Pizza day!

Song of the day: “Just a little bit” by Maria Mena. I wonder why this particular artist is, as of yesterday, roaming in my head. Great music, sure, but not that incredibly famous that it would stick as well as it does.

I lie in bed for a full fifteen minutes, listening to the alarm go off this morning, wondering how the heck I’m going to get up when I can hardly keep my eyes open, hah.
Luckily, after some serious stretches in the comfortably warm (still fresh) morning sun, I’m doing a lot better and feel up to going down to the house without complaining like an old hag.

After coffee and breakfast (and the usual morning chores like laundry and such) we settle down for another edit and some writing. I need to finish the final scene, a new epilogue, and with that in mind I do finish it while big brother does a quick sum up beside me, listing the details for the sequel that is supposed to be created at some point in the near future.

Unlike the first five novels (two done, one halfway and the last one in the first quarter, and one still in the beginning stages) in the “No Escape from Rising Sun” chronicles, this sequel will be more like a spin off. It will have to do with the theme, but be entirely separate. Does that make any sense?

I got the idea while I was working on the epilogue, in which a particularly skilled assassin is introduced into the main plot. It will be a wonderful challenge to transform the proverbial bad guy into an actual hero. The ideas are running along, steadily forming a rather intriguing story in my head that’s going to be a pleasure to write down, I’m sure. Now, if only we manage to finish the edit so I can get to it…or any of the others for some serious writing.

That done, we settle down for the edit; it’s going at a snail’s pace, but we’re getting there. Another couple of pages gets added and by the time our write-work time is over, we’re pretty confident that by this time tomorrow we will be able to call the rewrite-edit finished. (Finally!)

Rather than following our usual routine, where we would head outside, we make a joined decision to focus on some of the maintenance and cleaning chores in the house instead. Though the weather is be wonderful for a good building session, a quiet day won’t go amiss at this point.

Little sister and I head for the kitchen. While cleaning cabinets and such, I’m going to mostly focus on making a large amount of pizza for dinner, which does require some time…it might not have been one of my smartest ideas, considering that my wrists are still sore and rolling out the dough hurts somewhat fierce, but what the heck.

Big brother gets his tools to do some repairs, and little brother transfers our two old armchairs to the spare storage room, where they’ll be out of the way until we find the time to do some proper repairs. Middle sister, also feeling the cleaning spirit rush through her, decides to tackle the chinchilla cage and the rabbit run.

All in all, everyone is doing his/her thing throughout the hours that pass. Mom is helping with the vegetables for the pizza, and I try to divert my attention between making dough, sauce and grating cheese, while helping little sister with the actual cleaning in the kitchen.

Three hours later, with the pizza ready for consuming, I head on up to our tenant to give her a pie as well and then dig in myself. One of the disadvantages of making about seven feet of pizza (hopefully it will see us through a day or two) is that it is time consuming and that hanging over food and delicious smells all the time, seriously kills the appetite. Hah.

Full after one slice, I really don’t feel like sitting down yet, and clean some more in the kitchen, reorganizing drawers and such before going out into the courtyard to water the plants. I use the sieve on the pool…the wind has been blowing more than a few leaves into the water for the past few days…hose down the large expanse of floor, since I’m using the water anyway, and then hang some more laundry.

After another quick session with the duster and a wet cloth, I consider the workday over and decide to answer a letter to a friend. I was too tired yesterday evening, so before big brother and I start on the edit again, I write her back, trying to lift her spirits a little. Though I try to keep it all light by jokingly comparing her life with a delightful soap opera, it saddens me to see the troubles she faces on a day-to-day basis.

For the remainder of the evening we once again delve into “Saving Nina” and don’t manage to finish…much to my regret. Only half a page to go, and midnight has passed. Now, in the old days I would have continued on, sacrificing sleeping time to the muses, but these days that is quite impossible. There are schedules to keep, and in light of that, completing the rewrite-edit will have to wait until tomorrow. Grrr.

By the time I arrive at my cabin to feed the dogs, I am forced to turn a blind eye to the mess I see in evidence everywhere around me. I would like to tackle that as well…apparently I’m suffering from clean-nytis today, hah…but it will have to be postponed until a different day when the schedule permits.

A nice quiet day? I don’t know. It makes me a little restless, even though I know I needed it. I feel better when we’ve put in a full day’s work on the rock project for some peculiar reason.

Bureaucracy: It's a pain! Hah.

Song of the day: “My Lullaby” by Maria Mena. A cute song, just not the most exciting one to have swirling through your head most of the day. Of course, afterwards there was this really annoying kiddie song that took it’s place, so I was wishing that Mena came back.

