Can you hear me sighing?

For the past month I've been working on a big article for 417 Magazine. Most of you know that I worked at 417 for a while after Matt and I got married. When we moved back to Pontiac I continued to freelance for them, but each year I did a little less until about two years ago, after writing a travel piece for them on the British Virgin Islands, I didn't write anything else. I was pregnant with Lola at the time, and then of course she was born later that year, and I barely had time to do what I had to do here (at the dock and at home) to keep my head above water. I didn't have time to write. When we got back from Belize earlier this year I messaged the editor and asked if she'd like a travel story on Belize, and she said yes. Yay! A week later she messaged me and asked me to write the cover story for the June issue. WHAT?! I would have a month to work on it. I was nervous - I knew it would be a big project, but I really wanted it, so I took it and thought, "I'll get it done... somehow." And I did it! It's due at noon today, and I just sent it in one hour and 45 minutes ahead of schedule. That was huge for me. I am a master of procrastination, and the typical me would normally wait until 11:59:59 a.m. to send in an assignment that was due at noon. But when I took this on I told myself I had to start on it right away, work on it a little bit every day (mostly nights after Lola went to bed), and by the time the month was up, it would be done. It would be done, right? RIGHT?! And I wouldn't be frantically trying to finish it the morning it was due. While I did stay up late some nights working on it, it was never past midnight - again, this is good for me. I'm not bragging. I'm just sharing, because I am sooooooo happy it's done, and I'm really proud of how it turned out. I was telling someone the other day about it, and he said, "You talk about it like it's a term paper or something." It's deadlines. They give me the heebie jeebies. They sit there, looming in the future, just waiting to beat me. I always meet deadlines but not without a lot of sweat (and sometimes tears) leading up to them. I can't imagine how real writers handle deadlines that are set a year (or even two) in the future. I would have a nervous breakdown before the year was up. A month was long enough for me. Sigh. HAPPY Friday, everyone!