Up Close and (un)Conventional Bookish Babble
Welcome to this week’s Up Close and (un)Conventional Bookish Babble. This is where we discuss whatever we feel like. It can be something about books or the bookish community, or it can be about something else entirely!
Something Else Entirely 😉
I actually planned to do a post earlier in the summer about focus and/or motivation. Particularly what I was focusing on and what was motivating me. That never happened, mainly because my focus and motivation weren’t the blog…or even reading, really. My instinct is to apologize for being a “bad” blogger but I’m not going to in this case. This is because my focus and motivation this summer was my kids. Specifically my two youngest.
If you’ve read my bio, you know I was soon to be an empty-nester. So this summer, I was soaking up every moment I could get with them. My summer started with driving Sky, my oldest, to Iowa where she had drum corps move-ins. Then Jax and I spent a week hiking on the Olympic Peninsula and it was fantastic! Hubs, Berk, Jax, and I drove to Madison, Wisconsin, to see Sky’s drum corps perform in competition. Berk and I took several small trips to small towns here in Colorado where we explored and hiked, just the two of us, before meeting Jax and Hubs who were hiking the Colorado Trail. Jax, Berk, and I drove to San Antonio, Texas, picking up grandmas along the way, to see Sky perform there. And then Berk, Denise, and I drove back to Dallas for Book Bonanza. My summer culminated with a drive to Portland where I delivered Sky and Jax to their respective colleges. Hubs and Berk followed a week later to Tacoma, where we delivered Berk to her college. I’ve only been home for 3 days and I don’t know that it’s really set in or how I feel about it. However, I now officially have an empty nest.
“The End.” Those words have positive and negative connotations. The words are bittersweet for me right now. I entitled this post “The End” not only because I’ve come to the end of a chapter in my life but also because I focused on one other thing this summer… Writing “The End” at the end of my book. It’s being beta read by a few people right now so there’s still a “long row to hoe” as it were but it feels so nice to have it completed. Well, mostly. 😉 I’ll keep y’all posted on my progress.
So there you have it. That’s where I’ve been all summer. Now that I have vast quantities of spare time, I will be a better blogger. I’m taking this week to rest and rejuvenate. 😉 But my schedule will become a new normal and I’m looking forward to catching up with you all.
About Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Brandee is a mom of 3 and a soon-to-be empty nester. She is also an avid reader, a genre omnivore, and a compulsive one-clicker - but she's in recovery. Besides being a reader, she's also a writer and hopes to divide the vast quantities of spare time she'll soon have between reading and finally publishing her first book.
This is probably a bit random but I love your kids’ names so much, Brandee!
LOL thanks, Stephanie!
Can’t imagine a better way to spend the summer, Brandee! Family always comes first. Good to see you back, though! 🙂
http://girlplusbooks.blogspot.com
You are an awesome, rock star mother who has raised a trio of amazing people!! And The End is only The Beginning. Much love!
Thanks, Diana! I hope you’re doing well with the new beginning. We’ll get together soon! Love you! <3
Thanks, Tanya. It was pretty awesome! 😀 And all my kids got together for lunch yesterday and sent me a pic. It made my heart happy. 🙂
I think you did what you needed to, Brandee, and that absolutely doesn’t make you a bad blogger, it makes you a great mum! We all understand life gets in the way, I’ve been away from blogging for months for health reasons and just got back to it last week. I hope we’ll get the chance to catch up 🙂 And YAY for the writing! See? it’s not the end, but a beginning of something else <3
Thanks, Silvia! I am looking forward to the new beginnings AND I’m looking forward to catching up with my friends. I guess you’re doing better healthwise? Nothing too serious, I hope. I’ll drop by your place soon. 😉 <3
oh so exciting, here’s to end and great beginning
Thanks, Ailyn! 🙂
Twitter: Mollykatie112
Wow. You have been busy! I remember when you took your daughter to Oregon for college a few years ago. It doesn’t seem possible they are all in college now. I can imagine that having an empty nest is very hard right now. Next chapter! I’m sure you will find your new normal sooner rather than later and before you know it they will be home for Thanksgiving. Congratulations on finishing your book. That has to feel great!
LOL It doesn’t seem possible to me either, Lorna. The first week of empty nest went pretty smoothly though even if there were a few tears. They sent me a pic yesterday – they all got together for lunch. It made my heart happy. 🙂 It’s nice that they’re all so close – my son is only 20 minutes from my older daughter, and my younger daughter is 2 hours north. They met in the middle yesterday. 🙂 Thanks for the congrats on my book – it is a good feeling. Anyway, I’m looking forward to catching up with you. 🙂