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Wednesday morning, chilling before work. Looks gray out there, but not quite the dirty yellow ashy gray of yesterday. Hopefully it's clearing off... and hopefully the wildfires are dying down. (I heard they hit Multnomah Falls - haven't had the courage to check this morning to see if the lodge was lost or not yet... EDIT - So far, looks like the lodge was saved. Kept meaning to go back to the falls - looks like I may still be able to, someday when the Gorge isn't on fire.)

Wednesday afternoon. Still ashy, still gray, still being followed by a glinting reddish eye of a sun... still dragon weather, in other words - very Smauggy.

Work was heavy, but we expected that - day after the day after a holiday's when the backlog slams us. At least a third of people had inhalers with them; the air quality's been terrible for people with breathing issues.

Shopped my way home. Actually found a couple cartons of Dad's ice cream (Death by Chocolate, which has been AWOL for most of the summer despite the tag on the shelf telling us otherwise), so I grabbed those for him.

The porch is painted. Stairs are still a bit tacky; I think it's the humid, stagnant air preventing the silicone from setting yet. But the weather's supposed to be shifting.

And right now I'm sitting for a bit before I have to start dinner (burger and fry night, 'cause that's the quickest thing I can throw together.)

Checked the news. The Gorge fire is still going, if not growing as fast. They caught at least one of the teens responsible; they were giggling and chucking fireworks and smoke bombs into a ravine, reportedly. I know a teen who should be on the front lines 24/7 until this fire is out - and personally repay every nickel lost to repairs, property damage, and everything else this thing cost.

Hmm... I've been editing music files again, cutting out the "boring bits". Some would regard this as close to sacrilege, but I have so little patience these days when I want to relax.

Coffee time.

It's dreary right now but should clear up later, which is nice.

I think today is going to be my dedicated gaming day for this vacation. Latest game is Dark and Light. Still grumpy that I have to rebuild my entire base because the default timers were too short, and structures auto-demolish. Sigh. At least I still have my tamed animals--some sheep, 2 boars, a bargesh (hyena), a panther and 2 wyverns. I could really use a kebo or a bahamut to save wear and tear on my tools. What I really want is either a nidhogg or one of the dragons. Pretty much ignoring griffins at this point, yeah they're strong, but they're also mega jerks and responsible for most of my deaths.

Thursday morning, and it looks gray out there, but I can't quite tell if it's still smoke or simple overcast; there was talk of some showers moving into the area today and tomorrow, so maybe it's that.

Hope it is, at any rate... the air needs cleaning.

Just chillin' before work. Probably need to take an allergy pill before I go (forgot last night.) I shouldn't have to shop today, at least, though I probably will tomorrow. (And I'm not holding my breath on today - people don't mention things until I'm on the way out the door...)

Off I amble.

Having both small and large dilemmas... First going to figure out the answer to the small one: what's for dinner.

Attended all my classes today and went to work as well. Now, it's time for reading and writing until I fall asleep. : D

Thursday afternoon, and the sky's growing darker; actual cloud cover above the ash. The sun was eerie on the drive in to work: a perfect red orb crossed by dark smears of cloud. Wish I could've gotten a picture, but I was on the freeway, and I only had my purse camera anyway.

Work was heavy again. I think we're just treading water... May be able to pick up a day of overtime next week, but nobody will say what our plans are, so once again I'll likely miss out. Should just take the flippin' Tuesday and make them drive themselves to whatever the heck they decide to do...

Just posted a review of a lackluster book. Not terrible, but not particularly exciting. I'm in a lull, it seems...

Off I wander. May or may not be going out later. Depends entirely on Other People. Either way, I'm not making dinner tonight.

So after 3 weeks of being together V and I might actually be going to dinner tomorrow. I think I have this whole dating thing a little backwards lol...

I was just talking to him about that. I figure it'll be a Friday, he doesn't have to worry about work the next day, etc. Good time to hang out and relax. I was surprised he didn't have any plans actually, he's almost always doing something after he's done working. My schedule isn't as busy but I do work later hours than he does, and I do my own stuff too so it's not a big deal.

