Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Only 5

Once upon a time I would blog at least once a day, every day for the duration of the month. Often it would be more than once a day. And then I would do it all again the next month, and every month there after.

This is my fifth post for this month - which is nearly over. That's sad.

When I have writerly things to talk about, I post. When I've not had time to scratch my writerly bum, not so much.

Why?

A few reasons.

The good wife and I are preparing the house for sale. With the blooming of Spring in three months, we expect to place our love nest of the past five years onto the market. Before then I need to do the few jobs that we've been intending to do but never found the time or inclination to do before.

As is my normal linear thinking is want to do, I made a list. I went from the fence at the front of the house, to the fence at the back of the house and every room in between and made a list of what needs to be done. Some jobs are small, some are large, some need me to find some extra cash, some require additional consideration on which way forward we go, but all of them add up to around 100 jobs. I have 122 days until a man's fancy turns to the fairer sex.

Of course I still have my full time job, my wife still works, we share the load in a second job three days a week, and there's the family to consider. We are not particularly interested in living in a building site so things have to be done as when time allows.

This will make for a tight push to get things done on our current deadline, especially since we're still waiting on a couple of things falling into place before we can progress much further. These things are out of our control so the wait is frustrating. But while I'm waiting, I'm trying to whittle down what jobs I can. Tonight I patch the kitchen wall where the old exhaust fan once lived (and never worked), in preparation for the installation of a new range-hood unit.

Last week we finally knocked the stuffing out of the bathroom renovation. It took us a long time to get to where we are but it does look pretty good. Once the kitchen is done, I can worry about landscaping front and back and then the jobs are all pretty small(ish) (except for the de-cluttering).

So with all this going on (and no Jamie helping me out) I have exactly zero time for anything else. I've promised to read a manuscript for a publisher friend (I know more than one) and provide a review/blurb. I'm still going to find the time to do that (oh, the life of a famous editor/part time writer...(shoot me now)). I'm still helping another friend with a series of competition entries by tearing them to shreds providing insightful and helpful critiques. But I'm doing naff all else with writing = very little to post about on the blog.

Still reading your posts when I can and even occasionally, okay, rarely, posting a comment or two. You're all still in my thoughts and wishes.

Best of luck with your submissions and Works in Progress.

8 comments:

  1. I would help you in a heartbeat if I could get a free, or extremely inexpensive, ticket to Oz. I don't think my wife would agree with me as we have at least that many projects going on around our house as well. Good luck reaching your deadline.

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  2. I'm not as handy as Jamie, but find a ticket for me and I wouldn't mind breaking a sweat. I'm pretty good at carrying stuff around. Godspeed with the projects.

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  3. Good to hear from you, and good luck with the push to finish your List of Jobs!

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  4. The word "renovation" sends chills down my spine.

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  5. The offers of help are appreciated. We're getting there but it's slow.

    Thanks Katey.

    Nat, you do realise how strange that comes across when it sits next to your picture with the Jason mask on--don't you?

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  6. Ach, that puts my pathetic repainting of the living room to shame (especially as it's a month since I started and I'm not quite done). Good luck with it all.

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  7. Good luck! Getting a house ready to sell is an exhausting job--I've helped my mom with the task several times in my life. The fun part is looking for a new place to live. :)

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  8. Good luck BT! I wince in empathy... ;)

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