Christmas shopping woes

Sorry about the huge gap between posts. NaNoWriMo is eating my soul. I'm at something like 31,903 words, which is pretty great. My story hasn't plunged into adventure quite yet, but I'm working on it. I think I'll throw a curve ball in tomorrow to make things interesting.

So I'm having a minor dilemma with Christmas shopping. I know it's early yet, but I like to get my shopping done ahead of time so that I don't have to go to the mall more than I need to. I'll probably have to go to the mall to shop for my mom, but that'll be it, I think. I already have my dad's present (I won't say what it is, just in case he comes across my blog by accident), so that's one person down.

I've been trying to read Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins, but I'm still at the prologue :p My dogs seem to interrupt my reading, which is a bummer. I also want to try to get Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince finished, because I want to be able to see the second part of Deathly Hallows when it comes out. Finishing Half-Blood Prince and reading all of Deathly Hallows might be a bit of a stretch, but it's a challenge I'm willing to take. I think I'll make it a goal for the new year.

I'm getting up early tomorrow to go to the Michaels 20% off entire purchase sale tomorrow. I have to get up early because it's only a four-hour sale. I don't know if I'll get anything (I really don't need yarn :p), but I might look at the clearance yarns to see if there's anything I like. Or I could pick up some Vanna's Choice to make a hat or a pair of Ysolda Teague's Lace-Up Opera Gloves.

I also want to make a Doctor Who scarf (you know, the one Tom Baker wore), but I have to do my research on what yarn to use. I think that'll be another goal for 2011: knit a Doctor Who scarf.

So that's what's going on right now. I will try to post sometime soon, but it may be a long break between posts while I'm doing NaNo. Later!

Halloween, NaNoWriMo, and other happenings.

Wow, I haven't posted in ages :p I never did write a Halloween music post. Sorry! I'll try to remember to post Halloween songs next year.

First, I'll write about Halloween.

My Halloween was a little different from last year, because I went to a coffee shop in the afternoon for the local NaNoWriMo kick-off party. I hadn't seen some of the local NaNo'ers in two years, so it was cool to see them again; and a lot of the folks at the party were unfamiliar to me. I brought my handknit eyepatch with me, but it was a pain to wear because I made the patch part a little bit big. I had a lot of fun at the party, and came home with an awesome party bag (with chocolate in it!).

We had a timer set up to change channels to America's Funniest Home Videos that night, so I didn't get to put on Rocky Horror at 7:00 on Treasure HD. I put it on halfway through, at the 'Touch-a Touch Me' scene, but then my dad changed the channel and pretty much hogged the TV for the rest of the night, so I couldn't put my Rocky Horror DVD in :( I did listen to the soundtrack later that night, though, and I did the Time Warp :D

We didn't get a lot of trick-or-treaters - about 42, I think, was our final count. One of the kids that came to our door was adorable - she got her fairy wing caught on our screen door, and said, "My wing is caught AGAIN! It keeps getting caught on things!" It was really cute :)

The only problem with having very few trick-or-treaters is that we have a LOT of Tootsie Rolls leftover. I'm pretty sure I'm going to OD on Tootsie Rolls pretty soon.

And now, for NaNoWriMo.

NaNoWriMo (short for National Novel Writing Month) started on a Monday this year, and a lot of people on the boards felt a lot of pressure because of it. I was all right, though, because I'm not enrolled in school right now. I have been neglecting my GED work, though :p I started out with a pretty good word count, and now I'm at 11,904 words. Needless to say, I'm pretty proud of myself :)

I really like how my novel is going so far. Last year I wasn't too happy with my novel - it felt a bit like a silly soap opera. I really liked how my novel from two years ago turned out, though. I totally didn't know what I was doing with my idea, and it kinda morphed into an urban fantasy. My novel for this year is a werewolf urban fantasy, which I find is easier to write than vampire urban fantasy because there's less lore to memorize.

And now, Other Happenings.

Aside from NaNoWriMo, not a lot has happened. My sister came up to visit, and my brother and his girlfriend came up as well, and we ordered Chinese take-out for dinner. We had fun chatting about cats and other stuff, and we had fun teasing Steph (my brother's girlfriend) about going back for seconds, because she's really tiny :p

That's all, folks. I'll try to post regularly, but I might not post a lot because NaNoWriMo takes up a lot of time.

Maybe I'll be a pirate.

I don't have a proper Halloween costume, but I do have a hand-knit eyepatch that I made for a House Cup assignment. I think I'll wear it tomorrow.

I wore it for a bit when I went to see Grandma at the nursing home today. We went downstairs for their Halloween happy hour, and I drank 'Pumpkin Guts' (a non-alcoholic peach drink) and snacked on cheese puffs.

I went to the periodontist's yesterday, because he has me coming in to get my teeth cleaned between my usual cleanings at the family dentist's since my dead tooth was removed. The hygienist told me to remember to floss, and we had a small conversation about Lady Gaga's meat dress and George Michael. It was interesting. I couldn't really say much in reply, considering that I was having my teeth scraped with metal instruments, but it was still interesting.

So tomorrow I'm going to the local NaNoWriMo kick-off party, and I think I'll wear my eyepatch. It shall be rockin' :) I'll probably post some Halloween videos tomorrow.

