Recharging

I haven't blogged about it, but it's not been a stellar week. I've been burning the candle at both ends with my kids, life in general, deadlines. And about five days ago, I started with severe Crohn's disease pain in my joints (one of the extraordinarily sucky things about having Crohn's--and how do you like THAT word from a writer--"sucky"). If you don't have serious arthritis, it's hard to describe other than to say even sleeping on my luxurious pillow-top mattress is killer because it's like a princess and the pea thing--every joint aches with such a throbbing, God-awful pain that I feel like I have slept on rocks. Sharp rocks. Add to this that since Crohn's disease is an immune disorder, all my glands are swollen . . . and so . . . I know that if I don't want to end up really sick, it is time to recharge.

Recharging with four kids is NOT an easy task. Baby #4 does not know the word, "Stillness." There is no little Buddha in him. Yet. If he is awake, he is destroying something. Demolition Man last night decided to hide keys. (Significant Other woke me at 4:00 a.m. on the way to work to ask me where they were . . . and we commenced a major search and rescue mission for said keys before dawn.) Junior Terminator then decided this morning, while Mommy was brushing her teeth and washing up, to empty every shoe from the master bedroom closet, and THEN set out in search of real trouble. So you get the idea.

So . . . back to the topic of recharging. Sitting and typing for hours and hours is killin' me, so I am going to sketch and write in my notebook for my Top Secret new project. The good news is after two days of phone calls and hours of discussions, the contract negotiations are complete (and for anyone who wonders what it is an agent does--I'm talking about HIS work of hours and hours and negotiating . . . thank you to him, and thank you to my new editor who is a dream). But anyway, I can sit in bed and write in my notebook--which is fun and fanciful. I can also print out some research pages and work that way.

And I have--count 'em--THREE movies starring him. I plan to curl up and watch DVDs tonight . . . Happy sigh.

I think I will also try to sleep in tomorrow (as I type this laughing hysterically), and when that fails because of Child Who Cannot Be Still, I will turn on this channel, and hope I can stand Barney for long enough to be a little lazy in bed with my little pal snuggled next to me (I can hope, can't I?).

I will knit at some point when I can be certain Wild Man will not unravel my stitches, like when he's sleeping. I will read. Right now, I am reading this. And I should finish it this weekend. At which time I will start this. When my brain hurts from too much science (generally, I can read this stuff for about four hours . . . before needing a break to ponder), I will flip on TV and look for re-reuns of this. That is a simple task since it seems to be in re-runs somewhere 24/7.

And then after all of that recharging (which no, does not sound like a weekend at a spa, but is as close to rest as I can get around here), I will hope that my joints will give me a break, my glands will stop being the size of large walnuts, and I can exist without any pain . . . AND will feel, generally, happier and at peace.

Note . . . NONE of these options--except writing in my notebook--involve writing/work. But I know I will at least be THINKING about my works in progress. Which is actually a form of fun.

So tell me . . . how do YOU recharge???

Peace,
E