Does 2019 feel any different than 2018? Not really since everything from last year has basically carried over. It would be nice if the ball dropping in Times Square set off a spell that gave everyone a clean slate in terms of stress and issues. Guess that could get messy though. Speaking of the ball dropping, I spent that night at home and was supposed to wake my son up for the event. Picked him up out of bed an hour beforehand and he spent the whole time staying asleep in my room. He woke up the next morning asking why I didn’t wake him up, so I showed him a picture to prove he was asleep the whole time. I was smart enough to tape the event, so we’re all good. Now, let’s categorize here:
School/Work
I went back to work on Wednesday and it was a little wonky getting back into the groove of things. Keep in mind that I started the week of Thanksgiving, so I haven’t had many full weeks of school/work. Overall, it was a good three days where I felt like I was happier and more relaxed. That isn’t to say things went entirely smoothly, which I can’t go into details because it’s fairly ‘person’ specific. Coming off a 1.5 week break always has some bumps in the road, but things got back to normal by Friday.
Now, here is where something unexpected turned up. There are three levels of Teaching Assistant and I’m a 1. To be a 2 and then 3, I need to take 9 credits of college courses and have a year of experience for each one. For a few weeks, I’ve been trying to find out what types of courses and would get either no response or a canned one from the Department of Education. I must have asked the right way this time because I was told that my college transcripts are on file. That’s odd . . . Why would . . . Yup, my Bachelors Degree work count towards going to Level 2 and 3. That means I can put in for them once I get the proper experience period locked in and focus more on finding an online Masters program to get my teaching certification. I found a system for SUNY (State University of New York) schools that have 100% online programs, so I’m hoping to get in there. Saw my alma mater on there too, which is what I’m aiming for if they have the right programs. I’m trying to decide on going for English Education, Secondary Education (English BA), or Reading and Literacy Education. That third one is more nuanced, but I’m seeing a lot of schools of all grades pushing Reading and Literacy more. It could put me in a program at the University of Buffalo, but I don’t have to go there to get in.
Writing
I finished editing War of Nytefall: Rivalry and handed it off to my alpha reader. It was pointed out that someone stepping into the series here will have trouble getting into all of the characters, which I’m going to work on. On the other hand, I’ve had a feeling that this will be a weakness of the series. Unlike Legends of Windemere, this series has a lot of introductions right off the bat and includes jumps of years instead of weeks or months. It isn’t a traveling adventure too, so characters are settled into structures and lives instead of wandering on a quest. There was a gradual introduction of the champions while the Dawn Fangs are fairly blunt and in your face. I’ll have to see what else I can do and hope for the best here. Not having any other test readers who can help me get the book ready to publish in April (that means finishing by the first week of March) does put me at a disadvantage. This is me getting back into the swing of things and writing/publishing will be a side project/hobby from now on. The career is teaching and I’ll find balance eventually. Feels painful writing that, but it’s what it has to be until my situation settles.
As far as new stuff, I was going to start writing War of Nytefall: Eradication this week, but it didn’t happen. My evenings became too cluttered and the last category will tell more of this. For this weekend and week, I’m going to be focusing on preparing posts for March to clear up my time. Once next Saturday hits, I’m going to begin writing the next book. I might only be able to get 2 chapters done a week at most, which means 9-10 weeks instead of my usual 4-5. That’s a pretty big drop and the main reason I’m retiring Bedlam after this adventure and saying Ichabod Brooks is a distant release. This Nytefall book would be a December release too. Used to take pride in being so prolific, but that stage of my life is over. Wish I could keep things moving along, especially since I still have nearly 30 other series to work on before I’m worm chow. If I’m lucky, I can reduce the writing time to 6-7 weeks and use Ichabod as a breather. That’s going to be even harder to do if I start classes for a Masters. Only so many hours in the day, days in the week, weeks in the month, months in the year, and years in the lifespan.
Downtown Abbey?
Exercising
I’m trying to take exercising and eating healthier more seriously. I only bring a sandwich with yogurt, fruit, and veggies for lunch. Being at work means I’m not snacking, which is a good thing. I’ve been told that I look a little thinner, but I don’t feel it. With exercising, I’m trying to do 15 minutes of biking every weekday. This is tough because I need to wake up at 5 am and get my Internet stuff done in 30 minutes to get on the bike by 5:30. That gives me an hour to bike, shower, get dressed, make food, and then get my son up for school. It doesn’t help that mornings are cold and getting myself to leave the warm bed in exchange for shorts and a t-shirt is a challenge. I get derailed during non-work days too and that forces me to bike at night once my son is asleep, which then cuts into the limited writing time. You can see how my stress isn’t improving that much because I’m trying to balance so much here. How does society expect people to enjoy life or avoid mental illness when it’s designed to keep you running from morning to night? The least life could do is have it that humans burn calories from the rat race.
