A Day in the Life of Jenna...

JENNA BAYLEY-BURKE

Currently: I'm working on the partial of my lawyers book...revising my road trip book...and wondering why I volunteered to judge so many contests...

Mood: Hopeful...good news is coming my way, I can feel it.
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Unfortunately my husband is not telepathic, so he turns off the alarm and gets up at an ungodly hour. At this point I have two choices – close my eyes and give in to the pull of sleep, or be a good girl and get in the shower. Sleep is what I want to do, but I take the shower because I don't want to embarass my kiddos at drop-off for school.

When I emerge from the relaxing steam of the shower, I try to coax my curly hair into compliance and hope for ten minutes to check my email. No such luck. Hubba Bubba is there with one fussy little girl. I shower before he leaves for work for just this reason, half the time the baby wakes up while I'm otherwise engaged. He escaped to the relative sanity of work, and after I feed the baby I enter the inner realm of small boys, at my own risk.

My youngest is a morning person, the oldest? Not even close. After I wrestle them into some clothes (quite the feat with a wiggly girl on one arm), I bribe them downstairs with the promise of chocolate. Hey, chocolate zucchini muffins are healthy...kinda.

By ten-til-eight they are in the people mover, and we're making our way to the elementary school. This is the first year both boys have school every day. Sometimes I can drop them off, but today I have to chat up the teachers about Halloween party plans. With the baby I can't do weekly volunteering, so I'm the self-imposed party parent.

After we escape the school, the baby girl and I make a quick trip to the grocery. Hubba Bubba is out of coffee creamer, big boy is low on cheese, and I'm working today which means I'd love a 100-calorie pack of Chessmen cookies. We race home and she goes right down for her morning nap. The heavens are singing as I fire up the computer and...write three blog posts, put out a fire in a yahoo group, and answer email.

I wake up the baby so we can wait for the kindergarten school bus. the small boy is always excited to see us, and comes home with a lunch plan...scrambled eggs and toast. Once lunch is done I try and settle the baby into a nap and the small boy into some semblance of quiet so I can get some work done. Naps are over and the big boy arrives home from school before I get any actual work done (yahoo issues part deux, judging contest entries, and an IM brainstorming session that might have been productive it had been about my book). I vow no distractions tonight while I work. Egad. Survivor is on. I’ll have to be strong.

The afternoon is a walk to the park with the kids and a chance to sit on a bench with the hot historical I picked up at the last RCRW signing. But I don’t read it – other moms are there so I opt for adult conversation. After two warnings and a time out, we head home. I politely suggest the boys play in the backyard while I make dinner. BigBoy not so politely declines, until BabyBoy finds a slug.

I add slug bait to the grocery list and grill salmon to top our Caesar salads for dinner. After dinner we take a walk as a family, and the knot of a problem in my story finally yanks free! Unfortunately it involved losing about 8 pages...

Back at home I attack my computer, one eye at the clock in the corner, mocking me that Survivor starts too soon. I rewritten 2 pages before I give in and flip on the TV, swearing I will work through the show.

Survivor is over and it’s bath time. Hubba earns his place in my heart every night by handing the bath and bulk of the boys nighttime routine. I’ve worked out 4 pages before my exceptional story reading, prayer, and hugging skills are requested. Once the boys are tucked in, I have the girl to myself. We cuddle for about an hour before she drifts off.

Once I lay her dow I work in earnest, trying like heck to finish the chapter so I can ship it off to my CP and concentrate on the revisions the editor requested on another book.

My husband tried to speak to me around eleven, but gave up when I merely nod and stare at the computer. I work on a laptop on our bed, so he’s forced to pull the covers over his head and try to sleep while I wrestle with my chapter break.

I finished. Just before midnight. I email the revised story to my gmail account as backup and power down. Because I work so close to the time I need to sleep, I brush my teeth and meditate before attempting it, But by then, it’s tomorrow. Another day in the life, and you only asked for one.


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Jenna's latest procrastination attempt can be found on her blog.