Can’t update. Must NaNo. 5,400 words and counting.

Expect fewer postings this month. Think of it as the flipside to the Blogathon. Or something.

Okay, back to the novel. See you later!

So. Would you give candy to these two if they came to your door?

Well, a number of people in the neighborhood did exactly that last night. It was cold (hence the extremely bundled rugrats you see above) but we still managed to have a good time. This year we were prepared: Bendable glow sticks in various colors, chemical heat packs to keep our hands warm in our pockets, lots of layers, and hot water for cocoa waiting at home.

I tried snapping pictures of some cleverly-carved jack-o-lanterns, but what you see above is the only picture I took last night that came out worth anything. Le sigh. I really need to remember to actually use my camera a lot more often so I can get the hang of it. Argh.

At any rate, the kids had a good time and got a pretty good haul of sweets for their trouble. They even shared a couple of Tootsie Rolls and 3 Musketeers with their dear ol’ dad… such good children I have!

I’d have posted this sooner but I wanted to get my 2,000 word quota in for the day on my NaNo novel. (No special website for it, I’m just writing the damned thing and I’ll post my progress when I damned well feel like it.) Anyway…

Merripan hosted an All Hallow’s Eve gathering of family and friends at her apartment last night. Some were in costume, the rest of us were casually dressed. (Among the notable costumes? Dalemar’s “inspired by Michael Landon” wolfman gig, Lilith’s “inspired by that Spears chick” naughty-schoolgirl bit of nothing, Doug and Mari as Doctor and Candystriper, and Firedancer Fred’s homage to Brandon Lee’s “Crow” persona.)

On the way to, Lil’ and Lyse and Anxiety and I picked up Leon, who has recently moved to the Portland area. (Once he warms up to our peculiar brand of humor, I think he’s going to make a cool addition to the group.) We made our introductions and our way to the Freddy’s near Merripan’s place. Once again Lilith and I proved that we have no business going shopping together, as we managed to scandalize the rest of our merry little band in our own special fashion.

It bears mentioning and repeating that Merripan’s one helluva cook. Her jambalaya was right up against the upper limit of how spicy of food I’m willing to eat, and yet I not only finished off one serving but went back for seconds, which I also finished off. Yum.

I met (and have already forgotten the names of) a number of new folks, and everybody was good fun company. Flirting and teasing and snark filled the room, which is an almost perfect ambience for a Friday night party as far as I’m concerned. I even took my own teasing in stride since it was all in good fun… and yes, I certainly earned most of the snark directed my way!

The only downside was my allergies picking last night to make themselves apparent. It’s the first time this year I’ve had any serious trouble while visiting the home of a cat owner, and I’m still rather surprised by it. It took almost two hours after I’d left the party for me start breathing normally again. Bleah.

Still, all in all, one of the better Friday nights I can remember. Thank you, friends!

(Mari, who has a better recall of detail than I, has posted her recounting as well.)

So here I am, tidying up after last night’s email disaster, and Amy brings me a box labelled Priority Mail. It looks suspiciously like a similar box I received a couple months ago. It is, in fact, from the same person… and once again I find brownies inside!

Of course, this time I had to actually work to find ’em. The entire care package was an Egyptian puzzle-box, I swear! Each brownie individually wrapped, twice! Inside of purple wrapping, twice! Inside a colorful take-out box! With Hello Kitty stickers sealing the take-out box! Inside of bubble-wrap! Inside the Priority Mail box!

Oh, why don’t I just show you?

I could be going out on a limb, here, but I think somebody likes me. Thank you, Dawn! Now how did you know to send a care package at just the right time to have it arrive today, of all days?

(And the brownies? They’re even better than the last batch. Yum.)

Yes, it’s Wednesday. Humpday, if you will. No, there’s no humping going on, or at least none that I’m involved in.

Why no updates? Because nothing of note has happened in my life in the last few days. Eat, work, sleep, yadda yadda.

Okay, so I went out to dinner with Lil’ last night and we had a nice time talking, but that’s about it for excitement lately.

I mean, yeah, I’m prepping to do NaNoWriMo (and by the gods I need to figure out what the hell I’m going to do for a NaNo website this year) but that’s not going to really take off until Saturday, so that’s not particularly newsworthy now is it?

And hey, there’s the whole trick-or-treating thing on Friday in addition to some sort of party I’ve been invited to that evening, but that hasn’t happened yet so I can’t really write about it very well, now can I?

We won’t even go into the long, long, way too long wait for OryCon. Feh.

So it’s Humpday and I’m in limbo. Bear with me, gentle readers. Bear with me.

I know, I know. Other than the occasional meme, work rant or silly link, I haven’t been posting much here. Call it an “off month” if you like. Maybe my subconscious wants to rest up before tackling NaNoWriMo.

Yeah, that’s a workable excuse. *snicker*

So what’s really been going on in my life? The short version would be: Work Eat Sleep Sadness Laughter Doldrums Sex Frustration Disappointment Hope Lather Rinse Repeat.

The AS/400 project is completed at last, Marconi and his entourage have moved to Seattle, and we’re now gearing up for reconstruction at the office so we can move KWJJ and KOTK into our facility. Work, in other words, is pretty much back to normal: Always in flux, always the same.

Things at home are tense, most days. You don’t easily or lightly dismantle a twelve year relationship. There’s more than enough bitterness and frustration to go around, and it goes around and around quite a bit. The kids are doing well enough, but then again I haven’t moved out yet.

Outside work and the home there’s not much I’m ready to talk about yet. This isn’t the time, and isn’t yet the place. There’s considerable hope for the future, but that future will be some time coming yet. I’m the lucky one in this regard, at least, since I have friends here in town who are looking out for me.

Now all I have to do is the most difficult thing I could ever imagine: Packing up and leaving my family. It may not happen soon, but then again it might. And it hurts like hell, and scares me to death, and I still need to do it. I can’t live in limbo, I just can’t. It’s as if I died months ago and my body doesn’t know it yet, you know?

The next trick will be learning to live with myself afterward. If I can.