Posted on

Journal Entry

It was a really busy week, last week. Some of the highlights have shown up already on T–‘s and N–‘s blogs, but I feel like I’ve got to fill out the form, anyway.

Tuesday, September 18th
Tuesday morning I had a doctor’s appointment. I’ve been getting high blood pressure readings for about a year now (ever since I learned about AB, really), and it got to the point where people were threatening me with sad faces if I didn’t go get checked out.

So I told my boss I needed the morning off, and that I’d maybe take the whole day. My appointment wasn’t until 9:00, though, so I was looking forward to sleeping in. At 6:30, T– came crashing through the bedroom door with a screaming AB and said, “Here, hold her for me while I get a rag.”

I sat up, grabbed the baby, and noticed all the blood pouring out of her mouth. She had fallen while playing in the living room, and somehow ripped that bit of skin connecting the upper lip to the gums, and it was bleeding like crazy. I got her to calm down while I was holding her, and then T– got her cleaned up, but she spent all day going through that cycle. She’d chew on a toy or suck on a pacifier and it would start bleeding again, and she’d start crying and make a huge mess, and then we’d calm her down and try to get the bleeding to stop.

Really, it wasn’t that big of a deal, but it was a lot of work, for both of us. So, yeah, I ended up taking the whole day off. I did go in for my appointment, though, which happened to be during the worst time for T–. But, y’know, what can you do?

Doc said I looked good apart from the blood pressure, and gave me a month’s worth of samples for a BP medicine that he said (and N– confirmed) is a really good one. I’ll probably be on it for a couple years, if not for life, but it’s supposed to be really helpful.

And, while we’re dealing with AB troubles all day, we also know we’ve got the marriage class to go to that evening. Last week’s was a tough one, discussing all the things each of us do that hurt the other. Not fun to discuss, not even fun to think about. We both had a lot of trouble getting motivated to do the homework, and we’d kind of put it all off to do during the day Tuesday. Instead, we spent the day chasing the baby, so we were really unprepared for class.

Anyway, right around 5:00, K– and N– called and offered to bring over dinner. That was fun, and brightened up my afternoon considerably. We had fajitas from Taco Cabana, and chilled for a few, then headed up to the church when D– showed up to watch the baby.

I had an uncomfortable experience in class that night, over some confusion as to how “voluntary” the sharing portion of the class was. Turns out, it’s not voluntary, but by the time I learned that, I was in a pretty embarrassing situation, with a big ol’ spotlight on me. That sucked. Anyway, at least now I know for future classes.

I’m glad we went to that class, though. Out of all of them, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the most valuable one we do, because it was good to hear everybody talking about the difficulty they had with the homework, and discussing such things. That was definitely worth being there for.

Wednesday, September 19th
Wednesday night, K– and D– and I went to the movies. We’d talked about going to see Dragon Wars and/or Shoot ’em Up. Then we learned that Dragon Wars was a Korean-made, low-budget cheese fest, and decided to save our eight bucks (which probably is code for “go see it when D–‘s not around to make fun of us”). So, Shoot ’em Up it was.

B– and E– should get it and watch it on DVD, when it comes out (unless they have a strong desire to see it apart from my recommendation). As for everyone else…I can’t think of another human being I could recommend that movie to. K– and D– both enjoyed it, but….yeah. It’s ludicrous. It’s absurd, and probably the most violent movie I’ve ever seen. Crass, out the ass. But it was fun.

After the movie, around 9:30, we came out of the mall to find K–‘s driver-side window smashed out. Someone was probably trying to go for the GPS unit mounted on his windshield, and spooked when his car alarm went off, because there was nothing missing from the car. But, yeah, whoever did it won’t be caught, so K– is stuck with a $150 glass bill. The security guard who filled out the paperwork on it said he’d had a lot of windows broken out, in his time, and recommended a particular repair crew. K– got them out to his place Thursday night, and got that taken care of. Ugh.

Thursday, September 20th
Thursday night we had the church picnic. They claim to do one every month in the summer, but I don’t think it actually happens that often. Anyway, T– heard about this one and I didn’t have any good excuses to get out of it, so we went out to a private park across town around 6:30, and had some pot luck. T– was kind enough to make me a sandwich beforehand, so I wasn’t entirely at the mercy of the old church ladies’ cooking.

In addition to pot luck, the theme for the dinner was “Pie Contest!” (The exclamation mark is part of the title, not my own.) T– baked two apple crumble pies for the event (blogged on her MySpace), and they were amazingly delicious. I’m not a constant fan of fruit pies of any sort, but this one was awesome. It could be the massive quantity of brown sugar melted over the top that won me over. I’m no food critic, but that strikes me as a winning combination.

