I Am So Full of Cheese

...things a mouse would say? Actually, I was in St. Paul yesterday checking out schools for my kids (I'm thinking of moving to SP summer 2007), and I went hogwild at Byerly's. It's amazing being in a grocery store with an olive bar. I felt like a hick. But a happy hick.

Today, I'm deciding whether I should read, write, or parent. Don't call social services on me--they have the TV on and some Cheetos and water. Ha! You think I'm kidding. I am. They don't have Cheetos. The thing about being a single parent who works full time AND is trying to jumpstart a writing career, or at least very much enjoys writing and wants to make it a part of her life, is that you have to be able to multi-task like a monkey, as well as cut corners. Here are the corners I'm cutting:

1. Weekend showers (40 more minutes of writing time!)
2. Intimate relationships (saves whole balls of time, not including supporting #1 above)
3. Recreational television (except for The Office on Thursday nights)
4. Talking on the phone (never liked it anyways)
5. Going out with friends (I hope they don't read this)

There's probably more, but it would take too long to think of them. But I remember reading a quote by Anne McAffery or Marion Zimmer Bradley or some other wildly successful sci fi/fantasy writer and mother, and she said, "'A good time to write' will never present itself. You have to carve it out of the day, because there will always be other responsibilities--a house to clean, kids to play with, bills to pay. You have to make time to write today, or you'll never be a writer."

So here's my plan: I'm going to write every night starting at 8, when I put the kids to bed, until I get stupid. I considered getting up early in the morning to write, but I vaguely remember what it was like to have my alarm go off at 5 am, when I'm all warm and rubbery under my goosedown duvet and it's dark, cold, and lonely outside. I may be stupid, but I'm not dumb. There's a better chance of me getting up at 5 am to exercise than there is of me getting up at 5 am to write. In other words, none. Oh, and my seriously fantastic mom is coming up Tuesday nights to spend Oma time with the kids so I can write straight through from 4-10.

I otherwise save the weekday post-bus to bedtime time for my kids, of course, and most of the weekends, except when they nap and the one hour of computer check-in I try to do every Saturday and Sunday to make sure my online classes are going OK. Today, I think the kids and I will do a little sledding and piano practice, and maybe clean the house. It's not much, but it's my life, and I like it.