Took 3 attempts because of my paranoia, but...

...me and the pup walked up and down the street 8 times today!  There's no way I could have done that at the start of the week so I've got nothing to blame but the Yoga I've been doing for the last 3 days!

The B12 injections and the Yoga have given me a taste of normal life again!

This is what got me started with Yoga 3 days ago

I hope this works!

 

This is the video that inspired me to give Yoga a try and this site shows what I do every morning as soon as I wake up and put my glasses on.

Special thanks goes to Hafapea on Facebook for finding the link to the second page... without her being online exactly when I saw the Yoga video for the first time, I'd never have even tried it and now I'm a convert!

Is 3 days of gentle Yoga enough to...

... drop a clothes size?  My size 14 knickers keep sliding down and my size 14 leggins keep sliding off my belly too.

Have I already dropped a clothes size or is it wishful thinking?

If you're a dog owner in the UK, give this a try!

I've just seen an ad for BarkBeats on Facebook so I followed the link and I've just ordered Mitzi's first box for less than £15 a month.

I've asked that they don't put unhealthy/high fat treats in it because Mitzi's on a diet so the pup will be getting a box purely for her at the end of August and every month after that!

The money is coming out of my back-up bank so I can just forget about it now, unless Mitzi doesn't like what she gets!  Basically just 1 months payment from my main account into the back-up account more than covers a whole year of boxes for the pup!

I reckon M's jealous you know!

Both of her siblings are married.
Both her siblings have left home.
Both her siblings partners are happy with M's siblings
Both of her siblings are parents.

M?

She hasn't even had a boyfriend in all the years I've known her.
She still lives with her parents.
She's always the bridesmaid, never the bride and she doesn't like it.
She's never been a mum.
She doesn't like growing older alone and running out of time to start a family.

She's just jealous and isn't even attempting to hide it any more... I've decided to feel sorry for her rather than angry when she takes her jealousy out on me!  She's going to grow old and die alone.

I've only done it for 2 days, but...

...Yoga is changing my life already!

Tuesday I walked Mitzi up and down the street twice before she pulled back.

Yesterday (Wednesday) was the first time in my life I've done Yoga and it was all done with me still on the bed.  I doubled Tuesday's distance and walked the pup up and down the street four times.

This morning I tripled Tuesdays distance and we walked up and down the street six times, including picking up and binning Mitzi's poo and stayed on my feet the whole time.  She usually poo's in the back yard but does occasionally poo on her walk, like she did this morning.  I'm a responsible dog owner so always pick it up and bin it but I can't usually continue with the walk after that because my legs are shaking so much.

Not this morning though!

We walked up and down the street twice, Mitzi poo'd so I brought her back into the house, got her long handled pooper scooper and a nappy sack, cleared it up, binned it, then walked up and down another 4 times.

If this is what I can achieve after 2 days, then a week will be brilliant and I'll be walking the pup up and down the street 10 times a day by the end of the weekend!

Yoga is ace!

Oh wow! Wasn't expecting that!

Yoga.

Oh wow!

I've never done it before this morning but I'll definitely be doing it again!

I printed off 4 pages of Yoga exercises you do in bed and wasn't expecting much but I feel more awake and have more energy and positivity than I've had for a very long time!

It's like my body is totally relaxed and ready for the day now and those 15 minutes of Yoga I did as soon as I woke up is the only thing I did differently!

I walked Mitzi double the amount that I did yesterday and could have done more if she'd wanted to but by the time we walked past the door the 4th time, she was pulling back and wanted to come home so we did and she's now laying on my foot!

I'll definitely be doing it again and again!

Apparently, tomorrow is...

...the start of the Windows 10 roll out and it'll be free for 7 and 8 users to download and install it - Steve reckons there'll be a white window icon in the system tray where the clock is and I'll just need to click on that, it'll scan my laptop to see what is and isn't supported in 10 and then I can decide if I want it or not.

