Things have been hectic lately...mostly because work was really getting to me for a bit. A couple of my clients are really demanding this time of year, because they pile on the projects that are all due right before Christmas. That makes for a really stressful holiday season, which I kind of resent. I love this time of year and when things get ridiculously unmanageable, I get pretty unhappy. Things seem to be settling in a bit, and having my team get a really successful start on a couple of projects and getting a couple of other things moving off my own plate have helped my mindset a little.

I think part of what I need right now is a creative jolt...I am just in the mood to create, and not stuff for work. I've been knitting a lot...I finally finished a project when I was sick a week or two ago, and now I'm working on finishing my first sock. It has been going really well, even though I'm in the middle of knitting back a few rows where I misread the pattern. For my first sock, I think it's more than a serviceable attempt! I take great pride from the fact that I am a really even knitter, and the tiny, perfect knit stitches on my sock make me really happy. Oh, order, how much I truly love you sometimes. I haven't worked on it much since Sunday but I will probably pick it back up more this weekend.

I seem to have made a new friend who has been encouraging the knitting...our neighbor C is really cool and we get along pretty great, I think. She and I have a mutual friend who we've both known for something like 15 years, so we knew OF each other, had met briefly in passing before, but never hung out until earlier this month. It just so happened that she moved into the property next door (also owned by my landlady) over the summer...a random coincidence (but a good one). We have a lot in common, which is nice. I always like finding a kindred spirit.

National Novel Writing Month is set to start on Sunday, and I'm still making up my mind on which project I want to undertake. I have a few story ideas ruminating but I am heavily leaning towards one that I've been working on in some form or fashion for quite a long time. I think it'll be nice to finally really dive into it and start getting the bones written out. I need to work some on my outline before then though...part of it feels very Hero's Journey to me and I kind of want to map all that out. I found that last year when I did very little planning it was extremely difficult to get 50,000 words of a story I didn't know out of my head and on to the screen. I managed it, but I ended up with a massive pile of crap I had no interest in ever finishing. I want to use NaNo as a fun way to sketch out a real, live project that might someday have a chance of being published. I love the community aspect of the whole thing and knowing that tons of other people are doing the same crazy, frantic writing thing in tandem with me. Plus it's just a good kick in the pants and a great way to establish the habit of writing every day, something that I have fallen out of practice with.

I am doing a lot of reading too...I just finished Charlaine Harris' latest Harper Connelly mystery (a long time coming, that book!) and it was a quick, fluffy read. I am about to dive into Cory Doctorow's latest and I'm also reading a volume of the collected works of Virginia Woolf. If nothing else it's all good inspiration to get off my own ass and get to writing!

I am so sleepy all of a sudden, after half a pot of tea and the soothing sounds of a quiet rain outside. I should probably get to sleep and stop surfing the Internets and adding stuff to my Amazon wishlist.