It's still pretty early in the evening but I think I might start getting ready to go upstairs.

DH - Backwards dating is better than no dating at all...

Went out for a Potbelly dinner. Nice, though a couple yellowjackets were a bit nosy. (It's that time of year - they get carnivorous and a little more pushy as fall approaches.)

Still none of the promised showers. C'mon, clouds, do something before the entire western half of the state coughs up a lung!

Pushing ahead in Kay's The Summer Tree. Parts are definitely intriguing, in an old-school legend and myth way, but other parts... not so much. (I think one of my biggest subtle-yet-ongoing irritants is the lack of a real sense of awe and wonder. These people have been transported into another world, into the middle of forces that shape universes and events straight out of a bard's poem... yet it's like they just popped over to the neighbor's. They're just kinda falling into their places in the greater tapestry, fulfilling archetype roles, and there's no sense from them or anyone else that this is another world, something they didn't even believe existed a few days ago, with real live magic and real live gods and real live faeries and all that... and the people around them are real casual about it, because theoretically they know about other worlds, but I don't see any other visitors, and they have very little apparent curiosity about the other world, or - given how bad things are going - any urge to maybe try escaping their world to one of the many others they know about... It's like the whole otherworld thing is just a throwaway plot device. Maybe it's just me.)

Need to do something more or less productive with the rest of my evening. Should probably poke at site stuff. I got a sample book review transferred to get the new template tweaked to my liking. Next step is either art or doing the responsive design tweaks (keeping a fairly simple layout, so in theory that shouldn't be too tough... knock on plywood.) Or maybe I'll try my daily doodle. Trying to doodle something daily, help knock the rust off the creative gears that still won't crank out words. I can daydream the words until the proverbial cows come home to roost, but can I write them? Or course not... Stupid, dumb, stupid brain thing...

Very true. I just think it's kinda funny. I've also come to the conclusion that I don't really have a 'type' so much as I'm attracted to individual people. Basically I either like you or I don't, and that seems to be applying to my romantic interests too. Granted it did take awhile for me to pick up on V's interest, but I was also very distracted at the time. Proof that there really isn't such a thing as 'friendzoning' I guess. I'm just continually surprised by how compatible we are given the fairly large age gap between us. I guess past a certain point it really doesn't matter as much. All I know is I'm happy and we're having fun.

At the moment I have coffee and a bagel.

Thinking about what I want to do this morning. Can't believe it's Friday already, this week has gone by so fast.

Friday morning, and I'm running a trifle late. With school back in session, traffic's stickier.

It's cloudy out there, but haven't seen any real sign of showers. Might be less ashy, though... still could use the rain.

Just poking around while mentally composing the shopping list. Yes, I have to shop my way home again... (Target let me down the other night; they used to carry reduced sugar ketchup, but not since their latest grocery remodel. One thing we cannot run out of is ketchup; Mom would IV that stuff if medically feasible. So I have to hit Safeway, 'cause they're the only place in town that I know sells the right kind of reduced sugar ketchup. Ergh...)

Today, I'm rebooting servers, writing code, and editing photos. Three of my least favorite Friday tasks. But I'm also typing the edits to chapter twelve of my WIP.

Weighing on my mind: Quality is better than quantity. A book is great because it's great, not because of word count. I knew that I would chop a lot during hardcopy editing (round three). But I can't resist the urge to peek and, when I do, I kick myself for seeing that I'm down 1,000 words in the first half. It's time for me to add another inspiring post-it to the wall above my writing desk. "Thou shalt not care about word count."

Just took a big pot of chili off the stove. Something I wanted to do but didn't really get into too much this week was to spend more time cooking and using up a lot of the stuff I have right now. I have a bad habit of buying stuff and then just never using it because I'm so lazy when it comes to cooking for myself.

I also took my stock from the other day and reduced it down even more.

