Well, we’re into April and somehow, I’m still standing. Seems I’ve been taking an unintended blog break.

I wanted to provide a little update on my books that  I’m currently writing and/or editing.

I’ve been focusing my time on my writing in these last few months and I’m feeling pretty good about this being a year of publications and finishing shitty first drafts.

image source; dreamstime

At the risk of sounding smug, I’d like to warn  of these common divorce mistakes (a few that I’ve made myself). These are only a sampling of many mistakes we make but I’ve narrowed it down to the top five. So, this is a quick and dirty list of what not to do during your divorce.

A list of ten things seems to be a nice way to reflect on complex issues. You can check out my previous post listing 10 Things I Wish I Knew Before My Divorce. Although today’s list is similar, I wanted to emphasize some new points.

It’s like my older self is telling my younger (about to get divorced) self, what to expect.

I have been working diligently on my fiction writing and enjoying every minute of it. The only problem is it has left me with less time to blog.

Today, I’m linking up with Charlotte, Lyndsay, Beth for What’s up weekend…

Can we talk about the hot flashes, ladies? I should invite the men to weigh in as well. I believe men experience them too but maybe not as intensely.  When these first began, I didn’t even realize it was really a hot flash, per se. Every night around 10 pm I would warm right up and have to take off my sweater or a layer.  I just thought the room had warmed up for some odd reason.

Guys, as you know, I give advice here at the site and sometimes I even publish the Q & A as ‘Dear Lisa’. Is my advice always good? I hope so! However, I get all kinds of people writing me with questions and dare I say PROBLEMS.

So, this woman contacted me a month or so ago. I read through her long email. I gave it considerable thought before responding, of course.

Here’s the thing: Her question haunts me.

“Ms. Thomson?…Ms. Thomson?…” Deep sigh  “Is she here?”

“Yes.” Panting from running by the seat of my pants. “Who’s asking?”

“It’s the year 2018…”

“Yes.” Slightly breathless.

“Excuse me?”

“Yes, I’m here now!” Speaking louder. “I’m Ms. Thomson. Or you can call me Lisa—that’s what my friends call me” *smiles beatifically* (I like that word ‘beatific’—in both sound and meaning)

image source unsplash by Allef Vinicius

A look back at 2017 here on the blog is always a fun way to end the year. I re-cap the first post I published from January to December for the year ending—2017. I often lament about time being elusive. This can’t be more profound than at the end of another year and the fresh beginning of a new one.

Photo by Kyle Broad on Unsplash

It’s no secret that the initial stages of divorce prove to be the most dangerous time in a woman’s life. Yet, we tend to remain positively naive. That makes sense of course, because we’re going through so much for the first time and we are unaware of the hidden or subtle vulnerabilities.

That’s Anita on the far right. Root friend. All of these ladies are root friends. That’s me second from left.

Right now I’m packing for an adeventure of a lifetime. I wanted to let you know I’ll be away for  the rest of the month. I can’t even believe it myself.

So, last December (almost a year ago) my good friend and I hatched a plan. It was a plan that I didn’t really think would happen. Just talk. But no. We’re doing it!