After two pretty good readathon days, my reading time has been rudely imposed upon by work. It's really starting to get busy now in the last two weeks before Christmas. I've been quite surprised how late people have left it and am expecting the next couple of weeks to be a special kind of chaotic. A customer asked me on Wednesday if I was planning to stay chirpy right up to Christmas Eve. It must be a pretty good year if I'm still getting described as "chirpy" in December! Back in September when I had a nasty emotional crash, I couldn't see how I was going to make it through the next three months, but here I am and I've just got six more days at work before Christmas day. I think I can do it!
Thursday, however, I did find myself getting stressed and irritable. The day got off to a bad start when my supervisor rearranged my to-do list for me, and I was still trying to finish my first job of the morning when my colleague came in mid-afternoon. I finished at half past 5, waved goodbye to my colleagues who were doing the late-night-shopping shift, and spent a happy hour finishing off my Christmas shopping. Despite my best intentions, I didn't get much reading done that day because I got caught up finishing off a couple of hand-made Christmas presents. (I am so going to be Molly Weasley if I ever grow up. I've no plans of marriage or children myself, but I fear I'm going to be that relative who sends everyone ugly Christmas jumpers. Mwahahaha!)
The story so far: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Harry has got through the second Triwizard Tournament with flying colours, but something fishy is afoot in the Hogwarts grounds. Again, I was struck by how much more depth there is to the books to all the subplots that are either rushed through or completely skipped in the film, such as the Ludo Bagman red herring, and the madness and death of Mr Crouch, which is a really eerie and unsettling scene which the film galloped through at top speed and plenty of confusion.
The Explorer Gene.
I have followed the exploits of Auguste Piccard, the first man to boldly go up into the stratosphere in a balloon, as well as those of his twin brother Jean, and other sciencey pioneers who have built on his experiments. Having conquered the sky, Auguste then turned to designing a vessel to boldly go to the bottom of the ocean - eventually to be piloted by his son Jacques. "Only dead men have sunk below this."
Wednesday Stats:
What I've read today: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Number of pages read today: 88
Running total: 420 pages
Number of mince pies consumed during the readathon: 5 1/2
My life outside books: Met Judith for lunch.
Quote of the day: Ron: "I could have taken those mer-idiots any time I wanted."
Hermione: "What were you going to do, snore at them?"
Quote of the day: Ron: "I could have taken those mer-idiots any time I wanted."
Hermione: "What were you going to do, snore at them?"
Thursday Stats:
What I've read today: The Explorer Gene
Number of pages read today: 26
Running total: 446 pages
Number of mince pies consumed during readathon: 5 1/2
My life outside books: Christmas madness really kicking in at work, though customers still in good spirits for the most part.
Friday Stats:
What I've read today: The Explorer Gene
Number of pages read today: 61
Running total: 507 pages
Number of mince pies consumed during readathon: 5 1/2
My life outside books: Christmas shopping complete, parcels posted. Bring it on!
Friday Stats:
What I've read today: The Explorer Gene
Number of pages read today: 61
Running total: 507 pages
Number of mince pies consumed during readathon: 5 1/2
My life outside books: Christmas shopping complete, parcels posted. Bring it on!
"I am so going to be Molly Weasley if I ever grow up. I've no plans of marriage or children myself, but I fear I'm going to be that relative who sends everyone ugly Christmas jumpers. Mwahahaha!" - THIS SOUNDS PERFECT TO ME. If you ever fancy getting a spinster-cottage together and filling it with books, cats and knitting, just let me know. :D
ReplyDeleteStaying perky IS impressive at this point. I didn't know about your emotional crash though, I would have sent you shizzle in the post and loads of emails and stuff if I'd known! *belated hugs just for good measure* I am often surprised by how late people leave PROPER Christmas shopping (not just the last-minute odds and ends kind of shopping). Last year a guy yelled at me on 22 December or something crazy, because a Penguin mug he wanted for his wife had sold out, and a woman kept us AN HOUR OVER closing time on Christmas Eve because she'd done NO shopping and had about twelve people to buy for. *unimpressed face barely concealing mental death-rays* Happily this hasn't happened this year YET, but I have a feeling this weekend's going to be a busy one!
Good luck... OH AND HARRY POTTER YES. Good choice. J.K. Rowling is hilarious enough to liven up any bad day, even in the depths of The Big Sad Books At The End That I Haven't Been Able To Bear Rereading Yet. Ahhhh, Ron Weasley. Legend. :)
Spinster cottage sounds great to me. Every wall would be lined with bookcases, and there would be books stacked up the stairs and in every nook and cranny. I am liking the thought of this cottage.
ReplyDeleteI had a really bad couple of weeks mid-September; my brain seemed to be using every weapon in its armoury against me and I just kinda hid, and didn't feel able to write about it on the blog or twitter because I didn't want to be annoying or seeming to ask for sympathy - ah, I think you know how it is. It's easy to be objective when it's someone else or in retrospect. Thank you for the hugs and good thoughts! :) I'm doing OK now. Long may it continue!
I can't imagine how people can be so disorganised. Christmas is in the shops and in your face for about a third of the year! I quite enjoy working Christmas Eve, though. MOST people are in good moods and we all dress up to collect money for the local hospice. It's the after-Christmas rush that annoys me.