100 day mission - starting over

False start. My initial starting date near the second half of March was a no go. So many things got in the way, not the least of which was my continuing confusion over what to do with the story.

The false start did get me thinking, however, and now I have a much clearer idea how to proceed for now. I decided to restart my push to finish Chapter 27 this weekend. Friday I was quite sick with a head cold: achiness, sneezing, cotton brain and the works. But yesterday I actually made progress.

Today, Day 2, I got home from Faerie Coffee early (I was the only one who showed up) and got right into it. I was really motoring, better than I had done in many months, when my out-of-town friend Mike, who has been staying me the past week, came in. That killed it. Of course he wanted to talk about what he had done over the past day since we last talked (he had stayed over at another friend's place last night), make phone calls and organize his stuff.

I offered to let him stay with me and as a host it just isn't right to deny him full access to my place when he needs it, but there is no way I can write when being spoken to or distracted by surrounding noise. He announced he would hang out at my place three hours until another friend picked him up for dinner. I chatted briefly, as briefly as I could get away with, and then headed to my room and shut the door as soon as he picked up the phone to make some calls.

I waited there, frustrated, thwarted and trapped for 45 minutes until he got bored and arranged to pass time with another friend for a couple hours. As soon as he left I went right back at it and spun out a few more paragraphs.

Hon stood me up again yesterday, having promised the night before to be off by mid-afternoon and that he'd call me to make arrangements to see me soon afterwards. This was his last chance. I read him the Riot Act last weekend and made it clear I neither like him standing me up or showing up hours late without at least a phone call. I am not answering any phone calls (not having call display) so that I won't need to listen to his pleading or hollow apologies. I won't let him get away with this.

But I am not upset. I have clarification, nothing more. I feel back to full strength after my cold has subsided, and i am revved to keep writing. There is nothing else at this time I want to focus on. Mike will fly home Wednesday morning and the coast will be clear. I will continue to do as much as I can while he is here.