Making plans

I'm a planner. Chronic. Following through, I have gotten better at (perhaps as my guilt complex has developed), but starting off with grand intentions - that comes so very naturally! And so I tend to jump at the opportunity to embark on a new challenge or project. Last year I took up the 100 Days challenge, along with a whole lot of others - to complete some kind of creative or design-based task every day for 100 days (this link goes to the Facebook page).

Thinking up brilliant creative things to do.

The trick is: it has to be the same task. My sister in law wrote haiku, I did 'images of Louis' (and so started this blog, in fact), others altered car number plates to say funny/rude things, designed dresses, all sorts!

This year I am up for it again (surprise surprise) and will be writing a short script every day. These snippets of dialogue will, I hope, be entertaining, revealing, interesting or at least very very short.

Person 1 speaks
Person 2 speaks
Person 1 or 3 speaks

Or something like that. It will be hard for me to keep it to that. This is going to be a challenge in culling for me! My inner editor needs the work-out. Nanowrimo-ers will have heard of the inner editor - that's the little monster that sits in your brain, or on your shoulder, or on your keyboard, and makes you feel rubbish when you're writing a first draft... usually stopping the unsuspecting would-be-writer from getting very far at all. Actually, inner editors don't just kill off writers. Any creative venture looks like dinner to them.

They're not usually very nice.

But they do have their place and purpose: editing!

I am currently working on the draft of a new novel and I'd very much like for my inner editor to have something else to focus on. So, here you go you nasty little coughandsplutter: edit the faff off of these little hardly hatched morsels. They're nice and juicy and fresh from my brain/life.

Yes, I will definitely be drawing on conversations I hear around me and probably even some that I participate in. Living in France, of course, I don't understand so many of the conversations around me as I used to. So I won't be able to steal all my short scripts from eaves-dropping.

Yes, some of these little scripts will probably have a word or two in french. I used to really hate this: In novels, when writers use french for no good reason (story not set in france and no characters are french) as if everyone did high school (at least) french, and just assume we all understand. I would refuse to look up the translation, just to show them. Hah! (Yes, I'm aware the writer would never know and as I'm already reading the book at this point, they got their cut and probably don't care much.) So... I will include translations if/when I do delve into my new foreign vocab. Promise.

Timing, being what it is (and Murphy having his hand in things again), we are of course off on holiday the very day after this exciting creative venture begins. On Friday I will write my first 100 Days script, and also pack five days worth of gear for Louis and myself (and Luuk... we'll see) into one suitcase, and I have an ultrasound in the morning. On Saturday we're off at the crack of dawn to catch a train... to a train, to a train, to the South of France! Hopefully the weather will be so amazing I'll have difficulty finding any time when I'm far enough out of direct sunlight, and splashing water, that I'm able to put pen to paper, or finger to smartphone as the case may be.

The victims/beneficiaries of my creative ventures. 

(This is what they are doing while I finish this post.)

Orphaned by my writing, again.

Louis, in his special place, his reading spot - with all the junk mail, under the table. 

Sometimes a man needs to be alone. Good thing too... ah, the neglected child. 

Adventures in parenting...

We've been having an interesting time recently with a very up-and-down toddler - up and down in every sense. 

We've had some phenomenal tantrums, especially around meals. How difficult it is to get him into the highchair is a good indicator of how the meal might go. But then sometimes he chills out totally once he's in there. Other times, even Elmo videos won't do the trick. I'd be doubting the food quality but he is totally inconsistent - loving a dish one night and refusing it another.

Often he just wants to watch TV. We didn't have one in NZ, though we did show him videos sometimes. He loves playing with the remotes and is no longer contented to pretend they're telephones. He has taken to handing us a remote when he wants to watch TV... and he's less than happy when we immediately put the remote up on the sideboard, out of reach. Surprise, surprise.

But sometimes we just cave-in. Bit of father-son bonding time... (excellent shirt choice, Luuk.)

To be fair, Louis is not the only one craving things that aren't very good for him. It's been a couple of months since we last had fish'n'chips. Can't get them easily around here, but wasn't too difficult to throw together our own. Bit fancier than Capt. Ben's too... though it is hard to duplicate that perfect crunchy batter without your giant tub of lard to cook it all in. We miss you Capt. Ben.

