Merry Christmas!!!!

Song of the day: “All comes down” by Alan Walker and Noah Cyrus. Cute song for sure.

Well, another blog has arrived.Not as long since the last one, but still, I should have been by sooner. Had planned to, but then on several occasions when I had planned to post one, something happened. The editor got back to me with the book. I was sick. Had to work. Always something isn’t there. Anyway, am here now, so let’s see what’s been going on.

First off…if all goes according to plan, we finished the final EDIT of the book yesterday. This was copy edits, so cross your fingers, toes, legs, and anything else that you can think of that this is it, finally. The Copy edits weren’t nearly as traumatic as before. Really basics, like missing words, grammar rules and formatting stuff, so it was done in just a few days. Yay. Got everything ready to send it before the last deadline and happy about it. Time to actually get to the end product, right? Actually had fun during this last one, considering we got to linger (if only a moment) on particular scenes we enjoyed writing.

Here a teaser of the cover...

Had my dinner party the other day. Had planned on a buffet party, but since so many folks turned out to be unavailable on the date, I decided to shift that to a later date (maybe a book party, some time next year, right?) and make it a dinner party for those that had already agreed to come. 

We were with a total of eight + a 1 year old, so it was a nice full evening involving plenty of food (spent about 5 hours on cooking spread over 2 days, so it wasn’t too much work) talk and laughter. Had a nice time, and everyone enjoyed themselves, I think. Had invited littlest brother as well, but he had an unplanned overtime session at work, so the only way he could have made it was to go straight to the station and travel our direction, and still be after eight…an hour after I had planned for dinner to start. The snacks would have tided us over for sure, but still, what with the baby there, stretching it out that long seemed unproductive, so we agreed he’d come the next day for a dinner of left overs. Hah.

Had prepared an elaborate dinner (was afraid I had cooked too much, of course) with hors d’euvres of toasted vegetable bread with herbal butter, small zucchini pastries and a rather sturdy butternut  pumpkin soup. We followed that up with a colorful salad, involving grilled mushroom and  pumpkin seeds and a dressing of choice. Next was the main course of a leek quiche with sweet potato mash garnished with grilled peppers and onions on a bed of raw arugula. Only to end it all with a freshly baked apple pie with whipped cream. Needless to say, everyone was thoroughly stuffed, and I wasn’t left with an excessive amount of left overs. In fact, I had exactly enough left to feed three people the next day for when littlest brother came to visit. Yay!

So all in all, it was a lovely evening, that lasted way longer than planned with everyone not leaving until eleven in the evening, and one guest even spending the night. Considering I had managed to spread the actual cooking out over a couple of days, I didn’t even have a massive clean-up afterward. In fact, two dishwasher loads, carrying chairs and tables back to their original sports and voila, things were all back to normal. I would call that a success!

My new job is official. Finally got and signed my contract the day before yesterday. Will be working for a big catering company, on several locations in company cafeterias, so that will be a nice change from the Wellness branch. I get to mess with food, maybe even express myself creatively in the future, since the manager promised that they try to stimulate creativity in their employees. We shall see how that goes. The company policy does look promising, since they aim for vegetarian since that is on the overall better for the environment, they do not make excessive amounts so there won’t be a lot of waste, and they try to focus on the veggies of the season, which all sounds good to me. They will be serving mostly lunches, which will include sandwiches, soups, salads and other finger food, so that should be fun at the very least. I will be starting in the first week of January, so who knows, the next time I write, we’ll know more. Haha

Spent a couple of days at my dad’s to help out painting his new place. There was a bit of a rush going on there, considering the new floor was going to go in the following Monday and they would have preferred to have the paint on by then. They didn’t make that, but at least the primer had been put on in 90 percent of the house. I had counted on being cold for a couple of days, but it wasn’t. The house needed to dry asap, so the heating was on high, meaning that within an hour everyone was sweating like a racehorse. Hah. Such a long drive, to and from, but it was basically the last time I could actually help, so I didn’t want to cancel.

Luckily by that time I was no longer sick. A week earlier would have been a lot less handy. Was sick as a dog, I tell ya. It all started as the sniffles, with a terrible runny nose, that didn’t seem to get worse than that, only to suddenly sink a day or two after I thought, “Hey, it is getting less bad,”. So there it went, a nasty little cough that stayed high up in my lungs rather than deep down below where I feared it would go, due to experience. Kept up my qigong during the whole thing, which includes several exercises for the lymphatic system and the immune system, which think helped keeping the cold’s damage to a minimum. I do know that normally, in the past, even as short ago as last winter, a could that sunk in my lungs would have been a disaster for a full two weeks, instead it took me 3 days to get over the worst of it. Yay.

There were quite a few cleaning sessions due to the dinner party, of course. Can’t have the house a mess if you get visitors, duh. So walls got emptied of spiderwebs again, floors vacuumed (had done the windows just a couple of weeks ago, thankfully) kitchen and bathrooms scrubbed, and everything tidied. And it looked good. Made relaxing on the night in question a lot easier.

Had to have the car fitted with new brakes…which costs a friggin’ fortune! Added to that, we had to have the yearly check, so the day before the appointment I spent cleaning the inside of the car. Got a cute mechanic so having a pigsty for a car really isn’t an option. Didn’t get to the outside, but considering it is winter and all cars are dirty anyway, I didn’t mind all that much. Instead I washed the thing today and it looks splendid for Christmas dinner with the family down south. Yay. 

Regardless, the car got through the yearly inspection without much trouble, so we’re all set for a year, thankfully.

Helped out at the store again a couple of weeks back, which was fun. Sorted out the majority of the top floor, which had been such a mess lately that they weren’t able to let customers up there to roam about. Not good for business that. Anyway, got most of that done, so I hope that this is now less of a problem…I should probably ask. Totally forgot. Hah

Did find a rather good 2^nd hand office chair. My old one was starting to give in to the demands of time and use, so it was a lovely find at the gift shore. Really a rather fancy one, and considering a lot of my work involves sitting at my desk, a good chair is rather vital.

Am all set for this year’s Christmas presents. Found one for everyone that I needed one for, except littlest brother, who I find difficult to find something for, so in the end I decided to make a quilt. Much like I used to back in the day. Used mostly recycled materials, Jeans in this case, so the quilt is in only blue hues. Worked out rather well, despite it being a pain in the behind to make because most fabrics were stretchy, but to different degrees, it made making it all straight rather difficult. Did finally manage so I hope he likes it.