Anyway, I tried about seven pies. Everybody voted, and they said we’d learn the results on Sunday. So, for narrative reasons, I’ll save that information until I write about Sunday. HaHA! Building a little suspense in the ol’ blog, I am. A writer practices good writing techniques, always. That’s the rule. But, yeah, anyone who’s read T–‘s MySpace already knows the answer. And pretty much anyone who knows her.

Friday, September 21st
For reasons inexplicable, Friday night was the OU game. I know, I know, they’re a college team, but yeah…they played on Friday night. Against Tulsa, who was supposed to have a pretty good passing offense. Nobody was worried, but we’d heard things, y’know?

We had dinner with K– and N– at Freddy’s (always a good time), and then I went over to their place to watch the game. Tulsa scored first, and in the first six minutes game-time, Tulsa put up 14 points. That was a little alarming. Of course, they also used up all of their timeouts for the half, to do that. K– pointed out that they probably had to do that to get their offense some rest, which was a point well made. It was clear they were pulling out all the stops to make a statement early, but once the timeouts were gone, our guys just rolled over them. OU’s final score was in the sixties. Fun.

Afterward, I hung around and watched a couple episodes of Dr Who with K–, who’s trying to get into the series. It’s a good show. I’m looking forward to seeing more.

Saturday, September 22nd
Saturday I’d offered to spend at home, with T–. We’d had a wildly busy week, and we were planning to watch two games on Sunday, so it seemed wise to just set aside some home time. I mowed in the morning, and then we went grocery shopping together. We spent most of the afternoon working on homework for our marriage seminar, and I’m glad we did. We covered a lot of material, and even though this was pretty sensitive stuff, it was nothing compared with the week before, so we were able to talk pretty freely. That was a good experience.

In the evening, most of our work done, we watched a little TV, and then I decided to run up to Lowe’s and grab some storage stuff to help organize the garage, and my office closet. I’ve mentioned a lot of work on the garage recently, and there was really one last major change I wanted to make, rearranging some stuff to make more room for car doors to open. To do that, we needed a new place for T– to keep her catalogs and other work stuff, and she’d been wanting a closing cabinet for that for a while. I’ve also been wanting a set of stacking drawers to organize the cables and connectors and computer parts crammed in my office closet, pretty much since we moved into the house.

So, I ran out and bought all that stuff. If you haven’t shopped for storage solutions, you’d probably be surprised how much they cost. I managed to find what I wanted, though, and brought it home to put together. After that…well, I get a little manic when I’m working on a project, wanting to get it done, so I got the cabinet built, and then I took it out to the garage (and it’s probably 9:00 at that point), and then I spent some time rearranging things out there, and I finally made myself stop working on that to come inside and watch some TV with T–.

Then I ended up, a couple hours later, setting up the drawers in my office closet and working on that until one in the morning. It’s just who I am. Don’t judge me.

Anyway, Saturday was a lot of work, but I’m impressed how much I got accomplished. The improvements in the garage and the closet were awesome, and like I said, I’m really glad we got the homework done.

Sunday, September 23rd
Sunday morning, after church, we went to K– and N–‘s to watch the Vikings/Chiefs game with a bunch of friends. B– is a long-time Vikings fan, and as I mentioned back in preseason, our old hero Adrian Peterson is now starting running back for the Vikings, so we were all interested in watching it. They also invited my sister’s family over, because J– is a big Chiefs fan (and, y’know, just for the opportunity to hang out).

Early in the game, the Vikings were rocking on the Chiefs. Enough so that B– started cheering for the Chiefs because he felt sorry for J–. Unfortunately, about twenty minutes after J– left (S– had a photoshoot to get to, and needed J– to watch the kids), the Chiefs turned it around and tore up. It was an exciting game. Adrian Peterson was amazing (the commentators kept saying he was carrying the rest of the team).

K– grilled hotdogs for lunch, and they were awesome. T– brought some leftover apple pie, and it was just a big ol’ party. Everyone had a good time.

After that, I borrowed K–‘s distribution spreader and took a bag of grass seed he’d picked up for me, and headed home. In church Sunday morning, they’d said that the pie contest winner would be announced Sunday night. So, T– really wanted to go to that, but I had so much stuff I still needed to get done before the weekend ended (and that necessarily meant “before the Cowboys game started”). So I dropped her off at church, then went home to seed my yard.

The new spreader worked way better than the old drop spreader I’d used, and I was able to seed the whole back yard in about ten minutes. I then broke out some insect control stuff that’s also supposed to be spread like that (which I never used, because the old spreader took so long), and put that out, front and back. D– came over early in that process, asking me if I wanted to hit Best Buy, but I told him I was busy. So he pulled out his laptop and read some webcomics on my couch while I did yard work.

