Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Snow Days of Glory

So we go back to praying for snow days. These are the best days for striking the right balance between time with the kid and time with the computer screen. An hour ago I was a horse carting my son around the bedroom; then I was a wrestler, squaring off against him on the mattress; now, I am a candidate for carpal tunnel syndrome. What in the past would have been toss-off work, stuff to get done between grinding on the novel chapter for days on end, is now a pleasure. I write 500-word reviews, I write rejection letters, I stuff envelopes, ergo sum, pure as the snow that makes this time to savor even mundane work possible, making somehow the work seem like it will always be there, and so far less important than my son grows out of his needing me as quickly as I can pull an old muscle strain or as the snow melts or as the crocus pokes out its lovely head then disappears for another spring when I hope to stay young enough to keep up the play.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Child-Rearing, Writing and Weight Loss

Obviously the first and second do not promote the third, but sometimes, especially in these post-holiday times, we all need it. So here I go again, on the drastic diet and back to running + other exercise every day, thinking perhaps I will not meet all of those January writing deadlines, and resorting to a "Biggest Loser" challenge with my sister. The target date is April Fool's. The joke, as always, is on the middle-aged writer.