I was working on a couple of stories, hoping to get ahead on them, and my muse decided to shift gears and change direction on me. It seemed as though she doesn't know how to use a clutch or speed shift very well either, It was a very jerky shift as she downshifted so we could make a sharp turn. I'm trying to keep her from accelerating, but it seems like it may be a hopeless cause. I'm hoping we come to a crossroad that will take us back to our original highway.

I was just finishing my games of scrabble with my parents and sister at around 3:30 this morning, when I saw a notification come through my phone saying my mom was in the ER with my dad because he had chest pain. I talked to Mom for a bit, then spent the rest of the night sleepless. Finally got to a very fitful sleep about 6:30 AM.

The hospital says it's something serious with his heart, but not a heart attack.

Well, that was a relief!

I recently had an MRI (that's not the relief! I HATE those things!). They wanted to see if there's anything in my head. Wait a minute... That didn't come out right!

Anyway. It's a bit over 2 years since I had the surgery removing the meningioma (which was a benign tumor), and it shows no sign of growing now. YAY!

I had noticed that this date was coming up at the beginning of May, but with 1,001 different things happening this week, I hadn't realized that it was upon us. May 18th 2021 marks the 41st anniversary of the eruption in Washington State of Mount Saint Helens.

This is something that I've always been fascinated with. I love studying geology, and I find it interesting, the amount of devastation that can occur from the eruption of a single volcano.

I was sitting down to write this morning, and I realized that today is the "birthday" of Marcia Chatham, the "Arctic Fox". Of course, that also means that tomorrow is the one year mark from her biological mother's death (which for some weird reason, I put on my wife and my REAL anniversary. Go figure.)

I just finished a chapter and had gotten up to lock my kitchen (my cousin will raid it if I don't), and my wife asked me to help her out. She's got a migraine so bad that we ended up in the ER. She's never had a migraine before, so seemed like the most prudent move. Now I'm sitting in an overheated room and waiting.

Quick update the doc just came in, so giving Norma a few meds.

This morning I had to get up at the unholy time of 4:30. I packed up my cousin and took him to the hospital. 6 hours later we were home.

The doctor said, even with toes freshly amputated, he can walk as much as he can bear.

We'll see how things look Friday at the checkup. Just praying that it goes well this week and he doesn't overdo it. He has no feeling in the foot, so no way to know if he's pressing too far, and I'm not to change the dressing.

I'm sitting in a parking lot right now, waiting for my daughter to get done with an appointment. I'm sitting directly across from the door, so I can see when she comes out.

A little bit ago, someone walked out with tattoos all over his face. Now if someone wants a tattoo or two, thats fine. They're an expression of ... diversity, I guess, but as you can tell, I don't have one. Were I to transition, I might do eyeliner. That's about as far as I'd go, however.

Wow! I didn't know they were making invisible turn signals, but apparently, they are! Wow!

It seems every time I go for a drive, people are using invisible turn signals. What a cool invention!

Or snows here.

I found I have a herniated disk a while back and have been doing physical therapy for it. At the same time, I've been getting a pain in my left arm. Now having been a medic in the army at one time, and a certified nurse's assistant now, I know what a pain in my left arm can mean, but I was pretty sure that's not the problem.

I am thrilled that I was able to take part in The Dozen Roses. I am looking forward to seeing the hard work everyone out into it to fruition. Thank you, thank you, thank you to those who worked above and beyond, by putting the stories together by formatting and making the tales blend into a seamless get-together.

After was was apparently a current and nasty ailment, (at least I had every symptom) I am getting back to wakefulness, and will be writing more again.

However, I doubt people will see much of my writing for a little while. I'm working on 3 multi-chapter stories, and one 2nd part to a one off I wrote awhile back.

I kinda fell behind while I was sick, so I'd like to catch up a bit.

For those fans of Arctic Fox, the sequel is in the works. I'm also working on The Letters and To Head Home.

I woke up this morning with a beautiful case of the Martian Death Flu, as I unaffectionately call it.

It's the one where you feel every molecule that hits your body and alternately need a blanket, then feel like throwing your clothes across the room because you're too hot. Also, every muscle in your body feels like it's been overused for the last week and a half.

After some naproxen, I felt much better and could crawl out of bed, which was good. After 18 hours in bed, my back was calling me every name in the book, and some I'd never heard before.

Sorry for not getting The Arctic Fox Chapter 19 out at my normal time of Thursday night.

Last night, I had my grandson over, and he was getting into everything he possibly could. He's very cute, but likes to manipulate. Everytime I would get after him, he would hold out his arms and come to get a hug, which was not forthcoming.

Since taking care of him is a regular Thursday night thing to give my son and daughter-in-law some time off, I think I'd better plan on Tuesdays and Fridays for The Arctic Fox, rather than Monday and Thursday.

I realized I haven't posted a blog entry for a bit.