It was cold!

I know it’s not a good idea to start with the weather, but that was a heavy influence on how the week went.  Temps were primarily in maybe the 20’s, but dropped into single digits a few times.  The reason is the wind coming down from the arctic, which is making my face and new scar hurting.  We had some flurries to start 2026, but that happened after my son and I got home.  Still, not being able to go outside for very long really limited what we were able to do.  Not that we planned much, but it means physical activity wasn’t happening, especially since I got a full thumbs up on Monday in regards to my recovery.  Shame I couldn’t celebrate with a walk in around the park.

Writing happened, but I came a single chapter section short when it came to Darwin & the Joy Path.  Last weekend saw me come close, but the cold and some stressors tired me out too fast to finish chapter 12.  I thought I would have a chance to do so during the week, but things happened.  Basically, I had my son for the day I thought he would be busy, so we did our usual Pokemon Go, anime with lunch, and video games, which meant no writing.  To be fair, we were both exhausted from being up late, so I used my energy to get cleaning done instead.

Thankfully, the chapter section is an easy one to get back into since it’s the wrap up action after a big event.  My notes were a mess for the big challenge too, which added to me not getting more done last Sunday.  It didn’t help that I focused on a character who wasn’t the one to solve the problem.  I had been focusing on him for the entire chapter, so I wanted to keep that going.  This meant, I had to figure out how have the problem get solved by someone else through his perspective.  Couldn’t have it come out of nowhere, so I had to repeatedly get up to pace and think.  Overall, I believe I got it to work.

‘Phi Beta Files’ are still an outline challenge that I haven’t been able to touch much.  I’m really going to bed soon after my son does.  This gives me about 15 minutes to look over the notes while listening to music.  The plus side is that I have this book mostly set up in terms of stories, but I don’t have them in order.  This might be an issue with writing books where its short stories, which both stand alone and carry the main plot.  No idea why I had no issues with this when I outlined the first book a year ago.  Was it because it was the start, so I had no pre-existing threads?

This weekend is a little cluttered with getting things ready for school and work starting up again on Monday.  Haircuts, lunch food, making sure all homework is done, laundry, and getting back on sleep schedules are important.  Time with my son is really important too because February is going to be rough.  With the way Winter Break is split, there is always a high chance of me only getting 1 of the 4 weekends instead of it being even.  This is one of those years, so I want to cherish the time I get.  Guess I’ll add this to another reason I’m stressed and not enjoying my existence.  Really drives home that I’ll have effectively missed half of my son’s life for a decade once this is over.  Probably more given how this agreement operates in real life, but nothing can be done there.

Next week will be a little warmer with high 30’s on Tuesday and maybe getting into the low 50’s by the weekend.  Doubt I can do a park walk until Wednesday, but you never know since I have my cold weather clothes.  As I said, the scar I have is still sensitive, so the low temps make it itchy and ache a bit.  The location prevents me from wearing one of my cold weather clothes, but I might try it this week.  I really need fresh air and exercise to help with my stress, which has returned to levels where I get 2 am panic attacks.  Though, a lot of crap getting thrown my way isn’t helping.  2026 really isn’t feeling any different than 2025.  Such is my life for a while.

Not as down as I sound.  Just tired and not hiding the fact that I have to deal with a lot of emotional battering.  It comes from certain entities who are more interested in causing pain and winning faux battles than making things easy.  I mean, knowing I was in the hospital didn’t even stop some of them from continuing their stress-inducing antics from afar.  That really taught me how these people will never change and I simply have to endure them until the leopards come for their faces.  Just wish those spotted karma deliverers would work faster, but it’ll have to happen some day.

Goals of the week?

1. Time with son.  (Trying to watch older movies if time allows.)
2. Haircuts.
3. Return to work.
4. Put together vodka sauce lasagna to cook tomorrow.
5. Write more Darwin & the Joy Path if possible this week.
6. Exercise with Pokemon Go when weather good.
7. Work on ‘Phi Beta Files’.
8. Puzzle time to relax before bed.
9. Get extra sleep on Sunday to prepare for the week.
10. Continue dealing with unrepented narcissists who I can’t be rid of.