NaNoWriMo Win & Embosser Giveaway

As of last night at some ridiculous hour, I won NaNoWriMo with 50,009 words!

Though, I will most definitely never do it again, because it was brutal.  Why can't it be held in a less busy month, like January?  November is crazy, always.

Anyway, I learned quite a bit from the experience, such as:

• My vocabulary is much smaller than I thought it was.  (Favorite repeats including "suddenly", "instinctively" and "hugged his body in all the right ways"... Just kidding.)
• Outlines are important.  I didn't have any, and wrote as I went along.  Hence numerous plot-holes and characters suddenly (used it again) changing eye-color and what not.
• One's family will begin to think one is having delusions of grandeur, resulting in ridicule.

Thanks Mom...

But it was fun!  And I can say I wrote a novel now, so that's cool.  In January I plan to clean it up and force some poor, unsuspecting soul to read it.  *cough* Sak *cough*.  (And for the record, the book is best categorized as "X-Men go to art school".  It's not fan-fiction, but it is a whole lot of silly superhero nonsense with a dollop of shoujo steam thrown in for good measure.)

Back to the point!  You didn't come here to hear me wax on about amateur writing! You want free stuff! Whee!

Up for grabs:

A Japanese paper embosser from my favorite store, Daiso!

I have one myself, and it's a lot of fun, simply snap the plates into the clamp...

And press some paper!

It's not as deep of an impression as my Cuttlebug, but it's a lot more portable and still super cute.  You could decorate love notes, gift cards, business cards, or even your monthly bill statements!

One entry per person. To enter:

Leave a comment and tell me what your favorite book genre is!

*Contest ends midnight PST, Wednesday December 7th and the winner will be announced Thursday the 8th based on a random number generator.  No special restrictions on location unless you live somewhere the postal people refuse to venture.

Thankful Thursday (Friday?)

I'm still sick, though getting a little better at managing the overwhelmed-ness, thanks for all your kind notes!

So to make up for a negative post, I thought a positive post was in order, a la Jennifer's Thankful Thursday's. :)

Three things I am thankful for this week include:

Bubble Wrap


Sak put some up on our bedroom windows, and oh golly does it make a difference.  Of course now I never leave the bedroom since it's the only space in the house that somewhat retains heat!  I need to buy more bubble wrap.  It also comes in a pink color, Sak would like you to know.

Manga Phone App


Being able to read scanlated manga on my phone is an amazing change to my commute.  Thousands of titles, right at my fingertips, it's addictive.  Currently I'm reading Yankee-kun to Megane-chan, which is about a delinquent girl trying to be a model student, and her delinquent guy friend who she drags along with her.

Anyway, I'm using a free app called "Manga What" right now, though I think the most popular Android app is "Manga Watcher".  I get so excited when I see other people reading manga on their phones too!  Like today, I saw a middle-aged business man reading Bleach.  Secret otaku, all over!

Co-workers

Seriously, they make my job so much more enjoyable.  A few ladies on my floor have really taken shy-and-strange-old-me under their wing and I just feel so blessed to know them.  Today we painted a playhouse together for a volunteer event.  We do company zumba together, and of course we "talk story" (Sak Hawaiian speak) in each others cubes.  We're all very different, living far away from each other, with different life events going on, different backgrounds, etc. - but they are all very fun, sweet women.  And I guess I'm even more blessed to have them since there still aren't a whole lot of women engineers out in the workplace yet.

Anyway, I hope you have a wonderful weekend! I will be playing catch up on many, many things that need to be done. At least it will be warm in my bubble-wrapped room!:D

The Force

I definitely need that good stuff, considering I am currently battling the inevitable turn-of-the-season cold, trying to put together my application for the PE (oh yeah, that thing I was whining about delaying during wedding planning. Oopsies. Better late than never.), wondering where the heck I am going (hopefully no where) since our company just re-orged, and getting to the half way point for NaNoWriMo!  And if I needed some icing for that load of misery, I still haven't figured out Christmas cards, holiday plans, and all that jazz.  Go, super-Wednesday!

Well, to cheer you (me?) up, here's every mention of "the Force" in all the Star Wars movies:


Really though, life is still good, and things could be much worse.  It's just hard to keep a positive outlook when I can't breath and Aunt Flo comes for a visit.  Seriously, I was nearly sobbing today on the train thinking of how Sak and I wouldn't get to keep the promise we made to each other when we bought the house - that'd we'd adopt a pet for Christmas.  The day before that I was sobbing while reading an email from my college roomie about how awesome and hectic her life is with her toddler twin boys.  Normally other people's kids don't really "get" me emotionally, but I think it's just because I grew up with this girl! This could be me! Then I was sobbing again while reading this article about things a dad would miss once his kids got older on The Poop blog (Sak's favorite).

Anyway, emotional wreck.  Normally I don't want them, but nature likes to remind me once a month that yes, yes I do want them. Someday.  After we re-home BIL.  After we adopt our non-Christmas pet.  After I pass that darn PE.

Oh look, this is turning into one of those 30 before 30 lists! Ha. Sorry for the brain dump.  I wasn't going to blog today, but sometimes brain dumps are okay, right? Even when Flo is doing most of the talking? ;)

And just to squeeze one more nerdy video in, here's Robin Williams playing Zelda with his daughter..whose actual name is Zelda.  He rocks for that, seriously.