Some Tasks Are Accomplished...

...and some aren't. I had a pretty big to-do list last week, but I didn't get everything done.

However, the damn storage unit got cleaned out! Now, I have even more boxes stacked around the house despite going through...

Oh, geeze, I've lost count. I can say broken down cardboard boxes have filled the recycling bin every Friday for August and September when we've set it and the garbage bin out for pickup.

When we weren't running loads of boxes home, I was at Starbucks working on Death Goddess Rising. (You can ask the staff because I was also catching wasps inside the cafe.) I had to throw out the original first two chapters because Subconscious pulled a fast one on me during the climax of Death Goddess Redeeming. Annoying, but I think it's a better overall story. Nebet-Het (Gr. Nephthys) had a much larger part to play in the series than I expected. However, I'm glad Subconscious is letting her shine because she's short shrifted in the surviving myths of Ancient Egypt.

But I've got one thing crossed off the to-do list! Now, to hack away on the rest! 

 

Music I've Been Listening to Lately

One of my favorite duets!

Busy as the Bees

Bees of different types have been collecting all the straggling grains of pollen in the last flowers of the year around our house. The purple flowers I haven't identified were literally coated with bumblebees, honey bees, sweat bees, mask bees, and a few others during today's afternoon constitutional. The Grandpuppy volunteered to get closer to identify the rest, but I didn't want the bees to think he was going to steal their share of the pollen and pointedly retaliate.

I'll have more and different information next week. I have too much on my plate. And I'm running out of time.

Just like the bees. 

SAD Is Starting Early This Year

Okay, I have to admit all the rain over the last week isn't helping, but yeah, the stupid Seasonal Affective Disorder ("SAD") is definitely starting early. I usually can get to the end of October and/or the end of Daylight Savings Time before the lethargy and oversleeping hits. Nope, it hit this weekend.

GAH!

The last two years weren't as bad, but I was going to yoga classes three times a week. Unfortunately, the studio I attended closed at the end of June. I admit I have a rough time with self-motivation when it comes to exercise. I need to look for another yoga studio, or something to get through this winter.

So exercise and a lot of Vitamin D a going to be necessary over the next few months.

 

Music I've Been Listening to Lately

She is the QUEEN!

What a Friday!

A friend of mine calls Friday "Fri-YAY!" She works a conventional nine-to-five office job, so five p.m on Friday mean she's able to d what SHE wants. Not what the boss wants.

When you work for yourself, it's not always that simple.

There's a lot of good things about it, like arranging your schedule to suit your own needs. I'm not a morning person. My husband doesn't understand I'm still waking up when I come out of the bedroom. Instead of giving me some space, he acts like Barney the dinosaur on coke.

And I don't mean the shit bottled in Atlanta. 

Back when I worked the conventional nine-to-five, I couldn't tell my day-walker co-workers to fuck off when they acted like this.

Another good thing is when I have insomnia or a sinus infection like I did three weeks ago, I can actually rest.

Then there are other times when I have deadlines.

Like this month.

And the hubby wants to play.

*sigh*

So, I took advantage of a local event and sent him on a playdate with some of his friends.

And for some strange reason I made my daily wordcount before midnight today. 

It's Hump Day!

And I still haven't finished my to-do list from Monday! LOL

It's not from lack of effort. I've been kicking ass the last two days between business and household tasks. My breaks have been a round of solitaire to clear my mind between publishing tasks and accounting updates and reading a chapter of Jonathan Moeller's Ghost in the Pact before bed.

My library is starting to take shape despite the enormous pile of boxes we've brought back from the storage unit. Now, it's matter of bringing the last two large book shelves to the house.

We haven't have to throw out much despite water that seeped into the unit. So, DH suggested putting some stuff up for sale over the winter on Etsy and Ebay. Whatever remains will go in the spring garage sale.

I just want my home organized. There's been several studies that show a cluttered house also clutters your mind, and I need my brain clear to write. Which is why I currently have to go to Starbucks. *sigh*

We'll get there. I just want it to be done before we die. I can't leave a hoarders' maze for GK like DH's parents did to us. 

Not Quite a Manic Monday, But Close

DH's birthday was this last weekend, so I didn't get too much writing or editing done. He wanted some play time, and frankly, we both needed it!

I'd planned a quiet Monday of loading an updated series (front matter and back matter needed to be revised so I always do a typo check), getting the new sales/pre-order links updated on the websites, and settle in for some serious writing.

Except I got an e-mail this morning from the organizer of the Fall Author Fest at our local library. The space had filled before I got my application in back in July. Disappointing--yes, but not a real problem. I'm happy the event has grown from a dozen local authors to forty! I was put on the stand-by list in case someone dropped out.

Lo, and behold, someone dropped out. So, now I'm pulling things for the publicity the organizer needs to finalize. I'll post more information once I have it.

Plus get everything else on my to-do list for day done. LOL

So, this is a quick post to say I'm still alive and kicking butt! And maybe take a few minutes to get Uncle George out of the closet since it's officially Halloween season!

Music I've Been Listening to Lately

To friends, family, and everyone else suffering from metal illness, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Just remember the voices inside your head lie!

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.