Distractions, distractions, you enemy of writers!

I've been a bit absent from the blogosphere this last week or so. A bout with the stomach flu kind of put me out of commission for a few days, leaving me particularly unmotivated to write or blog or really do much of anything--except watch movies. It has been ten years since I have shared such intimacy with the toilet bowl (thank goodness I cleaned it that morning!) and I hope another good ten years goes by before we are forced to endure each other's company again. Enough said on that front :)

My writing progress has staled but I am still stubbornly trying to eke out whatever I can manage before the baby arrives. Ten weeks to go and fifteen chapters to write!

Today I planned to finish a chapter, which would not have been unreasonable had I been fine with sitting on my rump and ignoring the phone, but I guess I had an abundance of energy. Making up for the time I spent on my rump watching movies while sick. So...I dropped hubby off at work and went to the gym for an aquafit class for an hour then scooted over to see my doctor for a regularly scheduled appointment. I've hit 30 weeks and everything looks good (yay, no gestational diabetes or Factor Five blood disorder!). By then it was practically lunch so I picked up hubby, fed him, shipped him back to work, then sat down for a good four hours of writing!

Ha!

My mom called, we chatted, then she mentioned they were going to the pool to swim. I thought, 'hey, I should be keeping active, a trip to the pool sounds great!' so I went along. When I returned home I still would have had at least two hours to write. Then my friend called and invited me to go to the mall to look at baby stuff. How could I resist? We got back at five, just in time for hubby's return home from work and of course I now had to make dinner. Then we watched a movie (we don't have cable). After the movie, hubby decided to read 'The Hobbit.' I decided to write. I stared at my computer screen then closed the half-finished chapter and decided to blog.

I guess I shall write tomorrow.

Desperately Seeking Zen

I have been living in my housecoat for the last two days, sans makeup, with a roll of toilet paper at my side. I hate being sick. I tried everything in my power not to get sick (handwashing to the point of dry, scaly, skin) and yet, here I am, stuck on the couch, praying that I only have a cold. All this hype about the deadly flu that kills pregnant women has gotten under my skin. Where, oh where, did my super-Zen state of mind go?

It probably didn't help that last week was stressful enough, with everyone at my work calling in sick and leaving us short-staffed, and then I was scheduled for an emergency ultrasound (I'm only thirteen weeks pregnant and already I've had TWO ultrasounds....and both times were probably completely unnecessary) which only added to the craziness. I'm looking forward to actually enjoying this pregnancy. Well, luckily, everyone is back at work (except for me) and my ultrasound results came back excellent, so my baby is probably inside me right now thinking, 'Would you just chill out already, mom!'

I think I will just be relieved when I'm done work for good--two weeks left!--and I can get away from all of the sick people. Besides the abundance of germs and viruses, I truly love the fall season...the changing colours...the leaves on the ground. And this year, I will actually get to see it (!) instead of being stuck in a windowless building with oodles of spiders and enough dust to build a replica of a snow-man. I won't have to live in constant darkness, getting to work just as the sun comes up and leaving when the sun has already sank below the horizon, not to mention the fact that I currently work in a darkroom, breathing in chemicals and keeping an eye out for the cousins of the spider I just squished. I can't wait to be unemployed!!

Granted, I know it is easy to fall into the trap of lethargy and sloth-like behaviour, so I have started a list of everything I want to accomplish. Mainly, I think a structured plan will be ideal: morning workout at the gym, housecleaning, blogging, working on WIP, afternoon walk for exercise and inspiration, more writing, making dinner. I really don't think I'll have time to be bored.

But, first, I need to get over this darn cold.