Louis is not the only one who wants to do something just cause he hasn't before. He's curious, interested in the world, and I love that about him. But it can be a nuissance. And the same could be said of me... my curiosity is not always in my best interest. Exhibit A: Mille Fuille

Amazing french pastry that a friend was raving about. Thought we should try it. Very glad I only bought one - so rich! That's a caramelly glaze on top, and I suspect Chantilly cream between the layers of buttery crisp wafers of pastry. Was an absolute dream of vanilla, caramel, butter and awesome. 

Louis doesn't seem to need the sugar kick to get him bouncing - oh to be a toddler. He's rearing to go on the walking-front. About time eh? In a week he'll be 17 months old. (Also, I'll be 7 months pregnant, and I'll turn 27 years old... hm, the 7s eh?)

Last week he was trying out standing/bouncing. I think he's figured out that momentum keeps you upright. The whole process might be safer if he'd just try to stand still, but this way is at least entertaining...

Can't safely play this game with me anymore - or at least not very comfortably. Probably isn't good for his little sister, being pounded on by this tiny dancer. Though it doesn't stop him trying. I keep telling him, explaining, that I really haven't been eating too many Pain au Chocolat - it's the baby making me fat. I don't think he gets it. (And it's possible I have been eating too many Pain au Chocolat, I suppose, if I'm being honest.)

Louis' first Easter with teeth.

Last Easter I added a little cocoa to his mashed bananas, and felt a little guilty.

This Easter... no holds barred!

It is a good thing keeping things out of his reach is not great challenge. He does keep going back to the place where I hid the first egg, hoping for a repeat. I hid them while he was watching and he found them right away, of course. Next year we'll have to up the ante... while keeping it fair for his little sister. Hm...

Driving and Dramatics

We've had a few Firsts in the past few days.

On sunday night I drove in France for the first time - on the right hand side of the road and all. Started after we turned off the major roads but I still had several round-abouts to traverse and I had to park the car, avoid a cyclist, and not end up in a ditch. All of which I somehow managed successfully. The last, and only, time I have driven on the right hand side of the road before was over six years ago when I was studying in Wyoming. It was far less than ideal circumstances: after midnight, there was ice on the roads, and I'd had a beer - though just the one, which was substantially less than my friend whose car it was. To add stress to the mix, I was just 20 at the time: over the legal drinking age in good ol' NZ, but not so in Wyoming, USA. And this was while the Patriot Act was in place. Technically, I could have been imprisoned, indefinitely, without even being told why... which I thought about quite a lot while I pulse-braked my way all the way back to our dorms from the party we'd been to.

Another first: Louis had his hair cut last night! I did the honours. I usually do Luuk's and he's very forgiving - plus, he insists I do it rather than fork out the money to get a pro. Most of the time, Luuk sits still and if I go wrong I can fix it. He's symmetrical by the time I'm finished, if a little closer-cut than I intended. Young Louis, on the other hand, is fascinated by scissors and combs. The front wasn't so bad, because he was watching what I was doing, though he must have gone cross-eyed to do so. But the back - oh! It is a bit patchy. Fortunately, it will all grow out, and I managed to keep a couple of those gorgeous curls for the scrapbook.

The finished product:

An excellent example of a tv-watching pose.
And another...

This was actually before the haircut, but I thought it a rather fantastic example of tv-watching out-of-it-ness. (How very articulate I am today.)

Tonight we had the first full on temper tantrum. I've been trying to teach Louis not to play with the handles for the shutters - the plastic is old and brittle, and I don't want them to get broken. Usually a good stern 'no' will suffice but today he kept going back again and again. So I decided, next step: time out. I sat him out in the hall by himself... then Luuk got home and all clear understanding of some kind of cause and effect probably got lost.

Later he went back to the stupid shutter-handle and so he was out in the hall again... but we accidentally left Chimney Sweep, the beloved sleep-prop-toy, out there with him. He was far too contented to be getting any kind of cautionary message.

Next stop: tea time. But the potatoes, even garnished with tomato sauce, were destined for the floor. He was being blatantly naughty... so back to the hall. This time no Chimney Sweep... and what do you know? Message received. What a drama! After a very long minute or two we brought him back in and tried dinner again but it was not happening. How can he not like potatoes mashed up with tomato sauce and butter. I mean, seriously? No. It must be a battle of wills at this point. So we let him thrash it out. We sat on the couch and tried not to laugh, or cry, while he lumbered around the lounge, up and down, back and forth, refusing cuddles or comfort. Eventually he found Chimney Sweep and made a very concerted effort to calm himself down. I remember feeling like that after getting really angry/upset with mum or dad - it's over and there's no reason to be upset any more but you can't just switch off how angry you feel.

