Last week I took my youngest (the only one not tied to school holidays yet!) to spend a few days with my sister and her children near Munich.
We found these fab family toilets in the shopping centre we went to…
Which in itself could almost be a Wicked Wednesdays picture – but then we used them……
This is my entry for a Wicked Wednesdays over on BrummyMummyof2s blog – do pop over and see what other people have posted!
Last Friday lots of people around the country were taking part in the Macmillan Cancer Support’s Big Coffee Morning – and I decided to jump on the bandwagon. Macmillan were really helpful to my husband’s Mum when she was suffering with cancer – and to lots of friends who’ve had their own personal battles too. I decided it could be a dual fundraiser, as some close family friends have a 10 year old who is fundraising for Birmingham Children’s Hospital who are currently supporting him through treatment for a brain tumour.
My fabulous parents arrived armed with an urn and some extra mugs, the most wonderful ‘Very Smart Cookie Company‘ were providing the cakes and I could waft about in my new clothes purchased this week with a personal shopping experience at John Lewis (there’s another blog post in there soon – bet you can’t wait?!)
Lots of my very lovely friends came and ate cake, drank hot drinks (decaf tea, normal tea, peppermint tea, coffee, decaf coffee, red milk, green milk, blue milk, sugar, sweetener – we were practically a branch of Starbucks!!) and were suitably generous – raising a whopping £210 to share between the charities.
But aside from the fundraising – it was just a really lovely morning – I know I’m biased, but I have some very nice friends.
A big thank you to VSCC for not only the wonderful cakes – but also these fab photos!
P.S. If you’d like to donate to Fin’s fundraising for the children’s cancer unit at Birmingham Children’s Hospital – then you can click here. xx
I am very excited to have my first guest blog. Emily has set the bar pretty high – but if anyone else is up for a guest spot – then blog away!!
Ugly babies
How kind of Libby to hand over her blog to me for a guest slot! I am feeling highly honoured to have been asked, but also slightly nervous. You see, I don’t normally do this kind of thing…write that is, and certainly not for public consumption!
It’s a very brave thing to write a blog…to write anything really and put it out there for people to paw over. You are immediately inviting people to comment on a certain aspect of you, a part of you, or your life, that you have decided to share with others. Who would want to do that?
Well, lots of people actually. Every book or piece of writing you have ever read has been crafted, agonised over, erased, re-written, erased again, wept over until finally, finally, there is something that the author feels happy with. That they are willing to (to quote a famous Snow Queen) – “Let It Go!”.
Some authors say that writing is like having a baby; you spend months creating this thing, making it perfect, and then you hand it over to people who might say…”Oooh! Isn’t your baby ugly?” Again, who would want to do that? And who, might you ask, would be so cruel and harsh to criticise such a labour of love?
Erm…well, that’s me. I am the person who might tell you your baby is ugly. I am the person who crushes dreams. I am AN EDITOR! Mwahahah!!
I don’t really crush dreams…in fact I try to make dreams come true wherever possible. But as a fiction editor (and one half of editorial consultancy Ruston Hutton) it is my job to make sure that the books/writing I edit are practically perfect in every way…not ugly babies, but beautiful, strong and gorgeous babies that everyone wants to munch (or read). Because, believe it or not, not every book starts out this way. Most authors will require revisions at some point and it is this process that can take a story from pfft to phenomenal!
So what do I do? Well, I don’t go around criticizing babies – let’s just clear that up! Primarily my job is to work with an author to ensure that their book is structurally sound; that characters are motivated and likeable and behave in realistic ways. Also, that there is a sustained tension or conflict running through a story giving the reader that page-turning quality that makes a book completely un-put-down-able (not sure that’s even a word!). I work with authors to help hone their writing style, or craft, and brainstorm new plot ideas if she (or he) has hit a brick wall. It’s very much a collaboration to make their book the best that it can be.
And authors now come in all shapes and sizes! You don’t need to have a huge contract with a publishing house to get your name in lights. There have been some wonderful achievements by authors who have simply self-published their work (much like Libby is now!) and have found an online readership – a group of people thirsty for the story they are telling.
So in addition to helping an author to get their story to shine, I might also offer advice on commercial positioning – where a book might (or might not) fit in the current market. As much as an author wants to write the story of their heart, there must also be a market for that story – a readership just waiting to be engaged. What is a book if it isn’t read? A doorstop.
Perhaps the most exciting part of my job is finding new shining stars in the writing world; whether it’s an amazing story waiting to be told or a unique voice just waiting to be heard. Nothing beats that buzz of finding something special…a bit like when you get that tingle watching X Factor when plain Sam Bailey walks in and Simon looks bored but then she BLOWS them away! That.
