I’m back to editing 
I got some good motivation via an email this morning and it’s spurred me onward. I’m aiming to complete my editing by end of month so that I’m free and clear of that project come April, and can fully indulge in the new one. It feels good to be back in the saddle.
I think allowing myself to take some space gave me some great mental clarity – now let’s just hope that I can hold onto it lol.
I’m thrilled to say that the lounge is *finally* finished. It look a lot longer than I would have liked, but at least it’s there now.
The wall paper is stunning. I don’t even feel like it’s the same room it was before. It was really trippy to hang, because of the way the silver lines go – but thankfully because it’s so funky it hides the imperfections in the wall and prevents the gaze from staying in one spot too long 
All said and done, I think I did a pretty good job for a first time wall-paperer.
One thing that I didn’t realize before beginning, was how much it gives me a Doctor Who vibe. We’re big Who fans in this house, so it’s an added bonus. I think it’s because of the silver lines, and the angles forming a kind of ‘box’ which reminds me of the tardis and the windows in it. I don’t know – thankfully I’m not the only one who saw it, my sister in law got the Doctor Who vibe just from seeing a pic on facebook! lol
Love it. So much. It feels very grown up for some reason!
If you want to check out the ‘before and after’ of the other end of the room, you can see that here. And I will say, with reasonable confidence, this is the last post there will be about my lounge lol unless something truly amazing happens inside it at some point in the future!
I don’t drink tea*.
Wait, wait, don’t leave! I have a good reason, I promise. Let’s call it ‘tea-related childhood trauma’ or something.
Imagine this: you are young, and you get up early every morning so that you can have breakfast with your father before he goes to work. Sometimes he works out of town and is away for a week or more, so this is a special time of the day, when it’s still dark and the house is quiet, you can pretend that this is all there is. You and him, enjoying toast, and a little conversation.
You drink milo, but your father drinks tea. He has this habit of dunking his toast, laden with peanut butter and jam, or just jam, or jam and honey, into his tea, making it a soggy mess, before eating it. You think that maybe it’s like when you dunk gingernuts into your milo, except that a biscuit doesn’t disintegrate like toast. But really, you think nothing of it, it’s just part of the routine.
Until you give it a go yourself, and find something lurking at the bottom of your cup. A mass of grossness. Jam and bread and peanut butter, clumped together and threatening to slide into your mouth as you try to drink the last bit of your tea.
And you can never look at a cup of tea the same way, not after that, because you are always wondering if there is something there, hiding beneath the calm surface of that tea. In fact, it puts you off drinking any hot drinks until your mid 20′s.
See, I DO have a good reason, at least, it is for me, because sometimes the things you see in childhood stay with you even when they are irrational.
However, last night, Hubby mentioned thinking that he might need a tea infuser, and I went looking on Etsy. Dangerous, silly move, Cassie. Now I want a tea infuser, like this tardis one, or this octopus (despite the fact it only has 6 tentacles). I think the Manatea is super cute, and WEEPING ANGEL!!!!!!!!!!! Adorable.
I am not sure I can bring myself to drink regular tea, but maybe I could do herbal infusions? There is something appealing about that, perhaps this way of making tea has a sense of ritual about it for me that a tea bag does not.
I might be swayed. I very much would like a tea infuser, though whether it’s enough to make me push past my revulsion is yet to be seen.
*The only time I drink tea are when I visit my elderly grandmother and she insists on making me a hot drink and forgets that I asked for coffee. I would do just about anything for Nana, even drink tea.
Sometimes you get ideas at the strangest times. This probably isn’t one of those times.
Yesterday morning when Ivy and I were working on one of the modules for her ‘Becoming Human’ anthropology class, I was struck with the memory of an idea I’d once had. The video had just been giving us information on a woman who supposedly had given birth to 69 babies back in the mid 1700′s, and it brought to mind a story that I had begun writing at some point last year, and never followed through on. Naturally, it features a mother. (One day, my stories might stop centering around mothers).
