Nicole Locke - Are we having fun yet?

As you know, my family moved to Seattle from London at the end of December. Things have been crazy, an adjustment, perplexing, and chaotic ever since.

First, there’s the culture shock which I didn’t expect. I was born in this country; how could I be flummoxed by drive-thru menus? But it’s been a while since I lived here. Time’s change.

Second, add in work, kids, renovations, and trying to unpack. Yep. There’s chaos here. And as a family, we’ve been chained to the house, to school, to our desks. We’ve been trying to navigate school announcements and shopping. The myriad of government forms is astounding, and I still second guess myself when crossing the road.

So why are we here?

Ah, because we’ve reached that time in our life when we realize…Time. We want our kids to know their extended family. Also, they’re missing the culture we grew up with. We knew that if we didn’t seize this moment, our son may never know how to kayak, ski, or ride a bike. Our daughter will only know city life, and not the blisters of hiking in the woods for miles because she’s lost.

This gets to the crux of the matter. My fear is that we may have returned too late. The way we’re going, it’ll be a year before any fun happens. We bought ski clothes…and then missed the ski season. The drastic change in daily living has been one hurdle after another. Our kids are young, but habits have already been created.

It took weeks for my daughter to learn she can approach a car differently than her brother. You see, she only knows taxis. And in taxis you all pile into the vehicle from one side. She kept piling in after her brother until he pointed out she could use the other door. My son still shows no interest in driving, and as for that kayak? His nose continues to be buried in books or on his phone.

But this must stop; otherwise, what’s the point of moving? I may have lived here before, but it’s all new to them. They need to see the world with their young eyes, and with all the possibilities of youth. So when they grow up they can embrace what culture they want, and where they want to live. 

When I can, I force myself to stop with all the work needing done. My house is a wreck, and I’ll have boxes to unpack in December. Renovations? I need to pick out paint samples still. The kids should see the open water, and not just the house in shambles.

Thus far, I may have managed only a handful of these moments, but they do exist. Like glimmers of light at the end of a very long, crazy, perplexing, and chaotic tunnel.

How do you stop the hectic schedule of everyday life to have fun?

Nicole :-)

To celebrate the upcoming release of The Knight's Scarred Maiden, I'm attempting to bake Medieval food! Come join me all month at the Unlaced Book Club and guess what food I'm making for a chance to win a signed copy. https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheUnlacedBookClub  Or join me at the Harlequin Blog May 25th, June 2nd, June 13th and chat with me about my failures! http://harlequinblog.com/



Nicole Locke is the author of Harlequin Lovers and Legends series. For more information about her and her writing, check out her website and follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest.

Nicole Locke: Are You Settled Yet?

Are you settled yet?

I can’t say how many times I’ve been asked this question since arriving in the US on the 17th of December. I'm sure people are simply being friendly and making idle chat. I'm sure they don't truly mean it.

Do they mean it!?  Because that sentence is equivalent to asking a new mother if she’s sleeping through the night. Isn’t it just assumed she isn’t sleeping through the night?

There is no way I am settled. What does that even mean? That I have a routine, that I’ve formed habits?

Because I don’t…I haven’t. I’m sleeping, I’m not. The kids are getting to school on time…they’re not. I don’t even leave my bedroom the same way yet.  I can go straight or turn right to get to the kitchen. Which way should I go? Which is faster, convenient, more scenic?

Does being settled mean my house is furnished because let me share some pictures with you. One is of the living room, and the other of my daughter's room.

These pictures are of the house right now. This is after copious amounts of shopping. Way more shopping than I ever care to do. Going to any store once a month is too much for me. Now I have to go food shopping two times a week, plus the hardware store, and the paint store. Don’t get me started on the online purchases. This is…this is death by shopping for me. And what do I have to show for it? Three mattresses, some bed frames, and a few rugs. Oh, I may have bought some bath towels, too.

But that’s all that people are going to see when they come in. They’re not going to see that I had to change my daughter’s rug three times only to realize none of them worked, so her floor is still bare. That her bed frame came, but the feet were all broken and I've been waiting weeks for replacements.