A Touch of Narcolepsy

Okay, so technically I don't have narcolepsy, but I'm quite tired today. There are two possible reasons for this: 1) I took an Aleve last night to relieve a sore shoulder, or 2) the weather went from average October weather to crazy winds. I'm thinking it might be due to the wind, because I sometimes feel tired or get headaches from the weather changing.

I still managed to get things done despite my tiredness, though. I did a couple of exercises in my GED book, read a little bit of my library book, went over some stuff in my Japanese book to refresh my memory, and did some laundry.

That's all for now. I probably shouldn't blog when I'm this tired :p

Turkey and 'taters and books, oh my!

I guess I should recap a little...

Thanksgiving (Canadian Thanksgiving, that is) actually went well, despite the fact that Dad and I argued and Dad left a lot of the cleaning 'til the last minute. We went to pick up Nathan (my brother) and Steph (his fiancee), and I got to meet their new cat. He is adorable :)

I didn't get to watch any Thanksgiving movies, but I can save those for the American Thanksgiving next month - I imagine one of the networks will show Home for the Holidays, which is tied in first place with Pieces of April as Favourite Thanksgiving Movie. I got to watch Planes, Trains and Automobiles though, which is my second-favourite Thanksgiving movie.

I finally spent the Chapters Indigo gift card I got for my birthday from Grandma and Grandpa. I bought Leviathan by Scott Westerfield and Eon by Alison Goodman. Mom talked me into getting The Uninvited by Tim Wynne-Jones as well, because a clerk gave us a 25% off coupon. I don't know if I'll read The Uninvited - it's a murder-mystery written for teens, but I don't know if it'll be too gory for me or not. But with the coupon, The Uninvited only put me $7 over my budget, and Dad paid the $7. So, even if I don't read it, the book wound up costing less than the regular price. And Mom will read it if I don't.

Yesterday we stopped at Len's, because I still had $5 of birthday money leftover (I used the other $5 from my birthday money to pay library fines :p). I found the Patons 'Monkey Business' booklet (which is a sock monkey booklet) there, and it only cost a little over $4 after taxes. I found it in the clearance shelf, but it turned out that the booklet was regular price and somebody had just dumped it there. But I'm not bothered, because it wasn't too bad a price, and the patterns look great :D

I just finished watching season two of Primeval, which is EPIC :) It ended with a total cliffhanger, too. Now I'm watching Survivors, which really intense. It's a series about a super-flu that wipes out 90% of the world's population and about the people who have survived it.

Late-night post

I figured that, since I'm already on the computer, I'd blog before I got distracted.

I had a good morning. I listened to the garbage truck roll down the street - trust me, it's a lot more peaceful than it sounds. It was kinda cool to listen to it come down the street from a room other than the living room. I started my library book, too: Harmonic Feedback by Tara Kelly. I think I'm gonna like it. Not sure if I can finish it in time for when it's due back to the library, but I'll try reading a bit of it every day.

After I got up and ate breakfast, I finished the essay chapter in my GED book (I start the social studies unit next) and re-read a chapter of my Japanese book. I should be back to where I was in no time (I took a break from the book and I'm out of practice).

The rest of the day wasn't as nice, as some family drama decided to invade. Lovely. I re-read a bit of The Manga Guide to Molecular Biology, though, which took my mind off the drama, but now I'm back to being stressed. I'll probably have to practice my martial arts later so that I can get my frustration out. I find that katas - patterns of stances, strikes, blocks, etc.; which are designed to be an 'imaginary battle' - are good for relieving stress. I can't remember my red-belt kata, which is annoying, but it doesn't bother me too much. I always hated that kata.

I do have something to look forward to, though. My grandparents gave me a $25 Chapters Indigo gift card for my birthday, so I'll probably be going to Indigo soon to buy a book :) I might buy Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce, but I'll browse the shelves at Indigo in case something else strikes my fancy.

I have to go to the library tomorrow, because I have an overdue DVD; and I have four things to pick up: the 2010 Griffin Prize Poetry Anthology, Canadian GED for Dummies, season two of Primeval, and a DVD called Monty Python: Almost the Truth. That makes me excited, too :)

Went to Michaels today...

...But I didn't buy anything.

It was kind of disappointing. I had $10 to spend, and nothing really jumped out at me and screamed "BUY ME!" Maybe I'll try the other Michaels.

We went to the British imports shop, too, and bought some more kebab-flavoured Pot Noodle cups. They're highly addictive :) Mom and Dad bought some chocolate for me (I can't remember what they're called, but they're chocolate-mint balls, like the Aero Bubbles), Dad got some Walkers crisps and biscuits, and Mom picked up some tea (we were running out) and Custard Cream biscuits (which I love :D).

I watched the pilot of The Big C, which I had missed when Super Channel first ran it - fortunately, they were having a marathon; so I wound up watching the first three episodes before the soccer game came on.

The soccer game was a shambles... Toronto lost to Seattle. It was a 3-2 win, which isn't too horrible, but Toronto won't make the playoffs now.

I can't remember if I already mentioned this, but I finished my Calorimetry. Now I'm focusing on my Ravenclaw scarf.