Phewww.

I’m running on empty tonight, so let’s see if I can keep it short. (I know, I promise it every time, but at least I try. That’s gotta count for something. Hah)

Up at what feels like the crack of dawn this morning. Have ourselves a date at the consulate to get our passports, and then linea recta over to the DMV, ‘cause there appears to be a snafu with our permanent licenses. It got sent to the wrong address for some reason and then got sent back…really annoying.

So, after depositing the dogs in the house, big brother and I head out towards town and then the freeway to make it in time to make our appointment. Luckily, it takes only a short time, so there’s enough to get to the DMV before closing. Long lines there, always reminds me of a theme park with the zigzag you have to follow just to get to your destination…of course there’s no thrilling ride at the end.

As it turns out, the dude behind the thick glass says he can’t do anything since the darn things are in transit, or some such, so either it is going to be delivered again by mail…hopefully correctly this time…and otherwise we’ll have to return next month to pick it up there. Bureaucracy. Aaargh.

I’m blatantly reminded of a stand up comedian who had this really awesome narrative about why those guys are seated behind bulletproof glass. Seriously, with all the hoops they’re making ya jump through, a nice little machine gun would be the perfect solution to get rid of some frustration. Hah.

But anyways, since we’re out already, we head back to the town closest to our home, and visit a Chinese bazaar. I’m in need for some sweatpants…the old ones are sliding down my butt…and tops. Next, we visit one of Spain’s biggest department stores, hoping that we’ll finally be able to get sneakers for big brother. Getting size 14 shoes is like looking for gold around here.

Though it’s a tight fit, we do finally manage to get a pair, and rapidly hurry on home, where the dogs are getting more than a little impatient to be released out into the yard.
It is at least an hour after their usual release time and the orchestra of barking is deafening when they storm from the patio and out into the still slightly clouded day.

Rather than bother with the edit, big brother and I both spend some time going over messages and such, and though I do attempt to work some on the scene I mentioned yesterday, distractions don’t allow for more than a couple of paragraphs, while big brother heads out to get sand and cement.

My writing plans foiled we head on out to resume the wall. While little sister works on the section beside the tower, and big brother does the stairs, little brother has moved down to the courtyard gate to expand on the short section that leads to the opening. Instead, he is pulling it out to the fence that leads to the backyard. His part is coming along quite nicely, I’ll admit. Makes me look back…rather fondly, I might add…when we were still doing the “simple” foundation work. Hah.

I’m working on a particularly difficult spot. There’s nothing more complicated and frustrating than building the end of a wall with natural rocks. Most of the time, you have to find irregular stones with at least two straight sides, and always with an accurate angle. I’ve been working on it for two days now and I’m only up to three or four feet in height. Bugger!

Still, I only need to add two or three more layers before it’s done, so with that in mind we finish up for the day (the stairs are up another beautiful step, too) and head into the house to eat a quick snack.
Laundry is thankfully only a minor chore today, which is good, considering that today’s activities, piled on top of yesterday’s jog make walking practically impossible, hah. There’s nothing like sore muscles to let you know that you’re busy.

Regretfully the bureaucratic bull isn’t over yet, Monday and Tuesday I need to take the younger sibs to town so they can finally become residents as well, so the remainder of the evening is spent filling out the necessary form and taking care that everything possible is taken care of before the actual ordeal.

With my eyes at half-stock…I swear, right now I could sleep standing up. It was a long day…I finally head up to my cabin to feed the dogs and finish up the evening. I think this is the first time in my life I’m looking forward to Sunday. We plan on a semi-rest day again, then, and maybe a nice relaxing walk up in the mountains. We’ll see.

Road trip followed by a jog.

I’m going to have to hurry tonight...should have written a proper blog last night, darn it...’cause now really I don’t have the time (I’ll have to cut some edges, hah). It has to be an early night for me. I need to go to the consulate tomorrow morning to get my new passport, which arrived today.

As for today? Well, I oversleep, aaargh, so I’m late again, of course, and I hurry through the morning rituals to get to the house in time to start on today’s editing session. I actually manage to go through the morning chores fast enough to be an hour earlier than usual so none of the editing hours were lost in the end. We manage to do two full chapters, which is good, since one of my proofreaders is eagerly waiting for the next installment, hah.

I hear/read that she misses a particular scene in “Saving Nina”, so I’m going to have to write one in the near future, to make up for it. Can’t have a reader wondering what happens before the actual “she’s rescued” scene, so I’ll have to add a proper rescue, however short, even though to me it is not a scene that is really necessary. We’ll see how it comes out.

