One more week

In one week, the boys return to school.

Not that I'm counting.

In one week, I'll be able to plan my day, and mostly stick to it. Those plans will include plenty of writing time. Hours of it. Uninterrupted, hopefully.

In one month, I will unwillingly turn 32 years old. I would really like to have a good chunk of my first draft done by that, feel like I'm making progress on the dream I've had since I was in 1st grade and Mrs. Dempsey told me that my stories were fun and that maybe I would write a book some day.

To get that free time to write, I want to have a few things ready in the garden, so that it's just basically maintenance for a little while. My beloved geek needs to dig in the final stepping stones so that I can plant where he'll be stomping all over otherwise. I need to pick up string trellises to hang off the fence posts for the peas I transplanted on Saturday for when they are ready to grow. All but one survived the weekend, and I didn't really expect it to. I'm going to plant a few more, trying direct sowing of the seeds this time instead of transplanting.

The bush blue lake beans I transplanted survived. I will also try direct sowing several more seeds. Going to try the same with some summer squash, and try one more butternut squash, even though I'm the only one in the family who likes it. The bell peppers and banana peppers are ready to be transplanted into the garden. I already transplanted the basil, and now I need to find a home for the perennial sages, since the roots are speedily outgrowing the container I just put them into on Saturday. The one container with mesclun mix on the table in the backyard that survived the summer heat is overcrowded and needs repotting, as do 2 of the containers with romaine lettuce, which is almost ready to start picking!

Today I also repotted the carnations from the medium-sized circular plastic overflow self-watering container- filling the container the carrots were previously in, filling in some gaps in the containers the sweet girls' down the street had started, and even trying a row in my front flower garden. I will look and decide what to start in there next. There's always something.

After that, it's just the usual housecleaning stuff, maybe get my office in tip-top shape so I can work in peace, and then run like hell to the finish line with the book while I have the chance.

I can easily make it through one last week of summer vacation, especially with a fun to do list.

Once all that is done, it will just be a matter of waiting for things to grow.