August has been a juggling act, ever since my editor sent the final page proofs for Different Dream Parenting. If correcting them had been the only thing that needed doing by the August 17 deadline, life would have been peachy. But the index also needs doing (betcha didn’t know the index is customarily the responsibility of the author), so getting both things done has been a bit of a juggling act.
I was keeping both balls in the air, shaky at times but still successful, until we three sibs decided Mom could use some in-home care once the school started and my brother (Mom lives with his family) was back to work. So I called her long term health care insurance provider thinking it would take awhile to get things rolling.
Silly me.
Once the phone call is made, this company wants things in place within 2 weeks. All of the sudden, I’m juggling three balls – the page proof corrections, the index, and a jillion phone calls from the insurance company, to health care providers, and to my brother and sister in a vain attempt to resurrect Mom’s medical history.
The third ball threw me a little off balance, but within a day or two things were back on track. The page proofs were nearing completion, the index was progressing, the necessary appointments were scheduled, and the insurance paper work was arranged in neat little stacks.
Life was manageable.
Then yesterday morning, my computer went dead again. Not just a little dead. A lot dead. Dead like it was dead a couple months ago. The only way to add that ball to the mix without totally freaking out was to call the Apple Store and schedule a resurrection appointment at the Genius Bar. So I did. And the genius appointed to raise my computer from the dead did the job – just like the last guy did – though we have a contingency plan in place in case death strikes again.
So the dead computer ball is no longer at play, at least for the moment. And I finished the page proof corrections and mailed them to my editor last night. Which means the only balls left to juggle are the index pagination, the mounting pile of insurance paperwork to fill out completely and correctly and send in by August 29 along with a gazillion legal documents I have yet to locate, and conducting and assessing interviews with two in-home care providers this afternoon. Sounds like a piece of cake, but I do have one question about this crazy juggling act.
How come I don’t have a cute juggling costume like the lady in the picture?
