[I’m posting this as-is after writing it on my phone, without my usual over-editing, so please forgive any typos!]

Sorry I haven’t been around much lately, unfortunately I haven’t had as much free time to go online, and it may be this way for the next few months.

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve tried writing a few text posts to explain it more thoroughly, but I never ended up finishing them, so here’s the explanation: My oldest nephew was just finally released this week after a little over three years in prison, and had asked me to be his sponsor so he could move in with me… Now I only have a 1-BR apartment, and haven’t had anyone live with me in over 10 years, so it’s been a pretty big adjustment for me!

The past few weeks have been spent *majorly* cleaning my apartment… I’ve lived there alone for over 7 years, and I’m not really the best housekeeper in the world (especially since I got addicted to Tumblr almost two years ago), so there was a LOT to be done before Parole came to inspect the place two weeks ago! - Plus, we had to move in an extra couch-bed, because I only had a loveseat, which definitely wouldn’t have fit him since my nephew is well over 6’ ft tall. - We also had to remove what little alcohol I had in the house before they came to inspect. (Thankfully, I rarely drink at home anymore, so this won’t be too difficult of an issue to deal with for the next few months while he’s still being monitored.)

As far as the story behind his prison time goes (because I know that’s the next question), here’s the story: About 4 1/2 years ago (shortly before Christmas), my nephew very-stupidly ended up selling pot to an undercover cop. - He had just recently stopped selling, then received a phone call from the cop asking for some… He said no at first, but then eventually agreed to do it “one last time” because he wanted to quickly raise enough money to get him & his younger brother down to Tennessee, to visit their mother for the holidays… And of course that “one last time” was the one time too many, because they both ended up getting busted! (Kevin got the majority of the time, because he agreed to take full responsibility so that his younger brother would get a far lesser sentence).

Last month was his 3rd time coming up for parole, and he asked me to sponsor him, mostly because he felt I would be able to provide him with a quieter environment to not only adjust to life outside, but to also keep him on the straight & narrow while he was first out on an ankle-monitor, and help him avoid any conflict he would have dealt with at his father’s (my brother) house.

So far, since he got out on Monday, things have gone pretty well: he’s very committed to keeping himself out of trouble, and being able to prepare himself for eventually getting his own place, once his ankle-monitor phase is done, with his girlfriend & son (who was born a few months after he went into prison, and will turn 3 in a few weeks). In fact, he’s already found himself a part time job to keep himself busy until he can find something better and in his field (he already has a carpentry degree from before he got in trouble). He seems to be adjusting well so far to being out, the first day was a bit overwhelming but I think he’s got his head on straight, and is very thankful to have lots of support from his family & his girlfriend, who waited for him the whole time, and already had him setup with clothes & whatever else he needed for when he got out.

My biggest adjustments since he got out has mainly been dealing with actually having someone else at home when I’m not there for the first time in a decade, plus having to get used to much less privacy when I am home (…especially trying to “retrain” myself to close the bathroom door when I’m home!)

I’ll hopefully be on more once the “newness” of this arrangement goes away… right now I find myself still in a “company’s here” mode, where I feel like I have to be entertaining & more interactive, and not online as much as I normally am. Hopefully once I get used to everything I’ll have more time to spend here & participate more often, although I may have to try to cut down on how many I follow, because what little Tumblr-time I have had lately usually gets spent trying to catch up on all of you, rather than posting much myself.

I’ve already had a few unfollows for not “posting enough” (which never really makes much sense to me, but oh well), but I wanted to thank those of you who have stayed along, and those of you who have checked on me privately to make sure everything was okay… It’s always nice to know that people notice when you’re not around as much!