The revision/edit done and sent!!!!

Song of the day: “Castle on the Hill” by Ed Sheeran. Lovely song. It’s been tumbling through my mind frequently lately.

So, let’s make this a quickie. Been a long day, what with work and stuff…and with the past few days having been incredibly busy, catching up with friends (lived like a hermit for the past month or so, delving into that revision edit with an average of 8-10 hours a day behind the computer) which was very necessary. Luckily for me, stuff got cancelled by others during the whole work thing, some get-togethers I was forced to cancel myself, but on the overall timing was splendid. The manuscript actually got done in time…well, only five minutes, over the deadline we had set, so sorta on time anyway. Hah. Technically the edit was done exactly on the deadline, but the actually sending was five minutes late. *sigh*

It was pretty stressful, though: the hours, the weeks, and then that last night, big brother so worried that he woke me up two hours after I got to bed, so we could go through the last bits and pieces, six hours before the deadline. Aaaargh. Seriously, I had the idea that I’d just fallen asleep, and the next moment my door opens and big brother is saying, “we gotta get started, Sam. We only have six hours left. Get up.” Startled me straight up in bed, my head pounding, my stomach protesting (about three hours in I puked out my porridge…I know, TMI, TMI, but there you have it) and bleary-eyed on bad coffee while we read through the last few chapters, checked the key-words that we’d kept track of throughout the edit, (found one, despite all our efforts of taking them out) ran the whole thing through the spelling program, just to be sure, which took an hour!!! And every little thing we could think of before sending it off.

Felt really weird afterward, like deflated, or something, and just gazed blindly at the computer for a while, skimmed through Facebook and finally just gave up and went to bed, rather than risk feeling miserably tired for the majority of the day. Slept several hours and then went outside so we could work on fixing the Daihatsu. Yes! We did it! The little zit is fully functional again, all the broken parts we exchanged for new (2^nd hand ones, naturally)…although we still have to find a new hood, but that has no rush. Anyway, it works, it drives, and the garage who checked the poor thing over, declared it hale and healthy. Yay.

So, on the news part…there’s going to be some changes. Moving time is coming again…asap. Big brother had a rather good job offer, thankfully, so we’re planning on moving back south…at least a little bit, just as soon as we can manage it. Already looking, mind you, but such things take more time than I would want them to…but on the other hand, there is still a deadline for the book, and there will be at least two more edits before it can get the okay at the end of the month, so…I’m hoping that the actual move won’t be until next month. Seriously, can imagine me having to do the previous mentioned hours, while packing and loading most of our stuff, because big brother would be working full time at his new job. Aaaaaaarrrgggghhhh

As for the social business lately. We had some parties, b-days, from neighbors as well as friends, which was fun, if time consuming. Hah. Also visited friends with new babies, or babies underway. Five cases of that, just so you know, and just so you know, I’ve heard of two former colleagues who are having, and have a baby. Seriously, everyone seems to be procreating. I do hope it is not something in the water. Cute babies, though. I’ve been cooing over more babies the past few weeks than I did in the past twenty years. I kid you not. It sure is different, suddenly all the conversations are about babies and stuff about babies. Hah.

The car had a sudden problem the other day. We were preparing to bring away a load of old cartons, and the next thing you know the stupid thing just stopped functioning. Turn the ignition, but nothing happened, so I went straight to the garage, who offered to come back with me to see if he could get it started anyway. He could. Turns out the battery had completely died, so we had to replace it. Good thing that it was only that, because it seemed like it was a bigger problem. Was already seeing the disaster looming. Thankfully that wasn't the case.

Did quite some cooking, and baking. Have a divine chocolate cake, according to my volunteer tasters anyway. Personally I’m okay with them, but not the biggest fan…it being chocolate and everything. Also experimented with some dishes, which I think I’ll save for the cooking blog at a later time.

What else…well, not much else. Since the manuscript has been sent out I feel like I’ve been hit by a freight train and have been taking some naps, when the days allowed it, cleaning the house because it was a mess, doing laundry to catch up, and  doing my exercises approximately 5 days a week for more than an hour, if for no other reason than making up for the computer sitting time. If I hadn’t done that throughout the edit, I think I would have been a physical mess for sure.

The weather is finally improving. Everything is green again, which is a vast relief. The winter was incredibly long and I’ve had enough of it. Pity that now that the time to move has come, it’s a pity that it’s happening while everything has finally become pretty at last. I’ll keep you informed.

And that’s it for now. I’m leaving out stuff, of course, but I don’t want to get boring anyway. I’ll be back…as always. The question is just when. Hah.

Some writing. Yes!

