I owe, I owe, so off to work I go.

Well, it’s happened. I actually have a responsibility that will take up quite a bit of my writing time. And I actually get paid to do it. Yes, it’s writing. No, it isn’t creative — well, not creative writing. The writing is for a project that is very creative, and extremely worthwhile.

So much for languishing in Bloggsville whenever I want for as long as I wish.

Now I have to figure out how I’m going to manage writing here, writing for submission, and writing for the project. Okay, reverse the order on that list, and that’s the frame of mind I need to be in.

I know there are most likely people out there who can manage this — in fact, much more — and I would have been able to as well about this time last year. But I know myself. And when I jump off the treadmill, it’s quite difficult for me to jump back on while it’s running at a good clip.

So schedule it is. Goodness knows I’m good at that. I scheduled every minute of every day for most of every year for nearly two decades. I still shudder with the horror of it all.

Regardless, I will recommit to the habit of each night, doing my schedule for the next day. It’s a compromise, considering that my life was scheduled from a yearly, monthly, and weekly perspective before. I’m not breaking out my planner. Yet. But I may have to. Ugh. It gives me the heebie-jeebies.

But I can’t neglect you. It would keep me awake at night, wondering about how you’re doing, and imagining what you thought about why I’d abandoned you.

So don’t give up on me. Not just yet.

It’s all for a good cause. I’ll tell you about it later…

Time is money.

Sigh.

p.s. The woman across the street is speaking very loudly to her gardener about making the hole for her lemon tree deeper so the water can run into it. He has an accent and his English is very intelligible, but broken. She must think that if she yells her directives as if he is deaf, he will understand her better. And the man must be quite patient, tolerating such a client.  He’s already completed the task, and the woman is now praising him with the tone a Kindergarten teacher uses on a 5-year-old who has remembered to wash his hands after exiting the restroom. I’d pay money to know what he’s thinking about her right now. Who the hell came up with the idea of “ignorance is bliss?” Jeez.

Okay, now I’m behind. Ugh.

Comments

10 responses to “I owe, I owe, so off to work I go.”

  1. well… as long as that is what you want,,, or need,, i am happy for you,,, but i will have to switch my entire schedule around now,, as you didn’t write nearly enough for me to read all the way thru dinner and an after dinner cigarette……

  2. Good luck on your work.

    About the gardener: That’s how I speak to Swedes whose English is poor. Why not? That’s how they speak to me if my Swedish is poor.

    They’re usually the same people, so for anyone who can’t understand either language, a simple transaction must seem like a very heated discussion.

  3. good luck on your project… it sounds very interesting;)

  4. Hi paisley…as far as it being what I want…what I want is to do what I want when I want. But there is this matter of income and contributing to the family pot. I have to find a balance. That will take a while. I’m not very good at it. And I’ll see if I can improve on the length!

    Hey Mark. Thanks. And having worked in schools where parents couldn’t speak English, I’d like to say my attempt to speak Spanish was less than a heated discussion — even if I was explaining to them that it wasn’t okay for their kid to beat up another person’s kid. I actually would have liked to yell at them, but it probably wouldn’t have flown. The gardener thing was still funny hearing it through my window.

    Thanks, Dawn. It is fascinating. Now let me see if I can do it and also fit in other things I enjoy.

  5. Hey congrats and good luck on your work… we all should be so lucky!

    Thanks, Jen. I’ll let you know when my tongue’s hanging out. I’m thinking it will be a great diet, too, just sitting and writing until my head pops off and my eyeballs sink into my head. Lovely picture, don’t you think?

  6. loripea

    I think it’s great that you can find something to do and still be at home. The only bummer, is that they are both the same activity – writing. I remember I was able to work as a meat cutter and go to school on my days off because each was so different – one was sitting and thinking, the other was standing and going through the motions. I hope it works out well for you.

    Hey Lormo, I know. I was thinking that, but it may be only for a very intense period of time. I’m going to try to make the most of it while it lasts. Yes, other things could come of it, but I want to be able to continue doing what you say — something different. So call it capitalizing on what I have learned over the past 20 years.

  7. Kelly, I’m happy for you (sort of), happy that you’ve landed some good employment, but I hope this is a phase through which you land greater inspiration for writing the great American novel or some other great work that will also pay-out as well. In due time, at least you’ve dodged cube world. I’ve been teetering lately with that one. If it weren’t for the close commute and decent pay, off I would go into who knows what.

    BTW, done a face lift of sorts to my site. Drop-by at your convenience and let me know what you think.

    Thanks, Phil. And I do understand the “sort of” thing. I have some creative irons in the fire of my own. I’m just struggling a bit with prioritizing and focus. And your new blog wrap totally ROCKS! I can’t wait to check out the Firefox plug-in you mentioned. In my spare time. Yup.

  8. Responsibility sucks.

    You know, Peabody, I completely agree. I’d rather play in my kitchen and at my computer all day. Really. Maybe it’s all short-lived and I’ll soon be back basking in the land of creative ingenuity again.

  9. Excellent and good luck. I think you could pencil us in one day a week. If that gets to be too much every two weeks will suffice. We are scavengers, those of us in blog land. We
    take what we can get, but still only want the best, and are more than willing to wait for it.

    Thanks, Cooper — especially for your patience. The goal is to do about three a week…How could I miss out on chiming in as we gear up for that election that is, uh, still more than a year away.

  10. I try to balance all this crap every day. TWO blogs, a full time JOB, child to raise…. UGH!! It all gets exhausting…. BUT good luck and have fun with your new endevour. I will surely be here constantly checking for updates. I promise not to feel abandoned.

    Yes, Meleah, I have you and many others in my head each day as I listen to my own whining on this business of working and blogging. You have my undying respect — especially with a child to attend to as well. Once they’re 15, they’re sort of on auto pilot. Well, mine are. Kind of. Um, but not counting The Geometry Teacher escapade.

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