7 Quick Takes: ‘Back in the Saddle’

Head on over to This Ain’t the Lyceum to read more 7QT for this week.

1

Yes, yes I’m back writing 7 Quick Takes after a four year hiatus from 7QT.  If I have any readers left, which would surprise me 😉 you would have noticed I’ve hardly written anything for the past year. When tossing around ideas on how to get out of my blogging slump I decided committing to 7 Quick Takes, something I used to do regularly back in my blogging hey day could be a great way to get the creative juices flowing.

So why haven’t I being writing? There is the standard, “life is so full” which while true with ten children at all stages of life, it isn’t the entire truth.  After all when writing is a burning passion you’re going to make it a priority and work it in around the margins of you life. It might be harder to find time at this stage in my life but I could have made it happen.

One of the worst decisions I ever made for my writing ‘career’ began a few years back, which I’ve alluded to before. I began researching and listening to ‘experts’ about ‘how to grow your blog’.’ I read various advice about ‘funneling my topics’ and ‘writing less of a range’, ‘targeting my audience’.  Whilst this is wonderful advice for many, those who have gone on to creating mega blogs it has taken me years to realise it wasn’t the right fit for me. Instead it spelt the death of my writing, I second guessed everything and lost my voice. So here I am reclaiming ‘my voice’, as they say ‘being the authentic me,’ doesn’t that sound catchy 😉 Okay enough ‘navel gazing’, moving along…

2

Always plenty of family life happenings going on here; recently we spent the weekend with all of our children together as we celebrated the Confirmation of a couple of our boys, and we have Major news that is most exciting to share, however they both deserve posts of their own, so I’m going to make you wait in anticipation till next week. Isn’t that just kind of me 🙂

3

Reading as always is a constant in my life, I tend to be a binge reader, devouring series, authors and genres. Currently I’m on an Australian author streak, mostly suspense with a dash of romance at present. Though Australian historical fiction is always my first love, if you’re after historical fiction I recommend Kate Grenville and Peter Watt.  For suspense with a splash of romance I love Sarah Barrie and Bronwyn Parry, I’ve nearly devoured all our library has.  Any Australian Suspense-Romance authors you’d recommend who write as well as Barrie and Parry?

4

I’ve been thinking about all it entails being a ‘nice girl,’ how our automatic reaction is to ‘be nice’ even in the face of hostility and meanness.  Is it that we are socially programmed to be nice; by family, society mores? Or is it inbuilt kindness?  Whilst we don’t want to stoop to the level of being mean back, after all we don’t want to raise our girls to be the mean girls, where is the line wherein we cross to being a doormat? Sometimes I’d just love to ‘let it rip’, sigh but I guess I won’t

5

These days we are actually eating a sit down lunch more days than not. Lunch was previously our waterloo, wherein I had great intentions but generally ended up saying ‘make your own’, which meant many a skipped or delayed meal. I had gotten as far as writing up a menu but.. by the time we finished lessons at lunchtime I was just too exhausted to even think about beginning meal preparations. A chance conversation with a friend in which she shared some approaches that had worked for her family was a ‘game changer.’ Now every child over the age of nine, which translates to five cooks other than myself, have been assigned to prepare a lunch and dinner weekly. Master 9 does need assistance, and Master 7 isn’t impressed he isn’t on the list 😉 Prior to our monthly shop everyone chose what they would be preparing, the food was purchased, all that is needed is to cook it. Game changer, we are eating so well every day.

6

Princess(16) has begun working at a local op-shop/thrift shop.  Her weekly task is to sort the books, what to keep, what to ‘recycle’.  Only pristine books make their way through to the shop front, any foxing, aging in any manner means the books are binned, that is ‘recycled’, it breaks my heart. I have considered the logistics of bin diving, though Princess is adamant she would deny any relationship with me and walk right on by 😉 #rescuethebooks

7

It’s our homeschool concert tomorrow night.  Bass(12) and Jelly Bean(14) are performing on the drums for the first time, they are so nervous but we’re rather proud of them for conquering those nerves and doing it regardless. Bass is doing a solo, and Jelly Bean’s teacher has marshaled a band complete with keyboard, bass and acoustic guitars and singer.  She’s rocking it out with Bon Jovi’s It’s My Life.

See you back here next week for another 7QT 🙂