Since I can't hibernate . . .

I guess I'll just have to adjust: it's back to school time!

I love back to school because it makes the neighborhood kids somebody else's problem for most of the day. I don't have to keep an eye on them all day or have their hooting, hollering, and destruction as part of the background noise while I'm writing (several of the kids in my neighborhood are practically feral; they roam in a pack and destroy everything that's not watched like a hawk; the new pack is still young--the oldest is probably twelve--and if they follow the pattern of prior packs over the years, they'll all have juvie records by the time they hit sixteen).

But back to school also means switching over to "winter routine." I feel a little like a tourist attraction: I have summer hours and winter hours. And every year during this adjustment, there are kinks to work out and problems to face until we find "our groove." This year, two new developments are making the adjustment period a wee bit more complicated.

The first is minor: a new task for my day. I went to move some railroad ties for my garden and could barely move my arms the next day. Yes, I know I'm getting older (harumph!), but I've always been strong. It made me realize that I spend a lot of time sitting on my butt, writing (and playing online poker). So I decided it might be a good time to add a little exercise to my daily routine. Of course, around here, going to the gym can be a problem. As if working out isn't torture enough, who wants to hop into the car and drive to the gym when it means you're going to have to spend twenty minutes scraping the windshield, drive over in -40 weather, walk across a parking lot, and then come out of a gym, hot and tired, and jump into a cold car for the drive home. Not me. The last thing I need is more obstacles to working out. So I picked up some exercise equipment and remodeled our homeschool room into a home gym. So far, it's working out pretty well. The equipment is right there, with no extra effort on my part required to go use it (I don't even have to change out of my PJs). And, since I have to walk past the room several times a day, I get a nice physical reminder (guilt trip) if the equipment remains unused.

The other scheduling adjustment is for my mother's cancer treatments. Her lung cancer is back, but this time in a location where they cannot operate. So she has begun a regimen of radio-sensitizing chemo (once per week) and radiation (daily). I take her to her chemo and remain on call the rest of the time for any problems that come up.

As part of the new-schedule-adjustment-period, I'm cutting back this blog to once a week. I'll be doing only the Monday posts for a while until:
A) I get adjusted to the new schedule and find my groove; or
B) I finally get the novel revised/edited/polished and get that albatross from around my neck . . .
whichever comes first (and why, oh why do I have the feeling that it's going to be A instead of B, lol; sometimes I wonder if the novel is ever going to be done!)

So wish me luck, wish my mother luck and a speedy and full recovery, and stop by again next Monday!