Deadlines and the Unexpected

For about six months now, I have been waiting for a call from my husband. Well, not just any call, despite his male telephone skills, I do get calls. No, I was waiting for “The Call” - the call beginning with “Guess what” and ending with the location of our next move.

The call didn’t come, and life moved on with approaching deadlines. I set a rigid schedule for myself to keep on track and avoid my favorite pastime (procrastination). I do believe it is essential to scope out this year’s best in new boots, check out what all of my friends are doing on Facebook, and read some new blogs. More importantly, I must stay on schedule. Otherwise, I would have forever avoided Chapter 3 in “Wolf Runner,” which caused me brain pain. Without the schedule, I wouldn’t have made it to revising Chapter 4 (Chapter 3 is set up for another round of revisions).

Then, last week, the call came. The new location is welcome news, the timing – not so much. This winter, right in the middle of the holiday season we will be selling the house (fingers crossed), finding a new place to live, and preparing our belongings and the zoo for a cross-country trip.

Now, I’m faced with the original deadlines and wondering how I’m going to pull this off. Times like this, I remind myself of wise words a friend of mine once shared as we were racing to catch a plane together. Mid-sprint, as computer bags and carry-ons were banging against our legs and my choice of shoes for the trip was proving most unfortunate, she turned to me and said, “you know, if we don’t make this one there is always another plane.”

We made the plane, and I'll make this deadline. This time, I'm fortunate enough to have chosen good shoes.