September Theme....Absolutely... Life will Change #RB4U #blogpost #melissa_keir

Absolutely.... Life has a Way of Changing.....

Hello and welcome to Romance Books 4 Us. Normally Nicole stops by to kick off the month and have you all smiling. Today, you get me, Melissa Keir, talking about life changing. It was a perfect time to speak about change with the beginning of a new month- September which seems to kick off fall in my area of the world. 

I love this ring, if anyone is looking for a gift for me! 

This month our theme is Absolutely.... The birthstone, Sapphire (promoter of chaste love, health, peace of mind and psychic vision) and flower, Aster (talisman of love, patience). 

This is me when faced with change!

As I said... Life has a way of changing. If you were here expecting Nicole, you've had to adapt to that change. I'm here. And while change is often not without its own stress, sometimes we must make a change. 





Usually at this time of year, I'm back in my classroom

trying to set it up for any number of students, sitting in on professional development meant to energize me, and worrying about how the year is going to go. But not this year!




This year, I'm worried about insurance and spending too much money. A much different set of stress brought on because of a life change I made. I quit teaching at the school I had taught at for the last 15 years. It was time. I had asked to work part time but they couldn't accommodate me. I've looked for other jobs as a teacher. However, I have two strikes against me-- 20 years teaching experience and a Master's Degree. (The Union says that they have to pay me more and other teachers are cheaper.)

My father, my son and me at Thanksgiving

This year though, I'm ABSOLUTELY...happy that I have time with my family. I was working way too many hours on my writing, publishing, formatting, grading, planning, documenting, testing, reporting...which gave me very little time for the most important things in my life....my family. <3

So.. Absolutely... life changes...(and it will probably always cause me some stress, okay a lot of stress)...
But I'm taking a bold move. Substitute teaching so I can get my teaching fix, working on upcoming novellas, and still have the time to see the faces who I would terribly miss if they weren't here. 

What is your ABSOLUTE? What about life has changed for you?? And how are you handling it? I'd love to hear! 

And Nicole will be by on the 9th to visit with you. However, if you want to read about some musings on life, poetry and recipes from me about the people I love, please check out my new short book titled: Musings of a Madcap Mind.

Available in print and ebook....

Blurb:
One woman’s musings become another woman’s courage… 

What do you see when you look in the mirror? Do you worry about the person you’ve become? Sitting down at the computer, Melissa spent many hours reflecting on her life, family, and relationships. These musings, recipes, and poems tell the tale of one woman's changing thoughts and feelings about life. 

Come along with her as she explores her reflections, using her words which mirror her changes.

Amazon

IF LIFE HANDS YOU LEMONS…

Then you make lemonade.

Last night I got out of the hospital from an unexpected surgery, minor by today’s standards, but not how I intended to spend this week. What is frustrating is I’ve been dealing with one medical obstacle after the other since the beginning of the year. In-between all the chaos, I’m trying to write, promo, keep sane, and write again. But, life seems to step in and throw everything off kilter.

January the year started out with my debut release, Born to Be Wild, excited and ready to enjoy the fun of my first published book. Soon thereafter, I had a dental problem. An old root canal had caused me difficulties over the past sixteen years, until I finally couldn’t take the pain. Turns out the original dentist left packing cotton inside and didn’t fully drill out the root. Duh! No wonder my tooth hurt.

That little fiasco corrected, I moved to the next one. A pre-cancerous mole on my back and a squamous cell cancer on my face stunned me. Great! So I got those removed while I worked on promotion of my debut and editing of the second book, My Life as a Dog. Dang! If March didn’t roll around with the release and I start having muscle spasms in my back. I could barely walk and the pain was excruciating. Went to hospital and told by Emergency Room doctor I pretty much had to live with the pain and possibly should seek out an acupuncturist or alternative healing. Okay! What’s next to happen?

Well, I shouldn’t have opened my mouth, April came and I had my third book due out, so more editing and promotion, but the back pain flared its ugly head again. I fainted getting ready to see my family physician. He sent me straight to the hospital and I stayed one night and released with a brace to wear for eight weeks. Turns out I had two fractures in my spine but not serious enough for surgery. I wasn’t given any medication for the pain and home I went to spend a very long time in bed. So I finished writing the sequel to my debut book—Born to Play came into being. As well as a contemporary novella entitled Texas Heat. Whew! I thought I turned a corner. But noooo!

Remember the fainting spell I had? Well my family doctor thought I should have that checked out and sent to a cardiologist. Oh and during the first trip to the hospital in March, the MRI showed I also had pleural effusion, so off to the Pulmonary specialist. The lungs checked out okay after two trips to imaging for chest x-rays and an ultrasound, but the heart, no such luck.

After a battery of tests, EKG, nuclear tests, heart monitors, one for a couple days and another time for six weeks, the cardiologist determined I had what they call SVT. I’m put on medication for a month and didn’t do anything, so put on another medication and sent for a heart catheter to make sure there’s no blockage causing the heart problems. In between the entire medical calamity, I’m trying my darnedest to write, write, and write and then promo again, with editing for Born to Play, which releases in pre-sales today and officially next Friday.

Then, I had two strange episodes of pain in my stomach which flared up and disappeared with no explanation during the past two months. I had the heart catheter on Monday afternoon of this week and went home in some discomfort but okay. Tuesday evening I’m taken to the hospital by ambulance for stomach pain that made me feel like I was dying. After a few hours, I’m admitted for gallstones. Huh?

Wednesday afternoon I have the surgery and I arrived back home Thursday evening and had to figure out what to write for this blog. I almost didn’t get the blog written, but I made a commitment and had to honor it. So I guess what I’ve learned since the first of the year—if life hands you lemons, make lemonade. I know there’s another story in here somewhere. Now, I have to go write it!

Cynthia Arsuaga, Erotic Romance Author

Website: http://cynthiaarsuaga.weebly.com

Email: cynmar19@yahoo.com

Publisher: www.secretcravingspublishing.com