The Monday Morning Weekend Conundrum

How was your weekend? Isn't that such an odd question? There's really no good way to answer it. Unless of course something really fabulous happened, like you got married in Vegas, or got invited to a major movie premier, or maybe got pulled up on stage at a Rolling Stone concert. But more often than not it's usually just a one word answer. Good. Or maybe, if you did something slightly interesting, pretty good.

It's become the obligatory question on a Monday morning that makes us all feel inadequate. You have to stop and think, how did I spend all that free time? On a weeknight, there's no scrutiny when you have a bowl of ice cream, watch a TV show or two and hit the sack early. But on a weekend, aren't we supposed to do something? Even though, deep down, all we really want to do is take multiple naps?

It's easy to feel guilty when you're talking to one of those superstars that spend the weekend running a marathon or solving an eight hundred year old murder. But at the same time, you don't want to get caught talking to that poor soul who goes on and on about how they spent the entire weekend making an egg salad sandwich ala The 40 Year Old Virgin. (Even though, let's face it, they do make you feel pretty good about your own life). What's to become of this question? Either we need to stop asking, and leave each other's weekends shrouded in mystery, or we need to start getting out there and actually doing some stuff.

This leaves me with a bit of a conundrum. I'm a big fan of doing nothing and taking multiple naps on weekends, but at the same time, I don't see us giving up the whole "how was your weekend?" ice breaker. How else are you going to start a conversation with your coworkers on a Monday morning? If we stop asking, will the laws of society break down? Will we descend into anarchy? Maybe. But I still don't see myself giving up on weekend naps.

Maybe we need a new question. Something more specific. Perhaps, on Monday mornings, when you and a coworker catch yourselves hanging out at the water cooler, you should try something different. Something like, "So, did you kill anyone this weekend?" That way, you still have an ice breaker with your coworker, without having to hear about how they built houses for the homeless or made an especially complicated turkey sandwich, and they get to feel good knowing they didn't spend their weekend committing murder. And, if by chance they did kill someone and confess, you can report them to the police and become a hero. It's win win for everyone! (Except of course for the coworker who murdered someone, but really that's their punishment for murder).

What do you think? Have I solved yet another problem for society, as well as possibly future murders? What question do you think should replace the standard, "how was your weekend?" Share it in the comment section below.

Baby Shower

Yesterday was my sister's baby shower. My other sister and I threw it for her, as we have a strong need to throw showers for everyone we know. I'm not sure where it comes from, but it started many years ago and now we can't let an engagement or birth go by without demanding the right to throw a shower. For our own sister we wanted to do something extra special, and after much debate we settled on our theme: children's books.

As with most things, the idea started with Pinterest and we took it and ran. The house was decorated with scenes from famous story books. There was Winnie the Pooh above the fireplace, Curious George in the corner, Robert Munch by the front door, Dr. Seuss in the dining room, The Hungry Caterpillar in the living room. Of course, the menu was themed as well, with a Hop on Popcorn bar, 'If You Give a Mouse a Cookie' cookies, a long, long hungry caterpillar made of cupcakes, 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs' meatballs, and etc. We also asked the guests to bring their own favourite childhood stories for the baby, so our nephew went home with a fully stocked library. (What writer doesn't want the children in their lives to be avid readers?)

Overall, everyone had a great time and my sister loved it. We had a really great time planning it as well, so it was funny to hear people ask us how much work went it to it. Because honestly, can you call it work when you loved doing it?

Monday Morning Blues

Have you ever had one of those days (or in my case, weekends) where just nothing goes according to plan? As you can probably guess, I just did. Not that I had especially productive or sensational plans for this past weekend. All I wanted to do was stay in and read.

On Friday, I stopped by the library to return a book and ten of my requests had come in. Feeling like I'd won the lottery, I checked them out and hauled them to the car, anxious to get home and spend the entire weekend inside a good book. That did not happen.

Instead, I spent almost half the weekend trying to eat breakfast. It started on Saturday, with my ill fated decision to try the new Cora's that had just opened. They were so disorganized, with no system of being able to put your name down for a table and having them get a hold of you when it was ready. You just had to stand in line and wait. Outside. In -27 degrees celcius. For at least forty five minutes. Um, no.

