Just an update

Photo by Jessica Lewis on Unsplash

A 'non-post' to say hi and explain some of my silence...as well as hopes/intentions for this blog.

I realize that I haven't posted anything new since early July, which is *gasp* almost 3 months ago. It's not that I hadn't anything to say, but it's been a whirlwind few months and I haven't quite gotten around to processing it all...or finding the time to sit down and type, for that matter.

So...what's been going on.

Most importantly, my mother-in-law, who had been living with us for a big part of the last 3+ years so she could get cancer treatment, passed away earlier this month. Being part of the family team that provided care for her (and also dealt with administrative stuff) as she rapidly deteriorated these last 2 months took up most of our whole family's time and minds.

August was the Japanese school's summer holiday, so while MIL's condition was going downhill rapidly, the kids were home in full force. All parents know what that signifies to parental sanity, time, and space!

I've also been fortunate with my editing/copyediting/proofreading freelancing work, which I started at the beginning of this year. After almost 3 years of volunteering as a magazine editor (currently as deputy editor) and wanting to do the same kind of work but for pay, I've stepped out into the global freelancing world...and it's frankly been going great! Much better than I had imagined, in fact, that it's keeping me quite busy.

What's next?

So. I started this blog because being a TCK and part of a cross-cultural family is at the core of who I am and I wanted to share and record more about this experience.

In fact, TCK-hood and cross-cultural-family-hood are so much a part of who I am that I often don't even know how to isolate topics to write about!

As I stepped out this year into actively finding a good work-life balance for myself as a long-term foreigner in this country, especially on the 'work' part, I've come across some wonderful resources and stories that have inspired me.

I want to link more to those resources and also try to put down my own experiences/thoughts/ideas, in hopes that it might be of use to someone out in the big wide blogosphere. I also think it might help me through my own journey. And perhaps one day, I'd love it if my kids would find this interesting.

First up, I need to jot down some concrete ideas and things I'd like to write about. Then time to do my research and flesh it out.

That's the plan anyway!