Who am I?
I am a writer in the early stages of what I hope will be a long and creative career. I have always written but now I write focused articles and stories early in the mornings, my only companions the birds singing their dawn chorus. May is already upon us and the sun has been up for some while even before I struggled out of my pit. This is my time while the rest of the world sleeps.
I am now what the term middle-aged used to refer when I was in my youth although my life has already begun again and I am rushing towards another milestone birthday. I have 3 children all boys who bring chaos and turmoil to my life. I work part time in the school office where Mini Son attends school. I wear various hats at the local rugby club where the children play rugby, I am taxi service, cook, bottle washer, cash point and housekeeper, not that anyone would notice unless it doesn’t get done.
No 1 Son is now 15, taller than me and at school studying for and taking his modular GCSEs. He is a rugby nerd and his whole life revolves around the sport. His friends are all drawn from the pot of team players who join him every Sunday come rain or shine. He has spent a year out of the game through injury which has been frustrating but he has used it to develop his refereeing skills and has helped me report on the matches.
Middle Son is about to turn 14 and also now taller than me. He lacks my fuller figure and takes after his father more, being willowy and skinny. He has just taken his options for next year when he begins his GCSEs. His passion in life is just as injury prone, but he prefers BMXing to rugby. His talk is littered with “spine, 360s, the volcano” that is when he has something other than uggg to say. A typical teenager with hair growing way down past his eyes and his boxers hanging out of his trousers in the most off putting way.
Mini Son is striding on to his 9th birthday. One of the youngest in his class but one of the tallest. He too is into his sports. He will grow up, I am assured, into a famous footballer. In the meantime he is dragged off to Rugby on a Sunday, football training on a Friday night followed by game on Saturday. He swims midweek and goes to cubs on a Monday. The rest of the time he plays out with any child older or younger and passes through the kitchen for drinks or snack as and when the need hits him.
Sexy Sporty Dad had a midlife crisis a few years ago. Rather than run off with his secretary or taking up train spotting, he returned to a childhood activity of Dinghy sailing. In a bid to pass on this sport to his sons we now have a mirror dinghy, a 420 and a topper. We live near to Longleat and are trying to join their sailing club, Poole is only an hour away and we spend many summer weekends traipsing up and down dragging various boats behind. After careful thought and another year or so to his battered body; he decided dinghy sailing did not take him away from the family sufficiently, so he took up Triathlons. Not just one discipline to train for nightly but three; cycling, running and swimming. We do still keep photos of him when, he was not just a shadow passing through.
My writing
I took up the challenge in November to write a novel of 50,000 words in a month, NANOWRIMO. I failed, by the end of the month, I was reaching about 32,000. However another month in and I completed my first draft of 64,000 words. Memories is now coming to the end of the second edit and I am very proud of the effort I have put in but not over the barrier of sending it to a publisher yet and it being rejected.
I hope you will enjoy reading my blog and please comment on the trials and tribulations that I hopefully will continue to overcome.
Tiggy