We’re getting hit by a Nor’easter here, which we never seem to be ready for.  It always makes people nervous.  Part of it is because clearing roads is always a pain and you kind of need to drive if you want to go anywhere.  Driving is a big part of Long Island living, so anything that cripples it can cause an uproar.  At least it’s on the weekend, so I can stay inside when I’m not shoveling.  Today is pretty much just that, so I have no excitement going on here.

This past week was the last one of the 2nd quarter of school.  Tests, quizzes, final projects, and madness aplenty.  Handling it as a TA and then going home to facing it as a parent is exhausting.  I know I got some decent sleep, but being highly active from 5 AM until 9 PM with very little rest takes a toll after 5 days.  This isn’t including the stuff I have to do for an online course and a midweek appointment for my son.  I’m already looking forward to the Winter Break in late February just to sleep in a bit.  Then comes the darkness . . . 6.5 weeks without a holiday.  Who thought it was a good idea to have a month without a federal holiday?  Friggin’ March!

The most ‘exciting’ part of the week was when the mask mandate in school was stopped in the morning and got reinstated by the evening.  Needless to say, it caused a lot of heated debates, which I promptly avoided because I have my own problems.  Hear a raised voice or certain words?  Well, I guess it’s time for me to hit the bathroom, stretch my legs, or go answer a phone on the other side of the building.  Bye!

Writing-wise . . . I got 1 & 2/3’s of some rival teams done for Phi Beta Files.  I just ran out of steam on Sunday and fell asleep before I could make the last 2 characters.  Might finish them off if I have time this weekend and use next weekend to make the last 2 teams.  I need to print out ‘Slumberlord Chronicles: Darwin & the Fate Bracelet’ too.  I should be able to do some editing at work when I have a break in about a week or two.  The plan is still to do new writing during the summer or at least June.  This school year is just too busy and stressful for me to write a character like Darwin.  Need to be positive, flexible, and carefree . . . In other words, nothing like my true self.

I’m looking at my post ideas for April too, which I might start getting ready this week to give myself something to do at night.  No idea what ‘Kings of Monster Races’ means.  It seems to kick off a week talking about using a monster army.  I think I know where I’m going with this now.  Getting harder and harder to come up with topics about writing or fantasy, especially since Do I Need to Use a Dragon? (Fantasy Writing Tips) may be released much later this year.  Rather not release a bunch of that if I can help it, so I need fresh ideas.  May is going to be rough at this rate.

That’s really it.  I’m getting more boring by the week.  I did watch a show called ‘What We Do in the Shadows’, which is a docu-comedy about vampires in Staten Island.  It was pretty funny, so I’m looking forward to a new season.  I tried a 12 episode anime afterwards called ‘World Ends With You’ or something.  It was based off a game I never played, so I couldn’t get into it.  Oh, I also watched an anime called ‘Afro Samurai’, which had Samuel L. Jackson and Ron Perlman doing some of the voices.  I remember seeing the first episode long ago, so I watched it all.  Not bad, but it felt rushed as it hit episode 4.  I don’t know why they didn’t try to make it longer, but that’s what it is.

Having trouble thinking of anything else.  A few writing ideas are banging around when I start zoning out, but nothing solid.  Might turn my thieves guild tale from a 6-7 person group to a trio.  This would be the intelligent ogre, cannibalistic gnome, and a revamped Dawn Fang character.  It could be fun to have a small group of monsters who aren’t living within a society of pure monster like in Nytefall.  I’ll kick it around a bit more when I have more energy.  Too many meetings and events this week for my brain to run on all cylinders when it comes to writing.

So, goals of the week:

1. Parenting
2. Working
3. April post scheduling
4. Pirates Warriors 3 if possible
5. Try to finish all of the rival teams in ‘Phi Beta Files’.
6. Print out ‘Slumberlord Chronicles: Darwin & the Fate Bracelet’.  Need to add toe-walking to him.
7. Shovel snow and not hurt myself doing so.
8. Sleep