So, I put an update at the bottom of last week’s post saying that a life event was going to derail my plans.  This resulted in me getting no writing done beyond what I wrote before the event started on Friday evening and what I wrote last night.  That means only 2 sections of Darwin & the Beast Collector is done.  No notebook work or much in the way of blog posts.  That doesn’t give me much to work with here.

First, I should point out that the school year started for me on Tuesday.  It was two days of getting ready and then two days of having our students.  Everything feels so surreal, which is the norm for me during the first week.  The life event probably isn’t helping since I keep having a sense that I’m viewing myself from outside of my body.  All I can really say about the school year is that I love my schedule, have great coworkers, and there is a nice flow of energy so far.  Let’s see if that remains once things get out of the honeymoon stage that every school year starts with.

Second, I finally got my consultation done for sleep apnea.  The home test will be sent to me by mail and then I send it back.  Went through a few tests to make sure my lungs were healthy and they passed without any issues.  This doctor was curious as to why I was given an oral device instead of a CPAP machine if I supposedly had severe sleep apnea.  Either it’s gotten worse over the years or I refused it because I thought it would keep my wife awake.  Well, that’s not a problem anymore, so bring on the machine if need be.

I should add that my blood pressure was normal during this visit too.  My weight is still bouncing around.  Went down to 221 over the weekend because I was pacing almost constantly and not eating much until Sunday night.  It’s around 224/225 now.  Need to get back into biking since I can’t spend 5 hours a day walking around a park.  Just have to do 4-5 miles a day, which shouldn’t be too bad.

Now for the big stuff:

Well, I still can’t talk about it.  Those who contacted me in private know the basics and understand why this is going to be kept secret.  If there is ever a time when I can reveal the life event that has me stressed, I will do so.   For now, it’s going to be commandeering a lot of my attention and sanity.  Hopefully, I can still get enough writing done.  Publishing the first Darwin Slepsnor story is going to be a ways off anyway, so I don’t have to worry about deadlines.

I’m still reeling from what’s going on and having trouble wrapping my head around all of the events.  Last Friday, I ended up talking with nearly all of my friends about what’s going on.  Several called after I texted them while others I called first.  Many checked in on me by text on Saturday and I made contact with others throughout the weekend as I started to calm down.  The weekend was supposed to be about writing, but was more about trying to get my head together for the school year.

One of my best friends ended up coming out Saturday morning to spend the weekend since my parents were away and my son was with his mom.  He didn’t want me to be stewing alone in the house and I’m thankful for that.  The two of us always start joking around, so it cheered me up nearly right away.  It helps that we’re prone to memorable comedic moments that lighten the mood.  This time it was getting off at the wrong station, which gave me the first real laugh and distraction of the weekend.  All we did was watch an anime called ‘Desert Punk’, talk about the life event, and play ‘Hyrule Warriors’ and ‘Super Smash Bros’.  Stayed up later than expected, but worth it.  Made it so that I didn’t crumble as much on Monday night when I was all alone and having to get ready for work.

Sunday night was fun too.  My friend and I were invited to my other friend’s place to have a few drinks around the fire in his backyard.  These were the two who took me out to relax right after the divorce started, so it was nice to be among them again.  It’s a fun combination too.  Both of these guys have been like brothers to me with the homeowner knowing me since 1st grade and the visiting friend being my first college roommate.  So, I was telling high school stories with one friend and college stories with the other.  We talked about a whole bunch of stuff and goofed off while enjoying the fire as well as sippy cups of wine.  I didn’t drink a lot since I had to drive, but it was good to go out and relax with friends.  The three of us definitely had a blast . . . Well, there was technically four of us:

The 4th Musketeer?

Yeah.  A possum was climbing around the fence and went up into a tree.  It came back down a few hours later and was staring at us as if it couldn’t believe we were still in the backyard.  Possums symbolize light, hope, and good luck.  Maybe that’s a good sign for me.

This week is my son’s first one of school and my first one with all of our students.  So, that’s going to be my focus.  We’re hoping to go apple picking next Saturday and then some Pokemon Go.  I’m doubting he will have much in the way of homework after the first week, but we’ll see.  You never know.  As far as writing goes, I will try to get more November posts done as well as 2 chapters of Darwin & the Beast Collector done at least.  The original plan was getting 5 chapters done by the end of Labor Day, but that’s not in the cards.  Just going to keep limping along.

Goals of the week?

1. Emotionally and physically recover.
2. Make important decisions.
3. Help my son get ready and adapt to high school.
4. Enjoy my time at work.
5. Start making chopped salads for lunch.  (How long can salads survive in a fridge?)
6. Daily biking.
7. Write more of Darwin & the Beast Collector
8. Work on November blog posts
9. Find a new manga series to read.  Maybe ‘Fairy Tail’.