Tag Archives: plumber butt is nobody’s friend

This past summer was one of the best for me and my family, full of relaxing days at the lake and fun adventures. Aside from one great week in July, I took a holiday from working on my manuscripts. Like Trish over at Word Bitches, I looked forward to getting back to my work in September, once my kids were in school. I’m now a week into my plan and things are going…not great.

Last year my daughter was in school for two mornings a week and I worked part-time from home, yet I managed to crank out a decent number of words in those six hours. She’s now gone every morning—which frees up 20 hours a week—plus I was laid off in August. In theory I should be writing non-stop. The reality is very different. Here’s how the first week of school mornings has gone down:

Day One
I went straight from the school drop-off straight to the hairdresser, reasoning that the glare of my grey roots on my monitor was too blinding for me to focus on the screen. Bought groceries on the way home (the Serb someone scarfed all of the lunch treats).

Day Two
The Serb is self-employed and I’m his de facto secretary. He informed me that he would be going to Europe for business in two days, leaving me to book his hotel (sold out), flight (ditto) and car (“Can you get me a Mercedes for under $80 a day?”). I do this because making his trip go smoothly increases my chances of getting something other than airport Toblerone for a present.

Day Three
A friend visiting from Australia could only see me on this particular morning. There may have been maple-flavoured Timbits involved. What am I…made of stone?

Day Four/Five
Weekend. On my own with the kids. Didn’t have time to shower, let alone write.

Day Six
The morning was spent cleaning up the aftermath of having both kids home on a rainy weekend. In addition, I bought more groceries (see also: stress eating).

Day Seven
I received a call that kitchen countertops we ordered a month ago were in and that I needed to buy a new sink/faucet before installation could take place. The morning was wasted at Home Depot, where I stared at a wall of chrome for 90 minutes.

Day Eight
I confirmed with a contractor dude that counters would be installed the following day. Spent the morning emptying all kitchen cupboards, then returned the sink/faucet bought the day before in search of something less…chromey.

Day Nine
My husband will be home tonight and until then, I’m dealing with this all day:

Oh well, tomorrow is another day, right? RIGHT?!?!?