Exhausted

Man flu is the worst disease known to humankind. It afflicts the sufferer with a horrible inability to BE A MAN. My other half suffers from it constantly, thereby meaning he doesn't have to do any of those jobs that he would otherwise have to do, given he thinks that we should have a traditional household, you know, woman does houseowrk etc, man does garden & earns money and womans respect. Newsflash... point 1: the vege patch is only 1/50th of our gardens.. spending ALL your time on them does NOT count as gardening(especially as we rarely get anything from them!). Point 2: I also go out & work for paid employment. But I also have another job, that one is 24hours a day 7 days a week, 365 days a year. No one cares if I am sick, or tired, you still expect me to clean, wash & iron etc etc. I still have to do my job! Point 3: You chose the block of land we built on, insisted you could handle it.. and now you can't, so what are we supposed to do?

Indie book authors.. my new pet hate & best source of material ever

So I love my Kindle, its like the best piece of technology ever. I am a proponent of  "old fashioned books" though, don't get me wrong, but having a kindle has freed me from the burden of always having to carry around a spare book! And it has also opened up the world of indie books.. indie books, like indie movies are put out there but aren't neccessarily quality controlled like the average book. As near as I can figure, most indie books are self published into the ebook format by "authors" who have either not bothered with trying to find a publisher, or who think they don't need one (or can't afford one, so just forgo that part). And while thats all fine & good, I think that perhaps, if you are going to self publish a book & actually sell it for money, then really, invest in an actual editor. Not some random person off the web who says they will do it for free and then actually fucks it up even worse then you already wrote it.
  One book that I read recently, I actually reviewed BEFORE I had even finished it because it was so crappily edited (or not at all as the author guiltily revealed) that it was actually detracting from what was otherwise an excellent plot. Yes, it was that bad. NEVER in history has the english language been so defiled(well in my experience anyway!). NEVER should the would "drug" be used in place of drag, dragged or seemingly unrelated words with totally different meanings! It was horrid to read. And I conveyed this to the author! She encouraged review (obviously after ego stroking) and I reviewed my horror. I've read lots of indie books, but this one defintely takes the cake. Needless to say, she was NOT impressed, but well sorry, you put something out there, expect you will get negative comments. I was nice though (ego-stroking) eventually & said it was ok in the second half & the only thing that saved it was the excellent plot.

But here is the lesson for all those indie writers out there.. if you are going to self publish, I would rather you save, pay the money for a proper editor to review your work & then charge a bit more money for your story. Or alternatively, call me, I will edit it for you for a greatly reduced price.  I actually learnt english & editing skills at school...

Update...

Let me take you back to last Friday.. in the morning I had morning tea with some friends at my place. It was lovely. Fast forward to Friday night & the phone rings.. it's Ms Ambush! She is ringing to have a go at me for NOT INVITING HER TO MORNING TEA! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... I was laughing so hard when I got off the phone I gave one of my famous snorts. Is it actually possible to be that arrogant? To assume that you MUST be invited to EVERYTHING? She was swearing & carrying on at me saying how she thought we were friends and why hadn't I called her etc etc? Needless to say, I just simply informed her that the morning tea had nothing to do with her and that I hadn't called because after what she had said the last time I spoke to her,I assumed the friendship was over.  I mean if someone says to you that they don't trust you & don't want to be around you, what else are you to assume?

Oh & newsflash.. your new BFF, the one you are so much better qualified to "save" then me, HATES to be called Rae!

On better news, it was my bday Sat, so with a big night planned Sat, I decided to weigh in on the morning of my bday.. fabulously & shockingly I hit 10kg lost!!! Yay ME! Oh & on measurements, I finally cracked under 30cm for my arms & am close to being under 100 for my wasit!! YAY!!!!!

Feelin Flat

I am trying to muster energy because I know I have to go home & exercise to make up for Sunday's bad food choices.. and todays.. it's so cold in here that I gave up & had sweet & sour chilli pork for lunch.

Bad Me.