If he doesn’t I’m going to take it back and give it to someone else, or maybe even try to sell it. I’ll let you know how that works out.

Also made myself a quilt. Nothing near as fancy as the quilt, but at least one big stretch of fabric (makes the bedroom look way more dressed I always think) that I’d had lying around for more than two years already, exactly for this purpose. Love my sewing machine for sure. Was nice doing some other activity than working behind the computer. It had been so long.

Lastly I went visiting friends the day before yesterday (a couple that weren’t able to come to the dinner party) and spend the evening there playing with the dog and two babies. Was different, and fun in its own way, even though by then the edit wasn’t done yet, so I didn’t make it too late, and went home in time to finish another 40 percent of the manuscript. Hah

And that makes for today’s blog. There are sure to be things I forgot to mention, but that’s no surprise anymore, is it? Anyways… Wishing y’all HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! And that the past year gave you everything you’d hoped for the last time ‘round!

A nice job!

Song of the day: "I miss you" by Clean Bandit feat Julia Michaels. Love this song. Although it is not the nicest chorus to have stuck in your head like an earworm. Doesn't mean that it isn't a nice song, though.

So, what all has been going on then? Quite a bit, actually. My cleaning job ended, thankfully. Not on a bad note or anything, it just wasn't for me what with the new management. Did my notice month, said my goodbyes to the best colleagues, keeping in touch with some of them, and went through all the motions of getting a new job. And I did. Two in fact. Yep, you heard it right. I got two. One's a little less fun. Prepping buses. It is all about gassing them up, dragging a broom through them, putting them in a wash street and then parking them for use the next day. Not exactly challenging, brain wise, but different at least. Hah. This one will be late at night in the weekends. Gah. I know. And it's a cold job in winter, too, considering everything is outside, so if it rains, I'm pretty much scr**ed. The one plus is that I can wear my baseball caps again. I missed those babies.

The other job I got today. Yep. I applied for this catering job weeks and weeks ago and thought it wasn't going to be anything after not hearing from them for all this times, but then last week I suddenly got a call where they asked to meet me. Which was today. Went for a chat at one of their steady location. A company cafeteria, where I was talked through the procedures, what they did, what they were looking for and so on. We discussed terms etc, and considering they had four applicants the manager was going to call me around Tuesday with their decision. So, I went back to the car, thinking it had gone reasonably well, and wham, suddenly my phone went with the manager asking me another question or two before suddenly saying: "how would you like to start next week." To which I assured her that would be splendid, naturally, meaning that I have another job. One that I actually look forward to. And a non-cleaning job to boot. I was afraid that was never going to happen. But it did, so, YAY!

Will have to choose one or the other at some time, considering having two jobs like this will cost me a humongous amount in taxes (40% of one salary), which is not something I much look forward to. Grrr. Bloody taxes. I think I'm just going to use the next month or so to figure out which one I like best and then make a decision.

What else? Well, some stuff with the book. Again. Which got so bad due to contradicting messages that we just made a joint decision to postpone the publishing date by a month. At this point it's a relief, really. There was so much pressure building up that it became clear that it wasn't all going to get done in time.

Did get a peek at our future cover, which is gorgeous! I'm teasing, I know, but they did a wonderful job on it. As soon as everything is sorted out I'll post it here on the blog, of course. I'm curious what y'all will think.

What else. Got another inspection of the house, which was thankfully okay. Was really worried about that, especially because due to edits I'd been so busy that I didn't get a lot of time for cleaning. Got the basics done in time, and we managed to chop away the weeds outside before the inspector came, so all ended well in that regard.

Cooking. I tried a new dish I'd been thinking about for a while. Really nice. Involves white cabbage, carrots and leek, fried in a dry rice with spices, sambal ulek and scrambled eggs. It almost tasted like eggrolls, I tell ya. Added to that I baked tiny nuggets of my chickpea meat substitute and they went together splendidly. No baking recently, much to my regret. Except some bread, but that doesn't really count, does it? Also messed around with some other recipes, of which a couple are ending up in my collection of recipes. I really do need to start packing them all together in the recipe book soon. Got quite a collection going already.

Dratted car is going to have to go in for new brakes and disks, which costs a bloody effing fortune, naturally. And money is already tight this month. Doesn't help either that my phone fell and stopped working, so now I am messing about with Big Brother's old (also broken) one until I can find something affordable. Stupid weak phones. Can't even accidentally drop your phone on the concrete in a puddle so the glass cracks all over. Grrrr. Haha

Came down with a cold last week. Every congested and I had a light fever, but I thought I'd won the battle, having the darn bug under control, only to wake up this morning and feel that it had travelled down my thrown *insert a string of swearing here* I was doing so well. So now I am drinking hot toddies with turmeric. A lot. Hoping that it will help some. Grrrr. I better. I got a couple of cold evenings ahead of me at the bus job, and then off to my dad's place to do a few days of painting in his new house. Will be the last chance I've got, considering work for the catering is going to start next week. Just need to get this friggin' cold under control.

Went to a party of a former colleague a couple of weeks ago. Which was lovely. Got to see a lot of former colleagues and friends, enjoyed some of the food (meaty stuff didn't go down well…ehm, well, not at all actually. Had to carefully eat around the meat chunks in what was otherwise a lovely soup. Haha. Am afraid our host didn't know that we're mainly vegetarian) drank lemonade (I was driving so big brother could have some beer) and basically just chatted with folks and admired wedding pictures and the new house. A lovely evening.

Have made some tentative attempts at starting on a new book project, but considering the process of the one that is getting published constantly interrupts, demanding more time, doesn't help much. Maybe some day I'll fully explain how the whole process went, it's a doozy, but for now I want to stay positive and keep looking toward the future, so it will have to wait. Hah

What else…I'm not sure. Starting to draw a blank here. Very frustrating. Finally caved in on finding decent pants at thrift stores and ordered some jeans online. Such a relief to have some pants that are in one piece available at will. Was down to one favorite pants (you know what I mean, right. For some reason you end up with that one pair that you just keep wearing and wearing until it is ragged and you can't anymore *sob*) but now things are much easier. Yay. Good thing too, since I needed something neat for my job interview yesterday. Had on black jeans with an eggplant purple sweater. Some creole earrings and hair up and, surprise surprise, I looked halfway decent. *wink*

There were groceries to be done, of course. When is that ever not the case. Wouldn't it be grand if you only had to do groceries once a month…I know, I know. If that were the case I'd probably complain about having to do it once a month. Why not twice a year?! Hah. I'm whiny when it comes to groceries, aren't I. Let's just say that I like it that less is spent when you go to a store less. Somehow, no matter what you do to prepare, you always end up doing spur of the moment buys, and they are evil, I tell ya.