Okay, early day this morning, and I’ll admit to not liking it in the least to rearrange schedules, just to get it all done. We had to get the car to the obligatory yearly check up and then tackle the motor vehicle dept. to finally find out what the heck is taking them so friggin’ long in sending us our official licenses.

But I’m getting ahead of myself again; a nasty tendency, I know. Do bear with me.
So let’s get back on track. The alarm screeches, disturbing a rather interesting dream about “Prison Break” of all things. A pity too, it was just about to get interesting.

Time to unwrap the bandage, roll out of bed and get going. I go to the house, deposit my bag, have a quick breakfast with coffee. Half an hour later, we’re on our way to the city, making it just in time to the technical inspection…that makes us “fail” (an annoying little man who had a face as if he was looking at something vile) due to the missing third seatbelt of the center seat in the back of the truck. Aaargh.

Apparently, it makes no difference if the backseat of the truck is too small to harbor three people and that the center belt was never used and just annoyed us.
But noooooh, we need to have it put in before we get our certificate. So now we have to make another appointment for when we get the stupid belt from the shop, at which time we get to return (yay) to go through the entire procedure again. We get to spend time and money on fuel so we can shell out another fifty bucks to get something that we’re obligated to get.

Oh my. It amazes me how governments work that way. You pay taxes and then get to pay more for stuff that are not a service supplied, no, they’re an obligation…with opening hours that are so short no self-respecting shop could earn a living with, mind you. I can make money that way. Wouldn’t it be grand I could make it a law that people HAVE to buy my books, or else? Why not charge for air too, while they’re at it. Bloody bureaucracy. They piss me off. They really do.

But anyway, who cares…Afterwards we head for the traffic bureau where we spend a “blissful” hour standing in line and waiting for our number to come up. Yep, they better be grateful for those bulletproof windows ‘cause there were some frustrated people around. Hah

Luckily, the lady we talk with is forthcoming and supplies us with an old model license, because the one that was send in the mail obviously didn’t (and never would) arrive. It’s this scrap of pink paper that gets printed on the spot, they rub on some glue and then stick a picture on in, an voila: Driving license on the spot…and for that I get to shell out my hard earned money.

No matter though. If all goes well, it should tide me over for at least ten years…knock on wood, cross my finger and roll my eyes…so I’m happy with at least one success today.

When we return home and release the pack…apparently they were remarkably quiet during our absence (good dogs)…and then pour ourselves some much needed coffee before setting up the computer.

We only manage a page or so of the epilogue, considering we got way too little sleep, and so, and hour before our usual quitting time, we start on a more active task - if only to prevent exhaustion from getting the better of us.

For the next couple of hours I clean. Fake plants get hosed down and the ceilings and walls are once again rid of the spider webs and dust. Since I’m busy anyway, I also rearrange some electrical wires and a light fixture in the kitchen, finishing up just when we’re supposed to head on outside for another session with the rocks.

The third plant container is added in the hours that follow, along with the last step leading to my porch. It is all starting to come together and we all take a moment to admire the progress made before we return to the house for the meal mom has prepared for dinner.

First, we decide to remove Yama’s stitches. She was the crossbreed that got a hysterectomy a little while back. The slightly scarred skin is looking good, and though it takes us a while to achieve the removal (I’m almost lying on top of her) soon she is walking around the other dogs again, happy as you please.

Once we’ve eaten, and with the approach of dusk, big brother and I go to the car (we need to be fast before it’s too dark) so we can get another load of dirt to fill up the terrace.

It takes us about twenty minutes to fill the back of the truck up, and then we’re back on our way home. Since our tenant needs to go to physical therapy again tomorrow we spend another fifteen minutes unloading the dirt too and then go down to relax a little with an episode from “Bones”.

My wrists are a tad achy from all the activity, and I patiently wait for midnight to arrive (it’ll only take an hour) so I can head for my cabin to retire for the night.

Gawd, I really do need to get some sleep fast.

Semi-rest day. Yay!

Song of the day: “La principe valiente” by Amistades Peligrosas. Gawd, I haven’t heard the song in years...at least not deliberately...so I wonder how I managed to even remember the (Spanish) lyrics, let alone the melody. There were a few other songs, a brave attempt on my part to “change the tune” so to speak, but LPV was definitely the main theme.

I’m a tad late this morning. I just couldn’t open my eyes during wake-up time and ended up snoozing an extra ten minutes. Ah, well, no harm done, I supposed. I remove the wrappings and test my wrists. Since they’re reasonably well, I leave the wrappings off and get out of bed.

