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I wrote a mid-grade book in 1994, when times were old and there was no Google or internet. I did the research on how to publish it from the library and books from a bookstore. I submitted it 6 times and I was rejected 6 times. Then life got in the way, and I decided to put my nursing career on hold to open a pet store. That is a story for another day. Fast forward 29 years, and my husband has retired, and I am planning my own retirement soon. We spent a lot of our lives traveling, and three years ago I wrote and published a travel blog. Then covid hit so travel came to an end for us. I always knew I wanted to pursue getting my book out there because I thought it was an uplifting book for kids and it comes with these great toy characters I created from yarn. Once my husband retired, he dusted off the old manuscript and did the painstaking work to edit it and figure out how to self-publish it on Amazon. That was so exciting, and we posted it on Facebook, told family and friends and sales soared to 15 copies. It was ok, though, because I am a person who needs a goal and finds a way to meet them. I would like to make writing my new career and build the OP Stop empire with dolls and accessories.

After the pet store adventure, I returned to nursing as a public health tuberculosis nurse. I loved doing that for 25 years, but when you stop getting out of bed with the passion your life deserves, it is the universe telling you it is time to move on. I put in my papers to retire at the end of 2023. I immersed myself in the writer’s world and attended a writer’s workshop, where I was excited for the experience and learned a lot. I also learned how little I knew about my own book. I didn’t even know there was an age group for reading called mid-grade. I found that out when I met with an agent as part of the fee for the conference. As much as I was happy for the experience, I think it scared me a little, and I decided I could not immerse myself in it until I retired at the end of the year. The months that followed until last week were filled with a feeling of being stuck. I am working at a career that is ending and want to move on to the big new challenge but didn’t feel I could commit. Then a light bulb went off and we decided we will move to Delaware. We bought a place there last year after we spent a night in Rehoboth. I am either very impulsive or trust my gut when the universe is steering me. Perhaps it is a little of both, but I like to think it is the latter. My gut, or the universe, has not steered me wrong yet. I have a vision of the house I want to upgrade, which prompted me to take action.

I now have a clear goal, which brings me here today. I started this in March of 2023, and I would start and stop it for months. When I went back to the site, I would forget what I did and didn’t like the look. I went back to it today and just felt defeated. I told my husband about my frustrations and was about to throw in the towel. He told me to do my walk and regroup. I took my Great Pyrenees for her 2-mile walk, where I try to do a mindful walk or listen to an up-lifting pod cast. Today the selection that came up on Super Soul Sunday was from 2019 called Everything is “Figureoutable” by Marie Forleo. It was perfect and just what I needed. So here I am writing my first post with the determination to figure out how to do this website. I feel confident my angels are on my side and this will be posted soon. Stay tuned for the rest of our journey on building an empire at 29 AKA 59′

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