The Best Laid Plans

I had plans for this past weekend, big plans. Well, big plans for a writer. I planned to stay in the bed or on the couch all weekend and write my little heart out. I needed some time with just me and my manuscript. In case you didn't know, us writers get a little cranky when we don't, well, write. It can be a really big deal, though not everyone understands that.

Luckily, the hubby does, so this was the plan. Other than a soccer game, the kids had no obligations and neither did I. Then Saturday, I woke up not feeling well. Luckily, not a headache. I can write through a lot of things, but a headache isn't one of them. Got 2 scenes revised and wrote 1000 words on another. Sunday was to be more of the same. But I awoke Sunday feeling even worse than Saturday and ended up dozing on and off until mid-afternoon. But that was okay, because I should still have the evening, right?

Actually, I shoulda known better! Got up to cranky kids who didn't want to empty the dishwasher or clean their rooms. Dinner that had to be fixed. Air conditioner that froze up (no wonder I'd started sweating during my nap). And then there was the turtle incident...

Turtle, you ask? Yes, we all know that Instigator has tons of animals, but I've accumulated my fair share over the last year. A frog, 2 dogs, and the cat we already had. Yesterday Drama Queen came home with a turtle scavenged from the skimmer of a friend's pool. "It would have died in the chlorine," she insisted. Now, mommy takes some responsibility because she didn't put the turtle in a bigger bowl like she thought she should. But in my defense I was trying to figure out what to do with it. Never had a turtle, never wanted one. Didn't know they could climb out of a bowl. And certainly never want another now that I know one is wandering around my house unsupervised.

Drama Queen's punishment is to be unplugged until she gets her room spotless (can't believe the mess I had to wade through trying to find said turtle). And my air was still out by bedtime. In the midst of the chaos, no writing got done. No characters spoke. No scene ideas showed up. So my big plans went down the tubes pretty quick.

It happens, very often in life. And more often if you have kids.  :)  But as another writer and I were discussing, the best thing is to let it go and pick up where you left off. I'm getting better at this-better at not feeling guilty (one of the dangers of being a "planner"- guilt with a capital G). Maybe one day I'll be able to do the same in other areas. Maybe one day it'll be easier. Maybe one day picking up where I left off will come naturally.

Until then... I've got a turtle to find.

Angel