Lately, I’ve felt very frustrated as a series of circumstances out of my control have taken over my life. My goal has been to get my second book, “Fine Dining,” published in November. I’ve told everyone who’s asked that my book was coming out in November. Now, that possibility gets dimmer each day.

For one thing, working full time, 8 hours a day plus the commute, limits my writing and editing to mornings, evenings and weekends. But for the past few weeks, these small scraps of time have been eaten up by a full plate of other obligations: being available for a close relative who had major surgery, evening meetings of writer’s groups, a holiday bazaar where I hawked my first book for the whole weekend, a work event coming up one evening this week, a series of physical therapy sessions for my back and leg, not to mention the mundane everyday responsibilities of doing laundry, grocery shopping, paying bills, etc. etc. etc.

My husband, however, helped put me at ease. First of all, he suggested I might, for once, decline attendance at a meeting. The minute I sent the email to my group that I would not attend tonight, I immediately relaxed. Something was actually removed from my plate. And although Stanley works much longer hours than I do and helps with household chores, he volunteered to stay with the recovering relative for several hours this weekend to free up more of my time.

As we approach Thanksgiving, I realize how full my plate is–but in a good way. I am thankful for a loving and caring husband who lends me a hand whenever he can; I am thankful for the wonderful recovery my relative is having; I am thankful for the books I sold at the holiday bazaar and the people who bought them; I am thankful for my writer’s groups where I can strive to hone my skills; I am thankful that I have a good job to go to every day with people I like working with; and I am thankful that my second book in my mystery series, “Fine Dining,” WILL be coming out very soon. Possibly November, but more likely December.