REJECTION

Some of the things waiting for me at home are rejections; I don't know how many and what they are - so I'm looking forward to finding that out! But rejection doesn't faze me; been there done that - it's all part and parcel of a creative life and if you can't deal with it you're in for a rough time. An old friend of mine from Northumberland used to growl at the postman...

'Oh I know what you've got in there mister,' she'd mutter, while watching him stroll around the cul de sac; and there were several post boxes she refused to use because she always got rejections from them!

I just need to catch up with my mail and get the work back out there again.

I'm counting the days now; three to go, then I'll be out of here in a taxi by eleven on Tuesday morning to catch my train to Bristol. I've got an afternoon flight this time; I can't usually catch this but I think they must've changed it. So, I'll be in Glasgow by about 5pm. Really looking forward to this move; it's cost me a fortune to post my stuff - three parcels so far is approx. £35 and that's not counting the twenty quid I paid to send Amazon's goodies special delivery! I could have bought a car down here and drove it all up; but that would've taken all day and a lot of the night...and in this heat, with the traffic. Glad I've done it this way.

Clara Bow asked me how long I would be in Glasgow and I almost freaked; I don't want to actually lie to her but I don't want to tell her yet - she'd drive me insane. When my back to back said she was taking seven weeks off in the summer, Clara begged me to cover it; she said she didn't want a stranger. When I balked at seven and said I could do five, she wept. I told her I'd think about it, and after a couple of hours I said I'd do it. I've done seven weeks before, but that was with lovely Joan and Pete. I fobbed Clara off by telling her I was staying with Musician for a while then popping over to Loch Lomond to spend time with TocToc and the kids, then I changed the subject. It's been a long shift.

I had to tell her that I was leaving for good; couldn't justify lying. She was actually fine about it, and understood that my daughter needed me after the fire - and she knew that I was anxious to find out what was lost of my stuff that had been stored in Amazon's flat. Poor old Clara Bow; she weeps a little every now and then about who she's going to get now and will they leave her alone - because I've spent my time off (when there's no visitors) sitting at the dining table with the laptop so she won't be alone: there's not many carers will do that! I do feel sorry that I'm leaving her to begin again with strangers but am also quietly excited about a new life unfolding - I've been running around the world for four years, and it's time to go home. I've given her seven months of good care; it's not been as wonderful as the time I spent with Joan and Pete - they spoiled me for other jobs. I know that I'm not going to continue doing care-work; time to move on.