Crashing After Summer

I have to tell you, this has been the craziest summer on record. 
We have experienced near-constant company for the past three months. 
This is no joke. 
For at least 3/4 of the summer we had a minimum of 5 children in the house. 
Sometimes, for weeks on end, that number rose to 10. All between the ages of 13-5.
Now, this did mean that they kept each other occupied. 
But there were many scuffles and lot of drama (usually surrounding a certain 12 year-old niece who doesn't understand why her 11 and 13 year old male cousins no longer feel inclined to hang out with her so much and then she tried to turn mother hen/informant on them). But what kept me distracted from the researching and writing that should have been taking place was primarily the laundry. Constant laundry. Laundry and dishes and the feeding of the masses. There wasn't a lot of playing outside, especially after the pool sprung a leak, because of our record-setting temperatures that rarely dropped below 100. 
While we have been mostly company-free for nearly a week, there have still been trips to the river (sometimes twice a week, not my idea) to swim with visiting family members in the same swimming hole our great-great-great grandparents cooled off in. And while it is a joy to see my youngest son diving off the rock I jumped off as a child, twice in a week is too much. 
The school year brings with it the promise of being even busier. My sons are social butterflies, sports players and Scouts and members of the youth group at church. But, at least during half of the day I will be blessed with a few quiet hours to work. 
....
But if I try to work at home the laundry stares at me, the garden pleads to be weeded, the bathroom is certain it needs another scrub. For this reason I am going to give writing at the local library a whirl. Now I understand why some authors spring to have an office away from home. 
On that note, the washer just finished and it's time to hang the clothes out to dry...