6:30 AM — Wake up to the gentle chirping of cellphone alarm.
6:31 AM — Nope. Still too tired. Re-set the alarm for 7:00 AM, fall back asleep.
7:00 AM — Wake up to the gentle chirping of cellphone alarm.
7:01 AM — Fall back asleep.
7:10 AM — Wake up in a panic, remembering that I do, in fact, have to get up.
7:15 AM — Realize I’ve been lying in a daze in bed instead of getting up.
7:16 AM — Proceed to washroom and get into the shower.
7:26 AM — Realize I’ve spent the last 10 minutes contemplating my novel instead of shampooing my hair.
7:45 AM — Escape shower, look at cellphone clock, realize I should already be downstairs, panic.
8:01 AM — Stagger downstairs, fully dressed and more-or-less awake.
8:05 AM — Start making breakfast for our guests.
8:37 AM — Stomach starts to gurgle, scavenge random odds and ends from fruit salad bowl, toast crumbs, ham slices, etc.
9:02 AM — Halfway through cooking four different dishes, run a platter of jam and maple syrup out to the dining room because Mother forgot to bring them.
9:03 AM — Stay on my “I’m so competent I never forget things” high horse for an entire minute before I realize I forgot to make bacon.
9:07 AM — Hover over the stove, with the bacon pan on high heat, begging the goddamn bacon slice to cook faster.
9:33 AM — Get the last meal plated and sent out to dining room, immediately start cleaning kitchen.
10:00 AM — Check out time! No one is ready to leave yet.
10:07 AM — Hover around kitchen, putting random stuff away, stomach rumbling, waiting for guests to leave so I can eat.
10:33 AM — Eat breakfast!!!
10:55 AM — Start cleaning.
11:55 AM — Still cleaning.
12:55 PM — Still cleaning.
1:55 PM — Still cleaning.
2:55 PM — Still cleaning, Mother is starting to panic we won’t finish in time for check-in, take off earphones so I am able to hear her freaking out and respond accordingly.
3:47 PM — Finished cleaning!!! Told you we’d be done in time, Mother. Pffft. Why do you continuously doubt me?
3:51 PM — Crap, didn’t make cookies.
3:52 PM — Make cookies.
4:00 PM — Check-in time! No one is here.
4:37 PM — First guests arrive! Give them tour of the house, get breakfast order, show them to their room.
4:41 PM — Sneak back downstairs, flip open laptop, open up my novel file, and try to get a few words in before the next guests show up.
4:44 PM — Next guests arrive.
5:26 PM — Tour done, guests safely in rooms, return to laptop and try to write some … nope. New reservation came in. Deal with reservation.
5:32 PM — Writing time!
5:33 PM — More guests arrive.
6:01 PM — Okay, now it’s writing time!
6:04 PM — Last guests arrive.
6:27 PM — Seriously, do I finally get to wr–nope, it’s time to water the garden. Come on …
7:33 PM — Gardening done! Stomach’s starting to rumble, so that means it’s time for din–
7:34 PM — Realize the grocery store closes at 8 PM, and we need about a gazillion things to make breakfast tomorrow.
8:00 PM — Stagger back into house loaded with grocery bags, unpack groceries.
8:06 PM — Dinner time! And then maybe after that I can retire up to my room, sit down, and finally get some writing done …
8:37 PM — Iron napkins for breakfast.
8:43 PM — Set table for breakfast.
8:52 PM — Help Mother fold fitted sheets.
9:01 PM — Get ice and glasses for guests who want to drink rum and coke before bed.
9:07 PM — Go to turn lights out in parlour, get drawn into discussion with guests about their vacation plans for tomorrow.
9:28 PM — Grab laptop and phone and run upstairs before anyone can ask me to do anything else.
9:31 PM — Finally, writing time! Open up laptop, put fingers to keys … and am so tired I can barely string two words together.
9:35 PM — Watch an episode of whichever show I’m currently binge-watching.
10:30 PM — Resolve to actually get some writing done tomorrow, crawl into bed, pass out.
Doom and gloom aside, I actually am really enjoying running a bed and breakfast! It’s just a lot of work. So. Much. Work. And I never get any writing done. It’s driving me crazy. Hopefully once Mother and I get more comfortable with being innkeepers, we’ll have more free time and then I can actually get some work done on Cerulean Bound. Until then … onwards and upwards!
Unrelated media of the day:
Truly excellent stock photos …
Michelle Proulx - Author 
Exhausted just reading that. How many guests do you have in one day?
When the house is full we have 8 guests. We’ve had a full house only one day so far — the rest of the time, we’ve had one of the rooms with only one guest.
Still must be a lot of work to maintain. The summer might boost it, I guess.
Yeah, it’s a LOT of work. The worst days are when all four rooms check out, because then we have to literally clean the entire house from top to bottom. At least when people stay over, we only have to do a cursory clean of their room (wipe down the shower, make the bed, etc.). The summer is going to be insane. We’re booked pretty solid through July and August already. On the one hand, yay! Business! On the other hand, RIP my free time and possibly sanity.
Sanity is always the first to go. Then it comes back a week later for its things and leaves again. Good luck.
Lol. I read your comment to my mother, and she laughed and said “that’s cute” — well done!
It goes for so many things too. Authors are especially . . . I forgot the word for when you’re exposed and defenseless. Good thing I’m not writing this week.
I hope you have copies of your books prominently displayed to guests so they can buy them for vacation reading.
I do! I have them on little stands atop the piano, along with a little sign. And then bookmarks in the front hallway. And Mom talks up my books whenever she gets the chance 🙂 I’ve sold a couple so far, and hoping for more once the high season hits.
Oh my gosh!! I had no idea you guys were running an inn now! That’s so cool! =D But of course it does sound quite stressful as well. I hope it’s been going all right. ^^ I always thought that would be interesting…but I don’t like to cook or clean, so I’m not sure if it’s the life for me, LOL. Anyway, good luck! I hope you can find some writing time in there. Maybe if you stick with it, I can come visit someday!! I do need to do a proper Canadian tour sometime. ;P
We are indeed! About three months in, and it’s going shockingly well. I didn’t think I liked cooking or cleaning, but have since discovered that cooking is pretty fun — specifically when you’re doing it for other people, because then you can make it pretty and put garnishes on it and such. Cleaning … still not a fan, lol. The big problem I’m facing now is I get all this daydreaming time while I clean, which is great for refining my story ideas, but then I have no time to get those ideas down on paper. GAH. But I’ve managed to squeak out a few hours here and there, so writing is happening — just very, very slowly, lol. And yes, you should absolutely come visit!!! That would be awesome 😀