Waiting on Ms. Bobbie...

Man. Hot and humid today. Got a late start this morning, shanghiad by neighbors while drinking coffee on the front porch. Put in some mid-morning soccer training with young J, then came home and read a bit. So hot, had to take a nap.

Woke up and went out to the cottage to spend some time at the keyboard. Got news mom left Albuquerque late afternoon, and don't expect her until well after eight. So much for the salmon dinner I was supposed to grill.

Happy with the edits I've been able to manage on the new ms. Went back to basics and kept the narrative and plotline straightforward. Temporal problems seem to have disappeared. Need a couple more long passes at the piece, but think it'll come together nicely once I'm finished.

In one of those places. Cabin fever? Anyway, happy to have had a good day writing. That makes up for a multitude of sins.

Breathing out...

Good finish to the week. Progress made at the keyboard, cold momentarily averted, and shed doors arrived. Also managed a trip to the gym and a nice visit with the boys across the street.

Went online at some point to try and score a new fishing license, but the whole operation turned out to be more cumbersome than it should have and I wound up aborting it. Hate to say it, but it's still easier to drop over to Angler's Covey and do it the old fashioned way. Gonna make a point of it tomorrow.

Home alone tonight. Missed out on tickets to "Man of La Mancha." Figure to get some reading done instead. Might go to bed early and start a new book.

Got my mojo working...again...I think...

Looks like nineties for the rest of the week. Summertime...and the living's easy. Well, maybe not easy, but not particularly burdensome either. It just is what it is.

Out the door for an early walk through the neighborhood, then home for coffee on the back patio and time at the keyboard. Worked new material into an old ms. Have to wait and see whether it was an improvement.

K and J dropped by around noon. Had a chance to do a little visiting. Put in more time at the keyboard after everyone left, but eventually threw in the towel and went off to the gym.

Downed the last of the antibiotics today, but felt a strange foreboding hearing neighbors on both sides of us hacking like walruses. Bad summer colds going around. God...oh, God, don't. Just don't. I can't get sick again. Please.

 

 

Small goings on...

Up a little later than usual this morning. No matter. Got a good start at the keyboard, plugging away until just after noon when I took a break and went to Starbuck's for cup of joe. 

Warm day, today, but it came along with a nice steady breeze that kept everything cool. Worked with the cottage door open until the neighbor started in with his leaf blower. Got in final revisions on "Love Triangle" and "If Wishes Were Horses." Gonna let them both sit a while before shipping them off. Doesn't make much difference this time of year, anyway. Schools are out on break and the rest of the literary world is on vacation.

K coming to dinner tonight. Burgers on the grill. Mom rolls in on Saturday, stays the night and heads up to Wyoming the next morning.

Life...how and what is it?

Up a 6:30 for another mile and a half walk. Beautiful morning. Cool, unlike yesterday.

Took care of some chores around the house, then sent off an early draft of the new commercial project I've been working on.

Got a surprise text my brother's in town. Had lunch with him at Noodles, caught up on the latest, said goodbye, and put in another half hour at the keyboard before taking off to the gym. Weird. Been working out as hard as ever, but seem to be losing energy. Got two days of antibiotics left in the poke, and after that I hope I'm looking at blue sky for a while.

Aphids on the roses. Gonna turn a bag of ladybugs loose on them after the sun goes down.

Tired again tonight. No accounting for it other than decrepitude.

Feeling the heat...

Went at it hard this morning. Up by six-thirty, out for a mile and half walk, then off to the cottage to put in some time at the keyboard. Got some good concepts together for the new project. Should be able to ship everything off before noon tomorrow.

Wind came up, but it felt good. Not sure what the temp topped out at today, but don't think it reached the nineties. Anyway, good day to work. At least until the Internet started crashing. Got stymied mid day and headed out for the gym. Got a haircut first. Felt good to lose some of the old topknot.

New issues of the Pikeville Review came in the mail. Look good. My story, "Eternity, Revisited" is in it. Last of the recent acceptances. Need to get a jump on copies. Submissions, too.

