What I’ve been up to in January. In bullet points.

• Spent the first three weeks with family. Tiny Tyrant loved seeing her cousins and picked up a fair few bad habits (I have since been called stupid). She also picked up some new songs she wants to listen to/dance to. Finding out which ones they were was not the easiest when she doesn’t know the lyrics and only makes some random noises.

• Did not write nearly as much as I should have.

• Did write a short story for a collaboration with a few other writers in my writing group. It will be released in a little novella for Valentine’s Day.

• Tore my hair out as TT decided that bedtime was between 11pm and 1am every night. (This may have had a fair bit to do with why I got so little writing done – or anything else for that matter.)

• Went to a place called Universeum where you can walk through an indoor rain forest with birds roaming free, amongst other things. TT was mostly impressed by the indoor playground in the basement, though she did also like looking at the animals and trying the experiments rooms.

• Watched a few movies. Which is rare for me these days. Quality varied greatly. My favourite of the bunch was probably Disney’s Encanto. I also saw the more recent adaption of Jane Austen’s Emma, and it was okay but not my favourite. Started watching Jungle Cruise, but admittedly didn’t finish.

• Got Covid. Boo!

• Total words written for January: 13 291.

A summary of what I’ve been up to the last week in bullet points. Because, why not?

What I’ve done in the past week:

• Stared at a blank page while it stared back at me. Taunting me.

• Pulled my hair because the EU Settlement Scheme after Brexit is giving me a headache. How can it not see that I’ve been here over five years? Do I really have to start searching for all these papers? Ugh!

• Argued with a toddler about whether or not she needs to wear her new glasses.

• Argued with a toddler about whether or not she should go to preschool.

• Argued with a toddler about everything else.

• Went to IKEA and was disappointed when I realised we’re a few days off their restaurant opening (due to lockdown restrictions). No meatballs for this poor, hungry writer.

• Wrote the first chapter of a Paranormal Romance I shouldn’t be starting because I already have three WIPs and several in the pipeline. Oh, and several to rewrite/edit. So, naturally, I wrote something new. I blame the minor writer’s block. Sometimes starting something completely different helps me. (It did, I’ve since written a chapter for my actual WIP!)

• Watched the whole first season of Jupiter’s Legacy on Netflix.

What have you been up to lately?

A summary of what I’ve been up to in the last week, in bullet points. Because, why not?

What I’ve done this past week:

• Not slept. The tiny tyrant has been poorly, so most evenings/nights have been spent trying to make her sleep. And then either being kicked in the back or used as a human comfort blanket.

• Dropped the tiny tyrant off for settling in sessions at daycare. We managed two before she became poorly. Both times she went straight in, barely saying goodbye, so that’s good… I think? First time she had to be picked up a bit early, second went all right. Though I’m told she doesn’t share with the other children. I’m not surprised, we’ve basically spent a third of her life in lockdown and she’s had every single toy to herself.

• Worried about hitting my word count goals since I got little to no time writing.

• Dreamed about winning the lottery and how I would decorate my house. (As you do when you can’t sleep and are just lying there staring at the ceiling.)

• Picked up my new glasses. Finally moved away from purple frames to something else. (Had purple for like 6 years, it was getting boring.)

• Stared at the messy chaos that’s supposedly my home and decided it can wait for another day.

• Finished writing a novella. I started it on a whim, but I quite like it and I think I might extend it slightly into a shortish novel. When I have time. So… in 2035?

What have you been up to this past week?

I wanted to start a new weekly post on the blog where I do a sort of summary of what I’ve been up to during the week. It (obviously) won’t be a complete record since I don’t want to bore you (too much)!

So, this past week I have:

• Been to the hospital optometrist with my tiny tyrant to confirm that yes, she does need glasses. If someone can explain to me how to convince a just-turned-three-year-old that she needs to wear glasses, please get in touch. (She’s adamant that she does not want to wear glasses. I am currently considering bribes. It seems reasonable, right?)

• Wondering why the laundry mountain never diminishes, no matter how many loads of laundry I do.

• Written less words than I would have liked, but I did write some, so… Win?

• Met my friends and their kids (tiny tyrant’s friends) and had a whinge and a cup of tea. It was lovely. I highly recommend a whinge with friends now and then. It was all outside in a garden due to current restrictions (pandemic and all that) and sadly cut short due to rain, but hey! I saw other people that don’t live with me. I count that as a win these days.

• Stared at a blank page and tried to remember what I was going to write. Again.

• Amused myself by starting a chapter with the sentence: “I know it looks big, but I promise it won’t hurt.”

• Been to the optician to choose new glasses. It was time. Literally. My old ones are falling apart by now and I have to use my nail to tighten the tiny tiny screw at least twice a day.

• Forgotten to make several phone calls. Well, there’s another week coming.

• Started watching Kim’s Convenience (only X number of years after everyone else, but it’s on Netflix, so…)

What have you been up to this past week?