Today is day one of my new, unemployed life. What came before, these last two weeks was just the trial run. A period similar (but certainly not as devastating) to the events experienced after the death of a loved one. The period that is suspended in time where your tribe gathers around. Makes daily inquiries as to your well being. There is much to do in those first few days. Organize and prepare for what lies ahead. A pre-planned getaway to Florida followed my first week away from the job and there was a flurry of activity awaiting me there. But now I am home and everyone is back to work and school and I’m here to let the dust settle around me and find a new routine.
This is exactly what I have wanted for months on end. Time to write. Time to see if I have what it takes to birth a book. I’m hopeful because it is early days and I see nothing but time stretching ahead of me. I have a bit of money saved and with unemployment kicking in soon, I’ll have enough to get me through the next few months. I know how lucky I am. If I can’t make it work now, I don’t see how it’s going to happen for me. I know I have to sit my butt in front of my computer and let the words out, even if they are gibberish and nonsensical.
I didn’t even want to get up today. When my husband woke at 6 a.m., dawn still a shadow away, I wanted nothing more than to bore deeper under the covers and catch the edge of sleep before it got too far away from me. I thought of the zero degrees weather and the things I could do today. The morning school run. The gym. Tidy the house. Write. The morning run turned into a goose chase in search of cranberry juice to “cure” Liam’s canker sore. I’m not sure where he got the idea but he asked me to pick some up yesterday and even though I went out twice (not specifically for the juice in case you think I’m losing it already) and tried to remember what he asked me to get him, I couldn’t and I returned home both times without it.
I vowed I’d pick some up after I dropped him off for his music lesson this morning and would bring it to school before classes began. I made three stops before I found what he wanted – 100% cranberry juice – no apple or grape to dilute the powerful healing properties of the cranberry. The jury is out if it will even work but it could act as a placebo. I finally got home at 8:30 and took nearly 30 more minutes to organize myself. Tidy up the morning dishes. Clear up the detritus that had accumulated at my desk over the past few weeks since I last sat down in this chair. Oh, where are my glasses?! Coffee or tea?
For now, I am going to write. I have a few starts on an older novel but just last night I had an idea that blossomed from real life circumstances so I’m going to see where that takes me. I have a binder of step-by-step instructions culled from the pages of Hallie Ephron’s Writing & Selling Your Mystery Novel and whether this will actually be a mystery is anyone’s guess. This week I will play around with a new routine and hopefully get some writing done.
MC
I Am Writing 