I feel a little foolish here.  After going on about how I was going to get chapter 3 of Darwin & the Joy Path done this weekend, I realized on Thursday that I should probably focus on something else.  I’m also writing this post on Thursday, so I have no idea what befell me on Friday.  My allergies have been killing me and ‘colds’ have been flying through the school, so I could have been home sick for all I know at this point.  It really doesn’t matter.

My focus for the weekend is going to be my son’s Halloween costume.  All of the parts, except for the smile stickers, are here.  I might need to get more yellow card stock and find pink fluff, but that shouldn’t be an issue.  It’s entirely possible for me to finish the whole thing this weekend even with 1-2 Pokemon Go outings.  This means I will have to sacrifice a weekend of writing, but I think it’s worth it.  The alternative would be to attempt both and risk not having the costume ready.  I can’t work in my room like last year too because this isn’t sewing.  It’s iron on vinyl, spray paint, gorilla glue, and hot glue to put this thing together.  Oh, I need some white fabric to make a decal and I can color it in using the fabric markers.  Busy, busy, busy.

For anyone who thinks this is silly, I did a lot of thinking about this situation.  My son is 16 and this could be the last Halloween costume he asks me to make.  At the very least, next year will be that, which means I won’t be able to do this much longer.  It was always fun and I loved seeing him show off his costume on Halloween and at the local anime convention in the spring.  This whole thing is a reminder that he’s going to be grown up and not needing me as much in only a few years.  I’ll have more time to do my own thing, but there will be a sense of loss for a bit.  Parents need to let go to some extent, so I’m bracing myself.

I think I need a weekend away from a screen and doing something new too.  This week was a lot of work and resting in front of the TV since my pollen allergies were killing me.  I had to start every day with Claritin, nasal spray, Dayquil, and a hot shower to get my head to functional levels.  Even then, I usually didn’t feel human until mid-afternoon and was exhausted soon after that.  Kind of typical for this time of year, but I will admit this week was exceptionally brutal.  Barely did any Pokemon due to appointments too, so that couldn’t have made it worse.  Staying in the house and being productive after such a week will be good for my mental health.

Next week is going to be a little wild too.  We have off on Tuesday and Wednesday for Rosh Hashana, so school will go quickly.  I have my son for it and family is coming over, so I won’t be able to use any of that time for writing.  That’s fine.  Same goes for next weekend since I have my son, but I will probably have a little finishing work on the costume.  That means, I will be able to confidently do more writing in 2 weeks.  I might be able to squeeze a little in on Wednesday night after my son goes with his mom or even Thursday if I don’t feel like taking a walk after work.  Playing it by ear, especially since work is going to be getting busier around the same time.

Without going into details, work has been different this year.  The days will start going by faster when we are back at community work sites, but the vibe in the room is different as well.  Each student is being faced with a new challenge and we’re assisting them all at the same time.  Some days, I feel like I’m being a combo TA, cheerleader, teacher, therapist, butler, stress ball, and I’m sure there are other things.  Somebody asked me how I stay calm when things are crazy and . . . I had no answer.  Just kind of happens now with a few hiccups since I have my personal life stress keeping me at a mild boil at all times.  Yeah, that arena isn’t improving.

I did come close to figuring out that thief guild story.  I was leaning towards the ‘enemy’ group really being one person who summons other beings that they’ve tricked into contracts.  The ‘hero’ side are the ones who got screwed over since they refused the contracts.  I still want them to race each other for the legendary treasure vault, but I might add that there is a relic with the power to undo all of the contracts.  I think I’m going to be going with 8 heroes with a 9th appearing in the second book/short story collection.  I could drop one of the 8 into a supporting role as well.  7-9 heroes each with their one essential role sounds like it would work without much cluttering.  War of Nytefall had around that amount and worked out.

Goals of the week:

1. Made major progress or complete Halloween costume.
2. Rest to recover from allergies.
3. Buy more Claritin.
4. Legos when I need a break.
5. Work on December blog posts.
6. Movie with son during holiday.
7. Try to write one section of Darwin & the Joy Path.
8. Notebook work!
9. Sleep more for extra recovery.