Long time, no blog. WordPress looks different. Wonder how long it’s been like this.
I didn’t intentionally stop blogging. It just stopped being a priority. Here is what was keeping me busy instead.
- C was recruited to work at a different school and decided to take the new job.
- I unexpectedly added a second part-time job. (Fun fact: my new job is Christian’s old job.)
- Our daughter switched preschools.
- We bought our first house. I want to live here forever. Very thankful for my friend who patched all the holes in our living room wall and convinced me to paint the bookshelves green.

- C had a tonic-clonic seizure in May. His driving privileges were restored in November. The gift of that seizure is that I had the wherewithal to film it. My hope was that it would help the doctors by giving some objective data. But I found that it actually helped me. Witnessing a seizure can easily send me into Trauma Land where there is no linear thinking, just vivid snatches of events. It was helpful to watch the footage later and re-live the experience from a place of safety and calm.
- He also had a number of partial seizures (auras) throughout the year. He is currently trying out a new medication. His neurologist always hopes to double the interval between her patients’ seizures. His longest stretch is 18 months, so we’re hoping for at least 3 years without any kind of seizure activity.
- On the same day we closed on our house, we were in a bad car accident which totaled our only car with A/C. My therapist guided me through some art therapy with my daughter to help her process. She told me “I don’t like it when cars smash into us” and she wanted us to draw me holding her while she cried. I am so thankful for my friend who picked us up from the side of the road and helped to comfort my daughter.

- Speaking of our daughter, we got a diagnosis for her this year. We had genetic testing done at the end of November 2019. I only went through with it because one of my favorite doctors referred us. I didn’t think they’d find anything, especially because the geneticist herself told me she’d be surprised if we found anything. Then one day two months later, I saw I had a missed call + voicemail from a genetic counselor. I had to wait an excruciating hour or so before we finally got in touch. I’ll never forget that conversation. When the woman said they had a positive test result for a genetic condition, my legs turned into rubber. By the end of the call, I was crying. And as strange as it may sound to someone who hasn’t been in this kind of situation, they were happy tears. I was so glad to have an answer. What’s so crazy is that her genetic condition wasn’t even recognized in the OMIM database at the time she was born. I don’t think a single paper had been published on it until around her 1st birthday. The doctor who is currently researching the condition has emailed me. The *ONE* online community for this condition had about 60 members worldwide when I joined; now we are approaching 100 members. It is obvious from comparison with other children in the group that our daughter has a mild case. But virtually all of these children have feeding difficulties. Sometimes I screenshot posts from the group and send them to my husband with a message that just says “!!!!!!!!!!!” which he knows means “Oh my goodness, someone else experienced this too. We weren’t crazy.”
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Now onto the books! I bolded my faves in each category.
Suspense/Thriller
Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart
Every Stolen Breath by Kimberly Gabriel
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
The Hyponotist’s Love Story by Liane Moriarty
The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth
The Dilemma by B.A. Paris
The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware
The Trespasser by Tana French
The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena
One of Us is Next by Karen M. McManus
Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus
Verity by Colleen Hoover
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
Juvenile Fiction/YA
Front Desk by Kelly Yang
Ruby Redfort (#1, and #2) by Lauren Child
The Simple Art of Flying by Cory Leonardo
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart
Small Steps by Louis Sachar
All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook by Leslie Connor Undivided (Unwind, #4) by Neal Shusterman
New Kid by Jerry Craft
Memoirs about Leaving Cults
Stolen Innocence by Elissa Wall
Girl at the End of the World by Elizabeth Esther
Plays
Deathtrap by Ira Levin
Adult Fiction
Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple
Today Will be Different by Maria Semple
The Circle by Dave Eggers
The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain
Aiding and Abetting by Muriel Spark
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall
The Heartbreaker by Susan Howatch
The Man in the Dark by Doug Wilson
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Non-Fiction
The Greatest Love Story Ever Told by Megan Mullaly
Southern Lady Code by Helen Ellis
The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe
The Lazy Genius Way by Kendra Adachi
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More later…maybe December 2021?