With thanks...
APRIL 2010
I am grateful for the energy of love and friendship, and a new project continuing to unfold...
With thanks... Thursday April 1...
Today I am grateful that I finished another bunch of French magazine proofs, and could get back to the faeries for a little while...
I am grateful that my beloved is down in Wollongong finishing off his EP, although I am pouty that we haven’t had much time together lately. It’s hard to find a balance when you’re working hard to achieve your dreams, and although I’m very glad we are both supporting and inspiring each other as we do that, and getting so much done, time seems to be passing by in a blur. Can’t wait til we can have a proper day off together, and just chill out... I’m trying to stay awake until Cutes gets home, but my brain has really turned to mush, so I don’t think I’m going to get any more work done tonight...
But I am grateful for the beautiful moon sailing high across the sky, and grateful for the thought of sleep...
With thanks... Friday April 2...
Tonight I am grateful for a wonderful, magical and super productive day - I got lots of faery writing done, plus a bit of laying out, and am a bit closer to the finished product!
I am grateful to all of my wonderful faery friends for their fun, sweet and occasionally serious faery answers...
I am grateful for my dear friend Ang, and so happy for her happiness...
I am grateful for naughty but nice chocolate (note to self: go shopping soon. Some dark chocolate and a handful of almonds does not a lunch make!)...
I am grateful to my lovely but slightly kooky (in the nicest possible way!) parents-in-law, who came by today to give me a birthday present... Yes, it is on January 3... The card came before Christmas so they wouldn’t forget :-)
I am grateful for a lovely night with my love, and for the wonderful, hilarious movie The Invention of Lying... Genius!
And I am grateful to my beautiful beloved, and so very proud of him, and super excited about the imminent release of his EP...
With thanks... Saturday April 3...
Tonight I am grateful that I got lots of writing and laying out done. Our faery book is getting so close to finished!
I am grateful to the wonderful Cassandra Eason for her professionalism and passion, and to all the magical, inspiring people who are a part of our book...
I’m bemused at how everything else falls apart when I’m finishing off a project - pots of tea get left undrunk in the kitchen because I forget about them (but they’re deliciously strong when I do reheat them!), I end up eating chocolate for lunch cos there’s nothing in the fridge, and I sit in the dark for ages cos turning the light on breaks my concentrate. Funny...
I am grateful that the painkillers worked somewhat, although not so grateful that I had a migraine. But I’m grateful I had several days without one in between... (There’s always a bright side, if you look hard enough :-)
And I am grateful that I could spend some time with my beautiful love when he finally got home from work :-)
With thanks... Sunday April 4...
Today I am grateful that Lucy and I are SO CLOSE to finishing our beautiful faery book. I am a bit exhausted/manic, but it feels so wonderful to see it all coming together so beautifully, and to know we will make our deadline with ease. And I am so grateful to Lucy for being such a dream to work with...
I am grateful for a fun dinner with a dear friend (and a little perturbed it had been so long since we caught up - everyone’s so crazy busy at the moment). I am grateful for laughter, and sharing, and the understanding that develops through long friendship...
I am grateful for the calming power walk up to Newtown and back in the cool darkness of our suddenly darker-faster nights, that I left the computer for a while, and how wonderful it was to move my body and breathe in crisp air...
I am so very grateful to my beautiful love, for his love, support and encouragement, and I am so very proud of him, and happy for him, that he has created a new CD that sounds so incredible. (And I am grateful to the title track for blasting the cobwebs from my wide when I was getting a little sleepy this afternoon)...
With thanks... Monday April 5...
Tonight I am grateful to my beloved, for being so patient with me as I work madly through our time together to get this beautiful book finished!
I am grateful that it’s progressing so well, and that today I worked like crazy and got lots of fiddly little things done, page numbers, quotes, “faery secrets” added in...
And I am grateful for this long weekend as I’ve been able to work uninterrupted and madly, and it’s taking shape so beautifully! (Funny though, how I’m working madly, like crazy... hmm!)
With thanks... Tuesday April 6...
