May Sweeps - Day 485

I mentioned yesterday that I have this awful habit of absolutely NEEDING to have some meaningless bit of junk, and then, when the desire goes away, I either feel like I've dodged a bullet, or if I gave in, I have no idea why I felt like I so had to own/buy/steal that particular item.

When I was a teenager, there was this terrible Venom toy that came with a little box that, when pressed, exclaimed, "I want to eat your brain!"

I had it in my head that it would be funny to press the button over and over again.  And yeah, the first couple of times, it was amusing.  But thirty years later . . . ?

Anyway, two weeks ago, I saw this little tiny Ark of the Covenant that came out when INDY 4 was released in 2008 that I'm sure I saw at Toys R Us and elsewhere, probably on clearance, and never considered buying.  But now that it's rare and overpriced, I simply had to have it.

If you put me under hot lights, I couldn't explain why it so fascinated me, just that I thought it was cute . . . and that was enough to move heaven and earth to procure one.

And saner heads did not prevail.

Sit-ups Today: 111
Sit-ups In May: 3156

Today was Memorial Day, a holiday, and that's a good thing, because I slept way too late.  Now, I had stayed up until four or so last night, but that's my prerogative, and isn't an excuse for oversleeping twice in a week.

A new kids' park opened last week here in town, where they've created all sorts of elaborate ramps and water displays and swings and suspension bridges that were beyond the dreams of a child in my generation.  I thought I could let my nephew run loose in it, and I could sit here and write.  But three is a little too young to be left on his own, it would seem, and I don't dare get involved in anything, when I don't know if he can be trusted not to fall off something or simply to run away.

I ended up running around with him for a few minutes after that, and then taking him home.  Either I'm not much of a writer, or too good of a babysitter.

Push-ups Today: 176
Push-ups In May: 3576

I did end up going to the park (a different one--the one with the stairs) by myself a little later, taking my laptop and trying to get some writing done.  But I failed.  If I had to count the words (and I guess that I do), I'd suspect it's only around two hundred.  Or fewer.

The thing is, I don't even know how long I was there.  I was sitting at a park bench, almost-but-not-quite writing, and then, I realized I was dozing off.  Two young blondes and a (very lucky) guy were walking down the sidewalk and had said something and were laughing, and I, embarrassed, decided to pack up my things and head back to the car.  I could've been asleep for four seconds, could've been ten minutes.  And they might not even have noticed, but were laughing at something completely separate from me.  Guess I'll never know.

Words Today: 291
Words In May: 20,632

And that's it for May.  My worst month ever for words, I'll admit, but it's not a sprint, it's a marathon . . . one you're watching from the sidelines.