I really don’t feel like myself since I got home. At first I thought it was jet lag because I couldn’t sleep and had an attention span that could be counted in seconds, rather than minutes or hours.

Then the days moved on and now I’ve been home over a week, but still I lie awake at night with my mind racing and my legs twitching from nervous energy and it seems obvious that there might be a bit more to it.

Is it just post holiday blues or something more?

I don’t feel depressed and I was actually glad to come home. Routine is a vital part of life with young children and it was definitely tiring having to entertain Bunny all day every day. In Europe he had no pre-school, no mates, hardly any toys and little predictability. Usually Bunny is a child who thrives on predictability (so unlike me), but overseas he coped amazingly well and adapted to everything we threw at him. Even so, it’s nice to be home where there’s more support and a bedroom I can send him to when he’s throwing a wobbly.

But back to me - it’s ALL ABOUT ME, people!

If it was a welcome comfort to get home, why do I feel so disinterested in doing anything?

I started back up on my novel overseas, but am now dragging my feet. I have a few draft posts written that I can’t seem to finish. A client who wants me to start on a project, but I’m avoiding him. And I find myself mentally blank for long periods of the day with a physical restlessness which is keeping me up ’till all hours.

People are supposed to come home from holidays recharged, not drained!

I have to admit, this has happened before. Last year when I returned from Thailand, I wrote about my intuition that change was in the air. It made a lot of sense then because I’d been feeling very burned out before I went away, and when I came home I re-prioritized my life to stop copy writing for a few months and concentrate on my family.

This time the problem isn’t burn out, and maybe it’s not post holiday blues either. Maybe those over-active instincts of mine sense new challenges on the horizon for me and my poor little brain (it’s not what it once was - thanks Bunny) is struggling to keep up.

I did start to jot down some notes for a new creative project while I was away, the novel has spluttered back to life, and I’ve been mulling over some minor changes I want to make here at SHE-POWER. So, maybe I’m being too hard on myself.

Maybe just getting on with everyday life for a week or two is just what I need. Time for my ideas to germinate and bloom into something beautiful. Maybe it’s that old dilemma again about it being okay to do nothing. Sit, wait and create.

What do you think?

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The holiday is over. Ladies and gentleman collect your belongings and move to the back of the bus. No pushing. No shoving. We’re going to make a clean exit.

Yes, today we fly home. Not sure why I wrote bus there, but I was free writing and that’s what came out so I’ll leave it.

This week has passed in a blur and my internet time and connections did not go to plan so I have posts waiting to go when I get home. Please bear with me while I prattle on about this trip for the next week or so.

London was amazing and Paris sublime. Lots to report so check in here in a couple of days. Internet situation is so lousy I don’t even have a photo to show you. Cest la vie.

Au revoir.

Kelly

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some things about your colorful country are just plain loco.

First let me be clear, I had a great time in Spain and I will do a post with the highlights of our visit after I get home. I won’t be able to really give the research and writing the time it deserves until then because Musicman is working now and I’m entertaining Bunny.

But like any country, there were a few things that drove me absolutely nuts. Some are little and petty, some stressed me out, and some had me quite pissed off after awhile. In no particular order…

• The Spanish eat so much oily food that you can go to a tapas bar and EVERY item on the menu is fried. After two weeks, the most important question I asked when we were deciding where to eat was if the bar/cafe served salad.
• A mixed salad always has tuna in it. I don’t know why, but sometimes I just wanted a simple green salad, and they found this quite strange.
• Juice in Spain is always sweetened with sugar and sometimes is more like cordial. In Catalunya they take this further by serving up the sweetened orange juice with a spoon and a sachet of sugar. I tried asking for sin azucar, but this was usually ignored, leaving me to battle it out with Bunny over why he couldn’t dump two teaspoons of sugar in his already sugared juice. Yes, sugar sachets are huge here - at least two teaspoons.
• Even though the laws were changed to ban smoking in bars, cafes and restaurants, this is largely ignored. It is still common to sit in a small cafe/bar (they’re pretty much one and the same here) and have people smoking all around you. I found it really hard to cope with, particularly if I was eating. And it amazed me that people will light up in a confined eatery when they are sitting within a metre of a young child. To be fair, smoking is much more prevalent in the South than in the North of Spain, and Barcelona did have a few smoke free restaurants.
• In Sevilla we were actually served by a smoking barman and we could see the kitchen staff smoking while they cooked. Needless to say, we only ate there once.
• I noticed this a lot in the South, but it might happen in the North too: Spaniards often throw their cigarettes butts and rubbish on the floor so there is litter all around the bar area. Someone is then employed to walk around sweeping up this mess. They actually get in there between your feet and knees with the broom sometimes.
• In the South, siesta is strongly adhered to because of the searing heat and so you have quite strict hours as to when you can get a meal. If you get caught up sightseeing and snacking until 4.30pm, you’re out of luck. You’ll walk blocks and blocks in the vain hope of finding a bar or cafe who will serve you food. Lunch is usually 1pm to about 3.30pm. And if you want dinner at 7.30pm that’s probably too early too. Heading out to eat at 9pm is much more normal. In the North we had a bit more success with eating between 5 and 7pm, but we still had to hunt around.
• And the heat in Sevilla… it was a killer. I love hot weather and usually I choose travel destinations with a sun friendly climate, but Sevilla is by far the hottest place I have ever been. And it’s not even the peak of summer yet! We found ourselves getting so many cabs because Bunny was just wilting so quickly and we weren’t far behind. The locals cover up and many of them wear trousers, even on the hottest days. I joked to Musicman that it was because the ladies don’t want heat rash from sweat running down their thighs!