Sounds good so far, but there is bound to be something I don't like about it - there always is apparently!  Now that I've left all the online communities except SUGAR, I'm less fussed about loosing my emails now... it's my Nectar toolbar, bookmarks and documents that I don't want to loose now!  lol

Bless her!

Mitzi is next to Steve on the sofa, snoring her little head off so loudly that I thought it was Steve snoring away until he looked at me, wide awake!

She's only a little pup, but those snores are something to be proud of!  lol

9 days

Today marks 9 days since I left my online communities and I'm starting to feel bored again  :-(

It was the right thing to do because I could only open WLM on one day a week then I spent all morning sending 5 emails which was stressing me out  :-(

I just need to save up for a new laptop is all then I can re-join them all without getting stressed out any more.

*sigh*

I'm going to use the free time between now and then to edit my manuscripts and keep my fingers crossed that I make it past the slush pile on UV at SCBWI and I'll maybe try a bit of drawing too!  :-)

How do you explain to a man...

...what the womanly "OMG, she's wearing the same clothes!" moment to a man who's got even less fashion knowledge than me.

I'm no sort of follower of fashion or anything, but after reading this I chuckled and couldn't explain why to Steve.

I read it to Steve and he shrugged his shoulders.

I tried to explain what little I know about fashion and wearing the same clothes as another woman being embarrassing.  Steve said "so?"

I then tried to explain about wearing a Gloucester rugby shirt to a Bath game and he just shook his head.

I'm now all out of ideas so I'm asking for a way to explain it to him now... if you've got any ideas of other ways to explain it to a man, just leave a comment in reply to this and how you want me to credit you and I'll read exactly what you write to him.

Thank you! 

Take That's Radio 2 concert

We watched Take That performing a small concert for Radio 2 in 2014 on YouTube last night.

There was maybe 100 people there.

When they sang Never Forget, Mark screwed up slightly by singing the wrong words.

Adorable!

You can tell that they really do sing live instead of relying on a recording.

I love them even more now!

Sleep is a wonderful thing!

I've felt more awake and positive all day so I obviously needed the extra sleep I got overnight and I'm not going to get up especially early tomorrow and I've got nothing to get up for on Monday either, so I'm going to have as much sleep as my body needs from now on!  I'll let my body tell me when is a good time to get up instead of feeling pressured to wake up early like I have done for years... this is the start of me listening to my body again instead of me forcing my poor body to work harder than was good for it... sorry body!

Had a jacket tatty with cheese and baked beans for tea... I'd forgotten how yumsk it was!  We'll definitely be having it again!

It's amazing what an extra hour of sleep can do for you!

I'm usually up at 8am without an alarm clock but I went to bed early last night and woke up at 9am this morning.

I've still got dark circles under my eyes and puffy eyelids but I feel so much more awake!

A few more early nights and late mornings will hopefully be all I need  :-)

Just taken me pills, so...

I'll get the door for Steve's take away then head to bed for the first time before midnight during the last fortnight!  I'm not going to get up early tomorrow either so if Steve's carer comes before I'm down here then so be it, Steve will just have to answer the door for a change!

That's today sorted then!

After The Bill I want to watch MasterChef Canada that was recorded last night, then Steve wants to watch the Grand Prix practice because apparently one of the drivers flipped their car and landed on the roof so I hope the driver is OK then we'll watch the Dogs Trust programme that Steve recorded too, so I guess I won't get much writing or editing done today after all!

Now that I've left my online communities...

... I'll have the time to edit and write more!  Just got to get used to it now!  I'm going to start by writing more of Speckles' Diary for the Dogs Trust then I'll work on Payj and Scott, then I'll carry on editing my Toni novels.

Wish me luck!

Ho hum :-(

Just seen an email from one of the driving instructors and he's fully booked for at least 8 weeks too so I guess my Gods and Goddesses just didn't think it was safe for me to re-learn to drive yet  :-(

I'll use the provisional license as photo ID if I need to now.