As for what more…blanking! Blanking! Have been giving my plants some extra attention. The poor darlings had been neglected a bit during all the rush edits, work, job applications and whatnot. They're all looking a lot better now. Added to that, I've been working on making new ones, which is going well. I always like having some extra little plants that I can use as gifts. Some of them are just so easy to "clone" and so cute once they get started…can you hear how I am basically treating my plants as pets. I do. I also talk to them FYI. What can I say. I love my plantsies.

Also doing some proofreading for other people on the side, and content writing for blogs, so I keep busy, as usual.

Religiously doing my qigong. Not giving that up now that I have finally conquered the evil Plantars Fasciitis and can actually be on my feet all day without wanting to burst into tears at the end of the day. Which reminds me. I have to do my session for today still. Yikes!

So that's it for today. Not going to blab any more useless stuff here. As soon as I've got something nice to share, I'll go on and on and on about it. I promise.

Gotta go!

Another step

Song of the day: "Stargazing" by Kygo. Gorgeous song, but it was literally blaring through my head during the course of the past few days. Hah.

Well, let's get started right away, shall we. It has been a while, I know but the publishing company came back to me, with yet more changes for the book, so I have been working on that full time practically since the last blog…or a week after that. It's been very, very hard (not to mention frustrating) to get everything done while life got way too busy and work took so much time. It was hard to get it all done. The days simply weren't long enough. But another step was taken, at least.

But enough about that for now, there was some interesting stuff throughout the course of the past few weeks, I assure you.

My best friend Tiina came for a visit…for several days in fact and it was lovely, despite me having to share her with another friend living nearby. Had a wonderful trip to the zoo while she was here, spending the afternoon with her in-laws. Was a very nice end of the day, despite the cold temps. A lovely zoo, cosy, with good looking animals and lots of places for small kids to play, which was good, considering we had three kids along.

Before that we went to the local dunes for a nice walk, meaning that at the end of the day we had walked for about five hours in total. My hip wasn't happy with me, probably because I did a misstep at the dunes. Luckily a good night's rest solved that.

Tiina brought me henna for my hair, and was nice enough to put it in my hair for me the second night. Got a nice warm red color again, which suits me well, I think.

Spent another afternoon shopping, which was also nice. Although I only bought a sweater, which I returned right after because I didn't like the model at all.

Was sorry to see her go, especially because it will probably be a long time before we see each other again. Good thing we have whatsapp. Almost as good as seeing each other every day. Almost…but not really. * sigh *

After dropping Tiina of at the airport five days after her arrival, I drove on to visit dad and stepmom, considering I was halfway there already anyway.  Was nice. We talked a while, they showed me the new house, and told me of all their plans, and it was so nice to see them all excited about it. It was really bringing them together again, I think, and that's lovely for them. Went to eat at a nice restaurant afterward. Wagamama. Very good food, I tell ya, and lovely smoothies. A very pleasant evening that I ended with a strong coffee in hopes of it keeping me alert enough to make it home in the two hour drive. It did, just barely. And when I say barely, I really mean, barely. The last couple of miles were with the windows wide open (freezing cold) music on loud and chewing peppermint like a lunatic, trying not to fall asleep. Made it in one piece, so I guess you could say it was a success.

I burnt my wrist, darn it. Was making myself tea in one of those old-fashioned kettles and was struggling to get the whistle off (it sometimes has trouble getting off) only to get burnt by the steam. Seriously, I've got a burn the size of a small lemon on my wrist now. Hurts like heck.

Quit my job. Was already thinking about that for a while, of course, and as a final attempt to make the work work out, so to speak. Finally decided to offer my cleaning plan, more or less a "take it, or lose me" kind of thing because the present way they are cleaning is not working…and I think the new supervisor realizes it. When I turned in my resignation, she even went as far as saying that she would like to use my cleaning system in the future, once she's got a new team. A compliment, in a way, but still, kinda nasty that she is going to take credit for something that I worked hard on for a long time. But then, f**k it. I got enough of that place and the way it functions. Their loss if they wanna lose all their good people. So now I am doing my notice month…well, am half way through it already just doing the basics that they want, rather than the extra mile I am used to going for work. Makes it very unsatisfactory, but if that is the type of thing they expect, it isn't the right place for me anyway.

So, I have been looking for work and now I am facing several options. Got a night job lined up, for which I will start a trial run sometime this week. Yay. Got another option, maybe, at the store I used to volunteer for. They might be able to offer me a paying position, so I've got to think that through. And then today I got a call if I would be interested in another job, near Utrecht, so I'm going to have to think things through well.

I'll keep you posted on how things work out, and on which job I'll settle in the end. They all have their advantages. The store would be fun, the one I'm going to try out this week pays really well and the other…well, it would be an interesting job, more than anything. I'm still hoping to hear from the catering companies I applied for, though. Now those would be really nice. But we'll see.

Cooking wise I have been creative with leftovers on the most part…and a batch of old apples and plums that I, for the life of me, couldn't finish (big brother doesn't like fruit) and made a rather wonderful pie of. I added some spices, some crandberries, walnuts and a spicy crust. Add a little sour cream and Mmmmm. Yummy. Great dessert. I just hope that I can finish it on my own, considering big brother's attitude toward pie. Sorta like my attitude toward chocolate, I guess. Hah.

Had a short interruption of the edit with doing a blog for a friend, a proofread re-write thing, considering it was translated from Danish into rather bad English. It takes some puzzling to make that work, but it is nice enough to do.

As to the book. It is difficult to combine work with the edits. I am tired after work, so usually I will have a nap and then hope I am coherent enough to get some computer work down. Regretfully that was a not an optional thing for the past few weeks, that mean basically spending every free minute on the book, making me work a full-time job at home and a part time job added to that. A bit much, but it had to be done. And is done. Sent the manuscript yesterday, so basically it is out of our hands now, which is a bit of a relief, sorta, kinda. Now I can take a few days to get the house in order again, earn some extra cash, do proper exercises (had to do minimal exercises this past week, just to save time) clean, do some social stuff, and all in all, prepare for what comes next.

