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I'm Getting Published!
Practical steps towards becoming Isa Danton - Writer... |
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The assignment says that I should post a message at least three times a week in this blog. Let's see how well I'll do! ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Previously, this blog was a virtual space where I could unleash my worries, my moods and my frustrations... From now on, it is a special corner of the Terrace where I will talk about all the baby steps I take towards becoming published. (the previous intro to my blog - I have left all the entries here, many of them count a lot for me!)  Ever wondered what life is like with a toddler? ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** I am 43 years old, a full-time teacher. I have a five-year old adorable son. Still I don't feel I could be a grand-mother, even though technically I could. I have become a mother at a time when I was able to handle it. It worked for me, and I feel just the same as any other mum would (I guess!) Can anyone relate to the story of my day-to-day life? This is one of the most beautiful part of writing for me: one day, somewhere, someone thinks "Yeah! I know how this feels!" This is my reason for writing and my hope, that someone relates to what I write and finds comfort, support or just enjoyment in knowing how it feels to be me. If you do so, read on, if you enjoy or if you don't, write to me, I love to get feedback and discuss daily routines. |
| Finally |
 Pffff! Nearly did not make it with my assignment for "Invalid Item"  this week...It is now done, and I am happy!!  |
| Soooo long!! |
I have been terrible at keeping my blog updated!  I have sent submissions today: - "Invalid Item" to http://www.writingjuice.com- "Invalid Item" to safety@busyparentsonline.com- "The Trucker's Daughter" to http://www.geocities.com/mcgee4468/guides.html- "Invalid Item" to the Front PorchAnd now, I have to go and do some shopping. It is a bank holiday in Prague and it feels good to be home on a Thursday. |
| De-Briefing |
| Well, it is now time for me to take a look back and see how much I have acomplished from the list. against Everyone knows: Only take one little baby step at a time! But I guess we are all the same, if we can take a bigger bite, we'll go for it, even though we know there will be a hard fall at the end of it. ON THE ANGELS' SIDE I have started the essay, and then, I realized it had to be as good as an item, not just a chit-chat about me... So, I am still working on it, and I ONLY have 2 days left!! ON THE WRITING CLASS SIDE Well, bad news!! I have done absolutely nothing here!! THE TERRACE I did it! Big achievement! I have changed the date. And I will work on the advertisng so people actually join.MY ITEMS TO FIX I fixed the spelling of "Climbed" , and I fixed "Invalid Item" and I realize now that when I get feedback, readers have not much to say. That is because it is short and grammatically Ok, so, guess what, I need to work on the rest of it.WORK STUFF Now, got nothing done at all. Saw my principal yesterday and said I left my planing books at home because I was working on them, which is true, kind of, only for I am not --actually- working on them yet.ARTICLE Zilch! Nothing!PSYCHO COURSE Maybe that really was too big a bite for the week end. GAZETTE Got some of it done, but still not finished, and I have until Monday (my own schedule).So, all in one, I do the counts... 6x and 3x... Well well, it looks like I did not keep up with my hopes.Today is a bank holiday, and I thought I would catch up. However, it is a day-off for everyone else too and they have all planed something to do with the children. A big party of parents and kids will go to the Aquarium and Prague Luna Park in the afternoon. So, I have a strong feeling that the catching up is not going to happen right now. Writing down these tasks is wonderful because it keeps me aware of what I should be doing. There is one thing I have done that makes me happy. I have planned my trip to Vienna for October. I have researched the train timetables and asked my friend in Vienna if she is free to see us at that time. I really want to go somewhere for the break, because if I stay in Prague, I will be stuck preparing the Halloween party. I did it last year and don't want to spend another holiday just doing that. I'll be very happy when other people do it instead of me.Well, I have taken my shower and prepared myself for the afternoon, my son is dressed, so... I will get a cuppa coffee right now and work on "Invalid Item" , among other stuff. |
| Morning has broken |
| Early morning in Prague, the moon shines bright through the thin curtain. The house is asleep. What a wonderful time to write! It would mean that I could just sit down here with a cuppa, let the inspiration flow. Yes I have lots of ideas, no writer's block coming my way yet... But NO TIME!! I guess like the Irish say "When you don't have time, you make it! but even though one does not have ot be Irish to think so, one does have to be Irish to do so... Actually, the fact is that I want to eat cereals, not drink coffee... cannot eat and type at the same time! Also, I want to write emails to family. Well, here is the writer's dilemma, indulge in real life stuff or drift away with inspiration... mmmmm... |
| A "without" day is starting |
