Creative Block

This is not your average "Work through it" creative block, it's a "That was the week from hell" one. There are many changes going on here, the majorly major one being Margo, who needs more care and will have to move on from her lovely warden-assisted flat. Soonish. Luckily, Mum is around and we are giving each other moral support.

Whatever we decide to do, Margo will NOT BE IMPRESSED. Moving is stressful for anyone, but when you're ninety-four it's, well, I'm not going to write those words.

As I will not be Margo's main carer any more, my time will be much more flexible. I will have more of it. I am looking forward to that and trying to make a sensible plan. Also the charity I work for is wrapping up local operations, maybe, and DECISIONS need to be made, and no-one wants to make them. Meeting tonight to discuss. Sad to see the end of this (if it IS the end) but I learned some great stuff in my role as Advertising, Publishing, Printing and Editing person. So that's two endings coming up in the foreseeable future. Hmm.

Other week from hell things have been going down, from every conceivable angle. Universe, if there is an angle I haven't conceived of, please don't feel you have to point it out, K? It's been a hard time for the boys, for several reasons. Chas and Sam have a really full school day and Sam has not been pulling his weight homework-wize, so I have to be all Dragon Mother now and password protect his computer and hang over him and quiz him on things. Not my style. It's a daily battle. Chas has been growing so fast that he has literally grown out of everything twice and has Osgood-Schlatter's Syndrome where his leg bones are growing painfully faster than the tendons. His knees were swollen up like weird things. It's getting better, but for a boy as active as Chas it's really hard to have to slow down and take it easy. Also, hormones everywhere. Sam too. It's so hard being that age!

(Osgood-Schlatter hint for very active teens: We got him a doorway pull-up bar. He spends his time doing pull ups and dangling upside down. Slight damage to the door frame but completely worth it. Also, specific stretches given to him by the specialist at the hospital have really helped. You gotta stretch those muscles and tendons!)

Max has not had one full-time teacher at school for the year, thanks to illness and things. A string of part-time, sometimes, and supply teachers have been looking after his class and the kids in the class are really feeling it. Any child who wants to be a problem is finding it easy to get away with. I mentioned sweetly to the headmistress in a meeting this morning that next year, that class had better have a teacher that was sent from heaven above. Mary Poppins. Poor headmistress, I wouldn't like to have her job, at this time of year, when all dramas are coming to a head! It's a lovely school, I am sure all will be well next year. But at the moment, Max is exhausted.

With the three boys having separate woes and feeling tired and put-upon, they sometimes take it out on each other. And when you are already feeling ratty and your brother comes along and says "GET OFF MY BED!" you aren't likely to say "Ok, dearest brother."

All is not sweetness and light here.

The boys and I are really looking forward to a week's holiday next week. We ALL need a change of scenery and a new outlook. And time with my mummy!

Now. I am going to get an assignment sent, plan an attack for tonight's meeting, cook a nourishing meal, hang up the laundry, and try to remember where Margo's doctor said to go for the blood test... before my little darlings get home from school.

The View from my Sofa

Featuring the genius of Samwise, who is going through a zombie phase. Yes folks, ketchup, sharpie and chewing gum can be as terrifying as this! Keep your zombie ketchup hands off my tapestry, dude! (Now look at the picture again and imagine the SMELL of ketchup, gum and sharpie. Very scary, I promise you.)

I've been working hard, my peeps, and soon world domination will be MIIIINE! MWAHAHAHAA! I have been learning things, in my researchings. Do you know, the only reference I can find for a baby being possibly smothered by a cat is from the New York Times archives in 1894? The cat was put down. What do you think of that? I was told so many times that the cat would DEFINITELY try to smother my babies, cats 'suck the breath from babies', and so on. But it's never happened, according to the British Medical Journal and the World Wide Web. Not one substantiated incident. Our cat loved to curl up next to any available baby, and I never stopped him, but I did keep a watchful eye because you never know.

