The Honest Courtesan

As I wrote last week, I’m trying to give myself permission to get back to the projects slowly now that Christmas is over; I’m thinking of it as a kind of trial run for next winter, when I want to put any big projects on hiatus for about four months and restrict myself to normal chores, holiday stuff, writing, and any emergencies or semi-emergencies that might arise.  When I look at that list I have to smirk at myself a bit, because it’s already as much as many people consider normal work; the writing and its attendant research & upkeep occupy 4-6 hours of every day, and regular chores (including meal prep) are another ≈ 2 hours.  On a typical day I’m occupied with set tasks (including stuff like eating and personal hygiene) from about 9 AM to 9 PM, and in the summer I’m doing well to stop by 10 PM.  Even on Sundays the only break in the pace is that the only blog writing I do is this weekly diary, and in summer that’s not always true because I need to catch up on whatever writing got crowded out of its proper place earlier in the week due to the longer summer days and the extra work that comes with them.  So it’s kind of a big deal that I’m also trying to make myself take Sundays “off” (ie, only the minimum writing plus basic chores and pressing stuff, except the weeks I need to drive into Seattle on Sunday for Monday appointments); once the annex project is basically done and I can get my financial situation a little more stable, I should be able to swing light duty on Sundays and the 12 days of Christmas, plus no big projects in winter, without too much guilt.  After all, even roses need a little time off to recharge.