This post is being brought to you by black coffee, the sugar rush provided by licking honey off a teaspoon, and the sheer bloody-minded ignoring of exhaustion. Changing the subject abruptly and completely, the office move has happened. This is, I have decided, a good thing. Not because I wanted to move but because it is over and, as far as I can tell, our department has all its files and everyone is, if not happy, at least not unhappy. I’m taking this as a win.
Although my week has been manic and mostly full of things I have no intention of boring you with, I did have three lovely, stress busting interludes:
The first was going with Cat to see The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time at the local theatre. Cat and I had dinner first, which involved much discussion of fandom, job opportunities, and possible Oscar winners (our predictions were mostly correct, despite not being what we wanted to happen) and then spent two and bit hours being transported into someone else’s head. The play was wonderful and my review is here, should you be interested.
The second was a cinema trip, this time with my Dad, to see Kingsman. And it was AWESOME. Both Dad and I loved it and we left the cinema with sides aching from laughing. My more detailed review of the sheer gloriousness that is the spy movie to end all spy movies is here. Do go if you can.
The third was a wonderful gift from Azriona, that is so personal and beautiful and intricate I didn’t quite know how to say thank you. And then it came to me … put it in a Sherlock story. So I did. But a story told entirely in pictures – you can find Sherlock, John and the Mystery of the Embroidered Matchbox here.
Writing wise, other than the above reviews, I have nothing else to share. I’ve not progressed the short story or the RAMC meta (because both are at points where I have to make decisions and my brain is refusing to co-operate) but I have drafted a whole host of WWI: Fifty two months, fifty two posts pieces, one of which I’m really excited about but won’t go live until February next year, so I can’t say anything about it yet. What this flurry of activity does mean is that, despite the pessimism of last week, my GYWO is now back on track for the month, currently clocking in at 15,539.
I’ve also received my ACD Holmesfest assignment and I’m really, really happy with it; not so specific that I feel I have no room for maneuver, not so vague that I feel completely at sea. I have … well, you know me, I have a stupid number of plot bunnies jumping around, all desperate for attention, but I’m going to spend a good couple of hours at the weekend bashing them into something coherent. Thus there may be some random questions posted on twitter and I use the wonder that is the hive mind to iron out the kinks.
On Tuesday morning I had the joy of having several vials of blood removed to assist with the “Why is Kim bruising at the drop of a hat, aching all over, and so knackered she can actually fall asleep leaning against a wall?” project that my lovely doctor is currently engaging in. The Nurse who removed what felt like a whole arm full was lovely, but her answer to when I’d get the results – possibly one week, possibly two, maybe longer (I do love the specificity) – has left me a bit nonplussed. That said, whenever I get them, I’m hoping they’ll show it’s just severe anemia (which I’ve had in the past) and my preemptive iron sachets and the increased intake of spinach, broccoli and steak will already be helping by then. If it’s not then I’ll deal with whatever when it comes. What I’m not going to do is get any more stressed by it all than I am already.
I’m also going to cut myself some slack because it’s very clear that if I attempt to keep pushing through 100% of the time I’m just going to burn out. So I’m scheduling an evening off writing each week, as well as one day off the weekend. Which does mean I’m going to have to up the word count for the days I am writing, but I think an extra 150 words per day is doable
Dog is still not quite right. Her front paws are practically back to normal but now she’s favouring her back right leg instead. Again, it seems to be arthritis rather than any physical damage, so I shall just continue with the pills, chews and warmth and trying to keep her from leaping about like a lunatic. Hopefully this will be enough. Dog has also informed me that it’s been so long since I posted a pic of her, and that thanks to this lack you’ll all have forgotten what she looks like. In the unlikely event that this is in fact the case, here she is posing with her latest stuffed toy:
And that’s it for now, since I have an office and bedroom that need my immediate attention since they look, respectively, as if paper and laundry bombs have gone off inside them. But, since this weekend is Dad’s birthday weekend and I have the Monday off work, I’m feeling quite cheerful right now. Which is nice.
Kizzia Mildmay 