I'm back

Well, mostly back. My stomach still seems to be on NZ time. I keep getting hungry two hours before meals. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be back to normal.

We had a fab time at Kara. Once we got there. Two of the girls had a bit of a flight cancellation drama so, instead of a nice leisurely drive up from Auckland on Friday afternoon, we had a long haul through friday peak hour and the wild NZ rain in the dark Friday evening. Of course, being intrepid romance writers, we made it in the end. Even if we were expecting an orc attack at any moment at one stage. It was that sort of trip. The trip home was much less eventful. Though there were feral chickens. My flight even left slightly early, made up time on the flight and landed early. The other two got stuck again. Obviously they didn't appropriately appease the flight gods or whatever.

Daphne and Robyn (and Keith) were lovely and full of wisdom and insight. Plus they revealed the recipe for a Ruby Tuesday to complement the cowboys that became the evening drink of choice. Plotting works well with added butterscotch schnapps apparently. And pineapple lumps. Though the scales this morning suggested butterscotch schnapps and pineapple lumps do not further one's weight loss goals. Back to the exercise grindstone for me. If I wake up.

The cats were even glad to see me. Mainly, I suspect, because I am keeper of the heater. And it is COLD here. It was warmer in NZ! But there has been lots of smooching and purring and instant occupation of my lap when I sit down so maybe they missed me too. The grey cat seems to be perking up a bit now that we've played with her medication dosage which is good. Only perking up has so far translated to destroying a cushion and strewing the house with shredded foam rubber. Nice. Lucky I have the trusty Dyson.

NZ is very beautiful. This is the first time I've gone beyond surburban conference centres and I'm keen to go back and see more. I'm sure Aragorn is lurking there somewhere : ) If not, there's plenty of breathtaking scenery to discover. Particularly if I go with the girls and have more adventures in navigation.

I even managed to solve the story issue that was stopping me in the wip, so have been editing and seeing where I'd gone slightly askew storywise for the last day. Now it's time to go forward again. I wonder how many pages I can do in five days?