9-3 & 9/4

9-3

I went on a trip with the family to the cabin, hoping to go catch salamanders with my nephews.  I will still try to edit a chapter (and my Patreon address, which is pretty overdue) tonight, after everyone has gone to sleep.

My sister got two used kayaks (a word I've never had to spell before today) and my nephew and I each took one out on the lake, which was busier than I've ever seen it before, with rafts and little boats and kids on inner tubes, and we paddled around, until he wanted to get out on the other side and see if we could find salamanders.  We had no luck, but after an hour of hunting, muddy and sore (there were so many scratchy plants and plenty of mosquitos), he stumbled upon a black, drying puddle, that had so many in it that you could catch them by accident.

I technically didn't work on "Arcove's Bright Side" today, except that I was listening through Chapter 8 to see if there were any errors I had missed (I keep missing mistakes--sometimes obvious ones--and sending them to Abbie, and then, oh, does that thunder roll*).

It was the first day this whole year in which the power ran out, with my mom running an electric cooler, my sister with her own, several lights on in different rooms, and my nephews watching MONSTERS INC. on the projector against the wall.  But my brother-in-law said it was me with my laptop plugged in that had drained the electricity, and voiced his displeasure about it.  Even though I try to get along with him, our relationship seems more and more strained lately, either because he's stressed all the time, my irritating ways have just about broken the camel's back, or he's just a tool.

Exercise Day: Yes (2)

*The thunder rolls, and the lightning strikes, another heart grows cold in the dead of night.

9-4

I went to sleep much, MUCH earlier than I usually do, having gotten so little sleep the night before, and getting lots of exercise during the day (paddling those oars is good arm work).  Then I woke up a bit after one, got up, and finished editing my Patreon address, and started on another chapter of the book.  When I could stand it no more, I went back to bed . . . but the children were up (and loud) at six-thirty in the morning.  Instead of lying there, hating them, I got up too, and finished editing Chapter 1 of "Arcove"--which isn't quite as pathetic as it sounds, since there are two parts of the book, wherein the numbering starts over again.  By 7:20am, I had it done, and typed this while Chapter 2 opens.

There was still no power this early in the day, the solar panels having to get an hour or so of sunlight before the batteries charged, so I took all the food from my mom's cooler and put it in my sister's, and used my laptop's battery instead of plugging it in until it reached about twenty percent.

We went out on the lake again for most of the afternoon (I had told my mom I would drive her home, and my sister's family could spend one more night here, wondering why the power runs out at seven when my computer hadn't been plugged in since four), and I got mightily sunburned.  I put sunscreen on my nose and cheeks, but my ears, forehead, arms, neck, and especially my legs were burned quite handily.  Over the next forty-eight hours, I used up half a bottle of aloe vera goo.

Once I got home, I Dropboxed two more chapters just now, bringing our fun graph to (a pathetic):

11 / 52

Exercise Day: Yes (3)