Yes!!!

Progress Meter Courtesy of Writertopia

My son, Jordan, came home from school early today. Calls me at 11:40 to tell me he's on his way home. "Why?" I ask. "It's a half-day, Mom." I think, oh, okay. It's a Friday and so every now and then he'll have a Friday half-day. I just thought that those half-day weird dollar-day Fridays were always on the first of the month, but hey, what do I know" (I admit, being the laissez-faire mother that I am, that I can't and don't always keep track of what's what.)

So the Munch comes home, says hello and asks me about my day. I tell him I've had a particularly successful NaNo experience. He's proud of his mama, but then tells me to get back to work, and heads over to the computer room/home office to start doing ... whatever. So as I climb back into bed (which is where I do most of my writing, with my laptop balanced on my ... well, yeah, lap), I start to wonder again about that half-day. Hmmm... I really did think that those half-days were on the first Friday of the month. Why today?

So I go back to work, typing away, listening to Boney James on these fantastic headphones that T.R. gave me. I hit another thousand, take another break, do some more Internet promotion for DARKNESS & THE DEVIL BEHIND ME, and absolutely resist the temptation to check my Amazon rankings (a temptation that isn't that strong, anyway). Then I happen to float into the computer office. I think I meant to tell the Munch to please go practice on the piano and that yeah, maybe I'd even practice with him. But while I'm in there, I ask him about why this is a half-day. And then he mentions that well, he won't be going to school tomorrow, either.

Now, I'm totally flabbergasted. What's going on? Why didn't the school send home a notice? What are they doing sending the kids home for a half-day today, then closing the school the next day?

Of course, it occurs to me that maybe today's not Friday, after all. It's Thursday, right?

He gives me the kind of look that only a bright kid can give to a hopelessly confused and muddled adult.

"No, Mom," he says with the utmost patience. "It's not Thursday. It's Wednesday. And of course, they sent us home today. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving."

"Tomorrow is WHAT???!!!"

His answer was another one of those looks. Then my mother chirps in from the background.

"You mean, you didn't know?"

Look people, I didn't know. And I probably won't know next year either or the year after that. In case none of my friends or relatives have noticed, I suffer from an incredible inability to remember holidays, anniversaries, birthdays, etc. I do my best with my mother, but since her birthday is a moving target (she changes the date every year), that effort doesn't count.

In my younger years, ahem, I worked for The Associated Press and I did international news. The news business is 24/7. Holiday? What's holiday? Get to stay home and celebrate with friends and family? Are you serious? It might be closed for business in the United States, but I guarantee you that somewhere in the world, there's crime and chaos all needing to be reported on. I only worked for the AP for a relatively short time but it was enough to kill, absolutely deaden, any sensitivity to holidays.

And of course, with me elbow deep in writing one book and promoting another, I've barely watched television in days. I do start my morning with a glance at the front page of the New York Times online, but the Times assumes that most people are aware of a holiday and understandably oversees the need to remind that small minority of us who are woefully disconnected.

This is the life of a writer, my friend, at least of this writer. So I wish all of you a Happy Turkey Day and safe traveling!

Ciao!