Well, I may not have found a snuggle partner this Valentine's, but apparently, my dog did - in the form of a rabbit in the next door neighbor's yard.

The two of them approached the fence cautiously, then the rabbit gave a quick sniffy kiss on my dog's nose through the fence, and hopped away.

My dog was clearly smitten, not wanting to come back in, and stayed as close to the fence as possible, waiting for her new friend to come back over - which she did, gave my dog another sniff-kiss, and hopped away again.

I dont usually push my own stories, but I think I might be on to something special with my latest story "Mercy".

See, if there is a theme that runs through a lot of my work, it's about what happens after a person has been damaged.

I've explored ideas of healing, of looking for justice, and the power of forgiveness vs the allure of vengeance.

But in my latest, I think I have really hit the jackpot in terms of making the case for Mercy as the best choice.

Or at least that's my hope. Only the readers will decide if I am succeeding.

I went to the Big Closet chat site, and it came back "timed out"

Anybody know what's going on?

Well, I got my holidays after all.

I am off for the next 2 weeks.

hopefully, I can get some writing done ...

I received an amazing honor today.

The Rev. Anam Chara, a fantastic author here on Big Closet, name-dropped one of my stories into the latest chapter of his story, having a group of high school students read my work and comment on it.

I am humbled by being selected for such an honor.

You know how I've been saying I'm in pain and wish I could get a break from work?

Well, I should be a bit more careful in my wishes.

I got a serious dressing down from my boss last night, giving me the impression I'm on thin ice in terms of continuing to work there, and to say the least I'm pretty depressed about it.

You add pain and PTSD to my depression, and its not a good situation at the moment.

hugs and prayers appreciated.

Well, I volunteered today at the local food bank, and it was wonderful.

I'm glad I overcame my anxiety and went.

I'm going to try and make it part of my weekly routine.

Well, got a frustrating situation going on. See, way back at the beginning of December, I booked the last week of January off, got that approved by my supervisor, and gave the sheet to the personal office.

And yet, my name is on the schedule for that week.

I talked to the store manager and my supervisor about this, and they asked me about pushing my time off because they are expecting a new maintenance person to be starting around that time, and they would prefer they not have to go solo right away, but rather have someone to show them the ropes.

Well, I had a very rough night at work last night.

It started off with me finding out that I am scheduled for the last week of the month when I had asked for and been signed off on getting vacation for that time, so I was a little ticked off by that.

Then my boss basically accused me of deliberately skipped part of my job, not even considering the possibility that I had simply forgot.

This sent me into a depressive spiral, leaving me feeling worthless and like nothing matters.

I'm back from my counseling appointment, and I am not sure if this is good news, but they want to do a full psych evaluation on me, because they think I'm having problems beyond the ones I'm already on meds for.

So I'm crazier than even I thought ...

been a tough day today.

Struggled with physical arousal (which is always painful for me, and sets off my PTSD)), and i got a call from Sharon saying tomorrow she's going to have to put down one of her dogs, and my daughter is gonna be devastated

Well, I have had a productive day.

I got my laundry done, I have replacements coming for my health care card and my social insurance card coming, I got money out to pay for my share of the rent, I got a refill on my meds, and I treated myself to some cheese bread.

And now I'm working on the next chapter of "Mercy"

Not a bad day ...

Happy new year, everybody. I hope 2016 turns out to be an amazing fantastic year for you all.,

And just because you've all been good, here is a little treat:

"So what do you want to do tonight, Dottie?"

"Same thing we do every night, Jaci - try to convince people we're not girly girls!"

(Music plays)

"Oh they're Jaci and the Dot.

Jaci and the Dot.

One is a smartie, the other might have a thought.

They're really girly girls,

who give their skirts a twirl

They're Jaci, Jaci and the Dot Dot Dot ...."

Well, I have learned that no matter how bad things get, I can always make them worse with a little not thinking.

I managed to lose my wallet Monday, and spent yesterday hitting catch-22 after catch-22 trying to get replacements for my driver's licence, so I cant go to work tonight.

I know this too will pass, but darn it, I really didn't need to make things more difficult right now.

My mom goes to get a piece of skin cancer removed tomorrow.

Prayers appreciated.