The session over and done with and with the arrival of the younger sibs big brother and I head out to the car with middle sister, grandpa and mom. We’re on a mission to find new rocks for the wall and the stairs alike, and since we’re feeling up to a bit of a road trip, we head west, farther land inward.

It is quite amazing how different the countryside can be around here with only a dozen or so miles of travel (the way the crow flies, that is). We go about thirty miles and it feels as if we’re in a foreign country. Cradled within the mountains, there’s this huge, rather hot, valley that seems to stretch on endlessly. There are crop fields all ‘round, orange and lemon orchards, avocados and even a huge hacienda with a massive flock of sheep dotting one particular stretch of a huge mountain ridge.

So strange how you can feel as if you’ve stepped into a different country that way, but as we cruise over narrow winding roads, cross small streams that actually run over the potholed blacktop, heading farther west, it is quite extraordinary. It takes a while before we come upon a stretch where a particularly nice collection of rocks is easy pickings just beside a large olive tree orchard.

Especially the really flat rocks suit our fancy today, since we really need those for the stairs big brother is creating while the sibs and I are erecting the wall. We manage to fill up the truck bed, the heat almost unbearable. Though it is a gorgeous area, and living there would be attractive if for no other reason than it is very remote, the summer must be pure hell temperature wise. Even now, still in spring, we were sweating like mad, as we hauled rock after rock and loaded them up.

On the way back, figuring that we’ve deserved a refreshment, we fill up the gas tank and buy ice cream for everyone, and then continue on our way home to unload today’s batch.

Considering that we still have to get our tenant…she’s late, due to the ambulance that picks her up and then drops her off again, being behind schedule, so, this time in the company of little sister and our friend Danni we depart again, and head for the dirt road in the woods that is so very suitable for a jog.

The sore muscles have recovered since the last run, so after some stretches we start on our second jog. Much to my surprise, even though I didn’t particularly felt like going at all today, the run goes remarkably well.

We actually do a mile and a half, of which I manage to run about seventy percent without actually feeling like I’m going to pass out, hah.
After some mild stretching exercises and crunches, we’re done for the afternoon and head back since we know that our tenant will be close to home by now, and needs to be picked up from the parking place in front of the bar.

Since Danni has chosen to do the actual picking up, big brother, little sister and I step out at the top of our drive sweep, feeling every single muscle complain as we start on the steep incline that leads towards the front gate. Muscles tremble, knees buckle, but we make it down and head to the house for our much-deserved dinner.

Pasta with cheese and spinach waits, and it gets devoured with relish as we watch an episode of “the Mentalist” and then get back to work on the computer.
Not much gets done tonight, but it doesn’t matter.
On the overall, it turned out to be a good day, and that is all that really matters.

W.I. Investigations/Roamer Teaser

There’s really not much to tell, except that Ama came home today and that her ear surgery went well (she was insanely happy to go home) and ended up with eight stitches to repair the damage Adma did. Other than that, you can pick a random day of the past few weeks and you’ll get the general idea of what happened on this one. Hah.
Just think of the wall, being almost up to its full height (everything together approximately twelve feet high, yay!) minus two yards on the edges that still need to be done.

So, let’s do something entirely different today.
I’ve been thinking about a teaser; a scene from one of the W.I. Investigations that I’m planning to publish in the near future. This one is titled “Roamer” and it involves the dangers and complexities of psychic venturing in places they should not.

It’s rough yet, but the general “feel” should get across I’m thinking. It's a bit on the horror side, dark and gloomy and supposedly scary, but I'll let you be the judge about that. Hah.

Enjoy:

<<<>>>

W.I. Investigations/Roamer
-------------------------

Insert

He sat in silence to harbor his thoughts and desires like a beloved child; protected them against the outside forces, raging beyond the darkness in which he hid. He had been here for what felt like an eternity: Nurturing his hatred, feeding it with the fevered emotions surrounding him. Thick tendrils of black mist touched him with its wet fingers in the breeze that swirled through the realm incessantly.
It was dark; here in the place where light would not---and could not---reach. No illumination aided him as he huddled within his sanctuary, listening to the numerous sounds coming from way up high.
Waiting, learning, he brooded quietly for the day to come, when his vengeance could be brought to completion.
He was a patient man, his thrived on waiting as a matter of fact. It strengthened his resolve and made him stronger as he continued to listen to the static of the world beyond.
“Eleanor. Can you hear me?” His head snapped up with the voice that jumped out of the noise like a glimmering beacon. It was feminine and clear, naïve hope piercing through the mist. The voice was stronger than those who were his constant companions, here, in the place where he had been since his last venture into the corporal world.
His eyes, black as his surroundings were, an eerie contrast against the lighter shade of slate gray of the substance that contained his consciousness, snapped open. They peered intently into the black mist around him, searched for the source of the new voice like the hunter he was.
“Eleanor. Come to us. We are waiting,” the sweet voice implored, the sing-song quality of it peaking his interest even more.
There it was; a tiny dot of light in the distance, slowly becoming stronger as his focus zeroed in and latched on.
“Good spirits of the beyond. I command you to bring Eleanor to me so that her children may speak to her.”
A psychic, and a strong one at that, he noted with glee. Slowly, he straightened to his full length, shaking off the dregs of immobility. With his mind, he reached for the light of the voice, latching on to it carefully, lest he’d alarm the inexperienced psychic with his powerful presence.
“Yes,” he breathed, tenderly sliding the long, strong vines of his mind into that of the wide-open psychic. Tentatively, he explored the possibilities that lay inside. Power streamed through him instantly; reviving him as only few had done in the time he had hid within the darkness.
“Come to us, Eleanor. The door is open and we are ready to receive you infinite wisdom.”
He almost laughed at the psychic’s innocence, using his secretive hold on her to bring himself in motion.
Dregs of thick black mist churned around him when he first started to move, pulling gently on the anchor he had attached to the unsuspecting psychic, located within the light that was slowly brightening his surroundings.
“Yes,” he repeated, his hold strengthening even as the psychic called out again to the spirit of some loved one. She was so inexperienced that she didn’t even notice his approach. And she wouldn’t. Not if he could help it.
He could.
“Eleanor. I can sense you now. Please join us within this circle of love and friendship. You have been missed dearly.”
Black tendrils of the dark thinned, allowing him to look around and see the entity, which was summoned. It was weak, he saw, recognizing an impending reincarnation that was already drawing upon the soul flittering in and out of existence. Still, the lure of the past drew her towards the light.
Ah, easy spoils, he thought, closing in on the unsuspecting flitter of life that darted around the light like a moth to a flame.
“Eleanor. Don’t be frightened. Join us.”
Yes! Join them, he mocked softly, nearing the filmy entity with ever-increasing speed, his pleasure heightening with the easy victory that lay ahead.
Eleanor didn’t notice him until it was too late. Her awareness blinked out in less than a second when he wrapped himself around her and consumed the very essence of what had once been the soul the psychic searched for.
“Eleanor?”
Not wanting to alert the searcher, he fought against the jubilant feeling of power surging through him, but every bit of information the unfortunate soul had possessed filled him.
Lingering on the satisfying feeling of supremacy, he lay in wait.
Other spirits, lured by the powerful demand of the psychic, fled when he finally reached the light; his dark presence blocking out the lure of the innocent.
Laughing inwardly at the fear the other spirits displayed, he playfully lashed out at them, enjoying the pain he inflicted with nothing more than a thought.
He lurked within the swirls of black, dancing around the light emitted by the young psychic venturing in the unknown.
She was young, he could see now, floating this way and that as he peered through the portal in her soul.
Flitting in and out of “being” he was little more than a shadow to her, he knew, using it to his advantage as he carefully dug deeper into her mind; seeing what she saw…and so much more.
The psychic was little more than a girl, sixteen years of age at most, and several of her peers were seated around a low coffee table in what looked to be a living room.
They had their hands clasped together, strengthening the broadcast into this world of nothingness, where he had resided for so long.
“It isn’t working, Callie” he heard the teenage psychic mutter worriedly. Her anxiety grew perceptibly as he closed the final gap. Quickly, effortlessly, he wrapped himself around the opening she had created.
“Try again,” one of the kids with her urged, their faces filled with excitement even when the girl paled visibly. She was trying to understand what was happening to her. Though she didn’t know why her powers were suddenly dwindling, draining so rapidly that she could feel it in her corporal body. He did…and reveled in the knowledge.
He crooned his pleasure at the feel of pure energy seeping warmly into his limbs, steadily, filling up the dark niches of his ethereal form.
“Something’s wrong,” the teenage psychic said, his intimate connection to her making him feel every single warning signal that coursed through her.
Strong and sensitive, he mused with pleasure: Delighted with his choice even as he stopped masking his presence and heard the teen’s startled gasp when the full force of his essence slammed into her at last. He swept through her ruthlessly, violating every part of her being until nothing remained hidden.
“No!” she breathed, air exploding from her lungs the moment he slammed through her natural defenses like the mighty entity that he was.
“Yes!” he refuted, thrilled at her perception, and seeing her flinch both mentally and physically when at long last she realized her peril.
The young psychic scrambled to close the portal she’d opened, her body jerking free from the hand of her peers.
She raised her arms in futile resistance, instinct taking over at the threat he so clearly was.
Laughing, he clawed his way through the opening that connected his world to hers, his voice booming as her desperate attempt at defense crumbled under the might of his intrusion.
Light flickered ominously when he entered the earthly domain.
He slithered through the portal as children cried out and backed away from where he appeared within their midst.
The shadowy tentacles of his essence swirled around him in an impressive sweep, latching onto each and every teen, screaming at the top of their lungs.
They were his now. And no known force in this universe would be able to stop him.
Basking in his might, he stood within the once so cozy room, colors fading wherever his eyes went.
Something, a tingle in his nape made him turn suddenly; ready to combat any threat present, his powers lashed out towards the watcher, invisible but there.
“I see you!” he crooned, smiling at where he knew the presence lingered.
“I see you!”