Anyway, got all the poison down and set up a sprinkler, and then grabbed a quick shower, and was able to pick up T– just a few minutes after church ended. That was a lot accomplished in one hour.

And when I showed up to pick her up, she was proudly brandishing her silver spatula! She got second prize in the contest, which was much deserved. If you haven’t already, send her a congratulations for that.

We dropped her off at the house, then D– and I ran up to the barbecue place next to Blockbuster and grabbed a small family deal to go. Chopped brisket and hot links, which was enough for all of us to have heaping plates, and still enough for my lunch on Monday. Awesome stuff.

Then K– called to say he couldn’t make it over, so D– and I watched the game together. It was an incredible game. Both teams were playing really well (Dallas vs. Chicago). In the second half, though, Romo just laid it down. I think we won 34-10. Woot woot.

Monday, September 24th
So, anyway, Monday after I got home from work, I went to Best Buy with D–. He’d finished Bioshock and the anime series he was watching, and needed something new for entertainment. We looked through all the games, but the only one that really tempted was Madden ’08 for the Wii. Then we went and looked at high-end TVs instead. That was a lot of fun. He’s still needing to make the upgrade to HD, and his small apartment (and bachelor lifestyle) makes a big ol’ wall-mount LCD the perfect choice.

Anyway, we were there for a while, then came home and T– made us some chicken crescent squares that are just awesome. It’s a recipe she started on just after we got married, and I always love it. Yumm. After dinner, it was already 8:00-ish. We watched the season premier of How I Met Your Mother, and an episode of Rules of Engagement which is another show in the same vein, but it’s got David Spade. Then we watched the season premier of Heroes, which didn’t really disappoint.

Then D– went home, and I did the last little bit of homework I had to fill out, and then it was bedtime.

Tuesday, September 25th
Yesterday, I found a chunk of free time in the afternoon, and spent a lot of it typing up the many pages of Royal Holiday that I had handwritten (and I’m starting to think it’s going to have to switch back to “Royal Holiday,” which is a shame, because I was looking forward to trying to push the short-format novel). I’m nearly caught up on the typing part, and the longhand part is nearly done, so that’s the sort of news that appeals to my manic drive to complete a project. Wahaa!

Around 4:00, I got a call from T– saying she’d just heard from the people leading our marriage seminar with a reminder that we were supposed to provide the snacks this week. Ack! I suggested chips and salsa, because I knew we had the stuff handy, and it feeds a crowd. She ran up to the store and got some extra chips, and the stuff to make guacamole. It was a real rush to get everything done before the class started at 6:30, but she managed. And she made some delicious grilled cheese sandwiches for D– and me. She’s the whole package.

So, we left AB with D–, and went to class for two hours. Our snacks were a huge hit. I think everyone there complimented either the salsa or the guacamole, if not both. So, y’know, good for us. Woohoo.

I got home, and I was feeling too socialized, so I retreated to my office for some video games. I played Heroes for a couple hours, and made it to bed around 10:30.

And, amazingly enough, I’m finally finished with that update.

Posted on

Journal Entry

I can’t say it was good to be back to work, but I had a good day nonetheless. As you saw, I had time to do an update for the weekend. I also had some time to take a lunch at Taco Bell, and got four or five pages written on Royal Holiday.

Here’s what I have left: sprint to the docks, Corin scene, pirate scene, brawl scene (straight from the movie, with all ending up in the river), escape scene, full disclosure in an alley outside the palace (also straight from the movie), the Commission of the Swords the following morning (adapted from the movie, but with a much happier ending), and then the words “The End.”

That’s it! Not so bad. I discovered today that I’ve been writing Royal Holiday at exactly the same pace I used for Sleeping Kings, and then I immediately wished that I’d been publishing it in the same way. I miss the feedback, and the format. Anyway, it’s nearly done and I should have it available for review shortly. You can all expect a big homework assignment when that’s done.

Yeah, but most of my day was spent on research and paperwork. I’ve got to get a bunch of Safety Risk Management documents done, or planes are going to start falling out of the sky. (No, not really).

After work, I stopped by the chiropractor and he made me feel less bad (I wouldn’t go so far as to say “good”). Then home to play with the baby and chat with T– until she left to pick us up a pizza from Mazzio’s. It was fantastically good.

Then we got the old band back together to get Dad his mount in Scholo. We packed 323 levels worth of characters (and 13 years of combined gameplay experience) into a Scholo run that only took us to Rattlegore. Umm…for everyone who hasn’t tried that, it’s basically the equivalent of pitting OU’s football team against Utah State. Anyway, it was fun. Still took two hours because the event is slow-paced, but we all had a good time.

