This week did have a terrible disaster . . . At least, it was a stressful headache.

So, I mentioned in last weekend’s goal post that I was going to work on a James Bond puzzle.  I actually finished it Tuesday night and started gluing it.  I couldn’t get the wax paper underneath, so I tried to do a quick layer of glue on top to seal it enough for an easy move.  It seeped through and started drying to the table within 2 minutes, which is faster than it usually does.  I was scrambling to clean everything and shift the puzzle when it fell off the table and . . . folded in half.  So, I spent the rest of Tuesday night separating puzzle pieces before they were permanently fused to each other.  The rest of the week was putting the chunks and solitary pieces back together.  Finished it last night, but the whole thing is warped and ugly when you get close to it.  Really liked this puzzle too.

The rest of the week was the usual stress of working and parenting.  With my son having Lego Robotics until 4:30, I had time after work to do some biking or run errands.  The trade-off was that he had to stay up later to do homework.  So, there wasn’t much fun and relaxation to be had.  I mean, I had only enough time each night to fix part of the puzzle and watch an episode or two of ‘White Collar’.  Needless to say, I didn’t get any writing or much blogging for August done.

Speaking of writing, Do I Need to Use a Dragon? is still on pre-order as a 99 cent eBook on Amazon.  It’s so hard to write promos for a ‘how to’ book once you’ve filled up one month with the obvious.  August is slowly sliding away from the direct promos on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  The topics are all about writing, but not ‘how to’ specifically.  I’m doing my best to make connections though.  Summer sales tend to be iffy anyway, so I don’t know how hard I have to push since I don’t have a marketing budget to sink into this project.  Preparing myself to simply be happy that it’s published and going to see the light of day.

To be honest, I’m still trying to recover my energy from Covid.  My stamina is definitely not what it was in early April, which meant I should have taken it easier.  I figured there wasn’t a point since I was bustling at work.  I might as well have continued the biking (aching legs) and giving the same amount of energy I usually do with my son.  Finally pulled a 70 minute biking week for the first time since mid-April, which is a good sign and I hope to keep it going.

Unfortunately, me not getting through a lot of August blog posts means that I couldn’t tackle Phi Beta Files.  I finished a character during a break since I realized I left her half-finished.  Juggling the idea of using today for August posts and tomorrow to finish this grouping of characters.  That leaves me the long-term supporting cast and then the 6 collections to plan out.  Since I don’t want to touch the next Darwin outline until Memorial Day weekend, I might as well push some idea ahead.

A lot of it will depend on what happens this morning too.  I have a doctor appointment, which is a 3-month follow up.  I was supposed to lose a bunch of weight or I’d be put on medication.  Back in March/early April, I was starting to shed pounds.  Then, a run of birthdays, holidays, gatherings, stressful days, and then Covid hit to knock me back to where I started.  It’s frustrating that it took a little more than a month to drop 9 pounds, but it took 3 weeks to gain 7 pounds.  Hearing more about the medication I’d be put on makes me want to avoid it too because I don’t like the sound of the side-effects.  Seems it needs me to exercise and be on a good diet too.  If I have trouble doing those things in the first place then the medication isn’t going to work.  There are the side-effects issue too with some of them making my work day a high risk situation.  Guess we’ll see what happens today.

In more positive news, my son had his last chorus concert of middle school.  He got to be one of the soloists when they sang ‘Hamilton- My Shot’.  His part was the person who is shouting around 3:14 in the video above.  He then was with 2 others to do more of the backup stuff for the students who sang Hamilton’s part.  It was a lot of fun to watch and I’m very proud of him.  Today, he has a NYSSMA performance too. NYSSMA is a state music event where students can sign up to perform for a judge and get a rating.  He’s singing ‘Over the Rainbow’ and he’s supposedly got it down pat.  For some reason, he won’t sing when I’m around.  Another big milestone though.

Only other big event of the week was my Life Skills class got a tour of a nearby Amazon distribution center.  No pictures allowed, but it was really cool to see what goes on to get the trucks ready.  Our students were great and well-behaved.  One kept our hosts on their toes with questions that they had never heard before.  My favorite was ‘what is the cheapest thing you can buy on Amazon?’ and one of the people was determined to get an answer.  Found a screw for .56 cents and free shipping/handling.  After the tour, we got lunch, which was me and one student getting ramen while the rest got pizza.  Then, a small walk around Barnes & Noble before heading back.  Overall, a great trip and a nice end to a crazy week.

Goals of the week?

1. Keep on recovering.
2. Keep on helping my son with schoolwork.
3. Keep on working my students.
4. Keep on watching ‘White Collar’.
5. Keep on working on August posts.
6. Keep on trying to get to Phi Beta Files.
7. Keep on biking.
8. Keep on puzzling.
9. Get pizza for lunch tomorrow even if doctor tells me I shouldn’t because I feel like I deserve a slice or two for working so hard.