Where in the World is Rugged Fox?

Sweet Meryl! What has it been, like ten thousand years since we last caught up? Looking down at this keyboard, I must admit feeling a touch lost. I would like to tell you that I disappeared into a wellness retreat, lost twenty pounds, and achieved sobriety; but you and I both know that is a story for another website.

Okay, let’s be kind and rewind to last September. I was on fire! And not in the sense that I needed antibiotics. Working two jobs and writing the script for a short musical comedy, I felt like the doors were finally starting to open in this town. Not to mention my own, every single night, to a new gentleman caller. More on that later.

Well, what do you know? Out of everything I could contract, a film deal - a boyfriend, I woke up in October with an awful case of conjunctivitis. For the record, I like pink wine, not pink eye. I will spare you the details and selfies. After one trip to the emergency department at St. Paul’s Hospital, I ended up back in quarantine.

“Too soon!” I texted Mama and Papa Fox. “Too soon!”

In November, it took days before I could shake the feeling of being wildly contagious. Easing myself back into the dating game, I made an active effort to order in less and eat out more. It was not long before I was going on dates in the outside world. One night, I met a very sweet man for tea in a coffeeshop. Can you believe it? The only major problem was that his life was together and mine was not.

“For the record, I like pink wine, not pink eye. ”

After a brief flicker of light, the eternal darkness of December set in. Each year I find Christmas time to be a particular shade of blue. This past holiday season was less baby and more navy. Drinking more wine than usual, I felt like I was starting to burn the candle out at both ends. And then I did. Falling into a deep depression, I felt lonely, miserable, and under-dressed.

After weeks of wallowing, come January, I knew I had to snap out of it. And so, I made some serious new years resolutions. Like an adult, I accepted a line of credit and resolved to buy new bed, mattress, and couch. Just because my life was a hot mess didn’t mean the Fox Den had to be. I also wrote a resignation letter and sought out to change my entire career path once again.

And then, just like that, on February 1st at 4:48 AM, I met someone.