I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship. - Louisa May Alcott

I woke up at four this morning to hear the rain. Thought it was one of the boys, up and exploring, but no, just the rain.

I love the rain. I enjoy walking in it, dancing in it...but not singing in it. :-) Even more, I enjoy the monsoon when it comes in the summer!

But right now, the house is dark and quiet and I can hear the rain fall on the gravel outside the living room window. Here in my neighborhood, gravel, not grass, is de rigeur for landscaping the fronts and sides of homes. Wet gravel is prettier than dry gravel.

I finally feel like myself again, after a long weekend.

Saturday, I attended an all-day State Vacation Bible School clinic. It was great. Thing is, I'm a stay-at-home-mom. I'll put in 12 to 16 to 20 hour days at home "on the job," but it's totally different from working outside the home. I came home from the conference, where I'd spent just under eight hours, absolutely wiped out. But then, there was the marketing to do, and the family to tend to. Just like any working mom.

How do you ladies do it? I love my guys, but -- like many guys -- they took care of themselves and let the house go during the day. I had NO floor to walk on when I came home and any boxes of books that hadn't been taped shut were scattered all over the floor. Scooter is extremely thorough.

At least, I hope it was Scooter! lol

Sunday was great. I enjoy teaching Sunday School and I love to worship. I got my nap in the afternoon and had a rehearsal for my ASL song that I'll be signing on Saturday for lo, another event.

But, friends and neighbors, I was completely wiped out by last night.

This is a problem because I have work to do!

I have made no progress on the Irish novel since we found out about Joe's transfer. The chapter I'm on has to be finished by Wednesday. I need to get to that.

I'm still learning comic script-writing. Fortunately, the creator of the comic has the story arc well fixed in his mind, so I only have to add dialogue. Whew.

There's my column, of course, which is due Wednesday.

And let's not forget the critiques due for the DCW by Tuesday night! Thankfully, there are only two of those. I am profoundly if perversely grateful for the down-shift, there.

Wait, there's more...

Remember how I couldn't find my floor? I had so little "oomph" left yesterday that I didn't do a whole lot about that. Some of the books got re-boxed. Some of the "stuff" (read: generic clutter left by three males) got picked up, but I still had to pick my way around way too many chairs (the Spousal Unit is reupholstering) and huge castle blocks just to get to the computer and coffee pot...

Wait! I forgot to make the coffee! No wonder I'm so disjointed. I'll take care of that immediately!

Happy Monday, boys and girls!