Starting Over

It's Monday and I'm trying to get back on track.  This was a long weekend.  My mother being gone made everything off kilter.  We had to meet with the funeral home.  All three of us "kids" had to grieve in our own way.

The same day my mom passed, my publisher Harlequin Books made me a new contract offer.  They want 8 more books - 4 Romantic Suspense and 4 Nocturnes.  This will keep me employed for two more years.  I couldn't really celebrate or even process this news - it still seems unreal to me - but that's a bit of sunshine in the midst of so much sadness.

Also, on Friday I'd intended to announce my foster dog for Legacy Boxer Rescue was adopted.  We took our sweet Katniss over to her new forever Dad's home on Thursday night.  I've been missing her like crazy - it was more difficult than I realized to let her go.  She had so many little quirks that I loved and I was used to her being on my recliner every night with me while we watched TV.  That, tied up with missing my mom, made for a couple of sleepless nights.

So on Saturday when a beautiful 6-8 month old Boxer puppy went on the urgent list at a shelter, I stepped up to take him home as my second foster dog for Legacy.  The Animal Control Officer met us there on Sunday morning and we picked him up.  He's nearly as skinny as sweet Katniss was, though not as sick.  He'll fatten up in now time, now that he's on puppy food and getting fed three times a day.  We named him Peyton, for Denver Bronco's quarterback Peyton Manning.  Tomorrow he goes to the vet's for his exam and shots.  After he's cleared, my personal Boxer Libby is raring to play with him!

So here he is - a bright ray of hope in this sad time.

And now, I've got to do my best to return to a semi-normal life.  It's weird, being without my mother.  I wrote her obituary and met with the funeral director yesterday.  I'll always miss her.  For now,  I've got books to write and a new foster dog to love on.