I am, actually. I just miss you guys. I haven’t read blogs in weeks. So, if anyone is feeling hurt, it’s not just you. I’ve abandoned everyone, but here are some brief notes to let you know I’m still alive.

First, I had a sneaking suspicion that if I bragged about my second grade conquest, I would wind up losing that control. (Pride goeth before the fall and all.) The kids are having fun in my class, but that fun translates into volume. We did a review game where, whenever their team won a point, they cheered, loudly. So, so loudly. Hubby, the master of all things classroom, taught me some silent cheers I can show them instead. We’ll see if that’s fun for them too. But fun means my authoritative position has slipped. I will endeavor to get it back.

I’ve been subbing like mad still and enjoying it. However, last period Friday, near the end of class on a stupidly hot day, a seventh grader in the front row burped loudly and obnoxiously. I was done and not having it. “Out,” I said. “Just leave.” A minute later, he opened the door and asked, “Can I come back in now?” “Nope,” I said. No regrets.

Happy subbing highlights:

A fourth grade boy asked, “Mrs. Rey, if we finish early, will you read to us from The Awesome Book of Awesomeness?” I laughed and asked, “Who is your older sibling?” It was an 8th grade boy, and not the one who coined that term, which means another student was talking about it.

In seventh grade, the students were doing a worksheet. I wandered around the room, answering whispered questions. One girl said, “This is off topic, but when is your next book coming out?” I told her March, officially, but I should get copies much sooner. She responded, “Could you please reserve one of those copies for me?”

Talking about having my day made! I told her I would, of course.

Y’all know I turned in my final x 100 draft of Wish YOU Were Here. A day or two later, the publisher, who apparently ran it through AI, came back with typos to be fixed. We’re talking “site” that should be “sight” and “break” that should be “brake.” Stupid. Stuff. OMG. I’m so glad he did that. But also, what??? How many times did my eyes slip right over those? Sigh. That’s the problem with rereading without many months in between.

You may also remember that the rule of thumb with this publisher is to turn in the next book when the previous one is in presale. I’m halfway, maybe, through the firstish draft of book 3, Wish We Weren’t Here, and guess what?

Book 2 is in presale, sitting right there at the top of the publisher’s page. I would link it, but wouldn’t you rather buy it from me because, one, autographed, and, two, not having to wait until March?

Since I’ll need to put in my own order for copies, if you’d like one, please let me know now.

At least with book 2, I knew what was going to happen long before I wrote it. With book 3, some stuff is still a mystery. All my meager free time has been spent unraveling that mystery. But I’m thrilled with the parts I’ve gotten done. Is it weird that I’m surprised by what my brain comes up with as though it’s another person? Sometimes I’m like, “Wow, Brain. How did you do that?!”

It doesn’t answer.

And we can’t forget Jiu-Jitsu. I have a blog draft where I’ve been dumping funny stories in hopes of posting about them. You can see from the above why that hasn’t happened. Either I’ll get to it eventually, or it will be fun bonus material for you die-hards should I write my martial arts memoir.

I’ve also been meaning to write about an adventure seeing Surfer Dude’s band play, another blog buddy meet-up(!), the “anything but a gi” Jiu-Jitsu class, and my birthday. Can you believe I didn’t blog about my birthday? Where’s the band birthday brewery bash with [snow] balls?? Didn’t quite have that this year, but still some noteworthiness I’ll hopefully tell you about soon.

But on that note…

Reverse order this time–

New Q: See how close you can get to guessing what Her Royal Highness gave me for my birthday. Your clues are: sorta sentimental, kinda silly, but also practical. Remember that time Neighbor made fake tattoos of my face? It’s similar to that.

Get creative!

Old Q: In 2007, open-source advocate Chris Messina is credited with introducing the use of this symbol on Twitter. Answer: #TheHashtag