People aren’t going to come into my house and say: 'Nice paperclips and envelopes!' Or: 'Wow, you really agonized over that toothpaste brand didn’t you?'

Because I did. Absolutely. And that’s a story I’ll share another day when my shudders have lessened, and the store clerks aren’t alarmed anymore by the mumbling.

Quite simply, I can’t seem to have a routine if there’s nothing to routine with. My house is bare.

The horror of it is, you don’t know what you need until you don’t have it. Get out of the bath? Need a bath mat. Want to make fried rice? Buy every ingredient except… soy sauce. Have something stuck in your teeth? Well…you get the picture.

We left some things here in our old home, and are now using our new things, but this doesn’t help at all. There are no habits here. This isn’t the same spoon I’ve been using every day for a decade. I’m not turning on the same hob I’ve used for the last eleven years.

And how am I dealing with the fact I seem to have nothing and yet I’m shopping all the time? Not very well.  In fact, I resent it, am frustrated at it. Just want to set fire and start again. Except, I am starting again and have to buy a laundry basket. 

Does being settled mean what I fear it means. That I feel at home?  Because I don’t. Not at all. Not…yet. But I know something is beginning to happen. I found everyday cheese the family likes. And I think for now, that’ll have to be enough.

In the meantime, I'll keep battling and reporting from the trenches of moving house. Has anyone else moved home? Would love to know how you survived!

-- Nicole :-)

To find out more about Nicole Locke, visit her website, and follow her on Twitter.

The fourth book in the Lovers and Legends series, In Debt to the Enemy Lord, is out now! 

“You have a debt to pay. You owe me your life.”

Chapter 1, excerpt
 

Wales—1290

‘I’m going to die,’ Anwen of Brynmor muttered. ‘And why would that be? Because I climbed a tree and plunged to my death. That’s why.’

She circled the giant oak again. The thick lower branches could easily hold her weight. But it wasn’t the lowest branches terrifying her. No, it was the thinnest sprays of green at the top where she needed to go. She could no longer see her hunting goshawk tangled in the highest branches, but she could hear his screeching.

‘Oh, now you need me, do you? It would have been useful if you heeded me when you broke your creance and flew into Dameg Forest.’

She jumped, reached but missed the lowest branch. Her great blue gown billowed heavily around her legs. She quickly began unlacing the bodice.

‘No, I called and called and you just flapped your little wings, trailing your leather jesses behind you. You care now, don’t you? Now your jesses are tangled.’

Finished unlacing, she shrugged her shoulders until the gown pooled at her feet. Shivering, teeth chattering, she stepped out of the material. It was too cold to be in the forest, certainly too cold to be shedding any layers of clothing. At least it was also too cold for many people to be in the forest at this time of morning so there was no one to protest her lack of modesty. Shaking out any mud or wrinkles, she laid the gown gently on a fallen tree. It was her best dress despite the worn hem and hole in the sleeve.

‘I’d leave you if I could, Gully. But we have England’s fine King,

and Gwalchdu’s arrogant lord, who’d order a hand chopping for losing you.’

The tiny hawk let out a wild screech.

‘Oh, you’re for the death punishment as well, are you? It won’t be me who will be punished, it will be Melun. That kind old falconer never hurt you one day in his life. So I’ll fetch you for his sake, not for your stringy neck.’

Stepping closer to the trunk, she crouched low and leapt. She was rewarded with shredding her hands against the bark and falling on her backside in cold, partially frozen mud.

‘Owwww!’

She sat catching her breath, but not able to catch her anger which bloomed up out of her. Punching the mud, she vented her frustration. ‘Why couldn’t I simply go home peacefully? You know I loathe visiting Gwalchdu village with all its perfectly thatched houses and perfectly cleaned streets.’

Thinking of Gwalchdu angered her more. She sprang up and threw mud at the tree trunk. ‘Then you fly off, making more work for me. And now I’m ranting, you rotten bird!’