That took until 9:30, and then D– and I went for a walk. One of his friends is starting to make noises about a business idea that will develop into what NewMyth was. So I’m trying to decide whether to get all excited about it again and bring that guy in, or review my depressing list of Reasons It Won’t Work, and then email him a copy.

Anyway, that was an hour walk, and then I came home and wrote a description of a boring weekday that ran longer than my review of a pretty eventful weekend. Go figure. I’m off to bed.

Posted on

Journal Entry

Friday, September 14th
Friday was a busy day at work, catching up on all the things I’d put off to finish the A/C manual. It was a good sort of busy, though, and I finished the day ready for the weekend.

I came home, and had some chores I’d offered to do for T–. The biggest one was vacuuming the house. I started going to the chiropractor last week (did I mention that?) and he told me definitely not to do any vacuuming. But, yeah, what does he know? He’s just a doctor….

So an hour later, I was sitting on the couch unable to move because of the pain in my lower back. Ugh. It’s not really that bad, though, because I don’t really like to move. So I watched some TV with T– and waited for Mom and Dad to get home from work.

I’d offered to play some WoW with them, and Dad really wanted help getting his epic mount (a rather long-running quest), so I joined them around 5:30 and we spent a couple hours getting mostly done. The end of the quest requires another paladin, and D– had offered to help with that (which would make it easy-breezy), so we decided to call it a night at that point. Good thing, too. I had to go play host for T–‘s parents.

Oh! Before that, N– called to invite us out to dinner which was an extraordinarily tempting offer, but I already had the WoW commitments. I had a good time, though, so I can’t really regret missing out on the Jack Daniels Burger.

Anyway, when T–‘s parents got in, we all sat around and talked for a while, and then T– and her dad ran up to Wal-Mart to try to find him an OU shirt. They were gone for over an hour, but they brought back ice cream. We each had a big bowl, and then went straight to bed. Experts say that’s the best thing to do with ice cream….

Saturday, September 15th
Saturday morning John and I watched AB while T– and her mom went shopping. T– and her mom spent a lot of time shopping, Saturday. They only left us with AB for a couple hours, though. Around 11:00 they got back, and at the same time K– and N– showed up, along with D–, to head to Norman for the OU game. N– got us all tickets a couple weeks ago, through her work.

It was a blowout game. Everyone knew it would be. In fact, it was so foreordained that they didn’t even televise it, so it was a good thing we went. A good team is fun to watch, even when it’s mostly unopposed, so I think we all had a really good time. We’ve managed to go to one game a year for the last four or five. It’s been fun.

That did take most of the day, though. We left the house around 11:00, and the game started at 2:15, and we stayed for the whole thing, so we got back into OKC around 7:00. We stopped at Buffalo Wild Wings and picked up some dinner and took it back to the house, which happened to coincide with one of T– and Karla’s brief rest stops at the home for the day, so they got to eat. After that, they went back out to Kohl’s (it was nearly 9:00, but the shop didn’t close until 11:00) and took John with them. K– and N– went home, too, exhausted after the day at the game. It is just an exhausting experience.

D– hung around then, and we tried to watch the USC v. Nebraska game, but it got depressing pretty quickly and we had no choice but to turn it off. The commentators were just too infuriating. There are times I think USC could just stop charging tuition, and instead set up a kissing booth staffed by the football team, and fund their entire academic program off the donations of the national sports media. I hate those guys so much.

Argh.

Sunday, September 16th
Sunday morning we went to church and I got two or three pages written on “Royal Holiday” (which, incidentally, is very much on the verge of becoming Royal Holiday, if you catch my drift). During the sermon, McElroy was talking about some famous classic hymn that was written when a dude was inspired during a sermon and just scribbled down a poem, which became the song through an interesting and convoluted means.

Anyway, Karla looked over at me, frantically scribbling in my scribblebook, and raised an eyebrow. I quiet-laughed, as one does in such situations, but frankly, I’m writing a cheap rip-off of a third-rate Hepburn movie set in an overwraught and generic fantasy world, as an aside to a larger and still fairly cliche story. So, yeah, I don’t think it’s really the same thing.

After church, we went to Abuelo’s, and K– and N– and D– all joined us. It was a fantastic lunch (Abuelo’s always is). Then we split up, and the family went back to the house to help T– get ready for a purse party at 3:00. A few minutes before that was supposed to start, D– showed up to take me over to K–‘s place to watch the Cowboys game. Thank goodness for late afternoon kickoffs, know what I’m sayin’?

That was a really good game. N– went to the purse party, but she called on her way home around 5:00 and asked if we needed any snacks (which, natch, we did), so we finished the game in high style. As did the Cowboys. It’s looking like a good year!

