Sunday Status...

So first I thought I'd start with a story...

I power walked yesterday... a darned good thing, since I hadn't since last Sunday... see... I have a cold and on Tuesday and Thursday decided sleep was more beneficial than exercise.

But I digress.... anyway... my favorite walking route has some variations, but nearly always takes me though the Eberwhite Woods. They are an Urban Woods, so far as Ann Arbor can be considered Urban, anyway... we are a city of about 200,000 and have I think three 'woods' in the middle of it. The Eberwhite Woods are about 2 blocks east to west and six north to south. Here is the approximate way the paths run... (My paint skills are minimal, you see...)

So normally, I veer right and then follow that central path up the hill, or SOMETIMES I veer left but then turn right after the swamp. But yesterday the leaves hid the place to turn, and I don't mind walking a little further, so I stayed to the left... And I got to... a wheelchair, sitting by itself on the trail (small pink dot). I looked around a little, hoping it didn't bode poorly for whoever had ridden the chair into the woods... no sign of trouble...

Then I got a little farther (big pink dot) and there was a cluster of people—at first sighting, in the distance, I thought maybe it was a wedding party... AHA! Very cool... someone attached to the woods wants a picture in here... not so unusual—there is a church to the east (right) of the woods... but as I get closer realize the photographer is dressed as a bard... the 'bride' (whose dress barely covers her bum, it's so sort) has a face painted silver... they are ALL in costume... I've clearly misunderstood something... finally, I am UPON them, and somebody is typing ANTLERS to a mans head. So I'm not sure what Druid Ritual or Celtic rite I walked through the middle of... none of them even said 'hello'--the snobs. *cough* but it definitely seemed an 'only in Ann Arbor' moment.


Okay... so STATUS...

I have BROADLY been doing very well. I am at 30,000. My problem, is I haven't really written since Thursday. The causes are good and bad... On the positive, I watched a movie with my daughter Friday night, helped my hubby put up Christmas lights Saturday, and watched a movie with my SON Saturday night... family stuff is GOOD.

In the negative, we are having money trouble... fairly bad money trouble. And when I face son's birthday this week, Thanksgiving, and then Christmas, it is a really sucky time to be thinking about it. We have never had it easy—but it is worse than normal, and the stress is bad for my mojo—like I'm dreaming about it and stuff.

I have this fantasy that the writing will one day make things flush... that as a supplement to my day job, it will make us okay again, but the process is so painfully SLOW. Even already having GOTTEN my first advance (which is gone on just bills—no splurges) those checks will come too slowly to meet the need. But if I were to sell another book (I REALLY want to) that process is ALSO super slow... and this stress about money NOW isn't going to help me clean things up any faster...

Sorry to whine and grumble, but I think it gives a pretty good indication as to why I don't expect the writing to maintain the same pace I had when I started. THANKFULLY though, it doesn't need to, since I'm ahead...