5 Days of Mayhem

Have you ever had one of those weeks where all your best laid plans get thrown out of the window due to something out of your control?  Welcome to my week!

I am an uber organised individual, I live by the mantra 'if it isn't in the diary, it doesn't happen'.  Then one week comes along that throws life into a spin that would put any tornado to shame, however, if I've learnt anything from this week, it's to go with the flow!

Day 1

Great start to the week as I took part in twitter's #indiebooksbeseen promotion.  All indie authors were given the opportunity to post a photograph of themselves holding a poster of their book/s (or a copy of their book). 

The promotion was very well attended and retweets were phenomenal.  It was so lovely to see such a great variety of indie authors taking part and it was a perfect opportunity to connect with such a supportive community.

Day 2

Writing a book is probably the easiest part of being an author, the marketing of that book is when the hard work begins.  I have received some fantastic advice from seasoned authors to help me on my book selling journey, but occasionally a sale comes from an unexpected source.

It's no secret that I am a proud member of Weight Watchers.  As such I joined my group leader's Facebook page so we could share our motivational tips and recipe ideas.  This community group is great fun and means you can take your meeting with you wherever you go.

I noticed a conversation between a few members who were swapping tips on surviving a holiday without gaining two stone in weight.  As the conversation rounded up I was surprised to be tagged in, these wonderful ladies confirmed that their holiday read was my book.  Moment of pride followed with the realisation that everything you do; groups you are a part of, people you speak to in the street, are all potential customers.  A hard sell turns most people off, but when you are warm, engaging and being yourself it's amazing what can happen.  Thanks Weight Watchers!

Day 3

My perfect week took a sharp nose-dive on Wednesday.  I packed my children off to school with their water bottles and PE kit, all ready and raring for Sports Day.  Several hours later I received that dreaded phone call that turns every mother's blood to ice, 'there's been an accident...'

I was told that my daughter had collided with another competitor during the games and the teacher had administered a cold compress, she was sitting out of the games but seemed fine although her eye had a little bump. 

'Okay, I can cope with bumps and bruises' I thought, 'could have been worse.'

Fast forward to when I actually saw her and the little bump was the size of a Plum!  I still managed to remain calm and we even took a photograph to post on Facebook, joking that she would have a black eye for her 12th birthday the next day.

Fast forward an hour and Plum was now a Satsuma and every colour imaginable - yep, I panicked! 

We rushed to Accident & Emergency as her eye became more and more swollen, closing up completely and getting darker.  My daughter went into shock at this point and my own heart beat was fairly frantic.  The nursing staff were incredible with her as they assessed her injury and did an x-ray to check if her eye socket was fractured. 

After several hours we were sent to Birmingham Children's Hospital where they have a specialist fracture department for facial injuries.  Again, the nursing staff and doctors were wonderful and I was relieved to discover there was no fracture.

We returned from the hospital at 10.30pm, exhausted.  My 'autopilot-parenting' was frazzled to hell and we all collapsed into bed.  What a day!

Day 4

My daughter's face was so bruised as she woke up on her 12th Birthday.  No school for her as her eye was completely swollen shut.  She slept for most of the day and barely ate anything, after a brief family conference over breakfast, it was decided that she could take a leaf out of the Queen's book and have two birthday's this year.

Of course this day was not only special because it was Ella's birthday, it was also the day of my son's school Prom. 

Yet again I switched on my 'autopilot-mum' mode and set about organising the house ready for parents and grandparent to arrive for the pre-prom soiree.

My emotions were frazzled from the previous day's events, but nothing prepared me for the moment my son walked in the room dressed for his Prom.  Pride and overwhelming love doesn't quite cover how I felt.  He was so handsome and so grown-up.

Hospital trips were forgotten as we celebrated this momentous part of his life journey.  Of course, you can only really celebrate a Prom if you have an awesome vehicle to turn up in and I do believe we picked the absolute best!

USA Cop Cars Ltd are based in Ashford, Kent and hire out their range of genuine, fully equipped and restored ex USA Cop Cars for Proms, Birthdays, Weddings, Hen and Stag parties and other special events.

Lee and his friends were 'arrested' and taken on a tour of the local area before making their grand entrance at the hotel venue.  I thought my heart might burst out of my chest as I watched my son get out of the car, surrounded by clicking photographers and cheers from the assembled crowds.  Definite film star moment for them and a perfect day for me - frazzle free!

Day 5

Normality returned as I went back to work today.  I love my job so much and having incredible clients makes what I do so easy.  The day started with laughter and ended with laughter - just what the doctor ordered.

As I reflected on the last 5 days I couldn't believe what had happened, the week resembled my blogger stats graph, with high points and low points, but we survived to tell the tale and I guess that's all that matters in the end.

This blog post may be a few days later than normal, my ironing pile may now reach the ceiling and I haven't managed to prepare for the Motivational Workshop I'm running on Monday but my family are safe (bruised, but safe) and I had plenty to share with you all this week. 

Every cloud really does have a silver lining.

Thanks for reading this post and sharing my crazy life, have you ever had a week that you'll never forget?


Opening photograph courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net