Sally Ruins snapped up straight with a start, awakening from her trance with a labored inhalation of oxygen into starving lungs. Papers flew with her rapid withdrawal, showing how far gone she had been during this routine search.
“Oh, my God!” she whispered, looking around her messy office and focusing on the files, paper clippings and books piled on top of her desk.
“Are you alright, Sally?” the disembodied voice, coming from the small speaker on the corner of the desktop, made her jump and scramble for the half-empty coffee mug she’d almost knocked over.
“No! No, I’m not, James. You better call Roger. We have a serious problem.”

<<<>>>

This concludes the teaser scene. I hope you enjoyed it.

Slight mishap.

Philosophical thought of the day:
If life flows, as it will with the passage of time, what good does worrying about the future do?
It’s an honest question. It’s been bugging me all day and the only answer I can think of is that worrying about anything does absolutely nothing.
Which brings another question to the surface: Why do I(we) worry at all? It is so unconstructive in the end, because worries don’t actually make one do anything. Or does it?
Food for thought.

The day:
I get up half an hour late this morning, considering I was procrastinating sleep again last night. Stupid, I know, but what can I say, I got distracted and forgot the time. I pay the price today in spades, I admit. That extra half hour really doesn’t cut it. Hah.

But that’s beside the point, I guess. I head on down to the house so big brother and I can start on the edit asap. We manage to go over two chapters of “Saving Nina” in the read-through edit, which is less than I wanted, but more than I expected, in light of the chores that kept us from really getting into it.

Since big brother and I intend do go to town today, trying to search for shoes (his size is a pain in the butt to get) so we have to start with building a little early. The sibs have only just arrived when we head on out to commence making cement and preparing the site for today’s session.

When the sibs join us, the first batch of cement is already made, and with a lot of silly jokes going back and forth, we all pile more rocks, while big brother searches for just the right ones he needs to make the stairs that lead to the patio door.

I’m only just getting started, really, adding about three feet to a section of the wall when our time’s up (our tenant needs to be picked up again in two hours, so we’re on a tight schedule) and we need to hurry to get ready.

Finding sneakers for big brother is, as expected, more than a little difficult. We visit over five stores and come up empty. We’re about to visit the last possibility too, when the phone call comes in that we have to head on up the mountain again to pick our tenant up from the bar where the ambulance has dropped her off.

Traffic is pure hell today, jamming up at practically every turn because, as usual, when summer’s approaching road works are all over the place, rerouting traffic and cutting it off at random intervals. It gets so bad at one point that I’ve no idea where we are. Luckily, we make out a familiar building in the distance and start winding our way through tiny streets until we once again return to the main road that leads home.

Our tenant…in good spirits after her third rehab session…gets delivered on her front step, and we’re about to drive onto the property when we hear that there was a slight mishap with a couple of the dogs while we were gone.

Apparently, Ama (a Viscla pointer) and Adma (a pocket Beagle) got into a bit of tussle through the center fence. This resulted in Adma grabbing Ama’s ear and tearing a corner shaped piece of skin out that now dangles down. She bled all over the place. Seeing that this particular two-inch cut is not something we can handle ourselves, big brother and I decide to take the dog to the veterinary hospital immediately.

