Where to even begin with this week?

Leaving the personal drama out, I made it about halfway through before my body decided it had enough.  My mind agreed and proceeded to get distracted by shiny objects as long as I wasn’t driving.  Needless to say, I wasn’t that productive after Wednesday.  Why I thought I would be is beyond my comprehension.   So, what exactly took the wind from my sails?

It really came down to Tuesday and Wednesday requiring a lot more activity than I’ve done all summer.  These were the days I had to go into work for special training, which was a lot of fun.  My brain was iffy on the first day because of the heat and I had a rough night’s sleep.  Still, I absorbed as much as I could and processed it when I gained some time later.  Tuesday also required that I wander around stores for 2 hours before I could pick up my son from camp.  He was just down the block from my school, so it was pointless to go home.  Too hot to hang out in the car too.  Shopping didn’t go as smoothly as I would have liked though. Target isn’t as great as it used to be.  Barnes & Noble was good though.

I was kind of lucky that I didn’t have to pick my son up on Wednesday since that was his mom’s day.  So, I was able to head right home after training.  Well, I had to go back to Target to get what my son requested using a his birthday gift card.  After that it was home to write . . . I passed out for an hour on my bed.  Then, I wrote . . . I went grocery shopping and got pizza for dinner.  After all of that, I definitely . . . gave up on trying to write and worked on a ‘Witcher’ puzzle until I fell asleep.

Unfortunately, pushing myself for two days without really resting resulted in my Thursday being severe brain fog. This was supposed to be my 3-section day.  I got 1 section done in the morning before my mind just gave up.  Tried to play a video game after that, but got motion sickness, which was a sign that I was really out of it.  I tried to rest up, but only had enough time to get another section done on Friday.

My goal to get 4 chapters of Darwin & the Avenging Elf done ended up being 3.5.  Not bad, but it leaves me with more than half of the book left.  At a 3-section per day rate, it would take me 12 days.  That’s not happening with long Covid.  I might get a little done this week if my son decides to play with his friend, but that’s a long shot.  Either way, I’m looking at it taking all of September to finish this book.  Maybe longer if I find myself too exhausted to write after work and then helping my son with homework.  It shouldn’t be that bad if I can get within 2-3 chapters of the finale before school starts, but it looks like it will be closer to 4-5.  Really hope my September weekends aren’t too crazy, which might not be the case.

This has been a big part of my frustration lately.  I had a great plan to finish 2 books this summer and gave myself a cushion of about 2.5 weeks.  Things just didn’t work out and now I’m nervous about having another school year where I can’t go near my books.  The thought of having to wait 10 months to finish this story makes me physically ill.  Getting back into the swing of things after last year took a while and I still have severe bouts of feeling like a hack when I finish.  Working with brain fog doesn’t help that matter and has resulted in a few weeping bouts.  Maybe I’ll figure out a way to at least do some outlining during my break periods.

Can’t really think of anything else that was exciting.  My son had his last week of camp, so I get all of this coming week with him.  We’re going to the zoo tomorrow, but that’s the extent of our solid plans.  Video games, Lego sets, art projects, walks in parks, and everything else aren’t really planned.  He’s supposed to get braces too, which is going to be an event.  He’s nervous and I’m doing my best to keep him calm about it.  Promised him Penne with homemade vodka sauce on that day.  We’ll get ice cream before coming home too.  Knew this day was coming eventually, so I’m prepared for it.

Television-wise, I haven’t done anything new.  Still working through a rewatch of ‘That Time I was Reincarnated as a Slime’ and I don’t know what to start after that.  I keep trying to think of any live action stuff, but my mind comes up blank.  Think I don’t have the focus for hour long shows too.  I need to take refocusing breaks every 2 episodes of an anime, so it would probably take a long time to get through longer things.  Can’t really think of any interesting shows beyond ‘Umbrella Academy’ either.

I did watch ‘Prey’, which is the new Predator movie.  Is it better than the original?  No, but it wasn’t boring.  I liked most of the characters and the plot was straightforward.  The effects were good aside from some of the CGI animals looking really off.  The Predator felt like a true menace, but also a thinking, evolving being.  Not the smartest one of the species, but I got a sense that it was supposed to be more instinct than cunning.  I was a little curious how they would have the main character face the Predator since she’s not as big as Arnold.  They did a good job showing how she could hold her own simply by using her speed, agility, and smarts.  Of course, she wasn’t immediately badass and worked her way up to it.  I genuinely can’t remember the last time I saw a hero who stumbled and grew during an adventure instead of starting off and remaining perfect.  Anyway, I’d recommend it.

Goals of the week?

1. Time with son.
2. Sleep when he’s not around, so I have energy to spend time with son.