What a lovely day

It's rather ironic that the hosepipe ban in the North-West of England has come into proper effect now that it is raining during the day. When I heard the rain on the windows this morning when I woke up, I was a little dismayed because I'd been hoping that we'd get a little more sunshineyness soon. I don't like it too hot and sticky (at this I imagine my friends in America scoffing derisively, and saying to each other things like 'man, she doesn't even know what hot is'! I know this. But I am an average person, who enjoys average things, such as average temperatures, and average weather. Mmm.)

But I went out into town this morning - on an errand for my dad; doing errands in town for other people always give me a good excuse to go to Starbucks (you're welcome for the free advertising Starbucks) for a couple of hours, and then just nip in to Waterstone's (Waterstone's, you are also welcome: any time) to perhaps buy a book; it's not really my fault that I have so many books, it's the fault of the people who send me into town. I was wandering around, eating my chicken and shish kebab wrap, and the light rain was swirling up around me and making me think that I would probably need to put more wax on my hair when I got home. I heard myself having grumpy thoughts about needing an umbrella, and wishing for the sun to come out, when I suddenly realised that I was lying to myself. I slowed down my pace, and had a look about the street I was walking down, and noticed that it is actually a really lovely day today. It's warm out, it's not chucking it down, the drizzle is really very pleasant indeed, and I right fancy going out for a longer walk this afternoon. That may well not happen since James and Matthew usually come out of nursery stumbling over their own feet and looking all bleary-eyed after a hard morning of playing. But maybe I can persuade them with a promise of puddle splashing with wellies on.

It was nice to wander about, rainy or not, with nothing much to think about. My brain's a bit mashed at the moment, because I seem to have a lot of things to organise all of a sudden: a Stag Do for Noomski, a birthday party for Thomas, a new cooker for us, a wedding trip to pay for and a holiday to confirm, and I have several bits of admin and letters to get done. It's very strange that life can be quiet for a time, with nothing pressing on the horizon, and then all of a sudden there's a glut of urgent things to do. I always feel like shutting down and waiting for deadlines to pass me by. I think this stay-at-home lark has made me very lazy, because all I want to do now is read and write and be left alone most of the time!!! That's not true actually - I'm very much enjoying spending time with friends at the moment (but that's because being with friends is something that's easy to do and allows me to be more lazy with cups of tea and biscuits!) Anything that takes me away from my book, my computer or my pen and paper makes me grumpy. This does not include my children. That's a relief. I'm being patient with my children - although I am looking at them as if they might be potential characters in my next book. Oh dear.

Waffley, waffley post! Sorry. This post reflects the ramblingness of my thoughts today. Up and down and all over the place. Probably need an early night.

Erm...

Bye!

Getting it done!

I have been neglecting my admin! I always do this. Little jobs that need doing pile up, and I have them in the back of my mind, and they fester away and annoy me. Instead of just getting it all done when it first appears I put it off, and put it off, because there are more interesting things to do, such as Bob the Builder jigsaws, and Lego sets. But then I have a mad go at the admin stuff, and get it all done in one go, and find that it's all dealt with within half an hour and there really was no need to keep putting it off and putting it off.

So that's what I've done with the first part of this morning. I couldn't really find an excuse to do a jigsaw, what with all of the kids being out! So I got down to the phoning and form-filling jobs. I finally completed my passport application (now I just need to remember to post it, and not let it sit in the bottom of my bag for three months!). I also completed my replacement driving licence application form - which has been sitting on the kitchen worktop for over three months. I made us all an appointment at the dentist, made an appointment for a lens check for me, and booked the car in for its MOT and service (ouch, horrible expense - paying someone to tell you that your car is fine! Usually - oh dear, I've probably just cursed the poor car, and it will turn out to need some serious welding and a head gasket replacement!)

What else did I do? Oh yes, I sent an email to my old Human Physiology tutor to ask if he thought I would need to do the course again (as the qualification only lasts for five years - I can understand why, to be perfectly honest, because I can barely remember a thing that I learned), and if he thought that I didn't need to do it again, would he give me an academic reference :) My lovely doctor has already said that he will give me a super reference.

I also tried to print off a description and model number for the cooker that we need to ask Comet to order for us. I came across a stumbling block there, because I have no knowledge about things such as dimensions of housings, so I couldn't decide which cooker was the right size and spec. I could work it out, I'm sure, but I'd rather make absolutely sure that I'm right, and get Kev to confirm it for me, before getting it ordered only to have it be the wrong size. But this is the only thing on my list of jobs that has not been done, so I think I've done very well at motivating myself this morning.

It's Hoover's fault that I've neglected these little jobs for so long. We were without a washer for three months, until recently, and every few days I was on the phone, in queues, on hold, on edge, talking to someone at Hoover about getting my washer fixed or replaced. The whole experience was stupid. But I shouted in the end, and got it replaced. I've never been so happy to do washing! My poor dad has had it all for the last three months - thank you, Dad! :) But talking to someone in a call centre so often kind of puts you off using the phone at all for a while.

But I do like admin. I always have. I think that's probably why I'll get a place on the midwifery course, when I eventually apply!! I've heard tales of women getting onto the course and finding that it's not what they thought it was going to be because of all the paperwork. Excellent!! Bring it on. In seven years of working at the University, never once did I tire of filling in a form. Hell, I would fill in forms for other people because they hated doing it. It's in my blood, seemingly - my mum is the same. Give us a form and a nice, non-scratchy, non-blobbing pen, and we'll be happy. Of course, I will enjoy the delivering babies bit :) I wouldn't choose such a physically and emotionally demanding career just for the paperwork. I don't know what it is about this midwifery thing, but I just seem to have supreme confidence about it, like I just know that I'll be good at it, and that I'll be able to make the important people see that I am the best person for the job. I've NEVER felt so confident about anything before, in my life. I feel quite confident about my writing - about the novels that I'm working on anyway; my blog's probably a bit dull at times! - but not as confident as I feel about midwifery. I feel horribly arrogant saying it, but there it is.

Anyway, I'd better get to work on that novel before the morning's over. I've got a lot that I want to get done this week. I'm plugging away at the story, getting it down on paper (yes, by hand, with a pen). But this evening I want to work on some character cards and see if I can get more out of my peripheral characters - there are none that are really making the impact on the story that I'd like them to make. They need to work harder to keep their place in the book! Another Day Off on Saturday, so I'll get a lot of work done then :) I'll be having tea at Verdes with my mum, and she's hoping to see the staff ask me about my writing again. She's considering coming with some work of her own and sitting at a separate table to me to observe!