Yes, I Know What Day It Is

GenX and Millennials talk about this day the same way that the Silent Generation and Boomers talk about November 22, 1963. It's that trauma that changes your perspective on the world. Something that shouldn't have happened and did.

We were living in Houston at the time. The weirdest thing of the day that still sticks with me was the silence, except for the occasional roar of a pair of fighter jets from Ellington Field patrolling the Gulf Coast.\

We lived under the approach to Bush Intercontinental Airport, the largest commercial airport in the Houston Metro area. Once the FAA got every plane but military on the ground, DH stood in the back yard watching the jets while I kept GK occupied.

When he came in, he said that something was wrong. So, me, GK, and the dogs followed him out the back door.

I didn't expect to hear traffic noises. Most businesses had shut down. Each of our own offices were located near the Transco Tower (now the Williams Tower), a skyscraper in Uptown Houston instead of Downtown. City officials feared the tower would be targeted, and as a result, it and the surrounding buildings were evacuated.

Finally, I realized what was missing while we stood in the backyard--the constant hum of air traffic headed for Bush.

Even during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, planes still flew. Maybe not as often, or as full, but their background noise meant the world was still going. When snow shuts down towns in Northwest Ohio, there's still that barely audible white noise of jet engines.

But on 9/11, the silence was the entire country holding its breath and waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

Making Progress

Most of the writing is done for the latest series. Now, I need to finish the editing.

So, I'm juggling those tasks with cleaning out the storage unit and going through a few hundred boxes. Things we started packing up seventeen years ago. There's going to be a lot donated, like GK's toys from his grade school years.

However, I contact him before I dispose of anything. It's more about me than him. I was often punished by having my toys taken away. I don't want to by the parent I had and dispose of anything with sentimental value. But GK gets a little annoyed, saying that while he's in the military, he needs to keep his belongings light because he never knows when orders to deploy might come. (Especially with the current administration, but that's a whole nuther post!)

I understand his sentiment, too. I wish we could store things, both his and ours, in the basement because the main floor of the house is getting very full. But until the county gets the drainage  work completed near our neighborhood we can't risk leaving much down there, in case the basement floods again.

Regardless of how DH and I Tetris the rest of our belongings, the storage unit must be emptied by the end of the month, as well as getting the books out to my Kickstarter backers. Some way, some how, I need to make it happen. 

Music I've Been Listening to Lately

Yeah, I've been listening to a lot of Dolly lately.

Feeling Groovy

I'm finally starting to feel coherent again, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed I don't have a relapse of the sinus infection from Hell.

I'm also tying to catch up on my to-do list from two weeks ago that I didn't finish before the headache became unbearable.

At the top of the list is getting the editing for The Books of Apep wrapped up before sending out the completed books to my Kickstarter backers. Next is finishing the last two books of the Justice series. And in between those, I'll practice formatting a couple of science fiction short stories that were completed last year.

At the end of the year, I hope to be ahead enough in writing to test out some patterns for Barbie-sized costumes, so my dolls can dress like my characters. Yes, I'm really looking forward to playing with my dolls again!

Still on the Mend

I no longer feel as if my left eyeball is about to swan dive out of its socket, and my molars are no longer demanding a root canal. However, my head still aches, my throat is sore from sinus drainage, and I now have what Phoebe Buffay and my husband refer to as "the sexy phlegm voice".

Which is definitely not sexy! I sound like a ancient bullfrog desperately seeking a date on the Only Amphibians app.

Not even the extra sleep over the weekend has truly helped.

As far as I'm concerned, today is the last real day of summer. Tomorrow, I will start putting up Halloween decorations. The whole house won't be done this week. I'm extremely fatigued from the sinus infection, and I still have five days of antibiotics to look forward to.

But I will continue hobbling forward and continue writing the best I can while battling the legions of bacteria defending what they think is their hot tub paradise.

Music I've Been Listening to Lately

A warning and a promise!

It's Been a Rough Week

It was terrible enough Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, and Peter Cullen died this week.

I finally broke down and went to see the doctor yesterday because of a bad headache on my left side that quite literally made my teeth hurt. I've had the pain since last Friday, and it was getting worse.

Diagnosis? A severe sinus infection.

I guess that was better than shingles or Bell's Palsy, the doc's other two suspicions.

Needless to say, I haven't gotten much done this week, other than editing. And I didn't even get much of that done.

As a break, I curled up with the Princess Pup and we watched 9 to 5 last night. I'll watch Clue tonight. And I'm leaning toward the live-action Transformers for Saturday.

"What about The Rocky Horror Picture Show?" I hear you ask.

Rocky is for Halloween, like The Nightmare before Christmas, The Craft, and Practical Magic. And Rocky Mountain Christmas is for, well, Christmas.

In the  meantime, all I can do is take my meds, get some rest, and drink plenty of fluids to get these damn germs out of my system. I've got books to deliver!

Sad, Sad Day

I already didn't feel great over the last several days (major sinus headache). Then yesterday, I learned Dolly Parton died, and my heart broke.

I admired this lady. Dolly was a brilliant songwriter, a talented singer, and a woman who practiced what she preached.

The first time I remember seeing her was fifty-six years ago on the Porter Wagoner Show. The last time I watched one of her performances was the series finale of Grace and Frankie, ironically, she played an angel. This weekend will be a Dolly weekend. Starting with this movie.

Damn, I'm going to miss her!

Music I've Been Listening to Lately

Tina was definitely the best!

All By Myself

Thank [Deity of Your Choice] that I'm all by myself!

Of course, that's sung to the tune of the Eric Carmen classic "All by Myself".

However, unlike the song's protagonist, I'm enjoying myself tremendously. And the Grandpuppy and the Princess Pup are here, so I'm not technically alone either. However, they don't complain.

Much. We've gotten in lunch and constitutionals. Walkies will have to wait another two hours. Hey, it's still August in Ohio after all!

But DH and his classic Buick should be in the great STATE of New York by now. (It's amazing how many people think NYC is the only thing in the STATE of New York. That includes a lot of Americans. *sigh*)

But anyway, DH is attending the Buick Nationals. Plus his friend since they were six is currently living in the city were the Buick Nationals are being held. So DH has a lovely week planned,

Why didn't I go? Two reasons: the pups have been at the doggie hotel twice this year (they do not like the doggie hotel even though the staff spoils them rotten), and DH and I need a break from each other.

Don't worry! No marital break up is eminent! We've both been working from home since 2012, which adds its own weirdness to the mix. We've both been under a lot of stress since we moved back to Ohio in 2014. And now that things are settling down...

Well, the tension has caught up with us. It's kind of like how I used to get sick the minute I took any vacation time when I worked for corporate America. The constant stress wore me out, so the second the stress was gone, my body said, "Fuck that shit! We're done!"

Today, I've been alternating writing with chilling and doing accounting stuff. At some point tomorrow, I'll unpack more boxes as I work on our home library. Later this week, I'll start packing up goodies for my recent Kickstarter campaign. I've got a lengthy chore to-do list. And there's the TBR pile. I'm currently reading Ghost in the Seal, Book #6 of Jonathan Moeller's Ghost Exile series. I highly recommend Mr. Moeller's work!

I don't know about the rest of you, but sometimes, I just need a break from the usual routine