Road trip coming up!!!!

Song of the day: “Bad Liar” by Selena Gomez. Such cute song. Am not at all bothered by having it in my head.

So this is going to be a real quickie post, even though I owe you guys more than that, after the “radio silence” of the past couple of months, but what the heck. I promise I’ll make it up to you…in part with the news that soon you’ll be able to follow my upcoming trip, with, hopefully daily updates of the where and hows and whatevers of the road trip through the USA together with big brother. Yay!

It’s been and incredibly busy couple of months. I know I have said that before, but besides the vacation coming up, there’s quite a few changes that have been starting to take route.

First off, big brother got some good news, which involves him finally getting a permanent contract at work. Yay, for him. He likes the job. It’s varied, a challenge, and he knows his thing. Can’t ask for more than that.

Second bit of good news is that our book “Girl in the Misty” Finally became a bestseller at all the big outlets online.  It hit various number spots on Amazon.com (in multiple countries, thank you very much) and managed to get as far as #37 of all their books. Wow. On iTunes we got to #10, I kid you not and B&A we actually got till #2 Yay! Was all very exciting for a couple of weeks and an absolute pleasure to see that it was indeed was possible. We didn’t make the USA Today bestseller list, especially because the sales didn’t shoot until two days before the list was made up, but it was close, I think…or I like to think. Hah Received some wonderful reviews, too, not to mentioned tripled our ratings on Goodreads, which is always a good thing.

Thirdly, another job change lies ahead of me. Nothing wrong with the catering one that I had, but an opportunity came up, another offer was made, and I felt I had no choice but to take it with both hands. I’m gonna be a cook. Yes, you read that right. I, am going to be a cook. A paid one at that. And not badly paid either. And it’ll be a challenge, and I really enjoyed it on the occasions that I worked over there, combined with my other job, which was a pain in the behind, not to mention exhausting. Two jobs, and then trying to get another book ready to start sending out? Practically impossible. Got one more day…what do you think? Will I make it? We’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?

The new job will involve live cooking, which is a lot of fun, considering you get to talk with people and cook at the same time. Of course that is not all. There’s also prepping work, and cutting and mixing and making desserts…sooo many desserts. That’s the least favorite bit for as far as I’m concerned. Way too much sweetness.

Well, everything is ready for the trip. Bags are packed, house has been cleaned and organized for the house sitters, paperwork taken care of, everything triple checked, route completely set out, stops planned, people to see (at last), places to see and even a big part of our rooms already booked. Starting to get a wee bit nervous about the whole thing. I mean, this is the biggest trip I have done in ages, and to the other side of the world, no less. Exciting and scary a the same time, if you know what I mean. On the one hand, can’t wait to see it all, and on the other hand…OMG! OMG! OMG!

Car has been having some trouble. Both of them in fact. Had to call triple A myself once, because the engine stalled. Thankfully it wasn’t anything serious. Regretfully big brother’s is now also having trouble, so that means we have to deal with that as soon as we get back. Darn it.

Did quite a bit of experimenting with cooking, but the greatest part of that was that I was offered to arrange a big dinner for the CEOs at the company I now used to work for. So much fun. Got to set up a 3 course meal (well, I made a 3 course with three options per course so they could chose) and then serve it, which is not an easy thing, since there were products to order via places that only had order numbers and descriptions, rather than pictures, not to mention a limited amount of time to prep and actually cook before it was serving time. But it worked and everyone was happy and liked the food, so all went well…which was a relief. You know how I can stress about stuff like that. Hah

Well, that about sums it up for me this time ‘round. I hope that internet won’t be a problem for me over there, so I’ll be able to post blogs about the entire trip and let you all see where I’m at.

Looking forward to it.

Job related, mostly

Song of the day: “Reaggaeton Lento” by CNCO and Little Mix. Seriously silly video, but luckily it is only the song that is stuck in my head this morning, and not the actual imagery. Hah.

Right. Another day another blog…a little on the late side, considering the happy new year one doesn’t really count, does it?

Well, let’s get started then. What all has happened since the last real blog. Nothing really awesome, or anything. Life is going steadily as is, without too much excitement on the most part, thankfully. First off, the job.

I started on the job on the first day of the second week of the new year. Was tossed out there blind, not a clue what was going to happen early in the morning when I got a message on my phone asking if perhaps I wouldn’t mind starting my first day during an emergency. Someone was ill, and someone couldn’t come to work due to strikes at public transportation. Gotta admit to being a little blurry that early in the morning, blinking like some sort of zombie at the screen, but agreed, of course (got a hard time to say no, remember) to be there within an hour and a half.

