Two weeks pass like the blink of an eye. At least I didn’t lose most of the break to Teen Wolf like I did LAST break, but a full week of gardening apparently sucks your time just as much as an addictive TV show 🙂 The skip was absolutely chockers by the time it was picked up on Friday last week; I don’t reckon we could have fit even one more stick in! And the yard and gardens looked SO much better for it. But I don’t want to have to do that again – it’s just not my thing…
 
In between the yard work we managed to sneak in some socialising – first up was a great get together (the deck warming!) at Donna and Matt’s place, which was just delightful. An ever-changing guest lineup as people came and went throughout the afternoon, with much excellent conversation and food! We also spent a morning with Karen and her kiddies, with lots of baby cuddles at last! Miss G had stroke clinic for swimming three days both weeks, and Master D had daycare, so it was just me and Master J and Master M for a lot of the time. Husband rolled in and out briefly, between work and Tassie trip, and Granna and Grandpop arrived around lunchtime Friday, just in time for me to head to Conflux!
The view from the deck at the deck warming…
I was one of the guests of the Conflux 11 convention, so went in for the opening ceremony late afternoon. MC Laura Goodin did a lovely job opening proceedings, and I had a chance to catch up with a few people early on. I had a little car drama (mechanical issues) when I went to pick up Dirk Flinthart from the airport, but managed to not be too late to collect him! I then took advantage of my night alone at the hotel (was joined my Miss G for the rest of the weekend) and crashed out very early indeed – it had been a big week.
The convention saw me on a heap of panel items, but we started out on Saturday with the launch of Striking Fire by Dirk Flinthart – Dirk arranged at the last minute to have wine delivered and we managed plastic cups to serve it in, alongside the chocolate I had organised. We also had a prize draw of the Dirk books plus a tote bag and notebook, and it was a very convivial and fun launch!
Photo by Cat Sparks
After lunch I had an insane five panels in a row, and it was a bit like that for the whole weekend! Thank goodness for Elanor and Miss G, who took excellent care of the FableCroft sales table while I was not there. It was a wonderfully interesting program (thanks to Leife Shallcross) and I hope I didn’t repeat myself much! Luckily my fellow panelists were erudite and articulate and they all went pretty well, I think. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and though I didn’t do any of the evening socialising (except a brief sojourn at the banquet with Miss G), I still got lots of time to chat with friends, get to know new people, and be inspired by the writers and creators around me.
Photo by Cat Sparks
See Cat Sparks’ fab photos of the convention at her Flickr, here!
Once the convention was over, we had the rest of the week for family sorts of things. This included Miss G turning 10 (where on earth has THAT decade gone?!) and an impromptu bowling party – she had swimming for four hours in the morning, so I sneakily arranged to pick up a couple of her school friends to join us for bowling. The look on her face when they popped up out from the back seat of the car when we picked her up was delightful 🙂
Mum and I got some quality shopping time in, and Grandpop and the big boys variously got some fishing (although didn’t have much luck with the catching – not really the goal though, I reckon…) and we enjoyed just hanging out. Husband was home briefly and we managed to get the mechanical issues quickly sorted out for the car he drives back and forth several hundred kilometres per week, as well as duck in a find a new phone for him before he disappeared into the sunset again! Making the most of the short periods of time we have 🙂
And now it’s the last day of the holidays. Granna and Grandpop have gone off for a bit of a driving holiday on their way home, and I’m working through a few last holiday jobs and tidying up before back to school tomorrow. I think I’ll call this break a big success!
