November

So today is Halloween, but this is not a Halloween post. Why? Well, mostly because it is Halloween and I am sitting at home in bed with a black cat at my feet rather than being out partying in Chungdae with Amy and Jess and the Korean people who are likely at Buzz right now. But also, it being the last day of October means that tomorrow is the first day of November. And November is going to be insane. Why you might ask? Let me give you a quick rundown of the things that I have to do in November.

1. Face tomorrow - billing run. The first of the month is always hellish with people discovering that, yes, they are still being charged for the services that they neglected to cancel. It's not that I think this month's billing run is going to be particularly bad or anything, I just suspect that its going to be a billing run, making my day tomorrow, well, hellish.

2. Team Building - this Friday is my company's first team building, or at least the first one that I will be taking part in. It is mandatory, it involves colourful t-shirts and, from the questions that we were asked to fill in last week, it is likely to be embarassing. It could, of course, be fun. This is not a possibility that I am ruling out. And, on the plus side, it will be followed by a braai and much booze provided by the company. Still, not seeming like a start to a productive weekend.

3. Photo shoot - hey! I didn't say that the month was filled with things that I wasn't looking forward to. Just that there is much to be done. My photo shoot with Debbie is one of the things that I really am looking forward to. I want to take my camera out for a field-trip. It's been feeling a little lonely in its camera bag recently.

4. Website - I am really hoping that this will be the month. I am going to be giving my designer a deadline in the hopes that he will stick to it. Of course, this means a lot of work on my part too, getting photos up, working out prices and writing up content.

5. Speaking of writing... NaNoWriMo - Yes. I am. Totally. 50 000 words, here I come. This will be the year!

6. Packing - Oh, right, that's right. This is the last month in our old house before we move to the shiny new one. But, this does involve packing up all of the stuff here first, hiring a trailer and lugging it to the new house. Oh, and hiring a trailer also involves finding a car with a toe-hitch to attach the trailer to. Fun times if I may say so myself!

7. Cleaning - Moving out of the old house means that there is going to be a lot of tidying to do. It's not that this house is a dump but, well, a lot of furniture hasn't been moved in the two years that Grant has lived in the house and I suspect that when we do move it, cobwebs are going to be flying, and I am going to be avoiding them like the plague because you know that with cobwebs come those dreaded eight legged creatures that I hate so much.

8. Moving - the adventure of moving into the new house will hopefully be starting in the last week of this month. Which means that packing has to start before then. It will also mean that when the day comes to move (01 December, which also happens to be a Thursday) we won't be lugging too much of our stuff and can perhaps even manage just taking half a day off work instead of a full day (something that I still need to book... bugger).

Birthday celebrations - Finally, and possibly most importantly, this month is Grant's birthday. Which involves a lot of planning on my part, simply because he always makes my birthdays incredibly awesome and I tend to suck at getting gifts that he might appreciate. This year, I am hoping, will be different. I have gone through every effort to find a gift that he will enjoy and appreciate, and then topped it off with two more gifts (and a third implied gift). It is a long story, which I will need to explain after the 11th, but basically, Grant's birthday celebrations will be taking up space in my mind for the first half of the month.

And this is why, November is looking like a fun-filled and particularly busy month. My God... I have exhausted myself just thinking about it. Off to bed I go now for an episode of Dollhouse!