I am so, so close to feeling back to normal! So close. But, not quite there.

I did work a full day today, so that was a win…but, man, did it take the wind out of me. And I feel totally discombobulated, which I *hate*. I feel off my game, I feel unfocused, and I feel a bit depressed. I realize now, thanks to this blog, that such feelings are normal for me after going through an illness. In a couple days time, I’ll feel more myself again, and be all energized and ready to take on the world. But, today…not so much.

Today was the day, however, that I officially fell in love with Fallout 4. It was the first “mission” that I’d received that I really enjoyed – enough that I wanted to keep going. I can tell already that this game is (probably) not going to be my favorite. At least not as beloved in my heart as Skyrim…and I think it’s because guns just aren’t as fun as swords, bows, armor and magic. And dragons. And villages…and that beautiful, gorgeous scenery.

Fallout is set in a post-apocalyptic future, with a dead world and mutated monsters. It’s a totally different experience. Now, that is NOT to say (obviously, since I just said I fell in love with the game today) there isn’t a ton of fun to be had in this desolate alternate-future. I found my way up onto one of the overpasses today that litter the wastelands, and that was SO COOL. I also really figured out how to shoot today, and I can now pick people off both far away and at close range. THAT was exciting. I cleared out an entire baddie infested area without getting shot once.

It’s also sooo fun how retro everything is designed, straight out of the 50s era of nuclear progress and paranoia. It’s really wonderful.

So, yeah…I played it for about a half hour for lunch time, and then when I finished my work day at around 8:30, I played it for another 90 minutes or so before bed time. And I thought about it when I wasn’t playing it. That’s the tipping for a game, for me, for sure – if I think about playing it when I’m doing other things.

I wrote today, but only for an hour…my day was started a bit late because of some building stuff, and because I woke up later than usual. Had kind of a rough night’s sleep. Not tonight – I just took some allergy meds, the sleepy kind, and we’re getting some SLEEP tonight. Waking up on time tomorrow, and fucking blasting through the rest of this manuscript.

We say goodbye to February tonight. I feel like being kind of hard on February, given that productivity-wise we’ve ended on a whimper as opposed to a bang, AND that this rewrite was supposed to be done four weeks ago, and here we are. On the very last step, granted, but still not quite finished. HOWEVER…February actually kicked ass. I got so much work done…put in so many hours, tracked so much productivity…I have so much better of an idea, an *actual* realistic idea now of how long all this writing stuff takes me (at least right now, this first time through), and the knowledge will pay dividends like you wouldn’t believe.

So…February is really more of a mixed bag, and that mix leans far more toward the great than the not-great…and for that I am incredibly grateful. I wanted to be done with so much, but I put in the time and did the work this month. I really did it. All of it, including Netflix. And *that* is the only thing that matters – that is what’s going to lead me to the promised land.

Cheers to February, and cheers now to March. Let’s fuggin do this.

Artwork tonight is from Pat Presley.