There is no "normal"

I thought that maybe a tough exercise class after a sleep-deprived night would have me in bed early, possibly even jolting me back to a "normal" schedule.

I thought wrong. I did go to bed a little earlier, as in before one in the morning, but still later than "normal." Some of that lateness was, however, due to dozing off on the sofa and not wanting to get up and get to bed because I was comfortable where I was. And then I slept until my recent usual late morning wake-up time, but this time it wasn't because I was lying there thinking (my usual reason for staying in bed so late). I was sleeping hard until that time and only woke up because I was having the kind of dream I had to jolt myself out of to convince myself it was only a dream (I was out of town, couldn't remember my return flight time and couldn't find my flight information among all my stuff, and I had the sinking feeling that I'd missed my flight hours ago -- I'm sure that has something to do with the deadlines I'm staring down).

I'm less sore after the exercise class this week than I was last week, but I've come to the sad realization that my back muscles must be incredibly weak. It's not so much that I'm sore or in real pain. I'm just aware of muscles that I must never have really used before. I have pretty strong abs from all those years of playing wind instruments and singing, but apparently they weren't balanced out with strong back muscles. I'm hoping that as I strengthen these long-neglected muscles, it will be easier to improve my posture while sitting at the computer.

As for the writing, one thing that I realized toward the end of this book is that I really am starting to love Katie, my heroine. Not that I didn't like her before. I'd have to like her to spend that much time in her head. But she didn't really fascinate me. She was a lens through which I could study other characters who did fascinate me. Now, though, I think I've gained a new perspective on her, and I'm as interested in exploring her inner workings as I am any of the other characters. There's more going on with her than I ever realized, and that's going to make book four even more fun to write. I think part of it is the way she's grown through the course of the series so far. She started as a bit of an innocent, but she's gaining an edge.

Now, a Target run, followed by some work on that Judy Blume essay I have to get written by Friday. (EEP!)