How Much Is Enough?

I lost a month of my life. Sort of. For reasons unexplained, the last month was a blur of 20-hour-workdays. I was getting huge translation contracts from various clients, one after another, non stop. I would get up at 6:30 in the morning, nudged off the bed by my dog, go through my regular day job, leave the office at around 5:00 PM, go visit my mother at her Pavilion, get all stressed out by her whining and guilt trips, go home, eat something, usually leftovers, pet and brush the dog, then go straight to the computer and start my second shift. At around 2:00 in the morning, I would peel myself away from the computer, wash up quickly and crawl to bed to sleep dreamlessly like a rock, for what seems like less than a minute, and then it's 6:30 in the morning again. Sometimes, when a job is particularly urgent, I would cheat and do my freelance stuff at work, during lunch time or at the end of the day, when the regular work is finished but it's too early to leave.




I don't know what happened during that month. I didn't report anything on my blog. There was a seventh snowstorm, one of the worst, and Richard, who has been shoveling the snow in winter and mowing the lawn in summer for the past few years quit/was fired, and I sort of threw the whole problem on Son no.2's lap and he did all the shoveling, comme un grand. My brother's friends organized a great party/show for him, to celebrate his recovery from cancer and I didn't mention it on my blog. My dog's groomer disappeared and I had to find a replacement, and I found this great hotel/spa for cats and dogs and not one word on my blog. Tibetans revolted against the Chinese and got killed in the process and I have lots to say about that but I didn't say anything.



I keep saying yes to all those requests for translation. I am killing myself with my second shift. Last night I collected all my invoices and added the amount: I made more than eleven thousand dollars with all that extra work!!

How much is enough?