5 a.m. Yesterday, the day before deadline—get up, drink coffee.Decide to pack kids’ backpacks before writing. What’s this? Seems to be an uncompleted sheet for son’s 7th grade Business Computer class. And…oh no. The school needs my signature on about 8 documents relating to son’s science labs and dangerous equipment.
5:30—Start revisions
6:—Get son up to complete homework that he’d forgotten about. Get daughter up, since she has to be at school at 7 every day.
6:45: Drive carpool. Nip carpool argument in the bud.
8:00—12:00 Read the second half of the manuscript over again. Realize I have a timeline error. Fix the timeline error. Read through second half of manuscript again quickly, making sure timeline is correct and I haven’t missed any parts.
12:00—Go get cupcakes for third-grader’s teacher’s birthday at the elementary school.
12:15—Realize that Costco sells cupcakes packaged in groups of 20. I need 24. I don’t need 40. I don’t need 20. Decide to get cake instead.
12:20—Brainwave—if I get cake instead of cupcakes, this means I also need to get plates and forks. I go to that aisle and get a massive amount of plates and forks (this is, after all, Costco.)
12:30—I’m in the car. Oh. If I’m doing a cake instead of cupcakes, I should have candles. I could skip candles with cupcakes, but not with cake.
12:40—I’m back home. And I suddenly realize I have no more birthday candles because the Birthday Princess wiped out my supply when she turned 8 a couple of weeks ago. But I do have matches. And oh! I need a cake server.
12:45—I’m in the car, driving to the school. I park and call a friend. “Do you have birthday candles?!?!”
1:00—We have the birthday party. Teacher is surprised and delighted and it’s all worth it.
1:55—Waiting for school bus in my car at the top of the hill. Scanning my manuscript (I have my laptop with me in the car.) I frown. “This isn’t right. This character wouldn’t do this! And…oh…he’s doing it here, too.”
2:00—Talk to another mom at the bus stop. She asks how the book is going. “Great. Except it’s due tomorrow and I just found these two messed-up scenes.”
2:10—My daughter is coming off the school bus. She has homework and doesn’t understand it. Neither, it turns out, do I.
3:00—Back on the manuscript. What can I do with these two scenes? Think. Think.
3:30—Son is back from middle school. He does understand his homework. Excellent. He’s in honors and I’m not bright enough to help him even if I wanted to.
4:00—I proofread the recipes in my book. Waaaait a minute. There’s no measurement listed by the cheddar cheese. Call my mother to double-check the recipe.
4:05—The children pick the moment I’m on the phone to go completely insane. They run up and down the stairs whooping and hollering. I slam my door shut and keep talking to my mother. My daughter opens the door. “Mom, he’s….” She stops at my threatening look.
4:10—My mother is distracted because she’s got a huge household emergency involving broken pipes and a workman who has an urgent question. I continue pressing on the cheddar cheese issue.
4:30—6:00—Revise. Children are scared to bother me.
6:00—I decide Hamburger Helper sounds like a great meal for the family. Oh. Why is the meat still frozen? I put it in the fridge the night before…
6:30—A computer problem erupts. What have I done to displease the gods? I am consumed by the problem. Nothing will work…no printer, no online connection, the keyboard is possessed by a demon that makes me type in the wrong spot in my document.
7:15—My husband comes home from work and considers returning there after seeing wife who appears to be having a nervous breakdown.
7:20—Husband starts working on computer issues.
10:00—Husband finishes fixing all related computer issues.
10:05—I realize I’m exhausted. I set my alarm for 4:00 a.m. and go to bed.
10:10—I can’t sleep.
10:15—I take a Benadryl.
10:30—I have an idea to fix the two messed-up scenes. But now the Benadryl has kicked in. I turn on the light. I scribble on a post-it and stick it to the top of my laptop.
4:00—I get up. I put lots of sugar in my mug. I drink lots of coffee.
4:15—I fix the two scenes.
6:00—7:00—Repeat the process of getting children up and doing carpool.
7:15—9:00–Put finishing touches on the manuscript.
9:02—I realize I don’t have a title for my book. Or the series.
9:05—I put a bunch of ideas on a piece of paper.
9:15—I email my editor with the manuscript and the ideas for the titles.
Now? I’m planning a lunch with my husband. And I think I’ll take the rest of the day off…..
