Wednesday, December 23, 2009

No Blog - No excuse

A very quick post to say that we have no upload usage allowance left this month, a hiccup with the computer ate up most of our 12GB, so we are running on empty.

Next update will be in the New Year.

Wishing all friends and family a wonderful Christmas and a Happy Safe 2010.

Love
Beverly

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

It finally rained!


After weeks of 35 degrees celcius plus temperatures and not a drop of rain, our weather cooled a little today, only 29 degrees predicted and about 15 minutes ago it began raining. We had 10.5mm of wonderful rain, refreshing the air and plants. It is still cloudy, so we are hoping for a little more, but are completely grateful for the little bit that we have had.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Sarah's presentation night and graduation

Sarah performing with concert band at Presentation night.
Sarah with her prizes for the Mavis Reath literature competition.

Sarah at Grade Six (Junior school) graduation. The Middle school principal welcoming her to Grade seven for next year.


A wonderful moment to share with Sarah, Well done sweetheart.



Matthew's Middle School Graduation


Matthew and Madeline gave their final speeches as Middle School Captains at the Graduation ceremony.

Matthew receiving his graduation certificate from the principal Ross Switzer.


The two school captains and the Middle school Principal Bronwyn Gagliardi cutting the graduation cake.


I was a very proud Mum, sharing this day with my son.






Vesta has been offline

We have been without a phone/internet line for nearly a week and finally today it was repaired. It has been driving me crazy and made me realise how dependent on technology I have become.

So for a couple of updates.

School is finished for the year, Matthew and Sarah are on summer holidays until end of January.

Ivan is overseas in York, PA and New York (wish I was with him), Elizabeth is working hard at her job and I am trying to get into the Christmas spirit with temperatures over 37 degrees Celsius for the past 3 days. A bit tough, although the children and I did make 14 dozen Christmas mince pies and 11 dozen curry mince pies on Monday. So now we are hot and fat!

The house is decorated and the shopping almost finished. I have ordered the Turkey and have begun planning the menu, so with just 2 weeks left, we are finally beginning to think Christmas will be here soon.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Guess what?

The Creators - Book Two has been started.

Tonight I have taken my new laptop to bed with me (no hubby he is away) and started writing Book Two.

My plan is to focus on writing a further 50 000 words just like the first book, no editing or trying to tell the story, just focussing on getting that 50 000 words. That way I am hoping that by the end of the 50 000 I will have another great story.

Word count 1480.

Grading system explained

In reply to Darlene's lovely comment regarding my grades. (Thanks for the support Darlene and Ian.)

Here is an explanation:
A pass is a 4 (50-65%)
Credit is a 5 (65-74%
Distinction is a 6 (75-84%)
and a High Distinction is a 7 (85%+)

I am working towards a Bachelor of Arts degree hopefully majoring in English and Writing. Initially I thought I might major in English and Religion and this is still a possibility. If I go this path my writing will just be incorporated into my English degree.

Who knows where this will lead, maybe to an honours degree, but that is way down the track still.

At the moment, my plan is to do just 5 courses per year instead of the 'usual' 8 courses. Three in first semester and 2 in second; this way I can enjoy the journey and the process and still have time for the family.

Breathing a Sigh of Satisfaction

This morning I woke up early and switched on my computer. Uni results were published today. I already knew my poetry result was a '6' Distinction, but needed to get my English results. Prior to my exam I had been sitting all semester on a '7' but was very nervous after my exam. I knew that I would pass the course (enough marks already) but how much it would bring my marks down was the issue. . .

IT DIDN'T!

26 years after writing my last exam I survived another one. I don't know my final results for my exam, but my final English grade is a . . . HIGH DISTINCTION '7'.

Happy dance time.

I have a GPA of 6.5 for second semester and am so happy. Can't wait now to tackle 2010 first semester. I am going to take 'Fundamentals of writing; Gothic literature and possibly Australian Literature (depending on the lecturer). Roll on March 1st, 2010.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

2 147 483 647 words

That is 2 billion 147 million 483 thousand 647 official words were written by NaNoWriMo writers in 2009.

And I contributed my 50 000+ words.

The First Day of Christmas


Advent Calenders are always a fun way to start off the Christmas season. It is the only time of the year (except Easter) that the children are allowed to start the day with chocolate for breakfast.

The Creators

I have decided to discontinue posting the story on my blog (and have deleted all previously published chapters) on the advice of my worldly-wise husband. He has suggested that I keep the rest of the story private as if it in in the public domain of the web it can no longer be subject to copyright. (Hadn't thought about that). My family is convinced that I should attempt to get this published, so maybe with some editing etc, I will give it a go.

So for all the fans that have been following The Creators (I know there are thousands of you out there - LOL) let me know in the comments section of this post and I can send you the rest of the story via private email.

Many thanks for your support (family and friends). It has been a great journey.