Sometimes these unexpected schedule changes are good. With the kids home I didn't get a lot of paying work done, but I finally remembered to check on the status of one of the contests I'd entered. And, lo and behold, my entry made it through the first round of judging. Now, since 1,000 entries advanced, I'm not exactly in select company, but hey, I'm happy. BTW, that 1,000 represents 20% of the total entries. I'm amazed at how many unpublished novels there are out there!
And I'm still working on the sequel. The trick has been to get all the timelines to converge, and I'm nearly there. When all the characters are in the same place at the same time, I get to write The Big Showdown. Those are great fun! I can't wait.