Feeling a little slow today and can't imagine why. The heat, I guess. No matter. Just going to soldier on and enjoy what's in front of me.

Chores and more...

Overcast and muggy early morning. Went off to the cottage to re-read the last draft of "Love Triangle." Pretty happy with what I have.  Quit while ahead and set to planting the last of the roses in the front flower bed. Cut and edged my lawn(s), swept the walks, then took a short break to buy a new hose at Lowes. Came back and teak oiled the settee and firewood caddy in the back yard. Thought I was gonna get away clean, but found myself host to couple of little visitors and am just now heading off to the showers.

Glad to have the yardvwork in order. Who knows, I may get to loaf around the house one of these days, enjoying my handiwork.

Mom comes again next Friday, on her way up to Wyoming. Just an overnight, but looking forward to catching up again.

Days have been speeding by, and I need to find a way to drag my feet and slow them down. I like being busy--it keeps my mind from running riot--but I'd like to settle in and just enjoy a day or two doing nothing.

Skies cleared up late this afternoon. Quite pleasant at the moment. Humidity's gone and there's a light breeze blowing in.

Hot town, summer in the city...

Summer showed up today with a vengeance. Temps rose early and settled into the nineties by noon. 

Went to the park this morning for some organized pee-wee soccer. Had a good time with the boys. Came home, read, and took a nap. Later, went grocery shopping. Serious grocery shopping. Haven't done that in a while. Gonna lay low tonight until the air cools. Maybe get in some more reading.

Slow day today. Seems like I spent most of it daydreaming.

 

Processing...

Well. Spent the better part of the morning trying to link a PayPal account to a bank account. You know you're in for a long day when the bank employee tells you to call PayPal for tech support.

Spent the night before on my knees in the bathroom, retching. Couldn't figure that one, but it felt like food poisoning.

Worked on the new commercial stuff when I wasn't otherwise occupied, then forced myself to the gym to blow off steam.

Dinner with S's partner J tonight. Soccer match tomorrow. Gonna try and get some rest in the meantime.

Working off of fumes...

Rotten night's sleep, but up early anyway. Walked a mile and a half first thing, then home for coffee and work at the keyboard. Did a quick read-through of the new manuscript and decided, yeah, it's okay. Gonna let it rest five or six days before going in for another edit. Meanwhile, time to resurrect "Love Triangle" and maybe get it in the mail. 

Spent the early afternoon on research. Noodling a few concepts for new clients. Felt good to jump back into the commercial work. Hope it continues to come. Enjoy working with people who understand what the game's about and actually want to accomplish something. Makes the whole process a lot more enjoyable.

Hit the gym late afternoon, but felt it in those late-in-the-week ways when everything's catching up with you.

Met the new twins across the street this evening. What beautiful babies. Can't imagine what it's like looking after four small ones at once, twenty-four seven. That's a job that takes youth and fortitude. Looking after four kitties is a much easier time.

 

Small victories...

Been drifting along for a few days, working and hoping for the best, trying not to think too hard. Paid off this morning when I came to the end of my new story, "If Wishes Were Horses." Believe I've got something good with this one.

Truck was towed into the shop this morning. Let's hope the mechanic's bill won't put me in the poor house. Got the laptop back yesterday, a new battery all it took to fix it. That and a pocketful of cash. Need to start thinking ahead, budgeting for new technology. It keeps getting cheaper, but so do my clients so I've got to find some middle ground.

Sunny this morning, rain this afternoon. All in all a pleasant day. Weather people are calling for temps in in the high eighties and low nineties come end of week. Looks like it's time to uncover the AC.

Midway through June come the weekend. Hard to imagine.

 

 

Walking out...

Haven't traveled more than a few miles from home for months now. Starting to make me crazy.

Cut the lawn(s) today. Everything still looks good owing to the rain. Steve finished the shed late this afternoon, so it's time for the great move of garden equipment from the garage to the side of the house. Mercifully, the annual neighborhood garage sale is just around the corner, too. Like it says in Ecclesiastes, a time to live, a time to divest.

