On the bright side, perhaps we’re eating the frog

As some of y’all probably know, “eat the frog” is a maxim that you should start the day doing your toughest or least favorite task; then it’s in your rearview mirror the rest of the day and whatever else you’re doing will feel like a cakewalk. In that light, perhaps this week is getting all the frogs out of 2024 so we can sail smoothly through the rest of it.

First off, of course, there’s Plushie. After his back injury he’s on cage rest for six weeks and does not like it; the drugs sometimes quiet him down but otherwise he vents by barking vigorously. The only way he’s happy is when TYG or I get in the cage with him. Which I do most of the day — my computer set-up is a lot more portable — but that means it’s hard to exercise, and Wisp and Trixie get short shrift of my attention. And even with a supportive “husband pillow” it’s not the best setting for concentration. Depending how much space Plushie gives me, it can be quite uncomfortable.

Here’s our boy with his shaved front legs. I think that’s where they put in the catheter.

Further complicating things, TYG sleeps downstairs on the couch in case Plushie has another pain attack (unlikely but she’s a devoted dog mommy) and doesn’t feel alone and start barking (much more probable). To avoid waking her up I get down a lot later than usual, working in bed instead.

Then Tuesday, as I drove back from a business lunch (more on that in a minute) I felt an odd sort of vibration but decided it was the car making a small skid on the rain-slick road. That night, however, the tire-pressure alarm light came on warning the right-rear tire was losing air. It looked pretty good and got TYG to the emergency vet to bring Plushie back, but the following morning I took it in to our dealership’s repairs department just in case.

While the tire pressure sensor is often unreliable as temperatures change, this time out it was spot-on. Something had punctured the tire and started a small leak. They patched it up and took care of the state inspection at the same time. However I didn’t get back until 1pm and because of coming downstairs late I’d barely gotten anything to drink before driving out (the drink machine refused my credit card). I was dehydrated and tired and did not get much done.

Plus Tuesday night our security system kept blaring until we worked out a bypass for the window, which took several minutes. I did not sleep well so I wasn’t sharp enough to do much while waiting at the dealer’s. Wednesday night the system went off again because the fire alarm upstairs was too old — not just the batteries were old but the alarm itself. This explains the system flagging it as a problem for some time but I’d misinterpreted the directives. This issue took me an hour on the phone to resolve… and then Thursday night the system started sounding off again. TYG eventually unplugged it; the technician came this morning and got everything fixed. Thank god.

In short, not the best week and work reflected it. But I got more done than when Wisp’s leg was in a cast last summer.While it’s not online yet, I did finish another article for The Local Reporter and got most of what I need for a couple more.

With some feedback from friends I picked out my two favorite logos (for Behold the Book) from the sketches Samantha Collins sent me last week. Still more design work to come but that’s a big step. As I wrote Wednesday, I’ve also started thinking about cover design for Southern Discomfort. I submitted a short story too.

As for that business lunch, my friend Ada Milenkovic Brown and I are both in a collaborative anthology, tentatively titled The Ceaseless Way. The organizer, Katherine Taylor (formerly of our writing group, still a friend) has been emphatic she wants it to be collaborative rather than giving everyone their marching orders. That’s cool, but like many collaborative efforts it’s sometimes bogged down from lack of anyone taking point. As we’d all like it out this weekend, Ada and I sat down and worked out a contract for a collaborative project, modeled on one SFWA keeps on its website. We shared it with the group for feedback today. If everyone’s on board with the final draft, time to talk deadlines and such.

This is good. I still need to be more productive — and definitely get more exercise in — but it wasn’t as big a trainwreck as it could have been. Fingers crossed that next week will be something close to normal.

#SFWApro.