So, we decided we'd head over to Truffles. Half way there I remembered that it was Saturday, and they only have brunch on Sunday. No problem. I'd call Poached. As luck would have it, they had two tables left, but unfortunately I couldn't reserve one over the phone. Taking our chances, we drove to Poached, hitting every single red light on the way. When we got there, they had only one table left and it was the worst one in the restaurant. It sat directly in front of the door, not even two feet away. At this point we were famished and in terrible moods, so we agreed glumly to the awful table and proceeded to have breakfast. At no point did we take off our coats, and my husband kept his toque on the entire time.

The next day, we managed to wake up far earlier. Surely, there wouldn't be a long wait so early at Cora's this time. Wrong. Although we were able to get in the first set of doors, we spent forty five minutes crammed into the tiny entrance way with eighteen other people, only slightly warmer than if we'd been forced to wait outside. When we finally made it through the second pair of doors and into the actual restaurant, we still had to wait as no one seemed to be showing anyone to a table. When we were finally seated, I will admit that our server was incredibly attentive, but the food just wasn't good enough to make up for the long, cold wait. My toes were freezing the entire time and the smoked salmon eggs benedict were just not up to snuff. I'd had far better at Calories, and they at least took reservations.

Each time we went for breakfast, it had eaten up at least half the day and most of the rest was spent running errands on roads so slippery they had me white-knuckling the steering wheel.

Of course, it wasn't all bad. On Saturday night we went to see Life of Pi and it was incredible. They did a fantastic job translating such an amazing book to screen. The visuals were stunning. And on Sunday night we had dinner at my parents house, which was delicious. So, the weekend wasn't a complete loss by any means, but I was so disappointed that my own plans fell through. I wasn't able to finish a single book and now the work week stretches ahead like an unending ocean. I know there's another weekend just beyond the horizon, but I just can't see it yet. (If you're wondering, the lesson here is to just stay home and make your own breakfast. It's faster, tastier and you don't have to leave the house.)

Craft Fair!

So, if you follow me on twitter, you probably already know what I was up to this weekend. I got in touch with my own inner domestic goddess and hit up the local craft fair. I have to say, craft fairs are generally not my cup of tea, but I had a lot of fun! I got a lot of great ideas for this year's homemade Christmas with the family and it was fun seeing how creative people can be. I saw some adorable Christmas tree decorations made from old light bulbs, sleek, modern wreaths made from yarn and homemade beef jerky for the dog. It was so much fun! I even went home and did some work on my homemade Christmas gifts afterward (and then felt incredibly inadequate). But the highlight of the fair? Definitely Crochet by Megs.

I don't know if it was the adorable baby booties, the neat little crocheted Christmas tree ornaments or the stuffed animals (who am I kidding? It was the stuffed animals!) but I fell in love with her booth. It was so bright and colourful, you just wanted to touch everything. The best part? She has a shop on Etsy and does custom orders. If you'd like to check out her shop, just go here.

In the mean time, how cute are these?

Ah!!! I Want!!

Green Eggs and Ham Kindle Cover? I die with the awesomeness.

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men...

This was my plan for this weekend:
- Get up reasonably early
- Clean the house (it's disgusting)
- Catch up on the ridiculous amount of laundry littered throughout the house
- Walk the dog
- Blog
- Edit manuscript
- Help my sister get ready for a craft fair next weekend

This is how my weekend actually went:
- Friday at work develop a dry cough
- Get home from work and notice my throat is really sore.
- Make pad thai and decide that a good night's sleep will cure what ails me
-Wake up Saturday morning feeling like death warmed over
- Spend the entire day in and out of consciousness on the couch, eating oranges and ingesting liquids. Get exactly nothing done
-Wake up Sunday feeling mildly better, feel accomplished for having taken a shower.
- Go to sister's house where I accomplish a mild amount of helping
- Return home, put in a load of laundry, decide I'm Superwoman and deserve a nap on the couch

Snow Day

Friday night it started to snow. It snowed all through the night and off and on all the next day. By the time it was done we got between 10 and 15 centimeters of snow. Naturally, I spent most of the weekend inside, curled up in front of a fire. It was the perfect time to write, locked away from all the distractions of the world in a warm, cozy nest. But did I? No. I barely did anything. In fact, for a good portion of Saturday I just lay on a blanket in front of the fire listening to wave sounds. Yep. That's me. Making great use of my time.

