I’m bummed.

Yes, I am a perfectionist.

No, I didn’t actually expect to be able to blog 30 days straight.

But, having managed 29 days, I really thought I had it in the bag, and then Friday, Nov 30, the last day of NaBloPoMo for November 2012, was a crazy day, and I just couldn’t fit in a moment to write the thoughts I had – which were meant to be a bit of a literary victory dance, at least as I was writing it in my mind all day!!

So, what happened?

Thursday night, I wrote a quick post about my boys being silly in the morning before school. I bit of a cheat, as it was only 112 words, and fleshed out with photos, but, still, a post!!

I had to abbreviate my night on the laptop, because I still needed to memorize words for the amazing Shabbat experience that I was booked for with the choir I sing with Zemer Chai. And, I knew, also, that the day before shabbat began was going to be tight. I had two lectures to give for work, which were scheduled to start at 11am, and end at 1pm, followed by lunch. I actually managed to get to the location at 10:30am, which was unusually prompt for me. I’m not sure when I started my talk, but I do know that I didn’t leave the location of the lectures until 2:45pm! Rats!! Now I had to drive like a madwoman (and not crash my car), to get my kids who would be waiting impatiently for me to pick them up. I had promised J that I would try to get to see part of his ballet class (his Friday enrichment class which starts at 1pm). It would have been tight, but he’s been showing off his dance moves – holding his hands up in that cute circle over his head (the term escapes me from my own couple of years of being a ballerina in grade school) and running around in a circle – and I really wanted to see him in class. And then I had told S not to go to his after-hours program, including sending a note to school for his teacher saying that I would pick him up. Pick-up time is 3:05!! I was definitely not making it by then.

And, I had just checked messages, and I had a referring physician anxiously awaiting an overdue call from me on a patient that I had seen more than a week ago, but, because of our holiday trip, I hadn’t called her.

Thank goodness for Bluetooth phones to allow us to call from our cars, hands-free (yes, I’m well aware of how dangerous even hands-free is, and I only use the luxury for the most critical calls). So, my first call was to the office at S’s school, to get him the message to go to Kids-After-Hours, as he usually does. Then, a call to Kids-After-Hours to tell them to ignore my earlier message saying he wouldn’t be there! Then a call to J’s school to say, I’m on my way, and I hope he’s not too disappointed that I didn’t make it to ballet. And finally, answering the referring physician.

My original vision of how the day would go was: lecture until one, watch end of J’s class, then home with him for about 45 minutes of final preparations and collecting stuff to bring with us to B’nai Israel, before going to pick up S at 3:05, and then we would again have a little time before we we due at our hosts’ home (for Shabbat hospitality) at about 4:15pm.

Not quite what was working out!

I got S (3:35pm), then swung by our house to pick up the bags that we had fortunately packed the night before (but knowing I hadn’t allowed the kids to pick toys, or books, and I had forgotten the Cheerios for their breakfast Saturday morning). I also quickly changed into my Shabbat clothes (warm turtle-neck and mid-calf skirt, with tights, and my favorite purple boots that are comfy for walking and standing in services). I had originally hoped to get boys changed into nice clothes as well, but the was no time!!

Then over to the ECC to get J (3:45pm), and coax him to get into his jacket, and get into the car at some pace faster than a snail’s! We arrived at our hosts’ home at 4:05pm – ahead of my anticipated arrival time, which was nice, but I felt completely scrambled!

Our host, a retired rabbi’s wife, greeted us at the door, and my heart sank as I saw her very beautiful home with china and artwork – so many breakable things!!! – but she welcomed us, and, first thing she did was to take the boys downstairs and show them the toys she keeps for their grand kids!! And, then she gave them snacks. Ahhhhh. My tension and anxiety were already diminishing. My only remaining worry was about my husband, R, and when he might show up. He isn’t always good at keeping an eye on the time. But, he showed up just a few minutes later, so we were all there when it was time to light candles, which I was able to do with our hostess. We also met the rabbi, and he was welcoming as well.

But, now, there was no time to post my November 30 post!! (After Shabbat starts – ie the Shabbat candles are lit – we don’t write, and we don’t used electronic devices, in addition to not driving. Some, including our hosts, also don’t turn lights on or off, and don’t cook food, but we’re not quite that strict at our own home. Maybe we’ll get there someday.).

So, I have to love with 97% success with this NaBloPoMo project.

Considering that I didn’t think I’d make it past one week when I started, I did well. Maybe I’ll try again, sometime down the road.

 

Right now, I have to sort through a bunch of boys clothes, and figure out what is causing the awful smell in our fridge!!  And, sometime before I sleep I have clinical notes to write, and a handful of evaluations to write of candidates for medical school and our residency program that I interviewed last week.

The joys of working motherhood…