Family and friends

This morning over breakfast, Mrs S and I were discussing our next move. Firstly it has to be to a bigger place. We need three bedrooms and have a property in mind which will come available in December. We think we've found it, and have opened negotiations prior to moving in.

There have been recent alarums and diversions caused by the sudden illness of my Mother in Law with a TIA, which is a precursor to a full blown stroke or Cerebro-Vascular Accident. The word is that Mrs S's mother has semi clogged carotid arteries and will be put on medication to reduce the risk of 'the big one' which should postpone the inevitable for another four or five years. The consensus of familial opinion is that instead of uprooting all our established expatriate lives and dashing back to blighty to pander to Mother in law's ever whim, we should 'time share' her between our place here on Vancouver Island, the USA, and France. This should work out as each sister and their families getting the duty of caring for only four months out of every twelve. Mother in Law would get to rent out the very nice apartment in which she lives, which should more than adequately supplement her pension, thus paying for extra groceries and health insurance, whilst allowing her to have company in the fading twilight of her years.

These discussions tweaked my own conscience, so I dialled England and spent a few minutes exchanging gossip with my own mother. I received news that an old and good friend had died, as had one of his sons. Ma Sticker didn't give me much in the way of details, but I feel sorry for my old friends wife and remaining son, as I knew the family quite well. Recent years have been a rough ride for them what with one thing and another. My own condolences have been sent, but those always leave me feeling a bit hollow as you're never quite sure what to say.

For our part, we're looking at what we want to do next, as Mrs S and I reckon we've earned a couple of weeks vacation. Although having said that, I still have MSS to complete, and need to get those out of the way first. 'Stepdad' when finished will be published via Lulu.com or similar. I'm not going to fuss about with mainstream agents and publishers, because although they do help you with marketing, I'm going to offer that work to a couple of young graduates I know from VIU on a commission only basis to see what they can do with it. There's also a friend who seems to be good at that sort of thing, and I'll be taking some serious marketing advice from him.