Finally started my nano, but I"m not going to kill myself trying to get to 50,000 words. Not with everything else I have going on. Anything I get down in the time is a bonus. :) I was blocked for three days, then the idea came to me in the shower. A terrible cliche, I know, but true all the same!
I"m enjoying my long weekend off; just playing Mum and hanging out at home mostly. My mother moved into her flat on Friday, and we're going to get her a housewarming present and go and see her today. I know it's a good thing for her, much better than rattling around in that big house, but you know, it's weird when the house you grew up in is sold. So I've been babywrangling, and reading, watching TV, and doing a little stitching _ less than I thought I would, but every stitch is a stitch forward, right? I have the cutest chart started of two kittens in a garden, but I'm trying to hold off the cuteness until I've finished the stained glass card for my sister for Christmas. The kittens are calling, but I'm resisting.
For now.
And, of course, last night I just *had* to start the nano while the idea was still fresh. I'm not sure what direction it's going to go in, but I'm happy to be led around by the nose by my characters. The most frustrating thing is that the Nano site seems to keep going down. *Sigh*
We had some excitement yesterday with Patrick as well _ he was on his tummy on his change mat, bent his legs like he always does and he moved!! Just one knee-shuffle forward, but still. He hasn't done that before. 
I do believe that's all I have for now. Must feed baby.

This is the first one that I've done:

What with yesterday being Halloween, and all . . . do you read horror? Stories of things that go bump in the night and keep you from sleeping?
Yes! I love a good horror story _ something that really raises the hackles.  There's nothing better than a good scare.

I thought about asking you about whether you were participating in NaNoWriMo, but I asked that last year. Although . . . if you want to answer that one, too, please feel free to go ahead and do both, or either, your choice!
I did the Nano in 2004 and "won" with 50,000 or so words of ... dross. I never edited it and it put me off both writing and nano for quite some time.
I've signed up again this year, but I don't know how well I'll go. I'm already considering abandoning my first idea and doing something else but I have no idea what.

So Nano is due to start on Thursday. All very exciting and I'm glad I've signed on to do it again, although I'm aiming slightly lower. If I can write 30,000 words, I'll be happy. I can't spare any stress at the moment, the stress I do have is already working overtime and can't possibly handle anymore. So I'll start on Thursday, writing longhand _ that way I can write anywhere _ then the plan is to transcribe the story once a week; I'll see how I go.
Still picking away at TW's Mermaid; boy, is that becoming a broken record! But I really do need to get more threads. It feels like about 206, to be honest. I'm also working on the cat card for Jeremy still, and a stained glass card for my sister for Christmas. If I get it finished. We'll see. 
Work is fine. The cats are fine. The Husband and the baby are fine. 
I'm knackered!

I hope I can remember how to do this ... ah! This is my most recent finish, DD's Here Be Dragons, on 16-count rustico aida. )



This is a cat ,,, Piper in the upturned washing basket (that she got into herself) and lastly but most certainly not least...


Patrick! :)

I hate earthquakes. Oh, how I hate earthquakes. We had a goody _ a 6.7 just after 1.30am this morning. I was just getting ready to go to bed and thought for a minute I was getting dizzy because it was one of those rolling ones. But no. Twas a quake.

Now, I thought cats were supposed to be attuned to this sort of thing. Apparently not my cats. I sat down on the couch, willing it to stop, and two of our cats _ Sam and Marx _ were sitting on the floor looking at me as if to say “What’s happening? We didn’t feel anything.” Thanks for the advance warning, guys.

Thankfully Patrick didn’t seem to notice anything _ I had the baby monitor in the living room with me and all I heard were a couple of sleep-groans. So hopefully he’s taking after his father who, yes, slept through yet another quake.

Patrick was christened on Sunday, and a good time (I think) was had by all. My mother is happy it’s done, and I’m just happy it’s over. I’m not used to our living room being overrun by family members and I’m not sure it’s an experience I really care to repeat, although I don’t know what we’re all doing for Christmas.

It’s far too early to think about that, despite the decorations I saw in the Warehouse.

I’ve signed up for Nano but I’m not optimistic about “winning.” I’m thinking of just using the time to get into good writerly habits again, and just write as much as I can. That way, the pressure isn’t going to kill me.

My boss might, after I was monster-late for work again yesterday, but hopefully the pressure won’t. And I was accidentally monstrously late _ I didn’t have an up to date roster and didn’t realise I was on early.

I’m still working on the “K” of Patrick’s dinosaur alphabet, and picking away at TW’s Mermaid, although it’s going to be a while before I get all the threads I need for that. I’m pretty sure, though, I had a dream about blended threads … h’m.

I’m reading Death of an Expert Witness, which I’ll have to renew at the library, and Momzillas which I just started and it’s eh … it’s okay.

What else. I have to ring the docs and book Patrick’s vaccinations. Speaking of Patrick, it’s time to get him up from his nap.