But now he's happy again. His reward for calming himself down: bananas and an elmo video.

Other than these monumental events, it's been a charmingly ordinary beginning to the week: coffee group, groceries, playground...

Didn't get far up the slide, but not for lack of trying.

Speedy Gonzalez.

We even managed a french lesson yesterday (had skipped it while Dad was visiting).

No mashed bananas and elmo for us.

Cheese board and 'Castle'. Excellent.

Tooth Number Two is Through!

What a happy chappy. And fair enough: that little white smudge to the right of first tooth, is not just a sign of things to come (poor night's sleep and whatnot) but a for-real, confirmed by my very own finger, tooth! It's through folks.

And then there were two.

No bloody couch though. If it doesn't arrive in the next 45 minutes then it'll come tomorrow. They promised. I have tidied and swept and moved furniture... again. We're all ready for our final piece of new furniture. Bring it already.

Had a lovely restful sunday with no furniture-assembly whatsoever. Watched tv, went to the Musée d'Ile-de-France (at Parc de Sceaux), had a nap, and gave Louis the last of a lollipop... This may have been why I had to force-feed him his veges at dinner time. We were on a bit of a schedule as wanted to go to church, which starts at 5.30 and is miles away. We were only a few minutes late.

Needless to say, Louis was a fan of the strawberries and cream flavoured chuppa chup. Also quite fond of the duplo at church... mainly pulling apart my constructions, but that's what I built them for of course: destruct-o-baby.

Who now has two teeth.

Double the trouble/fun.

Doesn't look like any other teeth are coming soon so here's hoping for a few weeks of calm and happy baby.

Sweet Moments

When doing the 40 hour famine it always struck me just how much our lives are structured around our meals. Well, at the moment I feel like naps are the bookends, breaking up my day and defining its quality...

In between naps, there are to-do lists and shopping-lists and in amongst all that there are moments. I am trying to pay attention and be aware of these moments, these small, insubstantial, ordinary moments. 

Sometimes I manage to capture them on camera...

The new tv remote makes just as great a phone as the old one.

(He seems so close to walking, but still stays near the furniture and isn't that interested in walking holding our hands.)

Yesterday afternoon, while sweeping the floors (80% of the dirt was sand!) I discovered I had some company. He/she was the exact same shade of red as my roses.

Louis loves having his face blown on. We play a game where I do it and we both lean in and away at the same time. It's very cute. Tres mignon. Just a few minutes ago he was standing in front of the oven. It is a flash new thing and blows out cool air from just above the door. It's completely cool on the outside, so I don't worry too much about Louis crawling around in the kitchen when its on. Anyway, Louis is standing there, having his face blown on by the oven! Little blonde wisps of his hair are flying straight up and catching the low evening sun. Gorgeous.

---

Went to coffee group on the bus this morning. We took Louis' snuggly toy, the one he always sleeps with, a knitted chimney sweep toy that Luuk got when he was a kid. Usually I don't take this anywhere, barely out of the cot, because I'm terrified we'll lose it. Today, I pulled Louis out of bed prematurely in order to go to coffee group, and so I let him bring his dear Chimney Sweep along. I tucked him into the straps of the push chair to make sure we didn't lose him. As soon was we got to coffee group, I put him in the push chair basket - we weren't going to leave him behind. On the walk back to the bus stop I told my friend that I had to be careful not to lose the toy or we'd be in big trouble. And then when I got off the bus... he was gone! Panic!

I checked on the bus, but no toy. I called Luuk and we decided to go back after he finished work. It was after midday, I was tired and hungry (only had a couple of biscuits since breakfast, which was the last two bits of a stale loaf of bread), and Louis was only worse, with his short morning sleep and all. So Louis and I went home, and miraculously, Louis managed to have his afternoon sleep, sans Chimney Sweep (in the company of cookie monster, elmo, and a giraffe named Seinfeld).

Luuk got home half an hour ago and we immediately went on our Chimney Sweep Hunt. And found him! Some dear dear stranger had picked him up off the foot path and perched him on a fence post. Angel! I was so excited. Almost danced in the street... okay, I did. Just a little. Skipped back to the car.

Not taking Chimney Sweep out again. Learned our lesson. But what a moment!

The lasagne is almost done, so will sign off with one more great moment...

