So, it’s like this: Last month didn’t work.

I was supposed to make incredible headway into Riding Herd before going on vacation with The Man, then spending a week with Mom–two consecutive weeks away from the manuscript, which was supposed to leave me refreshed to face it again and finish it by the end of this month. Following the two weeks gone, MSB was supposed to be working overtime, which meant I could work overtime too and come closer to meeting my goal.

This is what actually happened:

I got over the hump in my manuscript and was on the downhill slide to at least finishing it, even though I knew/know it’s in for a massive edit.

We went on vacation and had a great time.

Then, The Man woke with a severe tooth ache and discovered he’d need a root canal. The first appointment was scheduled in the middle of the week I was supposed to be at Mom’s. Neither of us knew what was going to happen at the dentist’s office, so, just in case he’d be druggy and not able to drive, I stayed home. No problem, I thought. I’d work on my short story that week, go to Mom’s the following week, and get back into the manuscript when I returned.

Well nothing happened at the dentist office. The Man could’ve driven himself home, and I could’ve gone on to Mom’s, but no–I essentially wasted a week (though I did get a terrific short story out of it).

So, the actual root canal was scheduled for the next week. Instead of going to Mom’s, I stayed in case The Man couldn’t drive and in case he’d need me after such an awful procedure. Wrong again. He didn’t even need his pain pills, and went on to work the next day.

Another week down.

At this point, let me explain: Mom wanted a whole week, not just a couple of days of my time. She wanted me to wait until I could come spend the week with her, which was last week.

During the week we waited for MSB’s second dental appointment, I scheduled blog and tweet posts for while I was at Mom’s, played around with my short stories and submitted them to contests (you can read all about that in “Taking Up the Challenge“), and cleaned house from stem to stern.

That’s one week on vacation, two weeks busted, and another week with Mom. Four weeks. I haven’t worked on my manuscript in four weeks.

I sat down to it yesterday to re-read it and get back into the groove, but I just couldn’t. I know that the first few chapters will have to be reworked, and during my time at Mom’s, I realized the “hump” I thought I’d climbed over will have to be ripped out–which will mean that everything that follows will have to be ripped out too. We already know that I have a terrible track record when it comes to not editing when I’m supposed to be writing. Knowing that I have such a massive edit ahead of me is weighing me down. I want to fix it. Now.

By now, the first draft of my manuscript was supposed to be finished. I was supposed to have a huge block of uninterrupted time–from May 18 to June 16–in which to finish it and begin edits. Then, take my June trip to Mom’s, then rip through the edits the week of the 22nd, and get the manuscript in my publisher’s hands by June 30.

Fortunately for me, that’s a self-imposed deadline.

The unexpected two weeks of dealing with The Man’s tooth could’ve been productive if I’d gone ahead and worked, but I didn’t know what to expect. I needed an uninterrupted period of time to get back into the groove, and I didn’t know whether he’d be home for the week or what–there’s no working when he’s home, it’s impossible–so I just didn’t take advantage of the time.

So now, I’m behinder than I was at the beginning of May. Time to buckle down and get to work.

Squelch panic. Swallow frustration. Work. Work. Work.