Winter can go away now.  It has made it’s point that it is the worst and most miserable of the months.  I’d rather deal with allergies and the heat than these messed up arctic winds, which drop the temp by double digits.  Shoving my car a bit as I drive wasn’t appreciated either.  Needless to say, I wasn’t doing much outdoor stuff.

That isn’t to say I stayed in the house.  I mean, I was able to finish watching the new episodes ‘Cobra Kai’ and ‘Resident Alien’.  Got through a season of ‘Warehouse 13’ as well before my son was dropped off Wednesday night.  Prior to that, I managed to get a good mix of editing, Pokemon catching, and errands/chores done.  Not a thrilling week, but a productive one since I really needed an eye exam and to get my car an oil change.  So much fun being an adult with such responsibilities.

Surprisingly, I did manage to edit 5 chapters of Darwin & the Beast Collector.  I wasn’t able to squeeze in any more time when my son was home, but getting a chapter done per day is a good victory.  I probably won’t be able to touch it again for another 2 weeks, but I’ll try to tinker.  My doubts and worries with the story are still driving me nuts.  It’s good, but it’s filled with more mysteries and no clear villain beyond a blatant jackass.  The original villain actually came out respectful and nice, so I had to make this revolve around the situation being overcome.  The story involves this guy creating an island filled with monsters that the elite can visit.  He has Darwin to keep the beasts in check and Rayne (from ‘Quest of the Brokenhearted) to attract them to the island.  We all know where this is going since it’s definitely influenced by ‘Jurassic Park’.  The reason for the failure is something else and there’s no question that it’s going to fall apart.

I guess my main issue is trying to hint at the mysteries and throw in enough clues as well as false paths to keep it interesting.  I can’t tell how it’s going since I know where the story is going.  Darwin is also really contained here, so he can’t cause the same level of story-pushing chaos that he usually does.  It’s a slow build to the final act from what I can tell with the heroes investigating some strangeness for the most part.  It could be that I’m so used to be an action-oriented author that only having 4 major action scenes in the span of 7 chapters feels wrong.  Guess it’s more than 4 if I break down the big action chapter into its pieces.  We’ll see how it all goes.

Next week is going to be crazy busy from Monday through Sunday.  It begins a 7 week stretch without a day off, which is brutal in education.  The kids start losing interest and getting twitchy, which can cause some difficulties.  I’m always amazed how this stretch wears me down in education when I did bigger stints when I worked in retail, food, and office stuff.  I think part of it is because there’s a greater emotional toil since you’re working with kids.  You don’t just teach them, but you have to be there for them as they get worn down.  So, it eats at you as well.

Add in the fact that I go through the parent side of things with my son too.  Gives me a double-helping of the stress and workload as we push for the end of the school year.  Yes, I know it’s over in June, but most people accept that students are already thinking of summer after they get back from spring break.  So, these 7 weeks are when you have to do the biggest push for information.  May still gets a bunch of stuff crammed into it, but we get days off there.

Not going to lie and say that’s it for next week.  It’s the last week of the current Pokemon Go season, which is always full of events.  This time, they have an event every weeknight from 6-7 where you can try to catch what are called ‘Legendary Pokemon’.  These are the strong, rare ones that you need to team up with other players to get.  So, that takes my evenings, which I don’t mind since it’s just one week.  I can do a little editing if I get home and have time on the nights I don’t have my son.  Next weekend is definitely out because each day has the big event running from 10-6.  Bunch of legendary Pokemon that you need to beat 9-12 times along with various challenges, increased chance of finding rare Pokemon walking around, rotating biomes every hour, and just general socializing with people.  I took a look at an app that shows announcements for meetups and it looks like everyone is descending on the park, so it should be fun.

That’s really it for me.  The rest of this weekend is to relax with my son and have fun without freezing our butts off.  Weather is supposed to be warmer during the week, but getting cold against by Saturday.  Joy.  Definitely done with this winter, which is definitely more bitter and brutal than those of the past.

Goal list:

1. Rest up this weekend.
2. Ease into week.
3. Help son with homework.
4. Finish April blog posts.
5. Stay warm when playing Pokemon.
6. Wriggle in some editing if possible.
7. Do not hit head and get another concussion.
8. Puzzle work when needing quiet time.
9. Accept that I won’t have much excitement to share next Saturday since my week is primarily work, Pokemon Go, and parenting.