Then I went home, and I really should have spent the evening working on homework for our marriage seminar (as should have T–), but we discussed with open, honest communication, and both, in harmonious consensus, agreed that we, as a family, ought to procrastinate. So we watched some Dead Zone and I played Heroes on T–‘s laptop, and it was a good night.

Posted on

Journal Entry

Is it really only Monday? Ugh. I’ve got get that best-seller sold.

Today went pretty well. I think I’m finally feeling better. I did have a sore back from scooping water yesterday, and we had several awful things come up at work, but they were just things, y’know? I got two pages written on “Royal Holiday” (that one’s turning into a novella), and I read some Calvin and Hobbes, and by the time I got home I was able to forget work, so those are all good things.

T– made chicken parmesan and spaghetti for dinner, which was delicious, and we played with AB some, and I played some Civ and put the door back up over the cabinet under the kitchen sink, and then we both read while eating ice cream, and then I headed over to D–‘s for our walk.

Only, he didn’t really feel like walking after going to the gym tonight, and it was muggy enough that I was easily convinced to skip most of my walk (I still had half a mile walk there and back again), and instead I watched him play Civ for half an hour. That was fun. He started a war and lost it, and his economy went to pot. Poor guy. “That’s what you get for trying to play Civilization as the Native Americans,” I told him (only with more racial slurs, probably). And then I went home.

An odd sort of day. I didn’t really accomplish anything. But I’m feeling better, so that’s got to be a good thing.

Off to bed.

Posted on

Journal Entry

Today was unlike yesterday. I made it in to work on time, spent the day working on profitable things (albeit work-related), and then went home.

I stopped by B– and E–‘s on the way home to pick up AB, because T– was working in Tulsa. I got to chat with them for a while, which is always fun (even if B–‘s still reporting sad tidings from work). After that, I met D–, K– and N– at Taco Cabana for dinner. It was fun, in a social sort of way. AB got hold of a cup of queso and spilled it all over my jeans, but whatcha gonna do? She’s just a little baby.

I did get a couple pictures uploaded to my MySpace at work. I also got several pages typed up for “Royal Holiday,” although I didn’t compose anything new. I think I’ve got it written up to the part where it gets interesting, though, so if I ever get started on it, I’ll probably go right through to the end.

After dinner, I got some fajitas to go and took them home to T–, who was happier to see her baby than the delicious fajitas I brought. Fair enough, I guess. She ate while we watched some Jim, and then I took care of some business on the computer and read some Anansi Boys while waiting for D– to show up. We went for a walk just now, and had some good talks. We’ll have to see if anything comes of it.

Maybe I’m ready to start reading again. Harry Potter hit the spot, and now I’ve picked up one that’s been on my recommended reading list for two years (and when the book is given to you as a gift, along with the recommendation, that’s some pressure right there), and I’m really enjoying that one. So we’ll see.

Back to that again. I don’t really trust myself to follow through on things. It’d be fair to say I don’t really decide what I’ll do. I’m just like a character in one of my stories. I’ve developed an interesting personality (you know, from my point of view), and then I just put myself in situations and watch to see what happens….

That’s a really admirable ability in a created character. Not so much in a human being. Alas.

Posted on

Journal Entry

Nothing terribly exciting to report for the day. I considered some fun ideas for the story I mentioned last night, but I didn’t do any writing on it.

Actually, I’ve remarked before on a recent difficulty motivating myself to write, and that persists. I’ve been able to commit a handful more pages of the Auric-meets-Queen-Sera story to paper in my scribblebook, but I can’t even make the time to type that up. That’s more than a little frustrating.

Anyway, I spent most of today at work working on work, but I did leave to have lunch with D–, which ended up not really happening because he got caught in some errands (not that I begrudge him that). But I ended up eating a burger at Coits, and then after I was done he showed up and we talked for a few before I had to head back to work.

I spent most of the afternoon fighting nodding off at my desk. I don’t know why, but I just felt extraordinarily lethargic there. I was falling asleep at the wheel on my drive home, and then had a pounding headache by the time I got into the house. Then AB was fussing and T– needed help making dinner, and I didn’t really get to take a nap until around 7:00, and I wasted that one by taking it on the couch. I never get good rest on the couch.

So, a frustrating evening, really, and I’m sure T– could have used more help than I gave her, so probably frustrating all around. D– came by around 8:30, and we went for our walk a little early. We spent the whole time talking shop (writing stuff, I mean), and then I just got home. Going to get another DVD burning, and then I’m off to sleep.

(237.4)

Posted on

Journal Entry

It’s been a weird week.