Worked hard on the new manuscript today, but haven't quite managed a reader draft. New images and words keep popping up during each reading. Have a good feeling about this one. Trying to walk the line between holding on because there's more to explore, and holding on because I can't let go.

More later. 

 

A do-over kind of day...

Lots of street traffic tonight. Birthday party or something going on next door. 

Nice day today, and probably should have gotten out and done something worthwhile. Instead, plowed ahead with revisions on the new story. Was interrupted by the carpenter somewhere around ten, who informed me the next door neighbors were whining about the noise. Need to write a story about these losers someday. They take the cake for being selfish.

Ended up going to a movie.

I don't know. Things just feel clunky. Gonna try and get back on track tomorrow.

Typical working Saturday...

Up early. Knocked out a few lines at the keyboard while the carpenter framed out the new tool shed on the west side of the house. Worked until just afternoon, then went off running errands. Lowes, the nursery, the grocery store, liquor store. Finished the trellis work over the bay window, too. Hoping to set the trumpet vine on a southeastward migration. We'll see how it fares.

Read the new Sherman Alexie story "Clean, Cleaner, Cleanest" in this week's NYer, and enjoyed it. Whole issue's devoted to "labor." Richard Ford's joint is next up. 

Long day's journey into illness...

Today. Did nothing, had nothing. Slept a few hours last night, and spent the rest trying to buy a lungful of air from whoever or whatever might be selling. Went to the doc mid-morning and got a new RX for antibiotics and steroids. Crud. Back to that again. Feeling like hammered sh!@#$%t. Gonna hit the rack early tonight, hope for some improvement.  

Almost June...

Feels like a long week already. Sinus infection isn't helping, though I'm sure that's only part of the problem.

Frank Deford died yesterday. Been a bad week for writers. Listened to him on NPR for years and always enjoyed his take on things. Gonna miss his voice.

Worked on revisions most of the morning. Interrupted by tech badness toward noon and went off to Starbucks in search of a latte. Ironically, came home exhausted. Wrote a little, then went off to the gym and grocery store. Uneventful day. Quiet day.

Upside is, it rained again. Grass looks good, and the trees are starting to leaf out.

Doesn't feel like a Sunday...

Up and writing by 6:30. Reached the end of a new draft before noon. Have what, now? Three ready to go out soon? Sounds more productive than it's felt, but I'll take whatever comes my way. 

Off to Lowe's at noon. Picked up fourteen bags of concrete for the tool shed pad on the west side of the house. Mixed and poured it, finished it, then went off to the gym for a light workout.

Stopped to check out the truck, and on a whim tried starting it. Don't know how or why but it turned over and I was able to coax it home, though I wasn't sure I'd make it all the way. Gotta check it in with Stanley after the weekend. Have them run some diagnostics. Ninety percent certain whatever happened yesterday is going to happen again.

Dinner at K's tonight. Saw a rhubarb pie go into the oven. Not sure what sort of main course we're looking at, but the pie may have rendered it superfluous. Guess we'll see.

Waiting for a winner...

Had a strong urge to drive down to Bighorn Sheep Canyon and do some fishing this morning. But bad weather moved in, so stayed home and worked on a new story instead. Turned out to be the smart decision. Went to the grocery store and the truck died. Gonna be staring at a towing bill for sure, but at least it won't be from Parkdale to Canon City. God? If you're listening? This would be a really good time for me to win the lottery. Doesn't have to be the Powerball, okay. Lotto will do fine. But something, anything.

 

Comings, goings, and all the rest...

Denis Johnson died yesterday of liver failure. Can't put into words how bad I feel about that one. Great admirer of his work. Gonna miss his voice.

Some good drafting this morning after an early walk. Then a bit of cleanup across the street with the shop vac. Plumbing issues.

Wrote a bit more, then went off to the gym for a long, leisurely workout. Wound down with a jaunt to the grocery store.

Not much of a day on paper, but it had its moments. Feeling better than I have in a couple of days. Stronger. Hope it lasts.