The post-vacation

Written on Thursday, 4/20...to the tune of the chain saws and chipper
So, today is the first day back to kindergarten after a (long) school vacation.  I was celebrating this day like it was a national event (it's not).  I am so tired and ready for this return to a normal schedule!  I longed for quiet and for a chance to catch up on my work.  Maybe do some necessary shopping errands without holding onto a twin with each hand.  Maybe even (gasp) nap or knit or read without interruption.  Hah.

Today was also the day (long scheduled?) when the streets would be cleaned, since they are covered with grime and sand from winter...and I figured it might be a little noisy.  It, however, seemed very noisy indeed.  I finally heard the street cleaning truck honking continuously as it crossed the busy street.  When I looked out the window, I realized that honking was loud, but ....the crew taking down a very large tree directly across the street?  Louder.

I had noticed that the fine dining restaurant had posted something about having a summer patio with a liquor license.  Great, we thought, directly across from the kids' bedroom...but no, that was not everything.  Apparently also, a tree had to come down.  This picture here shows a cloudy cool day, a cherry picker, guys in bright yellow, with chain saws, a chipper....can you sense this noise?

Ok, whatever, I thought, I will proceed onward.  I started challah rising (I had carefully planned things so we would run out just before Passover.)..and that worked.  However, while waiting for the bread to rise, I realized the extent of the noise.  Ok, no catch-up nap, I thought.  I will try to work.

Freelancing is a thing that takes momentum.  I do it best when I work at it every day, even If it is a little at a time.  Facing my work after nearly two weeks off due to school vacation?-- has felt overwhelming.  It was so even after I got up to my computer.  I answered a couple of emails, and reviewed the situation.
Right, there was the super nice rejection from a newspaper editor (fine) but no idea where to send that piece next or how to revise it.  Next, another piece I thought really needed a home, about finding ways to normalize breastfeeding....it too had been rejected.  Why?  Apparently the feminist/religion oriented place I had sent that didn't have any interest or room for it.  (Instead, of course, publishing articles on shopping, actors...very important topics for women, I'm sure). Was I being too essentialist in my focus--that breastfeeding should be pitched to a "sisterhood" kinda place?  Should I rewrite?  Was it because all this work,no, all my writing was subpar?

(Chain sawing continues) it hit me then that I was too tired to try to rewrite or attempt work.  In fact, it felt like I was trying to start a new job or something, and clearly, that was not the case, just re-starting after a stretch of nonstop five year old twin activity...so, I went back to challah, eating lunch, cleaning up, etc.  (Watching challah rise is not rewarding...but if I fall asleep, I won't get it into the oven promptly.). If I do not get the challah baked, I will not have time to do the errands.

Yeah, this would be the kind of work day when either you would do menial stuff on auto-pilot, or take a sick day.  And then you would come home to this weird, intermittent chain saw noise.  Oy.

You may have wondered why there wasn't a blog post for a while.  I was discussing dinosaurs, making a lot of kid snacks and meals, moderating fights, chasing bikes on training wheels, going to parks, supervising art projects...and now, I clearly need time to recuperate after vacation!

PS: I re-evaluated late last night (Thursday evening.)  Chain saws ended by 1:30 pm.  I made dinner from scratch, baked 3 weeks' of challahs, answered emails, ran necessary errands, took care of little boys and even bought them "work books" after school.. (a new and exciting twin craze, where we practice numbers and reading at the dining room table)  For me? A 20 minute nap, a cup of coffee, a good audio book while I cooked...and...time, over two days, to write a blog post about a rough and loud re-entry into our regular schedule.  It should all get easier from here, right?