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.