Not how I thought the day would go
Today was one of those days where I get all the kids off to school and then I go back to bed. I intended to work, but I found myself staring at an email, wanting to answer it, but unable to find the emotional resources to compose an answer. Bed was the only option. I’d drifted in and out of half-asleep for about 30 minutes. Then the phone rang and provided a better option. I went to hang out with my friend Janci. We talked until my voice was getting hoarse and my head was empty of thoughts. It is so nice to have someone else understand and validate your experiences. It is really nice to be able to do that for someone else. And I was out of my house, away from all of my stuff until almost 2 pm.
When I got back, I discovered that my email had filled up with good news. We have a final draft for the XDM project which means I can throw it into the layout and hand stuff off to our editor either Friday evening or Saturday morning. This is slightly ahead of schedule, which is very good. We were also informed of the Gencon booth assignment and the placement is excellent, right across from the WotC booth. The next batch of magnets are done and I picked them up. So that is one more piece in my hand which is ready for book shipping. Also tomorrow morning we’ll be receiving a sample of the slipcases. This means we can take lovely product pictures and show everyone how much nicer the real thing is than the mock-up I taped together. It is like I came home and discovered that all my work had borne fruit. Oh look. Fruit!
Naturally the good must be balanced by the less good. Gleek dragged in from school claiming not to feel well. I believed her, and when she asked for a pot, I got her one quickly. She later demonstrated that the pot was a completely necessary precaution. It is so much nicer to rinse out pots than to mop floors. She’ll be staying home from school again tomorrow. Kiki also came dragging in, but her ailment was emotional. She did not get the Student Council position she wanted so ardently. So I got to hug her tight, and let her cry, and tell her the the flash of anger she felt against the winner was normal, and that she wasn’t a bad person for feeling angry and sad. We talked about why trying is valuable even if we don’t win, and why we have to get up and try again even if it may hurt. We talked about the stages of grief and she was able to see all of them in her experience. That right there made the experience worth it to me. Kiki learning what grief feels like and how to manage it will be far more valuable to her in the rest of her life than would be a year of putting stuff on bulletin boards at the school. She calmed down far more quickly than I expected and within an hour was back out the door for a youth group fund raising activity that she was committed to attend.
So now I am at the afternoon end of a day that was completely full of things that I did not expect. Not one of the things that got done was on my schedule this morning, but they are all good things and I am glad they happened. ( Well, except for the stomach flu. I could pass on that.) So now I am tired, but calm and happy.
And pondering the fact that it is 6 pm and I really ought to feed the kids.