New Beginnings

Well we've moved into the house. It's nice to be surrounded by familiar things and sleep in my own bed. The kids appear more settled. There are still a heap of boxes that need unpacking and still a bit of the apartment to pack up but it will get done and then we'll be able to relax and settle into a routine.

Even Scooter the cat seems quite content. Extremely happy to go outside and roam around. He never wanted to do that at the apartment and I didn't mind there were trucks and cars coming and going around the complex. The weird thing is Scooter sees the furniture and it obviously clicks in his mind that its all his. He has also worked out that we have a garage that he can get into again. Back home he lived in the garage, he ate and slept out there. So at this house, he sits at the laundry door and goes, let me out, the garage is my domain. I have to keep telling him, that it's okay for him to be inside now, in fact I want him inside. Maybe he has been suffering from Cultural Shock and is happy with the familiar again. But I'm so glad we made the decision to bring him over, I'd be lost without him.

For me I go in and out of Cultural Shock, some days I'm really good and other days I see an email or realise there's a major Australian event coming up (like Melbourne Cup) and I'm not there to celebrate or get dressed up. But there are plenty of new traditions that I can get involved with.

We celebrated our first 'real' Halloween, the kids went trick or treating last year but here in the States, well it's an institution. The kids had a ball getting dressed up and going from door to door and getting treats. I think they got more enjoyment out of handing out the candy to the kids that knocked on our door!

The next big holiday will be Thanksgiving. Kids get some time off school which will be nice and hopefully my DH will be here to help celebrate and not off on another business trip. Although the way his schedule is it's highly likely he'll be away. Fingers crossed he won't be.

JN

Emotional rollercoaster

I've climbed back onto that sucker and it's really not a pleasant ride. :) For me to explain what I mean I have to go back to over a week and half ago.

October 14th was a momentous day for my DH and I, we closed on the house we purchased in Houston - we had a home again. We are mortgage payers again. Silly as it sounds, it's a nice feeling. The whole process of settlement is completely different here than it is back at home. We were present and so was the seller at handover. It was a lovely process and to meet the daughter of the previous owner made it even more special.

The next exciting thing was all our furniture, plates, beds, sheets and toys were all arriving at the house two days later. Yay get to see our stuff again. The only down side, my DH was flying out for work for two weeks the day after our stuff arrived!

So the morning of the big move I wake up all excited and do what I always do - check my phone for emails I may have received overnight. There sitting in my inbox is an email from my dad with an attachment. The attachment is from Harlequin Mills & Boon. Back in February I sent off a partial that I pitched at the RW Australia conference in 2008. I could see the letter and it was about 5 or 6 paragraphs long. My heart beat faster and I said to my DH, oh looks like I've got a rejection, but it doesn't look like its a form rejection so that's good. I guess the reason I thought it was a rejection was because the only exposure I had to a full request was a two paragraph letter.

So I went over to the computer and started it up. All the while dreading what I was going to find. So eventually I open the email, then the attachment and when I get it to a readable size I start to read it out to my DH. It wasn't a rejection but a request for a FULL!! The editor also went on to suggest some changes to make my heroine stronger. OH MY GOODNESS, editorial advice it was an amazing letter and I was on top of the world. Also she said that my style was fluet and my voice engaging and sparky. WOW!

It was a fabulous rollercoaster ride so far, but as with all rollercoasters, there is a downside. I guess that happened the next day when I waved my DH goodbye. The moment he left, it was like my kids became possessed. Needless to say for the rest of the week, there were tears and lack of sleep didn't help.

Throw in a couple of family bereavements which are doubly hard when you are thousands and thousands of miles away. And it's just got even hairer!

So now it's a week since DH left and I think I'm reaching the end of the ride. I feel a bit more in control. We spent last night at the house and I got to sleep in a bed I hadn't slept in for nearly 3 months. It was bliss. Also the kids loved seeing all their toys and played nicely with them. The most amazing thing was, we had no tv and really the kids didn't miss it. How much of watching TV is leading to my problems?

I'm hanging out for the day when we move in officially, I think we'll all be more grounded when we are surrounded by our stuff and can relax because it's our home.

Only a couple weeks to go.

JN

Converted

We are getting into the digital age, well let's be honest we've been in it for a while. I've had a mobile phone for the last 15 years, computers at work and home for over 20 years but when it comes to reading I've always been a paperback type of girl.

I like the feel of a book in my hand, the turning of the pages, the flicking through to see what happens because I'm impatient (yes that is bad I know). The continual going back to the book to revisit characters, favourite scenes, crying and laughing and just sighing over the endings. Being transported to the Greek sunshine on Santorini, or the the smell of the vineyards in Italy or the Australian outback or even, the danger and excitement of a fire station, any place other than the house that needs cleaning, it will be there when I've finished visiting my favourite characters. :-)

But now you can buy e-books, where with just the press of a button you can turn the page, increase the font size, hold a super slim device in your hand instead of the weight of a historical saga.

I've resisted the lure of the e-reader. I've bought a few e-books and they've wallowed aimlessly on my hard drive. Two of the girls from Wink have e-readers. One raves over it, it's the only way to go now, the other, not sure what she thinks I'll have to ask her. I'll admit to have scoffing at them saying, nope paper books for me all the way.

Well I guess now I'll have to eat humble pie. My wonderful husband bought me an e-reader for my birthday and I LOVE IT!! Yes I'm being converted, but not totally. In a way I'm sad that I won't have all those favourite books by my favourite authors on my bookshelf, but instead they'll be on my hard drive. It does mean I can buy lots more books and my DH can't shake his head when he sees the metre high pile of books to be read on the floor. But I do have authors that are my absolute favourite and now I'll have paperback and digital version of their books. I guess I can live with that.