Had a few nice get-togethers with friends here and there, except for the last two week, basically. Will be good to have some more time for that, though, including a couple of parties that we've been invited to. A kid's birthday party and a housewarming party, so, that should be fun, right?

Went to the dentist the other day. Remember that tooth that broke back when we had to drive grandpa to the Netherlands a few years ago. It had been bugging me, the edges becoming too sharp, a bad taste (can I just state for the record that I do not appreciate my old dentist having wrecked my perfect record. That tooth was damaged, it didn't have a hole, until he started messing with it. Grrrr) and enough of a problem with it, to warrant a fix. According to my dental pics, there is some damage on a few of my teeth, (I'm guessing from my time with Pica) which the dentist would like to fix, but I'm going to have to spread that out, because for now I am not insured for dental stuff.

Which about sums it up. I am sure there is more that I'm forgetting, as usual, but this will just have to do for now. Will try to write again soon.

Waiting, waiting, waiting.

Song of the day: “Good for you” by Selena Gomez.  Cute little song, I know. Not the most pleasant one to as like an earworm. Not that I don’t like the song, or anything, but it becomes somewhat monotone if the chorus keeps repeating in your head.

So, time for another blog. Been slacking there again, I know, but life just gets away from me, you know. It’s not an excuse (well, it is, hah) but at least an explanation.

Right. Let’s get this started then: First off, working on adjusting “A Taste Of Life” so that I can send a proposal to my editor.  It’s harder than I had thought, in particular because I need to cut out a lot of scenes that I really like, and put in others to make the plot beat sheet work. Grrrr. I am not entirely happy with that formula, but I suppose that at the moment I am not really at a liberty to forego it. Do have all the bullet points sorted out now, and up about mid-point twist it is all in order. Now all I need is find some time (where I’m not falling asleep) to actually dig into the story and star writing.

Still waiting to hear about Saving Nina. Seems to be taking forever, now that it is lying on the chief editor’s desk, darn it. So frustrating.  All the waiting, waiting, waiting. Makes me wonder if things are ever going to be okay in that regard.

Work has been a challenge. Primarily because my old supervisor quit and a new one took her place. It’s a pain in the behind I tell you, having to get used to a new one, needing to prove yourself all over again with work that you know how to do in your sleep. Added to that, this particular supervisor is not at all open for suggestions, has unrealistic expectations, and on the overall does not communicate properly. I have decided to give it a few weeks, but if it doesn’t improve by then, I am quitting. In the meantime I am keeping an eye out for other available jobs.

The only plus that is coming of this, is that I will be getting three steady days to work on, instead of variables. That means, I got my pick of days and I went for Sunday, Monday and Wednesday, meaning that I can actually plan stuff around that from now on. Yay!

Things have been so busy lately that the house became a mess again, of course.  Took me a day or so to get that all sorted. The disadvantage of a big house, I guess. But considering I love the space, I can’t really complain, despite the large amount of cleaning that is necessary at least once a week.

Been religiously doing my workouts on all my free day (had a few less than I would have liked but what the hey) Qigong, lifting weights and bodyweight stuff. The full routine takes  and hour to an hour and a half, depending on the amount of time I have, but overall, they do me a world of good.

The old dishwasher that came with  the house was working poorly, so one afternoon this week, big brother and I took it out and placed our own 2^nd hand one in its place. It is a much cheaper brand than the old one, but at least the dishes come out clean afterward. A big relief that.  Considering the old kitchen counter around the sink isn’t doing all that well. Wouldn’t have dared risk it with daily dishes.

Our clothes dryer (regretfully a necessity in the wet Netherlands) has been going on the fritz lately, so we also took that one apart to see what the problem is. Seems like the pump isn’t working, so we’re going to have to find a solution for that in the near future.

Cooking wise I am still experimenting quite a bit with protein. It is helping with being tired. It really works to have big amounts of veggies with protein for that. Hah. Have quite a few new dishes because of it, that I am seriously thinking of putting on the cooking blog.

Had a few visits, on involving my designer friend. Had a nice visit after a work morning, partly because I was upset with the way things went, so I got to play with her baby a bit. A short visit, but nice regardless.

Been doing some other work as well. First off the wedding blog for the aforementioned designer friend. A nice challenge. Writing content, adjusting photographs to make them look their absolute best and then arranging them on the wordpress blog until it is all an attractive little package. Think it is working out well….especially since I have another blog I assist with. This one interpreting and proofreading one for a Danish friend with a chain of stores who writes a monthly blog with health advise. This one is a bit more complicated than the wedding blog, but also a nice challenge.

Kitten is dong a really good job lately. She’s catching like two mice a week, not to mention an occasional baby hare. She brought in two. Seriously. Grossed me out, but what can you do. She’s a predator and with the mice she is doing her job…not to mention enjoying them as a meal. Hah

Autumn has most definitely arrived. Leaves are turning. Cold wind is sweeping in on a daily basis, and you can smell it in the air, really. I’m enjoying that aspect of the change quite a bit, I have to admit. That special tang of freshness in every breath that you take. It is lovely.

There’s lots of weeds in the yard, which annoys  me. Haven’t found a  strimmer yet. Do need that pretty bad ‘cause this just looks way too messy. Do have someone we can borrow one from in the near future, though, so I’ll post a pic or two once that is done.

My best friend T is going to come visit at the end of the month, so Yay! Am totally looking forward to that. It’s been more than a year now, and I’ve missed seeing her. Regretfully it will only be a 3 day weekend, one day involving her arrival at ten in the morning, and the last day involving her return to the airport. *sob*

Let’s hope the days last.

The new car had a hiccup. Small light went on on the dash, meaning a trip the garage that I’d picked for the future Volvo check-up. Had planned to go anyway, so they checked over the car computer (managed to reset it) and it has been fine since. Also made an appointment for the Volvo, which led to a rather big bill today (maintenance, thankfully, nothing else), and a need for another in the near future, because the brakes are ready for replacements. But, maybe we’ll try to exchange them ourselves, if that is at all possible.

Had my first dentist appointment since we’re back in the Netherlands. Will have to return next month to have a small hole fixed. Need to spread things out a little because I am not insured with my teeth. First things first in that regard. Anything afterward can take its time.