*sigh*

Knew it was too good to be true :-(

Just had the instructor on the phone... he's only got the car I went out in today but has given me the phone number for someone else but I think I've already contacted them and they said their books were full  :-(

He's given me the name of another school so I'll see if they've got an email address and phone number, if not I'll stop looking and just use the license as photo ID like I'd originally intended  :-(

Ho hum... it'd be boring if things were easy!  :-(

*ahem*

I DID IT!  I DID IT!  I DID IT!

Just got back from my first driving lesson for 18 years and the first time I've ever driven in Gloucester.

It was awesome!

I'll never be a professional driver, but as long as I'm a confident and safe driver I don't care!

I just want to be able to drive over and see me mum in my own little car and all alone then we'll take it from there!

I don't care if it costs thousands, the safety of other road users and pedestrians and personal confidence in my ability is all that matters!

You and me on 31st July, brain damage, I'll take you on and win.  You've had too much control over the years and I'm going to start taking my life back now.  First it was the quad cane, then the wheelchair, now a car - I'm slowly getting my independence back and I'll win this time!

Independence is my catch-phrase from now on and I feel sorry for anyone who tries to get in my way now!

Less than an hour to go now!

56 minutes and counting... I'll go out in about 50 minutes in case he's early though!

Wish me lotsa luck!  I think I'll need it!  lol

Counting down the hours

In just over 6 hours, I'll meet the driving instructor for the first time and we'll go somewhere for the assessment and take it from there!

Wish me luck

Tomorrow - getting really nervous now!

I'm going for the driving assessment tomorrow afternoon and I'm getting nervous about it already!  It's been at least 18 years since I was last behind the wheel of a car and I can't even remember which peddle does what now!

I was paid unexpectedly today too so I'll definitely be able to pay for the block of 10 lessons and pay my bills, assuming I get on with the instructor of course!

Wish me luck!

As of now...

I've resigned from all my online communities except for SUGAR because I'm the owner of that community, but my laptop just isn't coping with my email any more so I've resigned until I've got a new laptop then I'll be back with them all again.

This is the end of an era for me!  :-(

M again

Just had an email from M.

She arranged something positive for someone and I didn't have a clue until she said about it in the message!

It sounds like it all went well and M is basking in the glory of having arranged something so good.

I gave up everything to move to Gloucester with Steve and M hasn't given up anything and neither has Steve!

Steve sees his family more in a month that I have since 2010!

I gave up 2 jobs I loved to be with Steve.

I gave up regular visits (a couple of times a month) to my mum in 2010 to be with Steve.

I gave up a home I'd lived in since I was born to be with Steve.

I gave up a pet to be with Steve.

I gave up knowledge of Oxfordshire to move to Gloucestershire (that I'd been to 3 times before I moved here) to be with Steve.

I gave up a wonderful GP and hospitals I knew to be with Steve.

I gave up my health to be with Steve.

I gave up everything to be with him and he's given up bugger all to be with me!

Same with M.  She's still got everything she wants and is comfortable with, a driving license and a car to let her go wherever she wants.  I still can't do anything right though!

Well screw you, M, now that I've got a provisional driving license I'm going to take lessons and I'm going to pass the tests this time and that'll mean I can see my mum more often and hopefully move back to Oxfordshire too, just so that M can see how little Steve does around the house and how little he cares about Mitzi even though he gets credit for walking, feeding and watering her as well as clearing up her poo out the back!

This is the end of the beginning and the start of a new attitude for me!

My poor mum

My mum has got to go into hospital as an out-patient tomorrow and the preparation stuff she's got to take doesn't sound very nice.

Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers that she comes through it OK and the tests come back showing what's wrong with her so that her doctor can treat it!

I know what the procedure is that she's got to have and why, but I'm not going to break her right to confidentiality on here!  Sorry!

SCBWI

For some reason my membership expired back in 2012 and I didn't know!  *sigh*

I'm paid up for another year now though so I can get as involved as I like, I just wish I'd known before now though... an email or letter or phone call or whatever?  If there was a way to set up a direct debit then I wouldn't be reliant on my memory and the money would come out automatically without me needing to worry about it!

43 out of 50 ain't bad, considering...

