Drunken Owls and Other Delights

I've said this in the past, but one of the biggest things I'd noticed when we moved out here to California is how blessed bright it can get on a sunny day! I know it's partly because we're closer to the equator (sort of) but we're also on the coast so there's less particulate in the air (far less than woodsy/pollen-y New England, at any rate). We were walking around the botanical garden and the Inner Sunset earlier and I couldn't help but squint and shade my eyes half the time. Lovely day, however! We got a few miles' worth of walking in, and now we're lazing around the house with the windows open. And yes, I will say one more time that I am extremely happy that we now live in a place with better windows where we can pop them open without a) one of them popping out or sliding askew, or b) one of the cats escaping through it.

Sunday is of course chore day, so the laundry is going, I've paid off a few bills, and taken out the trash. Oh, and I've also bought tickets to The Nutcracker at SF Ballet, which we've been going to nearly every single year since we've moved here! I of course still need to get my daily words done, so I'll do that a little bit later.

Meanwhile, my work schedule this coming week is kind of weird in that I once again don't have that many hours, and what hours I do have are all on the back end of the week, so I have the next several days off. WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF, I TELL YOU. Well, one is to maybe get myself to a dentist as one of my fillings fell out (boo!) and I'm probably far past due for a cleaning. I could go to the one I used to go to, but I've chosen a closer office this time, and one that I think might assist in some of my other dental work I've been putting off for far too long. [Not to worry, I won't go into details. But I do have a health-based account that was set up with my Former Day Job that I've barely touched, so perhaps I can use some of it to soften the financial blow. We shall see.]

Anyhoo! Not going to stress too much these next few days and instead try to get some major writing work done!


Hope everyone has a good week ahead!

Today's our last day of vacation, and I'm already looking forward to getting back into the swing of things come tomorrow. As much as I've enjoyed the mental and physical slowdown to recharge my batteries, I'm more than ready to get moving again. These days off helped me rethink the way I approach my Current Day Job day. Aside from the stressful moments -- which to be honest aren't even close to unhealthy as the bank job's were -- I truly enjoy being there. As I've said in the past, my one concern as of late was wasting so much time on social media during my breaks, and wanting to break that habit once and for all.

There are different ways I can approach it, and one I'm planning to do is the one I used to get myself to quit smoking ages ago: 'let's see how long I can go without doing [x]'. Something as simple as reverse psychology works for me on occasion, so why not try it here? Let's see how long I can go without screwing around on my phone. Let's step outside for a few minutes. Let's bring in one of my Publisher's Weeklys that I'm desperately falling behind on and read that instead. Whatever works.

I'm also happy that this week's upcoming schedule is one I can handle easily. Opening tomorrow, followed by two midshifts (tiring but not exactly stressful if I play them right), followed by a day off, and ending the week with two bookkeeper-opens. I do like a steady schedule instead of a wonky one, so I'm hoping that this one becomes the norm, or at least close to it. [Now, I'm expecting the coworker who broke his foot to be returning sometime this month which may relieve me of one of the midshifts, but we'll see.] 

In the meantime, it's Sunday which means it's also laundry day and PC cleaning day, so that's pretty much the only other things I need to do.





Hope everyone has a good week ahead!

Got my coffee, got the Giants/49ers game on the TV, got my computer up to do some writing...no pressing errands, no other plans for today...things are good. :)

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Had an odd dream this morning. I dreamed that I was dreaming about one of those stunt-car-crash shows and watching how some kids in the audience were laughing their asses off, even though the crashed cars were sliding perilousl close to them. When I woke up in the dream I was at my parents' house and explaining the dream to my sister, when I was informed by my dad that I had to go out and shovel. I looked out the kitchen window and saw that there was a good couple of inches of snow outside.

When I woke up for real, I realized the window was still open and it was a bit chilly outside, and that may have influenced the dream about it being cold and snowy.

My brain is weird sometimes.

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The last two fingers on my right hand are sore, but I'm not entirely sure why. I may have banged them on something and forgotten what...it feels like the aftermath of having whacked them against a door jamb or something. Weird. Maybe I'm getting arthritis. :p

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It came a bit late, but I realized where I was going wrong with Chapter 6 of CFMWH. I was taking the easy, boring route with a storyline, so I threw a few wrenches in there. Also, just moments before I powered down for the night, I quickly typed out some prompts of the chapter's storyline that I can work off of, and they work SO much better. I think that was also the problem I was having--I was trying to plot out the entire chapter without making those quick notes first, and it was taking three times as long. I think if I resort to these prompts, it could work better and quicker.

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Note to self: time to charge up the Dana again. I may need to use it again pretty soon.

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Is it bad that I want to stay in my jammies (and socks that Emm made me) for most of the morning and just relax? Yes, I thought so too. ;)

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Best Political Quote EVAR:

Powell also spent several moments discussing the false rumors that Obama is a Muslim, saying he was upset he had even heard the rumors from senior Republicans.

"What if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country?" he asked. "The answer is no."

(yoinked from a WaPo article, quoting this morning's Obama endorsement on Meet the Press.)

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So...how's the weekend been for you?