Ama, though trembling with fear, behaves bravely throughout the drive and the following examination. With her tail between her legs, she settles in her cage, since it is near closing time and we have to leave her there for the night for her operation. With the reassurance that we’ll come back in the morning to pick her up, we depart and head back home.

Little sister has prepared dinner of mac ‘n cheese with veggies, which is a dish we both favor, but since it is already so late, I manage to eat only a little. We’re just barely in time to watch an episode of “Burn Notice” and then, before I know it, the day is over.

Time. How come it flies when a day isn’t exactly a success, too?

Snoozing a write. Hah.

So, no extreme soreness today, much to my relief. As a matter of fact, the legs are coping really well with yesterday’s strain. The upper part of the body is actually giving me more trouble, which is weird. For some reason I’m stiff in the shoulders, ribs and stomach, and though the thighs do let me know they’re “there”, on the overall I’m pretty pleased with how it all turned out.

I wake up right on the dot this morning, but I’m so friggin’ tired I dose off again once I’m in the house. Big brother and grandpa have gone to get a new load of sand, and I just can’t keep my eyes open and snooze for about thirty minutes. Realizing my error, I shake myself out of it and focus on the computer to do some writing for a change.

I manage to get about half a page for “Finding Maddie” the sequel to “Saving Nina” (aka, the edit project. Hah) done before big brother comes home.
Perhaps I should add a short sum-up of the story? It is not as out-of-the-ordinary like SN, by any means, but it does have some perks.

So, the basic premises of the plot (meaning the entire “No Escape from Rising Sun” series) is this: Two decades ago, the Rising Sun sect gathered more than forty children for the sole purpose of creating mindless soldiers that could be used for their own nefarious goal of achieving¾okay, this sounds a little tacky, but what the hey¾world domination.
Upon realizing that the sect is a threat to national security, the government sent a small group of Navy SEALs to destroy the base camp-up until that point unaware of the children present within the compound.
Rather than risk detection, the leaders of the sect order these child-soldiers to commit mass suicide. Only five survive.
The series is about these children and how they had to learn to cope in society and become adults in a world that doesn’t understand them.
This turns out to be impossible, when four years after the destruction of the Rising Sun sect, they are basically forced to work for a covert agency that, in its own way, is just as ruthless and evil as the sect was.
At last, (this is in the prequel titled “Commanding Morgan”…I know, I’m doing it all backwards. Bear with me; it’s been a long day) this agency was stopped due to a huge media scandal; at which time the remaining child-soldiers disappeared without a trace.

So, this brings us to “Finding Maddie” (at last). It takes place about a year after Nina’s story and it describes how two of the former Rising Sun child-soldiers are trying desperately to keep their child, Maddie, safe from the psychotic nemesis that has been haunting all the characters of the series.

Hmmm. I’m going to have cut this short. I’ll get back to a more thorough description in the near future once I start writing on it again.
Up until now, I’ve only gotten about one third of the story worked out, but it’s really developing rather nicely: Lots of intrigue, guesswork and a healthy (or unhealthy, depending on one’s point of view) dose of action.

Back to the day:
We start editing as soon as my coffee mug is refilled. It goes well, we manage more than sixteen pages-a read-through edit, rather than rewrite one-and are pretty pleased with the end result. The prologue and 1st chapter are immediately sent to a couple of my proofreaders, so we can get feedback on the progress so far.

Around the usual time, we head on up to start working on the wall. Since we have to wait for middle sister to mix our cement, the younger sibs and I start shifting around rocks to make room along the wall-lots rolled down from the long pile positioned diagonally to it-and then resume our rock puzzling for the next few hours.

Today metal rods need to build into the structure, and working on our respective sections, rapidly the wall is brought up another foot, or so.
By the time we finish for the day, about three yards of the entire barrier is up to the aimed-for height, bringing us another step closer to completion.

Wanting to have some of the sand and cement left for tomorrow, we quit when we’re halfway through today’s load; clean up; snap some pictures and then head into the house.
Grandpa has made a variety of pancakes for dinner again, apple, plain and cheese, and my stomach is growling while I quickly go through the laundry chore.

Since I’ve a hankering for vegetables I make a simple salad of iceberg slaw, cherry tomatoes, red bell pepper and some rasped cheese before I actually dig in.
“CSI” the new season with Lawrence Fishbourne is on today, followed by an episode of “Bones” and we watch it, pleasantly surprised at only finding a handful of brittle and “sluggish” ticks still pestering the dogs.

