From Zero to Sixty in Twenty-Four Hours

September went into full swing this week – with the kids going back to school and me taking on an extra two days of office work in Edgewater.

We went from the lazy, hazy days of summer where I was technically bored out of my mind, to full speed ahead. We roll out of bed before 7:00, make lunches, get everyone dressed, I’ve been out the door by 8:30 and sitting in traffic like the rest of the Metropolitan area, working all day and roll in after 4:00 to handle school forms, book covers, running to Walgreens to pick up extra school supplies, make dinner and get some editing in before I collapse.

What was I thinking?

In a way, it’s nice to rev up the old motor and to see exactly how much I can get done in a day when I have to. After a month of both kids home and a totally free schedule during which I got very little accomplished, I feel more focused and much more productive.

Maybe that’s the trick to jump starting my desire to write – when I’m denied the time to write for a few days I really how important it is and how much I miss it. I’ve realized that after the two days I committed to work next week, I won’t be going back to Edgewater. I just can’t expend that much time doing something that isn’t fulfilling. Sure, I like to help where I can, and the work is challenging. My brain has been in office mode, which is actually good sometimes, because writer mode tends to get eccentric and little crazy after a while, but I’ve already had enough. I need to work on my novella and get started on the Beast Master Pax. I need to reclaim the house, and settle into a serious work routine as a writer/editor, not as a part-time transcriptionist/secretary.

From sixty miles an hour, I don’t want to go back to the summer quagmire, but I think I’ll settle for a leisurely and productive 35mph, with pit stops when necessary.