This Month’s Health Update, Etc.
Folks, I’ve been asked to give an update about housing and such, so this blog is that answer.
Because of my health cratering, I haven’t been able to find a new apartment or place to live. In addition, the finances aren’t exactly there either. I’ve been able to keep my health from further going off the cliff than it already was, but I haven’t been able to regain much, if any, energy since I moved out of Dad’s house in late August.
The doctors have run a number of blood tests. They didn’t find much. They have no idea what’s causing this.
What I’m trying to do is to keep my head up, work to tolerance, write when I can, and find something good in every day no matter how lousy I feel otherwise. (Usually, it has to do with my mother’s dog, Bratty, AKA Ms. Brat. She’s a sweet little thing, and she makes me laugh daily.) Sunsets are good. Conversations with friends are good. The occasional visit to my friend who lives nearby is good. Talking with my sister is good. Stuff like that, along with of course talking with Mom daily and enjoying a few laughs with her when we can find something we both enjoy or appreciate, helps me to keep going.
Is this what I wanted when I moved out of Dad’s house? Absolutely not.
The problem is, I need a health miracle that I don’t possess in order to regain enough energy to do all that I’m doing now (what amounts to two full-time jobs; trust me), plus find an apartment, and then somehow be able to afford that apartment’s first and last month’s rent. I’m hanging on to the stuff in storage in the hopes I’ll need it again, but my health has been so very bad, I haven’t checked on the storage since October. (Yes, you read that right.)
Dad used to say that doctors are only practicing medicine, with the emphasis on practicing. I think there’s a certain element of that going on here. I don’t fit the mold, whatever the mold is, and thus they have no idea what’s causing this level of illness beyond a few things I was already treating (and have continued to treat).
I don’t know what the answers are, here. I hope that when I feel better, I’ll be able to live better, have more time to myself, etc.
The question I often think about is this: Would Michael want this, for me? And the answer is, “Of course he wouldn’t.” But he’d want me to do my best, which I am doing, and he’d tell me that slow and steady wins the race (whatever the race is), and that if I can’t do it today, I’ll do twice as much tomorrow. And I if I still can’t do it tomorrow, I’ll do three times as much the day after that, because that’s just how I am.
I miss my husband very, very much. But I try to keep those words in mind, and I do the best I can as I move on.
Oh, one more thing: My three novels are out on submission to a new publisher, which is why they haven’t come back out yet. If the new publisher decides against them, I will let you all know. (The covers are of course not available to the new publisher, but he knows that already.) Then, I will get them back up…and we’ll all go on from there.
I hope everyone else is doing as well as possible, and I also hope that you can find something good about every day no matter how frustrated you are, and no matter how frustrating the world seems to be on any given day. Life is short. We have to do our best, whatever our best is that day.
That’s all.
Barb Caffrey's Blog 
Hi Barb.
I am sorry you have these weights and trials about you. Health challenges and burdens often come with their own mysteries which in turn maybe have their origins in ‘All Manner of Things’ – that’s my view on the Complexities of Life; hardly a solution to anything, though.
Where do we go? What do we do? When faced with all that Life can throw at us. It seems to come down to taking one day at a time and doing the best we can, as we can, how we can. The fact that you were able to find the time, space and motivation to write of some positives you are crafting out of Life speaks a great deal for your courage and determination.
Bless you and best wishes in your endeavours. Three novels- I am impressed- Five years on and only now is my ‘latest’ project taking off 🤭
Roger
Cassandra
April 25, 2026 at 3:04 am
Thanks, Roger. I truly appreciate it.
The three novels are the ones I had written and were published by Twilight Times Books. As the publisher decided to start scaling back, a number of books were released back to their authors, including mine. AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE was published originally in 2012. A LITTLE ELFY IN BIG TROUBLE was published in 2014. And CHANGING FACES was published in 2017.
Now, I am working on a “super-secret” project, and am about 73, 74K of the way through that. It’s taken me two full years to get there, but I have kept going no matter what. There are starts, stops, stumbles, getting back up, trying to figure out where I was and where I’m going from here, etc., etc. But I have been able to write some here and there, and that has added up.
I have more novels that are started but not finished partly because the Elfyverse didn’t do well the first time around. I think I have to believe that what I’m doing is right, and keep doing it, but when time is fleeting and there are many challenges, sometimes it just seems insurmountable, like I’m the contemporary version of Sisyphus rolling that same boulder up the hill every day.
I also have at least two novels in Michael’s universe (the Atlantean Union), but at least in that respect I have made some progress with the stories Gail Sanders and I have written together in recent years that were included in the Tales of the E4 Mafia anthology as well as in the forthcoming Tales of the E4 Mafia 2 (I guess we know our brand and are sticking to it, huh?) Gail has the real-world military knowledge I lack as she’s an Army Reservist. (I was a military wife, yes, but never served myself. Michael served honorably in the US Navy, though he had mustered out long before I met him.) She understands a lot about weapons and such, too, that I just don’t…again, Michael knew these things, because they interested him (as well as the fact that he was a Navy vet), but it’s not part of my skill set.
I do try to look for whatever positives I can, because life is too short as it is. I am fortunate in my writer-friends, yourself included. 🙂
Thanks again for your kind message. I truly appreciate it.
Barb Caffrey
April 25, 2026 at 5:29 am
And Roger? I forgot to say this, but best of luck on your new project! I can’t wait to read it. (I’ve enjoyed your other books quite a bit.)
Barb Caffrey
April 25, 2026 at 5:36 am
Hi Barb.
My congratulations and admiration for the amount of effort and creativity which you are putting into your writing. And glad to know you have a network of writers with you.
I wish you all the best with all those projects.
Keep on keeping on, I always say.
Roger
Cassandra
April 26, 2026 at 1:15 pm
Thanks, Roger. I appreciate that.
Like a lot of authors, I have a lot of ideas and not enough time to develop them. But I do what I can. 🙂
Barb Caffrey
April 26, 2026 at 4:17 pm
Just keep on writing Barb. Just keep on👍👍
Roegr
Cassandra
April 28, 2026 at 3:17 am
I do my best. 🙂
Barb Caffrey
May 3, 2026 at 6:57 pm