And that about sums things up, I suppose. Not incredibly exciting, but life is moving along nicely. Often I am left to wonder what will happen next. Much like a soap, really. Hah.

On with life...

Song of the day: “Subeme la radio” by Enrique, of course.  Don’t know why I have this one in my head lately, but there you have it. Who can understand earworms anyway. Same goes for Imagine Dragon’s “Thunder” which was going through my head on and on and on for a couple of days this week. Hah.

But, let’s get down to business. Life has been busy again with a variety of causes…the lack of a blog proves as much, I guess. Grrr.

No matter. First thing up is that a couple of weeks ago our zit car gave the spirit. Poor thing never really recovered from the accident last spring, and finally just gave up while I was on my way home. *sob* Had to call triple A for that, and the mechanic declared the little thing dead due to a busted cylinder, which made oil burn directly in the engine. *double sob* The fella towed me home…special experience, that. So strange to drive a car where you basically don’t have any control over. Added to the fun was that his navigating device would have send him in the wrong direction, so half the ride I was hanging out the window gesturing which way to go.

Anyway, that little issue mean that we had to look for a new car, which was what we had to sacrifice a free day for soon thereafter. Spent about 10 hours on the road, going to people who had “affordable” cars for sale. Tried out a total of seven before settling on one that has a wealth of cosmetic issues, but which’s engine still sounded and felt good during the test drive. It was a tough job for sure. Exhausting, too. But seriously, you don’t want to see some of the carpy cars we got to look at. But regardless. We’re two weeks, or so, into the new car now, and it is still running and not guzzling an excess amount of fuel and oil, so…yay!

I mean, I hear you thinking, why on earth do them kids need two cars? But with my other job, and the possibility of another one in the near future, mobility is vital. Grrrr.

Visited my dad and the missus a couple of weeks ago. Got to admire the new place, of which the walls were fully up at that time. Nice big airy place that should be done sometime in November. Fun to see the materials they work with around these parts. Different building blocks. Different concrete for second floor landings. And so on. Made my hands itch to get back into that sort of thing once more. I miss building.

Regretfully that was a work day, without me having had the time for a siesta, meaning that I fading pretty fast when we arrived. Seriously, I was so tired that my skin was itching and my eyes hurting. Still, I could hardly say no to a walk from their rental to the building site…a good 20 minute walk. I should have. Seriously, after that I was just about ready to pass out. Of course I sucked it up and played out the remainder of the evening, until it was time to go home again (1.45 h drive) with big brother even more tired than me, because he had worked longer, even. *sigh* Can’t complain, though. Was a nice evening. Don’t get to spend all that much time with family, so it was worth it.

Did quite a bit of experimenting in the kitchen. Made a rather splendid chocolate cake for a colleague’s birthday, and an egg cake with crème fresh and blueberries for another.

Due to my changed diet with an increase in protein. I forgot for a while and immediately  noticed it in my dropping energy levels. Now that I’ve brought it back up, I’m doing much better again. Yay.

But anyway…I’ve been working with a lot of oven dishes. Lots of egg, garlic and green herbs, which are still by far my favourite. Gawd, tonight I had a most wonderful dish. Lightly boiled rice (in broth) with a variety of finely chopped veggies, some cheese, egg and loads of garlic. Seriously good stuff. Loved it.

The past couple of weeks were busy. Very busy. While the plan was for me to work three days a week, four at most, I ended up working 11 days of the past thirteen with one day spent of the car search, and another two on other obligations that made writing/editing practically impossible for those two friggin’ weeks! That I needed to do groceries (on my own, ‘cause big brother is doing a lot of extra time at work) for the next two weeks, didn’t help any either. No matter. It’s done now. Good for another two…oh wait, ten days now! Grrrrr.

Have been working on “A Taste of Life”, since we chose that one to try next for sending out to publishers. It is hard, though, considering we have to cut out a lot of good stuff to get the word count down, dumb down the writing a bit, considering the style I used was elaborate and mostly in dialect. *sigh* Very disappointing. I’m having a hard time with it, to say the least. Ah well, can’t be helped. The writing style this day and age is just different. Will miss the main protagonist’s wonderfully Irish voice, though.

In regards to the book. The editor finally gave the okay for the latest changes!!! Yayayayay! And Saving Nina is now on the desk of the editorial director so that she can put in her two cents, prior to the book continuing on to the copy editors. One step further, at long last!

Have a new couch…it is lovely, and perfect for napping after a long day of work. It cost only 55 bucks at the thrift store, and, miraculously, we managed to squeeze it in, and on top of the Volvo, rather than spend a whopping 25 bucks for delivery! Yipee! It’s light colored, not too heavy (which is ideal if we have to move again) and comfy, all three perfectly good things for a new couch, right?

Yesterday I visited my aunt, which had been more than 30 years ago (weird, I know, but there you have it). Big brother couldn’t go along, regretfully. Lots of stuff going on at the sauna, including the WM Aufguss, which takes a lot out of him. So I went on my own and spent a very nice evening with my aunt, talking about the past and present, talking about what I did and didn’t remember of her house and  the afternoons I used to spent at her place when I was a little girl, waiting for dad to come pick her up for the weekend. Hah. It was very nice. We laughed quite a bit, and got reacquainted, promising to see each other again, soon.

Had the house inspected from the company that provides me with this place. Was a bit worried, because I didn’t have a lot of time to do a lot of cleaning, but it went okay, except for a mention to battle the weeds outside. Yeah. Like that isn’t on my list already.  Have been keeping an eye out for a strimmer for several weeks now, but still haven’t found one, darn it. We’ll have to get to that.

Spent Saturday helping a friend move to a new place, which meant carrying a washing machine down on set of stair and up two, which certainly was an interesting experience. Added to that was this massive closet that we had to get down in two parts (carefully too, due to glass doors) and a massive couch that didn’t even fit through the door without also sticking out into the neighbor’s apartment. Managed to get it all done with the least amount of damage. But it did take several hours, and made me sore as heck when I had to get to work the next day…only to discover that I had mixed up my days and was supposed to have had a free one that particular morning. Aaaaargh!

Did manage to do most of my exercises. Both Qigong and weightlifting. But regretfully not as frequently as I would like on the most part. If I get more free time, definitely looking forward to doing more of that.

And that sums it up for today, I’m guessing. As usual, I am sure I am forgetting a detail of two, but who gives a bloody heck, in the end. It’s not as if I’m living life in the fast lane these days.  Hah.

