Roadtrip

Last Friday, two of my colleagues and I did the inaugural PWE (Prof Writing and Editing) roadtrip to Castlemaine to buy soap. When I told my husband I was going on a two-hour drive to buy soap, he looked at me as if I'd gone slightly loony. Well, perhaps not slightly!

My boss had been talking about this divine soap for ages, and the three of us (her included) talked about putting in a big mail order, but then it was going to be too big, and in any case we thought it might be fun to all go together. And it was!

We talked work all the way up, of course, and had a bit of a singalong to "O Fortuna" on the way back. Well, there were some actions and stuff from one of us, but the rest of us didn't sing! And we bought soap. Oh, and books, but that goes without saying. Every country town has to have a bookshop, yes?

The soap shop was ... wow! So many colours and fragrances. And unfortunately so much sneezing on my part! Didn't stop me from buying though, and above is my haul -- minus one soap I gave to my mother, but it was one I had accidentally doubled up on. My one regret is that I couldn't get the vibrant blue-and-purple one I'd been given as a prezzie last birthday. Oh, but I lie: there is one other regret, and it's a writerly thing. As two of us sat outside the shop while the third member finalised her purchases, I couldn't help thinking about how much writing time I'd given up -- even though I was enjoying the trip. There's always that tinge of guilt -- the what-if-I'd-stayed-at-home-and... But that just shows that the writing (or in this case editing) is going well!

Now, I have them (back in the bag) sitting next to my novel on the kitchen table, and periodically I pause my work to have a smell of one or two or three of them. Seriously, I am in love with soap. My other fetishes are towels and coloured paper (stationery in general, really), but now I have added soap to the list. Oh, and books are on that list too, of course, but that goes without saying!