I’ve been busy, busy busy this week, between work, Christmas shopping, and trying to get some writing done. I really hope Santa brings me a new laptop this year….or if not, that the IRS gives me a good refund so I can go get one myself in the new year. Two weeks until my Holiday Escape Plan goes into effect! We’re hoping to leave sometime in the evening, which should put us around Washington D.C. by mid-morning. Hopefully we’ll be able to stop and sightsee a bit before heading up to Pennsylvania in time for dinner. That’s the plan anyway. I’ve pretty much finished all the Christmas shopping for my family, just waiting on a few odds and ends to pick up right before departure. Also waiting on getting paid again, as Christmas shopping has left me inevitably broke for the time being. But what would the holidays be without the accrual of large amounts of debt?
My holiday caffeine levels are up as well, since there are so many good holiday-themed coffee flavors for this time of year. Every year I look forward to Starbucks’s seasonal beverages. Mmmm, white chocolate peppermint mocha. Gingerbread latte. Who could resist? Even hot chocolate seems perfect for this time of year, whether it’s cold out or not (because it definitely isn’t here–big surprise).
Speaking of Florida’s general suckiness, I found some great books the other day while browsing at Barnes and Noble, about mini day-trips you can take within the state–and I was totally hooked. I immediately placed a bunch of them on my Amazon wish list. Travel is one of my great passions, and I love nothing more than to explore the world around me. I had so much fun on our St. Augustine trip last week, that I want to do many more trips like it. So after paging through some of those books, and pouring over the iPhone’s googlemaps feature, I think I’ve discovered a bunch of fun day trips we can take. It’ll have to wait til after the holidays though, when we have money for gas again. But I’m definitely psyched. I’ve lived in Florida too long not to have seen some of these things by now.
I’ve also been very pleased this week with the way the novel’s coming along. I haven’t had a lot of time to work on it, but I’ve already got two solid chapters. It’s just a matter of figuring out how I want to word the next chapter–that scene’s all narration in the script–but I’m well on the way with that too. I can’t really say if it’s good or not, but I’m hopeful that it’ll turn out pretty decent. For now I’ll just keep plugging away….
