Mary E Thompson

it's a curvy road to happily ever after

Beautiful World

Quarantine sucks

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There. I said it. Got that part out of the way.

But is it completely true? Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of things that really bother me about quarantine. My entire family is home, which means I get zero time to myself. I can’t run to the grocery store when I forgot one thing because I’m not risking the exposure. And I have to balance not only my own job, but helping my kids with school and making sure hubby has clean masks (not just clothes) for work. And dinner and cleaning and all those other things we always need to do.

But…there are a few things I’m enjoying about quarantine.

At the end of 2019 (who else feels like that was centuries ago?), I chose a word for 2020. I always do it. I don’t always pick a word that inspires me or motivates me, but sometimes I pick a word that defines what I hope the year will be. My word for 2020 was CALM.

Why? Well, 2019 basically sucked for us. A lot of things happened in our personal lives that made everything tough. Nothing was major, but it was never-ending and annoying. At least weekly, I was asking WTF, and usually I was wondering why people can’t just do their one job. By the end of the year, I was exhausted and told myself if we could get through March, everything would be better.

My first three books would be out.
Our house would be done and we would be moved.
The weather would improve and we could get outside a little.

Well, we all know what happened then. And unfortunately, I’m still asking WTF on a regular basis. Like when my mail stopped being forwarded two weeks after we moved and was returned with a sticker saying our former address was vacant. Well, yes, but that’s the whole damn point of filing a forwarding address.

Or when one of my brand new appliances won’t work but I can’t get the service people from the place I bought it to come out because it’s not essential.

Or when a bird built a nest in part of my house that isn’t finished.

And then another one built a nest in another part.

Trust me, WTF is nice most days.

But through all of it, I’ve slowed down. I’m not driving my kids to activities 4 days per week. I’m not rushing to get dinner on the table so we can go out. We’re not yelling at the kids to eat faster because we have to go.

I don’t know that I would say things are calm, but things are definitely less frantic right now. My kids have left the house a handful of times in the last two months. We take walks as often as the weather allows. And when we miss a soccer or gymnastics practice, we don’t worry about it.

Things have changed. I know I’m lucky because my family is healthy and safe. We have what we need. We’re okay. And I’m trying to remember that I asked for calm, and as I sit in my office and wonder what normal is going to look like, I can do it without a bra on, because I don’t have to leave the house today. Maybe that’s enough calm for me for right now.

Getting what we want

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Over the last few weeks, everyone has been talking about the end of the year and the end of the decade. There have been countless workshops and posts and ideas and thoughts about making the next decade the best one yet. It’s kind of terrifying.

Ten years ago, I was pregnant with my second child. I was unhappy at my job. I was disconnected from friends and family because I didn’t live close to them. There were a lot of things I didn’t love. But in some ways, life was easier then.

I’ve realized the only way we will ever make our dreams come true is to work hard for it. Obvious, yes. I know. But I’ve decided my new mantra is no one is going to make my dreams come true for me. Because no one else cares about my dreams. They care about their own. And they should. We should all care about our own dreams. About making our own dreams come true.

Can you imagine how beautiful the world would be if we could make our dreams come true? People would be doing things they love, living lives they loved, and spending time the way they loved.

I turn 40 in 2020, and I’ve decided I’m going to work on doing some things I’ve always wanted to do. Some are bigger than others, but mostly, it’s little things, like paying for someone behind me in the drive-thru or leaving a 100% tip or building something by myself. Some are bigger, like being able to run for five minutes straight or doing something that scares me or registering for cooking classes with my hubby.

Every item on my 40 by 40 list will help me get something I want. Because no one else is going to make my dreams come true for me.

What are you going to do in 2020?

What if your book boyfriend actually existed?

I liked safe. Safe was easy. Safe was safe. Ian was not safe. Nothing about him was safe. Not the way he looked at me or the way he touched me or the way he made me feel. But through all of it, he somehow found a way to make me feel safe. Like loving him wasn’t going to destroy me.

But it did.

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Merry Christmas

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I’ve been thinking a lot about all the things in my life that I count as my blessings. This year, the holiday season has been tough. It’s been a busy time, more than usual, and it’s really thrown me off. I’ve been pulled away from the joy of the holiday season, but I wanted to remind myself that life is amazing. It’s beautiful. It’s wild and messy and tough, but it’s beautiful.

I hope you’ve had a chance to sit back and enjoy life some this holiday season. If you haven’t, I hope you take some time soon to relax, put your feet up, and read a great book!

Enjoy your family today. And thank you for being one of my blessings this year.

Happy Valentine’s Day

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Valentine’s Day is like a mini-party for romance authors. It’s a day when everyone gets what we do every day. Personally, I think those of us who love romance novels, authors and readers, every day is like Valentine’s Day. We know you don’t have to wait for the calendar to tell you that you should show or tell someone you love them.

IMG_4834Last night hubby and I went to dinner. It wasn’t anything extravagant or unusual, but it suited us. If you ever thought ‘Sand In Your Shorts’ was no fun, you haven’t been to Red Robin and sampled their drink. It was so yummy! (Yes, that’s a picture of it, after about two minutes!) My burger and fries were pretty spectacular too, but the best part was having some time with my honey. It’s rare that we have time to ourselves, but when we do, we enjoy it. We love our kids, but it’s nice to connect to each other too. We’re crazy grateful that our friends were willing to watch the kids for a few hours for us.

Even though my Valentine’s Day was pretty basic, I do have fantasies about the perfect Valentine’s Day date. What are they? Well, you’re going to have to wait and see. Over on Angela Scavone’s blog she’s asking romance writers about their perfect date. On February 23 you’ll get to see what mine would be!

I hope you have a great day with your loved ones today. It’s a perfect day to say I love you, I miss you, or I need you. But then again, so is every other day!

Moving Forward, Looking Back (2016)

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At the end of one year and the beginning of the next, I often reflect on what has past and look forward to what might be coming.

If you’ve been here a while, you already know 2015 wasn’t that great of a year for me. I’ve been telling myself 2016 will be a better year, but then I realized 2015 wasn’t that bad of a year.

Yes, I got cancer.

I also beat cancer’s ass.

A lot of things I’d been praying for in my personal life came to reality in 2015. We had a lot more good happen than bad. I saw some of my dreams come true.

Sure, getting cancer wasn’t a dream. But getting rid of it certainly was a dream come true.

At the end of the year, my family is much better off than we were a year ago. We are living where we’d hoped to live for years. We are closer to our dream house than we’ve ever been. We are all healthy and happy and together.

And at the end of the day, or end of the year, there’s nothing more we could ask for.

I hope you have a happy new year.