Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Things That Derail Me

My kids are gone today. I had huge intentions. Get up early, do the one proofing job I have waiting, and get right into my manuscript, spending all day working on it. I would have from, say, 8:00 a.m. to 5:45 p.m., when J gets home with the kids.

Then I find out that he's got a training session locally and can't get the kids, which means I'll have to, which means stopping work early and braving rush-hour traffic. (I'm not whining, honest. That would be shrewish.)

Then I learn that his training session is not only local, but at 9:00 a.m., which means he'll get up later, which means I'll get up later. What? I should set the alarm even though I only have 11 alarm-free days left before school starts and I'll have to get up at 6:15 every day? Yeah, I thought you were just joking.

So okay, getting up at 8, quick shower, downstairs by 8:30, right?

Why am I so stupid?

The animals need to be fed before the little one gets stuck in squeaky cry mode. The dog doesn't want to eat. While trying to feed her, I dump icky dog food all over my bathrobe (and yes, then stand stark naked in the middle of the kitchen while I finish what I'm doing--no, don't picture it).

I forgot to scoop the litter box last night, so of course I have to do that, which also means sweeping up the scattered litter. I multi-task, doing that while my tea water heats and the dog is supposed to be eating, but she's too scared I'll go away without her and follows me all over the house.

I figure I might as well eat breakfast because I'll probably skip lunch, so I make waffles while the dog finally settles down to her dish. We get downstairs, I turn on the computer...

And Windows wants to update. Fourteen updates to install, and I might as well not bother starting to work while it does, because the bogged-down computer will only annoy me, and I'll have to restart it, anyway.

So here we are, 9:15, and I haven't even started yet.

Well, except typing this blog post on my Neo. Doesn't really count.

Added post update:
It's now 10:15. The proofing is done, but the laundry I threw in while the computer rebooted is also done, so now I have to go switch that to the dryer and start another load...and my manuscript isn't even open.

Things aren't looking good for a high page count today. :(

9 comments:

Tracy Madison said...

Natalie-I totally empathize with you. My day is turning out to be much of the same (sans the naked in the kitchen thing!).

Good luck with the rest of your day!

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

Yeah, but you were pants-less at your desk!

And you're supposed to be working. What are you doing reading my blog, missy?

MJFredrick said...

I'm having the same day. The boy had to go to school to help with pre-registration, so since I was out I decided to trek to my school to pick up the t-shirt they bought us to wear the first day. That's an hour round trip. I stopped at Starbucks as a reward, and on the way back, stopped at the bead place to fix my necklace and the beauty supply place to get some nail polish. Then had an hour to work (and did!) then picked the boy up and took him school shopping and to the bank. Now, the rest of the day is for working....and tomorrow, NO ERRANDS.

Hope you got some work done.

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

Yes, it's dangerous, being logical and efficient. :) You *have* to do one thing, so you should do something else while you're at it, and the other thing is right there/down the street/while you're out...it can suck up a whole day!

OH! And I totally forgot to tell you! The other night I dreamed about you. I was pushing you around in a wheelchair all over the place, like shopping and stuff. I was afraid to ask what was wrong, but assumed MS, because you had some mobility, just a lot of weakness. At the end of the dream, people were pissed at us for taking a handicapped spot, and I tried to keep you from standing up to close the van's hatch, but you wouldn't, and they saw you standing and thought we were cheaters and it was like a mob scene. I woke up before they attacked. LOL

Tracy Madison said...

Pants-less but wearing a REALLY long shirt. Totally different than um...naked in the kitchen. :)

MJFredrick said...

LOL, Natalie, what a dream!!

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

Okay, different, Tracy, but you were pantsless for hours, whereas I was naked for only a couple of minutes. :)

Wasn't it, Mary? No idea why my brain would put you in there like that. :)

Anonymous said...

Husbands, families, pets, Windows updates, ugh! They all conspire against us. I feel your pain.

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

Conspiracy. That's exactly what it is!

Damned Life.