But the favourite part of my job is reading. Lots of lovely books! All day. I read anything from romance (love a strong Alpha male!) to YA Fiction (Hunger Games blew me away!). I know many of Libby’s friends share her love of reading – hurrah! – and it’s wonderful to see her book reviews generate debate and opinion on Facebook and Twitter.
But what do I like in books? It’s so hard to choose, a bit like picking my favourite (non-ugly) child! I suppose my favourite books reflect my personal interest in the role of women in society; how strong women in particular are portrayed, often feared and often maligned. I like books that have powerful leading ladies who are not always likeable, but who have an innate strength. My top two are probably Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, so totally different to the film (which I also LOVED), but a soaring epic nonetheless, and The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory – we all know the story of Anne, but this turns an old tale on its head – a wonderful read!
So that’s me in a nutshell. What’s your favourite book or what’s the one book that would become your doorstop? How might you make that book better…?
Thanks Libby for inviting me over!
Emily xx
You can contact me at rustonhutton@gmail.com or visit our website rustonhutton.com if you would like me to tell you your baby is ugly…or advise on your writing dream!!
I love the fact that people are enjoying my blog – the other night I had a text message from a friend saying how much she was loving and empathising with it, and then another friend suggested a topic – so here it is PERIODS!
Immediately all of the male readers have closed the browser and scuttled off to the hills!! Do not fear – this is not to be a graphic description of my menstrual cycle – I’ll leave that to people far more eloquent than I – the fabulous Caitlin Moran describing it in her new book ‘How to Build a Girl’ and even more vividly during her recent tour. The tales of mooncup woes whilst at Richard Curtis and Emma Freud’s house, or whilst interviewing the achingly gorgeous Benedict Cumberbatch will remain with me forever.
No – this is about the fact that sanitary products have VAT charged on them as they are deemed ‘non essential items’. Now there are obviously different types of sanitary wear (this is a weak pun based on the fact I have to use the phrase sanitary ware in the day job – meaning toilets, sinks and the like – and I always have a slightly pathetic giggle at it!). Currently I find myself for a couple of days a month requiring the use of a couple of types simultaneously to avoid any Ms Moran type leakages (TMI!!). So much so that I had to summon the 11 year old to get me replacements during my last ‘visit from the painters’. This lead to the 4 year old (trying to emulate her absent big sister) bursting into the toilet yesterday,, when I was innocently having a wee, to ask if I needed her to get me ‘one of those nappy things you wear?’. I am hoping this doesn’t get repeated at school (I haven’t needed Tena Ladies since the 4th child was born!!)
So – back to VAT (the dull accountant in me leaps for joy!). Tampons and sanitary towels are deemed luxury items and therefore we – half the population, including many children – are being taxed just for being female! The VAT is admittedly at a reduced rate of 5% (before 2001 it was the full whack of 17.5% – now 20% – so at least it’s had some reduction) – and in the big scheme of things 5% on an annual spend of maybe £100 is only a medium glass of sauvignon blanc – but it’s the principle of the matter!!
Exotic meats and sugar flowers are all deemed ‘essential’ and therefore there is no vat charged on them!! So perhaps the HMRC list isn’t as extensive as the Waitrose ‘essential’ list – Ardennes pate and parmesan being my particular favourite essentials – but I am fairly certain I could live without consuming exotic meat or sugar flowers every month – but would struggle to cope without tampons or towels (and there is no way I’m ever trying a mooncup)!! There is a petition you can sign if you feel strongly about this too: Stop Taxing Periods. Period.
And this is the article that prompted the blog request: We Need to Talk About Periods
So yes – this Price is usually right, but the price of sanitary products isn’t!!
This house – like many I know – is OBSESSED with the Disney film Frozen. The youngest 2 would watch it on a pretty much permanent loop if they were permitted – and the older 2 might pretend they’re too cool – but they have been known to join in and belt out the songs as well, just as long as no one knows (oh………..)
The other day, the Frozen DVD froze. Ironic, eh?
Which reminded me of the Alanis Morissette song of the same title and my youngest sister’s legendary quote ‘most of it’s not ironic, it’s just annoying’!! And I have to say – I agree!
‘It’s like rain on your wedding day’ – ironic or irritating?
When we got married in St Lucia in 2003 there was a fair amount of tropical rain in the morning. The staff at the hotel kept telling me it was ‘showers of blessing’ to the point that I was going to punch the next person who said it! (I was 13 weeks pregnant and very hormonal – in fact, I could start a whole category of blog posts on things that happened when I was pregnant and hormonal – leading off with the day I made an auditor cry………….)
