The Problem with 3 Day Weekends

If you look closely at the photo on the left, you might notice something.

Do you see it?

Is something missing?

See it now?

The hammock is empty.

That's what 3-day holiday weekends are like for me.

Ah, you're shaking your head.  You don't understand.  I'll explain.  :)

Because of obligations and goals and deadlines, weekends for me--the normal 2-day kind--are much like my weekdays.  I work.  Whether it's websites or writing--or even cleaning and laundry (gasp!)--I'm usually busy and tend to get more work done, thanks to the absence of 10 not so little feet running through the house.  Even TV is more often than not a luxury on weekends.  Work has to come first.  It pays the bills.  So when a 3-day weekend comes along, it offers the chance to catch up on deadlines and goals.

This Memorial Day weekend was true to form...until yesterday.  By some miracle, I reached a goal I'd set earlier in the week by finishing the rough draft of a 3-chapter proposal.  And I did it by Sunday night. (double gasp!) I was even able to enjoy watching the next to last episode of Game of Thrones without worrying that an hour of TV would take up time I couldn't spare.  As far as the writing went, I knew where I was going, how I was going to get there, and I did it.  Believe me when I say it was a miracle.  That meant that yesterday my youngest daughter and I were able to get in a little shopping without having to hurry, and I even managed to get laundry done by 10 p.m..  Another miracle!

It may be Tuesday today, but to me it's Motivation Monday, and I should be working.  Let's face it.  I'm just not feeling all that motivated.  Even knowing there's still a synopsis waiting to be written--after I've done a little plotting that must be done first--and a final polish of those chapters, I don't feel like working.  Oh, and then there's a new deadline for some revisions on A Nanny for the Cowboy.  But I can't seem to get myself to move in that direction.  Unfortunately, these things don't write themselves.  Nor do words fly from our fingers to the paper computer screen of their own free will.

Instead of fighting it and making myself do the deed--start plotting, start writing, start whatever--I'm going to leave it for later and pretend I'm in that swing on the beach, with the soothing sounds of the ocean waves lulling me to sleep and, to borrow from Will Shakespeare, perchance to dream.

“Today, just take time to smell the roses, enjoy those little things about your life, your family, spouse, friends, job. Forget about the thorns -the pains and problems they cause you - and enjoy life” ― Bernard Kelvin Clive, Your Dreams Will Not Die