Post NaNoWriMo: Back to normal?

No.

No, we're not back to normal yet.  We should be, but, not quite yet.

NaNoWriMo took a lot out of me.  I loved it and hope to do it again next year and for many years to come.   But, it was a hard month.   I'm tired.  I want to read - I barely have time to read anyway, but even less during the month of writing. Right now there are 5 or 6 books with bookmarks in them.  I've read a few pages here and there, mostly as unfinished research for the story.  What I really want to read is some fluffy novel with no challenge whatsoever.

But the house is still showing the month of neglect.  I am not a good housekeeper any month of the year; less so when I'm really distracted by something more fun than housework.  My little house reflects my family's interests:   A table covered with parts of a model plane James has been building;  a bin overflowing with fabric Eleanor and I want to make something out of; a half-finished Christmas wall-hanging ready to be sewn together; books everywhere; balls of yarn connected to partially-completed knitting and crochet projects.  That's just the normal stuff of our lives!  Then there is the good china that needs to be put back in its box and moved into the dungeon (yes, I know that Thanksgiving was almost a week ago), the stack of papers that needs to be filed, and the artwork that's piled up and needs a permanent home.  (I love the art class my kids take but I wonder why everything has to be on huge paper.)  

The kids are not feeling normal yet either.  James is still working on his book a little.  He's not ready to start editing - or maybe he's continuing to write to avoid the editing.  Eleanor is restless.   She can't settle on anything right now.  I know that feeling.

Oh, and there's the Christmas Gala at church on Saturday for which I need to cook.  We're doing appetizers and desserts this year instead of our typical catered dinner.  Our little church can't afford the caterer this time around, so people are pitching in to help.  I was assigned to make cookies.  So there are the cookie recipe books and magazines on the table as Eleanor and I look for the perfect cookies.  They must taste good, which I can do. They must also be pretty, which I'm not so good at. 

So it's another unschoolish week.  We're getting our basics in, and home ec, and lots of composition.   This is when I love having graded test prep books around, like these by Spectrum. It gives the kids some work to do that isn't too burdensome, doesn't take a lot of my time, and helps me to see how they're coming along in certain areas.  I can see today, for example, that James needs a little refresher on linking verbs.

Maybe next week we'll get back to normal.  Whatever that is now!