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It is heavenly to go to the library without kids in tow. It is also fun to take them and let them learn about books, but I feel so free when I can browse and wander without having to keep track of anyone else. Or make sure they are not jumping off of things. Or remind them that while sneaking through the stacks is fun, it is not actually unobtrusive. Also I came home with stacks of books for each of my four kids, tailored to their current reading needs. This was because I had time to quietly contemplate what their needs are while selecting books.

I overheard a librarian telling a patron “Her books only come out every four years, because she is such a good writer.” This statement fascinated me. I don’t that speed of writing is necessarily a solid measure for good writing. However what I think the librarian meant was that the author in question is so good that she does not mind waiting four years for the next book. That is a very encouraging attitude to hear from a reader. This same librarian also expressed hope that J.K. Rowling not be a one trick pony and offer opinions on the Hunger Games trilogy. Perhaps on another trip I’ll go make her acquaintance, (she seemed nice and was very good about guiding patrons to books that she thought they would enjoy), but for today eavesdropping was fun. It also underscored for me how much influence a librarian can have.

The task that drove me to the library today was picking up books for Kiki. She needs to read 500 pages which have to do with US History. Since Kiki’s reading tastes lean to the otherworldly and magical, this will be a departure for her. So now we have a stack of things she can choose from. I must confess the humanities major in me is eyeing those books. Part of my brain wants to launch into reading all of them and thinking new thoughts. Perhaps with the new schedule I’ll have some time for it. I did have time for a leisurely trek through the library today.

I’m glad that our library does not have a limit on the number of books I can bring home. 14 books for Patch, 8 books for Gleek, 6 books for Kiki, 3 books for Link, 2 books for me. It adds up. And yet it is entirely possible that we’ll go through all of those books in the next three weeks. I love that my kids like to read.

It is just possible that I’ve found some normality. The kids all got to school on time. I got my work done. I had a good conversation with a far away friend during my afternoon down time. Then the kids came home and we assessed homework without anyone melting into a puddle of woe. The patterns of the days are beginning to emerge. This is very good because once I can see the patterns I can begin shifting them so that we find a rhythm that works for everyone.

Just now we are having a quiet afternoon space. Gleek has gone to a new friend’s house and for the very first time I sent the Kidphone with her. She’s having a great time calling me to give me updates. “Just letting you know that I’m still playing with A and everything is great!” There is an hour of homework time where I will be on call, but other than that we’ll have quiet afternoon followed by me making dinner and running a family activity in the evening.

I need more days like today. No crises. No urgent tasks. Just things to get done.

It feels like a week has passed since 6:30 am when my alarm went off. Monday feels like several weeks ago. I’ve washed up on the shore of the weekend. But the skies are clearing and hopefully I’ll be able to set sail again on Monday with calmer waters and a good wind.

I’ve been listened to respectfully by school personnel. I’ve been able to express my concerns. The team building has begun and I think I’ll have good teams. Now I just need to put kids to bed and sleep for many hours. Then I have to get up in the morning, wash Howard’s clothes, pack Howard’s clothes, arrange for a church activity, and take him to the airport. Kiki has homework which I need to monitor and I have to track Gleek’s food.

Sunday will be a respite. Monday I will help finalize Kiki’s class change, do my regular business things, and then I need to find my Writer hat. It is buried around here somewhere and I’m going to need it in order to make good use of the editorial notes I have for an essay that will be published next year.

But first, sleep.

The first day of a new schedule is always exhausting. This week I get to have three of them.
Today Link and Kiki both went to school for orientation days.
Tomorrow Kiki, Gleek, and Patch will attend their first day of school, but Link will not because he attended orientation all day today.
Thursday is the day that I will finally get to run through a complete day of what will be my new schedule.
I’m going to be tired this week.

This afternoon Howard discovered that Kiki had never seen The Addams Family. The oversight has now been rectified. Gleek and Patch watched it also.

