Rain, cunning plots and an evening in

[Anne Brooke]

Took an age to drag myself up this morning – must be the effect of all that weekend activity. Can’t be the bottle of wine we finished off last night, oh no, of course not. Alcohol never passes my lips (I take it intravenously …). Quite a slow day at work really, though I’ve chased a professor or two, just to keep my hand in. Can’t have the management having an easy time, you know. The boss is off today, but has emailed me, asking me to arrange a meeting for the strangely named FIG Management Group. Nobody here has a clue what that is, and neither has the boss let me know either how long he wants the meeting for or how many people are coming. Which makes it tricky when it comes to estimating room size and how many muffins they need. Still, I’ve done my best and will have to see what we can come up with, until he can enlighten me further.
Not only that, but Counselling is having trouble with their electricity supply. Ruth has emailed Estates asking them to deal with it, but they don’t seem to be keen. We think it might be a cunning university plot to electrocute us all over a period of time so that they can save money. Hmm, you heard it here first … And it gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, “Come to Counselling and have all your problems solved – in a flash!”

I’ve also had a quite in-depth conversation with someone I met on the way to the loos – she obviously knew who I was, but I didn’t have a clue about her. Darn it – still, I did the best I could, and hope I passed muster. Knowing my luck, it’ll probably turn out to be my mother. Again.

It’s still raining, by the way. Will it ever stop? In my more optimistic days, I used to like to think of it as liquid sunshine, but I was just too cute for words then. And if you believe that, you’ll probably believe anything … Still, managed a walk around campus at lunchtime, and also popped into the new exhibition at the art gallery. Not as interesting as last time, I think, but I enjoyed the two pictures of camels at night, and the tall seascape scene. Lovely! In the loos (lots of loo stories today, I fear …) on the way back, I came across some of our dance students who’d obviously been doing something strange outdoors – caked in mud, huge amounts of giggling, and desperate to clean up before the next exam. Poor things – I’m sure they can ring Student Line for that kind of lecturer cruelty.

This afternoon, I’ve checked the (hopefully) final draft of the mentoring handbook – it will be soooo nice to get that job off my job list sometime. Time for ordering that A5 paper and presentation folders, I feel. Nice to act like a real secretary now and again!...

Oh and great news - I've reached 120,272 words in The Gifting and I'm just at the end of the final scene, with the last small chapter to sort out. Hurrah! I'm beginning to think I might just one day make it to the end now.

Tonight, Lord H is out at theology class – the Reformation in England calls him – and I’m looking forward to an evening in. Watching some videos, and then there’s “New Tricks” on TV. Lovely. Before that however, I must write to one of my pension companies (I have many and varied due to an wild job-life in my 20s ...) telling them to close me down (as it were) - they're taking out so much in standing charges that I barely have a penny left to rub together in that one. Ye gods, you'd have thought they'd have told me earlier. Sigh.

On the reading front, I've just finished Mike Smith's "Brussels, Mussels" poetry collection - it's cute and enjoyable. Ideal reading for those summer evenings to come. And excellent value if you do go to Brussels at any time of course.

Oh and there’s the ongoing mystery of where on earth has my website got to and what are UK Hosts doing with it?? Bring it back, guys! I need it, if only to remind myself what I look like now and again … Without it, I fear I will become entirely invisible and, believe me, I seem to be invisible enough as it is. Which must be the curse of the rising 43-year-old striving woman writer indeed. Heck, I could write the book on it.

Today’s nice things:

1. Getting to the magic 120k words to The Gifting
2. Pictures of camels and the sea
3. An evening in.

Anne Brooke
http://www.annebrooke.com/ (if you can find it, that is …)
http://www.pinkchampagneandapplejuice.com/
http://www.goldenford.co.uk/