Timeout

I closed 2009, perhaps fittingly, with a funeral and party.

The deacon at one of the churches I play for died suddenly two days after Christmas. I had seen him Christmas Day, and he seemed just fine. He was only 60, and it was such a terrible surprise.

His funeral, as it so happened, was New Year's Eve.

After that, I had to scramble to get ready for a New Year's party in Oak Park.

And I opened 2010 with by playing two Masses, perhaps also fittingly.

2009 was a terrible year for most of us, and I'm in that group. And a chunk of the year was spent mourning. Grousing. Angry. Broken.

But toward the end of the year, things started to pick up. I'm playing the organ and am in demand for that. I have regular freelance editing and a consulting/editing gig with a firm in Chicago that's starting to produce pages for a West Coast newspaper. I don't have five-day-a-week work, per se, but I have income -- and most importantly, I should be able to get off unemployment soon.

And 2010 looks so much better than 2009 did. It'll be a time to rededicate myself to my family, my friends and my God.

Which means, in the short-term, that it's time to take a hiatus from this blog. It's not that I don't like it or anything. I do. But there isn't a whole lot new to post. I've learned a lot. I've thought a lot. But life has started to settle down again.

So later for now, blog. It's been fun. And with any luck, the future is nothing but bright for me.