This is the only full week I get between the summer session and the next school year.  You can only imagine all the fun and excitement I enjoyed.  So much relaxing, writing, and . . . If you’ve read my blog long enough, you know my luck doesn’t go that way.  Not when I stay home, so hopefully the father/son trip we’re doing for the next few days will help me regain some energy.

Now, I did make some progress with Darwin & the Deadland Queen. I finished chapter 4 and did the first section of chapter 5.  This required a bunch of stopping mid-chapter and coming back the next day, which I hate.  Part of me feels like the sections are terrible because of this, but I took an evening to look them over.  They aren’t really that bad.  I think one issue I’m having is that people aren’t hoarding information, so Darwin and his companions are able to get answers fairly quickly.  I tried a few times, but I couldn’t come up with any rational reason for people to be standoffish.  I think having a happy, friendly, kind character in the vicinity diffuses people enough that they want to help.  At this point, I think one of Darwin’s unsaid ‘powers’ is putting people at ease and making them want to help.  Up there with Clyde probably having low level telepathy and not noticing.

I’m bringing writing gear for the trip since my son wants to work on his art.  One day is a big outing to a museum while the other is a morning walk through a preserve then a relaxing afternoon.  Torn between trying to work on Darwin & the Deadland Queen or Coven of the Gray.  I’m bringing what I need for both.  Depends on how I’m feeling in the moment.  My goal to finish the first 1/3 of the novel before the school year starts isn’t going to happen, but I think I’m only going to miss it by 1 chapter section.  Maybe I’ll get lucky and I can finish chapter 5 during the 3 days I have between superintendent conference days and kids returning to school.

This all sounds positive, which is good.  Much of the chaos involved custody situations since the whole thing is in ‘flux’.  So, it isn’t easy for me to predict when I’ll have time to write and when I won’t.  Starting to figure out how to juggle everything though. I also had to get ready for school since I go back the day after we return from our trip.  That really just meant a haircut.  Throw car trouble into the mix, which I’m so glad got fixed before we had to leave.  Oh, there was also a major storm that resulted in flooded roads and coastal tornadoes.  I don’t live on the coast, but my son and I didn’t get out of the mall and home before the storm hit.  The weather app told me I had an hour more than I actually did, so it started as we stopped out into the open.  Clearly, we made it home, but one road had me worried because the water was really high due to clogged drains.

Really wasn’t much else to talk about and I’m not planning a ton for next week.  It’s mostly trip and week with only one day to rest.  Plus side is that there isn’t going to be much in the way of Pokemon events going on.  I still plan on going out once a day, but I won’t be pushing hard in the game.  Honestly, I’ve reached a point where I can pull back a bit.  I’m almost at the level 80, which is the highest one right now.  The only issue is that this has become my only exercise.  Might start adding 20-30 minutes of stationary bike into my day if possible.  Not sure if the 10,000+ steps a day AND biking 7-10 miles a day will help with weight loss.  Trying to cut down on what I eat and limiting junk food, but nothing is making a dent.  That’s a hurdle for down the road though.

Goals of the week:

1. Enjoy father/son trip.
2. Work on Darwin & the Deadland Queen.  (I wonder if that title works since his enemy is a King with the Queens being the primary enforcers.  Might have to rethink the title.  It was Queens first and then I dropped the ‘s’.  The story has changed since I made the title.  The problem is that ‘Deadland Queen’ sounds so much better than ‘Deadland King’.)
3. Work on Coven of the Gray.
4. Go back to work.
5. Pokemon Go and biking for exercise.
6. Lego time when I need a screen break.
7. Watch ‘Ride or Die’ on Amazon Prime.  First episode was pretty good.
8. Sleep well.
9. Start thinking about November blog posts?