Contrary to Clifford Simak, time is not the simplest thing

As I wrote in 2017 if I lived in isolation it would be much easier to manage my time. I’d be more efficient but, of course, more miserable. You can trust me on this; I was single and pet-free for most of my life and married with pets is better.

This year I got even less isolated due to making Snowdrop an inside cat back in January. After the first week or so, it worked out well; Wisp slept downstairs with Snowdrop at night so I could wake up and do a half-hour of exercise and stretching without the cats deciding my body language was an invitation to snuggle. After a long stretch of doing that stuff irregularly (ever since we took Wisp in two-plus years ago) the improvement in how my body feels is marked (plus improvements in things like balance).

But the nature of living in a house with four pets and another person is that there’s never a permanent time-management solution. First we have Dudley’s injuries requiring added PT time. Then the past couple of months we’ve been going to bed later — not the occasional thing where I have a Zoom writers’ meeting or TYG has to work late but just shifting “normal” by a half-hour to an hour. No big, except that it means I get up later (assuming I’m sleeping well, and lately I have been) which throws off my schedule. I wind up skipping exercise or skipping the half-hour of tea and reading that follows it up, or I do both and start writing a lot later. Which is not good because with the PT and various other stuff, I don’t have any wriggle room to make it up later in the day. And in the evening, I’m not up for it.

(Plushie escaped recently when we neglected to lock his cage. Fortunately he didn’t do anything to harm his leg, just climbed up on the couch).

Another is that TYG’s been doing more work in the early morning before bringing Plushie down. That results in dog PT, walkies and my morning ablutions not getting done until around 9:30, about 90 minutes later than “normal.” Logically I should have 90 minutes extra before she comes down but frequently it doesn’t work that way. Perhaps because Trixie insists on coming down earlier and I spend extra time petting her? It doesn’t seem like that can be the whole thing, but …

This week part of the problem has been Dudley suddenly resisting eating his meds, no matter what tasty treats we wrap them in. He’ll eat them eventually but it can add a good ten minutes to the morning routine.

And part of it is that I bought us a Jacquie Lawson digital advent calendar, having had so much fun with one a friend got us last year. Checking out the day’s offerings in the morning eats time, but pleasantly. A couple of days ago, the game for the day was decorating a snowman. We went, perhaps, a little overboard.

I will muddle through this month and launch some sort of adjusted schedule with the New Year.

As for writing, I have a profile of John Fussa, Carrboro’s new planning director, up at The Local Reporter, as well as one about the Carrboro Garden Club’s Town Hall wreath. And then there’s Jekyll and Hyde.

This week I accomplished one of the nuts-and-bolts of writing this book, going over the cast and behind the scenes credits for each entry and fleshing them out. Also rearranging some of the entries to make sure the chapters are even length; figuring out which chapters a couple of movies should go in (they don’t quite fit any of the chapter topics); and checking for movies I’d forgotten to enter in the book at all (there were a couple). I think I’m on track for an end of the year finish.

On a lighter note, I’ve been attending a Genre Book Club this year, an event sponsored by the Durham Library where the organizer picks a genre each month and we all read a book of our choice fitting the theme. At this week’s meeting, Elle, the moderator, gave regular attendees Christmas ornaments reflecting our choice of books through the year.

Very cool.

Simak cover by Richard Powers. All rights to images remain with current holders.