We all struggle with finding balance in our lives. That’s normal.

It’s just extra hard when one day, you feel really good so you sit and work and make lofty goals for the week, and the next day, you crash back to earth and can barely tolerate looking at a screen as stuff piles up.

I’ve been cleared to lay on my right side and my stomach, which I still can’t do because of the ongoing orthopedic issues. Tuesday night was the first night in I don’t know how long that I didn’t get up during the night and come sleep on the couch, on my back but propped up as the doctor ordered.

And don’t tell the kids, but I am allowed to cook, wash light dishes (the surgeon clearly doesn’t know I use All-Clad, picked up at seconds sales for all you who wonder how I can afford All-Clad on my budget. That’s how. My kids won’t need to buy cookware, and maybe my grandkids won’t either, unless there are more grandkids than there are pots), and do the laundry.

So there’s progress, and it’s welcome and moving about feels good.

Maybe that’s the problem. Editing isn’t exactly the most physical of jobs. That’s why a week post-surgery, the doctor cleared me to return to it. But… I do need it, or I feel like I’m sliding into a morass of laziness.

Not to mention that my wounded eye still picks up and reflects screen light back at me for hours after I’ve walked away.

So… balance. Clients who are waiting on stuff, I’m moving along. Slowly, but I am. Clients afraid to send me stuff, get over that. I’m a bit slower, so know that and adjust your schedules accordingly. And clients who still haven’t figured out you should be reading my blog, well… I don’t know how to help you at this second. See above about screens and lights. No offense, but I’d rather tackle the work waiting for me. I’d rather you add to the pile.

Don’t hold back. I’m good at what I do, and that means I’m good at reaching the balance I need.

Okay, maybe I’m not so good at maintaining my balance when on a bike and presented with a set of circumstances that’ll probably never be replicated or known, but really? You gonna hold one little spill off a road bike against me?

For the record, I can still close my eyes – yes, both of them – and see pink handlebar tape coming at me. Even though the pink handlebar tape has long been dumped in a landfill by this point. It may never leave me.

It’s a good reminder of the need for balance. On the bike. In life. And yes, in your writing.

You really think I wouldn’t be able to stop talking about writing forever? Really? And here I thought you knew me…

Honestly? I am so busy with editing that I haven’t been doing much writing. I miss it terribly, but by the lack of demand from you guys, I’m wondering if my little endeavor, started over six years ago, has lost some of its charm now that everyone and their sister is posting fiction online.

You tell me.

Maybe you want more Chelle, more Roadie Poet. More of the non-Trevor characters. Or maybe you miss Trevor. You tell me.

I’m also not reading terribly much, as that place who pays me to write reviews keeps assigning me stuff to read. Pesky people; don’t they know there’s a whole world of Rock Fiction I need to continue exploring? Sheesh. You’d think if they are paying me, they’d be more accommodating to my schedule. No?

(Yeah, okay. Truth is I’m extremely grateful for them and their books and their payments and the challenge of writing a 400-page book review. There’s a true art to writing a review that’s so short, and I love that I get to practice it so much.)

It’s all about balance, and right now, balance is hard to find. Balance between writing, editing, reading, and taking care of the house and the kids. And cats; I picked up another foster duo yesterday (who brought some little pesky friends with them from the feral colony they were born into. How long before the Frontline takes care of it?). It’s summer, so the kids are home. My work schedule has changed.

And I love it. I really do.

Every day is different, every day a challenge.

So if I’m slow getting back to you about an e-mail, if you’re waiting on an editing sample, if you want anything from me and I’m slow… well, you know what’s goin going on. It’s nowhere near as easy as I made it seem a couple of years ago.

But that’s okay. It’s exactly what it should be.