Gotta go.

So here we are again

Song of the day: “Ocean” by Mike Perry feat Shy Martin. Lovely song. Gives me such a good feeling. Definitely not a bad one to have stuck in your head as an earworm.

Oh my, doesn’t time fly? It’s a been a full year since I gave up on my job at the Wellness and Spa, and where am I? Right back there for two months now. How weird life can work out sometimes, right? If it weren’t for the publishing contract I’d be worried about going “back” so to speak, but since I am now a part time employee, things are vastly different, thank gawd. I mean, in the past couple of months I overdid it a little. We were short staffed, colleagues needed a day off, etc, so I ended up doing four days a week, and even a fiver, which is understandable, but not smart. Y’all remember the state I was in after that year doing an average of 6 days a week, more than 7 hours a day. I couldn’t hack it, because my writing suffered from it. *sigh*

Besides, I’ve also noticed that if I work, more days, I care waaaaay too much for what should be nothing more than a job. It’s not my career,  and doing the job I’m paid for, to the best of my ability, is all I a owe to my employer, right? Right. That doesn’t change that there are moments of frustration, mind you, but what the heck. Gotta learn to let that go.

So. I have not a clue what did and didn’t tell y’all about the last time. I’ll just have to guess. Won’t I. Well, in regards to working out, this part time gig is a lot better than full time. What it boils down to these days is me working 3-4 days a week. Which means top sport for as far as I’m concerned. Those 3 mornings amount to four hours or running at a 110 percent. Scrubbing walls, floors and whatnot, basically hitting all the necessary muscle groups. Yay! That covered, the remaining 3-4 days a week I do a 1- 1.5 hour work-out of my Qigong, weightlifting, kickboxing and the occasional bodyweight exercise. Yeah!!!

The work-outs are really doing me good. Looks like they are just what I needed for my plantars fasciitis. I am barely bothered by that now, even on days when I work and have to walk a lot. Remember, back in the day, when I would complain all the time about how painful my feet were, like I was walking on glass, and no matter what I did, it wouldn’t get better. Well, it is. Such a relief that. Looks like I finally found a way to cure that little affliction. Yay!

Also, finally, had my appointment at the hospital for my varicose vein. Got my leg and veins examined, prodded at, but it turns out that the one still there, is not a new problem, but really just something they missed during my last procedure. Yay. In fact, my veins looked rather good (also an effect of the qigong, I’m pretty sure, considering several of the exercises have to do with improving circulation, which is vital) which was a relief to hear. Regretfully, because the leftover vein is not a medical issue, it is also not part of the insurance. *sobs* But, since it has no rush, other than for vanity purposes, I can just wait, save up some money, and then go to a clinic to have the odious thing removed, myself. Just requires patience, is all.

Did some wonderful experimenting with food of late. Made a couple of awesome cakes. One a chocolate nutty cake for my father’s birthday. He came over for dinner, and to see the new place recently. Was a working day for me, and for some reason I forgot to set my alarm, or I slept through it, and ended up doing a too long siesta, meaning I had to rush dinner. Worked out okay, though. The cake was just about done when he and stepmother arrived. Had a nice afternoon together, a short walk to see more of the area, and all in all, caught up on the past couple of months because we had all been so very busy.

Another cake involved lots of nuts, which was yummy. Also had a great bakmi, which thankfully lasted two day. Had a friend over for barbeque, which was fun, because the previous occupants of the house obviously used the corner of the yard as a biowaste dump, meaning we had a whole batch of home-grown potatoes. Yummy. Also experimented with a cauliflower, involving egg, hazelnuts, herbs and cheese, which worked out really well, for me anyway. Big brother is not a big fan of oven dishes, so I ended up living of the leftovers for three days in a row, which was a bit much. Grrr.

The edit: Oh. My. Gawd. ANOTHER round of changes was requested and I got 4 days for it…did four days…around work. So it was a week. Can’t do magic, and money has to come in, seriously. It’s not like I can just sit down at the computer for four days, all random-like. Jeez. I need to plan such writing sprees, make sure that work doesn’t intervene. And that is just me. For big brother it is even harder. He does full friggin’ days, and what little time is left beyond that…well, that’s why it took a week instead.

We had some arguments throughout, of course, which is never good. But with the time pressure, the proposed changes, it wasn’t all that odd that there were explosive moments of debate about what we could and couldn’t do, that there was frustration and whatnot for the duration. But, we didn’t kill each other, and the manuscript is back in the editor’s court, so…keep yer fingers crossed.

So, before the latest edit request came, I’ve steadily been working on “A Taste of Life”. Been rearranging the chapters, checking out how to fit it into a plot beat sheet, and how to put together a proper synopsis, see if I can shuffle around scenes, get some stuff out, put some new stuff in. See if I can make it work for the publisher so that maybe within the next year we can have another book out. That sure would be nice.

Visited Tenant. She appears to be cooping at the senior home. I do find it sad to see her…degrade is the word, I guess. I remember how she used to practise staying mobile, and active, only to now see her wither away in that blasted chair. I spent a couple of hours with her. We talked, went for a little walk around her home, and then I had to leave again. We did agree that she would come to visit us, which she did. And she really liked it. Actually held out until five in the evening, which was nice for her. She doesn’t get out all that much. And she loved seeing the new place, even though she couldn’t go upstairs, of course.

Other than that…well, not a lot of stuff happened. I know, the glamorous life of an author: working the part time day job, working on the books.  Not a single party to boast about. Hah

No matter, though. I’ll party my own way.

Book Review of Daedalus by Matt Verish

Sorry folks will write a new blog soon. For now you'll have to be satisfied with a nice book review.

5 stars in a 7 star system.

* * * * *

Daedalus (Interstellar Cargo Book 2) by Matt Verish


Plot: A space “pirate crew” of sorts, trying to get by in a hostile universe where enemies lurk everywhere.
An old theme but cleverly brought with believable characters. Clearly “Daedalus” by Matt Verish was a part two in a series, but it worked well enough as a stand alone not to frustrate the reader (me). There were enough mentions of previous events that were intriguing in such a way that curiosity is sparked to read what went on before. A definite plus in a series.
Pacing-wise, I would have liked to see a bit more speed at the beginning, and less haste at the end, though. I would have liked to read more about the alien planet described, and the ensuing race against time while the hero had to try to save the day, but it didn’t detract from the overall tale. I enjoyed it!