But that's the hard part of being a writer with a full time job. You never truly feel like you should be relaxing. There's always something you should be working on, something you should be writing, something you should be editing. And I have to admit, there's a lot I need to be doing. And if it isn't writing, it's something else. My house is generally always in a state of chaos. I do my best to stay on top of it, but amidst the countless tasks on my to do list, cleaning ranks pretty low on the priority chart.

So, every once in a while (okay, maybe a little more often than that) I have a slip up. I spend the day lounging on the couch watching old episodes of Happy Endings and The New Girl (PS. How great are those shows? Seriously, I can't get enough). And that's okay, just so long as I remember what's important and what I really want out of my time. Because relaxing is one thing. Being a lazy slob is another.

A New Lesson

This past weekend was a really productive one for me. I edited a few pieces of writing and finished the initial read through of the rough draft of my novel. Now I have a large stack of notes and a manuscript that's waiting for me to get down to business, and I have to say, I'm pretty excited.

I've written novels before. This is actually my fourth time writing the initial rough draft of a book. And as they say, practice makes perfect. (Although I'm far from perfect). My previous attempts all taught me something different. The first time taught me that I could do it. The second taught me about plot, what a story needs to be taken to that next step and how to tell when it doesn't have it. My third taught me about ideas, that they aren't as far away as you might think. And this time, I feel like I have a project worth getting excited about. This plot is much stronger than before, the characters are more developed, and I have all those practice runs to thank for it.

Don't get me wrong. This manuscript still has a long way to go. After intensive editing from myself, I plan to submit it to a manuscript evaluation service. I plan to put it through the ringer as many times as is necessary, until it's ready. Because now it's time for a new lesson, a lesson in editing. And I'm a very eager student.

What about you? Did you spend the weekend chipping away at the NaNoWriMo block? What are you learning through the process of creating a first draft?

Life Lessons I Learned This Weekend

1. Never take your health for granted. You could be perfectly fine one day (say, Thursday) and wake up perfectly ill the next (for instance, with a truly sore throat and nasty sinus congestion on Friday morning).

2. Never complain about how poorly you feel, or how inconvenient it is. Things can go from bad to worse in the blink of an eye. (For example, you could wake up Saturday morning no longer with a cold, but spend the next twelve hours continuously vomiting and feeling so nauseous that every time your husband asks if he can get you anything you beg for a bullet and a gun).

3. Never mix cold medications. Ever. (Trust me. Just refer to number two.)

4. It's entirely possible to be hungry and hate food at the same time.

5. Never assume that you'll accomplish a lot on the weekends. Use the time you have, while you have it. Fate loves to throw a monkey wrench in all your plans.

6. Enjoy your food. Savor every bite that doesn't make your stomach rumble with warning. Tomorrow just the sight of it could make you turn green.

7. Never underestimate the comfort a loving husband or a good friend can bring you when you're feeling at your worst. There's nothing more soothing than a loving hand to help you up, or hold back your hair. Cherish those that are willing to do that for you.

8. Time, and some good 'bad' TV, heals all wounds. (And viruses).

9. Do the dishes while you're well. Because there'll only be bigger stacks of them waiting for you when you get better.

10. Never mix cold medications. Ever. (It had to be repeated. It was a big lesson.)

The Beauty of Interruptions

Sometimes when you don't feel like writing, life lines up just right so you end up doing it anyway. Most of the time I'm the worst procrastinator in the world, but this weekend things really worked out for the best.

First of all, it was incredibly hot and our house doesn't have air conditioning. The bedrooms in the back of the house are always cooler than the rest of the house but it's also away from the TV. It didn't matter though, it was so hot I hung out in the bedroom where there was nothing to do but scribble in my notebook. It was perfect.

And on Sunday, my husband spent the afternoon watching a three hour long movie I couldn't stand, once again forcing me away from the TV and back to my writing. Sure, I could have been annoyed, but instead I really appreciated the interruptions to my usual weekend routine. They forced me to get some actual work done. Sometimes, when you can't motivate yourself, it helps to have others do the motivating for you.

