LONG update.

Well, this past week has been quite nice. I had TWO stories published, which was crazy exciting. The first one, at Bewilderingstories.com, I've been anticipating for many weeks. The second one, at Monkeybicycle.net, was a huge surprise. I wasn't expecting to hear back from them so soon (their responses take up to twelve weeks--I only submitted a month ago) and I really wasn't expecting to be accepted, either (based on the fact that they declined my last submission). Furthermore, I had no idea that they would put my story up a mere twelve hours after telling me they wanted to publish it! So all that was a bit of a whirlwind.

I had to work a lot this past week, but all my shifts went by fast. Everything is winding down at Food Avenue...we're shutting down a week from tomorrow. I'm going to miss it. Last month I was so ready for this...but that's only because holiday shoppers were making every shift miserably busy. Now that things are back to normal, I actually enjoy my job. This probably makes me a bad Target employee, but one of the things I like the most is that I'm not so much a part of "the team." There's no team leader lurking around to watch my every move, I don't have to update everyone with what I'm working on, I don't have to respond to backups for other parts of the store...I'm just doing my own thing. I really enjoy that independence. But it will be nice to be cross-trained for sales floor. Maybe I'll actually learn how the store runs and stays organized. Since I've been in my Food Ave bubble for these seven months, I know a shamefully small amount about the daily operations of the store.

Yesterday, my parents came up to bring me my new phone. It's a Kin One...which apparently failed as a smart phone last year and is now being sold as a feature phone. Fine by me since I had no intention of getting a smart phone, anyway...my parents don't want to pay for the data plan (yep, my parents still pay for my cell phone. But they pay for Grant's, too, and he's 25, so that makes me feel a little better). I really like the phone. It has a touch screen and a QWERTY keyboard that slides out and it's small and SQUARE! Pretty much adorable. My Dad bought me a dark pink clip-on case, too, which just adds to the cuteness. The camera is really nice, for a feature phone. All the other ones I looked at had 2.0 megapixels and this one has 5.0. However...I can't send any picture messages. I just get this stupid "try again later" message. I was able to send one last night but every attempt since then has failed. Kind of infuriating. If it's not working by tomorrow, I guess I'll take it to the Verizon place at the mall and see if they can figure out what's wrong.

In addition to bringing me my phone, my parents also bought me a new printer/scanner, since ours broke a couple months ago. They didn't think it was acceptable for a real (aka published) writer to not have a working printer. And to be honest, I've kind of been going crazy without one...so that was pretty great of them. They spoil me a bit, don't they?

On today's agenda, grocery shopping! Whoo. I don't know when I'll get around to that. I'm trying to get over a cold, so I sort of feel like lying around and watching movies all day.


Do you have an alarm clock? What time is it set to wake you up? Yes. Right now it's set to 9:30.
Do you like knock-knock jokes? Meh. Not in particular.
Are you currently more hungry or thirsty? More thirsty.
Are you waiting on anything right now? Not really.
Do you prefer your singing voice or your talking voice more? Singing. My speaking voice is too delicate and girly. I lower my natural pitch a lot to sound less ridiculous.
The last person you met for the first time: What do you think of them? I thought he was shyer and quieter than me...something I don't see too often in a guy.
Have you ever been described as shy? Is it true? ^ Somewhat.
Name the last awkward moment you encountered: Being stuck in the hallway with one of our neighbors, trying to figure out what to do with the random cat that was sitting out there. Apparently, another neighbor accidentally locked it out of her apartment while she was leaving.
If I could make you anything to eat right now, what would you want? I could go for a really good grilled cheese sandwich and a cup of tomato soup.
Do you prefer earphones or the ear-muff style headphones? Meh, I don't really care. Both irritate my ears.
What colour are your pants? I'm not wearing any pants...rocking the bathrobe at the moment.
Name something you're a complete sucker for: Puppies.
Do you type pretty quickly? Yes.
Do you remember when you first went on the internet? AOL on the good ol' Acer 95. I was probably around ten when my parents let me get online by myself for the first time. I was only allowed to use it to email my friends from church.
What do you smell of currently? Coffee, soap.
What was the last gift you received? My printer.
Are you religious? Is this something you were raised with or developed? I don't like that term. And religion is frustrating. I'd rather say that I'm someone looking for spiritual fulfillment. And yes, that's how I was raised.
When was the last time you saw rain? Um...I don't remember. Somewhat recently.
How often do you forget important things? I guess it depends on what you mean by important. I forget to pay bills sometimes, or put gas in the car--stuff like that, I forget kind of often.
What is one way someone could completely put you off on a first date? Rudeness to strangers, like the server if we're at a restaurant.
What about one way someone could make you like them more on a first date? Making me laugh.
What was the last music video you watched? Did you like it? I don't even remember.
Do you ever buy people random gifts? (When it's not their birthday, etc) Sometimes.
Are you more prone to blackheads or spots / pimples? Pimples.
Do you fiddle with the phone cord when you talk on the phone? What phone cord?
Do you refuse to use public toilets? No. Definitely not a fan of them, though.
Do you save your online browsing history? Firefox saves it automatically.
How many books have you read this year? Since we're only three weeks into this year, I've only read one. But in the past twelve months, around 30.
Are you good at guessing things correctly? It depends on what I'm guessing! In general, I imagine I'm not any better or worse than most people.
If you could have any colour as your natural hair, which would you choose? Auburn.
Does your voice change when you talk to certain people? Yeah.
How often does your computer freeze up? Not very often.
What do you do when you're nervous? Fidget, blush, lose my train of thought...sometimes my voice quivers. Embarrassing stuff like that.