sarahantz

For as long as I remember I've always been the one to make the quips and crack the one-liners - as my school reports will attest. And it dawned on me recently that a lot of the time the jokes are made at my own expense.

So why do we poke fun at ourselves? Is it a form of self-preservation? If I say it then others won't say it, or think it, behind my back. Or is it because I can say these things without fear of upsetting anyone, because I'm the only one who could take offence?

And what I've also noticed, is that there's always at least one character in my ms with the same trait.....

What about you? Do you regularly give your characters a trait of yours?

Or just slow down a bit. This year is disappearing faster than a speeding train. I was minding my own business earlier, when the guy on the radio starts to tell me how many shopping days til christmas. WTF.... that's impossible. Christmas was only yesterday. I know because I've just put away all the wrapping paper and stuff.

Is it an age thing? Is that why time is totally out of control? I remember when a child it would seem forever between one Christmas and the next, or one birthday and the next. And now.... birthdays creep up what seems like monthly. So much so, I've had to instruct the children to start lying about their age, because no way am I old enough to have kids of their age...... that's what I tell them... they just roll their eyes towards the ceiling and mutter something about mum having lost it...

Check out this cover for Amanda's (great friend and crit partner) debut book:
















COOL, or what!!!!

I'm torn between excitement and dismay, at being close to the end of my current ms. It's exciting because it's the culmination of months of work... on the other hand...... I know my characters, I know the setting and it sort of feels safe.

I still haven't decided what to do next... and once I start something new, how do I know I'll fall in love with it... and hate it half way through (which goes without saying)? And what if turns out to be a duff idea, or I can't make a good idea work?

See, it's hard........ and this probably explains why I'm not some intrepid explorer or doing something really adventurous!!!!!

How do you feel when you get to the end of a ms?

I'm so excited because on Friday the computer man is coming round with my new computer....... What? Some of you may be saying. You have a new computer. We know that because you told us all about it.

Correct. But my new computer was a duff computer........ Did I break a mirror recently and someone forgot to tell me..... aside over....... My old new computer kept coming up with some very strange error messages regarding the memory. And in the end, after disabling the motel' s broadband and taking out the network cards, to make it a standalone computer, they've established that I need a new one.

So having just got my old new one right, entering all the passwords for all the different groups I belong to blah, blah.... now I've got to do it again...... as if I need another excuse not to get on with my writing.

Hey, ho...... ain't life grand!!!!

School balls... got to love them. DS had his at the weekend. And, oh joy, parents were invited!! So, we dutifully got a motel minder and took off.

Now, the thing with the ball is that the kids have a great time getting ready; drinking at the pre-pre-ball drinks in their motel room (kids away from their parents); mingling at the pre-ball drinks.... and by the time they get to the actual ball all they are interested in is the after-ball function. Which this year took place at a farm close by and they were taken by coach at 12.30am and dropped back at 5am (security on the door, food provided, DJ ....).

So, not only didn't we see much of DS but at the ball this woman chose to talk AT me for what seemed like hours all about how wonderful her kids were. Now, as a parent, I know what it's like to be proud of ones offspring.... but there are limits.........

Anyway, that's the last ball for us.... phew! DD had hers last year.

Back to reality now...... and to another hot water problem (this time the pump had gone.... )

Without wanting to launch into a poor me pity fest, why is it that if something's going to go wrong, then lots of things decide to go wrong?

These past eighteen months have been trying, to say the least. Not only have we had to move twice, we've also been shafted by a real- estate agent, let down by our lawyer and dumped on from a very great height by our (now-ex) accountant. So, we've sorted it all out...... and today the freakin' hot water tank erupted (lots of water and steam) and we've had to close the motel for the weekend, until the new tank can be delivered on Monday. I spent ages trying to place our guests in other motels.... Arrrrggghhhhhh

Luckily, the hot water for our house is from a different tank, or this would have been a very smelly post!!!

So, rant over. Tomorrow we're going to have a day out in Napier - we'll visit the open-air spa overlooking the beach and then go to lunch at our favourite place, and worry about no income later. I even spent time on the job sites thinking maybe I'll have to get a job (other than doing all the admin/front of house stuff at the motel). I did find one but, really, do I want to go back into the corporate world?????? I don't think so....

Something I was reading on Erica Orloff's blog the other day (don't ask me what because I can't remember) got me thinking about things our parents do or say that we strongly react against, and make a conscious decision not to do when we're older.

The trouble is, doing the total opposite to what our parents did can have it's own problems. As I found out.

I'm the oldest of four children and when we were young my mother would get me to do everything for the others - only 5 years between the four of us, and I'm the only girl. So, in the mornings she'd stay in bed while I got the breakfast. She'd direct traffic from her arm chair - and we'd have to fetch and carry for her (I hope none of my family are reading this. I love my mother dearly, but she's a bit lazy!).

SO.... I resolved not to order my children about in that way. And what happened??? You guessed it. I spent all my time waiting on them hand and foot, not asking them to fetch and carry for me........ Hmmmmmm. Not only that, I NEVER stay in bed, I'm up very early every day (whether I'm working or not) and am always there to wake them up in the mornings (when they're here).

I've also been accused of being too soft with my children, but I don't regret that. I reckon they're kind and compassionate towards others, which is really important to me.

What are you doing that's different from the way you were raised?

For those of you who've been reading my blog for a while, you may remember me flirting, unsuccessfully, with Gym. After only a couple of months my motivation headed south - along with my goal for no wobbly underarms, filled out calves and a flatter tum!

Now I've turned to walking (easier on the back) and I've found a good 40 mins walk that takes me out of the village (they call it village but we live in small town of about 10k people) and back round by the side of the post office so I can collect the mail - perfect!

I was telling my hairdresser of my route, which does have a very tricky hill - well, very tricky for me. She said that when exerting myself I should be able to talk but not sing. So, yesterday I tried it. I was staggering up the hilly bit, legs feeling like cotton wool and gasping for breath.... yet I could sing!!!! As anyone who heard my rendition of Climb Every Mountain (what else) can testify.

I'm aiming to do this walk thing every day - apart from today as I've got to take daughter out.

So, what's your exercise routine...... and why am I one of those people who find it soooo boring? Not the walking - I do love walking in the country or along the beach..... but the other Gym stuff....