. Our kitties seem totally recovered and are getting along a little better, thank goodness. And people have been asking for more kitten pictures, so here you go!

The face of anxiety? Me with tulips

Anxieties about Re-Entry: 2023 Edition, Including AWP and Turning 50

I had two goals in 2023, not resolutions, but loose ambitions, one was doing Tai Chi every day (fair to middling), and the other was trying to write a poem a day and do a submission a day (also fair to middling, given the cat drama and getting sick as a dog).

I haven’t been out and about much in the last few years, so here is a list of anxieties I’m experiencing about the upcoming year, AWP, and my 50th birthday and book launch:

• Covid (which I still haven’t gotten) and masking, Evushield’s lack of ability to protect from new variants.
• Clothing – I have been living in sparkly tops, yoga pants, and slippers for three years, and now the respectable clothes in my closet are outdated, too big or too small. I also have a real issue wearing uncomfortable clothing again (pinchy shoes, jeans, don’t even think about shapewear, etc.). And I haven’t shopped in a store for a long while.
• Socializing – How do we do it? I literally can’t remember how to do small talk. Is it harder with a mask? Yes. Is it time to take off the mask? Probably not just yet…
• Turning 50: I’ve decided to celebrate this milestone instead of dreading it, so I’m having a party on my actual birthday. Do I look 50? Am I dressing correctly for a 50-year-old? Also, can I still have pink hair? The rules are different now than they were when I was a kid. I do know that I see living this long as a real victory, for someone who has been told she was going to die by multiple doctors not so long ago. Hey, every year above ground is a good year.
• Launching a book (still) during a pandemic: so, how does one plan a book launch when there’s still sort of pandemic conditions and you worry you’ve forgotten everything about doing book promotion (are there still book festivals, for instance? If so, which are disability friendly? Can I do college class visits virtually? How much travel can I do as someone with MS and a junk immune system before the body crashes? So many questions…and the first phase of 2023’s publicity efforts for Flare, Corona will really start soon. (In the meantime, check out BOA’s new book page for my book, with blurbs and a sample poem!)

What about you? What are you feeling about 2023? Do you feel this weird re-entry anxiety, or is it just me? Some of you have already re-entered. How is it out there? How about promoting books right now? Anyway, use the comments to vent, suggest, etc.