...so good.

Spent yesterday reading through the first seventeen and a half chapters of Born of Silence. Also went in to my audiologist to have my hearing checked and the aids looked over. The aids are doing fine and dandy, but the hearing is worse. I’ve got a name and number for an ear, nose, & throat specialist. The audiologist says that the outer ear appears physically fine and the inner ear has loss, but not to the extent of the total hearing loss. There’s a possibility that some correction might be attainable.

Then she asked me about my name. Usually this is followed by, “Are you Native American?” Totally blew me away when she asked instead, “Do you write books?” LOL! I’ve never had anyone recognize my name from my books before when I wasn’t at a convention. It was rather surreal!

Topped off the evening by breaking in our new propane grill. I’ve never cooked with gas before, so it was an education. The burgers turned out pretty well. (I used a recipe I found on The Food Network.) Grilled one ear of corn as an experiment; it turned out rather well. Next week I’m going to try chicken.

Today I finished the last of the reading and wrote 1153 words to finish out chapter eighteen. I’ve got at least one, maybe two more scenes to write from scratch before I get into the light editing phase. If it hadn’t been for that damned flu, I’d be completely finished with this, dammit!

Last week I reviewed the final .pdf of Castle Walls. That means it’ll be out soon! YAY!

Flu’s over. YAY!

When to my rhematologist last week . . . No more Plaquanel. YAY!

I have the next two days off. YAY!

I’ve been reading and not writing. BOO! George R. R. Martin’s latest installment finally came out last year, and my wife got me all four books for Yule. I really haven’t had much time to read. (Even with the flu, I was too miserable to do more than stare at the television.) I’ve just completed the first book, A Game of Thrones. It’s been awhile since I’ve read them, but… oh, the memories.

Can I just say that Sansa Stark is an idiot bubblehead?

Thank you.

Tomorrow I plan to revisit my new writing haunt, the Urban Grind, for a mocha and some quality time with the Born of Silence manuscript. Maybe I can get my butt back on track and finish this puppy once and for all.

Sore throat’s gone. Still slightly feverish. Sinus and ear infections are next on the list of symptoms. Sinus drain causes some wonderful coughing fits. Last night was the first full night of uninterrupted sleep I’ve had in a week and a half. Heaven.

By extension, no writing to be done. I’m still really tired. I can last an hour or so before I need to hit the hay for a nap.

The wife is still slogging through this, too. She’s got the cough and slight fever, but she’s on the way up. That’s three weeks she’s been suffering, so I figure that I’m lucky to feel as well as I do now. I’ve got at least another week of discomfort ahead. Joy!

So, if anybody out there knows someone coming down with the latest bout of flu—STAY AWAY FROM THEM! LOL!

Well, it’s not going away, and the throat is working on it’s third day of severe soreness. I’m having so much difficulty sleeping that I resorted to a year old pain pill from my broken thumb to get any sleep last night.

Called off for Saturday and Sunday. I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow morning. Here’s hoping I don’t have strep and that they can prescribe something stronger than ibuprofen or acetominiphen for pain…

So my scheduled eleven hour shift became a hair short of four. I whined and sniveled and hung outside one of the bosses offices with my complexion as white as my shirt. They finally conceded I was too ill to stay at work. I went home and promptly took a two hour nap. After a couple of hours up, I went down for another three hours. I was smart enough to call off for today’s shift before I left the premises yesterday.

That’s pretty much been the way of it since.

Throat’s scratchy and occasionally causes coughing. I exploded with sneezes while frying up an egg this morning. I think I have a low grade fever, but the ibuprofen I take for the RA is keeping it in check. I only get a lot of discomfort from it as the time nears for my next dose. I also have a bit of a headache, but I think that’s being held at bay for the same reasons.

Surprisingly, I feel better than I thought I would.

Don’t know if I’ll get any writing done, at least not today. Maybe I’ll get 500 words and / or finish the scene I’m working on today, but my focus is kind of scattered. If I keep up with the relax, sleep schedule, I may nip this thing in the bud. My wife is still hacking her lungs out from this stuff.

She’s suggested I skip my next dose of Methotrexate since it’s something that ultimately affects my immune system. My next dose isn’t until Friday, though, so we’ll see how the next few days go.

At least THIS time . . . Who knows when Castle Walls will darken my digital door again?

Yesterday. Further into the next scene. Fiona’s acting loopy, and Whiskey’s thinking it’s time to bail. Dorst should make his appearance soon.

Today, however, I need to finish the Castle Walls edits. No writing tomorrow—11 hour shift at work, guaranteed. I may call off on Tuesday, though. I think I’m coming down with what the wife had last week. Ugh.