| I don't really know why but today I am feeling a little low. What I thought were mosquito bites have changed into large sores on my legs, on my feet, on my back. It makes me feel like I have instead some kind of disease, and it gets me down. Yesterday, after my lunch, I got an allergic reaction to something and my lips were swollen for the rest of the day. There is this thing with health: when you are blessed, you truly are, and when something goes wrong, you feel so helpless! When I got up this morning, it was all dark outside for the firsttime this year. This also got me in the "low" mood as I am thinking of the long months lying ahead of us with very little day light. Prague has very long and gloomy winters. However, there is one hope: SNOW! If we have snow, we will be happy and it will make up for the too-short days. |
| Mosquito bites |
Mosquitos have been attacking last night... I am talking major attack  + *scratchingeverywhere* At 5:30am, my little boy woke up because he had a bad dream, and he asked me to stay close to him and to "be careful". He explained to me that he was in a shop and he could not see his "maman-darling-of-love" anywhere and he was so sad. Leo has always talked about his dreams, they seem so real to him, he can remember them very well. My guess is that they are pretty close to reality and most of them could really have happened. He does not (or rarely) dream about monsters but he dreams about his friends, me, his daddy etc... Real people that he could touch and see for "real". I guess this is why he can always talk about his dreams and surprises everyone at school with his recollection of the sleepy world. I have taken the big decision to update my blog every day. It should not be so difficult. I was actually searching for a format. I wanted a special blog, something to spurt my creativity, I was looking in other people's blogs for ideas... saw many good ones. And finally, what works best for me? A simple day to day journal. I don't even have to think about sticking with the topic (life with a toddler), because there is no way I can go too far without saying something about him, anyway... So new-same ol' blog, here I am! |
| I'm here! |
| It is tragic to get back on one's feet after a long absence. 24 hours after traveling back to Prague, I started work and I have not touched the ground since then. WDC I am now a proud member of "Simply Forum One" but I have only done one review so far. I cannot say I am really proud of myself.I purchased a costumicon though, as they were cheap apparently, so I am now broke. I still cannot pay for my subscription as paypal is still asking me for more and more proof that I did not steal my own credit card, and I still cannot prove it.  {{/c}WORK Hectic! Hectic! But on tracks. We started the year with twice the number of children we expected. What a surprise! We are now 7 in my team, but each of us still only got 2 arms... We could employ another 5 to face the first weeks of school and the crying babies. LEO His birthday party was today. He is 4 now!! He had a great time, so did all the parents. I, of course, was thrilled because I had nothing to do except take photos (and all of them are... blurred, don't ask!). I enjoyed looking at my son enjoying the party among his favorite friends, trying hard to be a "big boy" (so much a few parents thought he was 5, not 4!). When I read for him the list of children who would come to the party, he said "Not Amir! Amir is not nice, he hits me and spits on me." I told him I invited ALL the children in his class and could not leave one boy out. He understood. Guess what! That very same Amir, nice and sweet little boy tried to snatch a toy from my hand (Mum beside him saying "Oh, no" as if she was answering to "Would you like some tea?"), and since he could not take it, he pinched my tigh  ... And Mum smiled and walked away. That's it, he is not coming to any more of my son's birthday!!After the party, all the inconscious parents (I seem to be one of them!! -- but actually, I do not have a car, so I was depending on the driver's family to get me from "point A" to "point B"... Good excuse!) decided we shoud take our kids to the restaurant. It took 30 minutes to find a kid-friendly restaurant, so I was pleased because Leo had a little sleep. To tell the truth, I did not feel like eating out with a bunch of energized four-year-olds and their parents. But it worked out quite well. The kids were wonderful, Leo did not eat a single bite but had a ball. He is now sleeping and I am looking for birthday songs to compile his photos in a little movie for my parents, his father etc etc... |
| All clean! |
| That's it! My apartment is all beautiful and clean! I am so happy!! This is something I love before I go away for a long time: the satisfaction of knowing that I will come back to a clean place. In my case, it won't work like that, because my husband is staying here, and his understanding of a "clean" place is not similar to mine. Anyway, it is clean today and I will leave with a light heart.  |
| One day to go |
