Father's Day

I didn't understand what Father's Day was really all about until I celebrated my first as a dad. Here's what it is: like a mini-birthday. There's no candles, and probably no cake (not unless you really want one.) It's just a nice excuse to be pampered.

I woke up really early, because my brain likes to torture me in the mornings. Everyone else was already awake. Rebecca gave me this FANTASTIC card she made online with pictures of her and Audrey (which now resides on my desk at work) and a create-your-own-board-book set. So far, everyone seems perplexed by the idea of a 'board book' - it's one of those heavy, square, cardboard books for kids. The kit comes with three blank books, adhesive stickers, and markers. I'm really excited - I don't do a lot of visual art stuff, and I have some REALLY good ideas for things I wouldn't ordinarily do. NO SPOILERS.

I mowed the lawn and I grilled, because those seemed like appropriately Dad things to do, and I made crème brûlées and worked a jigsaw puzzle, because those seemed like appropriately Fun things to do. Audrey was REALLY adorable and cuddly and happy, and so was Rebecca, and it was a great day.

Lately, I haven't spent a lot of weekends just enjoying life. I really like it when I do. I'm maybe fifteen pages from finishing the second draft of Mindtrip, and when it's finished, I'm taking some time off. I already know what my next book is about. I'm not going to try to get it published; I'm just going to enjoy writing something for myself (which seems obvious, but when it takes a year to write a book, it can feel like a waste writing something that no one else will read.)

So I'll write the occasional short stories and post them along with my older stuff. Otherwise, I'm going to spend the next few months just thinking about the plot for the next book. I already have the beginning and a few pages worth of notes I've compiled over ... I guess the last three or four years (I actually started working on this in Texas!)

The thing is, writing for an hour and a half a day, four days a week is exhausting. And Audrey is really, really demanding. I can't NOT write - it's compulsive behavior. But I can try to give it a rest for a while and recharge.