it's becoming a bizarre, if productive, week for me. no one's home but me and the cat and the dog until 2:30, and the cat and the dog are always upstairs. i don't think i've had so much alone time in my entire life.

okay, so maybe i did when i was single.

but i haven't been single and childless for almost 20 years now. i've kinda gotten used to the background noise that's always present when people are around. even when it's just kitten, who is the quietest of them all, there's some sense of her presence. now she's back in school after spring break, the man went back last week, and the silence is loud. there's no yelling and arguing from jewel and shebop. no humming from taz. no tv noise from saxy. nothing. the dog jingles once as she goes upstairs (her collar) and the cat meows at me a few times before she disappears as well. which leaves me, my computer, and my music which, though loud, can't cover the silence.

if it weren't for the morning chaos getting shebop and taz off to school, i'd almost miss having everyone here.

as it is, it feels very bizarre to not have the tv on and distracting me, the man needing attention in the middle of a paragraph, or one of the kids asking em a question every fifteen minutes . . .or fighting every five. (on a side note: the house actually feels colder temperature wise too.)

but there is an upside: i'm getting things done.

since i sent my novel draft out to a few readers to check for plotholes, someone has been home. and whether it's the downtime from finishing a novel draft or the constant barrage of people (or, more likely, a combination of both), not much has gotten done. i have stories that need attention. i had crits piling up. and all i did was curl up and manage to read 2 and 3/4ths books.

yesterday i got 6 crits done.

there's something to be said for silence.