Baby snuggles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ugh. It's the end of the first week of the new regime. In other words, Jeremy went back to work on Monday morning. Which means I've been getting up to do Patrick's morning feed. For someone who isn't a morning person, and who works afternoons because of that fact ... this week hasn't been pretty. My mother told me I'd get used to the new schedule. I just hope it's soon because I feel like I'm going bats. 
Heard from the doctor's studio yesterday, and apparently I have small, scattered gallstones. The doctor will only put me on the list for surgery if/when I have a bad attack. Oh, hooray. On the bright side, I gave up the Big Three (BK, McD's and KFC) after ending up in A & E on my birthday. I'm quietly proud of myself for that one. 
On the downside, I do suffer random mild attacks _ usually at 3am, for some reason. Luckily painkillers and a hot water bottle seem to do the trick (fingers crossed).
Uhm .... I don't want to be complaining all the time so let's see .... what's good ....... Patrick has been rolling on to his side for a couple of weeks, which is always fun to watch. Now we're just waiting for his wee brain to make the connection and for him to roll all the way over. I'm just trying to enjoy each stage, without pining for the last one or dreading the next one, as people mostly seem to say "oh, he'll be crawling next and then it's all over" .... well, sure, it'll be challenging, but I hope fun as well.
What HAS surprised me is that I'm clucky! Patrick's only 4 months old, but I already miss having a tiny baby :( That's just nuts! We're still on the bones of our arses a little bit because I'm the main wage earner and had to go back way sooner than I really wanted to and I'm thinking about another one??????????? I need some sense smacked into me. Especially with the way getting up early(ish) is kicking my ass at the moment. 
Miraculously, however, I still find time to read _ after work; when I go to bed. Which probably means less sleep, but I get home around midnight _ and I can't just go straight to bed. So I read for a bit to wind down. What I've started doing is going back to bed after Jeremy gets home; after Patrick's feed. The trouble is, I haven't really been able to get back to sleep. If I could manage that, I think I'd be okay.
This feels slightly whiny. Just because I'm tired, I think.
I will get used to this ....
 

H'm. That means I"m going to have Robert Cray in my head for a while. Ah well. Could be worse. I have tomorrow (Sunday) off, which is a rare treat. Nothing recharges the mother of a baby who works outside the home like two days off in a row with nothing better to do than take care of said baby and subtly nag husband  into doing things like getting dressed. Ah ..... weekends.
I"m still making slow progress on Here Be Dragons, but it's getting closer and closer; I'm doing the wording now, then all that remains are the goldy bits that I forgot to do before and the rest of the backstitching.
After that, it's another letter on Patrick's Dinosaur Alphabet, if I don't scrap it in the meantime and start over on a  bigger piece of fabric _ I"m really not sure if I"ve left myself enough room. I don't think I have. After that, it's a choice between a stained glass card that was going to be for my mother, but since she's moving into a small unit at the start of November, I'm not sure. She's in the midst of getting rid of stuff. On the other hand ... what do I get her for Christmas now? Or I can work on a cute wee cat picture that I'm going to give hubby for Christmas _ all framed purty and stuff.
I"m still halfway through Mister Pip, because I've been too tired the past two or three nights to read anything more demanding than P G Wodehouse. SIgh. At least it's reading, I suppose.
My sister and her two kids came in this morning. I knew they were coming, but not only was I still in bed, I was still asleep! So hubby hauled me out of bed to see them. It was good to see them, but good to get some peace and quiet, too. 
I put on my domestic goddessness hat this afternoon and folded about three baskets of washing. Then after bubba's bath _ which is so cute; now he's starting to realise that his feet are his and he can use them to splash he's actually enjoying his bath instead of it being a scream-fest _ he was tucked away to bed and we watched a couple of episodes of Dr Who. I tell you _ it's all go around here on Saturday nights!
After this, I'm going to make myself some supper and go to bed with my book. 
Let's get this party started!

It's NZ Book month and it's put me in something of a nostalgic frame of mind. When I was in seventh form, way back in the ice age when it was still called seventh form, my English teacher had a guilt attack, because there were no New Zealand authors on our syllabus for the year.

So he introduced Janet Frame, James K Baxter and Hone Tuwhare to  a class of fairly indifferent 17 and 18-year-olds.

And yes, at the time, I was one of those indifferent teenagers. However, it did lead to at least a passing interest in New Zealand fiction and the disappearance of that terrible, and unnecessary cultural cringe. We’re a talented bunch, us Kiwis (even if sometimes our Queen’s English goes off the trail).

It also led me to one of my favourite authors, Witi Ihimaera, who writes the kind of stories that I just want to fall into.

For the moment, however, I’m marking NZ Book Month (I keep wanting to type New Zealand Music Month, because that flows better) by reading Mr Pip, by Lloyd Jones. I’m about a quarter of the way through on a slow read, which has nothing to do with the book itself _ it’s very good _ and everything to do with babies and working fulltime. However, I have a strange feeling that’s going to lead me down another path entirely _ a re-read of Great Expectations, Hello, Mr Pip

which I didn’t enjoy first time around.

However, with the way Jones writes about Pip etc, I have a feeling I might be more kindly disposed second time around.

I can post pictures here. Took me a little while to figure it out, because I'm not too bright sometimes, but ... hooray!
Some cats:


A baby: (well, my baby, obviously)

Sigh ... I'm having no luck with blogs lately. Maybe it's a sign from the universe to STOP DOING IT ... but I'm not listening yet ... heh ...
Tinkering away. I thought I had added to the entry and saved it but possibly not. Hrm.