Month: October 2015

  When we were lucky enough to go to DisneyWorld, my family and I had an agreement. We weren’t going on the It’s a Small World ride. We didn’t care that it was quintessential Disney. We’d heard stories of it getting stuck, and if there’s one ride where you wouldn’t want to chance that… So we didn’t do it. A few years ago, budget cuts threatened to take my job from forty hours a week to thirty. It was decided in April—when I came back to work in July, I’d be at 30 hours a week. I was terrified. I loved my job, needed the schedule that gave me the same days off as the kid—I didn’t know how we’d survive. Life, though, went on. I had to do stuff, not hide under my bed. Music helped with that, but at my most terrified, all my songs but one stressed me out more. So I listened to that one song over and over. For weeks, I listened to Adam Lambert sing “Time for Miracles.” People would stand at my desk for one reason or another, realize they’d heard that song three times, give me a funny look and move away… Eventually I was able to expand a little bit. I made a “HALP!” playlist ten songs long—seven other songs and “Time for Miracles” three times over.

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  Oh man, sweets. I am a certifiable chocolate-holic and baked goods addict: donuts, cake, pie, brownies — if it’s baked and it tastes good, I’m there. And naturally, working in foodservice has a bit of a crappy side effect. You see, we sample stuff. Mostly pizza-related stuff like dough and pepperoni, but sometimes sweets, too. We once had a cannoli line. And once we taste tasted pies. And cakes. And…well, being that I sit all day at the office and I lead a pretty sedentary life, I’ve put on some weight. Okay. Quite a lot of weight. (In fact, the joke when I started working for this company was, “Heh, you’ll gain 25 pounds your first year here.” I thought it was a joke. Nope. It was the truth. I’ve been there for almost 15 years now….)

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Have you been anywhere remotely related to books or writing lately? A book store, a library, websites across the web, mailing lists. You’ve probably noticed a trend lately. Write a novel fast. Plan a novel in 30 days. Be ready. Nanowrimo is coming. Sometimes it is weird to see what a huge thing Nano has become. When I first did it, back in 2003, there were only a few thousand people participating. You could easily keep up with the entire forums, if you wanted to. Your friends had never heard of it, and thought writing 50,000 words in a month was crazy when you brought it up.

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It’s nearly the end of another gardening season where I live. We’re lucky enough to have a longer summer and fall than the even more northerly city where I grew up, but it does eventually come to an end. (There’s a reason Canadian Thanksgiving falls more than six weeks earlier than its American equivalent…) To be honest, I’m a bit relieved. Not because I like winter (I really, really don’t) but because I got overambitious this summer. I planted too much, had too many high-maintenance plants, and set my expectations for myself too high while at the same time feeling constantly behind. Problems came up and I didn’t deal with them effectively, or sometimes at all. Then what was supposed to be fun and relaxing became stressful instead. Wait, was I talking about gardening, or…? Anyway, some things I learned this year:

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