Folks, I think I’ve figured out how I know I’m really past capacity. I used to define it as when I started dropping balls — that was the indicator that I needed to pull back. (I tried to drop rubber balls that would bounce, and not glass balls that would break.) But the last few weeks, I’ve just been flat-out forgetting to do things.
Now part of that might also be menopause-related; I’m going to get my bloodwork done this week, so we’ll see. But it’s very unusual for me to have a week when I completely forget FIVE meetings in my calendar (some of them quite important)…
…or days when I just don’t remember to check my e-mail and so other items don’t get put into my calendar (hence the call at 3:20 yesterday asking me if I was on my way for my 3 p.m. Sprout shift — I’d never put the May shifts in the calendar, so I threw on work clothes and ran down there for a five hour shift I’d never registered in my brain, sigh)…
…or days when I get an FB message from my editor reminding me about story edits that are due, and I have to admit that I don’t remember even seeing her previous e-mails on the subject — they just slid right by my eyes somehow…
…and ditto with a few student appointment e-mails too! I’ve been saying sorry a lot lately. Sigh. At capacity, passed capacity, capacity is several feet above my head, and I’ve been sinking fast…
I think it’s all been recoverable, but between the launch of Serendib House at the Shops, the end of my school board term, the end of the semester (this is finals week), I’ve been working 16-hour days, and even with hiring quite a bit of help (thanks, Connor Nevitt, hero of the revolution!, and Eliana Callan, pinch-hitter in the clutch!), it’s just…a lot. A lot a lot.
Next week, Connor and I are going to start working together seriously on my e-mail, and I’m hopeful that I can afford to have him start checking it for me initially, so I don’t miss anything. It’ll take a little while to train him properly on that, though.
Things SHOULD slow down tremendously now. No more school board, semester over, launch events done, shop set up.
From May to December, I’ll be at the Shops most Fridays (10-6), Saturdays (10-6), and Sundays (10-5). But if it’s quiet there, I can use the time to deal with e-mail, write, or craft. And if it’s busy, then I’ll be making enough money that I can hire staff to cover some days. So that should be very manageable.
And then Monday will be my day off, and Tuesday-Thursday should be a mix of writing and crafting and gardening and puttering and putting my house in order, all at a much more reasonable pace. I can’t promise that I’ll stop work at dinner every day, but I’m going to try for the summer. Mostly, anyway.
There are a few busier weeks — at the end of June I’ll be teaching at Novel Bookcamp in Racine, and I’ll go from there right to a week taking a furniture-building workshop in Colorado (my birthday present to myself). And there’s likely to be a week of vacation at the end of July, and then there’s getting Kavi ready for college — but she’s on the semester system, so we have a little more time there.
I’ve decided not to go to WorldCon in Seattle, mostly due to my own schedule, but the week before that, Benjamin Rosenbaum and I will be teaching a writing workshop here in Chicago, and we’ll have the details of that up within the next few days, so people can register.
But hopefully things will stop falling out of my head now.
This morning, I slept eight hours (second night in a row, sorely needed as all the excitement and stress of launch was messing with my sleep), and then ran down to the Shops to get my shop all set up nicely for photographing — the Berwyn folks are doing a 360 tour of shops, the kind of fancy video walk-through that you see when people are selling fancy homes. That’s pretty cool.
Then I came home and joined a 9:30 Zoom call with the Berwyn folks for one of our mandatory monthly business sessions — this one was on event-planning. It’s good that they do these; a helpful part of the program.
Then I did my overdue copyedits for my next Sunday Morning Transport story, going up in a few weeks, and huge thanks to Fran Wilde for her patience with me, the most scattered of her writers.
And now I think I’m actually unscheduled for the rest of the day. Whew!
Going to have a cup of tea, and probably some lunch, then I think I’ll spend an hour or two in the garden — I have quite a few plants that have been waiting weeks to get in the ground, and I should do that — it’s also going to be warm and dry the next week, so I need to water everything soon, which means setting up my hoses for the season. More garden photos incoming!
And then maybe I’ll read a book, or take a nap. 🙂
Here are the photos I took this morning — I’m prepping for Mother’s Day weekend, when I’ll be running a 10% off sale. (15% off if you’re a mom buying a present for yourself — codeword: Amistad.)
Free flower (as long as supplies last) and raffle ticket on entry — I’ll be raffling off a $25 Serendib House gift certificate Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, pulling a winner at the end of each day. Good until December 2025! (Reminder to self: must design and print gift certificates…)
Ask if you have questions about any prices, and if you’re not local, but want something shipped to you, that’s probably do-able! I think things are quieting down enough that I can start shipping again, including tables.
(For those waiting on hellebore items, I’m going to take photos of all of them in the next day or two and then do a separate post, just fyi. Comment below if you want to be tagged into that.)