Admittedly I was a little nervous. Hadn’t been introduced to any new colleagues yet. Didn’t know the setup. And had no actual idea what the heck my real job description was, other than general catering…which can basically mean anything from cash register work, restocking shelves, prepping food, serving food and clean-up, or so I discovered on my first day.

Luckily my new colleagues are a friendly lot, with enough patience not to get too snappy whenever mistakes are made….and there were plenty of those that first day, considering it was actually rather busy.

But anyways, we are now more than two weeks in, during which I have worked at two different locations and I can stand the work well. It is not nearly as heavy as the sauna used to be. If you call that a 100%, I think I’d call this a mild 60% in regards to physical and mental effort. Sure, there is a lot of stuff to keep track of, and to learn, but that is only a matter of time.

The thing I like the most about this job, so far, is that I can just stop thinking about it when I get home, and focus on something else. That wasn’t the case before. It would be on my mind, I would think about it, dream about it and basically be busy with it ten hour a day, or so. Hah. Much easier if you can just leave work on-site and get down to more important stuff when you get home.

Though my first couple of days at work involved me wearing my own clothes (uniform was late arriving) the uniform did arrive in the end, so I am now in the possession of a variety of aprons, shirts and trousers. The latter of such horrid material and design that I was forced to order proper pants online that were actually wearable. Much much better to wear cotton, rather than the icky polyester that made me sweat like a racehorse under 10 minutes. Grrr.

What else? Well, my birthday came and went. A year off of 40, the supposed big four-oh…which means exactly nothing, if you think about it. Seriously. I feel no different now than I did at 35, or thirty for that matter, except that I’m a little less stressed these days. Considering I have set certain goals going onward, using age as some sort of guideline I am actually rather curious about the whens and hows. I mean, just look at the now. Had anyone told me five years ago that I would be in the Netherlands, getting publisher, working, socializing and what not, I’d have laughed in your face.

But I was talking about my b-day, wasn’t I? Yeah. Well, I invited a handful of friends and we all went out bowling for the night. Had planned on just an hour, because, let’s face it, I hadn’t bowled since that one afternoon when I was six or seven, and who knew if it was any fun…but it was, and one hour turned into two with loads of laughter, talking, bowling and more laughter. It was a lot fun, and definitely worth repetition.

Except for me slipping in those wonky bowling shoes. Don’t know what the heck happened, but navigating through the restaurant to get to the bathroom, I did a nice little skid. Not a problem…then. But seriously, the next day, my knee was twice its normal size. Darn loose joints. Was pretty bad for several days, especially since I had to get back to work, but then, one evening, something popped (back!) and since then the problem has been lessening. Yay! By now I can walk around without pain again, just some remaining pressure while the inflammation is taken care of by the ol’ bod. Jeez, sometimes those loose joint tick me off, I tell ya.

Been faithfully doing qigong, naturally. Even during the whole knee problem (for as far as it was possible) I kept up, for which I will give myself a small pat on the shoulder “good Sammie”.

Which reminds me…In regard to eating meet, I haven’t been so good. In fact I forgot for quite some time, until the day before yesterday when I finally got around to eating a small part again. Bad Sammie! Seriously, I should know better, in particular since I’ve been tired a lot again. Grrr.

The normal stuff have been continuing on as usual, naturally. Cleaning house, cooking meals, doing groceries, but there was a car repair, due to the engine suddenly starting to stutter. Had to do with the spark plugs, so they were all replaced. Would have been nice if we could have figured that out ourselves, because we could have saved ourselves quite a buck, but what the heck, the darn vehicle works again, and needs to have a big checkup next month or so.

There was a rather massive storm in the Netherlands this week. The first night (wasn’t even that bad yet) the window in the guestroom got yanked out by the wind, ending up toppling down the roof and smashing on the parking place in front of the house. Seriously. Startled me silly, considering I was taking a shower across the hall at that particular moment. Thought: WTF. Someone smashed through the door, or something. There wasn’t. So, dressed in a wet bathrobe and a deodorant bottle in my hand as a weapon I looked a little silly. Hah.

The storm made driving to work a bit iffy. Due to many accidents on the highway, I was pleasantly rerouted to smaller roads. But the winds. Oh my. There were times it felt as if I was floating over the road top. But anyway, arrived safe and sound, so no harm done.