| I only have one day to tie up all the loose ends. I still did not clean my desk, and I still cannot see the wood of it under the pile of paperwork .I am still ironing. The fact is that I spend so much time browsing WDC that I have less time to prepare. I have also in my list to finish my website and publish it before I leave for France, what got into me?? By the way, I made lunch yesterday and it was yummy! and VERY child-friendly!  White fish filets boiled with spices. Boiled potatoes. I placed the fish in the dish, mixed in the cut boiled potatoes, added a beaten egg mixed with grated cheese. Covered all with grated cheese (yum! I love it!), in the oven until the cheese became a little brown. DE-LI-CIOUS!Of course, I am preparing Leo for the trip, and trying, in advance, to help with the 24 hour-journey and the fact that right after he'll say "That's it! We're leaving!" he will start asking "Where are Papi and Mamie?" and only stop once we are seating in their car. He is excited and yesterday, he was a handful for someone trying to concentrate on her work on the computer. I had to keep him busy with coloring and cutting pictures, I answered 20,000 questions, gave 10,000 explanations to "why don't you play with me?" and felt bad about it. He is looking forward to playing with the swing, at the sand pit, and in his new wooden house. I am looking forward to lying in the sun, looking at him play and just basically relax. That is, of course, if I survive the stress of the preparation |
| The Colors of Humanity |
Yesterday, I visited Lavan's port Walter Smith  . He has an interesting poll about races. I did not take the poll because I am so far away from asking myself the question that it would be unfair. But here is my entry on the subject. I cannot remember ever wondering about different races. I grew up in the suburbs of Bordeaux, 90% of my school friends (hence friends) were immigrants descendant. they spoke a different language at home, and their parents were different than mine. But as far as we (kids in school) were concerned, I don't think I ever thought about it. However, when I was 14, our French teacher made us think about racism. But we turned it into "racism starts on your neighbors' door step". In brief: if you can't stand anyone who IS different (it could be by the color of his skin, or just by the TV programs he likes to watch), then you are a racist! This is the kind of up-bringing I received. As for my family and their thoughts on the matter, I have to admit that because my grand-parents were still alive, the memories of WW2 were vivid and my grand-father did not like the Germans. But I took German in secondary school, and I had a German penpal, and we talked about it without any problem. His dislike for whatever went on in his life (after going through 2 wars) never spilled over me. I can say that it was his will to not make a hater out of me. My father went to Germany for the occupation (not by choice) and to war in Algeria (again not by choice!). He always talked about the beauty of Germany and Algeria, as if he had been there as a tourist. I married a Malaysian, half Indian and half Sri-Lankan. I cannot remember I ever thought of his color. But yes, I do remember some people in his family (one of his uncle) calling me "the white woman" and the insults I heard in the streets of Penang as I was walking by. My son's father is from Cameroon, and our son is the color of coffee with milk. They both are my world, and I am color-blind when I look at them. But I have heard the ugly comment people allow themselves to make on women who marry outside their race. I can ignore it because it is rarely said straight to me. I live in a country where black people are rare (Czech Republic), I am getting concious of my son's different color from the others. They react to it, kids hurt him because he is different, and I feel like a lioness in the jungle. I am yet to learn how to answer to racial agressivity without getting upset and making my son feel bad. This is very hard for me, because when I grew up, I never met this kind of treatment. How to remain cool? Answer the right answer? How not to show I am hurt and I want to run away with my baby and hide him in my heart? Socializing is hard to do. I did not know until I heard people talk rough about other colors. It hurts, no matter what color they are, no matter what color they are talking about, it hurts to hear it, and it hurts not to know what to answer. |
| Packing up/ Cleaning up |
| THE VIRUS It looks like the virus is out of the way. Still there is a bacteria inside his stomach, I would say, and the official answer will be on Monday. Leo is tired but full of life. He runs around like a normal child (looking very much not normal... see quote on the last entry!), but every now and then, he says this sentence "I'm tired, can I rest for a while"... This is the kind of comment you don't want to her from a little boy, is it? PACKING I have not started yet. I am trying to think about what will happen to my WDC port when I go for my 6-week vacation. I will not be able to get connected that often, so it might be a big mess when I do so. I will pack our bags this week-end. I never leave it for the last minute. I use different clothes for traveling and for the last days here. I wash all the clothes I need during the week preceding the departure. This time, I am in trouble because it has been raining nearly the entire week, so they don't dry like I planned! There is also one piece of advice someone once gave me, and that is: You do not need to iron all your clothes before going.. Of course, that is if you are going to visit your family. So, I don't worry about it anymore, and I often iron when I arrive in my parents' or my sister's home. I usually make a list of things to bring (clothes, books, toys, presents etc...) CLEANING I always clean my apartment before the holidays. One day for Leo's bedroom (sorting of toys, clothes etc...). I empty all the shelves and hoover, dust. I box all the dust catchers until we come back. One day for my bedroom (sort out winter clothes and put them away. I empty the bedside table, get rid of clutters in the corners. One day for the kitchen/bathrrom/toilets/entrance (because this is the normal weekly cleaning). On that day, I also wash all the curtains in the house. I hang them back as soon as they are washed so I don't need to iron them. I open the windows and the apartment smells nice because I went a little heavy on the conditioner. As for the living room, I will leave it the way it is for now, because my husband has clutters in two corners and I don't want to deal with it or him. But I clean my desk, throw out all the unecessary papers, sort out the books, make lists for when I come back, take letters I need to reply to with me to France.I usually spend one week doing the cleaning, but this week I was rather slow starting, because of Leo's condition, but because I was lazy too. Nevermind, I have time. |
