Another unplanned day...

[ellenmillion]

Another -40 day, though it's supposed to warm up significantly today. (Like, 50 degrees!)

Wrong vehicle was plugged in last night, so I had to drive Jake to work and will need to go pick him up. We're getting our driveway cleared of hardpack - today, astonishingly. I expected a week's wait or so when I called this morning, but no - he thinks he can make it today! *boggles* Which means, we'll get a load of water delivered this week, too, because the recent troubles have run us quite low. On the strength of that news, I did a load of laundry this morning, though I'm still working on the energy to go hang it up.

Energy? Is a problem. I get winded walking up one flight of stairs, and can completely lose an hour staring into space doing nothing but feeling tired. I'm not significantly less tired after naps. This is all very alien to me, and is interfering with my desire to get things done (sooooo much to do....). Also, my concentration and memory are COMPLETELY shot. I cannot remember to do things to save my life. Baby brain, I do not like you. Elsa, I need those braincells, go grow your own! Also, her squirms and struggles are hitting the point where I'm starting to feel rather tenderized inside. She is definitely running out of room in there.

I did manage to do some Sketch Fest programming this morning in among things, and got all the CC sales caught up and artist payments made. Artists, you can log in at the Sketch Fest site and click on 'See what you've sold!' to view all of your sales, with addresses to ship to. I have some tricks up my sleeve that will make it Even Easier at my end of things and Even Faster at your end. And I still have some other things I want to add.

In general, Sketch Fest this weekend was GREAT fun. I finished seven sketches and one scribble (need to scan one of each, still), and the response to the 48 window was very positive. We got a lot more artwork than usual, which is awesome, but what says more to me is that we had a lot more artists participating, indicating that we were able to include some folks that otherwise might not have been able to join in. I am all in favor of that. You can still comment or vote in the poll: http://ellenmillion.livejournal.com/1260532.html

I am not particularly in favor of LJ not sending me comments... I get replies to comments, but not the original comment. Huh.

Okay, I gotta eat a little more and go move things in prep for the snowplow. Come on legs, you can do it. Let's go...

Comments

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

She is growing her own brain cells. That's why you don't have any. :)

[jenny_evergreen]

Baby brain is really just the lack of sleep; if you sleep enough (yes, omg, THAT MUCH), you will not have baby brain when you are awake. It's a matter of which route is most useful for you. Sometimes, it's better to be awake and braindead, sometimes it's better to sleep forever but be ON when you are awake.

Stop kicking Mommy, Elsa!

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

From one artist/businesswoman-mom to another: give yourself permission to rest. For the next year and a half. I know this sounds excessive, but for the remainder of your pregnancy and probably at least one year of Baby's life, you are not going to have those brain cells, you're not going to have enough sleep, and you won't get All That Stuff Done that you desperately want (and enjoy) doing.

If you can't be okay with that, you are going to spend a lot of time being very angry/upset, which is good neither for you nor for child. :/

Rest a lot now. You're not going to be resting much when she's born.

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

I'm delighted (and a bit surprised) at how thoroughly positive the response to the 48-hour window has been. I mean, I knew _I_ really wanted the window to change, but so far I haven't read any comments from someone who didn't either really like it or think it was OK.

I have to second haikujaguar's advice on getting your rest. Be good to yourself and to Elsa. But yeah, I know how frustrating that is too. I didn't manage to do any writing at all while pregnant; you're doing better than I did in that respect!

[jenny heidewald (from livejournal.com)]

*stares in recognition* Welcome to my life... having to collapse after going up stairs to the apartment? Check! Though usually this is after biking 40 minutes home with a head wind or carrying something heavy home. And, in my defense, there are three flights of stairs. I used to have to carry the bike up all of them.

End up staring into space because I am too tired to get stuff done before bed so I can go to bed? Check!

Concentration and memory trouble? I have to write stuff down...and I get distracted easily ( example: I have a post it note on the computer monitor that says: "AVA ACEOS" because I kept forgetting to send them out. I hope they got there okay, because I did send them out last week.). >_<

But *I* don't have the baby excuse... <:) Now, I'd say that growing a baby is probably rather like when you get hurt, your body is working hard to fix things up, or, in the case of a baby, building things. You usually have to rest more after getting hurt, so why shouldn't it be the same when making a baby? Sleep while you can! If your body feels tired it means it needs the rest. Don't run yourself ragged trying to do everything you did before Guppy. Though it can be frustrating to not get all the things done that you want, remind yourself that you are working on finishing a VERY important project! And sleeping is a requirement of a job well done. :) (HUGS)

[kelkyag]

This! And going forward -- folks I know with kids under about two, maybe three, aren't entirely with it in large part because they're not getting enough sleep. It gets better ... once the kids start sleeping through the night.

Write yourself notes if you think that might help, and put them in really obvious places.

[jenny_evergreen]

Indeed, it WILL be worse after the baby arrives! The lack of sleep while trying to relate to this new person can and may well drive you to tears and the distinct urge to change your mind about this whole parenting business. It gets better. It's only temporary. That last was my mantra throughout my children's infancy. And it was and it does and things are MUCH better now, and Finn is still only 3.

[pixiewildflower.livejournal.com]

:)

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Thank you for Sketch Fest! I like the longer window. I posted my 15 supporter prompts in three batches, so I always had something fresh each day. I got a bunch of art, and one picture inspired me to write a poem.

[ankewehner.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed the longer Sketch Fest, too. I didn't get that much more done, but most of it on Sunday. :)

One small thing to maybe add to future improvements: It would be nice if a page of sketches said which Sketch Fest it belongs to. I'd been clicking through them to see how the numbers compared on my Sunday morning with those of 24-hours-only events, and while there are second instances of the "Finished Work" and "Sketches Available for Sale" links, I had to look at the number in the url to figure out which one I was looking at.