• Spanish inner city streets are so narrow (though gorgeous and full of character, particularly in Granada and Sevilla) that people park their cars on the curb, within a few centimeters of the buildings so they sometimes have to hop across to the passenger side to climb out. This also makes driving down these streets a nerve wracking exercise, especially for us Aussies who are used to wide roads and footpaths.
• The Spanish love to double park so you can turn into a street and get stuck because it’s impossible to go through with all the cars practically sitting on top of each other
• Roundabouts are massive affairs with up to 7 or 8 off roads and lots of lanes that everyone ignores. Cars and motorbikes cut in front of you barely missing your headlights to get where they want to go, and if you try and stay in the lines and follow the rules there’s a good chance you’ll be the one stuck and missing your turn off.
• Roundabouts can have lights which are there, but it’s hard to see which off road they’re serving. Sometimes the light in front of you is red so you stop, but then everyone keeps driving and apparently it’s for someone else, though god knows who.
• Sign posting to a destination is excellent until the final one or two turns and then there is nothing. You can get to a major intersection and there are no signs so you choose one and drive for another 5 minutes until you figure out you’ve got the wrong one. You then try another and it’s the right one because a sign to your destination appears within a minute or two. The question we struggled with is why there is no signage when you actually needed it!
• The arrows on road signs to indicate straight ahead are not vertical, they’re at a 45 degree angle. The first day we were driving, the missing road sign problem and the 45 degree angle problem had us driving in bloody circles for hours!
• In the South of Spain they have some of the most intense temperatures I have ever encountered, but for some reason they make the kids playgrounds with metal slides and play equipment. This means you can’t really use them until it’s night-time because the surfaces burn to the touch. This had Bunny constantly disappointed because he wanted to swing or go on the slide, but he couldn’t.

Okay, I think that’s enough; I don’t want to give the wrong impression about this wonderful country. But now you know what I won’t be pining for here in smoke free, eat at any hour London.

Will post about my time in London next. See you in a few days.

Kelly

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Well, we’ve left Spain and arrived in London and yay, I have internet connection!

It’s been a crazy day and we’ve had our share of transportation/travel nightmares, so today I’ll just post the Spain photos I was trying to upload the other day. I’ll write a proper post tomorrow.

By the way, the above family photo was taken at the Alhambra in Granada.

This is the highest peak of Parque Guell in Barcelona.

Bunny checking out Marbella on the Costa del Sol.

Musicians by the harbour in Barcelona.

Tarragona, and a scene from a typical spectacular Spanish city.

A wind farm riding the crest of the Andalucian skyline. That’s olive trees at the base of the mountain. They’re everywhere in Southern Spain.

Granada, Andalucia.

Llafranc, one of the most beautiful bays on the Costa Brava.

Hope you enjoyed this small collection of photos. Will actually write something tomorrow and I can say that with confidence now that I’ve arrived in London and I’m back on wireless. Oh my beautiful, beloved wireless…

See you tomorrow.

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Hola! Sorry I´ve been so long between stops, but the internet in Southern Spain is doing my head in. Wireless connection has been elusive so my laptop is gathering dust, and the broadband connections have been slow enough that writing and uploading photographs takes more time than mi familia are willing to give.

