It's the little things...

Monday, on a late night coffee run, I ran into a friend of mine whom I haven't seen in at least four years. Halfway through the obligatory, "So fill me in on your life since I last saw you," conversation, he stopped and said, "I hear you're writing again! Very cool!" Which was followed by many questions pertaining to the state of my novel.

To be fair, I do take my writing seriously. I fully intend to sit down and hash out the second part of this year's NaNo, now that I'm more mobile and less violently ill.

It was a magical moment. In that moment, I was a "writer," publicly known as such and celebrated as such, even though I have been battling with what still seems to be a block of overly wet clay, with random pop-vocabulary oozing out the sides, and loosely developed plot hanging pathetically from a lumpy structure.

"I hear you're writing again! How is your book coming along?" Fabulously. Thanks for asking.

Ok, now it's over.

Um, I didn't write anymore. I got sicker and sicker until a few days ago when I got hydrocodone. Now I'm slightly less sick and tricking my brain into thinking I'm better than I am.

I haven't given up on writing, but there is an awful lot of cleaning that needs to happen first.

More to come.

It's not over til it's over...

Someone is covering the second half of my shift today so I can go home and sleep this off. I was completely mute (I couldn't even make a sound to laugh) for three days. Last night, I was finally able to make a squeak, and I sounded remarkably like Mickey Mouse. I am still hoarse, and now I sound like I am going to hack up a lung. I am so ready to be able to breathe normally again!

But that is not the point of this post.

I started off NaNoWriMo fast and hard this year, and I knocked out 20,000 words easily in about the first week, and then I got sick. (And S.T.R.E.S.S.E.D.) It's not too late to catch up. I have more than half the book to write in a week, and I have a ton to do on my show (which has slowed me considerably with my book), but I am going to try to write and read and sleep this afternoon. Little by little, I may be able to catch up.

28K and 6 days to go. Wish me luck!

I have been sick for more than two weeks...

It would be a lot easier to get better if I had sick leave and health insurance. But considering that I have been working 10 hour days, 6-7 days a week, with what is possibly the flu or pneumonia, or goodness only knows what else, I'm not getting better. Alright, Washington, get your asses in gear and fix the damn problem!

I had to move home two years ago because I couldn't afford the $1000 bill for antibiotics and the trip to the emergency room (since no doctor would see me without insurance) to take care of a simple UTI. Which, by the way, didn't fix the problem, and I had to go back for 3 more and possibly have permanent kidney damage, and I was another couple thousand dollars in debt. So I don't want to go to the hospital for antibiotics for bronchitis, just because no one will see me without insurance. I can't afford it. I can hardly afford to buy groceries and toothpaste, much less shell out a couple hundred dollars to see a doctor.

I just want to breathe, dammit!