‘It’s like 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife’ – ironic or inconceivable?
a) How ridiculous to over exaggerate so wildly about the numbers involved and
b) everyone knows it’s the teaspoons that go missing from every set of cutlery you buy.
‘It’s a black fly in your chardonnay’ – ironic or infuriating?
Annoying. Even more so if the white wine was warm. I once stated that ‘the worst thing in the world is warm white wine’ – to which my husband pointed out that other people probably had more pressing issues in their lives.
‘It’s a traffic jam when you’re already late’ – ironic or inadequate time management?
And at this point I may have run out of alliterations!!
If Ms Morissette ever plans a sequel, I would suggest the following things are more ironic than most of her list:
I am lucky to have some amazing friends. Many live in foreign climes (which I am hoping is a coincidence, and not that I am driving people to emigrate?) and I am sure that all will have the (dubious?) honour of being blogged about in the coming months.
One of my very good friends I met 19 years ago when we started working for the same accountancy firm in Birmingham in August 1995. Since then we’ve been through A LOT together, including:
All of our children get on really well (evidenced by the fact that we hardly saw them on Sunday afternoon as they played nicely together and we adults could sit in the sunshine eating BBQ food, drinking wine / beer / tea / coffee and chatting!!) But what is lovely is seeing how close our eldest 2 daughters are. They’re only a few months apart in age, however go to different schools, but already see themselves as BFFs. They are (worryingly!) like us in so many ways (ex colleagues are now doing a sharp intake of breath at that prospect!!) and growing up into such lovely girls – I’m so proud of them both.
Although their Dads are already planning to accompany them when they ask to go to Ibiza in a few years time………..
Last week we FINALLY got the 9 year old to have his haircut, I know I’m biased, but I think he looks pretty handsome (and only slightly like a football hooligan who managed to get ketchup on his top at teatime)!!
Looking at this photo reminded me of one of my Dad as a youngster – back in the day…..
So I was discussing with the boy about how he looked like his Grandad – but pointed out this wasn’t unexpected given they shared the same genes.
He looked at me in a very confused and quizzical manner – then I realised he thought I meant ‘jeans’…………..
Then I recalled last season when my eldest daughter and I were chatting one Sunday afternoon whilst the football was on the TV in the background. The commentator excitedly said that ‘Nani did an amazing run down the wing’ – to which the daughter did a double take at the TV fully expecting to see my Mum on the pitch at Old Trafford impressing the crowd with her silky skills ………….
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Some time ago – in the thing called ‘The Real World’ – Running Rufus said to me that my living of my life through Facebook amused her immensely – and I should write a book! This ignited a long held (but repressed) desire to write. I’m an accountant by trade – I do numbers, I don’t do words (well, apart from correcting the grammar of everything I read in my day to day life , my reputation as a grammar pedant is far spread , which gives added pressure to anything I do write!!)
I suspect everyone thinks they have a book in them (not literally – although after 4 kids perhaps not totally physically impossible?!) – but isn’t that like property development – easier in your imagination than reality (said through gritted teeth and a ‘non Kevin McCloud , no living in a caravan, nor having a baby during the process – but still hideous overspend on the budget’ type way)?
It’s all well and good baring your soul on social media at any given time (so much so that the consultant upped the levels on the oxytocin drip during the birth of piglet number 4 as he couldn’t believe my contractions were strong enough if I could still tweet and post to Facebook during the latter stages of labour) but actually writing a book – that’s a frightening commitment.…
So maybe a blog would be the way forward? Find my inner voice? See how it’s received? But when / how / where? My husband already thinks I spend FAR too much time on social media and trying to be ‘down with the kids’ (although by writing that phrase I have pretty much proved that I’m not!) If I was to spend any more time sharing family secrets whilst secreted away in my office and not partaking in family activities – it could result in a divorce. Although that would involve him filling in forms – and given I fill in every form that comes here for him (in the past week that’s been a speeding fine and congestion charge penalty notice) I could be on safe ground.
But what to blog about?
The 4 children (and the 2 vasectomies and 1 vasectomy reversal that brought some of them about)?
The 5 stone weight gain babies 3 and 4 in quick succession (and associated addiction to frappuccinos, steak and vegetable paninis and rocky road) brought about and the never ending quest to lose this whilst also consuming vast quantities of gin and tonic and cake – or on a particularly lucky day gin and tonic cake?
The construction company that’s now the day job – yes, I’m a hairy arsed builder – which leads me on to the husband’s waxing experience whilst we were recently on holiday, segway-ing into holidays ‘sans’ and with children – and back to those pesky kids again…..
So lots of scope for blogging, not much time for it, to blog or not to blog – that is the question…………
This Price is Usually Right 