Last Thursday Erik and I drove down to San Jose with the (unhappy) kitties in tow, to spend two days in San Jose, followed by two days in LA, followed by another day in San Jose. I had thought I would have a decent amount of time in which to work, but that turned out not to be the case.

On Thursday, my one gastroenterologist appointment turned into a daylong hangout session with Mommy and Shra, when Shra got into a car accident that morning (not injurious to her, but fatally injurious to her car) and took the day off.

On Friday, my one appointment — to pick up free fabrics for crafting — took much more time than I thought it would, but I gleefully picked up about a cubic foot of lovely designer fabric swatches (most of them upholstery fabrics) and a whole bunch of wallpaper samples in sheet and roll form. I spent the afternoon happily sorting through these at Erik’s parents’ house. Unfortunately, over the weekend one of the kitties peed on some of the swatches and all the rolls of wallpaper, but there’s still a good deal left. I am very excited to have all these wonderful materials to work with — visions of tote bags, cushions, eye pillows, and bound books spring to mind — but I can’t help but be slightly disappointed that this excitement is about all I can claim in terms of creative work this weekend.

On Saturday, what seemed to be an open afternoon in our LA hotel room turned into a friendfest when Jackie and Jason came over.

Sunday was devoted to book club, gaming, and an unexpected and delightful lunch with Linda at her house.

Yesterday disappeared into yoga, seeing Jackie, and driving back to San Jose.

Today, we left San Jose later than intended, after spending time with the family and rounding up kitties and belongings, and I took the afternoon to do weekend recovery (on the grounds that this, if put off, would cause more trouble later): tidying, sorting through mail, tending to the plants, and running errands.

I’ve always said that a good break works wonders, but lately it seems that the breaks come more frequently than the work — and it’s not even usually a question of my own intentions, but of scheduling and necessary activities. Erik and I were both lamenting this while driving home today: that if we fail in our current self-employment ventures, it’s more likely to be because of an inability to muster the required focus, rather than because we lacked the skills or drive. This is reassuring to my ego but worrying to the rest of me. I don’t want to fail by time-crunch default.