So we got possession of the house on Thursday, and we've been busy painting and cleaning and unpacking ever since. It's going to disrupt my writing a bit, obviously, but hopefully not for too long. My kids love our new big backyard, and hopefully they'll love their new bedrooms once they're finished. Hope everyone else is having a good final week of summer, and we'll get back to the story as soon as possible!

This is my week (so far and yet to come):

Monday -- Drive to Guelph to sign mortgage papers for my new house -- one more step closer to home ownership, but still more hoops to jump through.

Tuesday -- meet with realtor to waive finance conditions, then go to Cambridge to play at the park with my wife's best friend and her son, who is my son's best friend. My son starts to puke. Last Friday his younger brother brought home a bug and they both now have it.

I need to apologize (again) for the lack of updates recently. Now that it's summer all three kids are home, and we've been busy house hunting, helping my aunt move into my late grandmother's condo, and trying to keep three kids busy enough that they don't destroy our apartment.

So, Ryan Reynolds as Diggory, anyone? Anyone?

And I'm liking Amanda Seyfried lately, she might make a good Calla because she shows such capacity for change as an actress -- ditzy blonde in Mean Girls, sweet singing innocent in Mama Mia, endearing romantic lead in Dear John, and totally crazy in Chloe.

Geez everyone I'm sorry I haven't written anything in about a week. Things have been very hectic this week, and I hit a bit of a wall writing wise. I'm preparing for my second sermon in a month, guest preaching at my mother-in-law's church, plus there have been a lot of doctor and dentist appointments for the kids, and the end of the school year for my wife and daughter. We've had stag and does, engagement parties and bridal showers for family members who are getting married in July, and I feel like I haven't had a chance to catch my breath.

Ethan died when he was fourteen years old. Right there in the ambulance, flat-line. One of the paramedics had to pull me off him and hold me back with tears pouring from my eyes, while the other tried to resuscitate him.

We pulled into the hospital driveway a moment later, so they took him into the E.R. on a stretcher, blue and still. I was left behind, still crying. So far as I knew, he was dead. I followed inside, slumping into a waiting room chair.

A dismal eternity later, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see my father, Dr. Ralph Arches. He smiled softly.

I've been a writer for most of my life. I still remember reading a story over the announcements in Kindergarten or grade one. My teacher picked mine, out of everyone in class. I loved that. I love books. I've been looking at them non-stop since I was two years old. I taught myself to read.

Okay, I have to admit something:

Amidst all my snobbishness as a literary student, who is incredibly picky about who gets 5 star ratings on Web Fiction Guide (because I believe that greatness deserves better than average, duh) and all my pretensions of being intelligent... Well, sometimes I am a lame nerd.

So things are slowly getting back on track. I've been updating, and currently I'm hard at work on new chapters. I hope I can make this next arc as interesting as the action in the bank, but we'll see now that Diggory's injured. ;)

Things might be a little choppier than usual -- I don't have a great Word program right now so I'm basically writing on the fly and hoping I don't screw up -- some of you have been a great help with spotting the rare typo, thanks.

Hopefully the future is a little smoother, and I get into a groove again. It's good to be back!

The operating system on my computer has gone insane, so there might be a slight delay until the next post -- we are hopefully getting a new computer today/this weekend, and thus the problem shall be resolved. Sorry for the inconvenience, but things will be back on track by next week.