Merry Christmas to all! And to all a nice long nap afterwards

Merry Christmas everyone!

Hope Santa brought you what you hoped for, and what you bought for others was appreciated as well as you hoped.

Santa dropped the ball abit with my Mum this year. Or he just knows her too well, because over the last couple of days before Christmas, my mother bought for herself some items...and then the exact same things were found under the tree.

She and my father bought each other the same book, and my dog's eyes near popped out of her head when she spotted her Chrissy present. A set of new tennis balls and one of those fancy schmancy ball throwers. So that you don't have to pick up slimy tennis balls and when hitting them with a tennis racquet, get a nice shower of spittle all over yourself. Really a present more for us, than her I guess. But she liked it.

We celebrated Christmas two days ago, as I and my sister are working this evening.
Then my parents and I went to a friend's for Christmas dinner last night, and in an hour off we chuff to a local pub for some christmas fare again. All this food...crikey. At least at the pub it's all very civilised with civilised serving sizes so that you don't need to pop the top button at the end of the meal.

I have received two Christmas presents on the writing front today and yesterday.

Yesterday, I received an email from Allen & Unwin (the editor who has my manuscript Life was cool until you got popular" who had wonderful things to say about my work. She said that at the moment it's not quite strong enough, but she had two pages of feedback, things she loved, things she thought were a bit weak and if I want to resubmit in February then I'm welcome to.

So oh yes, I'll be resubmitting. She had some really valid points too, and though I know the re-edit will be confusing and difficult, I AM looking forward to getting stuck in, because it's just going to make the book better.

Secondly, I'd given up on the website for about a month and when at Borders the other day, bit the bullet and bought the Dummies Guide to Web Sites.

Well. It's currently uploading the web, and FINALLY I have managed to get rid of the webcity's index page. Don't know how it's looking yet, but over the next couple of days if you check out http://www.sarahbillingtonauthor.com you should find my brightly coloured YA writerly web site in all its glory. I have my fingers crossed.

I had better start getting ready for Christmas lunch. Enjoy your day! And don't spend too much at the boxing day sales! :)

Sairz

Ain't the government grand...sometimes

I'd heard about this little christmas gift to the impoverished masses that Ruddy's handing out - a cool $1000 to you and you and you...and not me. I didn't expect I'd be getting it, my parents are cos they're pensioners and retirees and stuff. I'm a student. What do we need money for?
Well yesterday I heard rumours that some friends of mine from uni got it...and today I called up Centrelink to find out and lo and behold I'm RICH!
Tomorrow I get my $1000 smackers into my bank. The whole idea is to spend it, boost the economy, keep our shop keepers from tearing out their hair.
I've been stressing a bit because I'm not saving too speedily for my upcoming international soujourn (sp?) next september. So it's kind of between FINALLY getting myself one of those fantabulous flat screen TVs I've been wanting for years (and my parents just bought one, which we all have done a collective: "ooh, isn't it clever" sigh before I never get a chance to use the ruddy thing) or the money goes into my overseas trip savings...to erm, keep international shop keepers from tearing their hair out.
Sorry Ruddy old chum, I am SO grateful for the Christmas gift - better than anything I expect to receive - but I hope you understand the emotional well being it has afforded me, if not helping our economy.
So yeah, I guess the decision has been made. Into my savings account it goes. Might even pay for my Visas, how very exciting.

On to other news, my family homestead is occupied not with tradies any longer, but with its family. We're back in, still boxes everywhere and manuals are very much in use to work out how to use the appliances - yes, you need to read the manual to use the oven, but still. We're home. And all my books are back. Sigh. It's so nice to see them. And my DVDs. I loves my stories.

Speaking of stories, I pretty much think I have two or three paragraphs to write to finish Miss Jem's Blogiverse, but with the move and me coming down with this WRETCHED cold, and my mattress being on the floor and not having a chair at my desk and sort of being out of the writing mode...I haven't done it. As soon as I write those paragraphs I can start the next book, and that might be what's holding me back. This one needs a bit more work done before the writing process begins. And I guess, I've seen the opening couple of scenes in my head so much that I don't want to do a shoddy job when I write it. But it's cool, it'll get started. Before New Years I will have 5,000 words done on my next book, and will have finished at least ONE of my assignments for my certificate III. And I won't have this bloody cold anymore.

Speaking of cold - what happened to summer? I'm wearing my big fleecy dressing gown around the house.

Tonight is my first shift back at my summer job after eight months away. I'm pretty psyched, but would be happier if my eyes and throat weren't stinging and my nose wasn't acting like a faucet.
Ain't I a charming lass? I'll leave you with that lovely image.

Sairz