What was that zipping sound? Oh it was my weekend flying by

This weekend my sister-in-law Margaret visited us. She lives in Victoria, but was in Calgary due to her job and so came up to visit us before heading home. This was fine. We had a good time, aided by the fact that it's unseasonably warm here in Edmonton. We went to the Ooddle Noodle Box for some delicious MSG, then walked most of Whyte Ave during the afternoon. I got a new pair of cute (and extremely warm) Merrell boots and we visited a few stores we'd never been into before. Margaret and her husband, Stephen, are into Tiki and as it turns out there are places along Whyte where you can buy Tiki mugs etc (hence the new stores we'd never been into before). We enjoyed dinner at the Blue Plate Diner in the evening--despite having to wait half an hour or so to get a table. We played a couple of games after we got home and went for another walk on Sunday afternoon.

And then it was Sunday night. Not that visits aren't great, they are, but man do they eat up a weekend. And our regular schedule gets mixed up. Like groceries. We didn't get any until after dinner and we only got what was absolutely necessary. I also didn't get a lot of writing done. A little on Friday and some more Sunday night. I'm currently working on pencil and paper, so I don't know what my word count it up to. Oh and don't forget the studying I didn't do (or at least didn't do very much of).

So, zip went the weekend. And zip, my week is going. It's adult time where there isn't enough time to do half of the stuff you want to compared to kid time, where counting down thirty days till Christmas feels more like a year. Ack.

Ciao,

Andrea

I can see clearly now, the mound of homework is almost gone

Well, my first semester of library school is almost over. Throughout today and tomorrow four assignments will be handed in, leaving one group presentation, two medium sized assignments and a final exam. In the back of my brain a little voice keeps telling me that there's still a lot to go, but psychologically, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Two of the remaining assignments aren't due until December, and maybe I'm in denial for the rest, but it sure feels good. I'll still be working for most of my time tonight (until 9pm, when Chuck is on) but later this week I think I might be able to put in a little extra time on my mini-NaNoWriMo project, since I didn't get too much done on it this week.

Nothing else of much import to note at present, but we'll be hosting a guest this coming weekend (my sister-in-law, Margaret) and I'm hoping I might get a chance to shop for new Merrel boots and a jacket (since snow is once again threatening the city).

Ciao,

Andrea

Hello winter/mini-NaNoWriMo update

This is what I woke up to today. Considering this is November and I live in Edmonton it was inevitable. It doesn't mean I have to like it.

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In other news, my Mini-NaNoWriMo efforts are coming along. I've managed to write 6,106 words, which I think is pretty good since my writing efforts are mainly limited to forty-five minutes in the morning before I head off to work or classes. I'm not sure I'll make it to the 25,000 words I'd hoped for, but we'll see. I'm rather enjoying my new character, Claire Lamont. She's vastly different from my last hero, Ava Ravenscraft. Claire's smart (I've made her a librarian :)) but very cynical and unsociable--although for good reasons. Anyways...dinner's almost ready and homework is awaiting me afterward.

Ciao,

Andrea

Extending the dates

Three of my most recent assignments have been granted extended deadlines and I wonder whether or not this practice really helps. In the past I've always aimed for the original dates assigned regardless. And for the first of the assignments, a podcast, I have already handed it in as scheduled. The remaining projects are essays and to be honest I'm not too far along with either of them. So guess what I'll be doing with my weekend. Homework. Research. Preparation for these essays. Even though the dates have been pushed back, I'm not sure I want to have them hanging over my head for another weekend yet to come. And I can only guess for those who tend to procrastinate that they'll just put off the work for another week. So does anyone really win here? I suppose, for those who accidentally let things slip away they find themselves with a reprieve. For me, however, at this point in the semester I just want to get everything done and over with, which is what I'll be aiming for this weekend.

Ciao,

Andrea

Writing and figure skating, they make my world go 'round...

Writing

I'm happy to report that yesterday I had a chance to sit down and write a few words for my new story, which is presently operating under the title "Unidentified Flying Object." I think this is just a working title, but we'll see. It will probably depend on whether or not I can come up with anything better. In less than an hour I managed to write 723 words. It's a good thing I'm not trying to complete NaNoWriMo this year, I'd already be behind. You need to complete something like 1,300 words a day on average to meet the target. No, I just want to get as much done as possible, which when you're in the thick of a semester is fairly challenging.

Moving on to something different...

Skate Canada

I have to say, I'm pleased that CBC is actually airing figure skating this year. They broadcasted some of Skate American last weekend (although showed nothing of the ladies or dance) and all of Grand Prix events will be shown later on. Of course, if I had better Internet I could watch it all online, but our slow connection doesn't allow for that.

At any rate, I wanted to comment on the men's competition of Skate Canada, featuring Patrick Chan, the new Canadian hopeful now that Jeffery Buttle has retired. First of all, Patrick is just 17 years of age and pretty much all the attention of the skating community of Canada has shifted to him in the last few weeks. He is an excellent skater and I hope he manages to handle the pressure. His short programme was skated fairly well. He put a hand down on his triple axel and there was a small bobble in his foot work, but altogether pretty good. He placed second. Yesterday was the long and again his programme went fairly well...but he fell on his second triple axel and completely missed his second triple lutz (it wasn't even rotated). Despite these errors he still won the competition.

Now, much can be said about figure skating where judging is concerned. I really do feel that the new Code of Points system works. The skater only gets points for what they accomplish and although 11 judges sit on the panel only 7 judge's marks are actually included in the score (I might be slightly off on those numbers) which makes it very difficult to "throw" competitions since you never know which judges marks are going to count. This being said, I think Patrick did deserve to win. The second place finisher fell on his quad-toe and doubled a couple of jumps. However, in his interview after, Patrick didn't seem to think so. I really felt bad for this poor kid who was clearly disappointed in his own performance, but yet still came out with the top prize. I hope his season picks up from here. He does have a lot of talent and I enjoy his skating.

Anywho, I could yalk about figure skating for much longer than anyone would care to read and I really must get on with my day. That's all for now.

Ciao,

Andrea