Let's see, today is...what? Thursday?On Sunday night I printed out the manuscript for Why Is There a Menorah on the Altar? Jewish Roots of Christian Worship. On Monday morning, I hauled it to the post office. After I announced this blessed event via email, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, more than one person wrote back, "You must be feeling so relieved."
Relieved? That's not the adverb that springs to mind when I review my postpartum reaction.
On Sunday night, I sorted the research I'd gathered while writing this book. Some stuff got tossed, some got refiled in another active file, and still other stuff got packed into a storage box. I then vacuumed and dusted my office, re-shelved books, rearranged the office supplies closet, and made a label for the storage box before hauling it down to the basement.
After the post office trip on Monday, I came home and stripped the linens off my bed, started a load of laundry, and made a list of all the crap I'd ignored for the past 7-9 months. Did I take a a nap? I don't remember.
I do remember removing hardware from every kitchen cabinet and drawer. While the hardware soaked in a super duper brass cleaner solution, I polished all the cabinets and drawers with a super duper cleaning creme which, as promised, did make everything gleam. I rinsed and shined all the hardware and reinstalled it. I had to take a cold shower to manage the raw pleasure generated by this frenzy. Never did get clean linens onto the bed.
On Tuesday, I redid my Outlook address book and reconfigured passwords for everything in my cyber-life, watched "Brothers & Sisters" online, and two DVDs (so memorable that I can't remember what they were) and read an Alice Hoffman novel -- before deep cleaning the basement/exercise room/bomb shelter and doing more laundry. At 9:30 PM, I went to the supermarket for canned goods and bottled water to restock the bomb shelter section of my stunningly clean basement. Never did get clean linens onto the bed.
I was scheduled to read at the noon Mass on Wednesday, so I had to leave the hermitage. Midway through the homily, I realized my book manuscript was finished and I was exhausted. I started quietly weeping, came home, and crashed out before going back to church for the Lenten Reconciliation service.
Let's see, today is...Thursday? I'm just now getting around to realizing I have feelings about this phase of my life as an author. The word "relieved" still does not spring to mind. Not yet, anyway, but maybe clean linens will make it onto my bed.