Today I am grateful to my beloved, who had dinner ready for me when I finally got home from a long day at the mags...
I am grateful to my lovely faery friends for looking after my garden while I’ve been so crazy busy...
And now I am grateful for bed :-) xx
With thanks... Wednesday April 7...
Tonight I am grateful for gentle, cooling, cleansing rains...
I am grateful that my beloved came into town with me in the morning as I set off for work...
I am glad I tackled much of my rather lengthy to-do list on Little Friends magazine, and not so glad I had a migraine (but grateful painkillers dulled it, and that they are less frequent now)...
I am grateful that Cutes came to meet me after work, for a little dinner, then a walk home together in the cool darkness (it all of a sudden is so dark so quickly now!)...
And I am grateful that Lucy loves our beautiful, magical book as much as I do, and thinks it is utterly lovely... So close now!
With thanks... Thursday April 8...
Today I am grateful for a few hours off to spend with my beloved...
I am grateful for popcorn and Law & Order...
I am grateful that I did get a fair bit of work done, and that Lucy has been powering ahead with her edits too :-)
And now I am grateful for bed...
With thanks... Friday April 9...
Today I am grateful for a cute morning with my beloved, drinking tea, plotting and planning, watching a Lawsie, then Juz reading while I kept going through the final edits of the book...
And then, to work for real, when he had to leave for his work... I am grateful that I got so much done, although I am really looking forward to the end, so I can read a fun book, and take a whole day off to spend with my love...
I am grateful that I spotted the strange new rainforest creature when i snuck into Fairyland here and there...
And now I really am grateful for bed :-) xx
With thanks... Saturday April 10...
I apologise in advance, as these notes are a bit boring at the moment - I just get up early, and work all day, doing final edits, only stopping when the words start swimming on the page and I have to collapse into bed... Which will be very soon, but I do want to get this chapter finished :-)
I am grateful for how much I’m getting done each day, and how lovely the book looks, and how soon we will have it in our hands...
I am grateful to my previous beloved, for being so patient with my piles of printouts and leaning towers of books, and for making me tea, and keeping me sane...
And I am grateful to my friends for being patient with my lack of communication flurries, and to my faery friends for keeping my garden watered...
With thanks... Sunday April 11...
Today I am grateful for a wonderful morning with my love, before he headed off to work and I dove back in to the final edits... The frenzy is continuing, but the end is in sight :-)
I am grateful that the painkillers have started to work, but not so grateful for the migraine... It made working a lot harder, but I frowned my way through it :-)
I am grateful that I saved the fourth book of The Chronicles of Faerie series as a reward for getting the book finished, so once everything is done, I’m going to spend a day curled up on the couch reading... Bliss!
And now I am grateful for bed - I’ll go through a few more pages before no doubt collapsing into the realm of dreams...
With thanks... Monday April 12...
Today I am grateful for the amazing scalp massage from Martine, which made everyone else in the office a bit jealous :-) But they didn’t have a migraine that was making their work such a challenge, so... it’s all about balance...
I am grateful that my beloved came into town and met me after work, and that we had a cute dinner then walked home together in the cool darkness of a beautiful autumn night...
I am grateful that I got some work on the book done before work, in my lunchbreak and when I got home - the deadline is fast approaching!
And now I am off to lay my weary head down, and am very grateful for bed...
With thanks... Tuesday April 13...
Today I am grateful for a fun lunch catch up with a lovely friend, and laughter and planning and wonderful adventures ahead...
I am grateful that I got through a fair bit of my to-do list at work (and continued on the book work on the morning bus, and late at night, and every spare moment in between)...
I am grateful for dinner and time spent with my aunty and uncle, and my cousin, and little Blake who is sweet and brave...
I am grateful to my beloved, who is so lovely and supportive and encouraging and understanding as I battle my naughty head, and struggle to hold it all together as I push myself to the edge of exhaustion (and beyond, as Buzz Lightyear would say!)...
And I am grateful that it is all so worth it, and that *so very soon* Lucy and I will have our beautiful book in our hands! xx
With thanks... Wednesday April 14...
