2018

Life has changed so much over the last year. We took Cooper to the park last weekend and I was  awestruck by how different things were than the last time we took him to that particular park. He used to just run back and forth, not interact with any of the kids, and struggle to climb the equipment. This time he played chase with a group of kids (my heart seriously melted when they asked his name and he went "I'm Cooper! I'm 5!")  and he climbed things that he wouldn't have even tried a year ago. I'm not sure how much of the change is because of school and social skills group, how much of it is just the fact that he's older, or what, but I had all of the feels last Sunday. I am so happy for him.

Job front: it's safe to say it's different than it was a year ago. I'm no longer constantly ill (yay!) which leads me to believe I had an allergy to something in the building where I was working. The guy behind me was also sick frequently, so I wonder if there was something in the air duct over us? Regardless, not having 3+ weeks of bronchitis every few weeks has been wonderful. Exercising the creative part of my brain on a consistent basis has also been wonderful. There are definitely struggles still. Watching the ebb and flow and unexplained dips and spikes in sales. The mental game of writing-trying to find ways to push past the life stress that creeps up and not let it impact my daily word count. Making sure Greg and I maintain a healthy relationship after going from barely seeing each other to being around each other much more frequently. It's different, but I am so much happier and have so much more energy in this role. 

The biggest reward has been on the parenting front. I actually have the energy (probably thanks to not being sick!) to do activities and feel like a much more active participant. Cooper has really gravitated towards me since I'm actually around more, and I can tell that the bond is stronger for him than it was before. I'm immensely grateful for the opportunity to be around more. There is a lot of uncertainty when you're your own boss, but it is worth it.

On another note, it turns out that working from home has NOT actually handed me the energy to keep an immaculate house like I thought it would. ;) Progress not perfection, right?