Dreadfully stiff and with my eyes at half-stock (I hate it when that happens) I do a few stretches prior to getting dressed for the day, and then head on out the cabin into the bright, but fresh morning air. Beautiful weather again; sunny but cool, just like the younger sibs like it. Hah.

After breakfast and the usual morning chores, sincerely hoping that my eyes will open appropriately, we start on the edit. Again it goes slowly, but steadily, going through a couple of pages in the hours that pass, and during which we get distracted a lot.

We stumble a little on a particular phrasing here, a wrong punctuation mark there, but other than that, it’s not going too bad when the time arrives for us to head on out.
Since little sister and I are both having some discomfort in our wrists…definitely overdid the lifting part these past few weeks, hah…we tackle the car for a good washing.

Tomorrow we need to take the car to the city for it’s official check up with the traffic bureau of the county. Our “permiso de circulacion” needs to be renewed, and for that the tedious chore of heading over the there and probably wait there for hours on end (aargh) for our turn is jotted down in our mental day planner. I am not looking forward to it, that’s a fact, but what needs to be done has to be done in the end.

So, we wash the car, remove the tattered and torn coverings from the seats (can’t give a bad impression after all) and replace it with a new set that we bought on sale six months, or so, ago. It’s a rather heavy task, twisting and turning into all sorts of shapes while we attempts to attach the coverings to the seats, but in the end, with the car gleaming, the dashboard cleaned and the “new” seats, the truck is looking mighty nifty.

While little sister and I did the car, the other sibs emptied yesterday’s dirt load from the back of the truck, and then went off to different ventures while we finished up the cleaning.

Once we’re done, it is time to change clothes, bring the dogs inside and get ready for the run we planned to take today. Though some exercise won’t go amiss, the ol’ bod is complaining somewhat fierce as I dress in my workout clothes, slip into my sneakers and then head up to the car where little sister is already waiting.

At last, the three younger sibs have come to a point in their lives where they want to learn how to drive - not so much getting a license, but just “knowing” how to handle a car without driving into a ditch. This is why we decided that, since we head out onto narrow dirt roads in deserted areas for our running anyway, we might as well take the opportunity to start with lessons.

While little brother had his turn during the last run, little sister takes hers today. It is quite charming to see her excitement (little sister always literally glows when she enjoys something) when we finally reach the dirt road and we change places so she can settle behind the wheel.

Basically, this is the first time that she’s driving our wonderfully clean truck, so there are a few hiccups at the start…the lower gear does make it a lot easier on her…but once she gets a hang of it she is carefully touring towards the small parking area where we stop to go for our run.

The run goes well, taking less than an hour, and afterwards we’re all standing around the car going through the cool-down stretches and other exercises that will keep joints and muscles flexible. Since we need to turn the car anyway, little sister gets to drive almost four miles in total and she is delighted by the time we return to the house with her very first driving lesson behind her.

I’m actually quite relieved that little sister is doing the driving on the bumpy road. Every jerk and bump is bothering my wrist, so if I were holding the wheel I’d be sure to be in some serious pain. Ah yes, I’m learning to see the positive side of things these days, hah. Upon reaching the main road, little sister and I exchange places again and I drive home…on the smooth and bump-less blacktop, thankfully.

Mom has dinner waiting for us, so after washing up and greeting the dogs we heartily dig in. Excellent meal: Curried zucchini, green beans with coconut shavings and basmati rice. It always reminds me of my childhood for some reason.

With dinner behind us, big brother and I resume the edit and add another two pages, ending the last chapter with gleeful pleasure…for us, anyway. Only the epilogue to go, along with the new scene, and then the re-write edit will actually be completely and irrevocably, DONE! Yes, yes…Yay!

Sure, it will need a read-through edit still, and probably another read-through after that, but the hard work will be over. Phew. I can hardly encompass it when I think about it; maybe I’ll have better luck tomorrow. Hah.

I’ve a feeling that I’m missing something, and event that I wanted to write down for today, but for the life I can’t remember what it was. It’s so frustrating. It’s like trying to think of a word and it’s on the tip of your tongue, you just can’t figure out what it is. Darn it!

Lemme think. I wrote about the edit, the car washing, the run, little sister’s first driving lesson…nope. I’m coming up blank. Don’t you just hate it when that happens? Ah well, maybe I’ll have remembered by this time tomorrow…I wonder if I’ll be able to state that the epilogue of “Saving Nina” is done then too. That sure would be something. I’m still trying to think of a way to celebrate.

