Day Three

Oof! I got a decent head start on Sunday, and I wrote as much as I could yesterday during lunch, but when I got home, I collapsed on the couch and fell asleep almost immediatly. NaNoWriMo falls in the worst possible month for me stress-wise. I'm an academic advisor at a university and November is when we advise students for the spring semester. I've only been doing this job over a year and this is the first time I've had to deal with seniors about to get their degrees, so I'm encountering tons of unique problems and they are (quite frankly) stressing me out!

But enough wah, wahing: I did write some yesterday (about 1000 words) and I managed to eek out around 800 words today when I found a spare moment. My intent is to go home (after going to an insurance appointment after work--yay! we found a company to go with!) and eat a quick dinner, then disappear into my "writing room."

I put that in quotes because I'm writing at Salt's old desk that she left at the house after she and Pepper moved out into their new house (gotta love living in the "interim house"), which is surrounded by mountains of mine and Wino's boxes (the "kitchen" boxes bump me in the elbow as I type, no kidding). It's not the most ideal situation, but it has to do for this year.

Next year though...oh next year. I will have my lovely tech center in the hall with a recessed light and a window out to the porch. I will be surounded by our wonderful new home and have an actual place to write that is mine alone. *Sigh* The countdown is 41 days until we get the keys, and I'm soooo ready!

Day One

I had a rough start at midnight, but with help from the FresNoWriMo write-in this afternoon I managed to get over 3500 words logged today! Here's hoping that I keep up this momentum!

Whew!

Ok, so we've only had insurance drama with that one company; luckily we've had no issues with any other insurance place we've tried. Obviously that company wasn't right for us, so let them do what they do in peace, whatever (that and their rates are outlandish!).

On a more postive note: there are talks of a FresNoWriMo kick-off party tomorrow night. I'm pretty excited to be more involved with write-ins this year. I was too shy to attend many in years past, but I've come to realize that support from fellow writers is key when taking on this challenge. I've yet to convince anyone in my immediate circle to join me, but I do know of at least one friend who decided to join WriMo this year after I posted it on Facebook, hopefully that'll provide some well needed support/friendly competition for me to actually reach 50K this year.

Planning has virtually stopped on my novel. I'm afraid to fall out of interest if I continue much longer. I need to keep my creative juices ripe for Nov. 1. I planned about 7 chapters so that should be enough to get me rolling and I'll improvise the rest as I go.

I just noticed that my blog has gotten rather boring. My usual snappy quips flew out the window once October started (my excuse is the same as the previous paragraph--I'm saving my creative juices). Buh! If you're looking for funny during the month of November, I highly recommend the webcomic Sheldon. It's a good family friendly comic (but still edgy and relevant for adults) by the brilliant Dave Kellett. Or if you're on the look out for something "adult" I recommend Keith and the Girl a daily comedy podcast. Be warned though, this podcast can be very explicit and crude, not for the faint of heart.

Quotes Aplenty

On a brief non-NaNoWriMo rant I must express my frustration at being part of an unmarried couple trying to do anything in this world! We buy a house: we have to jump through hoops to do so; we are looked down upon; we are sneered at. We go to get insurance for said house (including car insurance on the same policy, 'cause why not?! You'll get discounts): "oh ma'am, we can't do that, our legal team would never approve that policy." WTF!!!! We've been in a freakin' committed relationship for going on 4 1/2 years, some marriages don't even last that long!!! So we choose not to follow the "norm" and decide to skip a few steps...so what?! I just don't get why our society loves to favor the married.

We're Getting Close Folks!

I just checked my calendar and it says 12 days until NaNoWriMo '09 begins! Yipee! I've been working hard on my outline notecards. It stalled for a bit because I had my wisdom teeth yanked out (that's how it felt anyway), and a rather painful recovery--stupid crappy teeth!

I'm all awash in this amazing excited feeling this year. It's almost November, which is time to start writing like a maniac, and we found out when our new house will be finished (before the winter holidays--which was what I had been hoping for). I'm all tingly to get this month started because the sooner NaNoWriMo is over, the sooner I can move into my new house! I'm still nervous that my anticipation of the house will overrule my drive for WriMo....but maybe all the pent up energy I'll have can be put to good use....we'll see :)

My plot this year is pretty intriguing....I'm excited to see where it leads...my MC wakes up in a mental institution with no idea how she got there, and the story is from her POV and her psychiatrist's as they both deal with what life has dealt them. There is a lot that can happen and a lot of twists I can take the plot so I'm really, really hoping for my first win this year.

