From the Garret: Archives

On Finishing Things

Women's lives tend to be filled with tasks that never end. I personally own an enchanted laundry basket; by the time the last load of clean clothes is in the dryer, the basket has magically refilled itself. Then there are the days when I vacuum the family room carpet and five minutes later half the soccer team stampedes through throwing clots of dried mud off their cleats. By the time I've managed to pay the last bill for this month, the first bill for next month is due.

That's why actually completing a project is cause for celebration. Below is a photograph of my (beautiful) teenaged daughter modeling the shawl I just finished making for her. Wahoo!

I enjoyed the knitting tremendously. As fellow author Barbara Bretton says, it's great therapy. Granted, I had to learn strange new stitches and do some ripping out when I lost track of the pattern. The fringe was a bit tedious, requiring a lot of hand-knotting, and blocking something that size was a challenge. But it's complete. I can sit back and bask in the glow of my accomplishment, knowing that there's nothing else I need to do to it.

Almost the same day I trimmed the fringe on the shawl, I sent the finished manuscript of my romantic suspense novel Music of the Night to my agent. I had actually typed "The End" a couple of weeks before but a book is not really finished until it's in print. There are synopses to write and revisions to make and typos to correct so I had to take care of those tasks before I mailed it out. However, it's a good feeling to have the manuscript sitting on my agent's desk rather than my own. For just a few days I can dream about bestseller lists without having to do anything about getting my book on one.

We have to celebrate the few things we truly get to finish--with chocolate or champagne or a happy dance down a public sidewalk. Completion is a rare joy.

(All right, I lied about being finished with the shawl. I just discovered one more task I have to accomplish, the most difficult of all: getting my daughter to fold it up and put it away in her room!)