Word count total as of Day Nine (four days ago): 14,914.
Total number of words written in last three days: 0.
So I bumped into a bit of the Week Two obstacles I'd been warned about. So what? There's this thing called life happening around me in my household, and I got a bit caught up in it for a minute. Greg's quitting smoking, which is producing a domino affect on other lifestyle issues as well - all of them good - but which have had me feeling a bit like a fish out of water (you don't smoke? you exercise control over your drinking habits? Who Are You?), not knowing what to expect, for two main reasons. One: When a pattern has been established consistently over a three year period, it's a bit unsettling to have that pattern suddenly change without warning. Two: It's a bit like knowing you're going on a road trip. Previous to departure, you can envision the traffic lines, the backaches, the countless questionable gas station meals you will be ingesting, the good times, the quiet moments looking out the window, and the displeasing gastrointestinal smells which arise as a result of the gas station meals, smells that the producers are now too old to withhold from innocent passengers.
Side note: indisputable evidence I am truly getting older: inability (sometimes, but getting progressively harder) to withhold gas, and inability (sometimes - see previous parenthetical) to sneeze without... I'm goign to do you all a favor by not finishing that sentence, knowing any mother out there will know what I'm talking about.
Point being, there's a difference between looking forward to the road trip and actually being on the road with other travelers both in and out of the vehicle in question. I feel a bit like somebody had to tell me the gun's already gone off, the race has already started, and it's time to play catch up. Good motivation, all good stuff, but it took me a few days to catch on to what's really happening, which is that he is changing his lifestyle - seriously - and hopefully for good. Which is a good thing, because he really scared the shit out of me with that cold a few months ago that wouldn't go away, a "cold that wouldn't go away" being precisely how we found out my father had cancer. And my dad's gone now.
Needless to say, I am relieved.
Speaking of playing catch up...
Word Count Goal, Day 13: 21,658.
Ho. Ly. Bazookas. 6,774 to go.
Posted by stephanie at November 13, 2006 07:58 AM