Time for new beginnings.

There are always periods in a person's life when he or she looks forward to new beginnings.  I am looking forward to the upcoming year or two as a new beginning for me and mine. My wife and I are going to retire from education at the end of next school year, July, 2016 -- God willing and the creeks don't rise.  We have begun our downsizing already, having sold the house we have lived in for the last eleven years and found a smaller one to rent.  We don't want to be tied down to a mortgage anymore.

One of these days -- hopefully before I die -- my daughter and son-in-law are going to have children.  I want to be able to move near to them.  I want them to have wonderful memories of Grandpa and Grandma Cross, like I have of my Grandpa and Grandma Penberthy.  I also want to travel to the United Kingdom and see England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. I think I would also like to go to Italy. 

I feel the stirrings of fall in my body and my soul as I always do this time of year.  Usually, Fall gives me a feeling of restlessness, like an itch that can't be scratched.  I'm sure that with my bipolar disorder, I also have a touch of SAD.  I also think I'm ADD.  Some people think I'm a hypochondriac too.  Anyway, I got off the subject.  I don't feel as sad as I usually do this time of year.  I think it's because I am looking forward to some things.  Not just retirement.

Being able to write as much as I want to will be nice.  Having that time doesn't mean I will write more than I have before, but it does mean I will have the freedom to do so.  Or not.  I can teach part time or not.  I can get another job or not.  That freedom means a lot to me because I want to enjoy my declining years.  It's true that I can't do as much as I used to; I can't move as fast; and I have this bad knee that sometimes almost makes me cry out.  It will eventually have to be replaced.  I'm too fat, and I eat wrong, but I have a lot of life left in my years, and I hope a lot of years left in my life.  That, I'm afraid though, might be a crap shoot.  I had three uncles who died before 60.  I also had two grandparents who lived into their 90's, and my dad is a very healthy 82 1/2.

The house we're going to rent is not far from where we live now.  It's a very nice place in a quiet neighborhood.  It has an attached single-car garage and a detached double-car garage, which is just massive.  No more scraping snow off my car in the winter or getting it covered with tree sap in the fall. The name of the street is even nice.  Michael Lane.  My middle name is Michael. Do you think that might be an omen?  I am also amazed at the layout of the place which is very much like my mom and dad's old house where I spent my formative years, the place I really think of as home when I think of home. 

I wonder sometimes if my mom and dad didn't regret selling the old place. They received 30 times more than what they paid for it, and then developers just leveled it and put in a small mall.  It has only been recently that my heart doesn't lurch when I go by it.  That feeling is compounded by the fact that my mom is dead.  She died unexpectedly almost three years ago, the Saturday before Thanksgiving. My dad is remarried to a nice woman, and he appears to be happy.  I think she is too. 

I apologize for going all fuzzy on you, but there are times when I walk down Memory Lane.  There is much of my past I do not remember.  I don't know if I have blocked it out or if my years of taking medication for my bipolar II have simply blurred it.  It doesn't matter.  Much of my life has been forgettable anyway.

The one thing I am looking forward will happen this spring -- hence the title of the blog and the picture of the flowers pushing through the snow.  Spring might be a new beginning for me for two reasons that have me feeling very excited.  North County is going to perform a play I wrote about a topic I have always wanted to write about, but have been so close to, I have been unable to do so: bullying and suicide.  I'll leave my reason why for another day.  Around the same time, Booktrope is going to be releasing my new YA novel called Fall of Knight.  It too covers similar themed material.

I am hoping that there will be enough excitement and success from those two endeavors that my love for writing will be inflamed.  I am still wanting to write screenplays.  One of the things I have dreamed of doing in retirement is supplementing my pension with a number of writing sales.  I hope that dream comes true.

I must bid you all a fond adieu.  I have miles to go before I sleep.

An update of sorts

I can't help feeling a little stressed at the moment for several reasons, the biggest being that I am absolutely overwhelmed with tasks I must complete and underwhelmed with the time to complete them.  Alas, I do realize that I am not the only person in this world who experiences this issue.

I am getting a YA novel published through Booktrope. It is a different kind of program, and I am feeling my way through it at the moment.  Currently, I am trying to hook up with the right editor, book manager, and other team members.  I don't think serious work will begin on the actual editing and so forth for another month or so.  I look forward to working with some talented people and building some relationships.  I'm not sure how successful the venture will be, but I'm hoping it will work out for all involved.

In one way, it isn't such a bad thing that the hard work will not get underway in earnest for a month or two because we have sold our house and will probably be moving in about a month.  I think our moving date is going to be November 1.  We are downsizing because we hope to retire in a year and a half.  When we do retire, I hope that I have enough of my mind left to write full time, and yes, publish consistently.  My goal is still to break into screenwriting.

Just a few short items before I get into something more interesting.  The Cardinals are in the playoffs again.  They will meet the Dodgers in round one.  The winner of that match meets the winner of what looks like the Giants against the Washington nationals.  I think the Dodgers will go to the World Series this year.  In the Amercian league the Kansas City Royals -- no, I did not stutter -- will take on the Angels, and in the other playoff, it will be the Tigers versus the Orioles.  I think we will have an all California World Series with the Angels winning the American league.  However, it would be pretty cool to have an all Missouri World Series.

Finally something very exciting might happen in my writing career this spring.  I'll fill everyone in on the details as they become available.

I wrote a crossbyte which said essentially, that you should be the person who works so hard that you give out and not the person who is so cowardly you give in.

I tell my students that if a thing is not challenging it's not really worth doing. I know that's a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much.  We don't grow if we are not challenged, and we should not fear to meet challenges.  I have been less that courageous at times in my life, but when I have fully committed to something I do not give up.  And there are times probably when I should have.  Especially in relation to my writing.

I'll end with another bit of sports gossip.  There's a rumor that after the superbowl, there will be an announcement saying that the St. Louis Rams will be moving to Los Angeles.  It would not surprise me if this happened.  Kroenke is going to go where there's money since he is so poor and doesn't have much.