So here's to the interruptions! Personally, I'm hoping my husband finds another long, boring movie to watch this week. I've got some writing to do.

Yard Work

I know I should have posted a lot sooner, put some time and effort into it, but all my time and effort was invested in my front yard today. I was up early this morning to go grocery shopping (my cupboards were EMPTY), and aside from walking the dog, the rest of my day was spent in my yard.

This year (same as every year) I've vowed to not be "that neighbour". I will not be the neighbour whose grass grows knee high before they cut it. I will not be the neighbour whose flower beds contain only the flowers of infesting weeds. I will not be the neighbour who never remembers to water her lawn, so while the weeds flourish, the grass is half dead and brown. This year will be different.

I've said this every single year since we bought our house, and every year I fail. But THIS year, I won't. I promise. And so far, I'm putting in the time to prove it. The garden patches I plan on keeping are all weeded and mostly planted. I'm turning the other ones into lawn to reduce maintenance. Tomorrow promises to be another full day of gardening, but I have to admit, I've been enjoying it. Last weekend it poured the entire time, and I found myself looking forward to work on Monday. I was so bored. But this weekend I've been loving it all. I can't wait to get back out there tomorrow. Yes, so far I'm doing great. Fingers crossed I don't peter out by the middle of summer. I tend to do that.

The Weekend has Arrived

So far, my weekend is off to a great start. I've already done two loads of laundry, I slept in this morning and I've gotten started on some writing and it's not even noon yet. I suppose most people wouldn't find that very exciting, or possibly not even that great. But enjoying myself this weekend, catching up on sleep and getting some work done are all I really want out of a weekend, and besides, it's bound to be better than last weekend.

Last weekend was the first actual weekend I've had in a very, very long time. Having been a massage therapist and worked at two different retail stores, I've never really got weekends before. I always worked Saturday, and usually Sunday too. I didn't mind it though. In fact, I liked it. I hate going out on weekends. I always try to get all my running around done on weekdays while everyone else is at work. I hate crowds of any sort. And having to go into a grocery store or mall on a Saturday is a big No-No on my list.

Anyway, with the start of my new Monday-Friday job, last weekend was my first regular person weekend. And I hated it. Even though I managed to stay away from crowds by doing errands at obscene hours (I went grocery shopping at 7:00 in the morning), I just couldn't stop being grumpy all weekend long. Both Saturday and Sunday, random things would just set me off and no matter how hard I tried to shake it, I was a pill to be around. At first, I couldn't understand it. I'd avoided the crowds, so there was no reason for me to be annoyed. And then it hit me. I'd spent the last six years working on weekends, and at jobs I didn't like. I'd been conditioned to be miserable on weekends! It didn't matter that I wasn't at work, my brain still thought I was supposed to be pissy. It made me laugh, and all week I've been preparing myself to be in a good mood for this weekend. And so far? Success! I feel great. Granted, I have yet to emerge from my house and face the outside world, but I'm confident I can remain happy and relaxed. And hey, who says I have to go out at all? It's my weekend. (Smug patting of my own shoulder). What are your plans for this weekend?

It's Friday

Well, it's Friday and I'm officially wiped out. I've never had a Monday to Friday job before, and I think it's going to take some getting used to. Working regular hours is new to me.

It's been a tough go this week. I've managed to write every day but not as much as I wanted to, and I'm leaving it until tomorrow to make my weekly submission. I'm too tired to give a piece my full attention. I'm going to get a good night's sleep and get it turned in tomorrow. Trying to submit every week does not mean turning in shoddy work, after all.

I love my new job, but I can't believe how tired I am when I get home every day. I start looking at the clock, wishing for bed, at 7:30. I'm sure part of that is because it's winter (I require an obscene amount of sleep in winter) but I think the rest of it is because I'm finally doing something all day.

When I was working retail, there were always long periods of inactivity, stretches of time filled with boredom and trying to look busy. At my new job, I have tasks to work on all day. And I love it. But man am I ever tired. I'm hoping this weekend will restore me, as well as allow me to catch up on my writing. I've fallen behind on a few projects, and if I don't catch up now I'll just keep falling further and further behind. The hard part is being productive when all I want to do is watch tv and sleep.