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Satisfied Saturday Six

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The SSS celebrates six things that have gone well, or at least okay, in the past week. It is the creation of Terry Egan, who is all things wonderful.

1. I had a very sociable Sunday last week, with Lovely Friend staying. We went out for a meal with her family, who are most splendid.

2. Ooh, Bella are potentially interested in the new novel. All I have to do now is write the remaining two thirds of it… Oh, and edit. And edit and edit and edit.

3. Goodness, I can’t believe it took me until point #3 to mention that Child – who is, of course, brilliant in every single way – chose to be brilliant at art and managed to be one of ten winners of a competition to have his artwork on a big banner in the local city centre.

4. A local friend of mine, whose son is one of Child’s best friends, very very kindly offered to take him to and from football practice today, and then hang on to him for a while as I had a choir rehearsal this morning. I thought I was going to have to make Child come to the rehearsal with me instead, which would not have been joyous for either of us, especially as Child informed me that the music we’re singing makes him want to cry. (I think it’s the music not my interpretation of it, as we’ve had the CDs on in the car and I haven’t been singing audibly along. Just in case you were wondering 😉 )

5. I accidentally managed to buy some books this week. A charity shop leapt out and forced me into its depths, refusing to let me out again until I’d bought five books. It’s terribly sad, but what choice did I have?

6. I’ve been working with a friend on a project for the last few days. Hopefully I will be able to tell you about it shortly 🙂 Anyway, I think it’s a Good Thing.

Satisfied Saturday Six

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The SSS celebrates six things that have gone well, or at least okay, in the past week. It is the creation of Terry Egan, who is all things wonderful.

1.  Article on the Regency written and submitted – for a sneak peek, click here.

2. A couple of people I’ve proof-read for are happy to give me a reference if anyone contacts them, which may  be very useful.

3. I’m so delighted for the USA that the judgement on equal marriage has gone through. I know there are plenty of other battles to fight, both here, there and elsewhere, but a step in the right direction is worth celebrating.

4. This being so, perhaps I should also celebrate the fact that my son’s school are finally beginning to acknowledge that it’s inappropriate to park their minibus in the disabled parking spot. A new teacher demanded I move from it (I am a blue badge holder, for the record!) so that they could park the bus there, but after a somewhat heated debate, I did get an apology.

5. And talking of my son, he’s taking part in a football tournament today, about which he is very excited. Some very kind friends have also volunteered to take him and bring him home, which means that when I’ve finished writing this, I’m off for a sleep!

6. I’m beginning to get plans for the summer holidays sorted. There will hopefully be a lot of things going on, including seeing lovely friends and family and spending time in my favourite place, Cornwall.

Satisfied Saturday Six

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The SSS celebrates six things that have gone well, or at least okay, in the past week. It is the creation of Terry Egan, who is all things wonderful.

1. I was supposed to post this yesterday for ‘Friday (Non)Fiction’ but I forgot. Oops. Anyway, I have written another piece for the Huffington Post about hair-discrimination (I kid you not). I guess at least my hair colour is a choice, unlike race, gender, disability etc…

2. Talking of yesterday, whilst I wasn’t posting the above link, I was feeling extremely happy. Nope, not for any exciting reason. I was just happy for no reason at all. It was most splendid!

3. I now have two-thirds of my Regency article written, and am enjoying it more and more. I need to pull the strings together and write a conclusion (possibly “if leeches and blood-letting were conventional medicine, I think I might try alternative routes, too!”), and then edit the hell out of it. (Pretty much all writers will tell you that ‘editing the hell out of it’ is a big part of their job.)

4. My ex-work have very kindly offered to let me keep the baby dalek…. sorry, the small mobility scooter… that the Access For Work scheme provided. This makes me almost as mobile as an able-bodied person, so it is extremely exciting!

Also, on a brief digression, I got the baby dalek two years ago from Herne Bay Mobility – an excellent place with an Actual Dalek in their shop! The lovely David there also told me about Sci Fi By The Sea – which by a coincidence I will be attending again tomorrow 🙂

5. I’ve been planning holidays for this summer and next easter/summer (date as yet undecided), which is very much fun.

6. Having been attempting and failing to do anything with dieting over the last month or so, I actually lost some weight this week. I then went out for a lovely meal as it was my father’s birthday, which probably means that I lose all the benefit, but both the weight loss and the meal were very pleasing.

Satisfied Saturday Six

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The SSS celebrates six things that have gone well, or at least okay, in the past week. It is the creation of Terry Egan, who is all things wonderful.