Dear God, Elizabeth. I was holding my breath the entire time I was reading this post. Are you all right? I would have lost it way before the demons possessed my computer. You are a Saint and a dynamo.
Karen
I’m exhausted just reading this…whew!
Elizabeth,
You deserve that lunch with your husband. Is he taking you out to celebrate, or are you taking him out to say thank you for fixing the computer? Enjoy a little relaxation before the revisions requests come back!
Lesa – http://www.lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com
Oh man… hope the after effects of the benadryl are wearing off! If I take something like that and don’t sleep, I’m a mess the next day! Hope you get to rest a bit today!
This made me laugh because it all sounds so familiar (in spirit, having neither daughter nor cupcakes). Good for you for perservering! The one thing I’d add is I’d probably have woken up from a dream in which I realized that the one major revision I had to make was to change the protagonist’s name to BRZMRNQ or something!
Good luck! Glad you’re taking some time off!
There is nothing more wonderful than the day AFTER deadline. I’m amazed that small bluebirds aren’t following you around chirping.
I congratulate you for making it to the other side. My head would have exploded when the computer melted down. My repair method is too bang my hands on the desk and moan “Nooooo” which is surprisingly ineffective.
Enjoy the day. Enjoy those bluebirds.
Elspeth
My luck to see the typo after I’ve posted. Humiliation abounds.
Congratulations on hitting your deadline. Being a mom and a full time writer/employee can take it out of you, can’t it?
When I got to the part in the post where your computer goes bonkers, I wanted to cry for you. You deserve a day off.
“This isn’t right. This character wouldn’t do this! And…oh…he’s doing it here, too.”
This was the FIRST time I laughed out loud :D
You definitely deserve a day off (and perhaps your family do too?)
Good for you that you got it done! However, I’m feeling rather neurotic after reading this post. I’m just glad I don’t have any deadlines, because I could see the same thing happening to me!
Would it be wrong to say I got a good laugh out of the cupcake ordeal?
L. Diane Wolfe “Spunk On A Stick”
http://www.circleoffriendsbooks.blogspot.com
Sweetie…..You NEED A FEW days off!! :)
What a great action scene! I think you could use that in a book. It kept me reading and holding my breath to see if you were going to make it. Now I am exhausted and need to go rest!
Fun, fast paced post! But I wanted more, like-
12:00 noon – lunch with hubby, decide to have a glass or two of wine to unwind.
12:30 pm – things get a little romantic. DH knows what I want most right now.
1 pm – kids off at school, I wink at DH.
1:05 pm – X-rated, sorry, thanks for stopping in, cy’all tomorrow.
LOL. Hey great job getting the job done!
Marvin D Wilson
Good Lord, I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh for you. What a tale! I love it. (You don’t, but I do. Keep in mind, that’s what you want your readers to do, love your stories. Don’t hate me, I’m just a reader.)
;-)
Helen
Straight From Hel
I’m exhausted after reading your post – I can’t imagine how you felt after living it! Congratulations on meeting your deadline. You deserve a day off, and to celebrate!
One of your best, Elizabeth. Gotta be Tweeted. Thanks for the smile and laughter. Whenever I think I’m overwhelmed and no time to get anything done, I think of you.
Best Regards, Galen
Imagineering Fiction Blog
After a day like that, there’s no way Mark would risk taking out in public. He’d bring lunch to the house.
Congrats on meeting your deadline. Hope you did take the afternoon off.
Charlotte Phillips
Oh absolutely, I’m with Galen on that one. When I think I’m having “one of those days,” I’m going to remember this post…for a LONG time! Congratulations on still being sane (you are, right?) LOL! Great post, Elizabeth!
Oh my goodness, I need a day off just reading about your day and meeting your deadline!! Seriously, though, it sounds like Murphy’s Law was ALL OVER your last 24 hours!!! You made it through, though. That’s the important thing!
Ohmygawd, I’m exhausted? I’d have broken out the rum already and called a neighbor to fetch the kids from school.
You DEFINITELY deserve a reward! (I’d say it needs to include chocolate, alcohol and sex) Congrats on being done, at least!
good god! I come back from my ONE day EXQUISITE vacation to read this!! You need a one day vacation – this is what I do and I’ve done it every year for years and years (at least twenty). My best friend rents a cottage down the shore every year for three weeks. On one day – I leave work -drive for 1 1/2 hours plus stopping for wine, good bread, cheese, etc… and from the time I arrive until I leave 24 hours later we usually – walk for a long time on the beach looking for heart rocks, walk into the tiny town and go to the 2nd hand clothing store for great bargains and fun, go to the canteen and have lobster chowder and milkshakes, play at least two games of scrabble, eat lots of stuff, drink wine, talk our heads off, fall asleep talking our heads off and so on…
Perfect.
