Well, for those of you following The Arctic Fox, or any of my other stories, it's going to be kinda slow getting the chapters up for a bit. This is a rather busy time of year for me, although COVID has slowed things down from how it usually is.

Anyway, please bear with me. The chapters will be posted. Just might take a bit more time.

Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays!

Well, this has been an interesting couple of months!

Of course, at the end of November, we had Thanksgiving in the US. This was not unexpected, nor was the sudden explosion of colorful, twinkling lights in the Spokane, Washington area following the holiday. In fact, it was rather pleasant.

Then, there was an explosion of Hallmark Christmas Specials, where you simply watch the exact same, made-for-TV movie, starring either Kevin Sorbo or Candace Cameron, with the slight variations which personalize it to your taste. (No, I'm not mocking them. Actually, I like Kevin Sorbo and Candace Cameron. )

There was the obligatory Christmas Eve feast with the kids (so they could spend the next day with their in-laws) and the wincing as grandchildren became loud enough to hear two states away (3 back east), but then on the 28th of December, my daughter-in-law gave birth to a little boy, our 6th grandchild!

We have yet to see him because of the recent snowfall and sickness, but we're hoping to see him this Saturday. If I can shake off this cold I've been fighting.

And, three days ago, my Dad was admitted into the hospital for confusion and forgetfulness. Thankfully, that didn't turn out to be a stroke or anything, and he's supposed to be released today. Yay!

Loads of things happening.

And now for my rant. I haven't had a good rant for a few months, so I think it's high time.

I'm getting very tired of receiving calls from people who decide, from looking at property values, that I'm someone likely to want to sell my home. Really??? In what universe? Since property values have ALL gone up, how am I supposed to buy another one if I sell mine? There's no way to make any money by buying one at a lower value when nothing is AT a lower value. The housing market is NOT the stock market, people! I can sell Tesla stock and wait while it drops, then buy again. I can't wait till the housing market drops before purchasing another home. I kinda need a place to live.

Anyway...

End of Rant

And how was your Christmas season?

It's amazing, interesting... idk. Strange, anyway, when you realize that something you haven't thought of since you were much younger... something that happened when you were about 5 years old, has had a profound effect on your personality almost 50 years later (48, but who's counting?).

I've discovered that something that was done to me when I was a child has affected me more than I ever thought... leaving some profound trauma in its wake.

The question becomes, do I bring this into the light, or do I hide it away to protect others whose lives would be affected horribly by the revelation? I think I must do the latter. I believe I'm strong enough to deal with this by not hurting others, while they are much older and not in the greatest health.

Thankfully, my therapist understands my decision, and is able to help me work through it without hurting those who don't deserve to be hurt.

I know I'm not saying much, but I really don't think I need to. I've known that there is ptsd that I'm dealing with for a long time, but where it came from, I wasn't sure. Now I am, and I believe that knowledge gives me some strength in dealing with it.

Saturday morning, Norma and I were woke up by one of our sons knocking on our door and saying there was water pouring into his room. His room is directly below our en-suite bathroom, and as i ascended from sleep, I heard water spraying. We wondered if someone was showering in the main bathroom (right beside ours) and the answer was no. I opened the door to our bathroom to find water running across the floor. A fitting underneath the sink had broke during the night, and water was spraying all over under the sink.

Perhaps my hands were too quickly numb (It was the cold water hose spraying), but i couldn't turn the valve to shut it off. I hurried downstairs while Norma directed the spray into a garbage can. In retrospect, I should have kinked the hose, but in my haste, I wasn't thinking of that. I shut off water to the house, disconnected the tap, then hurried to Home Depot, which should probably have a monument to me, labelled, "Our Founder" from all the money I've spent there over the years.

A little while later, I was able to restore water to the house, but now we're dealing with insurance to get them to pay. It should be covered, thankfully, after we pay our deductible. It could well be several thousand dollars for repairs.

Well! I've said some things about what's been happening, but it's been moving so quickly I'm really not sure of it all myself!

We've had a few last gasps of a dying winter here in the Pacific Northwest, but during the last few convulsions, I was in Phoenix, spending time with my parents and my sister, and ended up with a sunburn. Ah, the feeling of freezing while the top layer of epidermis peels off your arms and shoulders. Such bliss!

Now, I'm sitting in the formal dining room of a six bedroom house, typing this, while my insurance company is removing all of the items in my own home so they can repaint and get rid of the smell of smoke.

To put this in context, we had an air pressure fluke while using our fireplace about a month ago. Somehow, the pressure was high enough outside the house that it forced air down the chimney and pushed the smoke out into our house. I'm not sure HOW this happened. I've seen lots of chimney fires from my time as a firefighter, but never anything quite like this. After the incident, we had a chimney service person come over to fix things, and he literally looked at it and asked what we wanted him to fix! Everything was fine. I've burnt things in the fireplace many times since then, and there's been no problem.

