That was the week that was...
Eurgh…having had the best part of two weeks off work, I once again find myself sitting at my desk, staring at a seemingly never-ending amount of new e-mails that I’ve received in the last ten days, and wishing that I had taken an extra week off. Or better yet, had won the lottery.
It’s been so long since I’ve taken a big chunk of annual leave that I had forgotten how nice it was to get up and to not have anything specific to do. Not that the entire ten days has been like that. Indeed my time off has been a heady mixture of work, socialising, partying, entertaining, and ultimately, relaxing - because my body is too tired to function properly.
The majority of the time was spent with Heidi, who had flown over so that we could work on ironing out some of the problem areas in the opus that is "Small Town Boy". With a million things to do before I left the office, my progress in reading the draft she had sent me was limited to say the least. What this meant with regards to the work we had to do, was that I read as much as I could, made mental notes, and then we talked and I asked questions and made suggestions, all of which were enthusiastically received. It became clear early on that I was never going to be able to finish the whole draft by the time Heidi had to go home, so I asked to take it over, so that I could work at a much less pressured and stressful pace - and as Heidi will tell you, Mikey doesn’t do stress either well, or prettily.
I only had Heidi for a week, and whilst initially I had wanted to not waste even a minute of that time, the week evolved into giving Heidi an all-too brief glimpse into the world of Mikey, and the people and the places that make it what it is. Consequently a great deal of the work conversations took place in various sunny beer gardens, with a pint of something golden, fizzy and alcoholic serving as an accompaniment. Character arcs and plot developments were discussed, and fleshed out, or completely changed, and all the while the story seemed to become tighter (and longer!).
Looking back on it now, it’s all seems like a blur of evenings in Blush, lesbian barbeques, walks in the cemetery, the filming of insane video messages, and endless rounds of introductions to the lovely and slightly crazy people who I count as my friends.
The one constant thing was Heidi herself. I’ve met people whom I’ve only known from on-line before and each time I’ve managed to make myself incredibly nervous and have anticipated some form of rejection, but this time was totally different. I felt like I already knew Heidi and so meeting her in the flesh was not in the least bit nerve-wracking. Of course it helps that she’s just absolutely lovely and all kinds of fabulousness. The omens were good from the word go and they didn’t disappoint, and neither did Heidi. Feeling that she was already a part of my life, it just made sense to let her live it for the week, and live it she did.
As I’m sure you know, when you’re having a really great time, time itself appears to speed up and before too long the curtain has to come down on the fun, and so it was. The seven days flew by with amazing alacrity. Even though we hadn’t done nearly as much as I had wanted to with the story, I was in a much better place with it at the end of the week - even if I was a little tired from the socialising and lack of sleep.
Things have gradually returned to normal since Mrs. C’s departure. There has still been socialising, but at a more sedate pace than the recent frantic whirl. The increasingly depressing task of viewing flats has begun again in earnest, and it was soul-destroying on Saturday when Pink and I found THE perfect place, only to be told by the agent when we rang to put an offer in, that it had already gone. There have been a couple of dinner parties. The first went very well, but the second one was ruined. Still, I think at the moment the least said about that the better, and besides, I at least got to experience what it must be like to sit in the back of a police van with a blanket over your head on your way to your high-profile court case. It will also be a while before I listen to Edith Piaf again.
For now, I shall close by thanking Heidi for a wonderful week, and in reiterating what an absolute pleasure it was to finally meet my Sam. Love and thanks must also go to all those friends who helped made it so special - you know who you are.
It’s been so long since I’ve taken a big chunk of annual leave that I had forgotten how nice it was to get up and to not have anything specific to do. Not that the entire ten days has been like that. Indeed my time off has been a heady mixture of work, socialising, partying, entertaining, and ultimately, relaxing - because my body is too tired to function properly.
The majority of the time was spent with Heidi, who had flown over so that we could work on ironing out some of the problem areas in the opus that is "Small Town Boy". With a million things to do before I left the office, my progress in reading the draft she had sent me was limited to say the least. What this meant with regards to the work we had to do, was that I read as much as I could, made mental notes, and then we talked and I asked questions and made suggestions, all of which were enthusiastically received. It became clear early on that I was never going to be able to finish the whole draft by the time Heidi had to go home, so I asked to take it over, so that I could work at a much less pressured and stressful pace - and as Heidi will tell you, Mikey doesn’t do stress either well, or prettily.
I only had Heidi for a week, and whilst initially I had wanted to not waste even a minute of that time, the week evolved into giving Heidi an all-too brief glimpse into the world of Mikey, and the people and the places that make it what it is. Consequently a great deal of the work conversations took place in various sunny beer gardens, with a pint of something golden, fizzy and alcoholic serving as an accompaniment. Character arcs and plot developments were discussed, and fleshed out, or completely changed, and all the while the story seemed to become tighter (and longer!).
Looking back on it now, it’s all seems like a blur of evenings in Blush, lesbian barbeques, walks in the cemetery, the filming of insane video messages, and endless rounds of introductions to the lovely and slightly crazy people who I count as my friends.
The one constant thing was Heidi herself. I’ve met people whom I’ve only known from on-line before and each time I’ve managed to make myself incredibly nervous and have anticipated some form of rejection, but this time was totally different. I felt like I already knew Heidi and so meeting her in the flesh was not in the least bit nerve-wracking. Of course it helps that she’s just absolutely lovely and all kinds of fabulousness. The omens were good from the word go and they didn’t disappoint, and neither did Heidi. Feeling that she was already a part of my life, it just made sense to let her live it for the week, and live it she did.
As I’m sure you know, when you’re having a really great time, time itself appears to speed up and before too long the curtain has to come down on the fun, and so it was. The seven days flew by with amazing alacrity. Even though we hadn’t done nearly as much as I had wanted to with the story, I was in a much better place with it at the end of the week - even if I was a little tired from the socialising and lack of sleep.
Things have gradually returned to normal since Mrs. C’s departure. There has still been socialising, but at a more sedate pace than the recent frantic whirl. The increasingly depressing task of viewing flats has begun again in earnest, and it was soul-destroying on Saturday when Pink and I found THE perfect place, only to be told by the agent when we rang to put an offer in, that it had already gone. There have been a couple of dinner parties. The first went very well, but the second one was ruined. Still, I think at the moment the least said about that the better, and besides, I at least got to experience what it must be like to sit in the back of a police van with a blanket over your head on your way to your high-profile court case. It will also be a while before I listen to Edith Piaf again.
For now, I shall close by thanking Heidi for a wonderful week, and in reiterating what an absolute pleasure it was to finally meet my Sam. Love and thanks must also go to all those friends who helped made it so special - you know who you are.