It´s been driving me nuts because I´ve been itching to write a post - I have pages of notes with ideas - but thus far I haven´t been able to actualize my desires. Online connection has been the paramour who is teasing me, dangling itself in front of me every other day or so and then proving itself disinterested in consumating our relationship. I´m like the most frustrated blogger in the world right now!

Yesterday I thought I´d found the right ingredients for a successful seduction. I had the internet cafe scoped out. I´d made introductions. I had arranged with my other loves to be amused elsewhere for an hour or so while I slipped out alone. I had my memory stick all prepped with photos and some scrawled notes to ensure I wasn´t caught up too long. Everything was organised. What could go wrong?

Our apartment, that´s what. Yes, a Spanish apartment kept me prisoner and I had to be rescued. After that I was too rattled to sneak away again and so clung close to the side of mi esposo, certain Spain was conspiring to keep me away from you. It sounds like I´m joking, but I´m not.

Let me first describe the apartment where we´re staying in Sevilla. It´s a building with three floors. The top has a roof terrace perfect for drinking cervezas with the fading sun in the evening warmth. The second floor is ours with an adorable, traditional Spanish apartment. One that has those full length windows/doors that open up in the lounge room and bedroom with the picturesque iron bars and flower pots to keep you from falling out. It´s like having a juliet balcony, but there´s no balcony.

Still the apartment is gorgeous and the view of cobbled streets and adobe buildings all around and the church at the end of the street (with bells that ring at times we find hard to comprehend) makes us feel like we are truly living like a Seville local.

The first floor is another apartment, which has been empty this week, so we are all alone in the building. Great for privacy. Terrible for when you need rescuing. The ground floor has a solid iron and double glassed security door, which needs a key to open it. Mui seguridad The only problem is you need a key to leave as well as to enter. Can you see where I am going here?

The realtor of the apartment only gave us one key for the front door. Musicman and Bunny left while I was having a shower. They unlocked the door and then closed it when they left, thereby locking me INTO the apartment block. Musicman had no idea what he had done.

So I toddle down 15 minutes later, notebook and memory stick in hand, psyched to get a post up and I only make it as far as the door to our apartment before I remember about the front security door. You see, we had noticed the annoying quirk of needing a key to get out on our first day, but then we´d forgotten about it. I was just about to close the front door to our apartment, thereby locking myself in the stairwell, when that memory flickered my mind and I stopped dead. “Oh shit!”

Now I look back and I am so grateful I realized before I shut that door. If I hadn´t had my mobile, I could have been stuck in the stairwell for hours. As it was, I could only text Musicman and hope for the best.

For some reason the fact that both our mobiles are roaming means we can only message each other. We can´t call. We can call other phones, just not each other. Do you think Musicman checked his mobile for messages? Of course not.

I texted him five times and he just couldn´t hear the beeps of the phone in his bag. Bunny had his attention, he was navigating roads, whizzing Spanish drivers and a 4 year old. He couldn´t hear me at all.

45 minutes later I was feeling quite claustrophobic. I couldn´t leave the apartment. I checked the windows - long drop, then there´s the bars - and I wrenched at that bloody front door for ages. I cried and punched the wall. I imagined myself stuck there all day and I began to panic.

That was until I had a brainwave. I remembered a girl´s best friend - her mum.

I called mum, apologised profusely for the late hour (damn that time difference) and got her to call Musicman. I knew he´d answer a phone call because it could be work and he´d definitely hear it. I was right. Mum sent out the rescue mission and I was freed within the next half hour.

Unfortunately, I was way too freaked to come out and write the post. I guess that´s the proof I still have not got over that childhood thing about small spaces. Even an apartment is small when you know you can´t get out. Please don´t think I´m too pathetic.

And now the stupid computer is saying it won´t upload any more photos. Of course not, that would be too efficient.

Sorry to leave you with no more visions of Spain. Will try again when I can, otherwise I´ll be home in 10 days or so. Hasta luego amigos.

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And it goes by the name of Cadaques.

This charming fishing town is nestled between the Pyranees Mountain range and the Mediterranean Sea and is just a short drive from the border of France and Spain. It was the home of Salvador Dali for over half his life and I can see why a man who could live anywhere in the world would choose to keep his home base here.

We actually stayed in the historic Hotel La Residencia, the first hotel in the town and a shrine to Dali. It’s a quirky place, full of art and history and with an elegance that is hard to replicate. Our room had a small juliet balcony and a sea view, and it was a wonderful spot for a beer and a bit of people watching.