And for this fluke air pressure thing, our insurance is paying around $50G for repainting, deoderizing, and an AirBnB for my family. And about a thousand dollars for our pets to be put up during the three weeks it's taking to do all of these things. Go figure.

That on top of our broken water pipe that resulted in my rebuilding my master bathroom, and my son's bedroom below it. LOL.

Now the master bathroom story... That's another fun thing.

Before I went to Arizona, I was busy rebuilding my bathroom. Refloored it, installed a new vanity, sink, toilet, and was waiting on a new shower. Well, I went to Arizona, and my special ordered shower was supposed to be in when I got back. Box 1 and 3 were at Home Depot. Box 2 (the base) wasn't there. Currently, Home Depot is supposed to be figuring out how I'm supposed to install the walls and doors of the shower without a base.

What was even more fun was while I was in Arizona, staying at my sister's house, her toilet went out. Now, when I was in college, studying for the ministry, I worked in hardware with plumbing as my specialty. Later, while a minister, I worked at a building supply center with paint and plumbing as my specialty. (those volunteer ministerial positions don't pay very well). LOL! I fixed my sister's toilet for her.

Also while in Arizona, some new floor tiles came in for my parents. I installed them while on my vacation in Arizona, in my parent's (wait for it) ... bathroom.

Such a fun time. Literally! I enjoy helping people. and to be able to do that for my family while I was visiting really helped me feel better about myself.

I always get a kick out of the May the 4th deal.

Norma and I were married May 4th, 1991 in BC, Canada, long before May 4th became a Star Wars thing. LOL. So, for those who don't like math, today is our 31st anniversary. LOL!

So a nice day to celebrate, although tomorrow, our eldest son is moving halfway across the country from us. He and his wife are moving to be near her elder sister, and I can tell you -- it was tough saying goodbye last night when we saw them. They have a little boy who was born right after Christmas last year, so neither Norma nor I wanted to let the little guy go. Or the baby.

Then, Friday, we get to move back to our own house and leave the mansion behind. Sigh. It's been fun living in a 2M dollar AirBnB for the last couple of weeks, but it's time to kick off the glass slippers I guess. Once home, we've got to unpack our possessions. Everything was removed and cleaned of smoke damage. Several things were disposed of. I guess all of our pillows were thrown out, and the drapes in our living room that were near the fireplace.

While the house was empty, I took the opportunity on the repair crew's day off to sand the hardwood floors and I resurfaced them the next day off. So once the ozone machines are done tomorrow night, we'll have resurfaced floors to welcome us!

Then, I have to start working on the rest of the drywalling I have to do. Ugh!

May the 4th be with you!!!

Well, a little while back, I went to get an MRI on my brain. The site of the tumor I had removed about 3 years ago.

Talked to my neurosurgeon yesterday, and there's no new growth of the remain of the tumor. Just a little bit of thickening in the dura (the membrane that surrounds the brain) where the tumor was.

I hate having to get an MRI. A cat scan is fine, but the tube you go into in an MRI is so stinking tiny! Ugh!

So I updated the chapter in question, here on BCTS.

I just realized, however, that the evidence in question wasn't discussed. At least not out loud. Bill and Sylvia had copied everything they had found and presumably highlighted certain sections.

Interestingly, one of the two in the office revealed something unexpected to me while I was writing the update, forcing me to update the next chapter as well. Sigh. This is what I get for letting my characters have a certain amount of autonomy, I suppose.

I haven't been on BCTS for awhile. We recently found out that my Dad has cancer. It's developed into stage 4, which is not a good thing. Really need prayers and hugs.

So last night, at 10:55PM, while I was holding my Dad's hand, he passed away. He had been gasping for breath all day. I arrived from Spokane at about 5. Mom tells me she thinks he was waiting for me to arrive before he stopped fighting.

I sobbed several times as I talked to him. He wasn't responsive in a normal way, but as I spoke, his breathing became easier.

My mom, aunt, and sister were exhausted, as they'd been there round the clock, so mom and Sherry (my sister) dozed off, and I held Dad's hand, and stroked his head, so he knew I was there. His breathing settled down, until he stopped, and I couldn't find a heartbeat.

I haven't cried since he died, but writing this, coming close.

I spent all day working with Sherry on paperwork and preparing the stuff for the national cemetery in Scottsdale. He was a 20 year veteran in the USAF. This is hard, but he died completely peacefully.

It's Thanksgiving in the US, and still 5 AM in the Northwest, so I'm laying in bed, thinking of all I have to be thankful for.

So many things are good! Even when things look bleak, I find that when I turn them around and examine them from all angles there's something good there. Even the death of my dad earlier this year got my sister and me working together, something we hadn't done for a long time.

