Impulsivity

This week took an unusual turn as my husband and I impulsively brought two tiny chihuahua puppies into our lives. Darcy and Lou are just 14 weeks old and – in a tiny, bouncy fashion – they’ve managed to turn our lives upside down.

Some of you may already know that we became empty-nesters this year. Both of the young people we’ve raised moved out and I’m comfortable admitting that this left a giant hole in my heart. So there was definitely room for two little pups to waltz in and hoover up some of the leftover love and maternal instinct that was hanging around.

For those of you who have been following my consumption journey, I’m afraid that I blew it completely this week. The sudden arrival of the dogs meant two hasty trips to Kmart and a couple of large pet stores to gather all the items it seems they need. If I’d had a longer ramp-up time I might have been more eco-conscious about this endeavour. I’m sure there are eco-friendly puppy owners and pet goods suppliers out there. As things settle down, I’ll do my research and reform my ways.

Raising puppies takes a lot of time and a lot of effort. I’d recently worked out how to balance writing, working, exercising and living. I was feeling pretty good actually. This puppy thing might have thrown a spanner in the works.

For this reason, I’m going to take a break from blogging for a few weeks while I get these puppies settled in. I want to prioritise some of my other writing with the much-reduced time available to me now.

But don’t worry – I’ll be back. Writing this blog over the past 18 months or so has been fantastic for me. It’s given me the discipline to write regularly, and I don’t want to let it go. In the meantime, I’d love to take the break as an opportunity to refine my approach to the blog. For example, what do you think about the timing of the posts? Is weekly too much? Would you prefer longer, less regular posts, or short, sharp frequent ones? What do you have time to read? And what about the topics I choose? What sorts of topics do you enjoy most? Least? Any feedback you have will help me make the blog better.

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Thanks as always for reading! Wish me luck as I take these two bundles of joy off to puppy training and get their routines sorted out. I hope that, wherever you are, whatever you’re up to, you have some great books to read and relish. And if you’re writing, I encourage you to keep going. Find your stride. Enjoy the rush when the words meet the page, the rush of expressing that part of you.