| Still fighting with the virus |
| It is tragic because it is taking such a long time to chase the virus away. Leo now weighs 17 Kg, and all I can do is watch and support him. We went to the clinic and the pediatrician said I should put him on a diet. Funny!! He has only eaten three plates of rice and two plates of pasta since last Friday.I really don't feel so surprised anymore so many kids go to the hospital for viruses and get put on drips!! There is obviously something wrong with my kid. What she did was take a sample of his stools. Results will be ... (maybe! if we are lucky!) on Monday. One week to find out what is eating his stomach  Well, I consider myself lucky that Leo likes to drink water, This is about all he has been doing for 5 days: drinking water. I know very well that he can survive without food for ten day sor so, but if he didn't drink, it would mean hospital and drips, so I should not panick. But when I see him lifting his glass of water with a shaking hand from the lack of energy, it squeezes my stomach so hard I could cry. Also, last night, with again a temperature of 35.9, he said "I'm cold" and I was upset, because when I told the doctor, she said "Ah! Hm!" with an informed look. Does that help us in the middle of the night? On the happy side, WDC has been a blessing to me. I am writing non-stop, and ideas keep sprouting in my head. It feel sooooooo good!!  And also, I have made a pasta salad two days ago, and since I am the only one eating it, I have not cooked all this time. Pasta/cucumber/tomatoes/corn/peas/orange peppers/yoghurt provencale dressing YUMMY!! The only dilemma now is how to keep writing with Leo constantly seeking my attention, because he has not been outside for days and he can't have Spiderman fight the Green Goblin alone! A thought to meditate A characteristic of the normal child is he doesn't act that way very often. Author Unknown |
| Live 8 |
| A little slow, I finally got onto the concert online. It is over but I saw some shots of it, makes me feel I was part of it! Yes, I live far away from any musical event and let alone any event at all. I have not read a newspaper in eons. I guess I lost the habit while living in Asia, where I could not buy anything in English, and now, I could, there is the infamous-but-only-one Prague Post. But I don't buy it. And I DO have an excuse: one would have to go to town to buy it, and I don't! My little darling is sleeping (it is 3:36am in Prague) and I remember the saying I like: The only thing worth stealing is a kiss from a sleeping child. (Joe Houldsworth) I wanted to let everyone know that I had a nice lunch today. My son (because of the virus) had plain rice (poor darling!). Main Course: Minced meat, with sliced Paris mushrooms (previously fried in butter and added to the meat at the end). Boiled potatoes, gratine in the oven. Dessert I bought ready made tartelettes and opened a can of mandarines (the bitter ones). 3 in each tart, covered with cottage cheese mixed with fresh cream. Yummy, it took me less than 30 minutes (which is a winner in my belief!!). Not massively dietetic, but very nice for a Saturday lunch! |
| Update your Blog! |
| Days pass by, I do millions of things, I run around.. do I really achieve anything? Like, do I update my blog? I thank the system for reminding me that my life does have a meaning, and I can EVEN write it down on paper. The fact these days is that my little "coffee grain" had a fever, then diarrhea added in and he has just vomitted his bottle... How can you tell he is feeling bad? Well consider this: my 3,000volt-always-on little flash bulb comes over, hugs in and says - "Can I have a blanket? And a pillow? Can I lay down?" This is how you know! There is something about looking at little ones be poorly... You feel helpless! Last night, I had a shock. After 2 days of fever, Leo had a temperature of 35.9... Fever then hypothermia... grrr! I just hope he has the local virus which has been around and which two of his friends had this week. I'll find out at the end of the week-end. If it does not disappear, it will be a trip at the end of town, to see the pediatrician... And I found this thought about children: Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said. --Unknown |
| Guess what he said! |
| When we were getting ready to leave for work/school: "Please Maman, make me a little baby!" And he was holding my fingers so tight... "Please, I don't remember how it is to be a baby, so please make me a baby, so I will know!" Boy! He is nearly 4 (in two months!) and he wants so much a little sister, he even bought a present for her this morning... I'd better rush and do something. My answer: "I have to talk to your father. I can't make a baby alone" "I know, you need Maman and Papa!" He knows... He knows everything! |
