Category: Real Life Chatter


Doing Nothing

Filed under: Real Life Chatter — 7 Comments
May 19, 2013

I’m doing nothing. Actually… I’m supposed to be doing nothing because I’m in. In fact I’m doing a hell of a lot.

I’ve spent most of the day in bed drifting in and out of sleep, not eating and sipping stale water. Going up and down the stairs was a bit of a mission, so I’ve kept that to a minimum too. Call this the ultimate pyjama day.

Doing nothing in the hopes of speeding up my recovery.

And I’ve felt guilty all day! I’ve barely spent any time with Dave or the boys and I’ve not done any of the odd jobs I would normally do on a weekend. I just about managed to wash up after dinner. The logical part of me states that to feel guilt about this is foolish; I’m ill and need to rest. But doing nothing has become such a terrible thing that I can hardly stand it.

But the value of doing nothing shouldn’t be over looked. Because – and this is the really interesting thing – I’m not really doing nothing. I’m thinking. I’m planning. I’m organising. I’m recovering. Even if I’m not washing clothes, buying groceries, cleaning up or playing with my boys, my brain is working as hard as ever it was.

Today, despite doing nothing I have decided on a plan of action for SORB. I have flesh out some of the ideas from the critique I received yesterday on short story I plan to enter into a competition in June. I have also made myself feel somewhat better by catching up on sleep and resting my body. Doing nothing is more valuable than I ever realised. Giving myself that time and space, by ignoring all those other things I usually do has made future activities potentially easier.

What about you? Do you find yourself freaking out at the idea of doing nothing? How often do you stop to do exactly that… nothing?

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Do You Trust Online Reviews?

Filed under: Real Life Chatter, Reviews — Leave a comment
May 17, 2013

Following my mini moan about Freelancer the other day I decided that I’d look into how Freelancer has worked out for others. I trawled through review after review and was stunned to find that many people are of the opinion that the site and everything about it is a terrible, terrible scam. They say that it is impossible to get your money once you’ve earned it and that Freelancer employs people to make fake profiles and post jobs, encouraging freelancers to bid. And of course, with the free subscription you only have so many bids a month, so very soon you have to take a paid subscription to give you more bids in an attempt to find work.

Needless to say this was all very upsetting. In all my searching I have found only two positive reviews about the site and the way it function. The rest is very damning. My own experience is such that I’m not best happy with it at the moment. Even as a new freelancer I had hoped to find some work, but even the job I was invited to bid for by the host, went to another freelancer. I assume it did anyway; all communication with the chap involved stopped dead as soon as I placed my bid and provided my ’100 word sample’ to ‘show off my skills.’ I did think it was a bit peculiar that the test was an article when the job was a proofreading role, but I thought I’d give it the benefit of the doubt.

That, however, is neither here nor there. The point of this post is to tell you that reviews are difficult to trust in any forum. Folk are far more vocal about things they don’t like, which is why it is so easy to find negative reviews about something. However it has recently become the trend for businesses (and some authors) to pay people to write reviews for them and leave them to be found scattered across the internet. When I was searching the internet for a good place to host The Write Feeling, I found lots of glowing reviews about every single host company. However I had to visit blogs to get what I felt was a real and true account of what people had actually experienced. After all, no business is going to post negative testimonials about themselves on the internet are they? My testimonials are from people I’ve provided a service who were happy with the end result. Why would I ask for a testimonial from someone who wasn’t happy (not that such a thing has happened – so far)?

Since everybody depends on word of mouth these days, reviews should be incredibly helpful. And yet, these days, I find that I trust them less and less because everyone, from those posting them, to those writing them seems to have an agenda. To that end, how do you know whether a review, positive or negative is true? How do you guys handle it? When picking a new service what helps you make the decision about who to go for?

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Baby Update: One Year On

Filed under: Real Life Chatter — 8 Comments
May 7, 2013

Wow. Can you believe it?! Yesterday my babies turned one. One whole year!

