#186 - Easter Eggs and Artemis II

So, I took the extra half hour of sleep again over getting some bacon and eggs.

No surprise there really.  I jumped on an eight fifteen all stops train just as arrived at the station and took the length of one full stop to catch my fat-assed breath. I need to get some more cardio in. Or any cardio, to be honest.

Being an all stops the seat were plentiful, and I was able to get some writing in after I caught my breath. I had thought it was an express train, and everyone was working from home or had taken an extra day to account for the seat availability. But no. I had thought there was still a chance I might sneak in a quick breakfast if I took the streetcar to the diner and then hopped back on to continue to the studio.

The all stops train pretty much killed that dream, but I am sitting comfortably on the train and happily typing away.

Tonight, maybe another Survivor, Pizza, Hot Tub and I have to make sure I get the majority of my writing in before I get there. I’m not likely to get time at lunch, some co-workers will be in that I haven’t seen in a while. That means the train ride are key to getting at least 1200 words written before we head over, leaving me with a thousand to get done before midnight, which is completely doable.

I’ll give it my best shot to get ahead on word count and my next mentor assignment tomorrow and the rest of the weekend that is allowed to me.

I noticed the Tuesday and Wednesday blogs had not saved on my Shopify site, but when I go to the actual uploaded site the Tuesday blog shows up. Must just be glitch on their side. I’ll try and reupload last night’s blog when I am back home on our house Wi-Fi.

Sounds like we are getting together with both side of the family this weekend. Saturday at my sister-in-laws and Sunday at my sisters. That removes a whole day of rest from my weary bones. Rest that is sorely needed, but it will be nice to see everyone and tickle our tiny niece and nephew.

I took a quick peak at my tulips this morning and noticed they were really starting to get big. A few smaller fronds popped through the dirt overnight as well. Still, considering the number of bulbs I transplanted last spring, there isn’t the coverage I was expecting. It all still looks a little sparse.

It’s possible some of the smaller bulbs have yet to make it to the surface. I have some growing in the backyard as well, as a kind of nursery for the front garden, I transplant bulbs as the breakthrough the surface. Hopefully I have enough this year to really fill the container that surrounds the front yard tree.

I definitely did not have time to stop for breakfast, but went out for a quick coffee and a muffin with some animators, a build supervisor around the corner at Rooster’s.

And then it was back to work, although the studio is much louder than it has been in ages, as there are more people in the studio this week as the animation crews roll onto the production.

I’m not feeling very hungry after the blueberry bran muffin, so I am writing on the couches at work for my lunch break. I forgot that they are running an Easter egg hunt in the cafeteria/lunchroom in a few minutes. Hopefully, they did not hide any eggs over here.

I’ve had confirmation that we are going through with the Survivor, Pizza, Hot Tub festivities this evening. I’ll have to make sure I get as much done on the train as possible so I can enjoy the evening with friends and give it my full attention. Knowing tomorrow is a holiday and that I can sleep in is giving me a huge mental boost.

The Easter egg hunt has people swarming all around me. A colleague came over for a chat and t feels like we are surrounded by angry bees or overly comfortable raccoons, all in search of the golden egg.

They served everyone a shot of Baileys after their strenuous hunt for eggs. I guess it’s good that the company does these sorts of things. Those who took part really seemed to love it and were into it. I’ve never much cared for these events; they always seemed a bit lame to me.

We are having a bit more of a relaxed day at the studio today. There is less pressure today and with tomorrow being a holiday, there is a Friday feeling in the air. I think we are all ready for a bit of decompression.

Most of my team is working through lunch, and I imagine they are all planning to cut out of work a little early to get their long weekend started. And who can blame them.

There is a person here at the studio who looks after the building. She is a very nice lady. She reminds of a character from “Only Murders in the Building.” The character was named Sazz Pataki, played by Jane Lynch, and she was the body double to Steve Martin’s detective, Braszos.

I’m not sure why I mention this other than its what goes through my mind every time I see her walking around the studio. And of course, Sazz was a cool customer on the show.

