48 Hours of Me Time

The family left at 1:00pm on Friday. I happily shooed them out the door. They were headed for Planet Comicon in Kansas City. I was to stay home, all by my lonesome... well, me and the dogs.

By 1:15 I had a plan formulated. I made a quick trip to the store (4 stores, in fact) for all of the necessities I would need for the next 48 hours of my life.

1) Aldi: they have my baked chips, a vice I continue to cling to.

2) Price Chopper, the only grocery store in town with anything resembling a salad bar. I knew I would have a chance to shop at the farmers market on Saturday, so I didn't want to commit to a big tub of organic greens until I had a chance to buy fresh and local.

3) Sweet Granada! Because it's a chocolate cafe. Is any other explanation needed?

4) The Liquor Store (yes, that's the name of the place) because it felt like if I was spending a weekend alone indulging, I should have some pear cider on hand. As it turned out, I didn't open a single bottle. But because it was available I knew I wouldn't have an excuse for leaving the house--and the task at hand--later.

So what does one do with 48 hours alone?

Set the stage. No need to get up from the table. Everything I could possibly need was within reach. I was starting with 6,446 words of a work-in-progress and was determined to use the time to grow it as much as possible.

At 4:30, I got an unexpected call from a friend who was in town meeting a relative. I was at 7,477 words, so took a break to visit my friends at Java Cat.

Back in the writing chair at 7:30pm. Fresh popcorn for fuel, 2 glasses of water, and 10 dark chocolate covered coffee beans.

9:25 pm = 9,316 words.

I was setting the timer for two hours at a time. Each time it went off, I took a break to stretch (okay, maybe did some dancing... I was home alone, after all) and restock the necessities table. I also did a little house cleaning each break and kind of shook the limbs until I felt like I could sit again.

A clean sink leaves a lot of good mental space for the creative soul.

11:00 pm = 10,591 words.

I was feeling pretty super-charged because the writing was going so well. Drank some sleepy time tea and made myself prepare for bed. I had market Saturday morning and, while I knew I could go tired, I didn't want to be completely off my game.


Saturday breakfast:

Kale, Strawberry, Mandarin Orange Smoothie.

8:15 am Saturday morning - Took break from alone time for farmers market and farmers market annual meeting. Good times. Oh my, what a gorgeous day it was. Perfect weather. Love my market friends and family!

2:00 pm -- home from market. Showered and set the alarm for a two hour nap. When I woke up, the sunny sky had been replaced by grey clouds and the temperature was dropping.

4:45 pm -- back at the keyboard.

8:12 pm -- 13,433 words

11:00 pm -- 17,077 words

Midnight -- took a break from writing, messed with some family photos till about 1:15 am. Went to bed.

Chamomile tea! I can't decide if it's really effective, or just a placebo effect. I love ending the day with a good cup of tea.

Sunday morning -- up at 8:30, brief review of emails and Facebook, before back to clickety clacking at the keyboard.

Washed and folded what laundry I didn't manage in yesterday's breaks. Swept the floor in the kitchen and living room. Emptied all the trash cans in the house.

1/2 hour past noon: 19,452 words. The story is rolling along, though it has turned darker than I expected. Good time to take a break and ponder my progress. Time for a little more dancing and stretching. Family should be home soon.

That, my friends, is how I celebrate 48 Hours of alone time. 13,096 words added to the work-in-progress. I think I'm going to call it, What the Heart Knows.

Life is good.