Time Deficit

When your schedule is so crushing you don't have time to lift your head, it's easy to forget about the rest of the world. But today I took a few minutes to peruse The New York Times and realized that the time crunch I'm experiencing is a nationwide epidemic. But more on that in a minute.

Last weekend was my middle son's bar mitzvah. I would compare the planning to a rocket launch, only if I announced, "Houston, we have a problem," there'd be no mission control to respond back. I had to man every station myself. Okay, so I didn't have to learn a haftorah. But I honestly think my son had the easier job. (Which isn't to say I'm not proud of him. He performed so magnificently he surprised even me, and that's saying a lot. There are stars in these eyes.)

I thought my schedule would open wide after the bar mitzvah, but I haven't had a second to catch my breath. This Sunday I'm interviewing Alice Hoffman live at the LIWA Author Brunch at the Hofstra University Club. That meant dropping everything to read the ARC of her magnificent new book, THE THIRD ANGEL, so that I could prepare for the interview. I needed to rush through that task because I promised another writer a blurb for her book, and she needs it pronto. In the midst of all this, the page proofs for my next book, THE SMART ONE, landed on my doorstep. Of course, my publisher wants me to read it immediately and send it back.

While juggling all of the above, I had to find time for another event. Last night I did a book talk at the Junior League of Long Island. Of course, I had to do a bit of prep for the appearance, but mostly this was a lovely reprieve. I was honored to be asked and had a great time. The Junior League is an incredible organization, made up of women volunteers who give their time for the benefit of needy women and children in their community. I was very impressed with the kindness and intelligence of this group.

And guess what else? They gave me flowers! No one's ever given me a bouquet for a book talk before, and I was genuinely touched. Look how pretty they are!
A special shout-out of thanks to Tracy, Grace and the rest of the remarkable group!

Meanwhile, I'm typing this as fast as I can so I can get on with the thousand or so things I have to do with the rest of my day. But I don't want to sign off without mentioning what it was that surprised me in the newspaper this morning. It was about last night's Idol Gives Back. If you saw it, you no doubt noticed that the show was jam-packed with a star-studded cast of performers. What you didn't see, however, was a single presidential candidate, despite the fact that Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain all taped fundraising pleas for the show. None made the final cut.

American Idol did not have time for the future President of the United States.

And to think, I feel guilty about ignoring my laundry ...