Thoughts on Progress

We're taking another stab at this whole "Crash Boy pooping in the potty" nonsense. My goodness.

Today, I was SO at the end of my rope, that I promised him that if he pooped in the potty, he would be allowed to watch ALL THE CARTOONS HE WANTED. And wouldn't you know it, it worked! And dang, if that's what it takes to get his little butt on the throne, that's what it takes. He also got a sticker!

It's awesome living two doors down from your brother. I just want everyone to know that, in general. In specific, I want my boys to know that. I want them to grow up thinking it's just natural to live right down the street from your family.

It's. Just. So. Awesome. Like, I've realized that Jess (the other one) is kind of one of my closest friends! We talk every day to and from school, and on chatty days, I'll just yak yak yak about whatever game I'm making or whatever book I'm reading.

The last few days, I haven't been feeling chatty. And you know what, that's a fine and healthy way to respond when I'm feeling overwhelmed. (Which, yes, still happens pretty often.) I like to be alone. I love the solitude. And when things are feeling up, I go out of my way to be outgoing. It's a bit of an ebb and flow. But hey, I don't make secrets of how I'm feeling, so I feel just fine about how I act.

This year is no 2020, but I'm happy to say I've retained the truism: It's okay to not feel okay.

Things are good. I worry sometimes, I stress sometimes, but when I take a big step back and look at things, it's good. It's hard emotional work, and on days when I spend more energy than I thought I had, it's sometimes not enough. That's okay.

Man, 2020 was just the worst year, but if I can learn enough to grow from it, I'll be unstoppable.

I'm not an ambitious person. Heck, before I had kids, I probably would have said that I'm a lazy person. But I think my lazy days are behind me. I look forward to the future, to days when my emotional energy isn't dragging behind. It's been an issue for the last few weeks. I'll start my day determined to do something, to write something or craft something or edit something or make something, but when the kids are finally in bed and asleep, I'll just feel completely drained.

Optimist that I am, I'm thinking about when the boys are more independent, about a day when the boys can sort out their own problems, and how much energy I'll have in the day when I can spend it on me!

I mean, I'll probably have a job, but here's hoping it won't be something that sucks out my emotional energy. 

... writing that down, it sounds like I'm stepping away from teaching. Maybe I am. I want my own life. I want to at least act like someone ambitious!

I'm proud of who I am. It took a lot of work to make me who I am, (a credit not only to me, but to my friends and family,) and it's taking work to keep the parts of me that I want to be.

Well, I guess that's all that's been in my head. I'm gonna go meditate, because my sweet lil' brain needs it!

-Woody!

And now, some pictures of my little goober who can't be stopped!

Reading, Writing, Editing!

Reading!

I love to read! One of my favorite things to do is to take my kiddos to a park, let them run around, and take out a book. With several published books under my editor's belt, it's like I have a new way to appreciate books! I give books a critical eye, down to how they structure sentences, and think about what I would've done had I been given the book as a manuscript.

A little while back, I went through and tried to keep track of every book I've read as an adult on Goodreads. The site lets you organize books into "books I've read" and "books I'm currently reading". Problem was, when I did that, I realized I was in the middle of SEVEN different books! Some books I want to read, but don't just fly off the pages!

Anyways, I'm happy to report that I've finished all seven of those books! And now I'm in the middle of five other books! Oops.

Writing!

I have tried to write a LOT of stories! Lich, about the necromancer superhero, Esther Lake, about the paranormal investigator in the small town, Grand Consul, about the near-end of the world, Vesper's Ridge, about a group of vampire do-googers .... and most lately, a combination of all of these.

But let me tell you, the best thing I've done to contribute to good writing in the last few years is to support Jessi, who's been writing a GREAT story! Some nights, we'll just toss ideas back and forth, just developing her story, making things happen, determining what should happen between our group of heroes. And it's my FAVORITE kind of story: good and fun people taking on bad and serious situations! I love it all.

I know what I'm good at, and it's not sitting down and cranking out pages of story (a skill I'm working on). It's making a character and giving them important and meaningful actions! That's all my years of role-playing games coming at me! Only problem is, by the point that these big actions happen, the reader is probably supposed to care about the character first! I just want to skip right to the big powerful moments! (It doesn't work!)

Editing!

I have a darn good eye for spelling, grammar, and mechanics. The greatest thing about it is, that I don't really mind errors! I'm a descriptivist linguist, yo! As long as it doesn't majorly affect comprehension, I have no problem with problems! Unless I'm an editor, in which case I will do my job and do it WELL. I'll hunt down every last comma and hyphen and get them all sorted out!

Most recently, I've been helping my friend Jared work on his second book, Remnants. If you ask me, he's been focusing a lot on laying down the groundwork; getting an online store in order, expanding his audience, making a blog... where all I'm looking for is a book! But I'll help where I can! I'm a helper guy, and I'm good at it!

This is all on the side of, you know, fatherhood! Speaking of which, here are my boys!

The boys enjoy hanging out with Mama, especially when she's trying to write!

Great smile on that boy!

Sweet Crash Boy taking his own picture with my selfie remote!

Scooter brigade!