So Damn Tired & Other Ramblings...

►This post might be more me just rambling on about all the crap floating around inside my head at the moment. You know a problem shared and all that ━ let's see if it's true.

►I think my granddaughter has hit the terrible twos early. She was a pain in the arse the other day while we were at shopping. I can handle most things but not the screaming when she doesn't get her own way. I know she was probably just tired, but hell kid, so am I.

►Christmas is quickly coming up and I'm not prepared for it this year. I am so far behind on everything. I'm at the point where I'm deciding whether or not I can even be bothered decorating the house. The cats and the grandkid are only going to destroy it. More so the cats (Robson the youngest cat is a terror with the decorations).

►I worry about everyone who is in and around all the bush fires and other natural disasters. I mean, I have people all over the world who are facing some kind of dilemma or other. With us, here in Australia at the moment it is still the fires and dust storms. The air is filled with smoke and dust. I feel like I haven't breathed a clean breath in months. I heard on the news out of the last 22 fires in Queensland 18 of them were started by minors... what the fuck is the world coming to when someone thinks today will be a good day to go out and start a freaking fire... I just don't get it. The problem is we are already in a drought situation and now with fighting fires, it is draining what little water supplies we have.

►I totally suck at social media ━ why I hear you ask? Because I keep forgetting to do any. I am so fricken slack at this shit. I really need to get my head back into writer mode... 2020 is going to be my year, damn it! I need you all to kick my arse if I start to slack off again. Feel free to drop me a line on my ask me page and tell me to get my arse into gear. I have schedule carefully worked out for next year on the 2k a day method... so it should work and when I put it up on the 1st blog for the new year everyone will know what books I'll be working on each month and kick my arse if I slack off. Next year I have to wrap up a couple of series so I need to stick to my schedule like crazy. I'm even starting a couple of new series as well. Okay, maybe it's a spin-off of an already existing series.

►I hate distractions and bloody hell, wouldn't you know it. The cricket has started, and what did I do today? Watch the damn cricket instead of writing like I should have ━ Naughty NJ. I promised myself this morning that I was going to be good and then blew it as soon as we started feilding. I suck. Tomorrow... I'll get back to writing tomorrow.

This is Me...

I've just finished galley proof edits on Admetus Gaea 1: The Gaean Prophecy and sent it back. Hopefully, I'll have a release date to share with you all soon.

I'm still doing NaNoWriMo... though due to the galley proofing, I'm a couple of days behind so now I have to play catch up to be able to finish Sons of Evenmore 3: Fear the Scarlet Moon, & start Wardens of the Guild 3: Heartstrings... Wish me luck.

I'm having both good days and bad days with my back. I now have an exercise plan in place. Though, I want to run through it with my doctor before I start in case I have the wrong ones. There were two lots on the rehabilitation site and I'm not sure which ones I'm meant to be doing.

I'm not in the path of the fire that is going on around my area, so for the moment I'm safe and so is my family that live around here. We might not be getting the fire, but we are getting tons of dust storms. Everything is covered in dust in my house, which means once the dust has finally blown away and settled down we'll all have to spring clean and wash/wipe out the whole house again. I only did this about a month ago when the last dust storm rolled through town.

Though I have to ask... why is it when my life is so hectic, we could almost call it out of control. New story ideas are trying to push their way to the forefront of my mind demanding attention? Don't they know I just need a little space to finish off the current WIPS for the year without starting something new?

Steam...

I'm not talking about the steaminess that happens in stories today. Though, to be honest we could probably spend a lifetime talking about that. Instead, I'm wanting to discuss food...

I've really been getting into steamed food. Steamed meats to be more precise. So far I have only done chicken, a rump roast, corned silverside, and today I'm trying a rolled pork. Though I'm not too sure about today's efforts as I'm not a huge lover of pork, Mum wanted to try it so here I am cooking it. So far everything we have steamed has been melt in your mouth moist and tender, way better than roasted. I was never a huge fan of roasted meats as I always thought they got too dried out. I think I've even converted my brother to steamed chicken.

The best part is I freeze the steaming water which I flavour with all the herbs and spices, and pull them out later to use as stock bases for stews and soups. So, its a win-win for me. I also thicken them and eat them with rice as a gravy. I'm not fussy. Well, I don't save the corned silverside one as that is basically a vinegar flavoured one but the rest are usually very delicious.

Since I have decided to eat healthier, my mind has been on food. Not that I really ate unhealthily before. More, I just ate the wrong things at the wrong time. I'm willing to try new things. Though it's hard with having thyroid problems as that messes with everything (I know way too much information) I think you will find 2020 will be the year where TMI will be a constant thing with me. I have some life goals I want to achieve, and you━my readers━are going to be my sounding boards to keep me on the straight and narrow so to speak. I can talk more about those as we step from this year into the next.

My cats (Oliver & Robson) must like the smell of the pork steaming as they seem to be hanging around the kitchen a lot today. Usually by this time they have found their sleeping spots and are content to sleep away the daylight hours until they can cause havoc all night by playing tag throughout the house and cat enclosure.