Signs the summer is almost over:
– I did so much laundry today, the pump on my well shut off. (My youngest daughter is home from camp. Her clothes look like she’s been working in a coal mine.)
– I am driving my son to daily soccer practices as he prepares to try out for his high school varsity team on Wed.
– I am shopping for my oldest daughter as she prepares to get ready to leave for college. (At the end of September.) (Oh, and I am trying to devise ways to spend every possible minute with her!)
– I received my childrens’ school bus schedules. (My son’s bus will be coming at 6:04 a.m.)
– I am once again receiving daily e-mails from the schools.
– I see signs for back to school sales everywhere I go.
– I am starting to stress over how busy the next few months will be.

I had big plans for my summer, lots I wanted to accomplish. My youngest daughter attended sleep away camp for two months this year, plenty of time for me to finish my revisions, plant the flowerbeds, clean her room, go through all the junk mail on the kitchen table, hire a painter to stain the deck, bring in a landscaper to pull out the overgrown, half-dead bushes around the front of my house, power wash the siding, spray the weeds, and paint the entryway from the garage, right?

WRONG !

Yet I’ve busy most every day, and not doing enjoyable summer stuff.

Where did all the time go? I’ll sum it up in one word: REVISIONS. As my writer friends know, the process is torturous, and yet I’ve learned so much and feel my manuscript is so much better as a result. Will five + months (and counting) of revisions pay off in the long run? I’ve decided, yes. Whether my present work in progress is published, or the next one is. So after a weekend spent reading….I mean researching how published writers successfully convey emotion and motivation, and re-grouping after a mini-meltdown fraught with insecurity over whether I’ll ever get it right, I am back to work tomorrow.

So how did you spend your summer? Did you get all your planned projects completed? Did you finish your manuscript? Your revisions? If not, don’t despair. Technically, there are still a few weeks left!