If you could hear me in real life you would understandably be very confused. People are all the time when they politely ask, "Where are you from?" Because they are expecting me to say Australian, due to the accent. And technically I am as I do have a passport. I lived there for 17 years and my husband is Australian so keeps the accent fresh. Some ask "Where did you move from?" I answer Scotland as I just lived there the past 4 years in the most possibly perfect picturesque seaside town called Stonehaven. Most people lose interest at this point or can not keep up. I do not blame them, sometimes I can't even follow myself. But if they are really persistent they may ask, "Where were you born?" Which is a straightforward response of "Halifax, Nova Scotia." Now I have returned with my brood and currently reside in a small country town called Pugwash (and yes it is a real place.)
The aforementioned husband has been long suffering for 8 years now. He is my blessing in life and our marriage is quite lovely and drama free (I do not often admit to this as I do not wish to jinx it). This makes it very boring and completely uninteresting to write about it so I just enjoy it secretly from the inside, and for the most part, keep it to myself.
We produced three daughters (henceforth referred to as The Ratbags) Poppy 2007, Lulu (Lucia Louise grown up name) 2009 and Rosabelle (nickname still to be decided) 2010. This is not an age gap that family planning, nor I, would recommend. But it works spectacularly for us and I would not wish to have it any other way.
What you "do for a living" is a very revealing question. My everyday reply is "stay at home Mum" but nobody wants to read that in an "About Me" section. I started four different degrees and attended four different universities. I just studied everything I was interested in. What I really wanted to do was write but I was too gutless. I also did some investigating and most of the writers I really adored did not study writing at university, so I figured why bugger up any small potential pool of talent I possibly may have. Plus I have a short attention span so having to listen to fellow aspiring writers in my Creative Writing class at university very nearly put me off writing forever. So what they ended up doing was taking all the courses I completed together, sticky taped the ones they thought were worth anything and gave me a Bachelor of Marketing and Public Relations Degree. And I have never thought about it since till I wrote about it just now. I tossed the degree aside and became a travel agent because it was the only way I could fund something we really loved to do. I like to think of that as my first eight year career, of which the last three years were on maternity leave, and went in to early retirement.
My next career I am hoping to make it as a published author and I have been working steadfastly on this at any given opportunity. For some unknown reason I am writing a historical fiction novel based in Scotland in the early 1800's. I do not even like historical fiction as a reader and now having fully appreciated how much research is involved I am not sure I like it as a writer either. I have spent one solid year researching and now in my second year writing. I am half way writing the book. The writing style is very different to my blog, which I like to write as a break from the confines of the early 19th century Scots language.
I do not come from a religious family background. When I was 8 years old, I did not enjoy my new school but quite fancied the look of the local Catholic schools uniform. My parents were obliging, re-married in the Catholic church and I was happier than ever. We also lived next door to a convent and for a long time seriously considered becoming a Nun. Those who know me laugh at this hysterically, but to me it was a serious option. I like the sense of community, the rituals, the poetry of something meaningful. As I grew up there were some aspects of religion that no longer sat comfortably in my soul next to the beautiful parts, in that Church pew. I dappled in all sorts of fascinating things from Wicca to Shamanism to Tibetan and other Christianity faiths but recently have spent a most of time reading about Buddhism. I listen to the voice of any religion that speaks to me and resonates with my soul. I treat everyday as a holy day. I rejoice being in any building whether it be a temple or church where people celebrate in spirit. I embrace anyone who believes in anything greater and more powerful then ourselves. A religious person I am not but I am spiritual.
I have always enjoyed sport and even played basketball at a semi serious level. I turned 30 years old this year and started my bucket list. I am very organised. Running a marathon is on it and I figured it could take me awhile to get to that point so I thought I better start running. My theory was by combining it with my other two main interest writing and spirituality I would be getting a head start. Hence the blog was born. And this “About Me”. Hopefully I kept my promise and did not disappoint. If I did (or didn't) please let me know. The only point of writing is to be read!
