Puzzled by my puzzle...

One concert down, two more to go...As much as I love this time of year, it never fails to surprise me in how incredibly busy, and tiring, it can be!
Managed to get a little writing done today...nothing substantial, nothing euphoric and meaningful, but I put a few more words to the story and that was satisfying. I am grateful to NaNoWriMo for encouraging me to write like crazy, but I'm also enjoying not having the pressure while all this other stuff is going on! I'm content to write a little, for now. Can't wait till the holidays, and having a huge chunk of time to get my story going.
I find the hardest thing now, is that I anticipate what is to come...I have all these events and ideas, but my fingers just can't seem to type fast enough to get me, and my characters there. But I don't want to just skip over to those scenes...I want to write something meaningful in between, and not just "filler."
Worked on a puzzle tonight to relax. Not that puzzles are so relaxing...I feel frustrated half the time because I can't seem to find the right piece, and right now I'm mad at myself for always choosing such difficult puzzles! Snow...not a good subject. But, there is something very soothing in the act of puzzling, of having to be so methodical. Definitely takes my mind of other things, like school, I like to forget about over the weekend.
Maybe tomorrow I'll actually get the border done. But, even better, we're off to find our Christmas tree! Here's hoping there are no bears out in the forest with the same idea...

Christmas Begins!

The stockings are hung...on the wall, because I have no fireplace, which is entirely and completely tragic at this time of year. Watching it on the tv is nice, but just not the same. For one, no lovely wood smell. Second, my crappy tv goes from loud to mute with very little in between...so instead of providing atmosphere it sounds like I'm being shot at every time the tv fire sparks and hits a pocket of air or sap.
We decorated the house today, although we're still not finished. That's mostly due to the wiring in this crazy place...gotta wonder why people make the choices they do when building houses. **ahem: money!
We have light sockets in bizarre, unconventional places, and some that don't work at all, so this will be a challenge in cord confusion (I mean, organization). But it all looks lovely! Soon, next weekend, we'll go and loot the hydro lines for a lovely Charlie Brown Christmas tree, which I'm entirely allowed to do because I downloaded a permit from the BC Forestry website. Yes, yes, I could go to a tree farm and do a u-cut, maybe go for a sleigh ride...Or I could drive out to the boonies and hack my way through feet of snow and snarled branches for the gimpiest tree ever, but appreciate it all the more!
It will truly be Christmas when the tree is up. In the meantime, I'm falling in love again with Bach's Christmas Oratorios and all my favourite Christmas oldies and Baroque/Classical masterpieces.
The Bailey Monster seems to like it too...I just hope she doesn't like it all enough to eat it. Last year she devoured some of our special tree decorations from Egypt (yes, from Egypt), just as she devoured our stuffed camel figurines the year before. What's with her and going for all the irreplaceble stuff? Oh, that, and puzzle pieces. Both puzzles I've purchased these last two years had to be thrown out, because she snuffles up anything she finds on the floor. Note to self: purchase felt puzzle pad.
The book is going great! I'm getting lots of writing done. In fact, I just might make it to 50,000 before the deadline! Not that I'll win any big awards, but I'll sure feel great.
Now, I think to cap off this fine snowy evening, I'll put on my first seasonal movie and snuggle with my pooch. Maybe start a puzzle...while she's not looking.