Tag Archives: November

Dear Diary

December, December

christmastreeAh…December. How excited I am to see you.

Seriously. November has got to be one of the most difficult months I’ve had this year for some weird reason. I hate that NaNoWriMo was involved, but sadly, it was one of the things that kind of made me want to scream too.

I hate that I’m complaining, but I mean how was it, that my office laptop and ID would just break down one after the other? What’s up, world, why are you picking on me all at one time?

And I hate that I’m complaining about the little things that I’m complaining about are just small petty things — little inconveniences! Why am I complaining about this when I didn’t even complain (as much as I would have) about what happened to us in the flood? Is it the perspective thing?

I don’t know. But still, I’m really glad November is over. It really felt like the month had it in for me. Today I woke up feeling strangely optimistic. I got a pretty good workout done, my laptop is now working fine and I will get an ID replacement by tomorrow. And the weather is just perfect, too.

So maybe it’s just one of those months?

I’ll post about NaNoWriMo again after the TGIO party this Saturday. And if you could spare us some time, please, can you pray that we get the venue? I’m getting zero response from our contact and it’s already on Saturday and I’m panicking already and…

Breathe. Breathe. You’ll get the venue. If you don’t, you’ll find another one.

But Lord, please give us that venue. Please? :D

Yes, prayers. We need that.

I need prayers. I hate to admit that I haven’t been praying that much again. :( I hate that the flood got me praying almost all the time but when I have recovered (I think), I stopped again. I hate this inconsistency. I hate that I am too lazy to pray when I am not too lazy to go to the gym or do other things. I hate that I am afraid to hear what God has to say to me, because I’m afraid that I might not like it. Talk about being disconnected. What I hate the most is that I seem to be getting used to this kind of lifestyle, the one that isn’t rooted in prayer. :(

I can see how messed up my life has been in the past month, all of a sudden.

So December, I really am excited for you. Maybe this month I can take it slow (sort of) and focus on the things that are important. Like rebuilding my spiritual life and my prayer time. And spending time with family and friends. Going on vacation (Coron in two weeks! I need to shop — but no Dansko for now, I don’t think I can bring that to the beach!). And taking care of myself. And enjoying Christmas.

Maybe this month I’ll find a way to appreciate 2009. But that’s for another post.

ETA: Okay, I just realized that I don’t know why I added that Charlie Brown Christmas tree image. I guess I just want to have a picture in this post. Which reminds me — I resume designing next year. Wish me luck. :)

Dear Diary

Month's End

This time last year, I was busy with work and was trying to cope with my being on night shift. This time last year too, I was struggling to reach 50k for NaNoWriMo. This year, I’m on day shift, trying to cope with all the deliverables at work, and mellowing down from NaNoWriMo after reaching the finish line seven days early.

Right now I’m trying to think of the things to do in the last month of 2008 other than go Christmas shopping. Like:

  • Finish all due rakets (two!)
  • Upgrade my WordPress and create a new layout (musn’t forget this!)
  • Go to the dentist (I’m overdue)
  • Go shopping (I’m in need of clothes, seriously)
  • Clean my room (long overdue too)
  • Meet up with friends I haven’t seen for a long time

I know there’s more, but I just can’t think of them yet. I have a lot of things to do at work too, and December’s a short month (we’ll be off by the 24th, and will be back by January 2), so everything must be finished early. So. Many. Things.

Ah yes I’m stressing myself out again.

I was about to post something about NaNo’s end, but I’ll reserve that on the 30th. Now I’ll go back to my reading — nothing like good and comfortable home lighting to be in the mood for reading. :)

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear Diary

So Ends Crazy November

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November has indeed been crazy, but let me just say: IT’S (ALMOST) OVER!

My posts for this blog has been considerably few for this month, and I blame it all on National Novel Writing Month. Writing a 50,000 word novel in a month is no joke, and this year it’s hard because I’m not so in love with my story as I used to the past years. Then again, my past three novels have self-insertions in it, and most of the other charaters are based on the people around me, so it’s easy to write. This year, there’s no self-insertion as the characters are based on mostly my imagination, not on other people I know (So teammates, no one is in the novel this year. Maybe next year?), though my friends and I made a cameo (Heh. That’s blatant self-insertion!).

NaNoWriMo 2007 winner!Oh yeah, I reached 50,121 words today, and once I saw my word count was enough, I stopped writing and I intend to bury that novel in Aslan until I can look at it again in the face. It’s not that I do not like my novel this year — I do. I just don’t like the way I wrote it. I feel like I lost my writing skills in the middle of the month, and you would not believe the amount of word padding I did in this novel just so I can get to my word count. Bah. Quantity over quality. I’ll get back to it when I feel like it. David and Marianne can wait (and oh yeah, I scrapped the entire Marianne recovering from drug rehab thing…it’s to heavy to write). Right now, let me rest and start making a dent on my long overdue reading list. Pride and Prejudice, here I come!

