Today is a momentous occasion - For today is the day that normality resumed.
Having had 7 weeks of utter madness and chaos, the girls have finally returned to school. Yaaaaaay! "Why so late?" you might ask. Well, 6 weeks would have been long enough, but the school, having scheduled building works over the holiday, resumed to find them over-running (by a mere 6 weeks), and the school was unsafe for students.
For me, that meant 7 weeks of trying to occupy every minute of every day with the kids. I am an expert on children's TV having seen the same programs over, and over, and OVER again! I know ALL of the Disney/Pixar film scripts word-for-word.
I am brainwashed...
My writing has suffered as a result. Pre-Summer-Holidays, I was in the flow, writing effortlessly (almost). And then the holidays hit me, and I ran head-long into that brick wall. On the few occasions that I attempted to fit-in a few minutes of creative work, I found that I had forgotten what I'd written before; requiring a full re-read of the previous chapter. By the time I'd done that, my few moments of peace were at an end, and CHAOS returned!
My normal means of stress relief would have been a quick jog to the lake or around the park, but on this occasion, no such luck! Running was not an option. Besides the fact that I had no time to fit it in, I was injured. With scar-tissue and tendonitis in my Achilles tendon, a strained hamstring, oh, and a touch of gout in the joint of my big toe - there was no way I was going running any time soon! Walking was hard enough - running was impossible.
I was pulling my hair out - not that I had any spare to actually pull out.
And then TODAY arrived. The kids departed for school at 8. I attempted a short jog - "short" being the operative word - a mere mile and a half at 11 minute/mile pace (way slower than my 6 minute miles at my peak) - and despite the constant clicking and pain in my toe joint, I survived. No after-effects of the Achilles problem, no hamstring problem, nothing - I was virtually back to normal (albeit somewhat slower than usual due to the fact that my heart and lungs were still in sedentary mode). But most importantly, my head was starting to feel mine again. It cleared out the cobwebs, ordered my mind, and got me back into my normal frame of mind. SANITY had RETURNED.
I got back into the swing of writing again. I was immersed into my former life as a diver, recounting events in the Turks and Caicos Islands many moons ago. And my memoir, Book #3 in the series, progressed by another few pages.
How long until it is published? How long is a piece of string? All going well, and sanity remaining, it ought to be good-to-go before the year's end - fingers crossed. But there are obstacles on the horizon - I sense a half-term holiday approaching, and a return to temporary insanity. But, hey ho, these things are sent to try us. Watch this space for future updates, as and when my kids allow...
Books 1 and 2 in The Memoir Series are available NOW from ALL Amazon stores worldwide and from my website https://ajheasman.wixsite.com/author
"Beyond the Waves: My Royal Navy Adventures" recounts my service in the Royal Navy, and the places I visited around the world.
"Single-Crewed: My Life as a Police Officer" tells of my time patrolling as a police officer in rural Lincolnshire, and the dangers and stresses that it incorporated.
BOTH are available in paperback and Kindle formats.
BOTH are FREE to members of Kindle Unlimited and Amazon Prime.
Check them out, preview each book to get a taste of what they are like, but above all, ENJOY my adventures...
Book #3. "Gone Diving" (working title) is COMING SOON.
WATCH THIS SPACE>