Where did August Go?

It is so strange to think that today is the first day of September, first day of Spring (in the Southern Hemisphere) and Father's Day - here in Australia.

August disappeared before I could even take notice of it and now I find myself already in September. So what did I do in August. 

Well, first of all I attended a heap of appointments. Many of those that I had put off during my six months of chemotherapy, including get a new crown put on my tooth, see my optometrist and completing our tax return and tightening up banking accounts. 

As well as all of this, I also enjoyed getting back into the swing of university.  My Jane Austen course has been wonderful - my lecturer Lesa Scholl is amazing and I have loved the class participation.  My first assignment was on Evelina - a pre-Austen novel written by Frances Burney.  It was fascinating and I loved doing the 750 word close-reading assignment.  Let's hope it scores as well in the marking department. 

My other course is Screenplay writing - now this is a challenge. We have had 2 assignments so far and are preparing to write the first 15 pages of a feature film.  Mine is a thriller and when I presented it to the class for feedback - they all loved it. Again great lectures and tutorials.

We celebrated Dad's 75th birthday on August 1st - congratulations Dad!
We also welcomed a little addition to our family - Sarah's new kitten - Miss Mae.



Brian Weatherburn - 75 years old

Welcoming Miss Mae to our family.

 

Pet Power

I just wanted to share a couple of very happy pet photos. In April my brother visited and used his extensive photographic skills to capture these beautiful photos of our dogs.

This Abby - our Border Collie x Lab mix - she is nearly 9 years old and such a wonderful dog

Then we have Bella - a Maltese x Cavalier - this is the clown of the family

And Max - a Gremlin in disguise - Chihuahua x Yorkshire Terrier x Japanese Chin and boy is he funny.

Thanks Ian for giving us these great memories of our three dogs.

A new challenge

So does this give it away? If you guessed that I am planning to write a screenplay - you are half right. I am heading back to university to study again.  I am taking a writing course - Screenwriting and an English Literature course - Jane Austen.  Two subjects at a time, but one day I will finish my Bachelor of Arts.

Busy re-reading all the Austen novels, I decided that I needed an idea of what I was getting into in my writing course - hence the pile of books from the library. Ah Ha!

Excited - lectures start next week on Monday 22nd July, so planning on being busy for the next few months.

Sarah School update

It has been a while since my last post - reason - busy life. Not much of an excuse, I know!

So what has been going on....

Well Sarah has started her new school.  After 3.5 years of struggling to find any joy at school, we finally made the decision to change Sarah's school.  A term off from her old school and surgery on her big toes, during that time; made her first day a very big challenge.

Smart new uniform



Mum wearing my silly school hat

She came home on day one and shared the news that the school was weird - my heart sank, until she shared that it was so weird because the 15 & 16 year old kids were nice and friendly to each other. It was both a sad and happy moment. Sarah has discovered that there are great kids that will be really nice to you at school.  Unfortunately, she is sick at home yesterday and today with a horrible head cold, but hopefully will be back at school again soon.



Congratulations Elizabeth

Elizabeth has been my rock and my support during the six months of my chemotherapy. At the same time she has been working on her Honours degree in English Literature.  During her first semester, she had two courses to complete and has today been advised that she has received a 6/7 - Distinction for them both.  With just her Honours dissertation on Fairytales to still write, she is on track to graduate in November.

This year has been challenging, and my beautiful daughter places such pressure and stress on herself to achieve perfection. And ... she does!  She is amazing.

Love you and am so proud of you Elizabeth Catherine. Soon you will be wearing this sort of gown again.

Rain, muffins and kittens

It has been a strange week. Lots of winter rain - which is unheard of in Brisbane - I don't like it. So I made a batch of yummy bran muffins for breakfast. Then suggested that the girls and I have a morning scrapbooking to enjoy the indoors.

Sarah and Elizabeth were working on their Disney albums, which brought back some great memories. I am still working on my 2007 photos, but happily have now sorted up to the end of the year.  After the sad news that Creative Memories had gone into liquidation - I was delighted to hear that we can still print digital albums with a new company. 

Along with the joy of spending time with the girls this week, we had some fun with the cats.  Elizabeth treated them both, well really her Greyson to a new scratching post - he had fun exploring the little cubby house. And then yesterday the neighbour's chickens escaped. Living in the semi-rural suburbs, we are getting used to cows and chickens in the garden. The cats were not sure what to do with these intruders.

 Cleo kept looking at me, as though to ask what these things were that were in her garden.

All Clear and Good Health!

I am thrilled to post that my ultrasounds have come back with no 'nasties'.  I have been waiting for a week to get the results, but figured that if there had been any problems then I would have heard sooner.  Still, it was good today to get the all-clear.

So next step, is just to LIVE!  I have been given the most amazing gift - my life and I intend to use it to the full. 

Yesterday, I sent off my second novel to the publishers - in around 2 weeks, I will get my initial feedback and then it is just a couple months of process and progress until Book 2 - The Destructors is released. 

Excited and motivated. 

Thank you to everyone for your love and support over the past six months, now we can move forward together to inspire the world.