The book is gradually progressing. First indication of publicity efforts has come and gone, which is nice. Moving along, thankfully. Especially now that the whole editing process is over. Makes me so curious how the rest will go. What the plans are. Who is going to do what. You know, all that stuff of which I know very little. I know that as an indie published author I should know more about advertising and such, but I still stand with what  I always said: I’m a writer. If I were a good sales person, I would have chosen a different career. As it is, I am just hoping they will point us in the right direction, and sling us in…hopefully in the proximity of the bestseller lists. Haha. But we’ll see.

Had a dentist appointment. There were some starting holes, according to my photos, so we’ve been stretching the treatments out because I don’t have dental insurance…or did I mention that before? Anyway, he did a couple, but I have to get back because one of the fillings keeps hurting me. The whole jaw feels sore because of it. Grrr.

Kitten was very unhappy with us. Decided to give her a deworming treatment, meaning an early morning pill on a semi-empty stomach. She was not amused, and went around us in a wide circle for a full day before she forgot.

Made another cat door. This one in the garage door. Until now the cat litter box was in the mud room, but she really likes using it, meaning that it smelled most of the time, so we decided to make her “toilet” in the garage…especially since we dry our laundry in the mud room.

Kitten is not happy about that either, but such are the breaks, for as far as I’m concerned.

Her present favorite spot is under the stairs, in case you’re wondering.

That makes for full circle in the house. First upstairs in the second guest room. Next came the extra office chair in the living room. Then the kitchen on the sill between the fresh garden herbs. Then a dining chair. Followed by the spot under the stairs. Soon she’ll be back in the living room. Hah.

Gradually starting to work more on the new book project. The prequel to the coming feature. The “how it all began” story, which is fun to work on. Sometimes I marvel at how long I have been working on this particular world. I mean, I started it back in ’98 with a somewhat loose concept of “what would happened to a small group of survivors of a sect’s child army, once they grow up?”, and here we are. The first one at the brink of publication, with the prequel worked out, but still in need of some serious tweaking. It is very exciting.

Cooking wise I haven’t been doing much experimenting lately. Between work, socializing, writing, visiting Tenant (she’s doing okay, albeit a tad lonely and momentarily bothered by a severe cough) the usual daily grind, there just isn’t much time. Although yesterday I made a rather lovely mashed potato sauerkraut mix with a load of sweet and sour chili in it. Hah. It was yummy, and filled with vitamin C...good thing too, considering big brother seems to be developing a cold. Poor guy, especially since he is on-duty at work this week, and won’t get off until next weekend.

Did some doodling with paints lately. Nothing major. And nothing really worth showing, but it was nice to do…especially when I don’t have the energy to do anything serious. Also been doing some sewing. Nothing quite as fun as the quilt, but just necessary stuff, like taking in pants, fixing underwear. You know. The basics.

Also worked with my plants. Really need to get some bigger pots, because some of them are just growing out of bounds again, poor darlings. Just yesterday I got some new soil, so now all I need are the pots.

Found a rather nice rug for the living room. So now the ugly green one is in the kitchen’s dining area, lighting up the ugly brown. Haha. Same goes for the actual kitchen where I put one of those light Sisal rugs that helps loads. But anyway, the shag-rug in the living room is almost silver in color, and big enough to hide most of the ugly red carpet there…see how that works? Ugly floors everywhere, but rugs hiding that fact in most cases. What can I say. It makes things a lot easier than having to put in new floors…not that I won’t if the opportunity ever arrives, but for now, this is the easiest way.

My cheap phone finally arrived from China. This means the annoying time of adjustment is there again, but at least it is no longer constantly malfunctioning, like the old one. Seriously. Turns out I missed several calls, which were important. But anyway, that should be okay now.

Gonna have a dog over for a couple of days again, which should be nice…if not entire convenient, considering my work week. But anyway, he’s a friend’s and the company will be nice.

T will be coming over in March. Yay! Her friend is getting married then, so she will be here for that. Meaning I get to see her again…relatively soon after her last visit. Looking forward to it.

And that about sums it up for today, I’m thinking. There are sure to have been things that happened during the past few weeks, but since none jump out, I don’t suppose they were interesting enough to share. * wink *

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!

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.

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.

Another blog bites the dust

Song of the day: “Symphony” by Clean Bandit and Zara Larson. Gorgeous song, been listening to it quite a bit, and it is sticking.

