Countdown to California

Well, folks, the countdown is on. Our trip to California is… well, it’s actually still quite a few weeks away. I’ve now reached the stage where it’s basically all I can think/talk about, though, so today I’m going to talk about it, and I promise I won’t be offended if you skip this one, because there’s nothing more boring than hearing about someone else’s holiday plans, is there? Especially not when the person is complaining about how much they still have to do before they go, and I am going to complain a bit about how much I still have to do before I go. I don’t mean this to come across in a “poor me” kind of way, because that would be totally obnoxious, obviously, but, well, this is ShoeperWoman’s future posts calendar right now:

The green squares are the days I have posts already written for. Before you get too impressed, though, remember this is just one blog, and I have three. I probably won’t be scheduling posts for this one, though, so at least that’s something.  (Oh, and I’m not going on holiday for TWO ENTIRE MONTHS either, by the way: I normally work at least a week ahead with ShoeperWoman posts, so some of those were already written, and the rest are mostly an attempt to just get as much done as possible, so I’ll have time to schedule posts for the OTHER site. Gah.) Still, my Fitbit dashboard for the week tells its own tale:

As you can see, I got my act back together by Thursday, but for a couple of days there, my ass was pretty much glued to my seat, and that’s why I now think I might have RSI or something. It’s also why Wednesday was… let’s not even think about Wednesday. I didn’t write all those posts at once, mind you – I started working on them… last week? The week before? What day is it? Who am I again? Yeah, it’s been like that. I’m sure anyone who runs their own business, whether as a blogger or something else, can totally relate to this: it’s such a pain getting ready to leave it for a few weeks. It’s actually the one aspect of blogging I absolutely hate, to be honest. I’ve told Terry at least five times this week that he better enjoy this holiday, because it’s the last one we’ll ever be taking together, but, meh, what can you do? That’s an actual question, by the way: WHAT CAN I DO?!

No, I’m joking: there really isn’t much I CAN do, other than suck it up and accept I won’t have much of a life for the next few weeks. I know this from years of experimenting with different strategies, from just not posting at all while I’m gone (not an option, sadly, or this really WILL be the last holiday I’ll ever take, because I won’t have a business to come back to…), to trying to line up guest posts or whatever. What I learned is that I need to have at least some content going onto the blogs, or it all goes to hell in a handbasket, basically. I’ve also learned, however, that it will all be worth it, because, pointless complaining aside, I am SO EXCITED. I can’t wait to go back to some of our favourite places from our last trip to California, and to see some new ones too. And to go to the Unique Vintage store. And the PinupGirl store. And the Bettie Page store. And ALL THE STORES, OMG. I can’t wait.

But I also CAN wait, because I still have a whole other blog to write a month’s worth of content for. Ouch.

Er, I should probably make a start on that, huh? Instead, though, I’m just going to continue obsessing over the trip, pinning pictures of palm trees and stuff like that. I feel a little bit embarrassed about this: I mean, I follow quite a few blogs where the blogger travels so often they have to have a little “location” tab on each of their posts, so their readers know where they are this week, but because of the house move, it’s been two years since our last “proper” holiday, and four since we last visited California, so I’m like a little kid the week before Christmas. I’m all, “Is it time yet? How about now? NOW?”

If I seem a little flaky  for the next couple of weeks, that’ll be why. Either that, or I’m just a little bit flaky, obviously: tough call…