Nothing more, nothing less...

Yeah, all right. A day of ups and downs. But what day isn’t?

An early morning breeze kept me in bed until 6:00, after that some time at the keyboard followed by a few submissions. Life is a work in progress.

Put together a good afternoon at the gym with the shoulder feeling better and better. Picked up some groceries on the way home, watered the lawn, and that was about it.

Missing the boys. Should have called them this afternoon, but didn’t quite make it. Will talk to Jack tomorrow night (I hope) after his chess lesson. Matt, too.

Not sure where they days go, but go they do.

Looking ahead to a quiet night.

Small doings...

Feels as if I slept-walked through the entire day. Was up early, spent some good time at the keyboard, but didn’t make near as much progress as I’d hoped. Guess it got away from me.

Worked in the yard this afternoon. Picked up some privet and burning bush, but decided not to plant them until the temps fall at least below 90.

Came home and did a little more housekeeping, sending out submissions. With the desktop under the weather, things went slower than usual. Worked off the laptop until the cross referencing got to be too big a pain in the ass.

Sent off a letter to G. this afternoon, testing the waters for the new ms. We’ll see what sort of response it draws. Meanwhile, working on the query letter.

Questions, answers, and the occasional riddle...

Still trying to figure out what happened to last night’s post. Internet’s been patchy at best the last couple of days, and for no decent reason. Might need to have this computer looked over, too.

Early rise to a nice morning. More blue skies. Put in a lot of work at the keyboard, then watched a little pre-season football.

Drove out to Whole Foods early afternoon to pick up some mussels, and few veggies. Home to work the kinks out of the synopsis.

Meant to cut the lawn today, but didn’t. Guess I’ll get around to it tomorrow.

Talked to my sis, M, for a while. Good to catch up. As for the rest of the day, it was lost and I’m not in the mood to go out looking for it. Happy to be where I am.

Hope to send a note to my agent tomorrow and let him know the ms’s available. After that, back to some short fiction for a while.

A pleasant Saturday, in all. Nice to be home alone not worrying about company.

More later.

The short version...

Good day for getting things done.

Worked on the novel edits early, wrote the boys letters, got in a nice workout at the gym, then came home and caught up on few phone calls.

Saw the oral surgeon, too. Says the work is healing well.

Figure to hit it hard tomorrow morning. For now, pizza.

If only...

Quiet day all around.

Didn’t sleep much last night—the neck was sore—but after a fitful early morning, I went out to the cottage to write and managed to make headway on a number of different projects.

After, headed over to the gym and got in a workout.

Weather’s been improving by the day, and hope I don’t have to knock wood saying it. Skies are clearing, and it feels as though fall might be in the air.

Looking to put in a good day tomorrow to get the long manuscript in shape. Would like more than anything to ship it off before the weekend’s out, and wash my hands of it for a while.

A work in progress...

Good day for a Monday.

Up early with some aches and pains, but went to work on the synopsis and got it mostly in place. Also returned a few emails, and did some housekeeping—virtual and actual.

Hit the gym a little after one and got in the best workout I’ve had in a week.

Gonna take it easy tonight, tee some projects up for tomorrow and try to get an early start.

Jeep goes in tomorrow for its first annual checkup. Not expecting anything exciting in the way of a tune-up.

Day after that, Sheila’s Cousin D comes for two days to see to the reburial of their aunt and uncle.

Don’t know what to say to that one.

Suddenly, sunday...

So. Up early.

Finished the latest pass on the book, took in an early movie, chopped down the stump in the back yard and cooked dinner.

Tomorrow, need to catch up with my correspondence. That, and move forward with a few other things. Expecting guests on Tuesday.

That, and a return to hot weather.

Cut the lawn and started with the first fall winterizing.

Looking forward to getting back to the gym tomorrow.

Didn't feel like Saturday until just now...

Long day yesterday.

Woke early this morning and tried to catch up.

Passports are in the mill now, the book is getting closer to where I want it to be, and I’m nearly ready to get back to my projects around the house.

The tooth implant work set me back two days, but I started feeling better toward the end of the week, and even managed a decent cardio workout today. Like to start ramping things up, lifting and skipping rope again. We’ll see how the week goes.

Cool weather blew in last night and stuck around most of the day. Air cleared, too. Things don’t look quite as good as they should, but they’re a damned sight better than they’ve been most of the summer. Not ready for snow yet, but given a choice between that and fire, I’ll take the cold any time.

Taking it easy tonight. Might watch a movie. Or maybe sit outside a while. It’s so nice seeing a blue sky again, you don’t want to take a chance and miss it.

Start to finish...

Yeah. Back again.

Woke early, owing to the surgery, but made the most of the morning just the same. Put in some light revisions on the long manuscript and expect to finish it tomorrow. Saturday at the latest. Was surprised to find it needed as little help as it did, and hope to push it out the door sometime next week. Meanwhile, still trying to fight the good fight.

Had an abridged version of a workout today, avoiding any weights until I’m sure the stitches won’t rupture. Thought I might get back on it tomorrow, but we’ll have to see. Need to make an emergency run to the PO in Woodland park to see the passport papers processed.

Zoomed with the boys a while after Jack’s chess lesson this afternoon. Need to write them both a letter this weekend. Tonight? Same old, same old.

Had a good talk with my buddy S this afternoon.

Got a letter from my other buddy, B, this evening.

Good ways to end the day.

One step closer...

Dead to the world.

Spent the first of the day in an oral surgeon’s office, having phase two of my implant surgery. Rest was a blur. Read little, slept a lot, and managed only the barest of functionings. Face aches like hell. Only good part is, I missed all the smoke and heat.