I’m not sure if it’s the barren landscape hugging the cobbled streets and white adobe buildings, or the glare of the sun against the sparkling sea and brightly painted row boats, but there is magic and mystery in Cadaques. A sense that you have slipped back in time and you find yourself reveling in the salty air as you spend hours wandering through the rocky, rabbit warren streets and strolling around the bays. The reason it takes so long is due to the many seats along the promenade and dotted throughout the town which encourage you to rest your languid limbs and enjoy the view and soothing atmosphere.

Bunny had a ball with the pebble beach at Cadaques. Better than an amusement park in his eyes. All those rocks of different shapes and sizes, washed smooth by the sea and laid out decoratively for him to pick through and then toss vigorously into the water. The only way we could entice him away without a screaming tantrum was by promising him ice blocks. Never underestimate the power of a well placed bribe.

Musicman and I just couldn’t get enough of Cadaques. This is where we really got into living la vida Espana. Coffee solo and chocolate croissants for breakfast, cerveza and boccadillos or tapas for lunch, and paella and vino tinto for dinner around 9pm. Remember how I said I lost 10kgs? Well, I think I found 3 of them in Spain and it’s only been 7 days! Lord help me by the time I get home. I’m going to be living on bread and water and running every day just to get back to my pre-holiday weight. I think my dreams of sashaying down la playa on the Costa del Sol in a bikini have already been dashed.

We were only supposed to spend a night here, but ended up staying for two. In a week full of highlights, Cadaques has been the unexpected gem.

The rest of the trip has also been fabulous and I will post some more photos in the next day or two. It has been a revelation for Musicman and I to see Spain through Bunny’s eyes and we have both been surprised at how well he has adapted to the language and the change of food, culture and normal routines. He’s totally got into the late nights and half the time it’s Musicman and I who are falling asleep from our busy days while the boy is rearing for more. I should send him out clubbing with the locals - he’d probably love it! He’s also been busy charming all the women with his “Hola” and “Gracias”. There’s a lot of “Mui guapo” being thrown about and I don’t think Musicman is the handsome one they’re cooing over.

Bunny especially loved being spoiled by our amazing host, Anna in Barcelona. We stayed at a beautiful bed and breakfast called Anita’s on Mount Tribidabo above Barcelona. Spectacular views, comfortable rooms, mouth watering breakfasts which are practically two meals in one, and the kind of family style hospitality you can’t buy. And all for 80 Euros, which is great value here. Spain is definitely more expensive than we thought; I don’t know how the locals survive as apparently the wages are crap. I envy the English who get to travel with pounds.

Anyway, have to get to bed so will try and post again soon.

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Considering it has been almost a week since my last post and in that time SHE-POWER was kidnapped by a Korean religious group, you could be forgiven for thinking I’ve given up on you. Packed my bags and closed up shop.

But never fear my faithful constituents (see my God complex is in full force now - all it needed was an excuse), I am here. I have returned. I may not have anything exciting to say, but what does that matter when you can bask in my all knowing glory. Bring your offerings, your children, your burdens, your ailments and I shall …

Okay, enough! I’ll stop.  This is beyond funny, I’m probably just getting into offensive territory now.

The truth is my server issues dragged on much longer than I expected and my site has only been functioning in a normal fashion since late Monday morning (Sydney time). Since then I have been flat-chat with work and trip preparations, and I still am very busy so this is probably as good a time as any to let you know that I won’t be posting as regularly from now until the end of June.

I’m leaving for Spain in two weeks and I have clients to please, families to organize, bookings to confirm, itineraries to nut out, suitcases to pack and a million other things to do which probably should have been done already, but my hubby and I seem to have lost track of time.

I will endeavor to post at least once a week, even while I am overseas, but please forgive me if it all becomes too hard and not fun and I forget about you so I can enjoy my first family vacation in years. It’s not personal. I don’t have any issues I’d like to air. We’re still pals. I’ll be back.

But I am SO looking forward to Spain. It’s going to be bliss. With lots of time bumming around, walking on white sand beaches, feasting my eyes on gorgeous architecture, eating tapas, drinking sangria and getting laid. Oops, did I just say that?

Well, come on, what else are holidays for?

Moving on from my currently dismal sex life and my great hopes for the future, I am almost finished with the next extract of SHE-POWER Fiction, so I’m aiming to get that to you ASAP. Then I should have my Clay Collins interview up by next week and maybe even a guest post for you too. So, stick around and normal posting will resume in July.