...the questions I got wrong weren't in the Highway Code which is the only thing I've read since getting my provisional license!  If I'd read the signs and signals books before taking the test then I would have got 49 out of 50!

Just gotta do that well with me driving now!

I'm thinking, if I get on OK on Wednesday and me and the driving instructor take each other on, that I'll ask for the first few lessons to be driving around just trying to remember what all the signs mean and stuff... I want to take it very slowly and steadily this time and not move on to the next thing until I've perfected the current thing.

I want to be a good, safe driver and if it costs me thousands then so be it!  Safety, in my eyes, is priceless!

Miss you Chris!

Chris made it safely to where he was going which is a relief but I already miss him!  The next 9 days are going to be awful!  I just want him back in my arms!

I've got my driving assessment on Wednesday though and will hopefully have a driving instructor by the time Chris comes back... I'm just taking it a day at a time right now.

Steve's carer took the Blue Badge application form and posted it for me this morning, it costs a tenner if I'm approved so I'll try and remember to use my secondary bank for that.

Most of my bills have come out of my bank now, thankfully, so I won't go overdrawn when the rest of 'em come out 'cos I'm paid again on Monday so I'll have enough in there then to cover the rest of the bills without worrying and if I decide to carry on with the rest of the lessons, I'll find out how much the block of 10 lessons costs and I'll pay for them on Wednesday... that's the deciding day for me!

The three weeks are about to start :-(

Chris is at the airport and will be up, up and away soon which will mean he's not going to be around for the next 2 weekends and I'm missing him already!  :-(

Have as good a time as possible, Chris, and I can't wait until you're back!

Just applied for a Blue Badge too!

My marriage certificate is going for it's 3rd trip tomorrow... to hopefully help me to get a Blue Badge which will be great to take to places with disabled bays instead of walking miles from the car to the place I'm going and back and spending a week recovering from it!

Wish me luck with getting it!

Done it now!

Just called the driving instructor and he sounded like a wonderful man!  Put me at my ease really quickly and talked through how my disabilities affect me.

Result of the call is that he's coming over next Wednesday (a week today) at 4pm for a driving assessment which will cost £15 then £21 per hour after that if we take each other on.

He said that we'd go somewhere very quiet so that he could see what I remembered and what I didn't.  Because of the brain damage we are going to take things very slowly and repeat everything several times so that we can be sure I remember it.

It's going to scare me silly the first few times I get behind the wheel because I can't remember which peddle does what... I know there's a clutch, brake and accelerator peddle, but I can't remember which is which and sitting in a new car will totally freak me out too!

He sounds like he knows how to put me at my ease though, so Wednesday will be the decider.  If I don't feel comfortable with him then I won't book any more lessons, but if he's patient with me then I've found myself a driving instructor!

Wish me luck!

Just ranting - feel free to ignore!

There's a bloke on one of the forums I'm with that seems to think he knows everything and seems to enjoy telling me I'm wrong.  Every damn time I try and help someone, he sticks his nose into the thread and has a go at me and tells me how wrong I am.

I'm a human being FFS, not a machine!  I've never in my life said I know everything but then again I don't not know things either!  He seems to think he knows everything and like he's the most supportive and knowledgeable person in the entire universe!

Well I've got a surprise for you... you aren't a walking library and I'm not going to take a blind bit of notice from you from now on!

It was bad enough when there were 2 of you having a go at me but one of them has cared enough to apologise and now treats me with respect and I give the same back.  We will never be best mates, but we support each other as much as we can now.  Sometimes it's just offering a hug and leaving it at that, but you?  You take every opportunity that arises to have a go at me and put me down!

Well screw you, I'll just ignore you from now on and do my best to help others when they need it despite you trying to make me feel like a pile of manure on the bottom of your shoe!  You're as bad as BS and M, you're just another one that I'll just be polite to you and ignore you having a go at me!

Do *not* read this if it's food time

If you've just eaten or are about to eat, don't read any further!

Mitzi let off a couple of really stinky farts last night.