Today I saw a smart car with its wheels stolen. It made me laugh. Almost took a photo. Feel a little guilty for how much joy this gave me. But there you go. Hi-larious. I suppose two people with nothing better to do, and no conscience, could simply lift the car up and off you go with four tiny wheels. Tehe.

Past it

How many times have I heard someone longing for the good old days, when the shops were shut on Sundays? What it actually means is a mad rush on a Saturday evening. Partly our own fault for squeezing in a trip to IKEA in between sorting out our new apartment and buying groceries... But, success at IKEA: three chairs (including a tiny one for Louis), two light shades, a gorgeous-smelling candle and a road-map  floor rug for Louis' new bedroom.

The apartment is fantastic. But I'm too tired to post pictures or write more, so will do it tomorrow. Domain matin.

And then we'll be in our new place, which doesn't have internet yet. But we'll find a wireless hotspot and I'll have a cell phone really soon. Fingers crossed. Very glad to be moving in tomorrow, to be settling down. Louis coping very well despite having his dinner at 9.30 and going to bed closer to 10. Seems to have gotten over his cold. I'm struggling to shake the cough, but otherwise feeling good. Baby kicking and all that jazz.

Hoping for a good night sleep, back-ache free. Tomorrow night we'll be in our own bed. Yay!

The rest conundrum

This morning I was lazying around in my nightie, reading and doing bare minimum to entertain Louis.

This afternoon I was lazing around in my nightie, because I put it back on to do yoga - it is very comfy and loose-fitting. After yoga, I picked up my book again.

Started the day with full intent of doing as little as possible. I suck at doing as little as possible. Had one task that actually needed doing: make baby food.

By some miracle, possibly due to running out of reading material, I actually did make baby food. I put on Love Actually, a very un-annoying Christmas movie which I have seen far too many times, but not for ages, and chopped up all the apples and pears, and cooked them. They're still sitting in their pot, un-wizzed, on the stove, but that's a quick job. And there's no room in the freezer so no hurry to spoon it all into a muffin tray as I've nowhere to put it!

How I love good procrastination excuses.

Unfortunately (altho do feel better) baby-food-making set me off on active-path and did the dishwasher - loaded AND unloaded. Also checked emails and facebook. Had lunch with Mum and played with Louis, fed him, and whatnot. Didn't entirely neglect him in order to watch movie/read book.

Found another book and almost spent entirety of Louis' afternoon nap reading, but book mentioned healthy lifestyle and made me think of doing some exercise, as I've been resolving to do for weeks now. So got out old yoga dvd my sister lent me (forever? I think/hope so) and did 2 of the 10 minute sessions - one for 'buns and thighs' (just love how americans won't say bum or butt or ass on anything official*) and another for 'relaxation and flexibility' which was far nicer - all breathing and stretching and twisting till my back clicks.

Possibly should check out pregnancy yoga to see how different it is. Suspect that I'm more likely to harm myself/baby by NOT getting enough exercising than by overdoing it, as probably never overdid exercise in my whole life. Why would that change now?

Can't believe it's half way through December already. Only did one other blog post all month. Am finding it hard to get back into habits and routines after going off them for all of November and focusing energy on novelling. Have done no novel-related work at all for 10 days... have replaced it with christmas preparations and tired-lazy-relaxing. Keep meaning to do journal in the morning as it tends to set me off for the day, focusing my energy/attention on what is urgent/important, which actually helps me to rest/relax properly when it's time to do so. Otherwise I relax and feel bad for it, since I haven't done all the things I should/would have liked to.

Feel like rest is probably very wise use of SOME time each day, just not ALL my time... Coming onslaught of preparations for moving to Paris, as well as pregnancy-induced-lethargy, make resting a definite priority, while I can.


*and 'buns' makes me think of hilariously named bakery in upper hut "fresh buns bakery and cafe'. Classic!

Decemberitis

The month of silence has ended. The baby is trying to get the candy canes...

Yep. That sums it up.

Almost. I haven't posted for a month because I've been saving my words for nanowrimo. This is a month-long madness where a bunch of people around the world write a novel of 50 000 words, in 30 days. And I did it! This was my third successful attempt - and the easiest by far! Not working full time, on top of beginning with a plan, made squeezing in a few hours and/or a few thousand words every day much easier.

This year I did a romance novel, bit formulaic, but fun. And possibly publishable, cause there's definitely a market. My other novel, meanwhile, is out in the void somewhere, hopefully being read and enjoyed by an editor. Hopefully.

