Back to Work

Shade’s story is finished. I wrote for three solid days and got it done on Friday. A hard copy edit and cool inspection are the next steps before I decide whether to “publish” it; right now I’m caught between letting it go and revising it to death. There’s an odd sense of emptiness when I return to the real world from my own. I was so consumed by the story last week that I was basically useless around the house; I kept dropping things or bumping into Ter or forgetting what I was saying while I was saying it. I’m still kind of useless in those ways, but now it’s because I don’t know what to do with myself.

Fortunately (?!), I’m back to work tomorrow. I won’t say I’m tripping-over-the-moon delighted at the prospect of squeezing back into the 9 to 5, but I can say that my vacation was successful in that I got the break I desperately needed and feel somewhat ready to tackle the challenges of the fourth fiscal quarter. I have a new penguin calendar and a new coffee cup and a whole new bulletin board to fill with pics and quotes to get me through the year. Ter came with me to the office yesterday and helped me to prep it for 2014. This year’s theme is “wouldn’t it be fun to …” and I have a new bunch of coloured gel pens and Sharpies to make it more vibrant. Ter started it off by writing “Dobby was here” in deep purple ink; after I quit laughing, it occurred that I should invite people to scribble their own quotes if they like. My office has more of the playroom than the professional aspect to it anyway. Stuffies and Star Wars figurines will do that.

I am not looking forward to getting up at 6:00 a.m. when I’ve been sleeping until 7:30 these past weeks., but I’ll get over it. My main challenge is Ter, who is so convinced that Monday morning will be a gong show that she’ll unwittingly make it so unless I can use the Force to counter it. Our work environments are so different that I can’t blame her for getting her angry on before she gets there, and while I may envision myself greeting colleagues with enthusiastic vigour, who am I kidding??? I am not a morning person and Mondays can be brutal.

They can be. They don’t have to be. It’s up to me which way mine goes.

Wish me luck.