Blue Monday

Current work: Medical (enjoying this hugely – it’s a bit different but I’m hoping it’s going to be fast-paced and perhaps not quite as tecchy as my meds usually are. This is kind of an experiment and I may or may not have to make swingeing changes…)

Listening to: Queen (and Def Leppard because I'm in a bad mood)

Reading: India Grey – Powerful Italian, Penniless Housekeeper (excellent read – great characterisation, and her hero and heroine were just gorgeous – lots of warmth and it left me smiling for the right reasons). Also reread a couple of my favourite Liz Fieldings (yeah, yeah, we know which ones – Gentlemen Prefer… Brunettes, The Marriage Miracle and The Sheikh’s Guarded Heart, because they’re brilliant and her writing always leaves me with a glow).

Today is apparently ‘Blue Monday’ – the most miserable day of the year.

Yup, I’d agree with that one. My left eyelid is twitching a lot at the moment. It’s a combo of stress and tiredness, because I haven’t caught up on the two nights of very little sleep from earlier this week.

I was feeling a bit low today so I went into town and bought myself a bright purple handbag.

That isn’t the real reason why I went into town. I had to give our passport and insurance details to the travel agent, and sort out the rest of this month’s birthday cards and presents. While I was there, I decided to buy myself an early birthday present, because I need a new handbag with a shoulder strap to make life easier while travelling. The Radley Enigma design has grab handles and a shoulder strap so it’s very flexible. And it’s not that bright a purple: it’s restrained and classy. It’s also the cheapest Radley bag I’ve ever bought (because it’s not a picture bag – so I was most restrained. OK, the new picture bag isn’t out yet. But it’s still very restrained, for me) and the first Radley bag I have bought for well over a year. No guilt whatsoever. (I work hard, I've had a miserable week, and I deserve it.)

So – the weekend. Friday, got paperbacks of new books (so I will be going to the post office later in the week) and booked the private dining room for my stepmum’s birthday (it’s a ‘big’ birthday and, although Dad won’t be well enough to be there, I still want to make a fuss of her). Various bits and pieces of the new book fell into place, though I must say that certain Medical authors are Very Bad Influences. :o) This book is going to be fun.

Saturday, booked my research trips (nominally ‘family holiday’, but that’s because I sold them on the idea of coming with me – and they might think they’re going to loll around on a beach all day, but I have plans to explore and walk their little legs off). Am hugely excited about it. In Venice, we’ve managed to get a good deal at a hotel overlooking the Grand Canal; we’ve also booked a private water taxi from the airport to the hotel (because there are four of us, this works out at the same price as a bus) AND booked a trip to Murano (this is the most crucial piece of research for the Venice book, which I’m scheduled to start writing in mid-April, i.e. after this Med and the Penhally book, and after I’ve soaked up all the lovely atmosphere in La Serenissima herself).

We’ve also booked a week in Sorrento; will have to book the research trips for that later, but again this is work because I need to go to Vesuvius, Pompeii, Herculaneum and especially Capri. (Dear ed, care to guess what I’m going to be pitching for next year’s books?)

We also met friends for lunch and ordered new dining room chairs (ours are literally on their last legs and the new ones were a sale bargain).

Then things went a bit downhill. We were at a junction where two lanes merge into one, and the man behind us decided that it was his right of way and drove into us. Luckily, nobody was hurt, but we could have done without the hassle.

Sunday, sorted out our travel insurance and the EHIC (European Health Insurance Card). Also visited Dad. He gave me a very hard time, so I’d say he’s definitely on the mend (though he’s still not quite out of the woods, so I’m trying not to feel so hurt about his behaviour). Years of experience have taught me that the rara avis approach usually sorts this out so, unless there’s an emergency, I’ll call the home daily but not visit this week. (He’s apparently brighter today, but I’m still keeping a little distance there until his temper improves.)

Plan for today: now I'm home, a spot of lunch (must NOT let this mood make me backslide on the diet) and then crack on with the new book. Lovely agent likes the new outline, but has also given me her verdict on the perfume book – mixed, so I’m expecting big revisions. Sigh. Have I mentioned that it’s Blue Monday today? Also need to spend 10 minutes or so practising the tricky bit of Tarrega we’re doing – lots of position changes, and it’s in the key of E so I have to think about it and remember the D sharp. Last week, I wanted something pretty and nineteenth-century; Jim interpreted that as giving me a Grade 4 piece to give me a challenge. (Mind you, he's right - it does make me up my game.) A line a week, and I’ll have cracked it by half term.