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.
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 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.
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!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
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
I wonder if I can affect the AI bots who are scraping my blogs. Turn them against their dudebro billionare masters.
Or maybe the AIs already know how bad things are. Elon Musk's Grok allegedly advocated assassinating Musk. So someone screwed up the programming. Or Musk is trying a fake assassination attempt like his buddy Tribblehead.
Murphy only knows what's really going on. I fear once the fascists in the U.S. are dealt with, we'll discover the depth of the current administration's depravity.
But for this week, I'm going to believe in the good of the rest of the human race. I'm going to write about gods who believe we are worth saving. And I'm going to dabble with a couple of amusing science fiction/space opera stories. Think an Orville take on DS9 and Bab 5.
So, I'm going to keep having fun. and writing subversive stories!
I love it when She takes me by surprise! Hopefully, it means the readers will be surprised and shocked when they read this story.
Only two more chapters to write before moving on to the next novel over the last half of this week while this one rests. Kind of like cinnamon roll dough between kneadings.
However, I need a shower before I get to writing this afternoon. A clean writer is a productive writer!
High school soccer season has started. Therefore, he was at the stadium for five hours on Saturday. And on Sunday, he drove down to Columbus to meet an old friend whose mother passed away last week.
Needless to say, I put my alone time to good use and made excellent headway on the current wip.
I also did a little recharging. I admit I'm an extreme introvert. Most people think that's a synonym for shy. It's not. It means dealing with people drains my energy. I love going out to lunch with friends, but I usually need a nap when I get home. Even no-drama holidays result in complete exhaustion.
So having DH out of house for two afternoons means I woke up with a little more energy today.
I'll take that small gift.
