Girlfriends Book Club: Tiiiiiime Isn't On Your Side by Jenny Gardiner

What???? You want me to talk about how I get work done over the holidays???? That would be me, the person who didn't get up her post on time today, and it's January 3rd, the holidays sufficiently behind enough that I should have???? The same person who has a column due for the newspaper and hasn't gotten that written either? Errr, ummm, I think that tells you more than you need to know about me and getting writing done over the holidays. Or any other time when there are just far too many demands on my time... I suck at it. I'd love to say that I can set aside all of the myriad happenings that start cropping up come December, and just hunker down and focus. And maybe at some point in my life I was better at it than I am now. But at least this year, I failed 100%. I got not one word written. But I did have a fun holiday! Hope that counts for something. Part of the problem is now that my kids are in college and beyond, they don't get back home very often. So when they do, I want to spend my time with them. Plus I'm no longer conditioned to ignoring the distractions that crop up with lots of people around (24/7 television blaring comes to mind, lots more picking up, cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, etc). This year had more complications: two of my kids had been overseas for an extended period. One was mostly incommunicado, so once we got him home, I wanted to catch up with him! The other, well, fortunately we got to visit her, so I was gone for much of November traveling with her, my husband and other daughter. That came on the heels of a huge work project that sucked up much of my autumn. Fast forward to December, and on top of it I turned 50. So we had festivities involving that that I wasn't going to shun in order to write. And lots of traveling to see family. And holiday cooking. And more holiday cooking. And more holiday cooking. Each day over the past month+ (make that past several months) I vowed I would find a place to hide and work. Even make up for the work I failed to accomplish the previous day. But the truth is, I have no place to hide in my house. It's an open floor plan and between kids home and barking dogs and squawking parrots etc, quiet simply does not exist. And going elsewhere to work wasn't an option because I was busy being near my usually far-away kids. Not only did I not get work done, I never once went to the gym. And I ate and I drank and I ate and I drank, with lots of celebrating going on. So suffice it to say, I have a lot to catch up on now that the holidays are behind me. And hoping that gym time doesn't cut into my writing *too* much...Because I have been known to get a little distracted... The good thing is this: I am a crammer. I'm the all-nighter girl who studied for finals by staying up into the wee hours till I got it all done. And I'm that way with my writing, too. Once I get into it, I just go and go and go. So here's hoping I get back into it asap, squeezing in a little gym time while I'm at it, and finish up the far-too-many books I'm in the middle of writing!

Sleeping with Ward Cleaver