Overnight she produced a huge poo (can't say I didn't warn you up there ^^) that was right outside the back door.

I've just cleared it up and wish now that I hadn't.  The smell from it had disappeared until I 'disturbed' it to clear it up.

It made my stomach turn!

I'm just glad that I invested in the long handled pooper scooper about 18 months ago... just this poo has made it worth the money so any other poo's I clear up will be bonuses... it's earned it's keep now!

If you've got a dog and you don't like picking up after him or her then get the pooper scooper and a multipack of nappy sacks, hold your breath for 10 seconds et voila!

Not pleasant by any means, but better than getting down to pick it up with your hand in a carrier bag!  It's one of the few unpleasant things about being a responsible dog owner but the unconditional love they give you is worth it!

For some reason...

...the DVLA have sent me a cheque for £26 even though I paid for what the form said so I don't know why they've done it!

Maybe it's because I've changed my title and address since I had my original provisional license or something?

I dunno, but it'll pay for the first driving lesson so I'm not complaining!  lol

Today's the day! :-/

Less than 10 hours before I phone the driving instructor to find out how much he charges for a lesson and I want to know if I can pay for a block of 10 lessons at the same time so that I don't need to worry about finding the money for each individual lesson.

I've already said that I want to take things slowly so if he's willing to go at my speed and repeat things each lesson until I feel confident then he's found himself a new student!

Wish me luck!

Have I bitten off more than I can chew with this?

I got my provisional driving license through the post yesterday.

I had intended to use it as photo ID only.

For some reason I started looking at driving schools around here an hour ago.  That's where I think I started going wrong.

Before I knew what I was doing, I emailed 2 schools and within minutes they replied.

One of the schools was fully booked.

The other wants me to call him after 8.30pm whenever I'm ready and we'll talk things through.


Before I knew what I was doing, I replied and said I'd call tomorrow.  Mistake number 2.

Haven't had a reply from him yet so maybe he's changed his mind?  He's prolly on a lesson with someone which is fair enough, I'll prolly bottle out of it by this time tomorrow!  lol

He doesn't have prices on his site though so maybe they are just too expensive for me?
Maybe it's my Higher Powers telling me to take this step?

I can afford it if I use the money I've been saving up for Steve's car but do I really want to use it before I've got it for him?  Which is more important to me?

Why don't I think things through before I do more than search for things?

Tsk!

What a biology lesson! Oops! lol

Just opened a new bottle of Dr Pepper a bit close to my right nostril and breathed in just as the carbon dioxide part of it decided to fizz.

I felt the gassy part of it go right up my right nostril, go through a small tube at the back of my nose and down to the back of my throat where it stopped and I burped!

Yes, I had biology lessons at school as a kid but it was all text books and occasional video's.  Today was my first practical human biology lesson!  lol

M was good to me today!

Usually M has a go at me for things that aren't my fault but not today!

She's been really good to me today... thank you M!

Just got back from seeing Chris and...

...it'll be at least 3 weeks before I see him again!  :-(

Don't get me wrong, I don't want him to stay in the UK just to see me, but 3 weeks is forever!  :-(

Just got my provisional license through the post, so...

... I can now learn to drive a moped, motorbike and car!  Yay!

It's only valid for 10 years though 'cos of it being a photo license, because I'll "age" and the photo will need to be updated again.  *sigh*

Mitzi approves!

I've just put down some new food for the pup and other than looking at me for permission, she ate the lot all bar maybe 20 bits in one go instead of only eating half in the morning and the other half in the evening like she does with the vet food.

I approve because the bag was full right to the top instead of only being half full of food and the other half air with the vet food so the pup is getting more food for the money so Steve approves too.

5 star rating all round methinks!

I was wrong this afternoon...

1001 is an OCD number too so I can go to bed in a good mood after posting this!

Nite nite orl!

OCD in overdrive!

My OCD is going nuts because I've finally reached 1,000 posts!

111 to go before it happens again!  Yay me!

OMG!

This is post number 999 so this one and my next one are finally here!

