Happy Thursday Everyone!  We are getting ready to make a 7 hour drive north to Columbus, Ohio for a gymnastics meet this weekend (Go Spotacus!), and as I was packing my suitcase and staring at my computer longing to be writing, I figured I could spare a few minutes blogging.  That should give me enough of a fix to last a few days.

Today was supposed to be my writing day.  I’ve been super busy at the day job the past few weeks, we had a meet in Orlando, and last week was Spot’s birthday which pretty much means a week long “gala”.  Like Mardi Gras without the beads.  Homemade pancakes one day, a movie another, dinner out at her favorite restaurant another.  I mean, I usually just got a birthday card and my mother’s mediocre (LOVE YOU MOMMA) rendition of happy birthday.  What is with this?

Any who, we’ve been busy as always so I haven’t really had a chance to write much.  And Jenna P without writing time is like a hangry toddler three hours late for her nap.  I had planned to write this morning before we head up to Ohio, which was enough to keep me from having a meltdown this week.  But then, as my family was saying their goodbyes on their way to school and work, it happened.

“Mom, I didn’t have a chance to pack.  I was at the gym late last night,” says Spotacus.

“Me neither.  And I didn’t pack any movies to watch in the van.  Can you get some?  Make sure you get GOOSEBUMPS,” says Minnie.  “And can you charge my tablet?  It’s somewhere in my room.”

“Oh yeah.  My phone too,” says Spotacus.

This is on top of all the other TO DO items I had.  Like packing for me and my husband, getting the van ready, etc…  Maybe if I was a little more selfish I could just say, “Sorry.  You knew we were leaving.  This should’ve been done.”  But instead, I looked longingly toward my computer for a moment, took a deep breath and said, “Sure.  No problem.”

I could’ve gotten mad and started screaming, but here’s the thing – they are kids.  Spot was at the gym an extra two hours last night working beam routines.  Minnie was at home trying to finish up all her homework to hand in a day early since she will miss a half day today and a full day tomorrow.  The Accountant is in the middle of month end at work, so he’s pulling some extra hours at work.  We had a client deadline today, so I had to work some extra hours to get my design done.  So I do what I have to.

Point is, no matter how hard I try to plan ahead, things always come up.  That’s called BEING A MOTHER.  That’s called BEING A WIFE.  That’s called BEING EMPLOYED.  That’s called LIFE.  I can’t change that.  But I can change the way I approach my writing time, which is why I’m coming up with a new game plan, or maybe revisiting an old game plan.

Starting next week, I’m going to start writing every day for at least an hour in the mornings.  I will do this before the girls get up and the whirlwind of potential obstacles can even begin.  My brain is pretty much turned to mush at night from doing math all day at work, so writing after they go to bed isn’t an option.  I’m just going to have to suck it up.

It will be an adjustment, but my hope is that I can retrain myself to write in short sprints, which is really the problem when it comes down to it.  I’ve gotten into this habit of thinking I can’t write at all if I don’t have two or three hours to devote to it.  But I think the reason I need two or three hours is because I go so long in between writing that it takes a good bit of time just to get back into my story.  Maybe if I write every day I won’t have to do that.  It’s all about efficiency.  I can’t make more time, so I need to learn how to be more efficient with the time I have.

If you are having a hard time squeezing in time, try it with me!  I’ll check in on Facebook and Twitter about how it’s going, and I would love to hear from any of you.  After all, misery loves company.  Dragging my butt out of bed will be so much easier if I know somewhere out there, someone is doing the exact same thing in the name of words.  And if you have any other ideas on how I can be more efficient, I’d love to hear them!

Jenna P

Who makes it happen?  YOU make it happen.