Progress

I promise not to rant this time. Things are starting to settle down a bit now and I'm slowly working out a new routine. We're still having to do the school run at the moment, which is making things harder than they need to be. The local council are responsible for getting Jamie to and from school because of the distance. We thought it was all sorted and on his first day the taxi arrived, with an escort, to collect him. Later that day we had a phone call from the lady who had been arranging it to say they had to stop for three weeks and get another driver and escort. The reasons are many and varied, and not worth going into. So we're back to trekking in to Bude twice a day, or I am. Richard's still not allowed to drive. He's seeing his doctor next week and I'm hoping he'll give him the all clear to drive again. He's getting so bored at home. He comes with me to take Jamie to school, but that's about it. Mind you the skittles season had just started which means he can go out with the lads on a Monday night, but he's not allowed to play skittles yet either. It must be horrid when you feel fine(ish) but are constantly being told you can't do anything. He's getting into the habit of just sitting with the telly or the paper. I think the frustration is mixed with fear that if he does do something it might be the last thing he does. And I suppose I don't help because I won't let him do too much. That's the trouble when you love someone, you want to wrap them up in cotton wool to keep the safe.

I have started writing my second novel. I thought I'd better seeing as no one wants to publish my first one. I have lost count of the number of rejections it's had now. I'm still hopeful though, there are still a few agents out there that haven't been sent it yet. And I have had some positive comments from one or two saying they like my writing, they just can't take it on at the moment. It's what they all say of course. But at the same time they don't need to say anything at all about your writing abilities, so when they do it's a fair bet they mean it.
Writing has become more and more important over the last few years. I've always done it, on and off. But when Jamie got his diagnosis my chances of going back to full time work got very slim indeed. We still don't know how much long term care he will need. I may never be able to go back out to work so I need something I can do that's flexible. The business is fine, but it's not what I want to still be doing in five years time. If Richard gets back to full health and can take it back over then fine. But becoming a writer would solve everything. If I can make enough from my writing to allow Richard to cut the number of cottages down then that would take the pressure off him. It would mean I could work from home and so still be around for Jamie. And it would be the fulfilment of a dream I can't remember not having. So I'm working on novel number two with number three in the planning stages. Novel number one is still in the running, it's called 'Mulberry Gin', so watch this space. If all else fails then I'll post it here, a chapter a week maybe.