Where to even start with this week?  I got very little done since the kid was off for two days, the parents came back from Greece, and I’m still suffering from the dental issue.  I’ve been moody and annoyed.  To the point where I almost talked about politics because a recent development really pissed me of.  Yet, this isn’t the place for such things because this blog is about me, my writing, and fun.  Politics are the antithesis of that, so let’s first get involved in the ‘me’ part.

I was going to post about this earlier in the week, but figured it was more for the weekend update/goal post.  For those who don’t know or remember, I had a wisdom tooth out about 1.5 weeks ago.  This revealed that the molar next to it was missing the entire backside and needed a root canal more urgently than previously thought.  Insurance said no because the x-rays weren’t a full mouth.  I guess the teeth on the other side of my mouth have something to do with the FUCKING HOLE in my molar.  The x-rays were taken, but had to be sent by mail for an appeal.  This means I’ve been dealing with this issue for a while.  I apologize for the grossness, but this is aggravating.  Food gets stuck in there, I end the day with discomfort/pain, and I’m pretty sure it’s getting worse.  Yesterday, I finally got an insurance person with empathy instead of apathy.  She said the dentist could electronically submit the x-rays to get things moving quicker.  With any luck (HA!), I’ll have this taken care of by the end of the week.

This has made focusing really hard, especially since I’m no longer on the desktop.  Back to awkwardly sitting on my bed and using my sputtering laptop.  I’ve begun writing during the day and prepping November posts at night.  This means I’ll miss that Yom Kippur deadline for Path of the Traitors, but I’m getting two birds with one stone.  Not that I can get very far with writing because the house is a circus and my mouth is in pain.  I still have that cold too.  Yeah, I’m bitching, but the last two weeks have been amazingly sucky even compared to the rest of this year.

My son has off Monday and Wednesday too.  We’re doing a lot of weekend outings for Halloween stuff as well.  Tomorrow is a petting zoo and Monday is father/son movie day to see ‘Storks’.  Wednesday is Yom Kippur, which is the day of fasting for Jews.  I’m not that religious, but I always try to do this because it was one of the few things I could do after my grandfather spent years trying to make me religious.  This means a lot of napping and playing ‘Castlevania: Symphony of the Night’ until my wife comes home from school.  I don’t have a full day babysitter for my son though, so this year might not run as smoothly as . . . you know, this day rarely runs smoothly for me lately.  Either I’m odd man out on what we’re eating at night or nobody keeps the kid away from me.  He’s high energy and I won’t have enough to keep up.

I should apologize for all the negativity here.  Long ago, I promised to be more positive, but that seems to have become a challenge to the universe.  Nothing goes right in anything I do.  Can’t get the new book to rocket up the charts.  Barely able to work on the other projects.  Even the November posts are taking a while because my brain is fuzzy either from exhaustion or some type of medication.  The only positive thing is that my new Twitter system is taking some pressure off.  Not sure it’s helping with sales since I still see the same pattern of 6 days of sluggishness and one big boost out of nowhere.

Going back to the writing, I’m getting worried that this book is suffering from my own crappy schedule and moodiness.  It’s a tough book to write since the champions are barely in it.  This is something that their ‘allies’ are doing to make sure they succeed, which is including two new characters.  I think a sudden scene where one of the heroes is knocked out and has a vision that reveals their insecurities has me worried.  This character has been confident and tough for a long time, so it’s strange to see that all of this is under the surface.  The reaction was to say ‘Forget all this. I’ll deal with it later when I have time’ does fit the character though.  They are the type to ignore their own suffering for those around them. Probably a big clue on who is getting the highlight of this adventure.  I guess I’m just worried that this doesn’t have the long-standing meat of the other books because the champions aren’t involved.  Glad this book is the Late Summer/Early Autumn release for 2017.

Goals?

1. Finish Path of the Traitors, November posts, The Spirit Well blurbs, and The Forgotten Baron outline by end of the month.
2. Recover enough health to get back to biking.  Probably have to wait until tooth fixed because I clenched my jaw when I try to go fast.
3. Get tooth fixed.
4. Day with son on Monday.  Possibly Wednesday.
5. Fast for Yom Kippur and not pass out.
6. Wait!  The kid doesn’t read these posts, so I can reveal tomorrow’s fun.  The petting zoo we’re going to has a Fall Festival, which he knows about.  The surprise is that they recently adopted a baby giraffe that you can see on the weekends.  He’s fed an adult one at another petting zoo, but I think this is going to make his day.  The little guy is so cute in his pictures.

Edit:  Forgot to mention this.  I’ve actually been sleeping later than normal.  Not on purpose, but I’ve been losing my ability to stir before the alarm.  Used to be up and functional at 5 am, but now I’m dragging at 6:30 am.  This actually has me worried because it’s a level of exhaustion that I haven’t had for a long time.