1. My knitting is getting on quite well. I’ve taken it down to the park and knitted whilst watching Child play football, which is a lovely restful pursuit.

2.  I’ve written about half of my article about Regency Period cranks and quacks, and I’m thoroughly enjoying the research for it!

3. Ooh, I bought a bottle of Bollinger champagne last Sunday! I felt very outrageous. Sadly, it’s not for me, but a present for a family member having an Important Age birthday. But I don’t mind – it’s the entertainment of having bought it at all that I was very much amused by.

4. I might as well mention it here, as it is soon to be properly official: I am in the process of losing my employment (as opposed to self-employed writing). This is, obviously, not something to be satisfied about but after a meeting on Tuesday, I was reassured that the quality of my work had never been a problem – the problem is simply that through no one’s fault, I am simply too ill to go out to work. It’s nice to know that I did a really good job whilst I was there (and even I can’t doubt the sincerity of my ex-work on this matter). It is very sad – I was, and remain, passionate about the job; but I can’t hold my workplace to blame for needing someone who can actually be there, nor can I magic myself better in order to go back.

5. I seem to have lost a bit of weight this week. It probably just means I’ll put it back on again next week, but it’s still quite pleasing.

6. I had to take Rory-cat to the vet on Thursday for his booster injections. She told me he was “perfect”. OF COURSE HE IS – but it’s always nice when someone else mentions it!

Satisfied Saturday Six

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The SSS celebrates six things that have gone well, or at least okay, in the past week. It is the creation of Terry Egan, who is all things wonderful.

1. Started an article for ‘Jane Austen’s Regency World’ about cranks and quacks and so-called medical ‘cures’ in the Regency. Quite fun, and I get to google really random stuff.

2.  You really have to see this film of an octopus carrying a coconut shell! It is the best thing I’ve seen for ages.

3. I went out for a meal with my boys last Sunday, as a last hurrah for half-term. It was really lovely to be out with them 🙂

4. I’ve had a think about things I’ve been doing out of habit rather than from enjoyment, and made plans to cut down on things which aren’t bringing much joy into my life.

5. I’m still very much enjoying having blue and green hair. I keep forgetting and then remembering when someone gives me a weird look!

6. I had an efficient day yesterday and made a couple of phone calls. The phone is the bane of my existence, so this is much more impressive than it sounds!

Satisfied Saturday Six

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The SSS celebrates six things that have gone well, or at least okay, in the past week. It is the creation of Terry Egan, who is all things wonderful.

1. Child has had a delightful time at football (soccer) coaching this week, with Charlton Athletic’s community branch.

2. I dyed my hair 🙂 I am now blue-and-green and mermaidish. Strangely, the spell check doesn’t believe ‘mermaidish’ is a word. I now desire to feature the word on my ‘Wednesday Word of the Week’.

3. I’m working on the new novel. I’ve currently written 20,000 words, which is much more than I had realised I’d written. AND I’m still early enough in the process that I think it’s a good story. By the time anything gets to publication, I’m at the point of thinking “oh gods, this is just dreadful – if I have to look through it again I think I may just delete the entire thing!” I like to think of this as authorly paranoia, rather than “Finally I See The Truth”.

4. I’ve had a while when I’ve been struggling with brain function enough that I’ve been unable to read new-to-me books. This is quite major brain dysfunction for me (I’d read upwards of 60 new books between January and the beginning of May), but thankfully appears to be fading. I’m not able to read complicated new things, but have read a couple of crime novels in the last few days.

5. I dealt (reasonably) well with a difficult phone conversation this week. Unlike reading, phones are difficult for me at the BEST of times, which this wasn’t.

6. Child found a game (in Aquila magazine, in case you’re wondering) in which you throw dice and use the outcome to draw monsters. This is far too much fun, especially with a ‘consequences’ style ‘name the monster and give details about it’ second round (which might have been my idea 😉 )

Satisfied Saturday Six

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The SSS celebrates six things that have gone well, or at least okay, in the past week. It is the creation of Terry Egan, who is all things wonderful.

1. Although I haven’t been feeling well this week, I’ve realised that there are definitely some factors which may be causing it, which is much better than having no idea what’s going on.

2. Child did very well in some assessments this week. I’m very proud of him.

3. I’m so lucky to have supportive family and friends to rant and/or angst to when things aren’t going well, and to share in my happiness when they are.

4. I’m still feeling very pleased about the review my novel got. Writing is terrifying to let out on an unsuspecting public, and I always worry that whatever it is I wrote is absolutely dire. But apparently not 🙂

5. We’re moving towards painting our bedroom. It is a shade of pale pink that I do not like at all, and I shall be delighted when at last it goes.