| Saturday in Beroun |
| Finally understood it is possible to write ML in entries.. dah!! Last Saturday, we went to Beroun for the day and had a barbecue. We did not know it, but this was a nice way to avoid the storms in Prague! Leo had another chance to ride a horse, and he loved it! ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Baki is a like Jana's dog, she follows her everywhere. I really understand having a horse in this manner. She has a "horse-house" in the garden and she is even putting her head through the door of the cottage now and then to see what is going on. I can't help Leo with his passion for horses, I am terrified of them. So I stay away and let other people I trust teach my son how wonderful these (huge) animals are. It is wonderful to see him. Jana let hm lie down on Baki's back and asked him to look at how beautiful the sky was. Horses are tryly beautiful beings. Read more on my website: http://flonat2001.tripod.com |
| Monday, June 27th, 2005 |
| It's too early, I have been up for two hours, and it is not even 6:30 yet. It is hot and stuffy in Prague. The birds are totally insane outside, they certainly have no concept of energy-saving time... "Guys! it is only 4am" does not go really far to tame their singing.... Leo was lying in his bed when I got up, checking up on me with his little hand searching my pillow. He called "Maman" through his sleep, but I got up anyway, could not bear just lying there, thinking too much. On Saturday, he stepped on an ant as I was opening the front door. We had a long talk about that and he felt really bad. I showed his mama and papa ants and I explained to him how sad they were to find their baby crushed. I told him how I would feel if the same thing happened to him. He said sorry to them. We came in and from the minute-go, he was behaving strangely. He was crying for anything, just stood there as I said "sit on the couch for a minute" and burst into tears. It took a while before I realized what was bothering him. "Would you like to tell Daddy about what happened downstairs?" It took even a longer while for him to come to terms with it. Once he managed to say it, he listened carefully to what was said to him, and then things were back to normal. Sometimes, you just feel so lost... |
| Transfer of the reviews I got so far |
| Sunday, June 26th, 2005 I have created this blog and trasfered all the entries of my journal here. I will delete the old item, but I did not want to loose the reviews, because they have made me very happy. Here they are:   Review By: Debauchery Review Time: 05-15-05 @ 8:47am Review's Rating: 4.0 Hello Flo, It sounds like you have a pretty easy to handle child. I would try that little trick with the jar, but I know my son would probably just knock himself over the head with it! I'm surprised he's not brain damaged by now. He's had two falls from the bed, and hundreds of bumps from crawling head-first into coffee tables and chairs. The only way I can pacify him is with sedatives(needless to say, I haven't tried it, but the idea is beginning to look VERY tempting!). Your son sounds like such a darling! Want to trade? Best wishes -Matina Review By: Bobby Review Time: 05-22-05 @ 5:19pm Review's Rating: 4.5 There are occasional times when I am reading articles in someones portfolio that a particular writing seems to spark a "Special" interest. This is such an item. Very nicely written. Easy and enjoyable reading. Thank you for writing and sharing it. God Bless, Bobby Review By: Emmyloo9 Review Time: 06-05-05 @ 3:29pm Review's Rating: 4.5 I love your journal! It is so heartwarming. It is obvious you love your little boy very much. Thank you for sharing the details of your life together. Best Regards, Emmyloo Review By: tavner Review Time: 06-05-05 @ 4:07pm Review's Rating: 5.0 Reading your journal gave me a permanent smile. My son is 20 months old and I can definitely relate to what you have written. You handled the bully incident very well. I know that you have to let them figure things out for themselves but even reading that made me want to smack those mean children. Would love to read more and when I get the chance I will stop back to your site and read more. I've heard wonderful things about Prague, what is it like? How long have you lived there? I will sign off before I start asking a million questions. Tavner |
| Sunday, June 12th, 2005 |
| Everyone's sleeping, it is 7am. Best time to write, I think! How do other Mums at writing.com manage to find the time to write? I work full-time, I am training in Child Psychology and Day Care Managment, I go to my aerobic class twice a week. When? When to write? Of course, I could have a pen and book with me and write whenever I have two minutes. I never sit and wait for a story to come to me. There is always one in the back of my mind, so I could do that. But, I must admit, I type faster than I write and can't write fast enough to follow my ideas. So, I grow tired of writing by hand and only do it when I cannot access the computer for a long time. Today nothing works. Leo is up now (my peace and quiet lasted about 5 minutes). He wants to play, he wants me in his room, he wants me to stop typing... argh!! How can I make him understand that I have "I wants" too? I tried, but still, I had to give in for a few games of knocking horses down with a baby cheetah... We all know we need to practice, finding the time is my issue. I guess the silver lining in this case is that I never get to deal with the writer's block problem. |
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