Tonight I am grateful that in being grateful I can pretty much change my state of mind... I felt awful this morning, so exhausted physically and mentally that everything was a struggle, and I was impatient and on the verge of tears... But writing my note from yesterday (a bit late), and turning that into a more cheerful perspective helped shift my sadness. And I also know it will pass, cos this is always what happens with a book deadline, and so I could just observe it, and try to be amused by it.
I am grateful for lovely comments from my friends (special thanks to Lucy, Lisa and Ally, and all my faery friends), and hugs and cups of tea from my beloved, and the knowledge that the book is so very nearly ready...
I am grateful to my love for his patience tonight too, when I went to get the manuscript printed out for a final read, and they said they couldn’t do it until tomorrow night. And so we missed visiting our duck friends, and traipsed around to find another place as sunset came and went, and darkness fell...
I am grateful for a cute dinner, and watching So You Think You Can Dance with Cutes, and a few hours switched off and relaxed... I am not so grateful that my migraines have returned, but they had been much better, so I’m sure that once I meet my deadline, and get some sleep, and start yoga again, all will be well...
And I am grateful that, for once, I will make it to bed (just!) before midnight. Sweet dreams!
With thanks... Thursday April 15...
Today I am grateful that I worked like a demon (hmm, isn’t that a strange phrase!), and got through quite a bit of the final editing - although I’m too exhausted right now to finish inputting them - I know I’d add typos if I did it :-)
I am grateful to my beautiful love for our lovely night, and for reading the manuscript too, and being so kind, and so proud of me.
I am grateful for my Fairyland friends, for their sweet natures and kind hearts, for the fun we have and the cute creatures we find...
I am annoyed at my head, which was a bit nasty today, but grateful that the painkillers dulled the pain for three hours at a time...
I am grateful for progress being made on the practical business end of our lovely book...
I am grateful for Pete Steele’s music that he shared with the world, and sad that he died today, aged 48 :-(
And now I am grateful for bed, since I’m starting to hallucinate and type crazy words...
With thanks... Friday April 16...
Tonight I am so grateful to gorgeous Daniella, who very kindly offered to convert all the photos for our book since I don’t have photoshop (and had no idea that was what I had to do anyway). And I am grateful that I thought to send test pages to realise there was an issue :-)
I am grateful I got lots of things done and details confirmed as the deadline gets ever closer...
I am grateful for a fun and funny night with my beloved - his gig at the Gaelic Club was awesome, and I managed to get lots of editing done while he was setting up, getting ready and loading out. Was kinda funny to be sitting in a corner at a glam rock concert editing my faery book manuscript!
And I am grateful for all the beautiful bats that were wheeling overhead and making me smile as we went to pick up gear from the studio, and when I was waiting outside in the alley while Cutes took it all into the venue. (Odd too to be standing there with a bunch of 20-year-old guys with long hair, eyeliner and leather pants, sitting in the gutter drinking bourbon, listening to Motley Crue and talking about chicks (man!), but looking exactly like the bands I was interviewing and the guys I knew in the 80s. The more things change, the more they sound/look the same :-)...
With thanks... Saturday April 17...
Today I am grateful to Petie for dropping us home after we took the car back...
I am grateful to my beloved, for being so wonderful and supportive and helpful as I battle to make this deadline...
I am grateful that I have been so very productive...
And I am grateful to my faery friends for caring for my faery garden while I’m so consumed by this...
With thanks... Sunday April 18...
Tonight I am grateful that all but the tiniest bits are done, and the book will be ready for the printer in the morning (if I get up early enough to finish that last bit, hee hee hee).
I am ever so grateful to beautiful Daniella, who not only created the beautiful illustrations in the book, but helped me out of a technical jam at the 11th hour (and it was - 11pm!), and has been such a joy to work with.
