May 1: Birthday Present, Cocker Spaniel, Rotten Day

The day started out sunny, a little cool.  I thought I was in for a warm running day, the kind that makes you sweat after 30 seconds.  Well, by the time I was done with worship at church, things had changed quite a bit.  It was cloudy, cold, and windy.  It's stayed cloudy, cold, and windy all day.  The wind is rattling the windows right now.

I have to write a short story for my friend's birthday by Tuesday.  Not just any short story.  It has to feature a cocker spaniel, and I can't do anything to hurt the cocker spaniel.  That means the dog must stay alive from the beginning to the end of the narrative.  So where do I get the conflict in the story then?  After all, most books featuring dogs end up with dead dogs at the end (see Old Yeller or Where the Red Fern Grows if you don't believe me).  I'm working on it right now.

Most of my day has been spent dealing with a very crabby little girl.  My daughter, who has not been sleeping well this weekend, had to practice for her piano lesson and do homework.  It didn't go well.  By the end of the afternoon, she was crying and yelling in frustration, and I was ready to drop her off at the orphanage.

In short, it's been a pretty rotten day.  Tonight, I have to get the kids in bed by myself.  My wife is working late, and I have to finish my birthday story before I go to sleep.  It's going to be a long night.  Thank God I don't have to worry about teaching for the rest of the spring and summer.  I just have to knuckle down and write, after my crabby daughter is asleep.

Wish Saint Marty luck.


No dead dogs here!