Five Months Till Forty. The Blog is getting an overhaul!

Actually it's more like six months till the big day but I'm currently very influenced by my almost ten year old's obsession with Five Nights at Freddy's and everything 'Five Nights at..." thereafter.  Plus it sounds better.


It is blatantly obvious that blogging most certainly isn't my forte (ha, pun?  Help me out here)  but it's not because there is nothing to say.    If you could somehow stream my thoughts onto a page,  I'd have a millions posts by now.    Actually, maybe that's not such a good idea.

What started as a lifestyle blog took on a life of its own and became primarily a writing and book blog after I released my first novel.  It was great for awhile but very soon all the other parts of my life were pushed aside and when it came time to write about other aspect of what was happening in my life, thoughts, and opinions it just seemed a little too contrived.

So this is the introduction of my overhauled blog.   And what better time than to coincide it with my fortieth year which includes a child starting high school, an overseas trip, some work to the house and garden, and of course more books.

Looking forward to the chat :)

My Writing Life... and Cake Decorating

It occurred to me last night when I was trying to get to sleep that writing isn't actually my life. Should it be? Probably not.

My life is like a cake. We'll call it a nice, rich, moist chocolate mud cake. It includes my family - my husband who is also my best friend and with whom I get along with quite well on a daily basis and my three kids who, as kids have their days but really don't give me as much grief as they probably could, my friends, my other immediate family - mum, dad and brother, extended family, my house and how I'm trying to make it into a wonderful home.

Writing for me as much as I love it - I love using my imagination, creating stories and scenarios, developing irrational attachments to people I made up - is just the icing, and the decorating is what I could do with it. Now if there was no icing and decorations, if for any reason I stopped writing, it wouldn't affect the richness and goodness of the cake, but I'm sure it will be missed and eventually it will be added again.

If for any reason the icing doesn't quite work out as planned, for example, it doesn't quite come together, the end result still needs work, someone doesn't like it and gives it a bad review (wait, what?), or it simply just isn't right, other than the surface (loosely translates to me swearing and crying for a couple of days) the cake isn't really affected. It's still a pretty awesome cake.

Now my goal is to make that icing and decorating so beautiful and wonderful that it can only enhance the enjoyment of the cake. Because lets face it, who doesn't like a cake that has been presented as the best it can be.

Now I want cake.

*The above analogy really has nothing to do with cake decorating. In fact, I'm really shit at it. The cakes I make are usually quite yummy but the top is almost always either domed or sunken and the icing is just spread on and that's the end of it. I have tried but soon realised I'm much better off paying someone who is good at it to do it instead. I may one day try to gain some cake decorating skills but at this point in time don't have any solid plans to do so.

Case in Point

Mindcraft cake I made for Mr Paleo 2011

Plants Vs Zombies cake I ordered for Mr Maker 2012  (Diddlyscrumptious)

Brain cake pops to go with the Plants vs Zombies cake, also made by Diddlyscrumptious.  I'm sure they're a metaphor for something too but who cares?  They were amazing!

Raising Stewie Griffin

It would appear my youngest, Mr Comedy wants me dead.    Firstly, about a week ago as I was getting out of the shower he said to me "Mummy, you're going to die!".
Because he's four years old, I understand that it was going to come up eventually so I replied brightly with "Yes, I will one day but not today!"

I knew for a fact that he hadn't been watching any TV that morning, nor was he pissy with me like he often is because I'm so mean and don't let him have chocolate first thing in the morning (I didn't let him have it that morning either, just sayin', but he really wasn't pissy with me at that point in time)

His answer:  "You're going to die and I'll have to get a new mummy."  Then he kind of laughed maniacally.

Oooookkkkkaaaaaaaay, not freaked out at all.

Much.

So I spent most of the week at home (being very careful to not do anything silly like handle knives more than necessary or stand on a wobbly chair)  due to being a tad concerned about meeting my demise should I leave the house.

Then the other day I'm putting some towels away in the linen cupboard and I hear in a quiet voice behind me, "I'm going to kill you."   I turn around and he's pointing his water bottle at me like a gun and grinning. Maniacally.

I'm hoping he's just trying to be funny.

**The title of this post for those who may not know 'The Family Guy' is related to the youngest in the family who schemes to kill his mother, Lois.  I'm sure most people do understand the reference in which case I'm wasting my time writing this.

Motherwars

I don't understand Motherwars. I know these topics have been done to death but it seems we are still no closer to the end of the battles with each other.

To work or stay at home?

Smack or not to smack?

Bottle or Breast feed?

State school or Private school?

Conventional or Alternative schooling?

Baby self soothing or attachment parenting?

Traditional vs Non-traditional Parents

I'll think of more as I go along.

I'll go into many of the above as separate posts in more detail as I have a bit more to say.

But does it really matter? Is one really so much better than the other? Why are we all so down on those who don't do the same thing we do in raising our kids? Aren't we all aiming for the same thing at the end of it all?