It’s that time again–time to make the rounds with Mom’s doctors. Visits with my own doctors are just about finished now. The oncologist recommended the pill Tamoxifen for the next five years and told me he didn’t need to see me again (goodie!), and my last appointment with the surgeon is tomorrow (goodie, too!). I have three more appointments to make for myself, but they can wait until we take care of Mom’s appointments. I swear, between the two of us, we can sure keep the docs in business.

I left out this week while calculating my goals for NovelTrack, so the fact that I won’t be hitting 2K words per day this week won’t matter. What does matter is that last Friday, I felt rough and only got 250+ words down–way below the daily goal–and Billy had Saturday off, which I hadn’t expected, and I didn’t write at all–another 2000 off my goal. Now, instead of being 246 words over like I was Thursday, I’m 3749 words down.

So, new plan: Instead of taking this week off, I’m going to get up super early and try to make those words up before Mom even sees daylight. Maybe by Saturday I’ll at least be caught up.

Good news, though–the old man spent Saturday buying his dream: his Kubota tractor. We’ve made no secret of the fact we’re moving back to his family farm once he retires, and this purchase seems to add a touch of reality to the plan. So many things are iffy these days, from my health to the economy, and it feels like our retirement dreams are always in peril. The farm belongs to him, though–all paid for and ready, even if there isn’t a house on it yet. So whether we really do get to move there or not, he’ll have his tractor so he can harvest and bail the hay.

Meanwhile, he goes back to his crazy overtime hours, and I have to get him prepped for a week with me gone. It seems like I don’t do much around here until I have to do it all at once.

He won’t be on this shift for long. True to the maxim “the best laid plans of mice and men,” the company is going to rearrange the OT shifts. So everything I’d counted on when calculating my writing goals is out the window. I’ve come to grips with the fact that I may not make my goals, so I’ve offered myself a new challenge: to get as close as possible. Really, how close can I get with everything I’ve got going on? How easily can I roll with the punches? How productive can I be in the face of obstacles?

This blog post is around 500 words. If I can write just 500 words a day during the days to come, the ones I hadn’t calculated into my goals, I’ll be almost caught up. Along with drive time, doctor appointments, wonderful visits with Mom, I’m going to try to get 500 words a day.

Next time I take on this challenge, I won’t be so ambitious!