As Bad Luck Would Have It

My main post of the day was done for the Monstrous Monday Bloghop.  This fun event is hosted by Tim Brannan.  If you would like to read my entry, click HERE!

It's been an odd week to say the least.  Pleiades is being difficult with me since my mind has been scattered.  I told all of you that our car caught fire more than a week ago.  Then, last Thursday, after the car fiasco was dealt with, our washing machine broke.  And it didn't just stop working.  It dumped water out everywhere, soaking the carpet of our laundry room.  It took several hours of sucking water up with a carpet shampooer and four days of drying with a fan to take car of the problem.  Plus we had to have the windows in that room open the last couple of days to deal with the mildew smell.  It was lovely.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles
/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Then, this past Friday (a week after the passing of our car), my youngest son Lyle took a running leap into a corner in the living room.  That's what happens from time to time when you have two boys who love to chase each other everywhere.  Anyway, poor Lyle ended up with a serious gash in his head.  It was deep enough to warrant a trip to the emergency room.  The doctors glued the wound shut (stitches in an 18 month old are difficult and they seemed eager to avoid that kind of struggle) and now Lyle has a bandage over his head to keep him from picking at the glue.

Since all this started, I don't think life has truly settled down to seem normal again.  I hate this string of bad luck for many reasons.  It makes it hard to get anything done while you're dealing with a string of disasters.  It's becoming more and more clear that my goal of self-publishing my short story collection by the end of this month is not going to be achieved.  I still think I can get it done by the end of this year, but it's always disappointing to admit that your original goal isn't going to work out.  It's easy to feel like a failure.

Still, I cannot let that happen.  If I let myself feel like a failure, I might be tempted to give up.  That mustn't happen.  I have to keep telling myself this:

I have only failed if I quit.

This conviction will get me through.