Protagonists: The fearless Captain Musgrave was funny and likeable, although he was hinted to being ruthless, which I didn’t really notice until I was a third into the story, and even then it was a single event. This seemed somewhat out of place to me, but this might be due to not knowing the previous story.
Camaraderie between the main character was there, and yet wasn’t. I was often left to wonder if they could co-exist...but again that might be due to the same problem of this being a sequel. There was definitely history there, which explained the friction. Regardless I rooted for them all, so apparently it didn’t matter as much as I would have thought.

Romance: There is some. Not as in ROMANTIC romance, but a love interest. Which was sweet, and added to the story, despite the “interest” being a bit too unreadable for her own good. I would have liked to discover more about her motivation and such, but that is the “romance reader” in me, I know, and perhaps not the thing for this kind of story.

Overall impression: A fun ride that kept my attention, entertained me, and made me want to turn the next page to see what would happen. All great ingredients for a good book, I would say. Definitely a “must-read” for space opera fans, but also an interesting diversion for the average reader.

A proper, picture update at last!!!

Song of the day? “Castle on the Hill” by Ed Sheeran, of course. Though not constantly, it has been an earworm from time to time this past week, along with “Symphony” by Clean Bandit. Both awesome songs and no punishment at all. Hah!

Soooooo. Yeah. I promised a proper update this time round, didn’t I? Yes I did, so thankfully I have been maintaining a list of stuff that happened, rather than rely on my somewhat spotty memory this time around. (Good Sammi!). There has been quite a lot going on since my last proper blog, so sit down, if you’re not doing so already.

First off, I promised to tell about the move, didn’t I. Well, we moved. It was a helluva job, I’ll tell, in particular since we preferred not to rent the van for two days in a row, but rather a solid 24 hours (as in 23 hours and 57 minutes) and save ourselves fifty bucks or so.

It all started on Key Day, on which I dropped big brother off at work before six in the morning, so I could continue on to the new place where I was supposed to get the hidden key and then spent a few hours cleaning before my district manager arrived to go over the contracts with me. Well, first issue was that I couldn’t find the key where I thought it was supposed to be….grrr. Didn’t discover until at the end of the day that the “electricity shack” was another than the one I’d understood from the description. Hah. Anyway. My appointment with the district manager wasn’t until  11 o’clock, and it was 6:30 AM. I was no pleased, I assure you. Tried the garage door: nothing. The  pantry door: No cigar! And then, after deciding to do a walk-around, finally found a back door that hadn’t been locked properly. Success! I was in!

Got the car into the wonderfully empty garage and started unloading the first batch of boxes that filled up the entirety of the car. Took about an hour, after which I took my trusty vacuum cleaner and went through the house with a fine toothed comb. Floors, walls, horizontal and vertical surfaces were sucked clean down stairs in the following hour.

Next came the kitchen, of which I had taken about 75 percent in this first trip, so there would be cutlery, china, cookery stuff and even some food on this first day. Was done just before eleven with the ground floor but the district manager was late, and didn’t arrive until friggin 2:37 PM! Seriously. The only plus was that I had time to vacuum and clean the second floor too. The “minus” was that I was late meeting a friend who was going to view the new house with me, after I had arranged for a van at 5:25 PM.

The plan was that we’d pick up the van at the latest possible moment, so that we could also return it at the last possible moment. The advantage to this was that we’d be home five hours before nightfall, meaning that we had that amount of time  load up the first batch of furniture, do a quick trip to drop them off at the new place (in the garage)  early in the morning, and then have the remainder of the day to load up the rest and bring that over in a second trip.

The trick to this was to only load big, cumbersome stuff, not pay much attention to stacking properly because that would take time with loading and unloading (big brother didn’t much like this part, because he was still under the illusion that maybe if we packed it well, we’d be able to do it in one trip. We couldn’t. I know my dimensions from years of calculating and planning with construction, moving stuff, loading stuff and whatnot, and I could tell up ahead that there was no way in heck that our stuff was going to fit in one truck!) and time wasn’t something we had. 24 hours, remember.  So until 10:30 PM we loaded our behinds off, after which I was so friggin’ tired and achy I just sat down on the floor with a glass of wine and cried a little. Hah. Jeeeeeezzzz. That was a friggin’ long day. Started at 6:30, unloaded, cleaned, drove about for hours, ran about to make arrangements (missed lunch and dinner) and then loaded up for another five hours. I’d just about had it, I tell ya.

Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself. I’d arranged for the van and met with my friend, who loved nosing around a new place, just like me. So we spent a couple of hours together, after which we had to go pick up big brother and then quickly leave to get the van and bring her back home.

So then was the whole loading bit, after which we both crawled to our respective beds around midnight and passed out until six in the morning. There was just enough time to have breakfast and then we were on our way to the new place. Both in the van, this time, figuring we might as well use the Volvo in the second trip to get more stuff hauled.

Had an “OMG” moment while we were driving. There was this massive smoke plume in the sky, from somewhere near the new place, and stayed there as we gradually approached in the busy morning traffic. I mean seriously, wouldn’t that be just our luck. We’re moving to a new place, only to find out that it burned down during the night for some inexplicable reason. But it wasn’t that. We were about 2 miles from the house when it became clear that the smoke was coming from some place on the other side of the road. Yes the plume was massive, but the fire wasn’t visible, despite several fire trucks screaming past as we made for our new home.

While loading took some five hours, unloading was done in one. Yay! Of course this was because could basically throw everything out the back, right into the garage, rather than bother hauling it into the house and its proper spot.

Before you know it, we were on our way back, only making a quick pit stop at a supermarket before we arrived at the old place and started loading again. Luckily, around noon, our nice neighbour came to help out, which was a good thing, otherwise we might not have made it. She also supplied lunch (also good because we were rapidly on our way of skipping lunch again) so we were actually done loading after two (as planned) and big brother on his way while I said our goodbyes and got into the car, now loaded to full capacity with my small jungle of plants. So cute. A car full of plants.

