I know I've been pretty distant and moody lately, and I want to apologize to everyone for that. I haven't been paying as much attention to any of my friends as I ought to, and for the most part I really haven't said why. I guess it's just the way I was raised. Family problems stay in the family.

But what with my uncle and my sister-in-law being hospitalized for various reasons, as well as the fact that my mother is going in for major surgery in 12 days, and her struggles with Parkinson's, I've just found it hard to cope lately. Unfortunately, my natural inclination is to draw into myself and hide out in my writing or in mindless activities that let me kind of ignore my problems for a while. I haven't said much about it here on FA because I don't want people to think I'm fishing for sympathy. To be honest, I often find outpourings of sympathy to rather embarrassing, however much I still appreciate them. But I didn't want anyone to think I was ignoring them out of spite, either.

Sorry guys. I still love you. I'm just kind of worn to a frazzle right at the moment. Just give me a poke if I start to drift away again.