I felt that instant jolt of ‘OH!!!!!’ and then once I’d finished helping Ivy study I went and dug out the file for the story, buried so deep that I had to use the search function to find it. The idea needs a lot of fleshing out, so I’m really excited to spend some time doing that this month, and I’ve signed up for the minimum word count (10,000) over at Camp Nanowrimo with the intention of writing the bulk of it in April. My first assignments aren’t due until May, so it *should* work out. 10K isn’t too much, and with luck this will run on the shorter novella side of things.
I knew something would crop up For the first time in ages I am really excited by research and world-building, and it will just be so nice not to be editing or revising for a bit!
The shortlist for this years Sir Julius Vogel Awards has been released (see here). There are so many awesome writers on that list that I know personally, and I think for the first time ever I’ve read over half of the fiction on there. If you’re looking for good kiwi speculative fiction, that list is a great starting point
Attending the awards last year was a real highlight for me. Getting to cheer people as they went up to the stage, and enjoying some wine and laughter with new and old friends.
I know from experience that it’s a real thrill to be nominated, and an even bigger one to actually win an award. The SJV that Andi and I won for our work on Tales for Canterbury still takes pride of place in my room. Hopefully one day I’ll make the list for something of my own – I am thrilled that this year Andi has her wonderful novella This Other World (which can be found in the Winter Well anthology from Crossed Genres) on the list!! I remember reading the story for critique and telling her she’d get into the finals with it.
I’m in some ways pleased that I won’t be at Con this year and have the responsibility of voting as there is more than one category where I’d be hard pressed to pick just one. So congrats to everyone who made it onto the list, and good luck!! Looking forward to seeing how the people vote later in April.
On the way home from a very busy day, I got to thinking that I’m incredibly lucky. So I wanted to take a minute to reflect on that.
I’m thankful for my awesome kids, who provide many challenges and opportunities for me to grow, but give me so much love and affection in return.
Lake Mangamahoe
I’m thankful that I was able to make it to the lookout today – the view was great, but the feeling of accomplishment was perhaps a little better. Normally it’s all water, but we’ve been very short on rain lately. I’ve never seen the lake so low.
I’m thankful for the blackberries we picked, which are now in a pie in the oven.
I’m thankful for my supportive and awesome husband (he gets bonus points because he’s out buying wine for me as I type).
I’m thankful for all the wonderful friends and family we have along with us on our home schooling journey, they make it so much richer.
I’m thankful for my writer friends, most of whom have crossed the bridge from ‘writer friends’ to ‘friends’, but for some reason I call them writer friends to all those not in the loop so that it helps them place these people in my life.
And I’m grateful for this kiddo today, a lot, because she is sweet and she’s hit that beautiful point where she is confident enough to pull me up if I have said I’d do something, and forgotten, without making it a big deal or a guilt trip. She is wise enough to tell the difference between when I am saying no because I really can’t do the thing she wants, and when I’m saying it because I just need a little more encouragement. And because sometimes she lets me have my way just because she loves me and wants to make my life easier – though will stand her ground and make sure I know when something is truly important to her.
She has her priorities, she is developing this fantastic sense of who she is, of what justice and fairness looks like, and of how she wants to operate in the world. I adore her strength, her conviction, her determination, her sense of self.
I am very lucky. And yes, she did pick that flower for me – purple is my favourite colour. She’s also a details girl.
I may not be writing again yet, but I’m feeling pretty good about where life is at. I hope you’re all having an awesome day, and that you know I’m also thankful for you
In the wee hours of the morning my youngest daughter climbed into bed with me. She said, “You don’t have to protect me anymore. Someone taught me the word ‘chupacabra‘, it’s a creature, it’s sneaky, and it’s my friend”.
I was a little concerned….
And then this morning the older two relayed that last night, while they were all out getting fish and chips with their Dad, there was a rustling in a bush, and Natalie told them it was her friend, the chupacabra, and it would jump out and scare them. When she woke again, just now, I asked her who told her the word – her imaginary friend, the chupacabra.
I literally have no idea where she learned this word. I can’t remember ever exposing it to her, and it’s not one of the common ‘monsters’ in my opinion. My kids know all about vampires, and zombies and werewolves, but not the chupacabra.
Creepy.
