Katie Runyon

I figured I should make use of this blog and actually use it more often. I have felt my entries should have more to do with my writing, but since it is a blog about me and not just my writing, I figured I could post what I wanted. So if anything interesting happens, you will surely be made aware (which is never, only crazy things happen here.).

My mother’s husband was just released from the hospital yesterday, so now we go back to many nurse visits and him actually following his “bed rest” guidelines for a few days.

Last night I had a dream that my grandfather returned from the nursing home. I remember crying next to him, I think in the dream he had a stroke. Then I remember him coming out of his room, which the door now stays closed and has since partially been used to store my late grandmother’s craft boxes and a few other things that don’t have a place as of yet. No matter how much I love my grandfather, I dread his return. I feel like any day he will return and my more peaceful and carefree days will again be over. Well they aren’t totally carefree and haven’t been since I was at least ten, but close enough.

It hasn’t been all play and no work, I have been doing plenty. Besides my constant work on the house, I have been working on the update I keep on talking about. I am trying to get enough to make it big, but not too big that I have nothing to add for a long time. So most of my work is done, the rest is out of my hands.

I should be ready to return to writing every day by November. I feel horrible for taking this long of a break, but usually a break includes rest, which I have not had too much of so far. I have things that need to be finished and out of the way before I can put forth all my effort into my novel.

My “to do” list is piling up and the days aren’t long enough.

My twenty-first birthday is fast approaching, about six weeks and counting. It seems like only yesterday I was in school and making my boyfriend take me to the dances. Time goes by faster than you could imagine, at least for me it does.

As for time, it is after midnight and I have things to do before I go to bed.

-Oh, and if anyone has any idea/requests, etc. let me know by emailing me or posting in the comments section of this blog or on the forum. If there are any problems with the site I would also appreciate you letting me know. Thanks.

I am still a little groggy from waking up not long ago, but I wanted to try and catch everyone up. This post will be more private and in detail than my previous entries.

To start off, my grandfather is in a nursing home. As with all things, I am not sure how permanent it is. The one he is in now is supposed to be temporary and we should soon be able to move him into a better one. For anyone who has read some of my previous posts, such as ‘Mrs. Dreamcatcher and Ms. Calendar’, you would know a little about my grandfather. Since last November when my mother and I found him half unconscious and he was in the ICU for a few weeks, he had been a totally different person. None of the Dr. could tell us what happened, but they said that if we checked on him a little later, he would have died.

For almost the last year, I have been taking care of him pretty much 24/7. The hallucinations and mood swings were the worst part. I didn’t mind taking care of him in the more menial way. Cooking him all his food, cleaning his bedroom, and even helping him get dressed, but when he would hallucinate it would drive me nuts. He would accuse us of stealing his money and wake me up at 3 in the morning because he says that he went somewhere and the woman he was with was still there, or his belongings were still there. It would take hours to calm him down and get him to lie down and rest. Then it would take even longer for me to fall back asleep.

The last year has been a sometimes sleepless, nerve-racking time for me. I love my grandfather, but when he would get angry and become irrational it was hard to take. To be honest, I did spend many nights and days crying and my nerves were always on edge. I was constantly wondering when he was going to pick his next fight. I am a very shy and hate any kind of confrontation, so I hated those times.

Since my grandfather has been gone for almost two weeks, it has been quiet and less stressful. I have been trying to return to a normal, happy life. I have begun the task of creating a better atmosphere. Our family doesn’t seem to like to throw much of anything out, so I had to weed the upstairs of all its junk. Our house is a duplex house, with my grandfather and me living upstairs, while the rest of my family lives downstairs. So it is almost as though I have a little apartment all to myself. It still needs a lot of work, but it is an improvement.

I have also been trying to do a little Halloween decorating, which I feel is a good way to exercise my imagination.

Another recent happening, is my mother’s husband is in the hospital, again. He has had three toes removed and other surgeries on his feet. His foot is yet again infected and will probably need another surgery. Things are never boring here.

As for the book I have said I was going to eventually review, I have read SOME. Some equals about four pages. I have been busy in my own ways. I had begun to read the book before, but the use of single quotations instead of double threw me off and I had to put it down. I have since read it again and a little more, but I still don’t have too much time to get into the book.

I have house cleaning/decorating to do, cooking, Halloween decorating, the sewing/creating of my little brother Halloween costume, many animals to take care of, the big site update to get ready for, MUCH editing of what is written of my story, actually writing my story, and countless other things. My plate is very full and there are not enough hours in the day to do what I must. Eventually I will accomplish it all…eventually.

The other day I found out that my other grandparents dog, Tache, had died. He was a cute little Papillon that they have had since I was young. He was a good dog and will be greatly missed.

Well this post is long enough, so I will leave any other recounts of my messed up life for another entry.

It is now October and getting pretty darn cold outside. The leaves are now colorful and falling from the trees. The season works, because it is almost winter in the part of the novel I am writing now. It should help get me into the mood and give me some ideas and inspiration.

I have been working on the big update that will eventually be coming. The timing is a little out of my control, or else I would have it happen a lot sooner.

I still have a lot of editing to do and not to mention a lot of story to still finish. I feel like I’ll never be done. I just need to find an opportunity to get to work. I know it is no excuse, but with all the family troubles and stress it has been hard to concentrate on anything substantial. I would rather wait a little while, until hopefully things resolve themselves, instead of writing now and it being crap. I can’t wait to be able to focus and finish this story. I get excited thinking about it, but I have to actually put the work in if I want it to happen.

Of course, I still haven’t moved on to reading the other book I bought a while ago. Hopefully I will get to it sometime this week.

Well I have to go figure out what I want to get accomplished in the little over an hour I have free. There is a) work on the big update, b) work on editing my work so far, c) house work, or d) I can do a little reading. Of course I am sure you can tell which one I am leaning towards the least.