Calissa

My supervisor announced yesterday that she wants my thesis essentially completed by the end of next week. I’m trying very hard not to panic and not succeeding.

I spent some time today combing through all of my CDs and mp3 files for all those old songs I haven’t listened to for ages and still love. I stuck them on my mp3 player and they’ve kept bringing a smile to my face all day. One entitled Stress cropped up twice today… I think it was trying to tell me something.

Particularly since today, by and large, was one of those days. I missed my bus into uni this morning. I’m grateful that there was another one nearby I could catch and still be on time.

I also had the cutest little sheep earrings to keep me company. They look rather like Shaun the Sheep from Wallace and Grommet. My sister bought them for me on the weekend at the fete our old primary school was throwing. I had a few lovely compliments on them today.

I am profoundly grateful for tea, bruchetta and Merceria’s company, though not necessarily in that order. We caught up for lunch today. It seems like ages since we last spent time and it really helped me relax. Just what I needed.

I also got to spend some time with my sister today. She knocked off work early and came to spend some of the afternoon before having dinner to celebrate Father’s Day. She and Dad don’t always get along, but everyone seemed to have a wonderful time tonight. I know I certainly did.

Father’s Day is this Sunday for Australia, but we celebrated a little early in my family. I had a lovely dinner with my sister and dad where we discussed motorbikes, static electricity and the genius of Freddie Mercury. It wasn’t anything too much out of the usual, but it was nice to spend time with my family.

Dad loved his present—a copy of the Highlander on DVD.

It’s been a while since I last wrote anything here, but I came across another subject I wouldn’t mind pursuing in my spare time: geology. Better yet, it’s also a common interest of my dad’s.

I’m coming to the tail end of my Honours year (and decided that despite what I wrote in a previous entry, I’m really not interested in mental illness in speculative fiction. Or at least not anymore), so this list may come in handy in the near future.

I also came to the conclusion that unless I have someone to practice with sign language is going to be a difficult subject to pursue.

Out of the blue, I heard from two friends I haven’t heard from in a while—one in almost a year. It’s so nice to know that I’m being thought of and that they are both safe and well.

It was grey and cold today… perfect weather for making my super-tasty tomato and basil soup. I’ve been meaning to make up a batch for a while now and freeze some for emergencies or lazy evenings. Of course, I saved some aside for dinner.

And I ate it with fresh white bread from the bakery. Dad’s in charge of the grocery shopping and I have no idea why he insists on buying that horrible store-bought stuff. Bakeries are so much better.

I had a lovely phone call from my sweetheart today. He makes an effort to speak with me every day, either in person or on the phone. It’s especially nice when we’re so busy and not seeing much of each other.

I also bought a couple of lovely boxes for my collection of tumbled stones. The boxes need a coat of varnish and to be properly padded out, but I love all the little compartments and the glass pane in the top so I can see all my pretties. It also sparked off a good conversation with my dad on geology, since it’s a subject we’re both interested in.

Productivity is still kicking in. I got a bit more work done on my thesis and spent the afternoon plugging in some of my recent journals into my database. I just have one more left to go.

I haven’t been doing nearly enough of this lately. What has particularly been missing are those small celebrations, the ones I really wanted this goal to be about. Birthday season is looming, promising to help get me started. But as a reminder, I wanted to post a link to this essay by Patti Digh which was a big inspiration for this goal. I think everyone should read it.

Now to get me some birthday candles…

August 2006: 2121
August, 2008: 3732

Cumulative word totals for the year at August:

2006: 13 718
2007: 35 965
2008: 28 944

I almost forgot to put up the totals this month! Things have moved into more of an editing phase with my thesis, but I hope a couple of private projects will keep things slowly ticking over.

Boredom can be such a wonderful thing. Today I effectively bored myself into doing some tasks I’ve been procrastinating on for a long time. I’m not reading any books at the moment. There are no movies or TV shows I want to watch. I’ve been avoiding my thesis. Which leaves just those long overdue tasks to do. It was nice to knock a couple of them over today.

And despite it all, I still got some productive work done on my thesis.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous today, so I treated myself to a walk up the hills nearby. I really should do this more often, particularly now that September has arrived.

I’ve been promising myself for a while now that when the weather warms up I’d go for a walk in the hills. Today was undeniably a spring day and despite all my admonishments that I had work to do on my thesis I decided that today was the day. Else I’d keep putting it off until it was too hot to go.

It was lovely and absolutely worth it.

I’m almost at the end of day three now, at 70.4 miles. I’ve met up with Merry at the ferry landing and soon we’ll be taking the main road north.

I’ve been continuing to tinker with my thesis over the last two weeks, but now it’s time to step up a gear. I have two months left at the most and it’s time to redraft.

