I was supposed to go down to Moravia this weekend for a birthday party, but as the time approached to leave I was getting progressively more stressed out. The big pile of things I had put off in November was looming over me, and the flood added a new list of its own. Even just taking a shower was a hassle; there were sodden floor mats piled in the shower, and I had no towels even remotely clean.
I had no dry shoes that didn’t tear up my feet, rent was due, I had no telephone or Internet access, the list goes on and on. On top of everything else I had been eagerly awaiting the chance come December to get back to work on my “real” writing projects. Thanks to the flood that hadn’t happened yet.
MaK really wanted me to come, and I fell into the trap of listing some of the reasons I was bailing. Any individual reason sounds pretty weak, it’s only when you can see the avalanche that you stop saying, “those are just snowflakes.”
It did not promise to be a relaxing trip, either. It was for a birthday celebration, and there were events planned that stretched from the moment we arrived until we left, and I knew that more things would be added. And, like MaK trying to convince me I should go, there would be no saying “no”. If I boarded that train, there would be no getting off, and there would be no getting any work done. (I suspect my in-laws don’t consider what I do to be work. I have heard them say (in czech, assuming I don’t understand) that my language skills are weak because I go to cafés but I don’t talk to anyone, I just sit and write. Well, that’s my job. It’s a good job, but it’s not one that involves talking.) It became a lot easier to say no when MaK said they were ready to go and they she thought they should pick me up. I was so laughably far from being ready to walk out the door (see shower and shoes above, add clean clothes and painfully stiff legs from bailing out the kitchen), that at that point I wouldn’t have been able to join them even if I wanted to. So I just said, “I have to work. I can’t work right now and I’ll be crazy until I can.”
I could go on talking about all the things I need to do, but I think I’d better get back to doing them.
