So… I got some coloring done this morning. Tomorrow’s installment of Schlock Mercenary will be pretty. I think I mentioned, though, that I was starting to hurt, so I took some ibuprofen and had a nap.

Well, following the nap and some lunch, I got started coloring the first week of Book V (Title To Be Announced On July 23rd), and I got achy again three rows in. I called chalain and both he and chaliren came by at around 3:00pm to take me shopping. See, the Taylers needed a grocery trip, and I’m unfit to either a) watch children, or b) drive. So the Chalaineys and I went to Wal-Mart and Costco for a few essentials, and I got to play passenger.

Since reflexes, response times, and general alertness were no longer critical to my participation in the endeavor, I took 350mg of Carisoprodol (generic Soma, a muscle relaxant). It’s supposed to relax me (duh), and will also make me drowsy. With my arm back in the sling, though, I figured it would be good to go whole-hog and let it loosen up some.

Chalain tells me I behaved uncharacteristically at the store. I figured as much. All I remember about the trip is that it was very crowded and I had a hard time keeping track of my friends. Also, the three things on my shopping list (milk, eggs, cottage cheese) kept falling out of my brain, and I had to keep checking the list to put them back in.

Most of that has worn off now. I finished coloring the first week of Book V and took another Lortab. At one point I thought I might try to do some pencilling or inking today, but I’m going to give that a wide, drug-induced miss, and while away my evening with the new Harry Potter book and some pills instead.

Thanks for all the well-wishing. In spite of the fact that I needed to get back on the pharmaceutical bandwagon today, I’m pretty sure we’re out of the woods here. I will be able to draw everything that needs to be drawn, but it may be Tuesday or Wednesday before I can really get a running start at it.

–Howard