Home again, home again ... or, The post wherein Our Heroine reveals her book-nerdy side

Well, my pretties, after a long and exhausting trip home (turbulence at Calgary, diversion to Toronto from London, hours and hours of waiting to go to a hotel), I am safely ensconced in my parents' house in Woodstock. Yes, I find myself occasionally muttering, "Why did I want to leave the Yukon?" but that's just because the winter in Ontario sucks hardcore.

But there have been some pretty awesome things, too. I had pizza from a non-grocery-store/non-hotel place, Red Lobster for lunch yesterday, and the potential for sushi and Thai food in the near future. (I know, Kara, I know - but I can't help myself. I just can't.)

I've also been reading a lot. When I was at the airport in Vancouver, I was browsing through the fiction section...and not a single book appealed to me. No titles that made me laugh (like Michele Bardsley's stuff), or plots that seemed interesting enough to overlook the headless male torso that was the cover (like Hot to the Finish [which is not to say that I don't adore many of Erin McCarthy's books, just not the ones with covers like this]).

I've been reading a lot of the reviews over at Forever Young Adult lately (I came for the Sweet Valley High Drinking Game, and stayed for the witty banter and all-around-awesomeness). I decided to move away from the fiction section, over into the Teen/Young Adult section.

I picked up the eponymous first book in Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy. I have to tell you, I wasn't expecting too much. For starters, reading on a plane affects me much the same way as reading in a car - I get nauseated. But it didn't matter. I couldn't stop reading.

I read all the way to Calgary, pausing only during the crazy turbulence to clutch at my armrest and pray that I would survive so I could keep reading. I was finished the book before we got to Toronto (the first time, when we passed over it).

So the next morning, I went to the airport early (because I love going through security multiple times on one trip!), and once I cleared security I rushed into the bookstore to buy Catching Fire...only they didn't have any copies! They had Hunger Games and Mockingjay, but not the one I needed! I was frustrated! And crabby! Those are never a good combination for yours truly.

Luckily, before I could start smashing things around me, Hulk-style, my glare happened upon the eponymous first book in Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan trilogy, which had also received reviews over at FYA. So, book crisis averted, I snatched that puppy up and flew in to London with no problems.

Well, I was finished Leviathan by Thursday at lunch (taking into account the thirteen hours I was asleep), and I was facing the same crisis - what was I going to do?


Long story short, I bought Catching Fire and Behemoth at Chapters yesterday, and I finished Behemoth this morning. I am saving Catching Fire until tomorrow, and I know the opportunity to purchase Mockingjay will arise in the next couple of weeks (I might try to delay it until my return trip, so I can be occupied on the plane). But I am going to be sad and mopey for a while, because Goliath, the third Leviathan book, won't be out until next October! Bloohoohoo!


If you've stuck with me this far, thanks for reading! I haven't let me inner book-nerd out in a really long time ^_^

Bored in YVR

So, here I sit at the airport, biding my time until my flight leaves for London. I'm peopled-out, thanks to the woman two rows behind me on the plane who would not stop talking. It was 7:00am, I didn't want to hear the details of her life. I may have caused myself some permanent hearing loss from how high I cranked the volume on my iPod.

My drive to Whitehorse was uneventful. I was going slightly slower than the limit most of the way, because I'm not accustomed to winter driving, and I have visions of going around a corner too fast and winding up in Little Salmon Lake.

Leo and Esther were waiting for me, and plied me with a great deal of wine, good food, and desserts. They also told me to cancel my reservation in WH for the 30th, and just stay at their house. They won't be there, but their boarder will be, and they gave me a key and everything. Leo drove my truck to the airport this morning and dropped me off.

They're such nice people - the kind of people that make me love the Yukon. I'll have to work on quilting the lap-quilt I pieced for them when I get back to Faro.

Psst, Kara, I had a sandwich for lunch today - I figured it was the least offensive thing I could eat ^_^

ADHD Goldfish

I swear, I am having the hardest time concentrating today.

The headache that kept me home yesterday is not quite gone. I thought it was, but a few hours at work this morning have sent it back behind my eyes, throbbing away. Grrr.

I need to answer my interview questions for the travel blog, and come up with some appropriate companion photos. (Kara, I may ask for more of yours ^_^) I need to work on some crucial proposals. I need to pack!

I leave for Ontario on Monday. Between now and then, I need to do several loads of laundry, clean my house, put my Out of Office reply on the office email, and attend the Council Open House (taking care not to eat any of the sugary treats I know will be there).

All these tasks would be easier if I wasn't flitting around like a nectar-drunk hummingbird*.

So, I guess it's time for my old friend, the Checklist. That'll put me on the right track.


*I really like that metaphor.

Food Stuffs

If I required any further proof that going back on the Dysbiosis diet was really working for me, this weekend has provided it.

Friday, after I walked to work because my car wouldn't start, I ate two of the muffins that Jackie had brought to work Wednesday afternoon. That evening, I was babysitting at Kara's and ate a bunch of pancakes and syrup with a diet Pepsi (lots of sugar). I spent the rest of the night curled up on the couch, feeling like I was going to be sick at any moment. I woke up feeling hungover.

Last night was the staff Christmas party, and I ate salad dressing (vinegar), stuffing (bread = contains yeast), Hawaiian fruit punch (sugar), and had to leave by 8:30 because my stomach was reacting badly. This morning, again with the sugar-hangover.

So, eliminating things that make me ill is a good thing. What I need to be able to do is to find a way to record the sensations I get when I am reacting badly, and play them back to myself during the moments when I find myself tempted by bad foods. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out a way to do that during the fifteen years or so that I have been reacting badly to food ^_^

This also means that I am not going to be eating even a small piece of Matt's birthday cake this year, which is kind of a bummer because it's that amazing flourless chocolate cake from The Chocolate Claim that Kara had for her birthday. Before this weekend, I would have risked it...but not now.

Now I'm off to make the first of many cups of tea today, and to work on my sister's Cowboy Quilt (I've only been putting it off for a year and a half ^_^)