Update
I just realized it's been close to a year since I updated here... ouch.
Things have been okay. As far as my small business goes I've had more to do this year, but some clients take forever to respond to invoices. One of those is a law firm that I've been doing a project for since Spring of 2023. I'm actually working as a subcontractor to an environmental engineering firm that I've worked with before. About 3 months ago I sent them an invoice for all my work since the project started. It took a few weeks for them to reply and tell me they received my invoice and are "awaiting approval." This was 2 months ago. I've been sending them email reminders every week or 2 asking for the status of the invoice. They never respond. Last week I even threatened to stop work on this project if they didn't pay me. Again, crickets. I really don't want to go the route of a collection agency as they take a fee but I'm not sure what else I can do. They owe me a pretty decent sum of money. They're also poor with communication and I never know when we're going to have a Zoom meeting. It's gotten to the point where I just set up my laptop every Tuesday to see whether anyone signs on. Once this project ends I'm never doing anything for them again.
My dog Abby had a scare the end of May. She wasn't eating and was acting strange. The vet did an ultrasound and found a mass on her liver. A specialist vet performed surgery to remove it. They got the whole thing but they said the cells were malignant (though slow-growing). A week ago she had a scope done to make sure none of it had come back. Haven't heard back from the vet yet, hoping we will soon and that it's good news. She seems fine now, so hopefully that bodes well. Lucy tore the ACL in her back left leg and the vet had mentioned surgery, but we decided to leave it alone and she's back to her old self now.
Didn't get an opportunity to travel at all this summer so just took some day trips around the Island. Hoping to squeeze in a couple more before the weather gets lousy. I'm still writing fic (Doctor Who) and planning on self-publishing a novella I wrote recently. A good friend is making illustrations for it. Our deadline is next July. I was concerned we wouldn't be able to make it but I've been assured that the process isn't as time-consuming as it used to be. I'm a complete novice with things like this but I'm learning a lot.
Hope you all are doing well.