A peculiar day

Today's just been weird.

It started off quite normally, until my eldest didn't go to school as usual, but instead walked with me there at 8.45. It was Student-led conference day. The day when middle and high school students present their work (for us, one challenging and one enjoyable piece of work per subject) to their parents and talk about their goals for the rest of the school year. It was good to see how our son is self-evaluating and the improvements he's made in the last couple of years!

Unexpected photo project
Then we came home, both of us! I've spent the rest of the day working on a photo book that will be professionally printed. Finally our Uluru trip photos will find a suitable home. It's been one of those "must do" jobs that just gets pushed aside by everything else. But I hadn't planned to do it today.

It's just that my friend and the designer of the magazine I edit shared a deal on Facebook the yesterday that My Publisher was offering. A free 20 page photo book if you shared their deal on your FB page. Plus our designer highly recommended them as a company. It was too good to pass up. The hitch is that the deal expires next Monday. So, I had to make time to do it this week.

Firstly I had to choose photos from the 535 photos that we took (and if I could go back I'd take more)! That took until lunch-time. Then, after lunch I had to figure out how to use the programme. It didn't take too long, but squishing the 85 photos I wanted into 20 pages with decent layout was quite a challenge. Not surprisingly I ended up leaving out some!

However the whole thing has unfortunately taken up a good portion of my day. I say unfortunately because the timing isn't great. I have a whole lot of articles sitting waiting for me to edit them and get them moving along in the process towards publication. I also have another article I have to write myself due on Friday. Argghh. I hate it when things pile up like this.

The weirdness of today
It was weird, however, doing all this in a not-quite-empty house. My son spent a lot of time next to me, working on a big lab report. Thankfully he didn't require much help from me, but merely my presence to keep him on-track. I wonder if it counts as an unfair advantage to have the head of science as his dad? Not that David's done much except counsel and cajole him along the road to getting the report written...

It is strange to be alone in the house all day with my eldest. He's the one most likely to be absent—at training, or sporting events, or various school excursions or camps. And I can't remember the last time he had to stay home for illness. It is distinctly weird. He found it a bit odd too, remarking how quiet the house was. I remarked with glee that that is how the house is every day that they go to school and I stay home and work!

But I must say that I did enjoy his company. He's turning into a young man I'm proud to know.

He's also enjoyed some SQUILT time (not SQUIRT time). Not reading, but Lego play on his own. Yes, our nearly-14 year old is still loves his Lego.

But as for me, I'd better get back to my to-do list, secure in the knowledge that while I haven't made much progress on my immediate priorities, I've at least put time into something that might otherwise have never made it off our hard-drive.