Getting to bed in time last night certainly deserves a celebration. 5 AM on the dot, which is a record, to say the least. Now, if only I had remembered to set my alarm for my usual time, instead of the nap I took the previous morning, I might have actually been on time this morning. Ah well, at least this means that I got an hour and a half extra. Hah.

I’m feeling considerably better than I did the past few days, making me wonder what had caused the bad mood, as I start the morning rituals, and give the noisy pack their wanted release into the yard. Yes, the Monster Boxer and the Giant were pests as usual, but for some reason, feeling the way I do, I don’t really mind it today.

When I get to the house and discard my baggage and vest…the temperatures are humane again, thank God…I head back for the courtyard to get down the majority of yesterday’s laundry. Two new batches replace it soon thereafter and with that done I head into the house to do the folding bit, too.

It is on occasions such as this that the new closet, with the basket drawers, comes in handy. Each pile goes into that of the respective owner, and for the first time in years, I don’t need to put the clean laundry on the counter for the sibs to take to their rooms. Marvelous!

That done, I have a bit of breakfast. Though it goes down well enough, I’m still cautious and only eat a slice and half, just to play it safe. I need some coffee, and with big brother’s agreement I put only half the amount of grains in the filter before I set the machine to percolate.

By the time I have my computer set up, fed Yadzia, and have my coffee in hand, big brother and I discuss the day’s writing plans, before I set to a new scene of the vampire story.

With this story we are trying to develop together, we are diverting from my usual method and don’t bother with chronology.
It is a rather interesting way to work, I’ll admit, since it allows me to write scenes that I feel like writing, rather than having to work my way towards it–the way I usually do. It certainly allows for more liberties and that’s a pleasure, to say the least.

For the next few hours I’m pounding at the keys, writing a scene that is going to be fitted close to the end, and get down a total of five pages by the time dusk settles and I decide to call it a day, for now, and start on dinner, instead.

Since there are still a lot of potatoes, small ones that little brother doesn’t like to use for his nightly baking, grandpa helps me peel them for tonight’s dinner.
While grandpa and I are working on dinner, big brother sets out to hang the door of the laundry closet, which fits perfectly, now that he has the right hinges to finish the job.

Curried potatoes with a mix of carrots, white cabbage, onion and leek on the side are today’s pick for a meal. While the potatoes broil in their mix of herbs, with yogurt, apricot jam, eggplant patak and garlic, I put on the vegetables as well and let both pans heat until the vegetables are ready for consumption.

The meal is nourishing and tasteful, a good mix that goes remarkably well with fresh cottage cheese, and leaves me nicely stuffed by the time I’ve eaten my share and settle in front of the TV for an episode of “House” and “The Mentalist”. Both are vastly entertaining, and by the time the latter comes to an end I get up to paint the door big brother hung earlier.

Keeping half an eye on the episode of “Las Vegas” playing on TV, I finish up and then take a moment to stand back to admire the view. Now that the last closet is red too, it is a wonderful compliment to the rest of the kitchen. Sort of locking the area in with two pillars of bright red, with glass in wood doors finishing the image. Very pretty, and very “rustico” (country).

That done, I attempt another writing session, but halfway into a page, the cry from Iris, one of our huskies, disrupts the evening’s quiet. She looks pretty pale (I know, it’s hard to imagine seeing paleness in canines, but it’s around the eyes, gums and overall impression) and seems to be hurting somewhere, which of course sets the rest of the pack into a frenzy.

Before I’m able to check on her, little sister needs to keep the curious pack at bay, so I can toss Knigt II (he’s making a racket in front of big brother who attempts to make his way towards Iris as well) into the pantry, so we’ll have some peace and quiet.

By the time I reach the husky, she’s already looking better, making us wonder if another dog stood on her, or some such, while she was asleep.
After several spoonfuls of tonight’s dinner, along with a big gulp of honey–to get her color back up–she’s her old self again, and eagerly looking up at little sister for another treat.

Since this little scare pretty much ruined the writing mood, and since midnight has already passed, I gather up my things and dogs, and head up to my cabin to prepare for the night.

The first thing I do is repairing the coffee table Knight II ruined last night.
He jumped on top of it, breaking off two of its legs in his usual enthusiasm, and weight.
It takes little effort, really. I attach metal plates to the wood, solidifying the corners until the table once again stands on all fours and looks only slightly worse for wear.
It won’t hold forever, but for now it will do, I’m sure.

Next I feed the dogs, read a chapter or two of my latest re-read…I really need to get my hands on some new books soon…and then set up my computer for my nightly forays onto the net.

I need to get cracking, too, considering that time will be limited again tomorrow, due to our impending lessons in town.
I do hope I can find the time to do some exercise, but we’ll see. Planning such things is really not an option.