I haven't been able to work on my stories the way I'd like, but when I asked myself why I'd like to have more time, the answer is I'm thankful for all the talent displayed by the people here and my stories are a way to reciprocate! You have all shared so much about your struggles, your feelings, your thrills, your thoughts ... It just goes on and on!

Sometimes I feel that people just don't understand me, and frankly don't want to, but I know that so many of you do! You tell me in your writing!

You give voice to so much I want to scream at people, at least once every day, as I struggle with people that I love and respect, but don't have the strength to confront.

So many times when I get overwhelmed by PTSD triggers coming from a lifetime of gaslighting and people taking great pleasure in "proving me wrong", you are a reminder that those people are often the ones who are wrong.

Happy Thanksgiving, you all! And remember, I'm thankful for all of you!

Sorry I haven't been producing any chapters right now.

We've had a lot of cold, snowy weather in Eastern Washington lately. As a result, my thumb with an old bullet would has been aggravated as well as my back, keeping me from doing much on a computer or a piano.

I hate arthritis!

I promise the moment I can type proficiently again, I will be doing so.

I know I've already posted on my Dad, but these are some different thoughts on the topic.

I went to Phoenix (the Arizona one) August 29th. My Dad was unconscious when I got there. I talked to him and he seemed to respond. 5 hours after I got there, he died. My mom and sister had finally gone to sleep, and my aunt (Dad's sister) was resting. I was holding Dad's hand and stroking his hair as he passed away.

I handled the cremation arrangements, while my sister did the financial stuff. My sister and I went to the crematorium. No one else. Seeing the box with his name on it, knowing his body was inside, made it all real to me. Sherry started the belt that moved his body into the furnace.

Dad was a veteran and his ashes are now in the memorial cemetery in Arizona. I wasn't able to be there for the ceremony, but my nephew recorded it and sent me a copy of it. The flag for Mom, the gun salute. Taps... I'm a trumpet player, and I've played Taps many times, but hearing it played for my dad... That was incredibly hard.

I couldn't stop crying through the whole ceremony. I know it will get easier, but right now, it's so unreal. I occasionally think there's someone I need to tell about all this, then realize the person I feel I need to tell is Dad. Sigh.

Late in 2022, I started to get pain in my hands. I went and had an x-ray done, and there was some arthritis forming. Well, at my age, that's kinda normal, so I wasn't REALLY worried about it.

The problem was, the pain in one of my thumbs got worse and worse. Unfortunately, it's the thumb that supports my trumpet when I play, and it's used in the piano quite a bit, as well as guitar, accordian, you name it. It's used. I don't play guitar very much, but I do need my left thumb to help me grip the neck when I'm making a chord, or even when playing the bass guitar.

Seeing as how I majored in music in college, you can see how this is a concern.

Well, my doctor told me he could try a shot to relax the tendon and get things to release (the thumb is triggering and it's very, very painful going through the 'stop'). The problem there is, I'm a very insulin-resistant diabetic. I have to take a LOT of insulin to control things. If it gets worse, I'm going to have to go onto a concentrated insulin. Steroid shots mess with blood glucose levels. Not good for a diabetic. Therefore it's time for surgery. Yay!!!! (not!)

Anyway, this is why I've been gone for awhile as far as posting things. The left thumb isn't part of typing, but keeping it out of the way while I type gets painful. I'm using a splint now which helps a lot, so I think I'll be able to post now. Maybe not as often as I would like, but it should be able to be done.

Anyway... See ya!

Rose

To all my friends and family on this site, Happy Easter! Ressurection Sunday!

I know many of us don't celebrate the ressurection of Christ. Many of us don't believe in Him. I don't intend this blog post to offend anyone, so l hope you don't take it as offensive. My beliefs are such that I do believe, and I know some here believe as well. To those of us who believe its a celebration, I want to celebrate with you!

God bless!

As I said in my blog before, I have some lovely pain in my left hand. Needless to say, this makes it tough to type. Of course, the left thumb isn't used in 10 key typing, but the pain likes to remind me that it's them anyway.

I've discovered a good way to write regardless. I'm using a stylus on my tablet. Quite literally the latest chapters of Arctic Fox and the Letters are handwritten. It's really not much slower than typing. And wonderfully, the tablet usually can read my writing. As a matter of fact, I don't have the general problem of my drunk spell checker!

I'm having surgery on my thumb next Friday. I need to ask the doctor if I'll be able to play the bagpipes afterward. He always wanted to learn the bagpipes, if only to annoy my kids. Of course now I would be my Grandkids, but hey...

Regarding Arctic Fox 3, Marcia and Darryl are supposed to get married in 2 weeks, story time. Real time, I'm setting surgery, but I'm hoping to get that part of the story out before I can't hold my tablet for a bit.

