Hate to admit that I wasn’t able to get any writing done once the week started.  Finished chapter 4 of Darwin & the Joy Path and that was it.  I had hoped to start on chapter 5, especially after things took a weird turn.  I couldn’t muster the energy after work on the days I didn’t have my son.  Tried to work on the ‘Phi Beta Files’ too, but I could only stare at the notebook for about an hour before I realized I was still awake.  Yeah, it wasn’t my greatest week as an author.

This also throws me off for today.  While it is my weekend, I don’t have my son today, so I could do some writing.  At best, I can do the first two sections of chapter 5, but I might only get one done.  The reason for that is because I do want to get fresh air, errands, and Pokemon in before my son is back.  We also have a Nor’easter hitting late tonight and lasting until Tuesday morning.  Figures that this bastard of a storm hits exactly when I get my son and leaves right when we’re back at school.  I try not to take this personally, but this seems to always happen to me.

An alternative to working on Darwin & the Joy Path is tinkering with ‘Phi Beta Files’ a bit.  I keep trying at work, but I never have a moment where I’m alone.  Feels rude to put on my headphones and write, which is weird because I have no problem reading.  Guess it’s less of a jolt to put down a manga than a pencil when someone decides to start talking to me.  Anyway, I have to consider this idea since the rain is only taking off on Tuesday and will be back for the rest of the week.  That means, I could get writing in on some weeknights because I can’t do much outside of the house when the roads are turning into rivers.

I have to admit that there’s another reason I couldn’t get to the book.  A character who was supposed to be a secret enemy traveling with Darwin and friend lost the secret thing.  I don’t know why I thought this jerk could turn anyone against Darwin, especially an established friend.  Funny thing is that while Darwin knows he’s not a good person, he is still working with him since they’re stuck together.  The naivety is rising up since he figures them being in the same situation and wanting to reach the same goal means they are going to be decent allies.  I still need to stare at the ceiling fan and consider how this is going to work as the story progresses.

In other news, I finished all of my Lego sets and posted most of them on my Instagram.  I have a pile of jigsaw puzzles that I’ll start in on when the time comes.  Right now, I’m just so tired because work was crazy.  Things on the parenting front was crazy too.  I don’t think I had a single day where I wasn’t crawling into bed due to stress and exhaustion.  It wasn’t even like I was getting bad sleep.  Yet, I hit the snooze 3 times yesterday morning when I hit it maybe once while still getting out bed.  Maybe the weather going from warm to chilly is draining me.

Another event that I have to tackle is my son having a fundraiser for a big school trip to Disney World.  It’s with the chorus, so they will get to perform too.  The method is strange since I’m used to chocolate and candle sales.  Apparently, those only net the students 40-60% of the money for whatever they are trying to do.  This thing called ‘Snap! Raise’ gives them 80%.  You apparently collect email addresses of people who are sent donation codes or links.  This allows the person to donate, but they can also post the codes/links on their social media to get others to do so.  We have to get the list by Tuesday and then we’ll figure out how this works.

I’m wondering if it’s a good idea to post the code/link on my blog or just stick with Facebook.  This feels risky since it’s so public and the post will stay out there long after the fundraising is done.  Yet, it could probably reach more people than my Facebook page can do since I rarely get interactions there.  Can’t say I’m surprised about the use of social media, but it certainly favors people who are highly active.  Honestly, I’ll be happy if this can shave off even $100 from the final amount that I have to pay.

Next week is going to be messy due to the weather.  It does look like the storm is mostly stopping by Tuesday afternoon, which means I can risk the lingering cold on Wednesday and Thursday.  That would mean no writing until the weekend.  Needing to go to bed so early to have energy for work really kills my evenings.  We’ll have to play a bunch by ear going forward.  For all I know, I’ll get to do some book writing on Monday when the storm is at its worst and my son decides to work on his own stuff.  Don’t we love how we can’t plan things due to weather or the machinations of other people.

Goals of the week:

1. Sleep!
2. Parenting.
3. Work on Darwin & the Joy Path.
4. Stay dry.
5. Stay warm.
6. Stay sane.
7. Tinker with ‘Phi Beta Files’.
8. December posts.
9. Accept that the rock songs I grew up with are now part of a 4-CD classic rock set, which I still can’t bring myself to buy.