Yesterday I wrote a letter to them and today I have been sitting down and taking stock. Forgive me while I bore you with pictures….
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From their first day to their most recent they’ve been with me every day. I think the longest time I’ve spent apart from them was the day I spent at the Self Publishing Conference back in April. A hard day, that’s for sure, no matter how informative it was.

They have progressed and grown from strength to strength with startling speed:
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Sitting up, rolling, crawling, cruising and finally walking.
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Not to mention meal times, which are an absolute (messy) joy!
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I used to measure pleasure and pride by my latest piece of writing. These days I measure it by Michael’s latest attempts to say ‘duck’ or Leon’s last successful navigation of the stairs.

After a year I’ve learned:
-bum sniffing is a perfectly normal way to assess a nappy
-that I’m stronger than I look
-so are babies!
-bath water actually tastes ok
-everything is edible if you try hard enough
-boogies are made to be picked

You may think this is all a bit nuts -and I promise a return to our usual programming after this – but honestly, these are important facts. :-)

So… One year old, my boys are strong and well. What else is in store? I’ll be sure to keep you posted.
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A Letter To My Children

Filed under: Real Life Chatter — 5 Comments
May 6, 2013

This time last year… almost to the minute, I met my son for the very first time.

Exhausted (but no longer in pain) and scared beyond belief, I watched doctors lift him above the bloodied, green privacy sheet. My mum cried ‘it’s a boy!’ and seconds later I got to hold him.

He had such big eyes, so dark, yet so bright. I looked at him and felt my world shrink down to no bigger than the size of his face. He was beautiful and I knew I’d do anything for him.

A minute later I met my second son and I understood, in that moment, why I was put on this earth: to love and protect my boys.
Michael… Leon… Happy Birthday my darlings. This year has been the hardest, loudest, craziest, messiest, most knackering of my entire life. But I wouldn’t change a thing as it has also been the best.
Your smiles bring joy to my very core and your steps, gurgles and giggles make me so proud I could burst.

You won’t remember this day, but I will and that is just another of the many gifts you’ve given me.

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#GoodThingsJar2013 April Update

Filed under: FUN!, My Writing, Other Writings, Procrastination, Real Life Chatter — Leave a comment
May 1, 2013

#GoodThingsJar2013

Lookie, lookie at all of the GOOD THINGS!!!

I always forget about my jar until it’s time to talk about it. Not that I forget to put things in it, more that I forget to be pleased about what it represents.

It’s filling up fast and there are so many more blue (or is it green? Can’t tell in the light in here) slips! Way more than the others. Apparently April has been a good month.

To break it down, April has included things like signing off JSA (FREAKIN YES!), the official launch of The Write Feeling, entering numerous competitions and getting some letters out there (to magazines). I’ve also included weight loss milestones (6lbs in two weeks!) and milestones for the boys. Michael AND Leon are walking now, though Michael is that little bit less confident that his younger brother. *snerk* Younger, do remember that there is only one minute between them!

I’ve also put things like Zombie Earth in the jar which was, effectively, my first LARP in over a year. Can you believe that?! A year (and more) since I put on my ears and danced around the woods as Trya. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I invite you to take a closer look at the picture to the right of your screen. Yeah more Trya HF 9 It was so good to get back into LARPing in any for, that I’m thinking about going back this week. That all depends on family though; as there are lots of visits happening this weekend.

Not only is it the boys’s birthday next week (*GASP*) but it’s also mine. Talk about an awesome double whammy! I think the jar for May is going to be pretty heavy with coloured slips.

I’ve not decided what colour I want yet. I’d better work on that because I already have some things I want to add. Not least, the short story I managed to bash out just today. 1,689 words, a complete story for a competition I thought I’d enter, from the Writer’s Magazine. It needs a heavy handed edit, but with a deadline of May 14, I’m sure I can manage it. The hardest part is done. Ish.

So… what about you fine folks? How does your jar look at this point of the year? Nice and full I hope! ^_^

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