Be that as it may, unloading took an hour and a half this time,  for the simple reason that this was all the loose stuff, bits and pieces, bikes, boxes and whatnot. Again, just stuffed everything in the garage (gawd I love that place) and still had about half an hour to unwind, eat a bit, have a bathroom break and then had to be on our way to return the van with rush our well underway. Made the deadline with only three minutes to spare. *phew*

The first night we spend on mattresses on the floor. (Got a mail from the editor with the edited manuscript, which almost had me awake throughout the night, had I not been so exhausted.) But the next day I had the bedrooms set up before big brother returned from work. This was partly because cousin Ed came to help out with the unpacking bit, which did help, because I was pretty much running on fumes still.

So, what followed were a couple of weeks with me sorting out the house. It’s a nice and comfortable place. Reminds me a lot of the house we grew up in before moving to Spain. Same type of architecture and materials. Not my favourite style, but comfort goes a long way.

Got five bedrooms upstairs, two downstairs one of which is an en-suite. We use this as an exercise room,  which is rather cool, since we cancelled our gym passes.

A half bath downstairs, and another bathroom upstairs, with at the top an empty big attic that we’ve decided not to use.

I’d set my sights on a cute little room on the west side of the house, but since this house supplies so much space, I folded and got myself a 2^nd hand double bed…which didn’t fit in the cute little room. The cute little one is now a very cute little guestroom. Hah. Since big brother had already picked the room with walls that had actually been stripped and painted white, I took the master bedroom of which I still had to strip all the walls and paint them (some pieces several times just to have the paint cover dark spots). But the bed fits in there just fine, giving me plenty of space.

Big brother also folded (due to space available) and got himself a double bed too. Hah! Ah, the luxury. I love having room to move around.

Bedroom

Guest room

Fitness room

Living Room

Kitchen

Didn’t start on the edit/revision until five days after the actual move. Dreaded it, I tell ya. But I did get to it, and worked on it like a lunatic (big brother, too, in what little spare time he had) for the past few weeks. Didn’t have much time for anything, especially not since my job started in the first week of July.

Which reminds me. Had my interview about a month ago now. Had a nice chat with my new team leader, who’s a very nice woman, despite being seriously overworked at the moment. It is funny how the work is still the same as last year. Still not enough people, still people working their butts off to get everything done on time and still all the old frustrations. But, there’s nice folks there, so I guess it is a matter of getting used to them and the way they work. I do miss my old team a bit, but I suppose that will pass. At the moment, also because I need to invest time in writing, and everything around that, I’m working three days a week, with a possibility of four. With an average of six hours on those days. That is plenty, since this is not something as simple as sitting at a desk, but more something that equals a two-hour cross fit workout.

Had a doctor’s visit. Got a referral for the hospital next month for that stupid varicose vein they missed two years ago. Not looking forward to that, but the darn thing is bothering me every now and then, so it is better to do something about it, I guess.

Got a problem with my shoulder for a bit. Don’t ask me why. It’s embarrassing. But I strained it, meaning that a lot of movements, and some sleeping positions in bed are not at all comfortable. Stupid effing loose joints. Always giving me trouble. Like just this week, while helping out at work with moving furniture. Some joker young man suddenly decided to prop one side of the couch we were carrying together on the floor, meaning I had to tilt along or drop it. I did the first, and almost broke my effing thumb in the process. Seriously. It popped right out of the joint in order to turn along with the couch and it hurt like heck, until I popped it back in. So now I have a swollen thumb that is not liking much activities, such as work. Grrrr.  That is the last time I move furniture with some amateur.

There were groceries, naturally. Can’t do without those, much to my regret. But I do try to limit that to once every two weeks, with a weekly outing for fresh produce and dairy products. Doesn’t always work, but trying it counts for something. Hah

Had a friend’s dog stay with me one day, which was fun, even though he was young and peed in the hallway, and the exercise room. Hah. And also had a couple of dogs stay for a couple of weeks because their mistress went on vacation to Finland. It has been lovely to have dogs afoot again, even though on work days it has been a hassle to have walk them when I’m pretty much bushed when I get home. But, the pros by far outweigh the cons. Nothing quite as lovely as cuddling up to a  cuddly dog at night…well, some things are, but…well, you get my meaning.

Tinto

Gaia

We did spend  a few days at our father’s place more than a month ago. We’d promised to move a shed from the back yard to the front, which took a little longer than expected.  The shed had had some “improvements” over the years, meaning that we had to scramble a bit to make things right again after we took it partially apart and moved it to the new spot. Luckily it wasn’t too big, so we only had to take off the roof before we could carry the thing. Big brother and I would have managed, had we been on our own, but littlest brother was there, and stepmother, so we did it four, meaning it was a little less of a hassle. But anyway. It took four days instead of two. Four days of which the last two were all but comfortable for me, since I somehow ended up stepping on a bamboo shoot and had a hole in my foot of about half an inch. Seriously. That hurt. Ended up having to replace part of the roof and several pieces of wall due to water damage and bugs, but it’ll hold for a while now, I am pretty sure. A bigger task than expected, nut we managed, and got to spend some time with our father. Nothing like working on a project together to bond. It was nice.

In the end we went home content with the efforts made. Were right on time, too, considering construction of our father’s new place started a week or so later…which was why stepmother wanted the shed moved.

Ouch!

 Did my last few days at my previous job before the move. The boss was really sweet about the whole thing and told me that if I ever needed a job again, I could call him up. Which is a very nice compliment, I think.

Had a very short touristy kind of trip and went to visit the pyramid of Austerlitz. Cool place, and totally worthy of conspiracy theory book. Hah

Our temporary cat:

And our daily visitor…one of four that roam about here in the area, together with a badger.

For social activities the time past was interrupted only by a dinner party at the old place with the neighbors, a dinner party with friends last week, and that just about sums it up, I fear.

Did have a lovely cooking experiment with zucchini, which worked out well visually and taste-wise, so, yay!

As for the new place…had to hang a door in the upstairs bathroom. For some reason it had been removed. Found a spare in the shed, which we cut off and fitted into the doorway. At least it works. Nothing quite as annoying as a bathroom without a door when you’re sharing a place. Oh, and we have a toolshed now. Yay!

And this is a pic of the old barn that goes with the property. Hah

The edit…well, I missed the deadline by two days, which isn’t too big of a disaster regarding the massive changes and the length of the manuscript. But still, it annoys me that I didn’t make it in time. Guess life got in the way of things again, the way it usually does. In the end, you can only do your best, can’t you?

Well, that about sums it all up, doesn’t it. At least the highlights. Yep. I am going to leave it at this and take the dogs for one of their last walks. Tomorrow their mistress will come to pick ‘m up.