Think I'll take a short break while the chili cools, then I'll spend some time cleaning. Not sure what time V will want to meet up, but I know he usually takes a nap after he gets home from work so I don't expect to hear from him until probably around 4:00 or so.

Felix - Best of luck with the edits! (Also remember that no word count is final until the book hits the shelves... and even then it's subject to change pending re-issues and "author's preferred editions" and whatnot.)

FB - Been there, done that... (Ever see the Lap Dance animation (YouTube link SFW)?) I miss being trapped by cats.

DH - Buying stuff and never getting around to using it is why my bookshelves are perpetually threatening to collapse... and why my workshed has about a dozen different potential project ideas currently in bags and boxes. Eh, well - at least books and (most) craft stuff keep indefinitely...

Friday afternoon. Still on the fence about taking that extra day, and I have no idea why. I know they're low on people and really need the help, and I know I could use the money and have no legitimate reason not to work an extra day this month... but danged if I'm having trouble dragging myself out of bed in the morning these days... I just can't seem to say the words. Should probably do it, though. Fifty-odd extra bucks in a paycheck is a decent chunk toward a phone upgrade, if nothing else.

Meh. Feeling burnout, is what it is. Burnout, with no idea what else I could do instead. (I looked at Amazon's entry-level requirements. Even warehouse work requires a smartphone these days. Plus I'd be driving a lot further in a lot worse traffic for a job I hear iffy things about. And it would be another warehouse thing.)

Need to get my brain moving again and write my way out of this hole.

In the meantime, I'm indulging in a Mountain Dew and cruising the internet before starting dinner (salmon - they had a good deal on wild coho this week.)

I find it funny rolling into my apartment before the other side of the house is even really up. Even though it means waking up mad early, it's way easier for me to sleep at Val's and leave with him in the morning instead of driving home at midnight with all the overnight roadwork going on.

Plus, infinite cuddles. He really doesn't look like the type but he is all about cuddling, I love it lol. He's adorable.

Right now I'm cuddling my coffee cup. Gotta get at least one in me before I jump in the shower and get my day started.

Trying not to think about how swiftly my vacation is coming to an end.

Poking around here. Fixing to get up and do my workout (walk, stretches, upper body free weights).

FB - I'm considering Etsy or something similar, if I can come up with something to make that wouldn't require other people (like the drums I used to do)... The trick with any work-at-home thing is finding a way to convince relatives that I'm not available for random store runs or errands or just being yelled at 24/7. So it would have to be something I could do in my workshed.

Well, it's Saturday, and the clouds think they're raining but they're not. Not really. A few random splatters isn't actual rain. (I'm a Pacific Northwesterner. I know rain. This is not rain.) But an A for effort, I suppose...

Got another book review posted. Still in a lull insofar as good books go. Probably another sign I need to write my own if I wanna read anything decent, I suppose. Eh, well - gotta pick another one off the pile. Maybe something newer - had a few older titles in a row. Or nonfiction; got a fantastic bestiary I keep meaning to get to (Imaginary Animals by Boria Sax). Might make a nice break. We'll see..

Need to do a little exercise, then I need to tidy the room and figure out what I'm doing with the day. Probably more site work, unless I'm summoned to the store. (Really ought to make myself go out anyway - they didn't have the nonflavored non-dairy creamer at Safeway yesterday, and I'm almost out of that.)

FB - Both getting to the shed and getting to the car require going out the door - which is usually the trigger for "Are you going to the store?" and/or "I just want to ride along..." (followed eventually by a lengthy list of places they want to "ride along" to, none of which I intended to visit.)

Eh, well...

Saturday afternoon, and I got the room swept and bedsheets changed, and I did a little exercise. Gotta get back to site work, but it is Saturday, my slack-off day, so mostly I'm wasting time. May hit Titan Quest for a quick round before the site stuff.

And I looked up synopses for the rest of a trilogy I was almost considering pursuing... long story short, it's a "no." I'm sure it's epic and classic and all that, but not my cup of cocoa by a longshot, and the TBR pile is far too full to add books that will get my hackles up like that.

Away I wander.