It's Catch-Up Time or is it Ketchup Time?

It's Catch-Up Time or is it Ketchup Time?
Wednesday, July 22, 2026 by Cindy K. Sproles

Categories: Inspiration

It’s been a minute! I guess we call this Catch-UP time, or is it Ketchup? Oh, wait, that’s on a hamburger. Sorry! Arr arr. Humor, Will Robinson. (If you’re old enough to remember who Will Robinson is! If you aren’t...well, you missed the golden age of television and Lost in Space.)

Between edits for the release and the release of The Eyes of River, travel to conferences, and a deadline on a new book, to say it has been busy is an understatement. Insane is a better description.

THE PRINCE

The Prince had surgery on the watermelon-sized hernia on Halloween. That was humorous in and of itself, that it would be on Halloween. He wanted one of those fake aliens to put under his gown so when the surgeon opened it up, BOOM, ALIEN in the face. But, I highly discouraged that though it didn’t stop him from searching for one.

We are hoping that this very spiffy doctor at the University of Tennessee has fixed him as close to permanently as possible. Let’s just say, he could be a superhero at this point with an entirely new exoskeleton. It was an eight-hour surgery where I did a lot of pacing. The surgery was beautifully executed. There’s just something unsettling when the doctor tells you, “We’ll do our best to pull him through this.” All we can do is place fate into the hands of the Master and trust.

Our prayer was that God would hold that hernia tightly in place until surgery. He did, and the Prince was placed in the hands of the most qualified doctor in Tennessee. Now has to have a knee replacement. I told him I was going to duct tape him together. ??

On the sad side, we did lose Tim’s older brother, Steve, to cancer Memorial Day weekend. That one was hard since it was just Steve and Tim after the loss of their parents several years ago. We loved Steve, and losing him was devastating for the Prince. Not only was Steve his brother, but now Tim is the last of his immediate family. That is somewhat surreal. You could pray for my hubs and for my sweet sister-in-love as they still work through this devastating loss.

MOM

Well, she’ll be 100 years old next month (August), and short of a mild stroke on the 4^th of July weekend, she’s back to puttering around as if nothing happened. We’re waiting on the next quilt. To say that my brother and I are blessed is an understatement. Having Mom for all these years and having her in perfect health is a blessing. We hope the genes have passed to us.

Short of a nervous breakdown (I’m kidding), just trying to keep up has been a challenge. I retired in 2020 thinking I’d have time on my hands, and it’s amazing how everyone else fills up that time. As I said, we have the release of The Eyes of River. If you were on my launch team, what an amazing job you folks did. When folks step up like this to help, you suddenly feel so humbled to know so many care about you and your success. SOOOO, THANK YOU BOOK LAUNCH TEAM.

The Eyes of River released June 23 with a cover so beautiful it almost makes me cry every time I look at it. This is my sixth novel. Honestly, something I could have never dreamed would happen. Still, it has. I’m a late bloomer in the writing world. Oh, I’ve always written, but I waited until my children were nearly adults before I decided they didn’t need me so much anymore, and then I jumped into my own dreams.

The prayer was always that God would allow me to be a writer. He heard and answered, and book six is on the shelves with book seven, contracted and slated to release next winter. If you want a hint, here ya go: The title is Come Hell or High Water.

And here’s the opening paragraphs:

Rain washed over me like I was standin’ under a waterfall. It wasn’t no small amount either. There were buckets— barrels, wagonloads of water. In all my born days, I’d never seen the likes. This was more than a hard rain. It was deadly.

They say before a river breaks its banks, the earth groans—moans like it’s in pain. Like it’s drownin’ and can’t take in no more water. Right before it ruptures, folks say the ground belches and vomits everything it's held inside for years.

I hope that makes you a little curious about the book to come!

LUCKY DOG ROOSTER

Come on, you know you’ve missed the rooster stories. So, here ya go. The Prince and I built a new chicken coop. It turned out pretty good considering we're poor DIYers. But, the girls and Lucky were just a bit too big to fit in the tiny 2x3 house they had, so we went bigger.

I’d been saving my pennies for a year or so and looking for a pre-made house that, once I no longer had chickens, could be easily used for something else. Yes, I’m cheap and practical.

Well, Pinterest is an amazing place, and I found a storage building that, well, it actually looked like the Prince, and I could build. As beginner DIYers, there were a few things we didn’t take into consideration, like how to get 12’ 4x4s into your SUV without 1) scratching the interior to smithereens, and 2) getting the hatch down with 4’ still sticking out the rear. A couple of blankets, some twine, and a lot of prayer got us home with siding, 2 and 4x4s, and ripple roofing. But we managed, and we went from framed to this cute little chicken coop with a battery-powered door that opens and shuts automatically.

LuckyDog Rooster was NOT happy that we barred him from “HIS” spot. We know what happens when he’s within a foot of the Prince. The two don’t get along. It’s an oil and water kind of thing if you catch my drift.

Anyway, once we got the house built and the other one torn down, Tim and I collapsed for about a week. I don’t think either of us could move. But the chicken house is sooo cute. Oh, I’m on a rabbit trail. LUCKYDOG. That’s where we were.

So, after the chicken house was finished, I decided to give the kiddos some fresh veggies. Cabbage (not their fav), tomatoes, and lettuce. Lucky, being Lucky, won’t let the girls eat anything we put in the coop until he checks it out. He doesn’t eat it. He picks through it, spreads it out, and makes sure each girl has their own little stash. It’s cute…in a way. Then he escorts them to their meal while he stands watch. When they are done, he eats. Who knew a rooster could be a gentleman and chivalrous, nonetheless. But he is. It’s people he hates!

Anywho, I noticed he ate his fair share of tomatoes, and he was also digging in the coop. Two weeks later, ta-da, a baby tomato plant. That stinker planted tomato seeds. Here we are four weeks later, and there’s a tomato plant standing up to my shoulders with four tomatoes hanging on the vine and more ready to pop from their flowers. I guess Lucky knew the coop and poop were the perfect environment to grow his own tomato plant. Needless to say, I put a cage around it and laid claim. He’ll have to wait for the second picking.

That’s enough for now. There’s so much more, but I have to find the humor points before I post them. Our lives are just a circus. Oh, I forgot.

As you know (and it may have been my last post), back in March, our little Yorkie, Daisy, was brutally attacked and killed by a Pitt Bull that escaped its owner’s hold and tore through our chain link fence. It was devastating for the owner and for us, but the truth was, it was a terrible accident, and there was grace and forgiveness in the loss. But my sweet daughter-in-love’s momma was so upset that she surprised us with a gift. Never in my life has anyone been so loving and kind as Debbie was to us. We drove to Jacksonville, Florida, and a breeder placed a 10-week-old Corgi puppy in my arms.

Daisy can never be replaced. We will always love her deeply for the ten years she gave us, but Theodore (aka Theo, aka Goofball, aka Pain-in-the-toto, aka lover of our souls) certainly filled the hole. I’ve not had a pet who would argue with me as my children did as pre-teens until Theo. But he argues with you. Corgies are their own little selves. Personable, stubborn, and herders. We’re learning to maneuver his quirks. I’m sure there will be more stories on this little scutter in the future.

I think you’re almost caught up. I’ll try to do better and get back to my monthly news for you.

In the meantime, thank you for supporting me in my writing. I hope you’ll find The Eyes of River (which is number one on Audible downloads right now), and it’s been finaled for the Christian Market Fiction Novel Book Award. So, hold on, we’ll know about that come August 2.

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