Half-way point

In my glass: Freshly squeezed apple juice courtesy of my new juicer
On my iPod: Zeto the Bubbleman (Played by Gizzen Briggs on their CD Out of the Blue)
From my bookshelf: Anatomy (Cunningham's Manual of Practical Anatomy Volume 2, if you must know)
Outside: Dark, cold, slightly drizzly
My mood: Slightly mood-swing-y, but mostly happy

Ok, so maybe half-way was technically yesterday, but between lectures and labs, and NaNo meet-up, and writing out anatomy, I just didn't have the time to update on NaNo.
So hows NaNoWriMo going? Rather well actually. I thought I would be waaaaayyyyy behind by now, but though I slowed down during the "week two wall" which had me just about having a break-down at the weekend (Ok, so maybe I did just have an out and out breakdown. However, it was partially alcohol induced), the extra I wrote during week one, the skeleton marathon, and getting back into the swing of the story now, means I'm back on track.
The quota for the end of day 16 is 26667 (or thereabouts - various sources give you different numbers. I'm going from the fact that the half-way point is 25000, and the quota for today should be 1667 words over that). My current word count, (though I still have a bit of writing left to do) is 27891. YAY!
So how has the month been so far? The answer: HELLISH! To give you an idea, a lot of us in my course are moaning to each other about messed up sleep-patterns and eating junk and having mood swings, and feeling crap, and all the other lovely things that comes with being completely and utterly stressed out. I ask you: WHY did I decide to take on a 50,000 novel in 30 days when I have all this other stuff on??? *Um...I don't know. But I got this far, so I'm bloody well going to finish it*

Well, this week, so far, I've had my usual 19 hours, plus an anatomy assessment (30 mins, an hour before our normal class), plus an hour long mid-term exam for physiology, plus my writing for NaNo in between. Next week is the same, but with an extra 2 hours of lectures, an hour-long tutorial instead of the anatomy assessment, and I've to somehow get to the doctors, a good hours walk away, before class on Thursday morning (which I have to get to - its taken me months to get this slot to see someone, because my GP referred me, but I'm not an extreme case - by which time the problem has likely healed wrong which is why I'm not in pain anymore, but still having troubles with it).
Oh, and my mobile company keeps calling me at stupid times in the afternoon (i.e. when I'm in lectures), in the evening (when I panic at the phone going because I'm waiting on a call from someone important), or at night (when I'm either writing in a different room, sleeping, or in a nightclub and wont hear it). Its always on silent anyway, so its won't go off at inopportune moments. Regardless though, its still a pain in the ass, especially when I feel the vibration going in my pocket (generally where my phone always is). I sent a message to Ofcom, but I doubt anything will be done about it, as per usual. And no. I'm not calling the phone company, because I've tried it before, and nothing happened apart, and it takes way more time than I have spare right now.

For the moment, I'm sitting getting kit cleaned, pressed and ready to go for tomorrow. For the first time in WEEKS, I'm having a lie in. For me, a lie-in constitutes actually getting to stay in bed past 7AM in the morning, and for once, tomorrow, I can do just that. I know, I know, I should be working on my novel instead of sleeping in, but don't worry becaaaaause...
The NaNoWriMo Regional Group are having their half-way party! Which starts at 3pm, so I can get up late, take a lazy shower (rather than a speedy, must-get-dressed-and-out-the door-quick kind of shower), fix the last bits of my kit for the evening, and write a bit on my novel before I go. I'm even planning to take them flapjacks, but we'll see if I remember in the morning. I don't know if I have enough oats left to make them with. Anyhow, I'll be there for a couple of hours before dropping my laptop back at my flat (hopefully with a good days worth of writing in it, even with the 1-hour writing ban for the start of the party), and pick up my (hopefully spotless) kit and take it up to OTC (At which point, I'll probably have scuffed by brogues again and have to work it out when I get there. Then its a case of getting changed, transport to wherever it is we're going, do our stuff, come home, get changed again, dump kit (hung up in a nice suit-carrier of course) and possibly go to town. Meh. The "go to town" part is debatable. Depends on whether I'm over my break-down stage. I'm guessing so, because I'm over the hurdle. We've passed the halfway of NaNo, and my novel, and of the uni term, and therefore my courses, and it's almost christmas holidays. Only four more weeks of lectures and stress to go. *heaves big sigh of relief*

Oh, yeah. About my breakdown. It wasn't really a breakdown. Rather it was stress compounded by  being drunk for the first time in literally two months resulting in a teariness I couldn't explain to my worrying compadres. So, now that it's week over, and I have a morning to myself, I'm feeling much more optimistic about things. For the first time in ages, I don't even have to worry.

Have a great weekend everyone :)