I’m taking tomorrow off. And yes, I recognize the solemnity of Memorial Day so don’t @ me. It’s not like I’m throwing a pool party or getting hammered in Deep Ellum.

But it is a federal holiday and I need a day off. No, I deserve a day off. I’ve been working my ass off formatting books and getting them uploaded to Smashwords and Google Play, which is completely separate from the ad maintenance, record maintenance, writing, editing, cover design, and all the other tasks that come with being an indie author. Oh, and let’s not forget fulfilling various creative commissions, doing the food shopping, the cooking, the cleaning and laundry, looking after Ramón and the J Crew, checking in on various people who need it, and generally being Helpful Hannah to all and sundry.

I may not be able to afford a cruise right now, but I can damn well take one day off to rest, recharge, and see if I can recover just a smidgen of enthusiasm. So I am going to play around with my plasticine and investment and see if I can make this pair of amber and silver earrings I’ve wanted to take a crack at, then I’m going to catch up on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and then I may well crawl in bed early and read to my heart’s content. Luxury…

To my surprise I learned today that Ramón would be heading off to his D&D game today (since they started meeting in person again this has stopped being a weekly thing and now depends on the other players’ schedules).

So did I tear through the house like a Tasmanian Devil cleaning everything? Did I crank out 3K on Crystal Blade? Did I at least put the cross bars that have fallen off two of the back yard fence sections back up?

No. I went out to coffee with my editor like a civilized woman of a certain age, then came home and finished a jewelry commission (faceted golden rutilated quartz in a marquise cut, and I got to build my first double gallery and V prongs for it). Which turned out wonderfully. I’m very happy with that because I was sure I’d accidentally melt something or have a prong fall off.

Look, sometimes I need to step away from the computer and cross-train my creative side on something completely different. Kristine Kathryn Rusch just did a brilliant blog post about this very topic, and I agree with all of it. Making jewelry, quilts, or other crafts keeps me fresh and helps me with my writing, believe it or not. I’ve tried going cold turkey and doing nothing but writing before, and you know what happened? I would up with a massive case of writer’s block. Crafting is literally part of my writing process now because it acts as a space where I can mull over things while my hands are busy.

And if I can sell the results of those mulling sessions? Even better.

Crystal Blade Episode 14: Get Into the Groove is now available at Vella. You know the drill.

The nice young man from the HVAC company got here around 10 AM, which was enough time for me to dust and spray a little air freshener (I vacuumed everything yesterday). He immediately got to work, and a half hour later we had a laundry list of things that needed to be fixed (which I already knew from the checkup visit back in March).

First and foremost, there was a leak in the downstairs unit’s condenser coil and it had lost coolant. Apparently coolant costs $675/three pounds and we needed 2.5 pounds. You do the math. In addition to that he was going to do a leak check and use leak sealant to (hopefully) seal any leaks, then blow out the drainage from the drip pans.

Which are apparently plumbed into our sewage system—the PVC pipes that lead outside are only emergency overflows. I had no idea. He wound up blowing out about two gallons of gunk and our master bath sink drain (which is where the downstairs unit’s drip pain drains into—I am so damn glad that I cleaned the master bath yesterday) is now clean as a whistle and will drain perfectly. We’d had problems with that line since we moved in and I’d snaked it out multiple times, but apparently there was a lot of buildup in the line leading from the drip pan. Bless his heart, that couldn’t have been pleasant.

And yes, he did indeed find a leak in the coil and applied sealant, then added the replacement coolant. I gritted my teeth and proffered a credit card for the total. Downstairs is now at a civilized temperature and the inside humidity (it was 60% this morning) is dropping like a rock, which is a goodness.

In related news I now have to sell a buttload of books, jewelry, and book covers, and will take any editing jobs going. But hey, at least we’re comfortable.

Let’s just say that I woke up with an issue today that made me go, “Hmm…” and prompted a visit to the local Urgent Care, Just To Make Sure. They confirmed my diagnosis and prescribed the meds that I would need to treat the issue, sending the scrips over to the pharmacist at my local Walgreens.

Who filled the scrips, sent me a text saying they were ready, and closed a minute later. Whee. To make matters even more fun the HVAC guys will be here tomorrow some time between 9 and 11 AM so I won’t be able to pick up said meds until they’re done.

Now, I will not die without these meds. I won’t even be majorly inconvenienced without them (mainly because I already had some on hand). But come on, don’t send a text saying “Yeah, you can come get your pills” and close up shop ONE MINUTE LATER. That’s just amateurish.

In the meantime I’m bracing myself for the repair costs that will be coming our way tomorrow. I’m hoping that it won’t be that bad, but we already know that this system is on its way out and there may be more things that have gone wrong than just a gunked-up drain line. Oh, well. We’ll pay for it somehow.