Last Wednesday was my first writing session after the summer break… And it confirms that writing is a muscle! When you stop practicing for a while, you get sore all over. Ouch!

My first few sentences were pure crap (and I don’t think it did improve much by the end of the evening). My dear husband, who gets to watch all the artsy movies I don’t have the patience for on Wednesdays, did turn away from the tv more than once because he didn’t hear the regular tap-tap soft noise on the keyboard. But he was very sweet not to comment on any of it. By the end of the session words didn’t exactly pour out, but at least I had ideas and a certain sense of direction. At least.

Meanwhile, things are getting a bit busy around here, but in a good way:

  • Making a batch of plum marmalade (I learnt that the Reine Claude variety I love using is called Greengage in English, have anyone outside France ever tasted them?)
  • Making a photo album of our holidays pictures (then I eagerly wait for a real paper book to be delivered by post)
  • Getting back to my weekly Tai chi class
  • Buying a new sofa
  • Adjusting back to the new school / work schedule (and the lack of naps ensuing)
  • Trying to organize a monthly date night with Mr. S (provided the babysitter and all the stars are aligned)
  • Reading so many non-fictions that I’m wondering where my usual self is.

Here are a few titles you might expect to read about in the coming weeks (yes I’m reading them all at the same time, crazy!):

  • Rachel Bertsche, MWF seeking BFF, My yearlong search for a new best friend
  • Phyllis Theroux, Night Lights, Bedtime stories for Parents in the Dark
  • Edmund De Waal, The Hare with Amber eyes, a hidden Inheritance
  • Angelica Garnett, Deceived with Kindness, a Bloomsbury Childhood
  • Alfred de Musset, Confessions d’un enfant du siècle (supposed to be a novel, but I guess it’s rather a memoir too)
  • Andrew Taylor, The American Boy (at last one crime / thriller in the whole list)

No wonder there’s not an inch left on my nightstand!