Behind + Ahead = Behead?

Maybe being beheaded wouldn't be so bad at this point. I mean, that would totally kill my headache, right? Among other things...

Well, okay, maybe being dead wouldn't be so awesome. In fact, no, it definitely wouldn't be so awesome. But it is pretty tiring to work so hard to get ahead on some of the stuff on my To-Do list, but still be behind on so many other things. It's like the extreme satisfaction of getting ahead is totally mauled by the knowledge that I'm still not done.

I think I spent more time this weekend doing homework than I did like...all last week. Catching up on homework for one class inadvertently put me behind schedule on some other things. Some literally and some only according to my self-imposed deadlines.

I have this paper. This 10-page research paper for my Marriage Institution class. It's basically one fifth of my total grade for the class, so there's definitely some pressure to do a stellar job on it. It's due the class period before Thanksgiving break, but my professor had encouraged us all to talk to her about our topics. When I did just that—which was extremely helpful—she also said that she would take my paper early, grade it, and give me comments, which would then allow me to make any changes necessary to make the best grade possible.

Quite frankly, I'd be a fool not to take advantage of this. So I talked to her Friday, and told her I hoped to have something to give her on Monday.

That left me spending this weekend writing like a crazy person. And researching. And re-learning how to cite internet sources, movies, books, etc. And how to properly quote them.

Block quotes are my favorite.

They look awesome. They break up the monotony of a Times New Roman 12 point double spaced black and white research paper. But they can be hard to come by because they can only be used for quotes that take up more than four lines of the page. So my overall paper only has a few. Not including the snippets of movie dialogue I included in order to discuss the family structure evidenced in the exchange between characters.

I suppose technically not having to put those quotes in block form would take up more space on the page, but I'm tellin' ya, 10 page papers look pretty monotonous without them.

Monotonous.
And yes, 1 and 3 are different pages.
Note the near identical nature of the paragraphs and their spacing.

Not monotonous.
Note the block quotes and even some dialogue!

Fortunately, I wasn't the only person from my Marriage Institution class who wanted to get a head start on the paper. So myself and two other girls from class decided we'd have a Paper-Writing Party.

We met at Starbucks on Saturday. Because really, nothing makes homework more tolerable than coffee.

We got there at two, and I honestly didn't expect to get as little actual writing accomplished as I did. I left at five (three hours later!) with barely more than a paragraph written. Turns out it took much longer than I had anticipated to find my last of three pop culture examples of marriage (it's more specific, but I'll refrain from bogging you down with details) and pull quotes from my sources. When I did finally start writing my introduction and following paragraph, I kept having to stop to make a citation of my source so that I could do my in-text citations. So that held me up. That's when I decided I'd compile my sources and cite them all first, that way I could just refer back. That mostly worked.

When I left, I had just about half a page and a headache.

Since we didn't finish our papers, we decided to hold a continuation of our Paper-Writing Party at the same Starbucks the following day. Again at about 2.

Thank you for existing, Starbucks. <3

This time I got about five pages written. Again I left with a headache.

I managed to be a semi-responsible adult when I got back to my apartment. I avoided all distractions.

The problem I was having was that by the time I finished up page 7, all that I really had left to write was the last half of the paragraph I was working on and my conclusion. Not so easy to stretch out into three pages... I had to elaborate on some of my earlier paragraphs and lengthen my analysis of the last example, plus split my conclusion into two separate paragraphs.

Yikes. It was such a headache.

The good news is, I finished up my paper—not-so-creatively titled "Family Types and their Reactions to Marriage"—at a hefty ten and a half pages. And this morning I turned it in. So now I must anxiously await my professor's comments and criticisms so that I can edit it accordingly. Ideally, it'll be fine. And I won't have to change much of anything. Which would mean I finished my paper just over a week early. That might be a personal best!

So that's what I'm ahead on.

However, I am certainly not ahead on everything. Sadly, NaNoWriMo is not going so well for me. I should have about 25,000 words. I don't. I have just over 13,000 words. Yeah, that's pretty behind.

Maybe it would be wise to just give up and focus on my schoolwork.

But I am rarely wise.

I still have half a month to catch up. During Thanksgiving break, I'll have even more time since I won't have to deal with classes.  Last November, I stayed behind all the way up until the last week. I think. Either way, I know towards the end there was an outpouring of wordswordswords and I crossed the finish line with just over 50,000 at more or less the very last minute.

It could happen again. Right? If anybody else out there is doing NaNo and is behind, hark! Don't lose hope! It's not over 'til it's over.