It appears as if yesterday’s communal bath was effective, because the big bloodsuckers are fragile and weak, while most of the little ones that we can still find on a variety of dogs are actually already dead. Yay. All was not for naught!

Big brother and I do another edit at the end of the evening, going through another chapter and receive a message from the first of my proofreaders, who’s chomping at the bit to read the next installment. Hah. Such news always cheers me up. Wish I got it every day.

Afterwards-midnight has already passed-I quickly take my dogs up to my cabin, feed them, read a book and then start the computer back up…which concludes today’s Blog. It is short but it touches all the “highlights”, I guess.

Washing dogs!!!

I wake up in time this morning. Big surprise there, somehow I’d figured I wouldn’t manage it, but I do and stumble out of bed to throw the dogs out of the cabin. Since I finished my read “Death Angel” by Linda Howard yesterday morning, I’m back to rereads. (Darn it, I knew I should have stretched it out a little more, but as is so often the case when I’ve got a good read, I have this uncontrollable urge to finish it ASAP.)

So, now I’m rereading an older book by Carla Neggers, “The Harbor”. A good book, by any means, even though it misses that climactic feel to it, but it will do for the next couple of days, I guess.

Once I’ve got my daily dose of reading in, I head to the house and go through the normal routines before settling down for the daily edit. Since we’ve decided that today is going to be a semi-rest day, we don’t really push it. Only two pages get done because YES dog-washing day has arrived! Yay.

The wind is still blowing, but the sun is much warmer today, allowing for rapid drying time when the dogs are washed.

An hour earlier than usual, we put our computers away, and I change into old sweats to head on over to the pool. The wind has been blowing somewhat fierce for the past 30 hours or so, so for the first ten minutes I’m using the pool sieve to remove nature’s debris from the water.

That done, I grab the pesticides-designed to treat dogs for ticks and fleas-and throw two bottles in the knee high water. The pink liquid turns white the moment it hits the water in the pool and fizzes somewhat alarmingly.
I mix it all together and then start calling for my dogs-very sweetly, or course-to come and join me.

About three of them (they’re not the smartest lot, by any means, unlike most of the others they haven’t guessed what’s going to happen yet) come dashing up the stairs to see what’s up. I quickly slam the door shut, before they know what’s going on.
Mosha goes in first, enduring the dunking with little complaints since she is familiar with swimming. Dax, on the other hand acts as if I’ve thrown him through the alligators, and Knight II…well, the water barely comes to his knees, hah, and I need to step into the water myself to douse him with the grayish liquid.

Slowly, but steadily, with my clothes rapidly gathering more water, one by one the pack is paraded into the pool.
Some dash into the water head first-in particular the Labradors, cockers and retrievers, who love the water so much that they don’t even notice the pungent odor.

Some go in semi-voluntarily, like my Basset Chaos who looks at me haughtily when I call him and then lazily slides into the water because he knows that I’ll throw him in if he doesn’t. I can almost hear his commentary to the hassle. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t drop your panties, boss. I’m going. See? No sweat?” Arrogant mutt! Hah.

After Chaos, there are some dogs that need to be led firmly and then some actually need to be tossed, because otherwise there would be no way in hell to get them wet. Seriously, some of them are so agile that they’ll spread eagle, just to stay out of the water.

All in all, it is a messy business, but since it is a joined effort from all the humans, we get more than ninety dogs washed, dunked and then out of the courtyard running again, in less than an hour!

I know, it surprised me too, but it wasn’t as disastrous as I figured it would be while we were working our way to towards this particular day. Back when we were still contemplating the chore, I thought it was going to take us at least three hours.
Imagine my surprise when suddenly big brother shouts at me to stop shouting “next” because we’re done.

We take about fifteen minutes to check if we’ve really gone through the entire list, but we have, all dogs on the paper have a check mark and they’re all soaking wet while storming up and down the mountain with exhausting exuberance.

By the time I exit the pool, more than ready to hit the shower to get rid of the foul smelling stuff that literally covers me from top to bottom, I can’t help but laugh at the majority of my personal pack: Almost all of them (minus the Labradors) are snoozing on the porch of my cabin, obviously putting as much distance between them and the pool. Cowards! Hah.

We don’t really mind finding out that the tile floor of the house is soaked as well from the multitude of wet bodies traversing back and forth…the ticks were constantly crawling everywhere nonetheless, but it does make navigating through the jubilant pack somewhat tricky.

