Where is Stuart? There is Stuart!

I'm overextending myself. I don't think I came to terms with that until I realized I still had to write my three posts a month in May ...and it was already the 19th. I ended up only finishing two posts, which marked the first time since 2005 that I didn't write at least three dispatches in a 30-day span. To both of my remaining readers, I apologize.

The end of May marked the second anniversary of my mother's passing. My sister and I are still holding down the fort in the west Chicago suburbs, but we don't know for how much longer. We're paying for property taxes through the teeth, and upkeep around the house has been daunting. My sister has contemplated moving out of state, and my wanderlust has never gone away. In April, we set a tentative timetable to move out and sell the property by mid-2021; its an attainable goal, but there's a lot of work to be done.

Besides subbing, I have two part-time jobs. I drive for Lyft, but one or two nights a week I do box office and tech for a small improv venue in Wicker Park. I set a financial goal for the year, and I'm just barely hitting it. I've also been battling writer's block on and off for much of the past year, though that could be due to everything else going on; my energies are often elsewhere. As for leisure and pleasure, I have a couple of mini-road trips planned, besides going to Scotland in late July.

I haven't elaborated on what *I've* been up to recently, so I just thought I'd post this to let everyone know where I am at the moment.

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