Phew!

It's been a heck of a week again.

Wednesday I was due in at college for some more exam invigilating. There are a few exams during November so I get the chance to go in for a day or two. My timetable said I was needed for a 1.15pm start but I got a call from the administrator just after nine in the morning asking why I wasn't there. I thought I had read my timetable correctly but she asked me to get there as soon as possible as they were short staffed. I shut the computer down, changed into cycling gear and locked the house. I went down to the changing room as soon as I arrived and decided not to have a shower but to get changed and dash straight up to the exams office. When I got in (out of breath and red in the face) she was most apologetic as the top half of the timetable had somehow been deleted before it was e-mailed out and several others hadn't turned up either. So it was a hectic day but at least it wasn't my fault. I hate it if I let people down.

In the evening it was Nottingham Writers' Club manuscript of the year competition where we take in our little stories of 250 words max and have them read out anonymously by a team of readers. We then all vote for our favourite. I was one of the readers and anxious to do my best so that each entry was presented at its best. The theme was 'stormy weather' and it was fascinating for the number of different ways this was approached. Some entries used it as an analogy for stormy relationships. Others used it in the conventional sense with rain and winds causing danger to shipping and flight delays. I didn't win but I still got something out of the effort and from hearing the other entries.

Thursday morning I logged in to find I hadn't won Helen Yendall's mini saga competition either. Having read the short listed entries I could understand why. You can read the top five stories on her blog here. Amongst them is fellow blogger Patsy who came second.

Thursday afternoon I received an e-mail from Jill Finlay at The Weekly News to say that one of the two stories I had submitted had been accepted. Yippee!