A Full School Year Already

So, there it is, a full school year done already. Beth had a bit of a rocky start. It wasn't until after the Halloween break that she settled in. I suppose she did take to it relatively easy. After being in a creche for three years, the school setting wasn't too much of a change. The uniform, however, was not the prettiest! Gray jumper and black tracksuit for a little princess more used to pink tutus!

Tomorrow marks the end. Eight weeks of holidays to follow. She was feeling a bit emotional today, bedtime was a fraught affair. At least, that might be the reason. She could just have been acting the little diva. 

I could say all the usual things like 'that year has flown' and 'she's getting so grown up', but in truth, I don't feel that way because the year is ending. I feel it has run it has course and I'm ready for the summer holidays (I'm actually nearly ready for school in September, but that's another blog post!). As for Beth being so grown up? Well, every day she surprises me with how mature she is (the diva bit isn't usual). She is so easy to reason with, have the craic with etc. She's more 14 than 4. 

I have a theory that it is mainly to do with her being an only child in a single parent environment. I have to be strict with her. Her personality means that she is constantly trying to rule the roost. From a very young age, even younger than now, I had expected more from her than would be expected of her peers. I'm not sure this is a good thing and worry I'm doing the wrong thing. I suppose every parent worries they are doing the wrong thing at times. Does any parent get it ALL right??

Anyway, she's a happy, bright kid whom I adore. Man, am I lucky!!

Boo!

Summer Holidays

We've had a few unsettled weeks here on the east coast of Ireland. Every second day seems to be nice, but there is no telling how the day will pan out. Not unusual to see people walking around sweating in coats and encumbered by golf umbrellas. I'm hopeful we will have a nice summer though. 

Beth gets her holidays at the end of this month. Then she has two months off before she begins Junior Infants. I'm excited to see her in a little pinafore and out of the tracksuit uniform of the pre-school. We've been spending a good bit of time outside now the weather is a bit warmer. There's an old joke about the way you know it's summer in Ireland... the rain is warmer. We get an awful lot of rain here. Great for the plants but not great for the tan ;-)

She's getting so grown up looking!

Our new activity... Rainbow Looms

Having fun in the garden

Now that Beth is a little older and easier for babysitters, I have started to get out of the house a little more. I joined a drama group. They are hoping to put on a play in October and I may have a part in it. I'm also going to join a martial arts class. My tummy is looking a bit round so I need to get back into shape. Beth went to a martial arts class last night and loved it. It looked a little tough (I'm thinking about me here, she was well able for the exercises) but I hope I can get through the class without keeling over!

I feel like I'll never be finished editing DITC. AR is moving along, albeit very slowly, but at least there is movement. I suppose the next stage for DITC is a professional edit but I just don't have the spare cash for it right now. I'm wondering how I'm going to find time to write/edit when Beth finishes school for the summer!

Anyway, back to the edit!

Giro D'Italia Videos

Figured out what I was doing wrong with the videos! 

Cyclists at the front. I think they were about 3/4 minutes ahead

The main group

Giro D'Italia 2014

I'm thrilled to say I got to watch the Giro D'Italia today, in my home town!! Today marked the third stage in this year's race. It began in Armagh, over the border, and ran through Dundalk on its merry way to Dublin. I have been looking forward to this since it was announced as I'm a cycling fan. Usually, I just follow the Tour De France, but I think the Giro is growing on me ;-)

It was great tourism for the town and felt like the entire population of County Louth turned out to see these amazing Lycra-clad men. Lots of the businesses in town had painted their fronts pink in honour of the race's pink jersey. Made me very proud of my home town, the atmosphere was brilliant. I took some video for the blog, but it doesn't want to upload for me. I did take some photos...

The Square in Dundalk.

Looking down Park St.

The window display of The Candy Store

Don't let the sunshine fool you, the rain poured down on us a few times! What a downpour!!

The front runners (the breakaway)

The peleton (is it called the peleton in the Giro??)

Peleton

And again

And again

And again

And again

And again

And again

Finally ;-)

I heard there was a crash as they entered the town. Haven't watched the Eurosport coverage yet though. 

Great day for Dundalk.

Vantastival 2014

This time last week, I was sitting in a field cooking sausages on a single ring gas cooker while Beth ran around with her new best friends. We were at Vantastival, a music festival centered round campervans. We stayed in a tent. It was a brilliant weekend, great company and Beth had a ball!

Our tent in the foreground. The area behind was soon populated with campervans. 

