Man, what a month it's been. Usually, I have two or three days to take it easy between each issue of the magazine, but not this past month. First, an elderly relative succumbed to dementia so there was a funeral. On the day of the funeral, my dad - who had been sick for several days already - was hospitalized for the rest of the week. My grandfather ended up in the hospital the next day for pneumonia and was kept until the weekend.

The next week was distribution week, and it was the hardest one yet. With my mom back at school and Pre-K not started yet, we had to make special arrangements for Alexis, but I still ended up taking her with me on one day. Distributing magazines in 100-plus degree weather isn't any fun on my own and it's hell with a 4 year old. Add on top of all of that the fact that the September issue of the magazine was the most difficult thing I've worked on in a long time. The topic was special needs, and it kicked my butt.

I was also feeling the strain of working at home with my 4 year old. I don't regret our decision to take Alexis out of daycare for the summer, but I underestimated how tough it would be on me. I went from having the house to myself two to three days a week to never having the house to myself.

Between personal and family issues and work stress, I didn't need anything extra, and I realized I had been treating this blog and the social media associated with it like an obligation rather than an enjoyable hobby. So I decided to step back for awhile and get my head back in a good place. For the past four weeks, my only screen time has been work related or reading on my Kindle, and no - I didn't miss social media.

I am, however, ready to get back to blogging and everything that goes along with it. So stay tuned!