A nephew, a cold, an essay and a journey

It's been quite a week. Last Friday I became an auntie - my sister had a tiny little boy at 31 weeks.  Both are doing okay.  There is a picture above of the little fellow.

I was only able to meet him yesterday as I was really sick with bronchitis, which was frustrating. I'm now attempting to pack a bag and write most of an essay before heading off the the ALIA LibTech Conference in Perth, while playing scrabble on my phone with a friend who is writing a major report.

My partner now has a serious manflu, which is quite dramatic and all-encompassing, so I'm going to have to stop everything soon and get him some medicine. 

I must be feeling better today, as I'm multitasking again, which is comforting.  The whole week with the only doing one thing at once, and then barely doing the one thing, was a bit disconcerting.

Just before I got sick again (although throughout the month of August it was hard to tell where one illness stopped and another began), my partner and i were both home, making spaghetti, drinking red wine, and we ended up writing a whole song before dinner.  I live for these moments... I love that thing I heard Tom Waits say in an interview when someone asked him in an interview what came first, the music or the lyrics, and he replied, "the phone call". (Sorry, I have no idea when he said it).