Yearly Archives: 2006

What a glorious day.  The sun was hot and the beach was cool.  I knew it was going to be a stinking hot day, so I piled the boys into Marnie’s car at 8:30 AM, and we drove to Smitty’s for breakfast.  After breakfast we hit the beach and had a blast.  We were outta there by 1:00 PM, before the heat really kicked in, and got slurpies on the way home.  Just a sweet, sweet morning.

This afternoon I enjoyed a beer as the boys had thier slurpies, and after we all played for awhile.  Then I read a book and enjoyed the afternoon.   Just before supper, me and the boys took a stroll by the playground and river.  A quick supper, followed by a bath and a cleanup of their bedrooms before Marnie got home, and all’s well.

Ryan feel asleep on the couch during bedtime snack, so he was easy to put to bed.  Jared stretched things out a bit, but he too eventually slept.  Both boys slept together last night, which essentially means that they woke up every two hours to play for 1/2 hour or so, before falling asleep again.  It made for a long night for me, but a fun one for them.  It also made them bicker a bit near the end of the day, but I expected that, so it wasn’t too bad.

I’m about to watch V for Vendetta. I know I should write instead, but I’m too tired right now anyway.  Tomorrow…

Reading
Kushiel’s Avater (Jaqueline Carey)

Writing
No writing, but I did re-read some of the plot outline for the novel.  It feels good, but maybe a bit thin.  I think I’d be able to get 100,000 words out of what I have, but it may be a stretch.  I think I’ll have to give the antagonist a more active role, which should also increase the conflict and tension throughout.

11:30 AM
This is truly the first time I’ve felt like giving up.  Finding another job and putting the kids back in daycare.  I will title this ‘The week from hell’, although it’s really been almost two weeks.

Ever since the van accident, Marnie and I have been short with the kids (2 weeks, go figure).  This week though, I thought things had gone back to normal.  But, I must have done something that first week to justify this.  The boys just will not listen.  If I repeat myself in a ‘strong and firm’ voice over a half hour period or more, whatever I’m asking about will be ignored.  The boys refuse to do anything until I yell at them, and I’m telling you, after a half hour of being ignored, my yelling is not pleasant.  I’m not sure what got them into this mode, but I sure as hell hope I can figure out how to get them out of it.  ‘Cause I’m done.

Maybe it’s because their pattern is broken.  School has been over for 2 and a bit weeks, and thier usual morning/daily routine has competely disappeared.  Ok, so starting tomorrow, a new routine will be created for them.  Lets see if that will help.

7:30 PM
Well, to say the day ended on a higher note is not saying enough.  I sat down with the boys(again) and had a chat.  This one seemed to take a bit.  We also had a playdate this afternoon.  Fellow writer Mirrielle came for a visit and brought her son.  We chatted about various things including writing and kids, and all three boys played like angels.

Reading
nothing

Writing
This blog, that’s it.

We are thinking of starting a local writing group.  So far there is just the two of us, and we hope to have a third really soon.  Three or four sounds like a good number to me.  We’ll see what develops, and we hope to meet in three weeks.  We’ll send each other some samples of our work, and do a critique on them.  Heck, even the visiting is worth it.

With the visit, and the research I’ve been doing, I once again have a great urge to write.  I lost the urge for a few weeks, when I received some really bad critiques of my latest short.  Normally, bad critiques don’t bother me too much, but for some reason this one did.  Maybe I was too close, and didn’t see its defects.

2006 counter
2 rejections 0 acceptances