Monthly Wrap || April 2021

April 2021

You may have noticed this Monthly Wrap is the first post on Hail & Well Read since April 3rd. While I didn’t mean to take a hiatus, the fact of the matter is that life got away from me.

Or maybe it’s more accurate to say that it ran me over with a bus. Repeatedly.

Read on today for an explanation of my absence, as well as my hopes for the month ahead.

Life Beyond the Blog

In early April, I had hope things would be okay. I was able to get my first COVID shot, and I had some good books on my TBR, titles I was looking forward to.

Then, on April 8th, we had to euthanize one of my beloved bunnies. Dusty was almost ten years old, and unfortunately, he developed an aggressive sarcoma that was growing too fast to do anything about. His quality of life was deteriorating rapidly, and it wasn’t fair to him to keep him around for maybe two weeks at most, suffering all the while. Ultimately, we made the right choice, but it wasn’t an easy one by any means.

I miss my beloved bun son every day, even down to the way he liked to nibble on my fingers instead of giving me kisses like everyone else. 💔

He's gone. We lost my sweet boy this morning. The lump on his back turned out to be an aggressive sarcoma, and our choices were to euthanize him, or give him maybe an extra two weeks at the cost of increasing suffering. So we let him go. 💔 pic.twitter.com/85ABnTPKQw

— Meaghan is Sort of Back? (@hailandwellread) April 8, 2021

Right now, I’m emotionally okay. I’ll never stop missing him, but I still have my girls to love on. Thankfully, they’re doing really well right now. Squirt has a clean bill of health, and while Moo’s cancer has returned, it hasn’t spread, and she’s a tough enough cookie that she’s a strong candidate for surgery that would remove it entirely.

However, amongst this improvement, we also lost my grandmother this month. To tell the truth, I had a terrible relationship with her, and found her to be unnecessarily cruel more often than not. Her passing hasn’t affected me to a horrible degree. Other members of my family have had a much harder time, though, so I’ve been spending most of my free hours with them, trying to find better memories and foster better relationships for the future.

Overall, it’s been a difficult month in many ways, and I haven’t been online for most of it. I haven’t read any books, haven’t posted any reviews, haven’t written any fresh words. No blog hopping, either, just a few likes here and there for when I finally have a moment to catch up.

But I did get my second COVID shot, and I have spent some important quality time with my family. This month hasn’t been all the best, but we’re moving on to May, and I hope there will be better times ahead.

The Month Ahead

At this point, I think I’m learning not to plan too far in advance. That said, I’m still planning to take a bite of my TBR above all else. Dustborn and These Feathered Flames are at the top of the list, since they’re overdue ARCs, followed closely by This is How You Lose the Time War. That should be a quick, delightful read, and a nice way to ease back into things.

Beyond that, though, I’m playing the month by ear. It feels over-cautious in some ways, but also warranted. Planning my April didn’t work very well, after all.

In the meantime, I hope you’re all doing well, and I’d love to hear from you. How was your April? Any plans for May?

Much love to you all for your patience with me, and here’s to good days ahead. 💛