My OCD can celebrate with chocolate!

Hope for terrible drawers

Just uploaded my first doodle for about a decade and a half to SCBWIs Twitter channel thing... it's a hideous doodle even if I do say so myself!  lol

Sorted!

Steve worked out that TweetDeck was no longer supported on Windows 7 so uninstalled the Beta version and the full version, I reinstalled the browser version and it got itself installed on my laptop by itself!

Stoopid thing!

3rd time lucky?

I've got the Beta version of TweetDeck but rarely use it.

One of the SCBWI groups I'm on have set up a couple of channels (or whatever they're called) that I want to have a go at taking part in.

I thought the Beta version was all I needed, but it's not playing nice with me so I downloaded the full version yesterday afternoon and set it installing.

About 2 hours after I set the installation going it was still not playing ball so I cancelled it and went to bed.

This morning I set it going again and I was given the option of repairing it or uninstalling it.

I chose to repair it.

It didn't work, so I uninstalled it and tried again.

It's now installed but doing a busy icon thing right now  *sigh*  I've got all day though, so if it's got nothing better to do then it's fine by me!

Just spent another hundred on Pet Rescue Saga but...

...that's it now for the rest of July!

I'm back onto the normal puzzles now, no more limited time things so I'm not going to play on it for the rest of July to save meself some money ready for August when I'll start playing again... I've been spending too much already so that's it now!

Yeah, right!  lol

'Pet Rescue Saga' on Facebook

It's official.

I'm addicted to Facebook games.

First it was Farmville, then Cafe World, now Pet Rescue Saga.

I must have spend several thousand pounds on those games but I can't stop playing them!

It's like that with Theme Hospital too... cheap, cute game that seems easy to play until you spend "less than a tenner" several times, then "it's cheaper to spend more in one go and it'll keep me going for ages" then a week later I'm addicted!  lol

They are all simple games that gently reel you in until you're addicted to playing and you're spending hundreds a month because you "just want to get on to the next level, honest!"... I even know the script now!  lol

I spent pennies over £50 for 1000 gold bars an hour ago.  I've got less than 800 now!  lol

Seriously, the only thing that stopped me playing was because I needed to ask my friends to unlock the next level... I could have spent more gold bars to unlock it but thought I should stop playing before it got dark and I couldn't sleep!  lol

I really *am* having an early night tonight!

Didn't get to sleep until almost 11pm last night, despite taking me pills at 7pm and heading to bed at 8pm and feeling really sleepy when I went up.

I got into bed and I was wide awake though  :(

*sigh*

Yumsk

Just had macaroni cheese for lunch and now I'm fit to burst because I had seconds... Steve struggled with his and there's still half left in his bowl!  lol

Yummy yummy,
in my tummy!

8 posts to go!

This is post number 991 so I've only got to make another 8 posts before my blog reaches 999!  Yay!

11 now, instead of 39

Just been doing a bit of housekeeping on my laptop's desktop.

I had 39 icons on it this morning.

I've now got 11.

I figured I'd get rid of the ones that are already in my taskbar first, then the ones I haven't used pretty much since I installed them, then the printer icons et voila!

All the programmes are still installed, I just got rid of the desktop icons so that I could see more of the wallpaper is all.

At least I hope I have!

Mr Maturity

Now that Mr Maturity has had the police and council telling him to leave me and Mitzi alone and he's got the RSPCA onto us, he's decided to drive up and down the street, revving his car engine as he gets to the house and then getting his wife to go to his neighbour so that she can spy on us and report back to him.  He also parks right outside our house when the rest of the street is empty.

That's 3 organisations that have told me and Steve that we're not doing anything wrong but he still keeps doing it, so if he's got nothing better to do then I feel sorry for him.

Idiot.

3 years makes all the difference to my writing!

This will be my 5th NaNo year.

I can definitely tell the difference between my first (2011) NaNo novel and last years (2014).

My first NaNo still needs oneheckuva lot of editing and maybe even a total re-write.

