Writing Wednesday: Late Start

I feel like I’ve been running late since I woke up this morning. That could be because after waking up about 3:30, I decided to not get up quite yet. Next thing I knew, it was 5:50 and the boy was in my room waking me up. We were running late getting out to wait for his bus after hunting down both pairs of his boots. And the bus ended up being late b/c the aide who rides the bus(for the preschool program, there has to be one to help the kids in & out of their seats) had a flat tire. By the time, I got back into the house, it was just about time to turn around and go back down to wait for the girl’s bus. That was after searching for a pair of matched gloves(seriously, out of like 4 pairs, we could only find 1 matching set).

I feel like I’ve been running in circles all week. Friday night, the girl started complaining her ear hurts. Sometimes she does this, then it goes away. So I wasn’t too worried. Then, Saturday morning it was draining. Husband was out plowing, so I didn’t have any way to get her to an urgent care even though I was pretty sure it was an ear infection now. Sunday morning, she said it felt better. Until a lot later that day when it started to hurt again. We should have just taken her in then, but I waited to make an appointment at her doctor’s Monday morning. The dr said there was so much drainage she couldn’t even see the ear drum. But, she’s on antibiotics & drops for it now. It’s a lot better today. We were home about an hour before the boy got home then we had to turn around and head back into town to go to the funeral home. My husband’s stepmom’s mom died last week after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. So, we had the viewing Monday and the funeral was yesterday. So, there’s been a lot of running around and being around people. I think that’s part of what had me so worn out I slept in this morning.

Things should start getting back to normal today, though. To start on that, I have another snippet from Scars and All for you. Today I have 23(1+14+2+0+1+5) paragraphs from the end of the same scene I shared from last week.

He laughed again as he opened the door. Kendall grinned at him. “Told ya, Boss.”
“Shut it, Ken.”
She only laughed, but Cassie gasped beside him. “Is that any way to talk to your employees, Doren? That kind of treatment could get you a harassment suit.”
He grinned at her then turned back to Kendall. “Are you going to sue me?”
“And put me out of this cushy job? No way.” Cassie looked between the two of them, and Kendall took pity on her. “Doren’s more like a big brother than my boss, Cassie. I don’t take anything he says seriously.” He scowled at her, but she just kept smiling, and he couldn’t maintain it.
“Thought I told you to go home.”
“I hadn’t called her yet.”
“She’s here, so go home. Get out of here,” he said, enunciating each word when she just stood behind the counter grinning.
Her hand came up to the side of her head in a mock salute. “Sir, yes, sir.”
Cassie laughed beside him, and he went to reach for a rag to toss at Kendall, but she held it up on the other side of the counter. “You forgot this earlier, Boss.”
“I should so fire her,” he muttered. “Come on, Ms. Siddell. We can talk in my office.”
Kendall snorted. “Sure, talk. I saw that kiss out there. That certainly wasn’t talking. You’re not fooling anyone, ‘specially me, Boss.”
“Go home, Kendall,” he tossed back over his shoulder.
Cassie giggled when he closed the door and leaned back against it. “You love her.”
He jerked up at that, his eyes going wide as he looked into hers, still shining with laughter. “What? Kendall? No.”
She laughed again and shook her head. “Not like that. But, it’s like what she said. You love her like you do Susan. She might not be related, but she’s a sister.”
“You got all that from one interaction?”
Her smile widened now. “I study people, Doren. But, I’ve been watching you since before I was sixteen.”
He felt color rise into his cheeks, but he took a step closer to her. “That long, huh?” He lifted his hand to brush her cheek but stopped an inch away from her skin and swore. “Wait here one minute. I’ll get my hands clean.”
He hurried into the now empty garage and pumped some of the special soap they used there into his hands. Once all the grease was off his fingers, he used a rag to get off the excess then walked back to his office. Cassie was still there leaning against the desk. “At least one person around here listens to me,” he murmured, his lips lifting into a smile. He couldn’t remember feeling this light since waking up in that hospital bed. Not even when he was racing around the track or down the road on his bike. This was something different, another kind of thrill.
“Well, I did want to know what you had about my car.”
His smile started to fade until she started laughing. “And I hoped maybe you’d kiss me again.”
“Oh, that we can definitely arrange.”

Despite the rough start to the week, I’ve done pretty well at getting things done.

• Chasing the Ghost – finish 1st draft – I still have 11 scenes to write, as long as I don’t adjust that as I go through. I’m hoping to finish 4 of those today. As long as I can do that, I’ll stay on track to finish on time.
• Flames of Restoration – Finish back stories – I’m just about finished with #3 of 5.
• Read: Nothing Between Us(Roni Loren), Cinder(Marissa Meyer), Not Until You(Roni Loren – read this when it was released as serial, but going to read it straight through now and the bonus short story included), The Billionaire’s Counterfeit Girlfriend(Nadia Lee), & Blood Magick(Nora Roberts) – I finished Nothing Between Us, and the short story “I Surrender” at the end of it last night. So, so good. I’m a little behind on where I wanted to be reading-wise, but I’ll probably catch up.
• Read: Forensics for Writers: Read through Chapter 11 – I’ve read through Chapter 8. The other day I was reading about blunt force trauma while eating. Maybe not my best decision ever.
• Crochet: Finish Sleigh Bell Scarf – Finished this last night. Took more than the 2 balls of yarn it called for.
• Knit: Vertical Stripe Tie – get through row 4 – planning on starting this today.

I’m still on track to finish everything this week. How is everyone else doing?