You go get one.
My GOTTA GET IT DONE DAY is Friday. Go to my blog to see what happens!
love,
Jan
I’m still wondering “How on earth you did it?”
Cake is complicated. Cupcakes rule.
Karen–This was a VERY unusual day…but only because the book was due. Everything else was par for the course. Except the computer’s possession–it was taunting me, I think.
Sharon–Me too! And it’s 8:00 p.m. and I’m still charging. But I did have an awful lot of sugar in my coffee at 4:00.
Lesa–I think really that I was taking HIM out…because of the computer stuff. Except that he makes 98% of the money for the family. :) So I guess he was taking me out…
Kristen–I’m an insomniac, so Benadryl just sort of takes the edge off. But it worked!
Clea–I love it! And BRZMRNQ sounds like a great name (maybe for sci-fi though. Congratulations on your new release. I’m looking forward to reading it. (See the interview on Lesa’s blog, y’all.)
Elspeth–And today was GORGEOUS. It was 75 and it’s always 80 in early September here. Oh and my computer repair method is the same as yours. Except…my husband is a computer systems admin for a big company. So….he’s my tech support, poor thing! :) I’m sure that was the last thing he wanted to do after 9 hours at the office. But hysteria does help make a case.
And typos? Please. My blog was rife with them after my burnout commenced this morning.
Diane–You understood though? The cake/plates/forks/candle thing?
Carol–You’re right! It doesn’t look like it’s in the cards, though.
Jane–Me too! But then the unwinding needed to happen.
Marvin—Sigh. No, the day wasn’t nearly that eventful! But we had a nice lunch in the park. Your scenario sounds like a keeper, though. ;)
Helen–True. And humor makes things so much easier! It was either laugh or cry. Or be grouchy…which I was.
Galen–Thanks! But don’t do as I do or you’ll be freaked out most of the time.
Charlotte–Thank you! I wasn’t very pretty at lunch, but then we had a picnic in the park, so it was okay. I picked up takeout, we met at the park, and no one noticed that I looked like Medusa.
Write Chronicles–I can’t even imagine how people with a day job do it. I CAN NOT imagine. I have nightmares even thinking about it.
Crystal–Well….sane for me. :)
Rose–I THOUGHT about crying. But I don’t like crying so it’s always a last alternative. Fortunately, my husband is a genius, so I knew the computer would be okay in the end. And…if not…well, there’s always a 24 hour Kinko’s.
Hart–I’m still contemplating what my reward should be. That’s the best part, I think! But…I found out today that I probably should submit my next Myrtle Clover book on November 1, soooooo…
Dorte–Thanks! And, yes, my kids and husband would like a separate vacation from me, I think. :)
Janel–It was a very neurotic day, even for me. And I even have a neurologist to deal with my neuroses!
Ingrid–Tired, tired. Exhilarated! :)
Liberty–Thanks, so much! Yes, I think Murphy was definitely at work during my day. But maybe now I’m in his good graces? We can only hope!
Labanan–Yes! That’s exactly what I need. I have a feeling it’s not in the cards, though. Yours sounds absolutely perfect! I’ll be there on Friday….intriguing!
Oh. My. Goodness. I am totally exhausted after reading that! I’m an insomniac too but I think a day like that would wipe me out! Kudos for getting everything finished on time even with all the hurdles!
Nancy, from Realms of Thought…
Nancy–You’re my fellow non-sleeper! It was a rough day, but now I’m basking in not having it hanging over me.
Stacy–If I had to do it over again, I’d go to a different store and get the cupcakes. I don’t believe my thinking hat was in place that day.
I am so glad I read this post late and therefore know you survived the ordeal just fine (judging by today’s post). You did do a great job of building the tension in this hour by hour tale. I feel stressed just thinking about the day, especially when the computer problems struck. If not fixed, that would have been akin to telling your editor the dog ate your homework.
Patricia–It would have been EXACTLY like the dog and the homework excuse. Plus the fact that I’m so Type-A that I would never let anything be any later than 10:00 a.m. on the morning of the deadline…I would have spent the night at Kinko’s.