Tomorrow’s a new one. Hope I can find a way to sleep through the night.

The day's news roundup...

Stayed up late last night watching The Sand Pebbles. Woke early, just the same, and hit the keyboard. Rereading the novel and still feeling pretty good about it. Have some changes and embellishments in mind, but if it keeps going in the right direction, I believe I’ll have it out the door soon.

Heavy rains last night. Happy to have them come. The grass was happy, too, though I can’t say it did much for the air. Thought we might be looking at something close to blue skies this morning, but they were back to being hazy and filled with smoke.

Broke away to the gym around noon, and had a nice workout with my buddy Solomon. After, checked with the Credit Union on the status of my HSA, picked up a prescription at Walgreens, and brought home some salmon fillets for tonight’s dinner.

Oral surgery tomorrow. Implant post. Will still be months before the dentist can replace the broken tooth, but at least we’re on our way.

Had a dream about Mom the night before last. She was "doing her hoola-hoop routine” before turning in for the night. My subconscious me didn’t even blink. It sounded just like her. God bless you, Mom, wherever you are.

Trying not to think about the rest...

Tuning back up.

Light day at the keyboard, but productive nonetheless. Managed a little of everything before taking care of the chores around the house.

Got in some grocery shopping, stopped by the gym for a quick workout, then home again to cut the lawn and douse it in Revive.

Nice day today. Nicer than most, lately. Sky opened to a light shade of blue, you could see the mountains for the first time in thirty-some days, and if I’m not entirely mistaken there were no air quality alerts.

Still sifting through the rest.

Got our passport photos today. So one more thing to chalk off the to-do list. Applications next. That, and wrangle up my old passport.

Meanwhile, a nice shrimp and corn dinner.

Weathering the weather, and more...

Neighbors home today from their summer-long camping trip. Place is jumping with kids again.

Put in some good work early on getting the synopsis in order. Did a little work on the new story, too, then headed out to the gym to try and blow off steam.

Drove Kit out to the vet to have his blood drawn, then came home and made a brief excursion to Starbucks for an iced tea. No word yet from the vet. Guess we won’t hear anything until tomorrow.

Have an early trip to Denver tomorrow, and not sure what time we’ll be back. Glad it’s Friday, and we’ll have the weekend to sort out whatever news we get.

Was my uncle’s 90th birthday yesterday. Left him a message. Today is Matty’s 5th, which is equally difficult to believe, though in a completely different way.

Weather still sucks, but don’t expect it to change anytime soon. Sounds as if we won’t see truly blue skies again until late September.

Yeah, that's right...

Did some okay things today, at the keyboard and otherwise.

Also got in a decent workout at the gym.

Weather still’s awful, but I think it’s going to be that way for a while. At least until the weekend when the temps are supposed to drop into the 80s.

Talked to my sis, Moya, this afternoon. Got some writing done as well.

Neighbors come home tomorrow—with their four children. Sigh. It’s been a long summer.

Dog days, indeed...

Spent the early morning writing, the afternoon at the Broadmoor with my buddy, George. Got in a short workout around noon. Thought maybe I’d make more of the time I had in front of me, but will take what I got and call it even.

Weather was suppose to have improved today. What I came across were more smoke-filled skies and temps close to one hundred. Again, looking forward to fall.

It’s only Tuesday, so there’s still time to salvage the week. Guess we’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Of time and memory...

Mom’s dead a year today. Hard to believe. Still have moments of thinking I’ll call or write her, only to remember she isn’t around anymore. What a lovely, irrepressible soul.

Wrote well today, though I didn’t make it as far as I’d hoped. Still, good work, even in limited supply, is a thing to be enjoyed.

Put in some quality time today at the gym. More than usual. Felt good to be creeping back into my old routine. If I can make it a few weeks without getting derailed, who knows, maybe I can make up ground on the surgical shoulder? Not sure the bicep will ever look right again, but maybe I’ll get lucky there, too.

Skies came back a bit today. Not a lot, but enough to notice a difference. Meanwhile, every national headline is about global warming. Can’t help but worry what sort of world we’re bequeathing to our grandsons.

Drinks with G tomorrow at the Broadmoor, a small celebration of his TV series, SurrealEstate. Looking forward to seeing him again. Been too long.

Figure to get back to work on the synopsis tomorrow. Get the reader draft of “Cold Cocked” in line. Busy week. Lots in front of me.

Living the burn...

Read Denver’s air quality was the second worst in the world, just behind Beijing. Air currents are pushing the smoke directly into our faces.

Despite the weather, I did manage some good edits, and even wrote a rough draft of the synopsis of my new novel.

Depressing skies, but nothing to do about them.

Glad I have a diversion or two.

Shared a brief FaceTime with the boys this morning, but they were distracted and it didn’t last long. Matty’s birthday this week. Big doings. Look forward to catching up again, maybe spending a little more time with him.

Hid out in a movie theatre this afternoon to escape the smoke. Probably have to do the same next week. With the asthma, surprised I can breathe at all.

Saturday evening, 5:43...

Restless night, early rise, and another dreary, smoky day. Air quality alerts in effect early on. Sky an ugly blue-brown. Been trying hard not to wish the summer away, but have finally given up. Fall can’t get here soon enough.

Managed some good edits this morning and think I’m ready to push back into the novel. Would like to finish the short story I’m working on first, but it might be better to work on the pieces simultaneously. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow morning.

Busy week coming up, including a trip to the vet for Kit. I’ll be interested in seeing where his blood work stands now that he’s gone through his first regimen of thyroid medications.

Meanwhile, we soldier on.