I'm definitely upgrading to one of these tents before the end of the summer. My back was killing me climbing in and out of the small three man tent.

That's the main stage with the blue top.

There were loads of activities for children, including this meditation session on the night we arrived. 

Beth, on the far right, had a great time with her new best friends. We were all camped beside each other.

There were still some setting up going on here. Stalls on the left and eateries on the right.

Music workshop. Beth in the pink, with no hat.

Circus skills

More circus skills

Waiting patiently to get her face painted.

Looking a tad rough, photo courtesy of Beth.

Music concert. During the workshop, they wrote lyrics for a song called Best Friends Forever. Still stuck in my head!

Bubbles at the Vanhalla stage

Two cuties

Face painting

Day two as a tiger

Tiger shenanigans 

Being a monkey

Beth with the Cu of Chulainn

We had an absolute cracker of a weekend. I'm now looking for a bigger tent that I can stand up in. I bought an air bed for the festival, but it took up all the space in the tent, making things (like getting dressed) difficult. 

Best buys for the weekend: Beth's waterproof trousers with braces (it rained quite a lot) and the single ring gas stove. So simple to use!

Unfortunately, Beth has a bad cough this weekend and we are confined to the house. Nothing to do with last weekend, the cough/cold has struck a few in my family. Thankfully, I'm ok so far (knock on wood). She is on the mend, but the weather is terrible here so we're not going out anywhere!

I learned how to bleed the oil burner this week. Very proud of myself! Saves me the expense of calling out a plumber :-)

Time to get back to the sick child... The Sylvanian Families are also calling!

Bit of this, bit of that

April started off well with the play. No news of the next performance yet. I've settled back into my quiet evenings at home. The beginning of the new season of Game of Thrones has eased my mind a little ;-)

Driving is going absolutely fantastic. Don't get me wrong, I still hate it, but I'm getting more proficient. I get in about three hours practice every week and keep up with my EDT lessons once a fortnight. I have completed seven EDT lessons so far. I need to do another five before I can apply to do my practical test. I really hope to pass first time! Then, it will be plain sailing, hopefully.

Easter came and went. So far over the school holidays, we have gone swimming, fed the ducks in the park, had late movie nights and visited Blackrock. Not very eventful, but we still have half a week to go. Going to squeeze in a few play dates!

Ice cream at the 'Rock'

We're very excited about next weekend. We are going to Bellurgan Park for Vantastival. We are camping for the whole weekend with another family for company. I was just doing my list of essentials today. We camped once last year, you can read about that here. So, I have most of the gear already. We are camping for three nights, but there will be loads of facilities and shops on site for anything we need. 

In writing, I'm out of the ABNA contest. I got two decent reviews from the Viners, so I'm not too disappointed. I have queried a few more agents with DITC. Fingers crossed for a positive result!

I have been working on Allie's Return for Camp NaNo but it has been slow going with distractions from DITC. It still feels unfinished and I keep going back to edit. My brain says to leave it rest and continue with AR, but my fingers click into DITC every time my laptop powers up and I get lost in it!

Time for more coffee and get back to Allie's Return!

Hope you all had a great Easter!

Good morning, from sunny Ireland!

Well, it's over, the play I mean. I had such fun and can't wait till the next time I have that opportunity. Being a single mum means I'm pretty much tied to the house after Beth goes to bed. She stays with her dad one night at the weekend, so the rest of the time I'm on my own. Luckily, my Mum is there for me if there's something I need to do. Of course, I wouldn't be asking her to do that every week (Mum babysat five nights last week, my brother did one). It was liberating to do something that was just for me.

Now, I'm back to normal. Sunday night I didn't really notice as my sister called over, but last night, I was really feeling stuck. It can get awfully lonely. Most of the time I don't notice it. I like to have the remote control to myself. I suppose I'm feeling it more because last week I had the chance to do something different. I forgot what it was like to do things in the evening. On the first day, I walked home at around 7pm, still bright, but with that definite evening feel to the air. It felt wonderful, like I was breaking the rules.

I'll have to go back to writing in the evenings, just to escape this trapped feeling.

Camp NaNo is now a week in and I've no word count to speak of. Going to try to change that today. I've drafted a few ideas on where I want to take the characters, but need to get writing. I want to finish Allie's Return by the end of April. My goal this year is to self-publish both Devil in the Clouds and Allie's Return. DITC could be on Amazon by June, AR by October. Then I'll leave myself free to start a brand new book in November's NaNoWriMo. Sounds straight forward, eh? Hmm...

Right, time to write :-)