I am writing for myself and strangers. This is the only way that I can do it... Gertrude Stein

11/17/2004

Oh, what to do, what to do?

I have been extremely busy and important this morning, just like Bridget Jones, and I am waiting for Liza to get off the phone/internet so I can bug her about lunch. I have 57 minutes before my next meeting.

Well, with my grant deadlines, I will not make it out of here at noon like I had first supposed for Friday. And I wanted to. Now, I will not make it out of here before 5:00, putting me at the retreat after 8:00 p.m., at which time I will be tired and it will be dark.

So, then I have Saturday, and part of Sunday, and then a three-hour drive back.

Will it be restful there? Well, yes, but not if one part of me is stressed out about this grant and half stuck in Kirksville. Even if I stay here, and don't work on it, at least my office is a short walk from home and I could.

The impetus for going this particular weekend was that Dereck and kids will all be out of town-- seemed perfect! But I hadn't counted on this grant (we have an internal deadline of a complete draft due Friday. I have a two-hour meeting this afternoon, and meetings on Friday from 8:00 a.m. til 2:00 p.m. So, that leaves me with: two writing hours this afternoon, and maybe eight tomorrow. And do you think that all of that time will be non-stop writing? So leaving here by 5:00 on Friday is a generous estimate, but I have to tell the nuns what I am doing before then!).

There are reasons to stay. How often do I get my entire house to myself? Snatches of time. Not three entire nights. Actually longer than that-- Dereck and the kids will be gone longer than that. I forgot, they are not coming back on Sunday. If I go, I will have to board my dog. If I stay, I can hang out with Liza, whose husband will also be out of town (okay, so Dereck isn't my husband-- close enough), and go to St. Luke's with her on Sunday completely unencumbered by time restrictions, and then come home and take a nap.

Clearly, I am leaning towards sticking around this weekend.

What would you do?