Specifically, my melancholy funk from last week has persisted. Now it’s possible that I gave myself the melancholy by writing it so much into Jason’s story last week, or it’s possible I was already there and that’s why I inflicted it on my protagonist. The first seems more likely given our different life situations (things are actually going really well for me these days — and not so much for poor King Jason), but if I did have a little bit of a manic/depressive cycle going, it’d make sense that the last month, with all its writing productivity, would account for my manic phase, and I’m just now crashing. Physiologically, that seems more probable. I’ve been tired all the time, no matter how much I sleep, and I’m having trouble finding the motivation to do things that two weeks ago came easily. Those sound like pretty telling symptoms.

None of this is major, and I’m not going to harp on it, but it’s something that’s been going on in my life.

Speaking of which! The rundown:

Friday, July 27th
Friday night I went out drinking with K– and N–. It was supposed to be this big party, with D– (who had committed) and B– and E– (who were invited), but D– backed out, and E– is preggers, and B– is a good husband, so whatcha gonna do? T–‘s parents came into town to celebrate her birthday, so she kept AB at home to hang out with them.

So, K– and N– took me to Hawaiian Don’s, a bar that they tried out a month or two ago and really liked. The place’s main gimmick is a (relatively cheap) 60 oz. drink. Fun. So, between the three of us (and, mind you, over the course of several hours), we had 300 oz. of coctails Friday night. Fun fun!

Saturday, July 28th
So, anyway, I made some poor choices Friday night, which meant that Saturday morning was brutal. Brutal. Leave it at that.

Oh, but wait! We didn’t. D– showed up around 9:00 (although I didn’t get up until 10:15) because he needed some help moving. Moving! Ugh. Anyway, he’d gotten the apartment close to my place, which I’m pretty excited about it. It’s a cool little apartment, too. So B– brought a pickup home from work and the three of us were able to move D–‘s few belongings in a couple hours. Not too bad. He took me out to lunch by way of saying thanks.

After that, I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond with T– and her parents so she could spend her birthday money. She ended up getting a cool new quilt for our bed, which also gives her a color scheme to work off of so we can finally get the bedroom painted. Tricky, that.

Then for the evening we had a picnic at the park at Hefner Lake, as T–‘s official birthday party. B– and E– came, and T–‘s friend Rebecca with her oldest son, and K– and N– of course, and T–‘s parents. It was quite the crowd. And in spite of it being a picnic, and in spite of it being at the park, and in spite of it being at the lake, and in spite of it being, y’know, outside, I had a really good time. Everyone did. It was a lot of fun.

Sunday, July 29th
(Yikes, I should have been doing this daily!)

Sunday morning at church, the A/C was out in the auditorium so we had services in the dining hall. It went pretty well, although it still got close to uncomfortably warm before everything was said and done. Then T–‘s parents took us to Carino’s for lunch (one of T–‘s favorite places), and then we just sort of lounged for most of the afternoon.

Her parents went home about 3:30, and at 5:30 we went over to K– and N–‘s for supper, which ended up being another big party. D– brought pizza and his mom, and Toby and Gwyn came to visit, too. They’d been down in Dallas for a wedding, then spent the afternoon with B– and E–, and then had dinner with us. That was a lot of fun. Their kids are both really cute. We had a lot of fun playing with Lucas. Also, Toby brought iWays (or automotive GPS devices, if you prefer) for K– and me. Awesome! We had to pay for them, sure, but still awesome. Also, N– made some delicious cookies.

Ugh, and then there came the week. Like I said, a weird one. I didn’t walk Sunday or Monday. I’ve got the first two pages of two different stories written, but I can’t seem to finish them (that motivation thing I mentioned at the top). Work has been slow, and I’ve been sleepy. That’s pretty much my week.

Tomorrow T– and I are going to Dallas to help K– move his mom’s possessions, but we should be home Saturday night. Then I’ll post again Sunday night, and it’ll be a whole week lost. So there you go. Sorry I didn’t write. I’ll be better about it in future.

Posted on

Journal Entry

Still a little drunk, even after two hours and a three-mile walk.

I had a pretty good day. Work was a little rough this morning. I did not sleep any better, and I was late getting in again, and then I had an angry email from an engineer to whom two hundred pages worth of technical manual was owed. That is, I owed him a completed section on Controls and Indicators, and I didn’t have it finished. He’s also in Wisconsin until the eighth of August, so I didn’t think he really needed it that soon, but I guess he’s got good internet access and a lot of free time. So there ya go.

