Where did the week go?

Just where did the week go? And why am I stressing about the state of our carpets? Or debating the need to clean the oven?

Now I am an intelligent and well organised person. I buy cards and wrapping paper in the January sales. I have trained my children to submit Christmas present wish lists with web links and costings in plenty of time. I order the turkey from M&S in early November. And I stopped aspiring to be a domestic godess years ago and 'learnt' to live with a (slightly) messier home.

But the same thing happens every year. Preparation for Christmas seriously derails my goal of 20 hours a week in the studio. Actually I have time in the studio over the last 10 days - shopping on the internet, wrapping presents, writing cards. Figuring out the optimum date to clean the stairs carpet so that it won't get mucky again before 'the big day'.

And yes, all the while knowing that I am truly lucky to have such woes. But I can't help wondering if there are many middle aged male artists out there longing to get back to making art?