I make a beeline for the shower and return only to head straight for the courtyard to tackle today’s laundry. I’m barely done when it’s time to head for my cabin. Since today is a day away from work, big brother, little brother and I have decided to take the car out to the woods so we can do a short experimental jog.

We’ve been thinking about that particular exercise for a while now, and since today the weather is absolutely perfect for it, we don’t want to postpone it any longer.
Dressed in sneakers and sweats we depart, driving towards the familiar path high up the mountain and park so we can do some warm ups.

It is really a rather humorous event, especially since little brother plays the joker, (does he ever! Gawd the guy gave me the giggles at some point, forcing me to stop just to catch my breath) but also because basically we have never actually run for any reason other than necessity. Still, it is an excellent form of exercise that can be handy too, so we figure we might as well try it.

Hmmm. Well, for a first jog I am not surprised that we go about half a mile before we are out of breath. Hah. I’m actually kind of proud that I even manage that much. While the brothers both always have been athletic, I struggled with obesity since the age of seven, so basically I haven’t run since I was a kid.
In that regard, I do bloody awesome, I’m thinking…especially when I find out that a full run, rather than a jog, goes so much better. Apparently, I’ve a need for speed. Hah.

The best part is that my knees don’t hurt during the run, which always was a problem for me. I’ve found that there is a huge difference when you’re not carrying around an extra sixty pounds.
Sure, I might not have kept up the pace, but I did manage to keep both brothers in sight throughout the exercise, and for a first time that leaves me pretty pleased with myself.

After we return to the car we do some cool off exercises such as stretches and basically all the things I usually do when I do a kickboxing work out. The way I figure, if you’re training the lower body, you’ve got to do the upper body too. It’s all about balance.

I do wonder how sore I’m going to be tomorrow. Running is completely alien to this body, so it might be very bad. Hah.

Once we get home, little sister has dinner waiting. Spaghetti and a fresh tomato/vegetable sauce with a rich helping of cheese: Carbs, vitamins and protein, just what a tired body needs after spending a lot of energy. We literally stuff ourselves with the meal and feel remarkably revived afterwards.

For the remainder of the evening we take it easy. I spend several hours mending bed sheets while “Medium” is on; followed by a recorded episode of “The Closer” and finish up by the time the evening draws to an end. No extra editing session today, which is nice for a change.

The ol’ body is complaining a little when I finally depart for my cabin to feed the dogs and do another relaxing read of the latest book. But it’s not a bad feeling on the overall. It is doing what it’s designed for after all. And besides, being tired from actually doing stuff is so much better than being tired for no reason at all. Hah.

Hmmm. I think I pulled something.

I wish I had a nice dream to tell about, or something even remotely interesting, but today starts out basically like any other…except that I oversleep by half an hour. I mean, is it too much to ask to have an exciting dream to keep this Blog thing fun. Seriously. The Dragon dream turned out to be bloody awesome. So did the Skydiving dream and the Alien invasion thing. Heck, even the zombies and tsunami were more interesting then nothing, nada, and zilch.

No helping it, though. It’s not like I could make them up…well, I could, but it just wouldn’t be the same. This not a fantasy outlet Blog after all, but about real life—or something resembling it at least. Hah.

A pity, but let’s get to the day and see if I can keep the word count to a minimum. Big brother and I made a deal to have an early night so we can start on the edit bright and early tomorrow.

So…yeah. I wake about five minutes before the alarm goes off, and rather than get up, the way I’m supposed to, I reach out for the darn thing to reset it for another extra thirty minutes. I shouldn’t have, I really, really shouldn’t, considering I wake up with a sleeping arm that is bound to bother me for the rest of the day, but what’s done is done.

Since I’m late, I hurry through the morning rituals to make up for lost time, and get to the house at the usual time. Big brother is already there, and keeps his dogs at bay while I enter the building and deposit my baggage.

I still don’t have an appetite in the morning, or so I find when it’s time for breakfast and I stuff a couple slices of bread down my throat. Coffee is far more alluring and with it in hand I set my computer up, so I can start on answering some messages that really can’t wait anymore.

In the kitchen, I hear grandpa and big brother have a noisy debate about socialism and communism, making it hard for me to keep focused on the letter I’m supposed to be writing. It really is a rather interesting subject, especially when you watch the events in the world. All over, you hear that capitalism is the proverbial bad guy, while if you look at history, in the past century (and even before then) or so all the big “dictators” came from the opposite side.

