It's His House Too...

LIFE Each day I wake up and look around me, the fact that this brick and mortar unit now belongs to Alan and I still feels surreal. After years of renting, we have something that belongs to us. Somewhere we can put down the roots we have longed for. These days I am working 4-5 days a week and whatever energy I have left from my day job goes into my ambitions to be a full-time writer, like submission emails to libraries and bookstores asking them if they would like to stock copies of my books and at a book signing last week, I finally had to concede that TikTok is the social platform I need to promote my work. I have been a little reluctant to sign up for it - like digging my toes into the floor reluctant, but maybe once I reach a broader audience - I'll feel differently. LOVE In December, two days before Christmas, we became a family of three when Alan adopted our darling cat, Enid. The joy she has brought to our home in nine months is immeasurable. She's this sassy, dainty little thing that has an obsession with watching water dribble and flow. She is also a little Houdini who will take advantage of any opportunity to run out into the sunshine and feel the grass beneath her paws. And she just loves Alan, I have countless of photos of them on my camera-roll. AND THE EVERYDAY I'm waiting to hear back from a publisher - everyday I check my emails for any report on progress or decision, but nothing so far - we are almost at the 12 week mark for their response. I try and keep myself busy with family, friends, work, a Netflix binge, writing - and more recently, DIY. I ordered shelves from Bunnings because at the moment, my books are stacked in piles next to my bed. I have never done any DIY before, but watching my Dad flawlessly be Mr Fix-It around the house when I was growing up made me think that installing shelves would be super-duper-easy. When I was over at my sister *Victoria's house on Saturday night, I excitedly told her and *Cassandra that I had bought floating shelves and I couldn't wait to put them up. And that was when *Victoria asked. "Do you know if you have plaster or board in your wall? Because if you drill through plaster you'll make a hole in your wall." Following that revelation, I watched a DIY shelves installment video from Bunnings on YOUTUBE and realised that there would be more to this shelf installation than a hammer. So I went online and ordered a spirit level, a stud finder and because there is a pile of leaves near my backdoor, I invested in a leaf rake and a fire-pit. I can now understand why online shopping is so addictive, because its like going into Coles without a shopping list - you find so much stuff that you think would be useful. Like a five bit tool deal for $265 that includes a mini-saw. Even though I have everything to install the shelves, Alan still thinks I should wait for someone to help me. Except the word he used was "supervise". I guess that's a fair assessment, considering its my first foray into the exciting world of DIY and it's his house too...