I am so very grateful to my beloved, for making me cups of tea, for reading the manuscript for me, for being so patient with me as I have been so consumed by getting it all ready in time. And I apologise to Lucy, Daniella and Cutes for my completely manic state of mind (and speech) today/tonight. Part chocolate induced (which made me sick and saved me the trouble of making dinner!), part the exhaustion/panic hysteria of coming to the end, with a dollop of exhilaration thrown in...
And now to bed, before I create typos through my hallucinations, to prepare for a list ditch race to the finish line early tomorrow morning...
With thanks... Monday April 19...
Today I am ever so happy and grateful that our beautiful book is at the printer. Not long now until we’ll hold a copy in our hands!
I am ever so grateful to my beautiful love, for encouragement and support and tea making and chapter reading and love. And to gorgeous Daniella, for her beautiful illustrations and her above and beyond the call of duty help. And to my dear faery friend Lucy, who it has been so much fun collaborating with, and weaving this beautiful magic...
I am grateful that, while there’s still heaps to do, the main pressure is off. And I am hoping my head will improve this week. It’s been too boring to catalogue my daily painful-but-stubbornly-working-through-them-thanks-to-painkillers-migraines, and I accept that it’s a consequence of crazy hours, bad posture, no yoga, skipping meals etc... So I am grateful that this week I can be a little gentler on myself.
I am grateful to all my wonderful friends for their lovely messages and kind thoughts and congratulations.
I am grateful for a sweet night with my love, celebratory cupcakes and the possibility of being in bed by midnight. Woo hoo! xx
With thanks... Tuesday April 20...
Tonight I am grateful for the beautiful crescent moon smiling down at me as I walked home from work in the cool darkness (funny how dark it gets so early now)...
I am grateful for a productive day at work on the magazines...
And I am grateful for a cute night in with my love, and an early (for us) night...
With thanks... Wednesday April 21...
Tonight I am so grateful for the joy it has been collaborating with lovely Lucy on our magical new book. I am grateful that the proofs arrived today, and grateful at how amazing it all looks, and grateful too for the fun Lucy and I had poring over them with Cutes and dancing around the loungeroom with happy excitement... And I am so grateful to Lucy for the wonderful support and encouragement we’ve been to each other through the little hurdles we encountered getting this beautiful project finished...
I am grateful to my beloved for reading the manuscript, and helping me so much (from illustrations to cups of tea), and always being so wonderfully supportive and sweet and loving...
And I am grateful to Margie and Pete for a fun dinner, and lending us the car for the PB photo shoot tomorrow...
(And I was so excited and busy that I forgot to write this note last night :-) xx
With thanks... Thursday April 22...
It’s Earth Day :-)
Today I am grateful for a busy and productive day, with lots of little things being finished up and coming together for our imminent launch!
I am grateful that the book proofs are approved and work is beginning...
I am grateful to my beloved for all the cups of tea he made me...
I am grateful that his photo shoot went so well this afternoon, in the deepening twilight in the old cemetery. I am grateful for the incredibly beautiful sunset, and the bats wheeling overhead, and the amazing old moreton bay fig tree with its massive ancient roots...
I am grateful for a cute night in with my beloved, and a few hours off to snuggle up together, watch Law & Order and have a celebratory pizza :-)
And I am grateful for the chapter in our faery book about how to be an eco faery, and the gentle reminder it is to me to do what I can, and not to worry that it’s usually small things, because if we all do lots of little things, a LOT will be achieved...
With thanks... Friday April 23...
Today I am grateful that I wrote most of the last minute story that is due tomorrow morning, despite being easily distracted (which I figure, after the craziness of the last two weeks is okay, and kind of to be expected really!)...
I am grateful that Lucy and I sorted out another new little step for the launch of our magical book...
I am grateful (and blushing quite a bit!) at all the lovely comments about my faery pic. It was all Juz’s work though, and the beautiful late afternoon sunlight...
I am grateful for a cute night in with my beautiful love, part chilling out, part working...
And I am grateful that I finally began book four of OR Melling’s Chronicles of Faerie series, even though i didn’t get far before collapsing into bed, because that was the reward I promised myself once the book was finished :-)
With thanks... Saturday April 24...