As with last year, the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is this coming weekend. A fitting way for me to remember my sister, before I try to forget and just write. I love the race, and we have a huge team this year....almost 20! It's great! I always get all choked up when the starting shot is fired, and I look around at all the people, there for the same reason. All of whom have their own story, or know someone else's. It's moving, really moving.

My NaNo Eve is going to be spent in my kitty costume passing out candy to the neighborhood kids. I'm so pumped that this year we're actually in a real house (our interim place until ours is finished) so we will get trick-or-treaters. I love passing out candy. Then (and this was someone's tradition from on the forums) I will take a shower as it gets closer to midnight...in hopes of waking myself up some. I will watch SNL with the gang, start chugging my Diet Mountain Dew, and pray to stay awake to start my novel at 12:00am Nov. 1. Plus I'd like to take advantage of the return to normal time from Daylight Savings Time...I'm totally not a night owl, but the crew is there for support (even if they did all bail on me last year in favor of sleep!).

Happy planning to all of the NaNo-ers out there!

Fading Summer

Ah, as summer fades I find myself rejoycing! This is the last day of heat and I'm jumping for joy.

For the time being we have a lovely backyard with lots of trees and grass and shrubbery and I'm excited as can be to watch those trees drop their leaves and to get that smell of Fall in the air.

Can you tell I hate summer? I would much rather have a rainy overcast day to a sunny one (even if the temperature isn't "surface of the sun"). Sadly, I have chosen to settle where we get few rainy days and mostly sunny days...

I'm also very excited for this year's NaNoWriMo. I've got my plot starter stirring away in my mind. And with just over a month until the starting shot is fired I'm pumped! We got moved in to our temp housing and I'm ready to do two things: whip out my sewing machine and work on my quilts; and start writing this years novel!

On the sad news front I am missing out on one of my dearest obsessions. You see: my car and my iPod have decided not to play nice. Ever since the latest update to the iPod Touch (the new iPhone 3.0 software) they have become no longer compatible. This leaves me with an empty spot in my commute where Keith and the Girl used to sit. I really miss them...I have come up with a temp solution, however, (until I collect enough funds to buy myself an iPod Classic) which is to plug in a headphone into one ear. I figure people with Bluetooth do it all the time, why not my iPod?! It is nicer, though, to have the integrated technology so that if I get a phone call the car will automatically pause my iPod....but hopefully one day I can get that working again. *Sigh*

4 Months away

So, I realized that it's time to start thinking about NaNoWriMo '09. It's only 4 months out and I have no ideas for plot, characters or anything that needs to go into writing a novel. My mind is drawing a big fat blank. I've started WriMo in this situation before, but last year when I actually had ideas I did much better, I even made it almost half way.

Hmmm, I need something to inspire me....but what?!

Calm after the storm

Sigh....that was me just taking a deep breath and letting the weight of the last few months drift away from my sore shoulders. Both weddings are now complete, the brides and grooms are happy and content (and also de-stressing).

I can now focus on more important things...like The Sims 3 (being released tomorrow...I'm about to bounce out of my chair I'm so excited) and my impending vacation to the coast. Ah, I can feel the cool weather, see the beautiful fog, smell the ocean, hear the birds...and let's not forget taste the yummy Mexican food & pasta (two of my favorite places to go to eat). I think I've covered all the senses!

Ta-ta for now, I will be lost in Sunset Valley starting tomorrow when I get home from work ;)

Wasting Time with The Sims

Another little known fact about me: I am obsessed with The Sims! I own both generations with a complete set of expansion packs for each generation.

Why do I bring this up? you ask...well on June 2 The Sims 3 gets released, and I'm jumping for joy. Guess what my evenings are going to be spent doing (after cleaning of course!). In general I'm a bit of a video game nerd anyway, but I've been hooked on the Sims titles since my aunt bought me the little known title "SimAnt" nearly 20 years ago. I still have it on my ancient Apple, and whenever I go home I bust out a game of SimAnt and Oregon Trail.