6. I’m glad to say that Lovely Partner did not (as I thought) have a nightmare the night before last. Nor (as he thought) did I. It was an earthquake. Well, of course. Earthquakes in deepest Kent – obvious answer really.

Satisfied Saturday Six

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The SSS celebrates six things that have gone well, or at least okay, in the past week. It is the creation of Terry Egan, who is all things wonderful.

1. I got to choir this week and passed my audition, so I’m an official tenor now. It’s also good to have my feeling that I do have a low voice for a woman confirmed.

2. I’m signed up to write three articles for Jane Austen’s Regency World over the next 6 months or so. Look out for information on ‘incredible cures and quacks’, toilet habits, and kept men…

3. I faced the fact that my weight is really not what I want it to be, and went to my first Slimming World session on Tuesday. I’m hoping that having to be weighed once a week in a sort of ‘official’ setting will make me more inclined to stick to a decent diet.

4. I went book shopping yesterday. I frequent charity shops and the like, to try and prevent myself bankrupting the household. Anyway, I ended up with 19 books (though three of them were for Child) so it’s very exciting having them lined up for myself.

5. I am an unashamed Manchester United fan, and my team have now basically been confirmed as being in the Champion’s League next season. (The next thing is to get us playing well, but one step at a time…)

6. Oh! I think I might finish the first three chapters of the new novel (working title The Sisterhood, and again a lesbian Regency romance) in the next week.  This feels like a Success as I set myself a secret target to finish them before the end of May. (I’ve also written another 12,000 words of other bits of the book, as I don’t work in a linear fashion, but it’s nice to see the beginning coming together a bit.)

Satisfied Saturday Six

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The SSS celebrates six things that have gone well, or at least okay, in the past week. It is the creation of Terry Egan, who is all things wonderful.

Well. This has not been my best week ever. So it’s even more important than usual to focus on the positives.

1. I successfully(ish) managed to paint a small section of wall which had been a dreary concrete colour. It improves our kitchen immensely.

2. The election results, whilst not (at all) what I wanted, have given me a distinct idea of the sort of world I want to live in, and some ways of moving forward personally and with like-minded folk to try and move our country in that direction.

3. I’m also really appreciating the friends and family I have. They are most excellent people.

4. Child has been agitating to join a local football club, and I just heard this morning that he can start next Saturday, which will please him.

5. My cats are gorgeous and cuddly.

6. It is still mostly sunny and we are making the most of it, spending hours at the park.

Satisfied Saturday Six

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The SSS celebrates six things that have gone well, or at least okay, in the past week. It is the creation of Terry Egan, who is all things wonderful.

 

1. Wow, I am really happy that my blog entry ‘Five Things People With CFS/ME Would Be Happy Never To Hear Again (And What We’d Like You To Say)’ has done so well. Obviously, after 22 years living with ME, it’s an area really close to my heart and I’m so glad that it resonated with so many other people. (Well, sort of glad – I’m really sorry how many people with this illness have heard the same unhelpful things I have, but I hope that maybe a few more people might understand now.)

 

2. The ‘Dark Lord Funk’ version of ‘Uptown Funk’ (a beautiful Harry Potter parody) has made me so happy.  I have no shame in saying that I’m a Harry Potter fan, and it incorporated so many parts of the original books and films into it – words, phrases, even the film’s theme music – that it was perfect. Love it.

 

3. I have a new (to me) car! After a couple of weeks without one, it is so great to have the freedom to get about. When your mobility is as limited as mine is (very), life is very curtailed without a car. I’m still getting used to its quirks, but I’m sure it will come.

 

4. On a slightly more mundane level, I managed to take my anti-migraine medicine the other day before the migraine took hold. I was still under the weather, but when I get migraines I can get frighteningly ill, and I managed to avoid that.

 

5. I had a parents’ meeting at Child’s school last week. Child is doing very well at maths (which doesn’t surprise me – he’s the sort of kid who thinks ‘mental maths problems’ is a great game to play in the car) and he seems happy at school. (That doesn’t surprise me, either – I ask him after school each day whether he’s had a good day and he always says yes. I got paranoid that maybe it was just a reflexive response, so I asked him if he’d tell me if he hadn’t had a good day, and he said “Of course!” So apparently, he really does have a good day every day!)

 

6. I’m really looking forward to going on holiday next week with my extended family. Thirteen of us! I’m expecting chaos…