Back to normal (or whatever passes for normal around here...)

Well, James is back at school, and things are settling down to a semi-normal schedule around here. 

After dealing with medication issues and adjustments I'm finally getting back on an even keel.  I managed to pull up my wip (work in progress) and add some words to it for the first time in a week or so.  I'm about at my normal speed (647 words in 1/2 hour - 600 in a half hour is fairly normal for me) and it didn't feel as if I was having to drag the words from my brain to my fingers. 

So, things are hopefully looking up when it comes to my writing and other things.  Tomorrow I leave with Don to go to a medical conference in St. Petersburg.  He'll sit in lectures, I'll walk on the beach and write in the hotel room.  Yeah, rough week. 

One Step at a Time...

Those who know me know that this was a stressful summer.

I had seven people living at my house at one point - that's a lot. My youngest was getting ready to go off to college, my oldest was spending his last summer with us (he's getting married next June). Plus there were health issues with a family member.

I was stressed. Something had to give, or I might have cracked.

What gave was Weight Watchers.

I've been on Weight Watchers since October. In July, I'd lost 40 pounds. Not a small thing.

But I quit going to meetings. I quit counting points (in Weight Watchers, food has points). I didn't go hog wild - for example, I didn't consume a whole cheesecake in one sitting - but I wasn't being as rigid as I was.

Last week, I started back. I started counting points again.

Last night, I went back to my first meeting in 8 weeks. I only stayed long enough to weigh in and see how bad the damage was.

Fortuantely, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. In 8 weeks, I'd gained 3.8 pounds.

Next week, I'll stay for the meeting.

One step at a time.

Fay has come and gone...

..and it wasn't much. Wind and rain and VERY wet mail, but other than that, it was just a weird day.

Tropical Storm Fay...

Just when you thought it was safe not to close the hurricaine shutters... :-)

We're under a "hurricane wind watch" at the moment.

It doesn't look bad out there but I've seen the weather change quickly. At this point we're just figuring on a lot of rain and some wind, nothing to freak out about.

So meanwhile life goes on...

The birds have flown!

John and James left for college today.

I'd say more, but I'm a little cranky.

Anyone have some chocolate?

What a month!

So what's going on?

- First draft of my latest novel, "The Silent Witness" finally finished. Will go back to it soon - still have to go over another novel, "Dead Hypocrites," and I'm sketching out my next attempt at publication. (None of these have been published yet - still working on them).
- My father in law had surgery to fix a shunt in his head. He is doing better.
- College kid goes back to college tomorrow (sob).
- We have a houseguest for the week - a friend of one of my sons.
- My old laptop has started making ominous grinding sounds, so I have a new one which I have to configure while I get used to Windows Vista.

So any wonder I'm not blogging? '-)

Repairs update

AC unit, security system and dryer are all functioning.

Still no word on 2 computers. :-)

My brain is as crazy as ever.

Breakdowns

Okay, the latest technology isn't working count goes something like this:

-- 2 computers in the shop after refusing to turn on.
-- an AC unit that is making ominous rattling sounds
-- Security system that got hit by lightning
-- Dryer that won't dry

Hopefully everything will be fixed by the end of this week!