I am still drawn to the idea of NaNoWriMo. It's not going to happen this year for me, but doing it last year was a great acheivement for me. It proved that, when I put my mind to it, I can write. One of my biggest failures is thinking things through too much. I keep telling myself that 'one day I will write that book...' and then using a myriad of excuses like wanting to learn more about writing itself.

So to those of you taking up the NaNo challenge this month, I salute you. I will be writing as well, but just not monitoring my word counts to the same degree.

Halloween unfortunately didn't work out as well as I'd hoped. Here in Vancouver, we have atrocious traffic at the best of times. And lately, this has not been the best of times. There is one bridge being worked on in preparation for the Olympics 2010, which means at least 1/3 of commuters are forced to find alternate routes. My route, in particular, apparently.

I left work early on the 31st as I needed to drop my car off to be fixed from the car accident. I should have been at the collision repair shop by 4:30 but with choking, bottlenecked traffic, I didn't arrive until 5:15. By the time, I had it sorted out, was taken to the rental car depot and got home, it was 7pm. Imagine what should have been a 1 hour commute was over 3. I was not a happy camper. I tried to hand out a few candies but my head was pounding and I'd missed the bulk of the young ones, so I grinched. I went in, turned off the lights and crashed on the couch. Oh, and ate chocolate. Lots of chocolate. Not entirely happy with the events but such is life. November will be much better.

I remembered to say 'White Rabbit!' when I woke up the next morning. Ingrained from my mother since childhood, it's one superstition I do try to follow. I rarely remember though. The first words uttered on the morning of the 1st of the month...it's hard to remember when you first wake up. So having remembered this month, let's hope it will be better.

I've been able to read a couple of books this week and have thoroughly enjoyed both of them. 'Water for Elephants' by Sarah Gruen. If you haven't read this one, PLEASE make it your next read. It is engrossing, involving and thoroughly enchanting. The story of a depression-era circus and it's characters. I have about 50 pages left and I am pretty sure I know how it ends but so far, it has been so engaging it's all I can do not to read it at work!

'For One More Day' by Mitch Albom. I think I'll leave this to a post on it's own, but again, a very good and QUICK read. I read it in one evening. Especially heartwarming considering the last month. Everyone wants that one more day with a passed loved one, don't they?

I also read 'Time Traveller's Wife' last month. Mostly during the times waiting the hospital. Again, another book that should be read if you have the chance. Although I must admit I did get a little mixed up with the continuity, but that could have been my mood at the time. An incredible love story.