The next crazy thing that’s about to end together with this month is my first time as night shift for work. Hay, finally! Okay, I admit that I might have complained a bit about my being night shift but I did shut up in the middle of the month and managed being on night shift quite well. It was interesting to see so many people on our floor and to see how many things I can finish doing at night. I admit that I wrote a lot for NaNo during my shift, when I’m out of things to do. The only thing that made this month’s shift crazy is that we have this really demanding client, plus all our extracurricular activities that we all said yes to. O_o; Okay, it was a nice kind of busy, but it kept me too much on my toes that now, I just want to relax. And do the normal work we used to do.

Today’s my last day of night shift for this year (since tomorrow we’ll be on holiday), and come Monday, I am a happy morning person again. :) Yay. Will I go on night shift again or try mid-shift next time? It would depend on the need, actually. See, being on night shift has really nice financial perks. :> But let’s see how it goes. I’m not even sure when my next schedule is. :P

Hopefully the craziness with work especially this particular client would be over by today, just so it’s some kind of a clean slate by Monday. :)

So it’s almost December! My tentative list of things to do for December are:

  • Get that Dreamhost hosting plan and start transferring my files.
  • Change domain name registrars.
  • Make a new layout.
  • Start putting more effort on Mission: Sydney
  • Organize NaNoWriMo Thank God it’s Over (TGIO) meet up.
  • Christmas shopping!
  • Christmas parties (first one on Saturday for work)
  • Read, read, read!

And now I shall go to work. Later I shall post about something serious, and Enchanted ♥ ♥ ♥ . Keep safe, everyone. :)

Randomnities, Say Cheese!

Thursday Thirteen # 12: My November

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I haven’t played Thursday Thirteen for the entire month because of NaNoWriMo. On this last Thursday of the month, I’m back! And because I didn’t blog as much for the past month, here’s a recap of November in my twelfth Thursday Thirteen.

Thursday Thirteen # 12
Thirteen Things about my November 2006

  1. Obviously, National Novel Writing Month! I was kind of nervous about how I’m going to squeeze in NaNo writing for this month because of work, but thank God for giving me time to write everyday!
  2. More on NaNoWriMo: I had somewhat of a hard time writing my novel at the start because I felt like my story was kind of boring. I got out of it eventually…and now I’m really psyched about what I’m writing. I really think there’s a story there somewhere. :)
  3. And again, more on NaNo: I reached my word count goal earlier than last year! Amazing. :)
  4. Marvs arrived from the US and got me books. :) Haha. I now have: A Delirious Summer and Lost in Rooville by Ray Blackston and What a Girl Wants and She’s Out of Control by Kristin Billerbeck. Thanks, Marvs!
  5. Starbucks planner mania! Every year, Starbucks Philippines has a promo/charity thing where you have to collect 21 stickers (1 sticker = 1 drink except for fruit juices and bottled water). 9 stickers for special/Christmas drinks and 11 stickers for the regular drinks. When you complete it, you get the planner for next year, plus a donation in your name to the Spark Hope foundation. :) I have six more stickers to go! :)
    Starbucks Planner!
  6. HILLSONG UNITED IN MANILA. Need I say more? :)
    Wohoo!
  7. We finally got DSL! :) As of now, I am typing this in my room, using our WiFi Internet. How cool is that? Finally, I can download lots more stuff with this Internet speed! :))
  8. Because of the new Internet connection, I fixed my room. See before and after pictures:
    room - before and after
    Okay, so you can’t really see the bed, but the table is the more important part. now if only I could get the sofa bed out, and then put a bookshelf there for my favorite books!
  9. So much work to do all of a sudden! My gosh. I know I should expect this, but the stress level is just so high, y’know? I’ve never been this stressed since I graduated from college…
  10. …but amidst all these stress from work, I have one important lesson for me this month: Be still. God is in control. :)
  11. Another important lesson: God doesn’t hold my sin against me. He has forgiven me, and He loves me like I am the only one to be loved. How amazing is that?
  12. My first thirteenth month pay. Hmmm. Not that big, but then again, it’s okay. :)
  13. And finally, my November is ending with a supertyphoon on the way. :( I’m praying it would change its course fully and NOT hit Metro Manila anymore. And we have a long weekend ahead too. Please Lord?…uh-oh the rain is here. Better get my electronics charged already.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!