Illness and Anaphylaxis

Hello to the universe that has no real interest in my blog,

I’m hoping to stay on track—I just finished tomorrow’s chapter. But I’ve been in a bit of a slump. Only one friend is actually keeping up with my updates, which is sweet considering she doesn’t even like Jane Austen. Otherwise, I’ve had little to no support, and my motivation has been dwindling.

Still, I’m more than halfway through now, so hopefully, I can finish on time. If I keep up my current pace of one chapter per day, the last chapter should go up on the final day of February. My goal hasn’t changed, but...

I was supposed to use my winter break to visit specialists and figure out some of my ongoing health issues, but instead, I’ve been enjoying relaxing at home with my cats. Unfortunately, it hasn’t all been fun. I’ve had COVID-19 three years in a row—twice last year alone. Right after Christmas, I got seriously ill again, but I never bothered going to the doctor since I was only desk-warming and vacation started the next week. So, January was mostly spent recuperating.

When I returned to work at the end of January, there was no heat—making it hard to type when my fingers kept freezing up. Then I took my last two weeks of vacation to avoid my workplace entirely since they shut off all electricity except in the main offices as they replaced the heating/air-conditioning system.

Next week, I’ll be back to desk-warming—with heat and electricity this time! But I also need to prepare for classes, which start in March… making my goal feel harder to reach. Still, I wrote the first draft last February, and this is the best time to finalize it!

Unfortunately, yesterday was a mess. I had to take one of my cats to the vet, only to get extremely stressed when the veterinarian tried to scam me. The worst part? My friend insisted on driving me but would only take me to the local vet she prefers, even though I don’t like them. The vet quoted one price before but suddenly started adding on extra charges, which infuriated me. But since my friend has made herself unwelcome at every vet within 20 miles except that one, she wasn’t thrilled when I pointed out the clinic’s dishonesty.

Then I came home to realize I had nothing to eat. I ordered delivery from a place I’ve had before, but even though I’ve ordered the same soy chicken pilaf many times, I had a bad reaction to it last time. This time was even worse—I ended up having a bad case of anaphylaxis. It’s been about 12 hours, and I’m doing better now, but the only reason I managed to prepare tomorrow’s chapter is that Chapter 17 is just an extension of Chapter 16.

Luckily, Chapter 18 is from the first draft and only needs revision. But I’ve written several new chapters that weren’t in the first draft, which has slowed me down.

Anyway, if anyone actually cares, I’ll do my best to finish this within the time I’ve set—come illness or death.

Take care~