I've had it less than a month and I think I've read 6 books on it, I still have a pile of paperbacks I need to read, so I'm alternating between the two. The amazing thing is with the e-reader I'm reading books in a day and half. I can't flick through the books to see what's happening, I have to click that button and vicariously read and read and read till I find out what happens. The only downside is, that it's going to be hard to flick through the pages and find those favourite scenes when I want to avoid the housework!

So yes in the space of a month I've gone from being a non-believer of the wonders of e-readers to an absolute believer of the wonders of an e-reader. How many more are going to be converts in the near future?

JN

Twilight Zone

That's kind of how I feel at the moment - living in the twilight zone. We've been in Houston for 7 weeks now and we've bought two cars and a house. Everything we need. But still it doesn't quite feel 'real'.

The other day we were heading out and my DH got a coffee, he handed over the money and that's when it hit me again, we're living in the States. I just can't go a few kilometres down the road and then I'll be at my parents house. Or the familiar shopping centre which has bread my kids like. Now I have to find those places and believe me, finding a bread the kids like is a challenge!

For me my life changed dramatically, I'm not working. I don't have to get up and spend 6 hours in the office. It was never a burden, I loved my job and the people I worked with. Fortunately with technology today I can still do work for them, which I love. It makes me feel useful and still gives me a connection. I can't see the WINK girls face to face anymore, now its over a crackly speaker and sometimes I can't hear everything that is said but I still look forward to that Wednesday morning, once a month when I connect with my girls.

For the kids, well adjusting to American school life has been difficult for them. It's a whole different ball game. They've come from a place where they were separated from the other school grades. They were loved and cared for and nurtured. It makes me realise just how lucky they were. For the kindergarten kids, it was great, they had their own playground, there were no big kids to scare them and for their first year at school - it was great. Also the teachers didn't yell or growl at their old school, sure they may have raised their voices on occasion but they used different methods to get their attention. Would it be a bad thing to suggest to the teachers here to try this way instead of yelling? Maybe it might be a little too soon for that.

All I can do is nurture the kids and give them all of my love and try not to yell at them myself! Now I don't have the stress of working and rushing out to do a lingerie party I do have the time to sit with them. I'm making preparations for dinner early so that when I pick them up from school I can help with homework and if the weather permits take them to the playground to let off the excess energy they have. It's weird for them not to run around and play at lunchtime at school - they're not used to sitting in a cafeteria!

For my DH he is in the thick of things with work - the reason for our move. He's finding they do work differently here but knowing my DH, he'll adjust quicker than all of us. He's just that type of guy. Takes on the challenges life throws at him with guts and determination - it's why I love him.

So it may sound that I'm not enjoying my time here in Houston but I truly am. I'm enjoying that I don't have to work. I'm really looking forward to moving into our house. It's such a pretty house and I can't wait until we can move all our furniture in there. I also love the fact that our cat Scooter made the journey with us. It has certainly made it feel more like home.

We are all adjusting and in time, everything will be natural. I'll even find a bread the kids like!

JN

Big Moves

Have you ever had to make a decision that will take you away from everything you know and are familiar with? Well we've just made it. We're moving to Houston, Texas USA. We are moving for my DH's job. Great career opportunity for him. For me I'm dead scared about leaving all I know behind.

We've spent the last week there and it was great and exciting but as we were driving back home from the airport yesterday it hit me that next time we go it could be well over a year before I see the familiar streets of Perth. How am I going to cope? There will be no more spontaneously lunches with my parents, no family parties. I love my family so leaving them behind will be hard.

But on the upside I will have my own family with me. My unit that my DH and I have created. It will be our chance to tighten our family unit. Make us a stronger team. It's perhaps what we need to cement us together tight. We will only have each other and we will have to love and give each other strength and support.

With technology nowadays, extended families aren't that far away, not like they used to be.

So as we embark on this new adventure I know that there will be times when all I want to do is get on that plane and come back home but there will be other times when I'll be having so much fun that I won't even think of what we've left behind. It will always be there and really, just a couple of flights away.

JN

RWA Roadshow

Well the RWA Roadshow has come and gone in a flurry of learning, making new friends, reacquainting yourself with old friends and spending time doing what we love - writing!

I acted as MC, a role I loved doing. I prepared an opening which incorporated the speakers and the workshops they would be presenting. I presented it like it was an anthology of 3 books by 3 different authors, each story unique, each author unique. I think it was well received.

The energy for the whole day was incredibly high, even though the weather was a bit lousy. Everybody had a great time and hopefully learnt a lot.

One of the highlights were the visitors, we had 3 people come from interstate and one international guest from Denmark - very exciting.

So planning will begin for next year's Roadshow. It's sure to be just as successful as the past two.

JN

I'm Live!!!

I know I've been very remiss and have not posted for a while, but now I have to. I have a website!!! I've finally got around to getting it setup and now I'm live. My website is http://nicoleflockton.com

I think it looks very pretty!! But then of course I did choose the page design :-)

It's a busy time for me, I'm in the middle of editing my full manuscript requested by Desire and waiting on news of a partial I sent to M&B Medical. But in between all of that I'm helping to organise a one day writing workshop. Romance Writers of Australia are putting on the roadshow again in Perth - very exciting. Make sure you check out RWA Perth Roadshow. The line up of speakers is going to be fabulous.

Hope everyone is happy, healthy and writing up a storm.

Hugs
JN