A business teacher of my acquaintance, when asked by a student what arrears meant, answered, “It means you’re behind.”
Not the definition her class expected.
But a good story for the teachers’ lounge, and a fitting introduction for this post.
For I am in arrears.
In reading blogs, in answering comments, in answering e-mails, in reading books, in preparing for tomorrow’s meeting of Just for the Hell of It Writers, and in submitting Wednesday’s A Round of Words in 80 Days report.
Last things first: the title of this post will have to suffice as my ROW80 report.
It will have to do for the rest of the post as well, or I shall also be in arrears with respect to sleep.
One specific item: This morning I shot off my mouth and announced to a Facebook group that I would submit a story for publication as soon as I’d proofed it five or six more times.
But after a good twelve hours, I still haven’t clicked Send.
I’m not afraid of rejection per se. I’m afraid of rejection because of some idiocy on my part: omitting the word count, formatting incorrectly, forgetting to do some tiny but important bit of business.
So the story sits in the draft folder, waiting for one more proof.
Fortunately, I’m not on deadline.
The window it is busted and the rain is coming in
If someone doesn’t fix it I’ll be soaking to my skin
But if we wait a day or two the rain may go away
And we don’t need a window on such a lovely day…
M. K. Waller 
Oh no, I thought you were doing so well 😮 Well, I do know what arrears means and it makes me panicky.
Well, hang in there. Everyone’s cheering for you at the finish line…
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I always make things sound worse than they are. But it would be nice to wake up and find that I’ve turned into a peppy, organized person. I’m hanging, and thanks for the cheers.
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I hadn’t heard the song, “Manana” in years. And now I can’t get the tune our of my head. It’ll be with me all day. Hopefully it will remind me not to wait until tomorrow to get with it today. Good luck on sending your story. I know exactly how you feel. I usually like to proofread until I read through a piece without making a single change — but that never seems to happen. Cheer.
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The song just popped into my head as I drew the post to a close. I’m so sorry you’re stuck on it. So am I. Re: proofreading–one change seems to lead to another. It becomes a compulsive activity.
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I feel your pain! I’m in arrears, too! And getting arrearer by the day.
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The difference, I believe, is that your calendar is filled with projects. Your arrears is understandable. Mine is fairly blank. It takes a lot of non-work to get into arrears with a calendar like mine.
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And I’ve read the story. It’s perfect! It won’t be rejected for a missing comma. SEND IT IN.
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Thank you–and here I was trying to eschew perfectionism! I’m really really going to send it in.
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Manana is my middle name. I’ve been trying to change that, to no avail. Ask someone you trust to review it and just hit send. Good luck!
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I’m past change in the manana area. But the story will definitely be sent on its way.
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Until manana…as Scarless says, tomorrow is another day….
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Scarlett knew what she was talking about.
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Send it! Press the button. Then forget about it. You know it makes sense. 🙂
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Thanks for posting my link on your blog. I’m delighted we’re part of the same web.
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