The sun is shining today after a couple of days of wild weather. We’ve started lighting the fire at night, winter is arriving. It’s been a pretty uneventful week. Just the day-to-day ordinary stuff that goes in homes all over the world.

I’m 13,000 words into my manuscript and dreaming about running away from home and locking myself up in a hotel somewhere to get the thing written. Room service delivered three times a day, laundry sent out, bed made and room tidied by someone else every day. I could get War and Peace written with that sort of support! Instead I’m stealing minutes on the laptop between ferrying children about and wondering what the hell I can create out of frozen bacon and some limp vegetables which need to either go in a pot tonight or the rubbish bin tomorrow. Any ideas?

Surfing the Net

To those who are attempting to write a book, this piece might be of interest. The figures on how much you can make out of a book are particularly heartbreaking. No wonder the majority of authors in this country have other jobs!

I just discovered this by Gretchen Rubin, blogger and author of The Happiness Project and Happier at Home. It’s quite beautiful.

Heather Armstrong over at Dooce made me laugh with her description of sharing a bed with her toddler.

Angela Mollard’s piece today resonated on so many levels.  In it she says workforce policy needs a cultural conversation. Sometimes I really think Generation X has been the crash test dummy generation when it comes to career/family/work/life etc. I hope some time soon we can have some honest conversations about what has worked and what hasn’t worked in the last 20 or so years when it comes to raising children and engaging in the workforce. I hope that by doing so we can move forward for our sons and daughters and help them enjoy less stress and difficulties in these areas.

While I’m on about the work/family thing Reservoir Dad made an appearance on the tele this morning (I’m not sure if that link will work if you are outside Australia, apologies if it doesn’t) I loved the point he made about how the differences between men and women are not that great really. You develop the skills you need when you are in the circumstances to use them. (You can check out his blog here).

This post over at Motherpedia showed the strength of a mother’s love and the human capacity for overcoming the odds.

Mia Freedman made me a laugh and earned undying admiration in her ability to appear in a cover shoot while suffering from a urinary tract infection. As a fellow sufferer of that complaint I have no idea how she did it!

What have you been reading (or writing) online lately? Feel free to link.