Today I am grateful that I got the story for Goddess magazine finished and sent, and pictures scanned in, and another thing ticked off...
I am grateful for the cups of tea my love made me, and his patience given that I had to postpone our morning together again...
I am grateful that I made a start on overhauling my website, although my eyes kept closing and it was a struggle to keep going, so not a *lot* got done...
And I am grateful that I haven’t had a migraine for the last three days, hooray!
With thanks... Sunday April 25...
Today I am so grateful that I allowed myself to curl up on the couch and read my book for a couple of hours (feeling a bit under the weather helped!). I thought once I got the book finished I’d spend a whole day doing that, but there’s been too much other stuff to do :-)
I am grateful for the tiny faery-sized cupcakes we found at the supermarket - they were a very cute lunch! (I had salad for dinner, so all is in balance!)
I am grateful that I got a bit of work done on my website, although the proper overhaul has only just begun...
And I am grateful, on Anzac Day, for all those who go to war, voluntarily or drafted, and sad that they are so frequent...
With thanks... Monday April 26...
Today I am grateful that I got a lot done on my website, although there is still a long way to go... Wish I’d thought to leave room for my subsequent books when I created it last year :-) Oh well, the only way to learn website stuff is to do it! And I always love a challenge...
I am immensely grateful to gorgeous Daniella, for helping me *again* with technical stuff :-)
I am grateful for the cute night with my beloved, snuggled up on the couch for a while as he’s not well (and hoping he gets better soon!)...
And I am grateful that it’s time for bed, and time to have a little read of my book. The first three books in The Chronicles of Faerie were set in Ireland (and Faeryland), but in this one much of the action takes place in Canada, which is described so beautifully. Makes me think of my Canadian Faeryland friends :-) xx
With thanks... Tuesday April 27...
Today I am grateful to be home and snuggled up with my beloved, after a stressy day at work, and grateful that I got a fair bit done and ticked off some of the to-do list for the next issue...
I am grateful that I didn’t have a migraine - again! - and that that week of hell recently seemed to be an anomaly, hooray!
And I am grateful for the fourth book in The Chronicles of Faerie, which is lovely and fun and magical...
With thanks... Wednesday April 28...
Today I am grateful - and excited - that the proof copies of the US edition of our book arrived. Real books! So pretty! And I’m grateful I could pop over to Lucy’s to deliver her copy, and we could do a little happy dance (over a cup of tea, of course!), and sow the seeds of our next magical project :-)
I am grateful that I got all the IRS forms sorted (I hope!) and sent off... And amused too, because in Hollywood movies and TV shows they’re always whinging about the IRS, and now I have to deal with them. It sounds so funny to an Aussie!
I am grateful that I got banners, postcards and assorted other promotional things designed and ordered. I felt like a rock star, organising merch!
And I am grateful to my beloved for making me tea, and being so patient while I worked on our one day off together, and being so excited and proud of me when we opened the parcel with the books in it...
With thanks... Thursday April 29...
Today I am so grateful for the beautiful morning sunshine and crisp autumn air as I waited for the bus to work, under blazing red and golden leaves, and read my Chronicles of Faerie book...
I am grateful that, while stressy and annoying at times, as we waaaiiited for things to make our magazine deadline, I had a productive day at work...
I am grateful for a cute night with my beloved, and long conversations with Lucy, and our decision to reveal the cover of our book to the world. And I am grateful for all the lovely comments from my wonderful friends...
Not so grateful for the migraine, but you can’t have everything! xx
With thanks... Friday April 30...
Today I am grateful for a lovely night with my beloved and our dear friend, for dinner and conversation and an action adventure movie extravaganza (Iron Man 2, hee hee)...
I am grateful that despite a nasty head I made our magazine deadline, and that the painkillers somewhat dulled the pain...
I am grateful - again - to gorgeous Daniella for helping with technical difficulties...
And I am grateful that it is time to sleep, even though I so desperately wanted to finish the last 10 pages of my book... Pesky constantly closing eyes :-)
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