At the moment, my thesis consists of two short stories and I’ve been working on a connecting narrative. My thesis supervisor feels it would work best if we cut up the stories into shorter sections and braid them together with the connecting narrative. Time to get out the scissors and glue.

Week 35, 2006: 1352
Week 35, 2008: 461

Not quite as on the ball this week, though I’m not really sure why. Still putting pen to paper, which is the important thing.

Haircuts. I love the feeling after I’ve had my hair cut.

Exercising even when I really don’t feel like it.

A signed copy of a book by a favourite writer.

Feeling inspired.

Dinner at my favourite restaurant.

Seeing my sweetheart, even if it’s only for a few hours.

New stories with old friends. So exciting.

A quote from my last entry on this goal:

I’m giving this up rather than make another attempt for 2007. I plan to continue keeping track of how many books I read, but I won’t set myself a goal. Maybe in 2008.

I was right on with that one. August 2008 is coming to a close and today I finished my 80th book for the year.

Having accomplished this, there are two things I wonder:

Can I do it again next year?

How many books will I be up to by the end of this year?

Seems to be a family-oriented day today. Mum had a day off today and dropped in for a cup of coffee this afternoon. She also brought me a new top and some afternoon tea yummies.

Then there was a phone call from my sister a little while later to say that she had gotten a new job. The company she’s with at the moment is going down the gurgler, so this is very good news. It’s also good to hear how excited she sounds about the whole thing.

Progress on my thesis continues to creep forward, which is always a good thing in my book.

I didn’t even have a trace of a sore throat today. Very grateful indeed for that one… and for the ginger tea I’ve been drinking since yesterday morning, which I’m sure is responsible for this sudden cessation.

Today I was grateful for a good night’s sleep. I stayed up way too late over the weekend and was feeling rather ill to boot. So I made sure I went to bed early last night and ended up sleeping for 10+ hours. I felt much better today.

Although some of that could also have been the gorgeous weather we had today. Blue skies, sunshine and signs of spring everywhere. The smell of wattle was strong when I went on my walk this morning. In my garden there are flowers popping up everywhere and the bees are making the most of it. I found a sparrow nest in my blossom bush (though it isn’t blossoming quite yet) and my tiny little daisy plant has a bud.

I felt like I was back on track today. Aside from a walk (which left me feeling pretty good), I also got some more progress on my thesis done and (even better) I’m feeling a bit more confident about how it’s going. It has been stressing me out quite a lot lately, which is no doubt the reason I haven’t been feeling very well.

I am also grateful for my sweetheart. A few months back he left some vegetarian burger patties in my freezer. It was nice to drag one out for lunch today since I’ve been so sick of salad sandwiches I’m actually having trouble eating them.

And a new book arrived today! It was recommended by LunacyBleeding and I was having trouble getting my hands on a copy. It’s been quite interesting so far.

I hit the 100km mark this week which I’m very pleased about! Still, I feel like I’m not getting out enough and I really should put more effort into this.

I’ve just reached Farmer Maggot’s house and have stopped for dinner.

I didn’t think I’d ever get there, but finally I can mark this as done! It was just a matter of integrating it properly into my weekly review.

I think the next step is probably to learn more recipes.

Week 34, 2006: 716
Week 34, 2008: 763

I tried Dave’s trick of writing for just 20 minutes every day. I didn’t get it every day, but it helps. I tell myself that it’s only 20 minutes and as long as I get a single word written (just one, that’s all) then it’s okay.

Last week was not a good week for me in terms of pain, mostly as a result of working on my thesis at a desk all day and not getting enough exercise (although carrying a heavy bag full of books definitely had a hand). So I went for a massage today. It was lovely. The massage therepists at the place I go to are always very friendly and afterwards I always become aware of how much tension I’ve been holding. It’s a good reminder to let go.

The weather when I went in for my appointment was terrible—bitterly cold, overcast and it looked like snow in the distance. By the time I got out it was still bitterly cold, but at least the sun had come out. It always makes things so much more cheerful.

I had to pick up a parcel from the post office today. Handily enough, that’s right across from the massage place I go to. I’d been having fun trying to guess what the parcel might be. I ordered several books off the internet recently and I figured it must be one of those. It turns out there was actually two parcels. One was indeed the book… though not the one I thought it would be. Which is actually a good thing because the one that arrived is the one I ordered my sweetheart for his birthday (not too far away now).

The other one was a surprise gift from a friend—a lovely big chunck of polished labradorite. I adore labradorite and was absolutely thrilled at this particularly fine specimen.

I was walking down my sweetheart’s street this afternoon, on the way to see him, when an enormous rainbow appeared. A full hemisphere. I spent so much time gazing at it over my shoulder I almost ran into a pole!

All clear from Canberra, Australia. Timing issues meant I had to delay my self-exam by a few days, but all the emails pouring in served as an excellent reminder.