(First song played on car CD player when going into work on Friday.)

The title says it all and this break couldn’t come fast enough.  This week didn’t work out as well as I had planned.  All I really accomplished was spending time with my son.  The rest of the week was a slog through the swamp of horrors that has become my life.  In other words, I didn’t get anywhere near Darwin & the Fate Bracelet.

Last weekend was going to obviously be a challenge with editing since I had my son and it was Super Bowl.  We did a bunch of Pokémon Go, watched some shows, and relaxed since we knew the week would be crazy.  There was some homework involved too, but nobody wants to hear about that.  Think I managed to write one blog post for April during that weekend.  Not sure, but I do see one scheduled.  Small victories.  Not like I wanted to get anything else done since I knew I wouldn’t be seeing much of my son until the middle of next week.  That’s what happens in joint custody, especially if you end up having appointments on your time.  Oh well.

There was one bonus day since we had a snowstorm on Tuesday.  That meant my son and I had a snow day.  A day of video games, cartoons, and hanging around in pajamas until things settled enough for an evening Pokémon Go outing.  Well, that was my son’s day since I was the one doing the shoveling.  I got to enjoy some of the time with him when I wasn’t outside or lying down to give my back a rest.  Guess I should be happy with the bonus day since it probably gave him a good boost of energy and delayed a few things until after the break.

Work was exhausting.  Students typically get antsy and harder to focus as they get closer to a break.  The ones I’m with now are no exceptions.  Thrown off by a snow day, we all were having trouble keeping on track.  So, I ended every day feeling like I’d gone a few rounds with Rocky Balboa.  This is why I didn’t do any editing at night or during my breaks since I needed recovery time.  My body is definitely having trouble adapting to the new level of activity and needing to be ready to move at any moment.  I’m eating healthier with chopped salads and rice bowls with tofu and edamame, but I’m still fat and really out of shape.  I’m hoping that biking a lot over the break can help even though I won’t be out of the house much until I’m with my son.

My hope is that I can finish editing Darwin & the Fate Bracelet.  I have 5 chapters to go, so I might get it done by the end of Monday.  That gives me Tuesday and Wednesday to type everything in.  I’m including other things I’m doing, but all of my friends are kind of busy or too far away.  Going to have dinner with one and maybe chill with another for a bit another day.  It’ll be nice if I can finish this book and dive into Darwin & the Halfling Hunt.  At the very least, I want to get that book printed out and I can start in on that on various weekends.

I don’t really have a lot of exciting things planned, but the Winter Break never really is because the weather is gross.  Usually, my son and I pull off a zoo trip if it isn’t too cold or snowing.  Big Pokémon Go event next week and weekend as well as a local place having an old-school arcade set up.  I really only get 4 days with my son before he’s back at school and I’m back at work.  So, I don’t get a lot of time.  Going to have a visit from my niece at some point too.  For the most part, I think my son and I will just be relaxing and doing small outings after the zoo.  Maybe we’ll watch some movies since we do have a decent-sized list.  Sometimes, you just need a break where you don’t have much of a plan, especially since the next big one has a plan.

Only other thing I’m going to do is watch a bunch of short anime while I write.  I saw a new season of ‘Goblin Slayer’ and a movie, so I’ll start with that.  Not sure where I’ll go after that.  Finding it harder and harder to find anime that I really want to watch.  Most are either another isekai (Earthling goes to a fantasy world) or something that my son wants me to save for when he’s here.  Anyway, let’s take a look at the goals:

1. Bike nearly every day.
2. Have dinner with a friend.
3. Edit Darwin & the Fate Bracelet.
4. Print Darwin & the Halfling Hunt.
5. Do some April posts.
6. Zoo trip with son.
7. Haircut.
8. Sleep at least 8 hours a day.
9. Watch anime and work on puzzles.
10. Heal and relax.