So, with that bit of pleasant news the evening comes to an end, and with it today’s blog.

Oops.

Song of the day: “Walk on by” by Bryan Adams. A marvelous song, so it’s a good one to have in my head if I have to have one. Hah.

I actually manage to sleep seven hours this night. There were turbulent dreams, but the details faded too fast for me to remember them when I wake up. A pity really, especially since a good dream would have been a nice little thing to share today.

Feeling a little lethargic when I wake, I take the time to do some serious stretching, because, let’s face it, I feel like an old woman this morning, hah. It takes a while for the ol’ engine to get going, and when I get down to the house, the dogs make a racket in their enthusiasm to storm inside. Nothing unusual there, of course, it just struck me.

Since big brother is already there, we have to take care that a fight doesn’t ensue between his pack and mine. Knight II and Fortuyn (a pointer) really don’t like each other, and considering that Tallis (a crossbreed) is scared as heck for Knight II too…well, caution is advisable in that case.

Once my bag has been deposited on the table, it’s time to start on the morning chores. Laundry gets dealt with, followed by a bit of cleaning, and next thing I know big brother and I are once again working on the edit. We don’t get much done during the course of today’s work, but we do add another page or two with a lot of effort.

It is a complicated scene, and though the original version isn’t bad, to be comprehensive, a lot of the sentences need to be rearranged until it makes sense to a reader, rather than me (the writer, duh). It’s frustrating as hell, especially to recreate an image that is already so clear in my head. It is like making a perfect photograph, the composition just so that is only in focus for me. So, to recreate that, in order for someone else to see it the way I do, is like having to set up the entire scene in the same way and then taking the shot from an entirely different angle.

Luckily, in the end, the scene does come out in the right way however, so it is well worth the frustration after all. Eight more pages to go in the rewrite-edit so soon we’ll be done, yay!

Oh yeah. I'm also adding a new scene in the epilogue, for some reason. Interesting. It's an excellent start for the third book.

The day is remarkably clouded, so the temperatures are low enough to actually wear jeans and a flannel shirt. With that plus in mind, we’re all pretty exited about starting today’s work outside in the occasional sunshine and cool breeze. It makes work a lot easier.

For the project, we have to move a pile of rocks that has been stored on top of the wall, and the new terrace it creates, away, so that we can soon start filling it up with dirt and rubble and create an even surface. It takes the four of us almost an hour to move it from one place to the next, at which time little sister and I start on the second plant container that will be attached to the first (created the day before yesterday).

What with the heavy work these past few days, my wrists have been hurting somewhat fierce throughout the day, and since they only get worse, I decide to just shovel cement and let little sister do the difficult part of the job, rather than aggravate the injuries with, bulky, large and heavy weights.

We manage the second plant container just fine within the time allotted for today’s task, and when we’re done, we head into the house to have a quick dinner of the meal mom prepared for us. Red beets, fried with rice and cheese, an all time favorite for the entire family. Once stuffed, we quickly head on out to get a new load of rocks from our usual spot.

While working there, we do realize that we have gotten so many rocks in the past few weeks that the supply is actually dwindling down so much that there isn’t even enough in one spot to get a proper load. What are the chances, really, of depleting a supply beside several miles of road that is under construction…in a rocky area no less?
It sure means that we have been a tad enthusiastic. Hah.

By the time we return my wrists are hurting so much that, rather than help unload, I decide to carry down the supply of dog food that was delivered today. While big brother and grandpa take the rocks out, I go up and down the mountain, making a nice pile of forty-pound bags that make up a solid 640 pounds in total. Yep, the training stuff these past few months are definitely paying off. Heck, my knees didn’t even protest.

Once that’s done we depart again, this time carrying a couple of shovels to we can head to a place where large piles of dirt have been dumped during the construction of the road, and spend an hour transferring about 2000 pounds of dirt into the back of the truck. I do admit to being a tad…ehm, empty by the end of that, so I’m more than happy that midnight is only a couple more hours away.

We watch a recorded episode of “NCIS” and then I head up to my cabin. I need an Ibuprofen and decide to wrap up my wrists with Arnica. With a little luck they’ll be a lot better by this time tomorrow…presuming I don’t screw up by carrying something that’s too heavy before they have the chance to recover. Hah.

What with the wrapped up wrists and my somewhat giddy mood (I tend to get giddy when I’m tired, I don’t know why) the conversation with big brother about grammar, soon goes into the ridiculous, so we wrap up for the evening and try to aim for an early night.

It sure feels like a good day, even with the wrapped up wrists. It makes for an interesting typing experience. Hah.