The 5-5-5 Award

First, thank you so much for my lovely 5-5-5 award, Sally! Now the kids are back at school (yaayyy), I have a few more minutes to breathe, so here goes:

5 questions and 5 answers –

1. Where were you 5 years ago?

Unfortunately, I was into my third month in hospital at the behest of my cheeky son who decided not to give mommy an easy pregnancy. After all that, he still arrived six weeks early!

2. What was on your to-do list today?

Day’s still young, but I managed to:

Get the kids ready for the first day of school (yaayyy again!)
Get myself to work reluctantly!
Later, I hope to:
Get some shopping done.
Get home, put kids to bed (hopefully without the shouting match it involves)
Write.
Write some more (hope springs eternal)

3. What 5 snacks do you enjoy?

Chocolate, of course!
Cake, hmmmm cake!
Nuts
Cheese
Werthers (both chewy & original)

4. What 5 places have you lived?

Boring answers coming up:
Africa
Kent
Surrey
East London
Er, that’s it!

5. 5 more bloggers

Hmmm, this is always a difficult one. If you haven't already been nominated and you’ve taken the time to read my scribblings, I think you deserve an award (if you have a blog), so consider yourself nominated!

Have a lovely day, everyone!

The Flu…And Waiting

In case you’ve been wondering where I’ve been (no?, okay) I’ve been laid up in bed, recovering from a nasty bout of flu. I thought I’d escaped the dreaded visit from the flu fairy, but alas, no. I also managed to pick up a lovely side order of neuralgia, but that’s another story.

So while I was prone and at my weakest, the crows of doubt began to circle, naturally. They were great in number, with much more fury than ever before.

They questioned everything – from my ability to ever take another clear breath to their favourite subject, my ms at Richmond. You know, the one the editor’s had for almost 21 months…yes, you heard right. Come July, I’ll be celebrating my ms’s 2nd birthday!

Logically, this prompted immediate concern about how my baby was doing. Was it was being fed, watered, cuddled to sleep at night? Or had it (mostly likely, according to the crows), met a dreadful end?

Unfortunately, this second scenario persisted, prompting a reminder of how some other M&B books had met their end. I dug up this old article and it made for grim reading.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/3330245.stm

If actual published books had met such a sorry end, what hope does my unpublished ms have? Who can save my baby from ending up as a cushy, absorbent “no-slushiness” road paver?!

But on a positive note (never let it be said that I’m all about the cloud), I’ve got new story love! Bastien the Swiss Banker and Ana the Supermodel now have 10 pages worth of story to keep them busy.

Hear that crows??

I'm Just Sayin'

We all have a lot to whinge about, tear our hair out over or feel anxious about. But sometimes, someone does something awesome for you and you just feel...blessed. No, I haven't won the lottery or gotten The Call (yet) or even discovered the cure for cancer.

I'm just sayin'...every now and then, you have to sit back and count your blessings. This weekend I spent time with family and some friends I hadn't seen for a long time, some for years, and just relaxing over good food and laughing for no reason felt really good.

No doubt all the things that make life less palatable for all of us will creep in soon (starting with the return to the day job tomorrow, eeep!), but for now, I for one am hanging on to the positive. Oh, and basking in the lovely crits I got from my awesome crit partners.

Sometimes, it's all good. You know?