I have to say that the movie still disturbs me on various levels. I laugh and I am disturbed. This is why my kids had not yet seen the film. It also means that the filmmakers did a brilliant job of hitting their intended mark. Patch and I have already had a discussion about how things in the movie are funny because they are exactly the opposite of what they should be.

I suspect we’ll be showing Addams Family Values later this week. Howard loves both films without reservations. I love them with reservations. And I think on the whole I’m glad to be disturbed by the wrongness.

This afternoon I found myself in The Waiting Place straight out of Dr. Seuss’ book Oh The Places You’ll Go! GenCon is finished and school has not yet begun. The space in between is long enough for me to get bored, but too short for me to begin new projects because I need to keep my brain clear for what is coming next. So I drifted around the house a bit aimlessly for a couple of hours. Then I realized I was not truly in The Waiting Place. I was in The Avoidance Place. I’m not sure how I fooled myself into thinking I haven’t got anything to do. So I kicked myself back into gear and began writing emails to straighten out details for Howard’s trip to Australia. I’ve only got two weeks to assemble a support crew for him. Fortunately there are a half dozen Australian Schlockers who are excited to help. Now I just need to figure out job assignments.

Also on the list of things to do: house organization, laundry folding, gardening, adjusting the kids’ sleep schedules, and business maintenance tasks. Oh, and there might be some school prep shopping to do. I should inventory the kids’ clothes. The happy news is that I can proceed at a nice medium pace instead of a dead run. I just need to keep track of my motivational energy. It keeps going awol.

My front room has suitcases, some of which are newly emptied, some of which are half emptied, and some of which are filled with things belonging to my parents. My desk is covered with receipts, invoices, shipping labels, and post-it notes. Large mounds of color-sorted laundry block the walkway into the family room, waiting for their turn through the washing machine. Mail sits on my kitchen counter to tell me the details of my kids’ school schedules. Then there are the children themselves, who need attention, reassurance, and settling back into a regular routine.

All of that and I am so tired I can hardly see straight. My energy ebbs far more often than it flows today. This is to be expected after the travel and work of last week. But I am working my way through. All of the tasks are closer to complete than they were this morning. This is good because I long for peace and order. I think I will find it soon.

Today is Pre-Convention Jitter Day. This regular event almost always coincides with Packing Day. This time around I have several flavors of jitters which make for fun combinations. I can mix I-am-leaving-my-kids jitters with traveling-on-a-plane jitters or alternately, with first-big-convention-and-running-a-booth jitters, or even meeting-online-friends-in-person-for-the-first-time jitters. I know these are jitters and not things which are logical, but the suppression of blatant illogical nervousness is tiring and has me feeling edgy. I just need to plow through my task list for today. Once we’re on the move tomorrow, all the jitters will vanish because I will not have to anticipate I will just have to react to whatever comes.

I think I’ve gotten to the point where all the “make or break” decisions are made. All that is left is to deal with the consequences. I’m mostly done organizing and planning, now I just need to execute. This is much less brain-twistingly stressful and is just merely busy. Adding to the relief is that some of the tasks, like book release shipping, are totally complete. The huge majority of those packages have arrived to their owners without incident. I can deal with the odds and ends. The church swim party is done. I had my retreat. Things have been shipped to both Indianapolis and Australia. The Indianapolis shipment is already confirmed as having arrived. So the business things have moved into a place that is more routine.

This means it is time for me to pick up some of the things that I have let slide. I need to start moving the kids’ bedtimes earlier. I need to get back to cooking regular meals. Also my house is in serious need of organizational attention. Unfortunately my high gear seems a bit worn out right now. I’ll be picking those things up steadily and slowly. Time to walk, not run.

I just had a very pleasant experience with Comcast customer service. I didn’t know that such things existed anymore. The tech was local to me, completely patient, and walked me through a dozen troubleshooting steps. As we did them, he explained why each step was valuable and what we hoped to learn. It turns out that our router may be feeling its age, but because the guy was so helpful, I now know how to do the electronic version of kicking it to make it start again. Yay.