Jumping, she grabbed the branch with her lacerated hands. Pain knifed through her arms, but she wouldn’t let go. Swinging her legs, she pushed her feet on to the roughened bark. Her grip slipped and fury arced through her.

It was bad enough losing her pride and yelling at a bird. It was worse yet wanting to sulk. And for what? Only so she could compare Brynmor with Gwalchdu? Her home was superior to Gwalchdu and it always would be.

She bit her fingers deep into the bark. She refused to slip. Strongly Welsh, Brynmor had fought to the end of the war against the English and so would she. Pulling up with all her might, she screamed.

 

 

Virginia Heath: Life Through a Lens...

The first time I went to Disney was 20 years ago. I will never forget the experience. My two kids were little and totally believed all the characters in those fancy suits were real. It was, as Disney so often promise, magical.

I especially remember the fireworks. All those twinkling patterns set to music, high above Cinderella’s castle. Next to me was a solitary man who watched the whole display through the viewfinder of his video camera, while his children stood next to him. At the time, I thought it was an odd thing to do. Here he was, surrounded by all this atmosphere, his three children filled with awe and wonder, missing the full experience as he recorded it for posterity. It struck me as a waste of a good memory.

Twenty years later, we visited Anaheim again and just had we had that first time, and on numerous visits to different Disneylands around the world since, we found a spot on Main Street and waited patiently for the fireworks. This time though, we were one of the few spectators in that sea of people not holding up our smartphones and watching the spectacle on the screens.

Back home in London a few weeks later, I was sat outside a café on the banks of the River Thames. To my right was the magnificent Tower Bridge. To my left, the wonderful Tower of London. A group of Japanese tourists walked by, and it struck me that they were all holding selfie sticks, viewing those amazing sights on the small screens of their phones rather than experiencing it in the flesh. Since then, I see this all the time. Every event seems to be so meticulously filmed that the people doing the filming are distanced from the great things happening in their own lives.

My point is this, it is Christmas Eve. A time for sharing all the joy of life with those you love. For the next few days, put down your phones people. Live in the moment. Enjoy it. Those memories will be revisited more often than all those hours and hours of video ever will.  

Happy Holidays!

Virginia Heath writes witty, fast-paced romances filled with feisty heroines and mouth-watering heroes she would want to fall in love with.

The Discerning Gentleman's Guide, is out now.

Christina Hollis: Families and Food...

 

Although The wedding happened over a week ago now, thinking about it still brings a smile to my face. Wasn't it wonderful? And not only was it a lovely spectacle, it gave millions of people the chance to spend some time together with their families, if only in front of the TV!  Did you hear that one of the two royal wedding cakes was a chocolate refrigerator cake of the type William had loved since he was a little boy? Just about every family has their own favourite recipe for this-crushed sweet biscuits set in a melted mixture of butter, sugar, golden syrup and cocoa, then given a chocolate topping. Princess Diana always tried to give her boys as normal a childhood as she could in the circumstances, so I wonder if refrigerator cake conjures up happy memories for him of time spent in the kitchen together? I can remember standing on a chair when I was tiny, 'helping' to make this for every family get-together and I'm sure lots of you do, too. a family, we don't spend enough time together, but luckily we managed to have lunch together at The Organic Farm Shop in Cirencester, while DD was at home over Easter. Eating meals around the same table is one of our favourite ways of spending time together, but family life has changed so much over the past few years, for many people it's now a rare treat.  Once upon a time just about everyone in England sat down to a roast dinner at Sunday lunchtime. It would be beef & Yorkshire pudding, or chicken with all the trimmings. Nowadays families are more fragmented, and much less confined by tradition. We're all more likely to grab a sandwich at midday and then maybe enjoy a barbecue later - but only while the sun is shining!

What's your favourite recipe for a happy family get-together?

Christina Hollis writes Modern Romance for Harlequin Mills and Boon, which appear as Harlequin Presents/Extra in the US. You can follow her on Facebook and Tumblr as Christina Hollis, while on Twitter she's @christinabooks. Visit her website at http://www.christinahollis.com between now and the end of May to enter her latest competition to win signed books and other goodies!