Woohoo! Today has been Efficiency Day, as hoped for. Last night I sank into a major low, having reached the point where I felt so disorganized and behind on BOTH my novel and my academic work that I had gotten too scared to get back into either of them. So Patrick and I worked out a schedule for today--and it's worked! (So far, at least.) I spent an hour after breakfast working on my thesis (which I normally don't touch on the weekends). I managed to get some stuff done, but also, and more importantly, I figured out what I need *to* do. So it's feeling much less amorphous and scary and much more do-able, in a series of short tasks.

After the thesis hour, we headed out on a gorgeous (albeit muddy) hike through the forest. (Nika did MUCH happy running with other dogs, which was good for all of us!) Then lunch and more banana muffins (see last entry!), and two hours of novel writing. I spent the first forty-five minutes panicking over the obvious fact that I could no longer write, had lost any inspiration/talent, and was probably a Bad Person. On Minute 46, I started to write with great reluctance. An hour and a half later, I was still going strong, and finished Chapter Twenty-One! We did more than two hours of writing this afternoon, and in ten minutes, we'll both sit down for another two-hour chunk. By the end of this weekend, I may feel splatted, but I will also be in a much better place, academically and novelistically.

And to explain the entry title...;p Well, we had to reward ourselves, right? And there's a pub just half a block from our house (with a No-Smoking section, even!), so...

Mmmmmmmm. I love Bailey's!

Now, back to work.