Bad beginning, Bad End

So next weekend is my birthday.. and yesterday we had an afternoon tea for my hubbies family. I told him, I don't want much food as I don't want to be confronted with all this yummy stuff and have to try & not eat.. so what does he do? He makes all this yummy stuff.. portugese custard tarts, brie & caramlised leek tarts, Broccoli & Camembert tarts, plus chips, dips & a lemon drizzle cake, which by itself was nearly 400cal per slice. Now, correct me if I am wrong, but when I ask to not have all this food done, but keep it simple, he was all like, but I want to do nice stuff for you.. Which is why I suggested the lemon drizzle cake ( I LOVE this cake!!) figuring, with some chips & ips (which I happil;y ignore) would be plenty. And then there is less temptation.. but ofcourse, he wasn't really making nice stuff for me, he was doing it for his family!

  Needless to say I did binge.. I am feeling it now.. while it was nice to feel full, it is not nice, 15 hours & more later to STILL be feeling full. I am on fruit & salad only today to try & give my poor abused stomach a break.

I DO NOT expect to lose weight this week. However, I have come to a decision and seeing as I get up early to make lunches etc, he can cook dinner so I can exercise & try to minimise the damage! He has now lost more weight then me & he doesn't exercise nor does he follow the diet strictly.. sigh.

Struck Out

So.. after successfull avoiding uncomfortable encounters twice last week, I have dyed my hair.. the exact same shade as Ms. High School.. oops. was NOT intentional, I assure you, the colour I picked out looked mych lighter on the sample!! For some reason though, my hair went really dark with it.. even the hairdresser was a bit shocked! Luckily I wash my hair every night so it will fade fairly fast!!
  Yesterday was again weigh in day.. or weight on day as I like to call it.. 2 meals out on Saturday did not make for a good result.. Hate to think what the scales will say after my holiday!!

Random Thoughts..

Random Thought 1. I am self confessed car singer.. yep thats right I love singing in my car. It is very therapeutic.. have you tried it? I admit though I only do it when alone.. I am under no illusions as to the quality of my singing voice.. favourite artists? JR Richards, Train/Pat Monahan, Poison, Marie Wilson & The Velvet Janes..

Random Thought 2. Why do people who say they "hate" someone turn around and act like are that persons best friend when they are pissed off at you? Ms High School hates my neighbour (finds her annoying & generally doesn't like her for no reason except neighbours kid annoys her autistic one) and avoids her at all cost.. at meeting last night though, was acting like her new bff (according to neighbour, I didn't go.. and for the record, I have not told neighbour how Ms High School feels about her).. Real reason? She knows neighbour will tell me all the stuff she told her.. my view? Yeah fabbo.. you are making your hubbie do FIFO so he can earn shit loads & you thereby avoid work AND have something else to whinge about (ie: 8 days straight with no support).. BUT don't worry your other new BFF(she of the ambush) who wants to be your hero will be there.. unil she gets bored with you too.

Random Thought 3. I put out appeal to my department for items for comfort bags my SIL makes up to give to kids who are being removed from their homes due to abuse. I am completely overwhelmed by the donations that have been given. One in particular was from a 12 year old girl, whose mum told her about it & why I was asking for stuff. She donated her entire months pocket money & asked her mum to take her out so she could by stuff.. So sweet. It is so lovely to see parents who are bringing their kids up  to understand they are lucky to have the luxuries they have and that other kids aren't so fortunate. I only hope I can instill that same sense of selflessness & caring in my kids.

Random Thought 4.. Previous 2 thoughts probably a bit contradictory.. bitchy vs caring.. yeah thats me I am a big ball of contradictoriness.. I just find it frustrating that people are like that.. at least if I don't like someone, I don't try to act like their BFF just to piss off someone else.. it's so not worth it..
  I think we all battle with that bad side of us & the good (well some people don't they just do what they like), but I would hope that when I am bought to account by God, that the good things I have done & the good intentions I have had(because lets face it, sometimes even the best of intentions go awry), will far outweigh the bad things.

Random Thought 5. A good friend of mine got married last week.. I wish him & his new bride all the very best that life has to bring them in their new life together.. Another good friend is getting married tomorrow.. I hope she has a fabulous day, as its been a long time coming & that their married life is everything they hope for xx