Why the Long Hiatus?

Another two years have passed since my last blog entry.  I'm going into it this time hoping that my string of bad luck has subsided and I can once again try to keep this blog going.  I've been on a complete roll of major events taking place in life that have made me lose my desire to write.  July 2013 actually started out pretty good.  I was feeling better about things than I had in quite some time.  My summer job was working on the Kris Jenner talk show and it was really fun and a really great experience.  I'm sure there are many differing opinions about Kris, but while working on the talk show I found her to be very sweet, very professional, completely apologetic if she ever held up the crew for anything and a lovely person to be around.  We had a wrap party at the end of the run of the show and Kris gave everyone a beautiful blanket as a thank you gift, with a very sentimental story attached to it.  What a sweet gesture!  It was short term, but a great experience.  The whole year was pretty full, as far as work was concerned.  At the end of summer, I worked on a couple of shows with some people I had not worked with in years and that was great too.  In November I was mid-show when I started feeling really sick and ended up with pneumonia/bronchitis.  I couldn't quit my show since there was no one to replace me.  Working in entertainment comes with many privileges, but the one thing that has always sucked is that you can't call in sick.  The show must go on, as they say.  So...I kept working.  On Nov. 18, 2013 I woke up thinking about my maternal grandmother.  It was the 20th anniversary of her death and I could not believe that much time had passed and yet in some ways seemed so long ago.  I jumped in the shower and came out to a message from my mother to call her.  I thought maybe she too was thinking of grandma and just wanted to talk about her.  When I called her back she sounded worried and said that my aunt had passed out and she wasn't sure what was wrong with her, but that she was concerned.  I let her know that particular day was the only day we were not taping and if there was an emergency, I could come get her.  My mother lives in Orange County and won't drive the freeways and my aunt lived in Victorville.  Not any too convenient.  I finished getting ready for work and told her I would head to the studio and to call me if she needed me.  As I pulled into the studio, my mother called and said that it was more serious than just my aunt fainting.  I told her I was leaving to come down to OC and I would be there in an hour and we would head to Victorville.  An hour later, I arrived at my mom's house, opened the door and was told that my aunt, Brenda was dead.  I dropped to the floor in utter shock.  I could not believe we went from "she passed out" to dead within an hour.  I drove my mom to Victorville so we could be with my uncle and the rest of the day is a blur.  Needless to say, I didn't feel like going to work the next day, but we were taping and I could not find one person to replace me, so I had to go.  I'm not a person who ever shows much emotion in front of people, but that day I found myself heading to the bathroom to cry, because I just couldn't contain myself.  It was a difficult week to get through, but I worked with a group of lovely people whose sentiments and generosity went beyond anything I had experienced before.  I will never forget that.  Later that week I got on offer to work on the Queen Latifah show and I was very excited for the opportunity to work on a long term talk show.  It didn't start for three weeks so I had a two week break in between, which I desperately needed.  As the days went on I kept feeling sicker and weaker and was really starting to think that I had mono.  I had come down with mono 16 years ago and it was the most tired, weak, horrible feeling.  I had stayed home and it took three months for me to recover.  I've never felt that sick since, but remembered that feeling of utter exhaustion, so I went to the doctor and asked if she would run the mono test.  It came back positive.  The doctor suggested I take several weeks off, but I explained to her that this was a huge opportunity and I could not pass it up.  I would get through it if I had to live off coffee, chocolate and excedrins for the entire run of the show!  I'm so glad I pushed through it, because Queen Latifah is one of a kind and I wouldn't have wanted to miss the opportunity to get to know this beautiful woman!  More on that later...