Don't misunderstand me now . . . all Mondays suck turtle eggs through a rusty bit of pipe you found at the bottom of a sewer, but as far as Mondays go: this is probably one of the better one's of the year. Oh, not because anything particular's happening but rather because of the lack of happenings. This is the week before Christmas so there's not a whole lot of stress here in the office today. Everyone's half-assing their work, thinking about the holiday, hovering around the coffee and sampling the platters of cookies and brownies folks have been bringing in. We've also gotten a ton of fattening cakes, cookies, and assorted candy from vendors and clients so the place looks somewhat like a bakery right now. (Not a bad thing by my lights!) It's still a Monday, but a bit less heinous than most.
The weekend was an unpleasant disaster for me. My contractor is still dragging his heels getting things done. Oh, his crew is there every day but four guys are doing about the same amount of work I'd do on my own. The wife was a foaming-at-the-mouth, rabid, starving, pit bull and my ass was covered in A-1 sauce! We spent most of the weekend screaming and cursing at each other over the house.
Why?
Good question! There is nothing I can do at this point (other than fire the SOB, but that ain't feasible now either!) but the wife needs must vent her frustration at someone and since I have testacles and am within proximity . . .
In any event, I got our Living Room cleaned up and re-arranged so that we could set up a Christmas tree and spend the holiday in something resembling a home. (Of course, I did it WRONG, but that goes without saying, doesn't it? It's the testacles again . . .) That means I have to keep the contractor working only in the basement until next week, so that everything's not covered in dust from the spackle, etc. for Christmas.
On to the important stuff: the writing. Haven't done any actual words in almost three weeks now but I've been tinkering with some background stuff for "First". Things like a calendar, lifestyles, economics, etc. Things that won't necessarily show in the book but I need them to make sure everything runs logically. This is where I'm usually weakest: in getting the background info put down on paper. I tend to get bored with it after awhile and just fly by the seat of my pants as I write. It leads to a lot of editing and I'd like to avoid that, so I'm trying to get the overall stuff down as best I can. "Clans", the last novel I wrote, is going to be a horror to edit for that very reason. There are bits of legend, references to cities, festivals, and religions scattered throughout the book that I made up on the spot. Now I have to go back, flesh them out, cobble together some detail for them and in a lot of cases, insert earlier and/or more detailed references to them. A LOT of work.
I wish I could do some editing (where I usually go when the words aren't coming!) but there is nowhere (and I mean that literally!) in the house where I can lay out papers to do any work. I have "Clans" and "Fish" that both need editing and I can't get to either of them. Frustrating.
So, Christmas is coming and I haven't begun shopping for the wife yet. she won't tell me what she wants (and we don't even want to discuss the unmitigated disaster that results from my trying to "surprise" her! Testacles also render one incapable of selecting appropriate holdiay gifts for spouses . . .) I'll try to get out & get it done tonight. I don't want to wait till the end of the week, because the crowds just get worse the closer you get to Christmas. Ah well, it'll all work out somehow. Always does.
Later!
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