Which just goes to show, there are articles hidden everywhere, if you just look out for them and keep your notebook handy. It's a good idea if your little notebook has a section for tucking in stuff you've cut out and found, so that every time you drop it, they don't all fall out and blow away down the street with you running after them yelling "Catch that magazine clipping!"

Anyway. I'm writing like mad, every day.

If you're considering becoming a journalistic millionaire, be warned that most magazines take a MINIMUM of one month to get back to you about your article or idea, and then since their issues are planned months in advance, your article won't be printed for a long time if they do accept it. If they don't accept your article, you can submit it to another magazine, and wait another however many months. Payment is upon printing. So what you write today will not earn you that Jaguar XFR tomorrow. Alas. So it's best, I suppose, to just write like mad every day, figure out how much you need to earn, and submit as many articles as would earn you that much per week. Eventually payments will catch up with working hours, presumably. Or you starve to death, whichever comes first.

In other news. The weather is still generally good. My mum is here, and we are planning a few days' visit to Appledore, Devon on the boy's week off. I will write there, too, but paper only: We are switching off! No computers, no TV, no DS, however will we manage?

We'll be fine. We'll stock up on books and sketchpads and take a pack of cards. We'll practice our photography skillz. Mum has arty friends in Devon, no children, the bare basics. I'll let you know how it goes! Over the Easter Holidays, we spent a happy day making boats out of flotsam and launching them in Poole Harbour. This is really fun (and the topic of yet another article) so I'll give you a preview: Use any natural, biodegradable floating thing you can find for the hull of your boat, and bang a flat stone into the bottom as a keel, to help it float upright and go in one direction. Attach a leaf or feather to the top as a sail, and launch! Let me know how it goes! My dad (HI DAD!) (Did you fix your blogger login yet?) used to make beautiful boats when we were camping, painstakingly carved with pontoons, masts, sails, and even oars and fishing rods, carefully tied down. Then he would launch them, and they would really sail away. Imagine what people would think upon finding these tiny vessels, far out at sea?

Opening The Door

There is some great thing happening, and many people can feel it. Many artist and writer friends have taken a leap: Finished the book, quit the job, painted the picture, opened the heart. 

I'm talking to you, Wacky Mommy, Sharon, Kath, and goodness me, SO many others! I, too, have finally opened the door and let some of my magazine submissions out, and now the wait... many editors take a month to get back to you, so I'll keep writing and submitting, and hopefully learn as I go... and wait. We helped my cousin Charlotte completely remove her kitchen door recently, and she told me "That's it! An open door is what we all need!" And it made so much sense you wouldn't believe! 

Other great people have passed on. Gerald, thank you for the music. Allyson Hennesy, I cried when I heard you had lost your battle. Last night I drank a toast: I can call you Aunty now, HA! And I heard you, "You're making me feel OLD, young lady!" So many things have come to pass, ended and begun. 

There is something in the air, the universe is inhaling. Can you feel it? 

Well HELLO!

Long time no speak! I haven't been visiting my bloggy friends much, and when I have it's hurried. I know, bad.

I've been busy, GETTING MY ACT TOGETHER. Also having many cousins visiting. Those two things don't go together, I know. But I have. I spin from washing 27 loads of sheets and towels to getting homework done and having great creative brainstorming sessions. It must be because of SPRING in all its sunny fabulousness.

In between mad creative sessions, I get phonecalls from Margo to say "I'm not feeling very well..." so I race over there to see what's up, and she has forgotten to eat lunch. I will not go into the whole saga of the Meals on Wheels, because you know, it's like how exciting is getting a toddler to eat what you want them to? OH my goodness. So no Meals on Wheels. But stay tuned, because as soon as she's forgotten, I will re-introduce Meals on Wheels like a true Parenting Virtuosa. Like broccoli.

Where was I? Right. The point I was going to make, before Meals on Wheels distracted me, was this: When I have mad creative sessions, I tend to go into a cave of creativity and not come out until days later, hunched and pale. So having distractions where I have a ten-minute speed-walk to Margo's and a cup of tea and speed-walk back again is a really good thing.

And? My Mum is coming soon! Yay!