So, stay tuned! For those following the Arctic Fox stories, keep reading!

My surgery on my hand in supposed to be this Friday. I had to get a Covid test today. I've had a sore throat this week. Lovely.

Those who believe, please pray I can get the surgery. I'd love for the pain to be done.

I've been away for a bit. I was scheduled to have surgery on my hand, and was coughing the day before the surgery was to happen. They didn't want to put me under (I can handle other people's blood, but not my own) when I was coughing, so put off my surgery. Within two weeks, my hand had almost gone back to normal. Now, I can only feel the problem if I bend my thumb all the way. Yay! Hallelujah!

So anyway, in my time off from writing, I had an idea. I've been going through all of the Cat Who books by Lillian Jackson-Braun. I love this series, and started out with "The Cat Who Blew the Whistle", about twenty-five years ago. I found out my Mom had the first 6 books shortly after that and have collected them all now.

Something really struck me during one of the books, and I'd love to expand on an idea I had, so if people would be interested in reading what I come up with, I'd love to know.

There isn't any working title yet, except for Cat Who on my hard drive. The outline is almost done. Now just to flesh it out. LOL. Let me know!

This is interesting. Next Saturday is the fictional date of Darry and Marcia's wedding in book 3, and AF 2 is scheduled to come out on Kindle just about now. what a nice wedding present for the two.

So I was having some pain in a tooth that was damaged many years ago by a 2x4 and a truck axel. I went on vacation the beginning of April, and while on vacation, I started having more and more pain, and even started getting daily headaches. To make a long story short, I had an abscess in the gum, and the infection was causing bone loss. Now, I've got a nice 2 tooth gap in my mouth, and I keep sing "all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth."

In about 2 weeks, they'll be making a mold of my mouth and then a partial. I like to start out things with a bang. Never had a cavity, and now I need some dentures. In the same way, my first surgery was brain surgery. Yeah. Loads of fun.

At least the headaches are diminishing as the antibiotics are working.

I've been away for a little while, but like a bad penny, I'm back. LOL.

I've been trying to work through some burnout with my work. As many of you know, my job is as a certified nurse's assistant, and I take care of two people in my own home. As a result, I don't get to go home after work, nor do I get weekends. The only time I can get away from work is if I take off from home and let someone else take care of them. Thankfully, Norma, my wife, is a homecare aid, so she's able to care for them, and two of my kids who live nearby are as well, so I do sometimes get away.

I'm not completely back to where I should be, but I'm able to write again.

It's been a long four months. I had to have two teeth removed because an abscess had formed above one. I've since gotten a partial for them, and it's been a learning curve talking with them as well as eating with them. Right now I want to find whoever thought Elmers Glue was a good taste for denture adhesive and throw things at them!

One good thing is I had my 5 year MRI after my surgery, and the remains of the meningioma squeezing my brain hasn't grown any. YAY!

Anyway... Be looking for the next chapter of Arctic Fox. It should be coming out in about a week.

So a little while ago, I decided to do some AI work on the characters of The Arctic Fox. Specifically, Arctic Fox 3, but of course, some of the characters are in the other books as well. Having pictures of the characters allows me to keep a picture of the in my mind so any descriptions of them are consistent.

Since I had the pictures available, I decided to put them in a blog, so if anyone wants a reference to what the people look like when you’re reading the stories, you have it.

Darryl and Marcia, standing in front of his 1973 Mustang
	Chet and Mage with his 1963 Mercury M100 pickup
Lt. Colonel Mike Chatham USAF Marcia and Chet's dad
	Gloria Chatham Marcia and Chet's mom
Colonel Robert Johnson, USAF Mage and Darryl's dad
	Liz Johnson Mage and Darryl's mom
Heather (Goldman) Johnson The new sister of Mage and Darryl
	Judge William Matthews Recently appointed Attorney General of Alaska
Sylvia Matthews Baliff in Judge Matthews court, and his wife
	Trish Anderson Marcia's best friend
Brad Jenkins Mage's boyfriend before Chet
	Bruce Huff
Ron Fraiser Bruce's brother
	Melissa Fraiser Ron's wife and former police chief of Palmer. While the book doesn't specify it, she's Native Alaskan
Gregory French FBI agent assigned to the murder of Lisa Huff
	Brandy Coleridge FBI agent, Rather unpleasant partner of French, and current pleasant partner of French
Stephen Winters Bruce's right hand man on the farm
	Boris Borisyuk One of the workers on the farm
Wanda Gregory Real Estate Agent who found the houses for the Chatham and Johnson parents and Getting close to Bruce Huff

So that's what I have right now. I'll probably add Chet and Mage's kids and the brother and sister of Chet and Marcia before too long.

I hope this makes the story easier to visualize.

Rose