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Almost the end

19 Thursday Dec 2019

Posted by in Personal Thoughts, TBR, Writing

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We’re more than halfway through December and because I was on a Conference trip for the beginning of the month, I’m not entirely sure where the month went.

From Dec. 6 through Dec. 13th I was in Las Vegas. The photo above is one of the sunrises from Vegas while I was on my trip. Vegas is a beautiful city, but it’s also hella expensive. You’re hard-pressed to find any lunch or dinner options that are under $20.

And if you’re wondering, did you gamble? Did you see a show? The answer is no. I don’t gamble. My dad was a big gambler and it got ugly sometimes so it kind of put me off gambling as a whole. And color me cheap, but I can’t justify a $200 ticket to a show, no matter how amazing it is. I just can’t. Especially not around the Holidays when I’m trying to spend on others instead of myself.

I did go to the Shark Reef Aquarium at the Mandalay Bay though.

It was fun to see all the life there. And they have a couple ‘diver view’ tunnels with sharks swimming around above you that were pretty cool. Plus, the stingrays were adorable, they have several in a little touch pool that so long as you’re gentle you can pet them. And the jellyfish *points up at blacklight picture* were so pretty to watch. Having them under the blacklight made them look incredibly magical.

I didn’t get a lot of writing done because with working 9 hour days at the Conference, all I did was grab dinner on the way back to my hotel room and then crash by 8pm after I was finished eating.

Though, on the plane, I was able to listen to some audiobooks during the flight. Though I will say that I fell asleep in a couple places and had to go back and relisten to them while awake.

The view from the plane was pretty incredible as well.

Overall it was an incredible trip. And for some of the downtime, I did have fun. And for the work portion of it, I was told I made everything run incredibly smooth and they were very thankful for it.

If you’re interested in seeing more photos from my trip, I did post several on my Instagram. You can find me @meriscorner over there

As the year slowly crawls to an end, it’s made me realize that I’ve been seriously slacking the last half of the year on my reading goal. I marked that I wanted to read 50 books this year, and currently, I’m sitting at 31 books.

This means that I have 19 books to read in the last two weeks of the year! Can I do it? We’ll see. You’ll have to stay tuned!

Oh, Hello December

02 Monday Dec 2019

Posted by in Personal Thoughts, Writing

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Did you know that it’s December?

We’re not in November anymore. I repeat, I’ve lost the end of November. I don’t know where it went, or what happened to it, or how it passed by me without even a wave and a few words sprinkled in it.

None the less, we are in December. Technically we’re two days in now. We have 30 days until we say goodbye to 2019 and hello to a new year that will hopefully slow down and treat us kinder than 2019 did. Though, there’s never any promises for that from the years, is there.

I leave for a work trip in four days (on Friday) and am spending a week two timezones behind my normal one in the desert. Las Vegas specifically. I’ve had one of my co-workers all, you’re going to get to do all the things and see all the shows while you’re there, and all I’m thinking is ‘when!?’ because I’m manning the Residency Interview booth for my company and interviews start at 7:30am, which means I need to be there around 7am to make sure the booth is all set up for the day. And interviews run until 5pm, which means I’m sitting at this booth smiling and making idle and awkward chit chat for like 9 – 10 hours a day most of the days I’m in Vegas. What time do I have to explore and have fun? Because I’m not seeing it.

I am considering bucking up the courage to try my hand at some blackjack. I do okay virtually, who knows if I’d do well live. And if I lose $20 at least I can say I tried.

I am looking to capture some photos while I’m there and update Instagram as I can, so if you aren’t following me on Instagram, be sure to follow me there @meriscorner

I’m also looking to try and get some writing done, but I’m not sure I’m going to bring my laptop. I think I’m going to try and do some back to basics, pen and notebook writing while I’m in Vegas. Less distraction because I’m not sliding to instagram or twitter or facebook, but also, it’s not going to look like I’m ignoring interviewees when they come up to the table if I’m just writing in a notebook. I’ve also been having an issue staring at a blank word document just making me stressed that I haven’t written so I’m hoping this will help me in getting words down again. It’s been forever since I’ve really written and I’d like to get back into the habit, the groove, the writerly swing of things.

This week specifically I’ve been prepping my friend’s presents so they’re ready to mail. And getting everything ready to head to the conference. Not just with packing clothes and planning wardrobe for a professional conference, but making sure like, everything on my desk at work is okay because someone will be sitting at it the entire week I’m gone. O.O I hate the idea of someone using my space while I’m gone, but because I work at a front desk it has to be.

Any fun plans for your first week of December? Let me know in the comments below!

Prepping and Prompting

06 Friday Oct 2017

Posted by in NaNoWriMo, Writing

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So while I have been working away at trying to finish my short, and toiling away at trying to plan out my WIP details for the upcoming NaNo, I’ve also been scouring the internet looking for prompts to try and do a little bit of one shot, like 1k shorts to just get into the October spirit.

Because, after all, October isn’t just about being prepared for NaNo. It’s the start of Fall. It’s Halloween. It’s Dia de los Muertos. It’s Samhain. It’s the time of year where the veil between the living and the dead is the thinnest. It’s where we get to dress up and be someone else for a night, or all month. And it’s where, even for those of us who don’t normally write it, we writers might want to try to craft something that goes bump in the night.

I don’t know what it is, or why it is, but my scouring the internet came up short. Most of what I found were prompts about sharing your memories of different events or emotions tied to Halloween. And that’s just not what I wanted.

So, I crafted some of my own prompts. Originally I was thinking of a prompt a day kind of list, but when everything falls into place that’s a lot for someone like me who works 9-5 Monday through Friday. So I crafted one prompt every other day instead. If you’re not looking at a calendar to count, that’s sixteen prompts.

If you’re planning to fill any of the prompts, leave a comment down below with which one(s) you’re thinking of doing. As well, if you post it anywhere, I’d love to see it so go ahead and throw a link in the comment, or tweet me @MerisCorner because I’d love to see them all written out!

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