Report on my Mental Health Week

My much anticipated Mental Health Week is over. Hubby has returned from the wilds of northern Pennsylvania and I once again seem to have “Complaint Department” stamped across my forehead.

I admit it was kind of fun ignoring the emails and phone calls demanding I fix this or help with that for a few days. The downside, of course, is that I’ve had to face them all this morning.

I didn’t succeed in all I had hoped to do—and not do. At least not to the extent I’d planned. Then again, “planning” was one of the things I was trying to avoid.

I DID practice yoga without interruption, but only once. I DID take a relaxing walk on a beautiful early autumn day. But only once. I did put in a full day of writing. But only once.

Do you catch the ongoing theme here?

I didn’t nap, but I did read an entire novel. And I played with the cats a LOT.

Another happy diversion that I hadn’t originally planned on was a trip to Oakmont to meet the legendary Sara Paretsky, author of the V.I. Warshawski series. I confess, until now I had never read any of her stuff. How I managed to miss out all these years is beyond me. To correct the error, I’ve already started reading her latest, Body Work. And I’m loving it.

I started out by meeting my friends Nancy Martin and Laurie Kassim for lunch. Then we strolled down the street to the Oakmont Library to snag excellent seats for the talk.

I should mention that Laurie comes very close to being a Paretsky groupie.

(Laurie with Sara Paretsky)
She was more nervous about meeting her idol than I would be if faced with Johnny Depp.

Well, maybe not.

I also was able to visit with another writer pal, Judy Schneider, for a bit. It was a pleasant day with good friends, and provided lots of inspiration.
(Left to right: Mary Alice Gorman of Mystery Lovers Bookshop, Sara Paretsky, me, and--in the background--is Judy Schneider chatting with Nancy Martin)

Now, it’s back to real life and the usual obstacles to getting any writing done.