When I was younger I was socially awkward, and didn't make friends easily. When the Sims originally came out it was a way for me to live vicariously through them. After that point I just couldn't stop, so when The Sims 2 came out, I had to get it, it was revolutionary in is own right. But now, NOW--oh boy, I'm like a kid at Christmas, who was just told that not only do I get the bike I wanted, but I also get a pony and the Barbie Dream House. June 2 cannot get here fast enough for me, I spend all of my spare time on the Sims 2 forums looking at all the latest rumors, pictures, video clips, interviews, and information...I have a disease, but it's a disease I like, lol!

My Voluptuous Lips and My Messy Place

I did a good job keeping the sun off my skin on Saturday, the only body part that was out of my control were my lips...yesterday they were all swollen up and I looked like Angelina Jolie. They're still pretty tender, but I'm keeping them doused with "Softlips."

So, with commencement now 2 days behind me, and Salt and Pepper's wedding 5 days ahead, I'm wondering how I'm going to spend the rest of my summer. Sure I've got more than enough to think about right now, but I need a plan and I need to stick with it.

My goal is to clean my apartment. I inherited (from who I'm not sure) the messy gene. I can't keep my place clean for the life of me. Mostly it has to do with the fact that I could care less about my apartment, it isn't "home" to me, and I'm only there a few days a week. It's funny because Wino is the cleanest male I have ever met, and at first my messiness was "endearing,"--a real quote I'm not kidding--now I know it gets on his nerves.

I've always hated that about myself, I have a strange inability to keep things tidy. I think it's because I'm a pack rat. Or anyway I used to be, since I've met Wino, I've gotten a lot better at saying "no" and tossing things in the trash. I need to get rid of all the junk that I don't use. But it's still hard to go through the mounds of boxes that I have still not unpacked since moving out of my parents house (4 years ago today actually).

The only way to do it is alone. I feel guilty beyond belief when Wino steps up to the plate to help me clean...it's not his mess. I think I will start spending an hour at my house each night and work on an area. I really want to have virtually nothing but furniture and the essentials to live left in my home when I'm done. That much less to move out when I do decide to get a new place.

So, that said, I need accountability: that's where by blog comes in as useful again. I'm going to make myself report every night how much cleaning I got done. If I slack there will be public humiliation involved! Sigh, the things I do to keep myself in check...

Getting home is hard to do

You know those horrible nightmares we all have where you're stuck in some situation and can't get out of it? Mine is always my childhood self riding the bus home from school, when the bus stops at my house I can't move until the driver starts to pull away, then he stops, and I'm stuck again, this goes on until I finally wake myself up.

My point is that I had one of those frustrating days yesterday where I just couldn't seem to make it home. The cosmos was teaming up to prevent me from relaxing on the couch! It started out that I had to stay late at work to deliver a survey to a late class. That delayed my departure a half hour. I then had to make an emergency trip to Costco after realizing that I had no stockpile of breakfasts or lunches. I get off the freeway, and am no farther than a block, when the railroad crossing arms start coming down. Naturally the extremely long train was slowing down to a crawl, so that a second (and thankfully not so long) train could pass in the opposite direction. This took another 15 minutes. I finally pull into Costco, proceed to gather my few groceries and inevitably get into the line where the checker is moving so slow he could be unscanning the items!

My time in line was made even better by a child of no more than 4 standing in the cart next to me screaming her head off. The parents were just staring at said child with their mouths hanging open. I prayed to God to give me strength and not commit a justifiable homicide. Upon reaching the checker (10 minutes later), I notice a to do coming from the line where the kid is. A few looks of disgust from the Costco checkers, and the puddle coming from under the kiddo, told me that she had just sat down in the cart and peed herself. The parents were standing by looking not the least bit embarrassed.

Only one of two scenarios could have caused this situation: 1) the kid had been screaming her head off because she had to pee, yet the parents refused to take her to the restroom and told her to hold it; or 2) the kid threw a temper tantrum and decided to show them all by peeing herself. Either way, I'm disgusted.

I ran to my car, anxious to get away. Once I get home, I'm pulling the junk out of the trunk (sorry, just had to do that! :) ) and drop a heavy container of Lean Pockets (the Costco sized 12 pack) on my pinky toe. I stifled an urge to scream an expletive and limp up the stairs.

I found, after starting down for my next trip, that I heard a familiar bird call.....coming from none other than....The Birds (cue Psycho music). The Birds and I have had a hate-hate relationship since I was around 12. The Birds are actually cliff swallows who invade every spring. They build their nests out of mud in the eves of any structure they can find. They particularly enjoyed our home, and they loved attacking us as we ran from the garage to the back door to safety. So I have come to despise these birds.