So it’s going to be a shorty today. I know it has been quite a while since the last blog, but I’ve been up to my elbows into revision/edits, and the clock is ticking. In fact, I should be working on that right now, and yet, here I am. Hah . What can I say, I’m nuts.

At the moment, I am feeling the pressure. Got about six days to go (at most) and all the big stuff has been done, but everything still needs to be checked. Meaning that roughly 300 pages need to be read semi-intensely. Can you feel the pressure yet? No? Well, imagine that you already went through that same material some odd 22 times and that you’ve changed so much already that inside your head the story is about 500 pages long because all the extra stuff of scenes that were added, removed, altered and whatnot is still tumbling through your head? How ‘bout now? If not…well, lucky you.

Besides all the editing, which takes up an average of about 10 hours a day, five days a week, I have been managing some Qi gong workouts, thank Gawd. Also managed to do cooking, cleaning, laundry and all that other shaite. Hah.  Do need to wash the windows one of these days. They’re a mess, and they[re annoying me.

Some of the seeds I sowed are finally coming up. Am seeing chard, beets, some broccoli and probably a cauliflower. At this stage they are difficult to distinguish. No beans yet, which is a pity. Maybe I’ll try putting some more into the ground soon.

Then there is the job on the side for the cleaning company. More cleaning, naturally. Got the offices that I now maintain in pretty good order, thankfully. Now it is all about keeping up and making sure that it doesn’t get out of hand again. One isn’t all that easy,  considering it is a gardening company, meaning lots of dirty boots on the floor, every single time.

Big brother is having some issues with his temp agency. They suddenly changed his contract, which makes no sense, so he’s going to have to make an issue of that. Very annoying, but if that doesn’t work the way he wants it to, we are seriously going to consider moving down south a ways and look for new work there in the near future. No sense in staying in this area if the work is not sufficient. Actually think that I am rather looking forward to that move. Am missing woods somewhat fierce, and though the house is lovely, the surrounding area is more important, I think. Can make a house a home anywhere, but can’t change the surroundings, can I. We’ll see how that goes.

There’s been good news, there’s been bad news, but now is not really the time to get into that. It would take too much time to explain it all, and I am not entirely sure if I want to…now that is mean of me to say, I know. That is like whetting your appetite for some big mystery, but it really isn’t. It’s too personal to bother anyone, really, so, don’t worry.

Spent Easter with family down south, which was interesting…despite me being distracted by the fact that the deadline was approaching. We actually left on time…only to end up with a friend calling underway and asking if, since we were near anyway, if we (that’d be me and big brother) wanted to stop over for coffee…so we were late coming home regardless. Grrr.

I’m so jealous. Littlest brother is in the States at the moment, and I soooooo wanna go there…which I can’t , of course. Not yet anyway, despite tickets being pretty reasonable at the moment. Can’t afford to spend money on that just yet while we’re earning a bare minimum to pay the bills. Maybe when the book is out and we’re getting some decent earnings…besides, when I go to the States, I wanna be there at least three months and just travel around and see everything. Wouldn’t that be grand? Why, for me that would be a dream come true. Let’s see if I can achieve it, huh.

Now it is very late, and since I don’t have anything remotely interesting left to tell I’m going to leave it at this and promise to be back a little sooner than this time.

PUBLISHED!...at last.

Song of the day:…who gives a bloody heck? I’m getting PUBLISHED!!!!

Yes, people, it has finally happened, a brilliant editor at a genuine publisher has recognized the awesomeness of Saving Nina! Yay!!!! Do you sense a certain elation here, some enthusiasm? As in Sammi bouncing through the old drafty farm, ploinking from one wall to the next like some loony toon…not far off, it was pretty much that from the moment I woke up and saw the light on my phone blink that there was a message on my mail. Bleary-eyed, still pondering whether I was going to turn over and catch another 30 mins of zzzzzzs, or haul my tired butt from bed. I mean, seriously, no work to go to, and what with long evenings behind the computer it is not as if I am on any regular schedule other than get up at the crack of dawn, prep breakfast for big brother (that way he can also get an extra half hour of sleep on work days) and then going back to bed until I’ve reached my daily hour quota.

