Ellen Byron

When Life Gets Away From You

Well, hello there! If you’re wondering to yourself,” “Wow, this post is late,” it’s because yours truly dropped the ball. I blanked. While there’s no such thing as a good excuse for flaking, here was my week last week:

Tuesday night – cross our beloved dog Pogo over the rainbow bridge;

Wednesday – pack for the first MWA board meeting of the year in New York, plus a three-week stay in the burbs to sub for my brother in keeping an eye on our 96-year-old mother; set up a fundraiser on Facebook for The Amanda Foundation, the rescue that gifted us with both Pogo and our late Wiley;

Thursday – fly to NY on my birthday and profuse thanks to American Airlines for the well-timed complimentary upgrade to Business Class. As I described it to a friend, it was a vacation in the air. (On her recommendation, I shared this with the airline as a possible future ad campaign);

Friday through Sunday – In Manhattan for the MWA board meeting (view from hotel window below);

Sunday afternoon – Train up to Ossining, where I am currently housed with Mom.

I brought my datebook, filled with notes and reminders. Did I look at it? Nope. So I give you… the world’s latest Chicks post!

I’ll be spending the next three weeks at Mom’s, trying to follow my usual routine out of suitcases and on a laptop set up on Mom’s dining room table. It’s going to be a challenge, that’s for sure. Also for sure? Things will fall through the cracks.

But sometimes the perpetual juggling act we call life gets away from us. And all we can do is our best to catch up.

Readers, does this sound familiar to you? Have you been here yourselves?

34 thoughts on “When Life Gets Away From You”

  1. I’m amazed you remembered at all, given that week you’ve had–and then managed to get this post up, to boot. Pretty impressive, I’d say!

    Sending you love and hopes that your life can calm down and return to some semblance of normalcy in the weeks to come, dear Ellen! xoxo

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      1. I’m sure another “Pogo” will find it’s way into your life. You have a lot on your plate right now, so don’t forget to take care of you.

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  7. Aww, El–what a week. And hugs on Pogo–he had such a long, wonderful life with you and your family. Hope you enjoy the time with your mom, and don’t worry–we all have your back! You deserve a little “you” time. (And I am very, very jealous of your view. How do those Times Square ads keep getting bigger and bigger? )

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      1. The last time I stayed in a Manhattan hotel room (last spring), I had a primo corner-room night view–and Covid. That made for one bizarre-o experience.

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  10. No apology necessary, Ellen! If anyone wants to peek behind the curtain of “real writers’ lives” they only need to spend five minutes with the eight of us. There’s always something real and relatable going on with Chicks! Fingers crossed your time with your mom goes off without a hitch.

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  11. Ellen, everything will be okay. You got this. And you have family and friends who will pick up the balls you are dropping. The dog is waiting for you! That’s always a warm fuzzy feeling.
    Your week sounds about as bad as mine. Definitely dropping the balls I’m juggling.
    Dealing with work, where I’m out of town for two weeks for a trial. No, I am a witness, I am NOT the defendant. FYI, my testimony is expected to last about 4 hours! And of course, when we took a lunch break from my prep, we saw a chocolate shop I have to go to, and they are closed on mondays!
    The pipes are fixed, the restoration is done, but the rebuild has to happen while I’m still out of town. And don’t even ask what the cost of all that is for me. If you don’t have home warranty, definitely look into the better companies and what they cover. It’s killing me.
    Hubbs has the start of cancer treatments next week, which I won’t be there for.
    Sunday virtual meetings with some newbie writers like me to teach them how to organize themselves when writing a novel.
    Need to find a huge amount of paperwork for my daddy.
    Trying to get ready for a virtual writing workshop the first weekend in February, where I will get pitch feedback from 3 agents on my manuscript I am trying to query on (as soon as the workshop is over).
    And the last week of February I need to move my father to a new nursing home, when I am supposed to be doing another trial.
    We will get through everything together.

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  12. I’m leaving for a trip tomorrow late afternoon. Trying to get ready for that, including blog posts, so soon after Christmas has made life crazy for me.

    Hope you have a good three weeks with your mom.

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  13. You don’t just have a lot on your plate–you have an entire smorgasbord!

    Huge hugs during this season of loss and change. ❤

    As for your question if being late to something sounds familiar, I give you Exhibit A: my response!

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