Well, they've now moved into my apartment complex, and I'm considering making my exit as quickly as possible. I don't need to be hassled any more than necessary when I get home!

Busy Busy Bee

It is now t-minus 28 days until Salt and Pepper's wedding. Then another 8 days until my cousin's wedding. What will I be doing with my weekends from here on out, you ask...well, that's simple: too many things to count and still be sane.

1) This weekend, shopping with my mom and aunt for clothes/shoes/and anything else our hearts desire.
2) Next weekend, Salt's bridal shower with family
3) Weekend of the 9th, Salt's bachelorette party/Pure Romance Party. Guaranteed to be a good time, I want to see all her friends start squirming when the Pure Romance ladies bring out "the big guns" Lol. After that we're all headed out on the town.
4) Weekend of the 16th. Commencement-time, complete with Michelle Obama speaking, I'm volunteering. I really must remember sun screen, don't want to be looking all red for the first wedding, which brings me to,
5)Weekend of the 23rd--Wedding #1--I'm doing a reading. It's at a winery, so the wine will be a-flowin.' Yesterday I asked Wino if he's been practicing dancing, he laughed at me. I told him he has to dance with me at least once at each wedding.
6) Weekend of the 30th--Wedding #2--I'm handing out the favors and manning the guest book. It's going to take some strong arming, because some people might get unruly. If anyone tears my dress...its on!

Speaking of: here's my dress. That's right biotches: as seen in High School Musical 3. Boo yah! Mine is the green version of the dress. I had no idea when I bought it that it was in HSM, I was half tempted to return it, but David's Bridal has a strict "no returns" policy. So I will wear the dress, but only because I look damn good in it!

Allergies Abound

So everyone has had a long week right? The kind of week that just crawls by, making you feel down and desolate. Guh, I hate those kind of weeks. Add on top of that the fact that a strong (and I do mean strong) wind blew through the area last weekend and kicked up all sorts of allergies in my system.

I've been spending my days dealing with a nasty sore throat, runny nose and general fatigue. By night I take a Claritin, and sleep like I haven't slept in months. I wake up feeling like crap and begin the cycle again. Joy.

My goal for this weekend is to do away with these allergies that have taken away my feeling of goodness. I will dip them in cement and then toss them to the bottom of...well, of something. There aren't many places with water around here. Perhaps I'll just flush them down the toilet. But alas, I fear they will come back, the wind is a-blowin' out there as we speak and the little buggers are waiting to invade again. Curse you San Joaquin Valley with your bad air and dustiness!

Sleep Walkin' in the USA

So, something few people know about me: I sleep walk when I'm stressed. Actually, it's not so much sleep walking, usually I wake up mid-dream and think it is still going on and real. I'm physically awake most times, my brain just takes a while to wake up. The odd thing is that I'm conscious for most of my wanderings.

This week has been particularly stressful due to several family emergencies, one for Wino and one for myself. Wino has left the state to attend to said emergencies, and I'm at home tending to my own and to his flat and the kitties. I have been feeling pretty alone without him around, and I've been in a funk of my own creation since before he left. As a result I've been sleep walking. I had my first experience of this where I wasn't actually awake, and didn't realize I had wandered until I woke up the next morning. It was strange and new territory for me.

Saturday cannot get here sooner.

Sewing with the Devil

So I realized that I haven't update my ever-so-witty blog of late. Well, there's a simple reason for that. There's not been much to be witty about. Work is work (and incredibly slow of late) life is life, and keeps chugging along.
Most exciting news I have is that I am attempting to be domesticated. I'm taking a sewing class on Saturday, and I'm getting to know my new sewing machine, now aptly named El Diablo.
See, me and El Diablo got into an argument last night over a spare part that I thought should be applicable to any of the other footy thing-a-ma-jigs. So after swearing at him for a few minutes, and frightening Wino with my psychotic rants and throwing the spare part onto the kitchen table, I finally gave up, and began to pack El Diablo into the new shiny (and now undeserved) case I had purchased. Upon clearing off the table, I happened across the instructions for said spare part, and sure enough, I was right!
El Diablo and I are now on friendly terms, I wouldn't say we're BFFs, but I am willing to pick up where I left off last night, and try to figure out how to sew a straight line before Saturday when I get to make a pair of lounge pants. I'm interested to see how these pants will fare once Saturday is over...