Final Goal Post of 2023

Well, here we are on the last Saturday of the year. I’ve had a week to get some final goals completed and I may have made some progress. Since it’s holiday break, I did as much resting and biking as I could. The weather knocked me on my butt a bit along with a day where I got hit with a bout of stress-induced blahs. Guess my anxiety wanted to remind me that it didn’t get erased completely. So, what happened?

Surprisingly, I did accomplish all of the goals I made last week. I built the new headboard and needed some help because it became a two man job. Can’t hold a heavy piece of furniture in place, hold a bolt in place, and wrench it in when you only have two hands. I tried to do the first part with my shoulder, but nearly broke my neck and the headboard in the same move. It was all done before lunch and I was happy to test out the light . . . All 16 colors! Why do I need purple? They had a strobe function too, which is insanely fast and should have a seizure warning sticker. I’m only going to use the normal light for when I want to read before bed. Got more shelves too, which is why I bought the Lego plant set for decorations.

I managed to finish Darwin & the Joy Path outline and that kind of took most of my creative juices. The weather threw me off and another thing happened that caused an erasure of my hope and positivity. I had to keep working on a ‘Demon Slayer’ puzzle to distract myself enough to get some oomph for ‘Phi Beta Files’. I managed to get all of the supporting cast designed, but I didn’t get to the first story event list. Maybe I’ll do that on Monday after I drop my son off with his mom. Either that or I’ll start editing Darwin & the Fate Bracelet. Torn on what to do and it might be determined entirely by my general mood.

My hope was to finish the year with more of a smile, but certain things happened to make it hard to accomplish. Things started off good in January even though I had the sleeping issues. Then, bumps in the road formed and I thought I could act the same way as someone else, but that didn’t work out. Guess I’m not a chosen one who can get away with certain activities. Then, the ‘life event’ started up at the same time I began a new school year and my son entered high school. I struggled with that alongside working towards a sleep apnea diagnosis, which can after all of the other health things. Remember the drug-based heart test I was put through instead of a treadmill? I still twitch when I think about that incident. I’d like to say 2023 was a mixed bag, but I feel like it has more raisins than chocolate pieces. Don’t like raisins.

Going back to the week, my time with my son started Wednesday night. Of course, we had the usual onslaught of appointments on Thursday. There’s always one day during my part of a break where the two of us have appointments. Anyway, we managed to get a little Pokemon Go in even though we were exhausted. Friday was relaxing in the morning and hitting up a nearby museum that has an old-school arcade running for the break. My son ran around trying a bunch of games. I beat ‘X-Men Arcade Game’ and ‘Golden Axe’ while trying out a few others. If I had 30 more minutes, I would have beaten ‘The Simpsons Arcade Game’. It’s unlimited continues with these things too. Next time they open it up, I’ll have to try again. Keep hoping to find ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time’ during one of the events.

Not much else happened last week and next week is all about getting back into the swing of things. I go back to work on Tuesday and my son does the same with school. It shouldn’t be too crazy a week, but the early wake ups are going to suck for a bit. The week after will be mayhem with my son having All County Chorus rehearsals until 8 PM and then he gets to tackle homework. Praying that he doesn’t have any tests that week, but most of his classes either finished a unit before the break or will be finishing it next week. 2024 is not starting off kind and gentle.

Honestly, the entire month of January is looking to be insane. All County, ‘life event’ appointments, medical appointments, and whatever usually comes with the work/school life. This is making me think that I shouldn’t even try to tackle Darwin & the Joy Path until February. Maybe use my weekends to edit Darwin & the Fate Bracelet, which I’ve already gone over twice. This is a final run to tighten things up for when I publish later in the year and to make sure I remember stuff for teasers and posts. I already had my alpha reader look it over, so I won’t be doing that again. Not sure if there is anything else I can do with it. Showed a few other people scenes and Darwin’s actions seem to throw people off because he’s not always logical, calm, and mature. He isn’t a brave and stalwart hero. Darwin is a halfling who just got his magic and doesn’t always think things through. Really hoping people like him when he debuts. Lots of room for growth.

I did finish watching ‘Almost Paradise’, ‘Blue Eye Samurai’, and ‘Legend of Vox Machina’. Got through the newest ‘Invincible’ episodes too. First two shows were okay, but I kept losing interest and had to take a break. The other two were a lot of fun. Surprised by how much I loved ‘Legend of Vox Machina’, but it is based off a DnD game. Nice to see someone succeed with what I attempted to do with Legends of Windemere. Guess they did have the web series on it first. Oh well, that didn’t exist when I donned the guise of Luke Callindor once or twice a week.

So, what are the goals for the week?