Kids are underfoot, hot and bored. Carpet guys are huffing and puffing in the bedroom, installing new carpet, and my entire second floor is crammed full of homeless furniture. Glass guys came to finish the shower… and the glass was cut the wrong size. The new toilet is running. The plumber is owed money and the checking account is empty. Tomorrow is vacation. Packing has not yet been even considered.

Well, I feel frazzled, but I also feel lucky. Once this hell is over — this renovation we were forced into because of leaking pipes — we will have peace in our lives again. The past six months the house has been such a disaster zone: dust everywhere, always; strange men here on a daily basis;  trash on our driveway; pounding hammers while I’m trying to work; endless errands and decisions to make PLUS a full time job to hold down. Not to mention that my office is relocated into the study so I can’t find anything and my internet connection is iffy.

Lesson learned: never do a renovation while you’re launching a book.

But here’s what I’ve also learned: when I am Zen about things, I can handle the upheaval much better. Why get angry about things you can’t control? I’m sure this attitude has tacked three months onto this project, but at least I haven’t slit my wrists.

I find people are easier to deal with when I’m friendly and understanding, even if, inside, I’m going nuts. It’s part of trying to have an attitude about life that is at once accepting and yet also firm and aware of priorities. I decided back in January when this hell broke loose with the house, that this was not going to be my undoing.

And it hasn’t been.

Well… not quite… yet…

Writing is a funny business. What is work? What is day dreaming? What is wasting time? What counts and what doesn’t count?

Many of you reading this who are in the creative field will know exactly where I’m coming from. When your hubby or a friend asks, “So, what did you do today?” and you answer (maybe just a touch defensively…), “Well, I worked,” sometimes it’s not really the kind of work they’re thinking of.

I watched a Fassbinder movie, so shoot me! I mean, well, um, for me that’s actually work. I went to a bookstore and checked out books about teens. Again, real work. So, I watched TV, work! HARD WORK!

I’m only half kidding here. Inspiration comes from the strangest places and at the strangest times.

While I was away with the kids in Germany, I was all theirs. I didn’t take my laptop, I didn’t answer (or even check) e-mail and I took no business calls. “Work” was on hold. I listened to them, spent every waking hour with them, had fun with them and also hung out doing nothing.

But that stretch of ten days was incredibly rewarding for me in terms of work. I had ideas for three new books, which I am so excited about. I carried around a little notebook with me in which I jotted everything down. I planned a new workshop I want to run in the fall, a non-fiction book project I’m going to start, and I figured out my next novel! I even started day-dreaming about a writing book I’m going to work on once I get famous. Dream big, I say…

So taking a little time to relax actually proved to be very fruitful professionally. And my kids got a happy mom to boot. Talk about killing two birds with one stone!