The title really says it all.  The school year starts for staff on Tuesday.  That gives me today, tomorrow, and Monday to rest up.  Not a lot of time.  Means I need to stop sleeping in as well because cutting that habit cold turkey is brutal.

This week didn’t have a lot of excitement.  I had my son until Wednesday night, so the previous days were spent doing things together.  With the Finger Lakes trip behind us, there wasn’t anything too big for us.  A trip to the Bronx Zoo on Monday was the most exciting thing we did.  The rest was Pokemon Go trips, watching anime, and hanging around the house.  I used some of our time talking to him about starting high school after Labor Day.  It’s a big step, so we’re all nervous.  He won’t be back with me until the night before he starts too, so there won’t be much time to have a big sit down chat.

Guess a few things were cool at the zoo.  They have a new area where you can feed budgies from seed-covered sticks.  We gave it a try and I had no luck.  My son got two of the birds to come to him.  Unfortunately, it was hot and we got to this place by early afternoon, so they were already well fed.  Smaller kids running around and screaming didn’t help.  One saw my son getting the attention of a budgie and rushed over to jam his stick in the poor bird’s face.  Decided it was time to leave and continue wandering the zoo after things got too rowdy.  These are the best pictures of the trip that I had on my phone:

Wish I had more to share, but it’s been a lot of hanging out and doing basic things around the house.  With everyone being gone for a while, I had to take care of a lot of cleaning and yardwork.  Got back into cooking too, which was a challenge only because I’m trying to eat healthier.  My son doesn’t need a diet, so I had to cook things that both of us liked, but won’t pack on pounds again.  Things are harder with him gone since I’m not doing 2-3 hour walks for Pokemon Go.  Hopefully, I can keep myself below 230 and start getting it lower.  Sucks that my best attempt at weight loss was actually a medication reducing my appetite.

After my son went to his mom’s on Wednesday, I took Thursday to visit a friend.  Not a really long drive, but I got up there in early morning because we had a list of movies and a TV show we wanted to binge.  I didn’t get home until late evening either.  Ended up having a great salad for dinner from this place my friend suggested.  As far as entertainment, we watched ‘Street Fighter II Animated Movie’, ‘Batman: Mask of the Phantasm’, the newest animated Resident Evil movie, and then we finished by binging all 10 episodes of the ‘Twisted Metal’ series.  That last one was surprisingly good.  I don’t know the lore since I never really played the games, but I had fun watching it.  Made me want a second season even though I don’t have Peacock as a streaming service.

I didn’t get to do any writing until Friday.  Even so, it was only two sections of Darwin & the Beast Collector.  Took such a long break from the story that I needed to get back into the groove.  My hope is to get 2 sections done every day until I start work again on Tuesday.  Then, I’ll try to get 1 section done each day, except Thursday, and do another 2/day over the 3-day weekend.  This would get me through 5 chapters without killing myself.  That leaves 5 more, which I can possibly finish by the end of October.  I think my days of doing 3 sections a day are behind me until I can get my various health issues under control.

Speaking of health, I finally have my sleep apnea consultation on Thursday.  That’s why I don’t expect any writing to get done.  If it’s the same as the one years ago, I’ll need to use a home device to check my vitals while I sleep.  This typically requires 8 hours, so I’d be going to bed around 9.  Not sure if that’s feasibly with the early wake up, which means I might have to do it the next night.  Really putting a lot of hope on this diagnosis since nothing else seems to be working out.  I’m definitely not getting a good amount of sleep at night since I wake up groggy and feeling sick.  Takes about an hour to feel human and I sometimes find that my oxygen levels are low at the start of the day too.  I’ve bought so many devices to help with this problem.  Now, I’ve got a blood pressure machine, an oximeter, an oil diffuser, and an air purifier.  Fun!

What are the goals of the week?

1. Keep eating healthier.
2. Write more of Darwin & the Beast Collector.
3. Get things ready for returning to work.
4. Prepare supplies for my son going to high school.
5. Mow and water the lawn.
6. Bike 4-5 miles a day since I can’t go walking.
7. Sleep apnea appointment.
8. Work on jigsaw puzzle when need a writing break.
9. Cook dinners . . . For one.
10. Get haircut later today because I look like a balding hippie.

(Update: So, something has occurred and altered the weekend plans.  Can’t get into it.  Writing won’t be going on like I had hoped.  Not until Monday night at least.  It’s not ideal, but I can’t focus and need to socialize for my own well-being.  A friend is staying over as well.  Oh well.  Some things take priority.)