So I banged that out and emailed it to him, and that made for a stressful morning, considering I had that same fatigue thing going on. Then in the afternoon I finished up a bunch of little things I’d been putting off (after the morning’s wake-up call on things put off). Among them (and the only one not work related), I did finish those last two pages. Actually, I also did some heavy duty rearranging of the pages that went after those two, and that was something I knew had to be done, so there was a little more work left than I’d been implying. But, yeah, I finished that, so that’s two novels written in July ’07. Not too shabby.

I was late leaving work because of that, but traffic wasn’t too bad. D– had offered to buy us a pizza for dinner, so I was pretty excited about that. When I got home from work, I made a quick run to Blockbuster to drop off some movies — which reminds me, I meant to make a note to myself to spend my next three free rentals on Freedom Writers (y’know what, shut up!), The Number 23, and Perfume: The Story of a Murder. 23 was all rented out, and I’d picked up the other two but I found something better while I was there. I’d still like to get all those, though.

Also, 300 is out on Tuesday. I’m just saying, is all.

Anyway, I got back from Blockbuster and D– was there with the pizza. We also had a box of wine that he bought us ages ago for the Gordons’ housewarming party. By way of greeting card, he’d scribbled “Congrats Bitches!” on the box, right above the spigot (or “bunghole,” if you want to use the proper term). Well, T–‘s parents are coming in this weekend for her birthday and, while we don’t hide our alcohol consumption from our parents, she wasn’t too happy about the horrific profanity greeting them whenever they opened the fridge. So she asked us to get rid of it.

Umm….it has to be three or four weeks old by now. It was still nearly as good as the day we opened it, though. I’ve got to admit — boxed wine has its advantages. So I had three big glasses, T– had one, and D– had two or three. I was definitely buzzing while we watched a couple episodes of Dead Zone.

Then D– and I went for a walk, and spent the whole time talking about our writing project. We’ve got some really amazing material to work with. I’m more and more impressed every time we discuss it.

But, yeah, we went for our walk, then he went home, and I’m going to go to bed. ‘Night.

(241.6)

Posted on

Journal Entry

Is it only Wednesday? Ugh. I feel like it’s been weeks since last Sunday.

I haven’t been sleeping well, all week, and I’ve been feeling absent and spacey during the day. I blamed it on Benadryl on Monday, but it’s more than that. I’m just…ugh.

Anyway, Wednesday’s done. I woke up late this morning and barely made it into work at all. I’ve committed my regular day off already (a week from Friday), because I’m supposed to go down to Dallas to help K– help his mom move. I dunno, it’s a weird situation. Anyway, that’s not available, and I have nearly two days of leave available, but when we make the contract transition next week it gets cashed out, and I need the cash to pay for T–‘s birthday present, so that’s not an option.

So I went to work. It was pretty awful. I was, as I described earlier, entirely useless all day. I was there, though, and that’s what counts. Actually, I did get the last of my paperwork turned in for the contract transition and I got my new badge (the old one expires next week), so that’s all business taken care of.

I didn’t finish KJW. As I described in yesterday’s post, I basically had four pages that I had to write today, to finish the novel. I only wrote two, and inexplicably (or, well, explicably, but it’s a really long and boring explication) those last two pages are going to be a real bugger to write. I should get it done this week, but for having only 600 words missing, it’s just unreasonably tough.

Anyway, got home from work and I was way too tired to vacuum the floors as a favor to T–, so I played with the baby instead. Halfway through that process, we got a call from N– inviting us to dinner at a Mexican place next to church. We used to eat there every week on Wednesday, until it went under new management and the new people stopped selling the dish that every damn one of us would order. So we went once under the new management, didn’t like what we got, and stopped going there. That was over a year ago.

Anyway, T– was supposed to make biscuits and gravy for dinner, but we felt adventurous so we took D– with us (he’d come over for some free biscuits and gravy) and met K– and N– for supper. Afterword, T– went to church with the other two, and I was taking D– back to the house when he suggested we get a drink somewhere. There’s a bar within walking distance (or, as I like to put it, “stumbling distance”) of my house, but I’d never been there. It’s a sports bar called “The Dugout,” and since I despise baseball, I always assumed I’d hate the bar. We stopped in, though, because I didn’t feel like driving three miles to Henry Hudsons.

We sat down at the first booth we saw, and then realized there was a framed, autographed Roy Williams jersey hanging above our booth. Not bad at all. Also, they had a whole ad full of Red Bull drink specials. It was a really cool place, and we’re definitely going to have to try out the Sunday night specials with K– some time.

So, yeah, we burned an hour that way, and I was kinda flying by the time T– got home from church. We watched an episode of Dead Zone and then it was time for my walk. She was kind enough to offer me the use of her iPod, and I took her up on it. I’ve got to say, it made a huge difference. I can’t believe how fast that walk seemed to go. It actually was faster, too, because I was listening to fast-paced music and walking in time with it. So, very cool.