Hitler: Labor party. Saddam, ditto. Castro, hello “power to the people”, Stalin, Franco, heck, even Napoleon had the gist of it. Get the masses on your side and you can basically do anything you bloody well like. Scary stuff. Not much you can do against a leader who was chosen by the people…especially not when everyone is determined to keep thinking that they made the right decision no matter what.

Ah yes, political debates. They tend to get rather heated and to throw in my two cents is really rather tempting. I persevere, however, and half an hour later, I’ve pounded out a proper letter. Once I’ve pressed “send” and do a quick sneak peek at the KTT on Amazon (just couldn’t help myself) grandpa tells us to get to work and departs.

We manage only four pages today, since there are a lot of distractions (i.e. tick picking, aaargh) but still we meet the minimum quota we like to reach in one day. We’re getting down to one of the intense action scenes by now, which is rather exciting…if not terribly complicated.
Try to imagine an assault on a small military facility by a group of mercenaries. Multiple characters all over the place, shooting from all directions, hand to hand battle, the whole shebang. It’s hard to get action scenes just right, so a reader can actually see it happen like in a movie. But it is a pleasant challenge to say the least.

I have to admit that though I still don’t really LIKE editing, doing an intense edit like this, along with massive rewrites, does add some spice to the process. It’s like fine-tuning a live performance of a big orchestra. Adding details such as atmosphere and emotion. Really quite different from back in the day when I had to do everything on my own. Now, I might grumble at whatever it is my “editor” wants to see rewritten, shifted around or in the worst case, removed, but I do see the improvement as we slowly work our way to the end.

But enough about that, around the usual time, our editing session is over and done with, announcing that we have to put our computers away to head on up to the car for another rock hauling trip.

The first trip with grandpa, mom and little brother in our company, is pretty uneventful, considering we spent only the minimal amount of time gathering rocks and throwing them in the back of the truck. It’s basically running back and forth, and hauling ass. Hah.

By the time we’re back and have unloaded, we decide to go out again…we’re on a roll nonetheless…middle sister joins us, along with our friend Danni who has never been to this particular area of our mountain. While getting out of the car, I pull a muscle, I think. Hurts like a bitch for a while and then subsides to a dull ache.

This time we take a moment to enjoy the sights and even take a short stroll over a rocky hiking path that crosses through the pinewoods that cover the steep slopes. With a chilly wind blowing in from the sea, this particular spot is shielded, providing wonderfully warm sunshine with not a single cloud in the sky.

It’s a beautiful spot and we’re determined to return there for a proper hike in the near future when we have more time. But not today, instead I start walking down the road, hopping back and forth over the gutter, laying rocks on the blacktop so middle sister and Danni can throw them in the truck–driven by big brother.

We fill the bed up pretty fast, ending up heading back home before dusk with still enough time to unload.
The pile in the yard is starting to look pleasingly high again. Just a few more trips and we should have enough for the first stages of this project at the very least.

All of us are pretty much drained of energy when we return to the house, and Knight II is absolutely insane from having been leashed during my absence. (Apparently he’s a disaster when I’m gone…wait, what am I saying, he’s always a disaster, hah. Talk about an elephant in a China cabinet, grrrr) It takes me a good ten minutes to calm him down before I can head for the kitchen to eat the meal little sister prepared in our absence.

Red beets baked in onion, leek and cheese before adding boiled rice. It is a dish favored by the entire family and it is consumed with relish. Nothing like getting in a healthy dose of iron, which the vegetable holds aplenty. What with the added vitamin C from the onions and the protein of the cheese, it is an excellent meal to have at the end of a hard day.

I eat my portion, seated on the kitchen counter, knowing full well that if I sit down properly right now I won’t be able to get up again for the remainder of the evening. (The spot in my ribs still throbs for no good reason) So, as soon as I’ve finished dinner, I head for the courtyard to take down the laundry.

Since it is mostly my own, I stuff it all in a bag to take to my cabin later tonight and then haul out the four batches that were washed during the day. Half an hour later I settle in a chair to enjoy a new episode of “Prison Break” and try to focus on it when my eyes threaten to fall shut about every ten minutes or so. I hate it when that happens.

Big brother and I attempt another edit about an hour before midnight, but our brains are mush, so instead, we decide to call it an early night and head for our respective quarters.

My cabin is a mess, so while the dogs are eating, I sweep the floors, fold my laundry and put things straight before settling in front of the computer for the final round of the day.

Hopefully tomorrow the weather conditions will be more favorable for the dog-washing chore–the wind was too fierce and cold today– ‘cause it is really starting to become a necessity. If only the dratted wind would cease.