But no matter what happens, I am determined to keep writing. Spot the new mantra :) Spot the top new-years-resolution candidate. And maybe that would be a good time to pick up writing again, after december. The month scares me a little this year.

We're planning a quiet Christmas, and when I look at the calendar/diary it's not too scary, but in my head it's becoming this big scary black cloud of things I've forgotten, that are really important, and then I panic, and do nothing but watch movies and ice christmas biscuits for a whole week... Mmm, christmas biscuits.

There are a few things that are probably adding to the stress-load...
- I'm pregnant again = I'm tired all the time and easily overwhelmed
- I might be moving to Paris for 18 months... but don't know yet. Waiting on decisions and information out of our hands.
- If we don't go, I'll be disappointed.
- If we do go, the to-do list is going to be HUGE! Sorting, lending, selling and storing all our stuff, learning French (which we've started already), getting everything organised... holy cow.
- I've overspent my budget for the year... and it's impossible not to spend money on the occasional end-of-year-do-lunch, among other things, this time of year. So I'm trying to be frugal, without being a sad-sack, to be reasonable and yet disciplined.

Cover and Pseudonym...

Ah, writing procrastination... and shameless use of google image search photos without permission. But it's just a rough idea.

faff day

I always feel like a weekend day should be well spent (read: that you shouldn't spend it watching an entire tv series and eating toasties). But an extra day? A public holiday? A Third weekend day... bring on the tv and toasties!

It's like a free-to-faff day. I already spent my weekend well. This is like monopoly money. Can't use it anywhere else.

Weekend was pretty good. Had lovely breakfast out on Saturday (we were out of bread... what else could we do?) at Browsers - a cafe with a fish tank, which kept Louis entertained while we ate our meal at a normal, leisurely adult-not-parent pace. Joy!

Then we bought bread. And mandarins. And grapes. And a present for a 21st birthday that night. And I bought a lovely new top for my cousin's upcoming wedding. And a new black glassons cardi - so handy. Wear it all the time. Need several in case they ever stop making them.

Was worship leading at church on sunday. Went pretty well okay... who knows. Fine, I think. Read a prayer written by Jane Austen. Fantastic. Then had a lazy afternoon, watched tv, napped, made fish pie, watched the rugby. And that was when the weekend got really stressful. Holy Cow. Thank God that's over. When Richie McCaw was asked how he felt at the end, I thought he must feel just like I did after Louis was born - pure, unadulterated relief. Thank god that's over. And done. And, we won. But mainly, whew!

Today, we've watched tv and parented poorly. Louis has been horrible and tired. It's 11.14 and he's down for his second nap! It's the classic 2-days-after-late-night-it-hits. He's up and down like a bouncy ball. Cute and exhausting and thank god he'll sleep.

I'm eating a delicious pineapple and cheese toastie. We're watching a hilarious sit com called 'Community'. Hi-larious!

"You just wrinkled my brain." - Troy. Current fav. line. Will try to incorporate in a conversation soon. Classic.

Frantic and Antisocial... for what?

For a favour for a friend.
And a bunch of money.

So Luuk and I have become bad parents and neglected the rest of the world as well. We have spent the last two days working on a project that a friend needs finished. The deadline he had was wrong and so we're helping him out. It's a contract he has to fill and he's splitting the funds. So that'll pay for christmas maybe. And Luuk's 30th birthday party.

We have to write 60 of these short scripts. Fun! Creative! I thought.

But the scripts are to explain computer hardware and networking... so the script writing is less fun and creative than I was expecting.

On the other hand I am learning all sorts of interesting things, like how a CD writer works, and the difference between a modem and a router, and why some websites are constantly updating, but others make you hit F5. Fascinating! (I'm not certain how sarcastic I'm being. There has to be a little sarcasm, but it is interesting, so I'm not being entirely sarcastic.)

Meanwhile, poor little Louis. We stuck him out on the lawn when we got tired of him trying to climb up on the computer desk. Luuk's keyboard makes tapping noises as if it wants to be a typewriter - so appealing when your 11 months old... apparently.

When he's inside he's been working his way along furniture, walking and wobbling and holding on tight. He can now go around corners... very carefully and with occasional bursts of tears which are soon abandoned because he needs all his concentration for not falling over.

Speaking of falling over, there were quite a few spills today. Luuk caught one on video and put it on facebook. It's very cute... and then horrible. Poor little louis.