One of the things I need to do this weekend, other than get my tax stuff organized, is to start a sci-fi story to send in to the Writer’s of the Future Contest. There are four chances to enter every year and the prized are really good. My teachers and mentor have been judges for the contest and even served as the editors for a spell.

So, I feel I am in good company to learn all the right things from them to have a chance at the prizes. And it will give me an additional goal to write more things throughout the year.

Okay, lunch is about over and I need to get back to work.

The rest of the day went well; I had a few revisions for my artist to make and many I took on myself to see if I could help speed things along. I snagged a few mini-Cadbury easter eggs, the ones with the cream inside to bring home to Robyn. They have a better sweet interior to chocolate exterior ratio than the full-size ones. Guess that easter egg hunt worked out in my favour after all.

I was starting to feel more acquainted with the show today and was giving out revisions with a degree of confidence I hadn’t yet felt on this show so far. And on top of that, the art director approved many of the paintings and signaled that she really liked what she was seeing. More reasons for us to move forward with a bit more confidence.

I am so excited to have a day off and the chance to sleep in tomorrow. It will make tonight’s entertainments more enjoyable to have some free time tomorrow. I’m not sure what kind of food we are going to bring tonight; it needs to be something we can pick up along the way. I usually on have ten or fifteen minutes from the time I get home to the time we leave for our friends.

Probably just be pizza again I imagine. I haven’t heard from Robyn all day, which is unusual. But she is likely getting things figured out for her courses and return to work. Everyone at the studio was happy to hear she was returning. She is well liked at the studio for sure.

I’ve managed to write about 1800 words so far today. The lunch session wasn’t as fruitful as I’d hoped due to a colleague coming over to have a chat. Even so, I was able to get some work done and it all adds up. And in juxtaposition to yesterday, I was able to write on the way to work, while at work, and on the way home.

Some days you get a drought and others a monsoon.

I’ll maybe sneak in a few hundred words during Survivor tonight if I can. I am sure Jeff Probst won’t mind.

I haven’t heard much news about the Artemis II mission. I hope it’s not because people have lost interest in space travel. That would be a real shame. I guess there is enough crazy stuff going on down here on earth to keep people focused on that instead of looking to the stars.

It’s in times like these that we need things to give us hope. It’s one of the primary purposes of storytelling. Fiction can be extremely important to a society’s wellbeing, a barometer of mood and a reflection on things we might otherwise ignore.

I hope to be one of those storytellers in the near future. That’s what all this hard work and studying if for. And because making stories up is fun, and cool, of course.

One thing I keep neglecting, is that I am supposed to make some leather belts for my friends. I thought I was going to have time to do it before the year ended in 2025, but I was fully into book production, learning new skills and writing my assignments for my mentor.

There was a good bit of recovery from being burned out as well.

Not sure when I’ll be able to get to making them, but the first step will be to acquire some decent belt quality leather. I’d love to use English Bridle leather for the belts and even make one for myself. But sourcing it in Canada had proved to be a bit of a challenge. It’s such a great leather to make belts from and I have never used it. It’s the kind of leather you use to make a belt that you plan to keep for the rest of your life.

The weather has turned cold again and the view out the train window is great and dismal, like a cloud had descended upon us. It’s damp and gross. But! The hot tub will feel all the better. It’s always best in cool weather. The temperature of the water will be nice and hot, and the air outside will cool and refreshing. A perfect way to spend the non-commercial break we take during the show.

Okay, my stop is coming up. Time to pack up my gear and make the mad dash home before making the mad dash out the door again.

We grabbed some Crazy Puffs from Little Caesars and then headed to our friend’s house. They ordered a triple pepperoni from Topper’s pizza. We took a few minutes to catch up and then John debuted his new song as a work in progress. It’s a real treat to be the first of many to hear his music.

Then we started Survivor and had some individual apple and cherry pies with real whipped cream. A nice start to the long weekend.

The hot tub felt great tonight, and my back really needed the attention.

Back at home I ended the night reading, while Robyn decided to finish the painting she had started earlier in the day.

I think I gave up being conscious around one AM and woke up again around three thirty when Robyn finally came to bed. She really wanted to finish her painting!

But that’s all for tonight!