Kelly

Photo by ul Marga

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Okay, I know I was supposed to publish my post about how I lost 9kgs while eating chocolate cake today - and believe me it’s coming - but I just couldn’t concentrate on finishing it because this morning I booked my family a 4 WEEK EUROPEAN VACATION!

This is super exciting news because:

1. Hello… a month in SPAIN, PARIS and LONDON. Who wouldn’t be excited?
2. This will be the first family holiday my husband and I have ever had with our son
3. This will be the first time in 9 years that my husband and I have actually gone overseas TOGETHER. You may recall from my post about The most daring thing I have ever done that I have travelled extensively on my own, so the fact that this time we are going to SHARE adventures is a big deal for us.

As you can imagine, I can’t really concentrate today because I feel like I have ants running through my veins and I’ve madly vacuumed, tidied the house and wandered around town in a daze. The day is fading fast, and I can’t really think where it’s gone, but I know I’ve been busy and my mum bought me a Lonely Planet book for Spain, and we did go to the shops and I spent $15 on fruit and vegetables, but I have no idea what I bought.

I feel like my head is screwed on someone else’s body and all that’s going through my mind is:

“Spain. I’m going to Spain. Paris. I’m finally going to return to Paris, and with my husband. Yay, romance!”

Then the daze shifts slightly and now it’s,

“Omigod, I’m going to fly on an airplane with my 4 year old for 23 hours. Am I INSANE?”

There’s so much I have to organize and I’ll have to draw up a to-do list, but at the moment I’m so scatty I can’t think past passports. I’ve got to get my son a passport.

We leave on May 24th, so you can expect to receive some more posts about Travel, Spain, London and Paris in the coming months. And if any of you have some suggestions for must see attractions in Spain, then let me know because this is where we’ll be spending most of our time. And tips for travelling with kids. I’m going to be researching that, so any help you can offer I’d sure appreciate it.

Agh, I’m going to Spain! Cue the happy dance.

Photo by PhillipC

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View from James Bond Island to the surrounding Phang Nga Bay, Phuket, Thailand

Canoing the limestone cliffs in Phang Nga Bay, Phuket, Thailand

Sampling the local hospitality

“Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else.”

— Lawrence Block, Author

The next installment of SHE-POWER Fiction will be published tomorrow

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I’ve had a lousy week. Seven days of a respiratory infection, coupled with a feverishly ill son. I may not technically be dying, but I’ve definitely wallowed in the possibility as I’ve lain on the couch with a whimpering child and a hacking cough. Attractive image, I know.

As a consequence, my posting has fallen off a bit. My new SHE-POWER Fiction is still in draft form and I hope to polish it up and publish it in the next day or so. In the mean time, all this lounging around the house has had an upside in that I’ve spent lots of time surfing the web, feeding my groggy, medicated brain.

Here are the links I’ve cruised and loved this week:

Life on a Shoestring Budget has some creative and adventurous ideas for how to make your dollar go further. Check out their new 5 part series: 20 Ways to Live on Almost Nothing.

Cath Lawson writes about how to make yourself stand out as a freelancer in: Nude Freelancer Storms Google Campus

Leo from Zen Habits provides some tips for how to lift yourself out of a funk in: Flip Your Karma: 8 Tricks to Turn the Bad into the Awesome

Celebrate being a free woman with generous human rights this Saturday, 8 March by visiting the official International Womens Day website. There’s podcasts, photographs, information on the 97 years of IWD and some interesting links.

Caroline Middlebrook gives 6 Steps to Find the Right Work-Life Balance. I really liked this article as this is something I struggle with. I seem to go through binges where I neglect my work and lavish family, friends with quality time, then I panic that I’m not getting enough writing done so I chain myself to the computer and fob everyone off until my son practically has to rip my fingers off the keyboard. Can I blame astrology here? Us Librans struggle with balance…

The article, Sex, Blogs and Screenwriting got my attention this week with a focus on Diablo Cody, the winner of this year’s Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. The film in question, Juno is a must see, and Diablo Cody is particularly interesting because she first gained attention as a blogger. This led to a book deal, which then led to a screen writing career, which then led to her stealing MY DREAM!

And following up with more Juno goodness, Mia Freedman, a well known Australian writer/media personality wrote a funny post on the Academy Award nominated actress, Ellen Page. Check out Not that there’s anything wrong with being a lesbian, you understand. Make sure you watch the videos. I like people who don’t take themselves too seriously.

Enjoy this blog while you can; a Hollywood producer is going to be calling me any day now…

Photo by spoon

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