I just have one more big thing—wait, maybe two. No, three. Sorry, four. Three more big things to get out of the way before I can buckle down and get to work on my writing. Yes, that's three more things I'm behind on. Two that I'm actually behind on; one that isn't due yet but that I'd intended to finish already. And another that doesn't exactly have a due date but that needs to be done nonetheless.

The two I'm behind on are for my Shakespeare class and my Sociology of Gender class. The one I'm "behind" on is my Campaigns & Elections paper. All three I am determined to take care of this week. The one I just plain need to do is...well, a multi-step process involving meeting with my advisor, nailing down what I need to take next semester, figure out what classes I want and working them out on my schedule, re-advising to make sure they'll all count, and then actually registering for them as soon as I'm allowed to. (Which, if you're wondering, is November 23 at 5:30 am. Yeah, I think that's cruel, too.)

So my current mantra is pretty much, "Go! Go! Go!"

Hopefully I can continue to avoid all distractions...

Major distraction.

Christmas Spirit

My grandmother, Super Granny, always used to give me presents—Surprises, she called them—whenever she would visit. Some of the best ones came near the holidays. There would always be one, usually in November, that would be Christmas-related. To help us get in the Christmas spirit.

The first Christmas ornament of the season!

Christmas is my favorite holiday, anyway. And Christmastime is my favorite time of year, too. But it's also the time of year that I miss Super Granny the most.

So today, despite the fact that I'm well over a month early, I put my Christmas tree up. To get in the Christmas spirit.

I know what you might be thinking. "Why, it's only November 4th!" And you're right.

But I love to go all out for Christmas, and if I'm going to spend so much time and money decorating, why shouldn't I get some good use out of it?

I'll probably wait until after Thanksgiving to put out my wreath, but I have every intention of putting my Christmas lights up soon. Possibly this weekend.

If you don't like it, too bad. I'm going to play the adult card. You know, the, "I'm an adult and I can do what I want and you aren't the boss of me so there!" card. Christmas decor always makes me feel warm and cozy. I think my house looks its best at Christmas, and I'm ready to prove my apartment can look its best this season, too.

I haven't gone overboard yet. But anyone who knows me will tell you...overboard isn't a stretch for me. So I imagine that the amount of Christmas related decorations in my apartment will, ah, multiply as the weeks go by.

For now, I've got my tree, several ornaments, and a welcome mat.

I actually spent most of the day in the car. I drove home from College Station yesterday for a doctors appointment today. After that, since I still have class on Friday, I drove back. I decided while I was home, I'd grab some of my Christmas stuff so that when I come back after Thanksgiving, I'll have less to haul.

I'd pretty much decided by the time I'd loaded it in my car that it was going up soon.

Then, when I got home, I couldn't resist—the box was staring at me, my tree all but begging me to give it some air.

"I am tree! I look taller than I really am!"

See? Not so tall.
And yes. I have a pink Christmas tree.

And my two boxes of ornaments? Practically crying out loud to be unwrapped and on display.

These guys are a little heavy for my tree branches.
So they're adorning my TV stand.

Apparently I was really into snowmen when I bought these.
Also, yes, I bought duplicates. There weren't enough single ornaments I liked to fill my tree with!
And lastly, yes, I know this is an abnormally long photo-caption.
Sorry.

My welcome mat, which I thought had been lost to several unfortunate incidents with a puppy and pee (but had made a remarkable comeback) was simply dying to get a second chance.

"I'm clean again!!!"

Who am I to refuse the Christmas spirit?

Pink tree + ornaments + lights = Happiness.

It begins...

I may lose sleep to get my word count in,
but Tucker does not.

It's begun! NaNoWriMo is well underway. So far, I'm the slightest bit ahead with my word count and frankly, I'm hoping to keep it that way. I'm still torn about what I'm working on. I originally planned to use this NaNo to keep working on my novel from last year—which I'm hoping to finish eventually and publish eventually. But at the last minute I decided to start something new.

Now I'm kind of stalled on my plot and I can't help but wonder if I should have stuck with my original plan...

Either way, I'm pressing on! I'm pretty happy with what I've written so far, and I thought I'd share it with you guys in you're interested. Feedback is most definitely welcome!

This is my first chapter, and my working title for the manuscript is "Checking Out." I'm not quite sure how to box it up in a genre for you guys—I guess it's kind of an alternate universe, or at least a futuristic, science-fiction piece. But I'm honestly not sure where it's going. So I hate to limit myself to writing only sci-fi. I tend to lean toward horror, so it won't surprise me in the least if it starts to creep in that that direction.

Also, I'm kind of creating a whole new system of government in this piece—new titles, new rules, all of that. If anything trips you up, please let me know—I'm happy to clarify. But instead of preemptively explaining the vocabulary, I'd like to see if the context makes it clear.