Anyway, I’m going to go to bed now, and with any luck I’ll fall asleep right away. I certainly need it.

(239.1)

Posted on

The Love Story in King Jason’s War: Part Two

Robert brought more than just the horses. He had cold meals wrapped in butcher’s paper, for lunch and supper, and a change of clothes so Jason wouldn’t have to go spend a day in the woods wearing his court apparel. He also had two good hunting bows, and a wicked-looking skinning knife in case they actually shot something. The two of them, out hunting, never had yet.

He also brought Myriam.

Jason hadn’t noticed her at first, as he was working out details of his plans with the captain of his guard, but she stepped out from behind the horse Robert was leading and up onto the marble steps next to Jason, bouncing on her toes to get his attention. He cut off mid-sentence and turned to her.

“Well, good morning, Myriam.”

She smiled. “Good morning to you, Your Highness. Might I have a word with you?”

He tilted his head, curious, then looked back to his guards. “Give us a moment, captain.”

The guards withdrew some way, and kept a space clear around the king and Myriam. Robert glanced their way, a sly smile tugging at his lips, then busied himself checking the horses’ saddles.

Jason ignored them all, his eyes on Myriam’s. “How can I help you?” he said.

“Robert says you’re going away for the afternoon.” She brushed a bit of lint from his shoulder. “I understand you need some time to think, and—” In an instant, her bravery broke, and she looked up at him, eyes wide, “Oh, Jason, how are you doing?” Her voice shook with concern for him.

In spite of himself, Jason’s head half turned, pulled toward the Tower of Justices at the foot of the hill, but he forced his gaze back to hers. “I’m well,” he said. “I’ll be fine. It will take some time, but I’ll be fine.”

She peered into his eyes for a moment, searching for the lie, but finally nodded. “Good,” she said. She leaned her head against his chest. “I wanted to be there with you this morning. You know that, don’t you?”

Jason nodded. “I’m glad you weren’t,” he said. “I don’t think I could have handled it, with you there.” He shuddered. “I wouldn’t have wanted you to see that. It’s a gruesome thing.”

She sighed. “I know.” For a moment, she said nothing. When she spoke again, she sounded like she was buying time. “What did the Council say?”

He answered her anyway, shrugging. “They will make me king if I will give them their war. They said it as plain as that.”

She nodded. “That’s what you expected, too. And now you’re going away with Robert to think it through, to decide?” He nodded. She said, “So you really don’t know your answer?” He shook his head. She said, “I understand.”

He said, “I’m glad of that. Myriam—” She took a deep breath, and he felt her steeling herself for something. She pushed away from him, so that she could meet his eyes again, and cut him off with a finger on his lips.

“Jason,” she said, “will you marry me?” Her eyes were serious.

He laughed, but cut off at the dangerous look in her eyes. He put warm hands on her shoulders, and said, “Myriam, you are not supposed to ask me that.”

“Jason, I love you. I have seen your darkest days, and I loved you through them all. I want to see your brightest days, and love you through those, too. I know what today means to you. I know all the things you are going to be weighing, hundreds of different opinions and thousands of lives hanging in the balance, and I want you to know this. No matter all the weighty issues that depend upon your choice this day, I am not one of them. I want to be your wife, whatever you decide.”

He bent down and kissed her then, and didn’t care who was looking. For a long time, he lost himself in that kiss, and when he finally stopped, he said, “Myriam, I love you.”

She nodded. “I know.”

“You give me strength when I am weak. You give me courage when I’m afraid. You give me hope, when everything around me is failing.” He sighed. “When my heart is aching, I think of your smile to get me through it.”

She laughed at that last. “Jason, you don’t have to say all that. I just wanted you to know—”

“I know,” he said, then he sank down onto his knee before her, in the sight of a thousand of his citizens and all the Council, and he took her hand. “Myriam,” he said, “will you be my queen?”

“Yes,” she said, and tears shone in her eyes. “Yes, yes, yes, King Jason. I’ll be your queen or your farmwife, whatever you would make me. I choose you.”

He rose, and caught her in a tight embrace. She smiled against his chest, curled her fingers in his hair, and said, “You make me proud, Jason. Whatever you decide today, you make me proud.” Then she pushed away from him, and he reluctantly let her go. She met his eyes. “Now go,” she said, “and make your decision. The whole nation waits to hear what it will be.”

He held her gaze for a moment longer, then swung up into his saddle. Robert was already mounted, and side by side they rode down High Street, beneath the shadow of the Tower of Justices and then on through the Summer Gate. Outside the city, on the long highway into Terrailles, they broke into a gallop and let the horses run. The miles rolled by, as the sun made its way into the autumn sky.