Goals of the week:
- March and early April blog posts.
- Talk to cover artist about War of Nytefall: Rivalry
- So many meetings and appointments.
- Make granola bars.
- Do more Graduate School research.
- Start writing War of Nytefall: Eradication
- Weather permitting: Zoo trip.
- Exercise more consistently.
- Have a more interesting goal post for next Saturday.
Legends of Windemere 
I always wished I could burn some calories rushing around. Hoping next week is a peaceful one.
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Fingers crossed, but I sense chaos on the horizon.
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It is usually out there somewhere.
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Sounds like a good startt to the year to me.
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Maybe. I’ve learned to be cautious around good starts.
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I’m glad to hear about your transcripts and the possibilities you described about a master’s degree and being able to move to a different level. Congrats also on finishing the editing of War of Nytefall: Rivalry. As usual your goals make me feel lazy. 😁
Glad you’re taking care of yourself.
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Thanks. Hope the good news keeps up to counter the bad. Not going to hold my breath just yet. The rocky stuff hasn’t really begun.
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Hi Charles. Great post again! Jamming to “Walk This Way” as I type. I think that you’ve got great goals! I wish I had a Teaching Assistant. I teach full-time and tutor as a second part-time job! Talk about stress. Lol. Anyway, Happy New Year to you, dear! 🙂
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That does sound stressful. I’m a one-on-one, so I follow one student throughout the day to help out. Not as easy as some people think. Happy New Year!
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Amen to your last observations.
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If only I could find a satisfying answer to them. 🙂
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I am rooting for Reading and Literacy Education because that will make the biggest difference and have the greatest impact with the children you teach.
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A friend who teaches suggested the Secondary Masters since it’s broader in scope and topic. I’ll have to see what my options are in terms of offered programs as well. I haven’t gotten enough information to be sure I can get into either one.
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I understand. Both sound very interesting. I look forward to hearing what you learn and what you decide to do. Exciting times!
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It’ll be some time, but I hope to have good news soon. Nice to be positive on here even though I still have a lot of rough stuff going on around here. Just learning that I can get TA 2 and 3 after I gain experience is an amazing step though.
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That really is an amazing step. Definitely positive!
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Looking more into it and I can jump right to Level 3 after this school year. Not sure where to go after that aside from getting a Masters, which might take a while.
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Aren’t you glad you looked into it! Maybe you can wait on the Masters and work for a year to make sure it’s right for you.
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It’ll probably take a year to research the Masters and get into a program. Not sure what else I would want to do besides this and writing though.
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Good plan, Charles. Writing and school sounds perfect to me.
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Sounds like a reasonably good start to the year. Great that you’re making sure to consider your health among all the other stuff. Good luck with the coming week’s goals.
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Thanks. Have a fun 2019 too.
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Thanks! My year will be starting with the surgery I’ve been waiting for (which will hopefully mean less hospital time in the future) so that’s nice, if not entirely fun. I’m crossing my fingers things will improve after that though. Like I said, this should mean less hospital time in the longrun, which would be an improvement over 2018 for a start.
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Good luck with the surgery. Hope it does mean less hospital time.
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Thanks!
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The world really does have us going during every waking moment. I’m old enough to remember unwinding after work. Now I come home, pick up my iPad, and have to check on all the things in my author world. I put in eight plus hours getting things sorted for my blog tour yesterday. I have a task list for today. Not really fair, but that’s life these days.
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Not to mention taking a break can result in guilt, judging by those still rushing around, or any number of negative responses. It’s like we’re being trained by society to hate relaxing and downtime.
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That’s very true. I think I will withdraw from society.
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Go off the grid. Though that means no pizza, so I’ll have to stay.
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I know how to make pizza. Give a man a pizza and he’ll eat for a day, teach a man to make pizza and he’ll get fat and wonder if kneading dough gave him carpal tunnel.
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I don’t know how to make dough, so I’m stuck. 😭
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Reblogged this on Loleta Abi.
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Thanks again. 😁
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You’re welcome, Charles!
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