plans and plotting

Okay, Holiday Time

Tim MaidmentLeave a comment

That’s it, I’m on holiday now. I normally take time between Christmas and New Year, but this time I’ve opted to take the run-up instead. In part it’s to give my peer managers a turn at that stretch of time, and in part to just stop and enjoy the amble towards the celebrations.

I may have spent time today at work joking with my staff about whether it was time to go home yet, but now I’m home, feet up, fed by Lady M, and most of a bottle of rioja downed while we watch the Masterchef final. All in all I’m happy to call this a good start.

The next few days should be quiet. I have planning to do for a D&D one-shot featuring Christmas goblins vs elves, and we’ll have some visitors from Christmas evening for a couple of days – but that’s all that is lined up. Just as well with the new restrictions.

Exhausted

Tim MaidmentLeave a comment

Not quite sure what happened to yesterday. There was sunshine, and reading on the balcony, but also bone deep weariness and flaking out on the bed for a good few hours.

Maybe its just lockdown getting to me, or residual anger burning out my reserves. Probably a combination of the two because I then couldn’t sleep for ages last night for wanting to angrily message people.

So, today is going to be more productive. I have character portraits to work on, so until my video conference later, thats what I’m going to get on with. Better to be doing something positive in all this.

Very rough first drafts

End of the year

Tim MaidmentLeave a comment

So farewell 2014, and hi 2015. We’ve had a bit of a wobbly journey, but overall it’s not been too bad for us on a personal level. Certainly, compared to some of the previous recent years it has been a huge improvement. We’ve had enough to eat, and hardly any angsting over bills, so that’s been good.

image
Death Eaters Anonymous

We’ve had some grand adventures, with Disney, Universal and Busch Gardens in Florida doing their best to shake us up. The Kennedy Space Centre is a place that will stay vividly in my mind’s eye for quite some time.  We did the Thorpe Park Fright Night in costume, and then attended Comiccon for the first time, attending as a family of Death Eaters.

All in all, a pretty good year, especially with new friends made and job opportunities coming along for Lady M. I even made enough from the writing to have to pay some tax on my earnings, which feels strangely novel as an achievement.

Lady M’s foot continues to heal, while my depression and PTSD have occasionally flared up enough to have to take notice of them, but grim determination and stubbornness are a great set of tools. So we keep on keeping on.

What does 2015 bring? The new job for Lady M starts on Monday, and there are restructures at the library too, so there may be opportunities there. Otherwise I’m considering applying for some technical author roles and looking into training as a counsellor, so hopefully some of those will bear fruit as I finish the novel. I’m also intending to self publish some short stories this year, so I’d better get cracking on completing those too

So, come on 2015, let’s see what you’re made of!