I'm almost scared to post, for fear of jinxing myself. But I think that possibly, just possibly, work may finally be slowing down a bit. To catch you guys up (Lisa, pay close attention, here's the answer to your question) for the past three months, ever since I was notified by About.com that I was accepted for Prep (a 17 day audition for the job) on January 29, I have done nothing but work. I mean that quite literally. As in, I have left the house no more than three times per month, for no more than one hour at a stretch, except for the one day back in February when I went to Gainesville with my dad to see a back specialist at Shands. I have not spoken to anyone on the phone other than about business matters. I have not seen a single friend or relative (other than Dad, but he lives here, and he's mostly seen the back of my head).

Instead, I have been working. As in, 15-20 hours per day. Every day. For 93 days straight. About.com put me through the wringer. Turns out it wasn't just 17 days. First it was two weeks of working round the clock to clear my other writing obligations. Then the 17 days around the clock. Then a couple of weeks of working round the clock on my other obligations that got behind again during the 17 days. Then a couple of weeks at About.com after I got my graduation notice for round the clock revisions. Repeat cycle over and over and over again.

So if you're wondering where I've been and what I've been doing, that's it. I've been locked in the house, turning horribly pale and atrophying my muscles, while going cross-eyed staring at the computer non-stop. And that's why we postponed the trip. Frankly, the ship left April 20. We should still be on it. It's a good thing we're not, because cruise ship internet is way expensive, and I've had to be online, working, 15-20 hours a day. I'd have lost my jobs.

But maybe, just maybe, things are starting to get under control. I was able to get into a new contract through my Canada gig blogging for a bunch of car dealers. I've been blogging for one dealer for months now, and his three separate blogs are being combined into a single three day a week gig at a significantly higher pay rate. The other dealers still represent a lot of work, but it's manageable. I'm not only caught up now, I'm actually finished through Wednesday!

I still have a lot to do for the About.com gig, but it's also manageable. It's the beginning of the new month, and I'll have to generate 12 pieces of new content for the month, plus two blogs a week. That's okay. During my prep, I generated right around 90 pieces of new content.

So...for the first time in 93 days, I am taking the weekend off!! I am going to visit my cousin in Lakeland tomorrow, and going to Universal on Sunday. I'm excited but oddly nervous. My days have been so lock-step planned for so long now, I feel like I've forgotten how to make decisions, not to mention what sunshine feels like. I'm eager to reacquaint myself with my life though.

In other news, I've bought buckets of new things in anticipation of traveling soon. My pretty new Dell Inspiron laptop was just delivered. The specs are way better than the Gateway, much more what I need for this level of work. I also impulse-bought a fabulous new digital camera--mine was old, bulky, slow and starting to crap out. This one weighs almost nothing and has 8 megapixels and 5x zoom. The 4GB memory card should be here soon. I also ordered a bunch of travel stuff from Rick Steves--we thought through what we really could have used at India House and went from there. That stuff should be delivered next week. I also bought Dad a nifty little gadget that he can plug into the van and it'll tell him what's wrong with it. Sort of a slim line version of the testers that mechanics use.

Not sure right now what the travel plans are. Keeping our eyes open for great specials and trying to make sure that work is legitimately settled down enough to accommodate a trip. I'll be damned if I'm going to pay thousands of dollars to sit in a hostel and work this much!

Love you all! Lisa, let me know what your schedule looks like...I want to catch up by phone when we both have some time. Who knows? Maybe I'll even venture out and actually see you one of these days!