My second NaNo was better but no-one I approached would take it on so I self-published it.

My third NaNo novel was really good and it's in a competition in SCBWI.

My fourth NaNo novel is my best work ever so far... edit number 1 required 3 hours work and I've put the opening lines into another competition.

I know I don't stand any chance of winning either competition, but that's not the point for me... I entered both competitions because I am proud of what I've written and it's that confidence I need to take into this year's NaNo... my first couple of chapters are the hardest to write while I get into my characters heads but after that my fingers dance over the keyboard!

It's the difference between my second and fourth novels that I'm so proud of... give me a few more years and I'll have improved even more!

Even the tallest mountain is climbed starting from the bottom with that first step into the unknown!

Didn't post in here yesterday because...

... I was having laptop issues!

Again.

Hopefully today will be better though!

Tea and coffee

I've hated the taste of tea and coffee all my life.  Always have and now I always will!

Steve's got a coffee machine for him and I foolishly tasted it when he put it on for him and his brother.

Yuckerama!

A litre of soya milk and most of a bag of sugar would only just make it bearable for me but then what's the point of having just milk and sugar?

Bleugh!

Time-keeping

Steve ordered a mini shop because his brother is coming over to watch the Grand Prix tomorrow.

He ordered it to come between 5pm and 7pm.

It turned up at 4.15pm!

Then I had to put it all away while Steve went for a sit down.

I couldn't get the burgers into the freezer so Steve sighed and said he'd do it.

Didn't even bother thanking me for putting the rest of it away!

He crammed the burgers into the freezer and seemed to expect me to worship him or something!

No effin' chance!

Oh dear

I had 4 soya yoghurts with a best before date of 9th June.

Today is 4th July so they were almost a month out of date.

Still tasted good but my stomach is now telling me it was a bad idea.

*sigh*

That's reassuring!

I've just had someone on the phone from the bank my publishers (AH) have an account with, about the money that I paid J.E to his personal account instead of to AH.

The man I spoke to is going to look in to it for me to see if there's any way to find out if I'm protected somehow because J.E lied to me and said I was paying for things that would happen after my book was published and then vanished into thin air and AH didn't have a record of any of the money I paid or the things J.E promised me.

Basically it sounds like AH are taking it seriously since I sent them the statements as proof of what I'd paid J.E for and I'm hoping there's a chance I'll get at least some of the money back and stopping J.E doing it to anyone else!

Just entered a competition

I'm a member of SCBWI and the BI part of it is running a competition for unpublished and unagented writers of children's books so I've entered my 2014 novel into it because I'm proud of what I've written.

I'm not expecting to even be long-listed, I just hope I'm not laughed out of SCBWI!  The only thing is that I've got to be unagented until the end of the competition, so I'll work on polishing up my query email between now and then and I've got NaNo in the mean time too so I've got stuff to keep me occupied while I'm waiting to hear if I've been long-listed at the end of this year... wish me luck!

Mitzi made another friend this morning!

Mitzi is such a friendly pup.  She made friends with a family a couple of days ago and with another neighbour this morning too!

The lady said good morning to me then followed Mitzi's lead down from my wrist to Mitzi, she said hello to the pup and Mitzi was so happy to be talked to that she went up on her back legs and did a little dance!  The lady stroked Mitzi's head and Mitzi was in doggy heaven!  Such a friendly pup!

When the lady went to wherever she was going, I carried on walking Mitzi and she did a poo in the road outside our living room window, so I brought the pup in and went to clear it up.  By the time I'd put the long handled pooper scooper back there was a cat in the road, so I brought Mitzi back in, it had started raining and Jess came to do Steve's legs as well so we only went for a short walk this morning.

I might take her out again in a few hours, just to make sure she gets enough of a walk today, but the weather and cat will decide that for sure one way or the other.

I approve of...

...last year's NaNo novel.  Just over 50k words in 13 days and it's great!  I'm thinking I'll send that off to agents instead of Toni's books... just need to come up with a synopsis for it first!  It's called 'Disability Roolz' for anyone who's interested!