{SQT} Book Deadlines, Paperwork, and Enrichment Activities

The boys were off school this week so my productivity has been in the toilet, or at least it seems that way since now I’ve come to depend on those few quieter hours during the day to achieve anything. Welcome back ‘living in pajamas’! I’ve missed you!

1.

When my post went live last Friday, I had still not yet received the first round of edits on my book (I’d been expecting them around Oct. 16th). I had a bad feeling they would finally arrive when the boys were home and I’d have little extra time to look them over. Sure enough, Friday afternoon the edits arrived in my inbox, however, the pressure is not on because the release of my book is being moved out A YEAR.

Obviously, my first reaction was disappointment. My second was, holy crap, why didn’t anyone tell me sooner that my book sucked so hard??? Finally, I had to accept that my book, while telling some great stories, does not deliver all it can as far as useful content, and given how much I need to bump up my word count, it makes sense that my manuscript gets bumped down the list to make room for more finished works. I received a lot of great feedback and suggestions from the editors, so I’m not worried about adding more content or sprucing up what’s there, I guess I’m just disappointed in myself for not being able to properly flesh it all out on my own the first time around. The upside is that, when this book is finally finished, I really think it’s going to be the best version of the story I want to share and the advice I want to offer. I have set a high bar for myself; I want this title to be the best of it’s kind. Knowing that, I can stop beating myself up, and know that this next round of deadlines will come and go in no time and I’ll be holding my book before I know it.

2.

I also spent way too long redoing paperwork regarding Addie’s NCAA eligibility this week after learning I’d used the wrong form to submit her course work (I still don’t understand their rational for the different forms but WHATEVER). It seems a trivial thing, but if you could drop a quick Hail Mary we can get an answer one way or the other it’d be great as it’s holding up the works for a lot of other college application steps. Thanks!

3.

We took a few days off school around All Saints and Souls and wrapped up our first sememster. I still haven’t gotten used to switching my school year over to quarterly semesters vs trimesters. Keeping up on grading (especially once I needed answer keys) has always been my weakness. With quarters, if I get behind, before I know it, I’m really freaking behind and holy crap its time to give a really important grade for something!!!!!!!

So obviously this paragraph needs to be about the fact that I’m still trying to finish grading assignments, while constantly second guessing everything we’re doing in our homeschool. But Kelly, doesn’t that make it take longer? IT SURE DOES-THANKS FOR ASKING!! At least when I had trimesters I only switched things up a maximum of two times a year. Today I sent Byron a slew of emails that detailed my train of thought from totally changing one of his classes to reassuring him that I was fine and we could stick with what he’s doing but maybe review some things in the coming weeks. All in all, everything is going well, even the community college courses. And no I’m not just trying to reassure myself- I fully believe everything is going splendidly. Just splendidly.

4.

We managed a few fun things this week; lunch at McDonald’s, a trip to the library, and an afternoon at Ocean City. (I know, mom of the year up in here.) Teddy has been mighty jealous of the older kids getting to make day trips to the beach while he’s stuck inside a classroom, so even though it was overcast, we made the trip to the shore for some candy, arcade games, and a little salt air. When my older three were little, day trips were all about running on the beach and getting in the water, even when the air and ocean temps hovered in the 50s. For Fulton and Teddy, it’s about having practically the entire expanse of the boardwalk free for them to cruise around on at breakneck speeds.

5.

I found the Nova series on ‘The Planets’ for Fulton and Teddy to watch during the late morning hours so I could catch up on some school or assorted paperwork and not feel too guilty. I would definitely recommend the series for any homeschooling mom who needs a mental health day, but wants to make sure her kids are still learning. (And knowing Fulton spent two STEM class periods last month watching ‘Big Hero 6’ made me feel like I was actually offering an enrichment activity more than anything.)

I suppose that’s my latest and greatest in only five takes-sorry. (Last reminder; if you didn’t enter my ‘Accepting the Gift’ giveaway yet- you have until 5 p.m. EST.) How was your week? Write it down then link it up below. Be sure to include a link back to this post so your readers can find the rest of the Quick Takes. I look forward to reading your posts!