Tuesday, February 24, 2009

It's so, so sad ;)

I have maxxed out the 'net quota on my iPhone. Within 5 days. Ooopsie.

Dad and my BIL haven't killed theirs. And they WORK. :)

I shall have to wait for next month... WHEN I RECHARGE AND I CAN GO AGAIN!

Down, but not out...

Writing news: Have been through EI and ravished it. Am now back at over 16k, but will whittle. Want to get this baby off within a week (please).

Have a very cool concept in place for one to pitch....

Going to go stuff party bags - Pink Party Pants is turning six in a flurry of Bratz Dolls and LBD's

What are you doing? E x

Thursday, February 19, 2009

I looked away and 72 hours had passed...

Two words: new iPhone.

OMG. I am in love. Again (fickle, really). I adore this phone.

But it is a demanding master. I has held me captive for three days. Purrrr...

It started when my Dad said I should get one, because he loves his.

Okay. Done.

Then I spend the better part of the next week playing with the phone, adding apps, wrecking sofware, losing information off my PC, re-installing stuff, re-entering piles and piles of data and crying in short bursts, interspersed with giggling and screen-kissing .

I am going mad. Put it down, E. Step away from the phone.

Then, I couldn't get it to write the posts for my blog, and I plummetted back to earth. That, and I saw that eHarl is running a Bites pitch. Get to work, girlie!

I haven't done much in the way of writing. Will start work on the pitch tomorrow. Maybe I will write a new one and send in my current one the usual way. *Thinking* Yep, that works.

Going to do stuff...

PS - Fatalities from Victorian bushfires over 200. 201 was a firey who got hit by a falling tree while he was connecting a hose to his strike team's truck. He'd come from Canberra. Will it never end?

((Dee)).

Monday, February 9, 2009

A Nation in Tears

Today is a terrible day. There are over fifty uncontrolled fires burning around the country (and many, many more which are 'controlled' - 'controlled' to me means not burning...), the worst of which are in our neighbour, Victoria.

They are using words like 'fireball', 'firestorm', 'raging inferno', 'killer radiant heat'.

The death toll is currently 108. They are still counting.

The news is full of husbands looking for families, mothers looking for daughters, people looking for neighbours. And so many people crying. The newsreaders are crying. The Prime Minister is crying.

I am so sad for these people - we had a fire over the road last week, we live on the outskirts of a small town. I experienced a brief whiff of smoke and I could see that if the fire jumped the road, it would burn up our long driveway. I was scared, hubby was at work in the city. I got the kids into the car and left our property - with nothing - and came back to find that they had stopped the fire from crossing the road.

The kids and I left, but many don't. They stay and try to fight it, to save their homes, their animals, their livelihoods. Sometimes, they never meant to stay, it just came too quickly. Or it catches them in their cars as they are trying to leave. When you are dealing with hell's inferno, fueled by high winds and temperatures in the 40's, you may not have a hope in hell.

Our hearts go out to everyone affected - we have fires in Victoria and New South Wales, and floods in Queensland (3 dead). A nation is weeping. Pray for them.

I've stopped watching the news because the kids freak when I cry. I'm listening to the radio news instead.

Want to know how it is? Here's an account from "The Australian".

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25026912-2702,00.html

They are talking about the possibility that one or more of the fires was deliberately lit. Speaking of hell....

Edit, 9pm: The count is now 126, and climbing. They say it might pop 200. God, I hope not.
Keri Arthur, on her blog, had this. If you have any spare cash around, please consider supporting the 750 families who are now homeless, or worse.

http://www.redcross.org.au/vic/services_emergencyservices_victorian-bushfires-appeal-2009.htm

E

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Gatdangit! Just when I was on a roll...

I was soooo cruisin' today. I's made a little list of Jobs To Do (things like move Mohammed's Mountain of washing, and bake a cake), and I was flying through it. I could see hours and hours of time to spend on my revisions tonight. Then it happened.

Visitors. The Unannounced kind.

The floor was still in the JTD list - we don't bother with plates, kids can't seem to keep their food on them anyhow - and I hadn't brushed my hair in over 24 hours. Blurk.

And it was old rellies who are ALWAYS neat and tidy. Who never leave the house with the breakfast dishes undone, or the lounge room floor looking like an underware sale at Target....

I was mortified. Then I thought, well, bugger ya. Next time, call... If you want to see me neat, warn me beforehand. I might be able to oblige.

Four hours later, no time for revisions. Dang.

What do you do? E x

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Whooha!

I've finally got the little bars for my WIP's happening. Excited! If I don't know how to do something, I'll fiddle with it until I either a) get the result I want, or b) stuff something up beyond all recognition and have to start again.

So pleased this time was 'b'!

And now, that everyone knows what I'm up to (or not, as the case may be..), I might be more disciplined. Maybe. Here's hoping.

Finally, in a (temporary, hopefully) fit of insanity, I agreed to chair the Kindy council again in 2009. As well as coordinate Playgroup. I put my hand up for the former, kinda hoping someone would jump up and say, "No, I want to do it!" and I would gracefully hand over and the decision would be out of my hands - tut, tut.

That's how it went in my head. In real life, it went, who wants to be chair? No one? E, will you do it again? Umm, sure.

Turns out I'm good at grant writing (who knew?), so I'm smelling an ulterior motive...

Another yay moment - I'm back at work next week, for the first time since August 07 (that's paid work, not the other kind, which most of us do anyhoo). I've got a day's teaching at Pink Party Pants' school. Wicked. I'll be able to spy on the snotty school child that is my daughter.

Am also getting my package together to teach at the Kindy, too.

Might as well keep it all happy families. Good luck with all your stuff this week!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Gotta be done, or I'll be cranky (and fat and stressed) come October...

I've posted this somewhere on eHarl - Struggling Writer's maybe?

There is something very pedestrian about goal-setting. It used to be cool, but now I think it has maybe lost it's shine. But then again, maybe that's just because I struggle to make goals and that irks.

But I possess a very small and jelly-like discipline, so I NEED a goal.

Here they are in all their truly original glory;

1. Have a book published, or at very least least have someone interested in a book.
2. Lose ten kilos. ( I did this last year and lost about 7, better than zip).
3. Write/Re-write 1,000 words a week (200 words per day, 5 days). Squeezy.
4. Walk 3 nights a week.
5. Spend more quality time with the kids (hard to quantify, I know, but I'll know when I do it...)

That's it. Easy! (easy...easy...easy... - is it in my head yet?)

Do you have any goals?

Disclaimer

I love some other people's stuff, and if I use your stuff, I try to tell everyone that it's not my stuff - it's someone else's stuff. But, if I have used some of your copyrighted stuff here and you would like me to remove your stuff, let me know.... It's all for non-commerical use...