This week, we say Nin hao, hello in formal Chinese, of which the informal hello is Ni hao. I thought we would use this language of ‘hello’ from the country of China, as last month China was one of our highest country of readers- thank-you! Anyway, we LOVE our local Chinese food (even Mister C loves a spring roll and enjoys cracking open the fortune cookies) and we look forward to going out for a delicious family Chinese meal as soon as ‘lockdown’ ends soon (hopefully). It’s also hard to believe our site has been running for nearly two years! We can’t thank everyone enough for the ongoing support, please keep the comments and questions coming in, we love reading and answering them (including husband’s zany comments). Here’s to another year of all things meansmisterc.com…
Now into week six of our ongoing ‘lockdown’ (for our local area- over three months for my dear sister and her family in Sydney-arrg!), what are you and your family up to this second week of the school hols? I have to say, the kids have been very good and understanding about our ‘stay at home’ situation these hols. It is great the girls can have a good rest and chill out in their rooms (thankful we were able to complete the moves just before ‘lockdown’). Mister C has had his moments of grumpiness, asking numerous questions (as children do) about the universe and the world. I managed to use a ‘Creative Kids’ voucher for Mister C and purchase one kilogram of second-hand ‘Lego’ bricks and figurines from ‘Ninjago’ and other themed ideas! Mister C was super excited, I had arranged express delivery (paid a bit more) and the parcel arrived within a few days- amazing (thanks very much!). Mister C spent many hours building some great ‘Lego’ creations and it occupied him quite nicely. Widy was called into her work at ‘K-Mart’ for a couple of three-hour shifts; it was good for her to get out of the house and earn a few more dollars (a win-win situation). Flossy has been doing some drawing, cooking, helping me in the garden and playing with Duggie (our wonder dog) and our sweet chook girls.
Being a part of essential work and nursing, I have had to continue working over these many weeks, and naturally (as a duty of care to uphold) have been keeping an eye on the developing Covid cases in our area (with husband’s help). As discussed in a few media platforms, contact tracing has regrettably been somewhat delayed, due to most staff having to assist at the pop-up Covid vaccination clinics in our area, therefore contributing to the slow-paced updates of ‘hotspot’ venues in our town. Unfortunately, we all had to get the Covid test done early Monday morning (even though three of us are fully vaccinated now- Flossy is booked in this week). Husband had checked the designated Covid site (again) Sunday evening and to our shock, there were two sites that had shown up, for when we both had been to ‘Coles’ supermarket on different days at the exact same time more than eight days ago (mind you, I had not been the ‘Coles’ for over four weeks!). No test clinic was obviously open late in the evening; I did ring the hospital and the Covid hotline (thanks) who were supportive but couldn’t help either, stating we all had to wait until Monday morning to get tested…
Mister C gasped at the idea of having a (very) early morning Covid test (he did have his first one mid-last year); Husband complained about all of us (mainly the kids) getting the test done, but it was the right thing to do for the family and our community (Husband’s first- might I add). In the car while waiting for the tests to be conducted (was good not to have to get out of the car-thank-you!), Mister C sighed and said, “So, Mummy will the swab have to go really deep and touch my brain again this time?!” We all laughed and I informatively corrected Mister C, explaining the process again to him (while he squirmed in his seat and pulled some zany faces) as I sat in the back with him and Flossy (who were both still in PJ’s- might I also add). Today, we can all breathe a sigh of relief, the tests were all negative (phew!). So, after having a chat with Husband later that day, we decided to refine our supermarket shopping times to only twice per week (Husband was a bit dismayed), and to also try to attend the mall at a less hectic time, to help prevent us from getting into this situation again (we can only hope it will end soon with high vaccination rates- maybe by Christmas?!). Me and Mister C wanted to send our thoughts out to all the families who have been directly affected by Covid; it is a difficult time, let alone losing a dear loved one to the ferocious virus.
Okay, let’s go back to 2020… Now early March, I had been working very hard to have my first book manuscript completed and ready for publishing (was it good enough?). After drawing lots of images for our (then new) blog site with Flossy, I was able to pluck up the courage and begin to constructively illustrate again (of which I had completed a two (out of three) year degree in order to do so professionally, but it just didn’t work out that way (all those years ago). It was a bit stressful, but also empowering, as I hadn’t lifted up a graphite pencil for many years (apart from a few odd portraits of friends, pets and boyfriends- with clothes on mind you!); probably not professionally in an illustrative role, since the year my dear Dad had passed away in1995 (sounds too long ago?). It’s difficult to explain, but for me when some-one or something so dear to my heart passes (or leaves), a part of my heart vanishes (with the sadness) too; I think over that particularly stressful and grieving time, my creativity lost its way.
Out of the blue one day, I think it was over the weekend that Husband I went away overnight, for our wedding anniversary mid-March (in ACT), to also celebrate his twin niece’s eighteenth birthday (hiya R & B. L). After having a nice leisurely breakfast, Husband asked me, “How do you create? Does it come from your head or your heart?” I replied with, “It’s hard to explain, my mind has to be at rest and clear from any emotion- happy or sad, in order to create and illustrate (for example) the images for the books.” Along with that kind of mindfulness, I have to put the pages away and look at them the next day, or I will think they are no good and throw them in the bin (a very unproductive habit, of which I have mostly grown out of!). I was so thankful that I now had the support to be able to finally fulfill my long-term dream (thanks Husband), of publishing my first book (I think I can now do it!).
After much research and emails to various format designers around Australia, I was forced to search overseas (as the costs were very high) and not knowing many designers (yet); I finally found a good format design company in the US (thanks). I had approached several publishers in Australia, thinking it might be less stress to have the book published instead (perhaps not after all?). I heard back from three companies, of which one publisher liked my work, but wanted to change the entire story and heading (something I wasn’t prepared to do at that time). Instead, I approached my (then new) writer mentor (hiya M.A) who suggested I self-publish the book, “It is quite straight forward,” she said smiling, after helping edit my manuscript (could I really do that?).
So, the rest is history… Things were looking up, after some stress and busyness with working hard to have over forty-nine illustrations completed in time for the printing (and paying all the upfront costs- Husband did scoff with surprise), along with a few hiccups with a substandard cover design (with poor typesetting I was also told) and blurry images, and a not so great final product (I just had to have the book done at that point); we went ahead and printed fifty books with a print company in Sydney (thanks). In the end, I was able to have my manuscript edited in time to be formatted (thanks!), printed and published for the ‘Book Fest’ event, that I was graciously apart of, at out our local Library for the end of March (phew! I finally had the books in my hot tired hands!). Mister C and the girls were so excited (as were Husband and I) to finally see the book, that took much heartache to complete (and many a sleepless night and emails back and forth in between the time zone difference in the US). However, it was not to be (arrg!), after all that hard work, Corona virus set in further (so terrible and frightening) and we were all forced to go into ‘lockdown’, the week before the Book fest event was to be held (life was never to be the same again) …
A Word from Mister C…
After dropping Widy off to work early in the morning, I popped into Flossy’s bed for an hour. Mister C came in and also popped into Flossy’s bed too and we had Mummy cuddles for a while. Mister C said, “People were once animals in another life.” … “Oh, really, my son,” I said, giggling with Flossy. “Did you dream this?” … “Oh, no; it’s just true, Mummy. People were once animals, they were dingoes, wallabies and bats; but only these three animals were ever first!” Flossy laughed and said, “No, really, only those three animals, wow!” We all laughed together… 🦇🦘🐕🦺
Stay tuned…
For more stories from 2020, could I begin home-schooling Mister C and the girls? Would we all cope stuck in the house together for many weeks?… I am working very hard on my fourth book’s illustrations to get them uploaded to my designer (hiya L.F) to work her magic and format out next book. It is exciting- but also tiring… Thanks for your patience in my answering your comments and questions online and for not being very diligent on FB at present (sorry!)… Hugs and night from Mister C…
