Brothers

Yesterday was my younger brother's 30th birthday. Conor was born when I was only a year and four months old. He was very sick when he was born and both he and my mother almost lost their lives. He spent a long time in the NICU after he was born.

When he was about 4/5 we left our house really early one morning and he learned to ride a bike on his own. We lived in a tiny cul de sac in a little village. No fear back then. I love the memory of cheering him on in the cold morning, just the two of us.

This last year Conor has been very sick. There were a few trips to A&E and at the end of September he spent a few days on a trolley in A&E before being sent home. He was suffering from severe pain in his abdomen. The following day he was taken back up to A&E and eventually admitted to a ward. Two days later he had a right hemiocolectomy, an operation to remove his hugely inflamed appendix which had attached itself to part of his bowel and small intestine. The operation lasted three hours and he was in recovery for two hours. It was uncertain whether he would survive the operation at all, he was so weak and had lost so much weight over the course of his illness. 

When he eventually came back to the ward, where Mum, my sister and I were waiting, he was barely conscious. We spoke to him for a minute before being sent out. There was no one to give us any answers. At that point we didn't know it was his appendix. The doctors who had performed the surgery went home without telling us what happened. We didn't get to talk to anybody about him until the next afternoon. The level of care for patients and families in that hospital is a disgrace and I hope never to be stuck in there.

Now, two months on, Conor is improving in health. He still has a long way to go and is undertaking more tests, MRI's, scans etc. They still don't know exactly what is wrong with him.

Thankfully, he survived the operation. His birthday, and even this Christmas, is all the more special this year for us. 

Rest in Peace students and adults that lost their lives in Sandy Hook Elementary. May God help those who you left behind. Will be thinking of them all this Christmas xxx

Thank Heavens for December (well, in one way)

Well, I did it. I finished NaNoWriMo as a winner on 50,008 words! Super proud of myself. It was a real push to win. I still had around 17,000 words to do this this last week but I made it.

Of course, my novel isn't finished. I'm predicting it will be about 90k words when I'm finished the first draft. Maybe 80k when completed. I've also changed the title to Devil in the Clouds. I like that for the moment but, who knows, I may change it again.

In other news, eh well, there's not much since I have been practically glued to the laptop for the last few weeks. 

In two days time the Irish Budget 2013 will be announced. It will hit everyone, some will feel the pinch more than others. I know I will have to make some adjustments; cut things that I really don't want to but these things must be done, I guess.

The one thing that is almost certain is that they will cut the Children's Allowance. They should not do this in my opinion. A lot of families rely on this money to get by every month. Cutting this money will affect the children and put more people on the breadline. There are protests going on here all the time but not enough people are attending them, the government won't listen unless we all stand up against injustices. There is going to be another protest this Saturday in Dublin, Dundalk and as many towns/cities that can do it. If you are in Ireland support these protests, get out and stand up! There is a Facebook event page for the Dundalk one.

Protest against cuts outside Dundalk Court House last Friday

On a Christmas-y note, Beth and I put up the Christmas tree yesterday. I just couldn't resist any longer. I'm really looking forward to it and, thankfully, I've everything sorted!

Beth yesterday morning after we put up the tree

She has me tortured to open doors on the Advent Calendar!

NaNoWriMo Update

Well there's not much of an update. I started off really well on Thursday and even got some writing done on the bus to Dublin on Friday but since then there have been distractions...

Friday night, my Mum and I went to see Don McLean in the Olympia Theatre, Dublin. I will be writing a full review of it in the coming days. We even waited to meet him after. Very exciting!

Yesterday, I was only home from Dublin about half an hour when Beth came back from her Dad's. She was a little off colour and actually took a nap on the couch while I made dinner. Very unlike her. 

When she woke up she was shouting some weird things. She was running a mad temperature so was probably hallucinating. She was also complaining of really bad pain in her belly and 'headsford' (forehead). I rang the on call doctor who told me to bring her to the out of hours surgery straight away. I was terrified it was her appendix.

