Living in Chaos - Kate Walker

I'm having to time everything - blogs, emails, etc  - very carefully these days. I need to make sure that I actually have  an electricity supply connected and usable so that I can use my computer and contact people. I also need to make sure that there isn't brick dust flying around, getting into everything and so much noise filling the house  that I can't think straight.

Why is  this?

Well, we're having  work done on the house. Improvements - or, they will be improvements when the work is finished. Right now it's chaos and pretty hellish.  We've had a wall between a small  kitchen and an even smaller utility room knocked down to make one big, light, dining kitchen (at least that's the plan!) . And we (or rather the builders) have  extended that  so that it opens on to the garden.  It's going to be wonderful, light and airy, when it's finished - but it isn't like that now. Right now,  it's dirty - and cold, there hasn't been any heating for ten days!  We never know when the electricity will be turned off, when we will have water to wash or cook.  It's not been a lot of fun but we've  managed so far. We've organised a system which means we're up and showered  early, before the builders arrive in the morning, I have a small heater in my office so I can work, and we're cooking everything in the microwave - and washing up in the bathroom sink!

We were doing OK last week. The weather has been kind to us. It was mild,  clear, even sunny for a couple of days, so it wasn't too uncomfortable at all. But today the weather has changed completely - goinf g from early spring back to late winter with a vengeance! The skies darkened, the rain started to fall - and grow colder  - and now there's freezing sleet swirling  outside.  If it stays like this it's going to be a  chilly and difficult week.

I'm almost tempted to wish that I'd never started this - to say no, stoip - please! I want to go back to how it was. Or I want to run away and leave it all behind me. But as my husband keeps saying to me - or I keep saying to him the rest of the time - it will be worth it when it's done! Next week they start  rebuilding the kitchen. New cupboards  and worktops,  the new cooker and hob will be delivered and installed. We'll actually be able to cook meals!  And at the same time the new boiler and radiators will be put in - and at last we'll be warm again. I can't wait.

It was just this weekend when  the cold and miserable weather made me feel  that I couldn't cope with this any longer that I realised how much like the emotional journey of a romance novel this has all been.  We started out knowing things had to change and  planning how  it would be in the future.  There were disagreements and debates,   some things didn't work out as we planned. We never expected that the old boiler would have to be taken out quite so early, making everything so much more difficult than we'd thought. We've been up and down, taking two steps forward, one step back just like in the stories of my heroes and heroines.  And then  this weekend it  felt like that notorious Black Moment when everything seemed as bad as it could get.

So now I'm ready to look forward to that Happy Ever After  Ending when it's all finished and lovely!

The trouble is  - they're starting on the bathroom after that!

Kate’s latest novel The Devil and Miss Jones is out this week  in Mills & Boon Modern Romance and will be released in Harlequin Presents Extra in April.  She also has a reprint of her  Bedded By The Greek Billionaire  in  the 3 in 1 By  Request - His Suitable Bride. You can find out all her latest news on her Web site or her blog.