Anywayssssss…the light was blinking and I saw that it was about Saving Nina, and spent another minute or two if I could handle another disappointment this morning, and finally decided to open it quickly and then slip it into the rejection file asap. Now imagine me, eyes puffy with sleep, squinting at the screen in the gray morning light, going back half a dozen times to look at these two sentences: “I really liked this story, and would love to work with you.” And “I just wanted to make sure it's still available?” That’s about when my heart rate went up and I started bouncing out my room, down the way-to-steep stairs as I read it again and then texted big brother with: “Dude! Dude! DUDE! You there? Come on! Answer! Dude! They want Nina! An editor wants to work on SAVING NINA!” Did some more bouncing around, giving little scary giggles and the occasional, “Yes! Yes! Heck yes!” frustrated as heck that I was home alone with no-one to tell it to. Grrrrrr. That is so friggin’ frustrating! Anyway, it took big brother about and hour to answer and guess what it was: “Cool! A bit busy now.” Aaaaaaaargh. Seriously? Cool? Regardless, I spent the majority in a buzz…after sending a semi-calm message back that the story is still available and that working with said editor would be lovely. *sigh*

So, of course, this message was before Christmas, so we had to wait, and wait, and wait, and wait some more, for the final okay of the publisher which didn’t come until my B-day. I mean, seriously, isn’t that the best friggin’ b-day present ever? To get the news that someone has seriously agreed to publish a book that you started the concept of in 1998 and worked on numerous times through a series of mind numbing edits that go up to a whopping dozen, or more? Well, it is stupendous, I assure you. All that work, old those hours, the wooden butt sensations, the varicose veins surgery, the endless arguments about word choice, grammar, punctuation, shlogging my way through the Chicago manual of style, eats shoots and leaves, and popular (not my style) commercial fiction just to see if a particular sentence I wanted to use but that we couldn’t stop arguing about, became worth it because of this totally awesome b-day present. *double blissful sigh*

So I didn’t write about this stupendous news before, because, basically I didn’t want to jinx it, and waited until the contract arrived, which brings us to now, naturally. Contract here. Yay. Am totally psyched about going through the next step of this thing, to learn, to see what is required, to see how the story will turn out after it gets nipped and tucked, made up and perfumed, so to speak. It will be incredibly fascinating, of that I have no doubt, so I’m going to hold onto that, and hope that I can when the frustration of cutting into my baby seems to become too much to handle. Keep yer fingers crossed, my friends.

What else? Well, life is going on as usual. Nothing quite lives up to the above-mentioned, I know, but what can I do. Need to stay grounded a bit, don’t I?

Finally found a proper kickboxing bag. Yes I did. It’s going to have a spot of honor in the living room where I do most of my daily exercises now. Was psyched when big brother pointed it out at the gift store this very morning. I can get back to my boxing, Yay!!! I’ve been missing it somewhat fierce lately, partly because we haven’t been able to go to the gym much lately due to a persisting flu. Grrrr. No matter, though, I can get back to the fitness I love the most: Kicking the carp out of a heavy bag! Hah.

Did some food experiments lately, too. Some different type of dishes, but also all-time favorites, of which one or two are definitely going to end up on the cooking blog one of these days…I know, I should be posting more there, too, but what can I say, I can get distracted a lot, especially at the moment.

Been working on the Banshee story quite a bit lately. Almost halfway into the story, meaning that the sequel to ATOL is almost there…in my mind anyway. Hah. I wonder how much actual writing I can get done once the actual editing with the publishing company starts, but whenever I get a free minute, I’m definitely going to try. Brendan and the Banshee need telling that much is a fact in this convoluted brain of mine.

Went to visit a friend from our last job last week, which was really nice. She is seriously pregnant now, and ecstatic about it. Hah. Nice round belly, which she calls being fat, when it is clearly only in her belly and nowhere else. She’s still tiny, but looks like she swallowed a soccer ball, poor girl. The presents I’d found for the baby were their theme was animals so a fish shaped mirror with a blue and white frame went really well with everything, and the ceramic nightlight, too.

Been working on “breeding” some more plants out of the ones that I already have, partly because I lost a house plant to lice, and because the fern Cousin Ed and tenant gave us when we moved to the Netherlands is now really giving the spirit. Poor plantsies.

Which reminds me, tenant and Cousin Ed came for a visit one afternoon last week, which was nice for tenant. She had been so curious about our new place, and so we finally set a date where she was brought by special taxi company for disabled people. She really liked visiting, especially looking through pictures and such, but she tired quickly and was seriously pooped when it was time to go home. Poor girl.

And that is about the end of my update today. I told you the last time that I might have good news (was hoping, but had to be sure,  you see) and here we are. Another step further in the life of an author, shall we say, eh?

Have a good one, y’all and I’ll be back soon.