After eleven moves, you'd think I'd be better at handling the emotions of it.
Nope!
Every move requiring a new circle of friends follows the same process: 1) Shut down with friends, 2) hibernate but call it "getting ready to move", 3) move, 4) hibernate but call it "unpacking", and 5) do the work to get back out there and make new friends. I'm still in phase four but need to move into phase five.
I'm going to let you in on a little secret...I'm not good with crowds. I stand next to my husband or--if he's not there--the wall, smile, and pretend I'm interested when all I want is to go home, get into my pajamas, and read. What I am good at, though, is volunteering. Whether it's joining a choir, a club, or a class, I go where people share the same interests I have and make friends there. I just have to get out of hibernation mode first. Which includes getting back to my schedule of blogging.
Usually it takes a full year to move from phase one to phase five. Six months of withdrawing followed by six months of slowly coming back to life. When you move every three years--well, you do the math.
I wonder if I could make the process go faster, of if it will always take that long and I'm fooling myself to try and rush things.
One thing is certain, life keeps going.
Speaking of which, I'm thrilled to announce two writing related bits of news. First, I've signed a third contract with Barbour Publishing. I'll be in another 9-in-1 collection of novellas called "The Blue Ribbon Brides." What's particularly fun about it is who I'll be in the collection with. Most of them are personal friends, and one of them--Gina Welborn--was the writer friend God gifted me in Oklahoma. Gina is also responsible for my second bit of writing news. She put together a serial story with fourteen authors all writing a chapter of a story. It's called Path to Love and is free on Kindle and other electronic reading devices. I hope you'll link through and download it.
Time to get back to the business of going on with life.