To make a long story short, she has a bad throat infection which is causing the pain in her belly. Doctor prescribed antibiotics. She'd a tough night last night. Woke up every few hours coughing, high temp and vomiting. 

Hopefully it'll pass with the medication!

I plan to catch up with the NaNoWriMo today and tomorrow and get back on track :-)

NaNoWriMo

 Happy Halloween from a little witch!

Tomorrow, November 1st, starts my first attempt at NaNoWriMo. Basically, during the month of November, writers of every discipline, genre, traditional or indie published can get together online and bang out 50,000 words. That is 1,667 words per day.

It'll be tough but I'm looking forward to it. I have my writing space (spare room) all ready to go and in the next month my hair may go grey! When I was finishing Bleeker Avenue I was spending all my free time writing. As soon as Beth went to bed I'd go straight to the laptop. I plan to do this again. I remember coming out of these writing marathons dazed. It took a while to come round to reality again.

The project I'm working on is called Diary of a Trolley Dolly. It's just a working title. It is about a woman who leaves her home town to become cabin crew. I did this myself almost 10 years ago but the story will be purely fictional. There will be lots of sex, drugs and turbulence. A lot more exciting than my own experience!

A little witch ready to fly to a Halloween party this morning.

We had wings for a bat too but went with the witch in the end :-)

Hope you all have a spooktacular day!

In The Irish Times Today

Single mum, would like to meet...

Another article in The Irish Times today by yours truly. It's all about dating as a single parent. The difficulties of meeting people and why I'm not rushing into anything!

Christmas Cake Recipe

There is no nicer smell than that of a Christmas cake in the oven. 

175 g (6 oz) Glace Cherries

225 g (8 oz) Raisins

75 g (3 oz) Currants

150 g (5 oz) Sultanas

50 g (2 oz) Chopped Candied Peel

100 ml  Whiskey/Brandy

225 g (8 oz) Softened Butter

Finely Grated Rind Of One Lemon

225 g (8 oz) Soft Brown Sugar

4 Eggs, Beaten

30 ml Black Treacle

225 g (8 oz) Plain White Flour

5 ml (1 tsp) Ground Mixed Spice

I'm slightly allergic to nuts so I left the next ingredients out:

125 g (4 oz) Roughly Chopped Brazil Nuts

50 g (2 oz) Ground Almonds

1. Wash the cherries in cold water, make sure all the syrup is off. Chop them into quarters. Chuck them in a bowl with the raisins, currants, sultanas and candied peel. Pour over the whiskey, cover with a tea towel and leave overnight to soak.

2. Line a 20 cm (8 inch) round deep cake tin with a double layer of greaseproof paper.

3. In a big bowl, beat the butter with the lemon rind until pale and very soft.

4. Gradually beat in the sugar until completely blended. Add the eggs a little at a time. Then add the treacle. Make sure everything is evenly blended.

5. Sift the flour and mixed spice together. Add half to the mixture (add the nuts here if you are using them). Fold in the fruit gently. Then add the rest of the flour. 

6. Spoon the mixture into the cake tin, level the surface and tie a double layer of brown paper around the outside of the tin.

7. Bake in a pre-heated oven at gas mark 2 (150°C) for 3-3.5 hours or until a fine skewer can be inserted into the middle and come out clean. I usually check it after 3 hours. If it needs longer I place a sheet of brown paper over the top so it doesn't burn.

8. Leave cake in the tin to cool for about an hour then turn out onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely. Prick the top with a fork and spoon over about 45 ml (3 tbsp) whiskey. Allow to soak in.

9. When completely cold, cover with greaseproof paper, then with tin foil and leave in a cool dry place. It needs to mature for at least 2 weeks or up to 3 months before icing is applied.

I'll be icing the cake about a week before Christmas. Beth wants to decorate it with snow (royal icing), snowmen and Santa. That'll be fun!

Free today!!

Tell everyone!! The Secret Beneath Bleeker Avenue is free today on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk