December has come with a vengeance. Since the 1st, we've been beseiged by day after day of snow--powder snow, thankfully--and it's been bitterly cold. The last few days, it's been below zero--as in -16 with a wind chill of -30. Mostly been holed up at home ever since, trying not to freeze to death; I even had to cancel a dentist appointment for fear of my car stalling in the cold weather. Hopefully it'll be warm enough to at least go outside without a parka later this week. -_-;;

Did a little skulking around on Google today and adopted myself a pair of dragon eggs of sorts. Not quite sure what's required to "raise" them, but I'll try to figure it out as I go. Here are my, shall we say, babies:

I haven't been working very faithfully on any of my stories lately because I seem to be suffering from a bad case of writer's block on most of the stories; I'm trying to break through it, but it's being particularly stubborn lately. The most progress I've been making is on "Gundam SEED Shift," though it's like pulling teeth just to get a little bit out of it. To combat my writer's block, I've started playing more video games lately in the hopes of it at least snapping me out of it slightly--even if it brings me to starting another story; that, at least, would be some progress, considering that if I start working on one story, they all tend to catch my interest.

I would particularly like to work on "Hitori Ja Nai," considering all of the revisions I need to give it for the new (if minor) plot changes to work. Maybe I'll just have to start working on it in earnest and it'll start to flow. (One can dream, right? ^_^;;; )

The weather's been pretty crappy this month. Almost nothing but freezing temperatures for the last few weeks, with occasional rain and snow to make things even more unpleasant. We had a little reprieve last weekend, but it's back to the cold this weekend with intermitten rain and snow showers, and there's no end in sight this time. Guess winter weather is here to stay.

Nothing of real interest has happened in the last month or so. I recently got a DS for my birthday, so I've been playing a couple of games on it to get a feel for it. One of them--KH 358/2 Days--is reminiscent of its PS2 counterparts and a lot of PSP games I've played; the other is The World Ends With You. I think I've figured out how play Neku, but playing the partner...not so much. Instead of killing the partner with my ineptitude, I've opted to let the computer play (so to speak). Incidentally, these games have eaten up a good chunk of my time lately, which hasn't left me much time or brainpower to do as much on my stories as I would like.

Most of the time I've put into writing has been used towards my experimental project and for "GS Shift." However, I've been putting a lot of thought into restructuring some of the later chapters of "Hitori Ja Nai" (my ancient Naruto/Inuyasha fusion that's been gathering dust on my hard drive for the last six months) since I got stuck about nine chapters into the story. The changes I have in mind would probably alter the plot line a bit, but it might give me enough oomph to get things going without stumbling over a terrible fight scene that I'll probably end up murdering anyway. Hopefully I can get started on the revisions yet this weekend.

Not much going on lately. Finally decided to get started on looking for a new pet cat next week. It may take a little while, but we're going to get the ball rolling at least (after almost two months of discussing the possibility -_-;; ).

We had a bit of a cold snap last week, and we're supposed to be getting one tomorrow or Monday, too. There's even talk (on the Weather Channel) of the possibility of snow. TT_____TT It isn't even October yet; it shouldn't be snowing until the end of next month. Thankfully, it's supposed to warm up a bit after the weekend, so it'll never last.

I talked a bit with my mother about what she would be willing to get me for my birthday. We were talking about a new laptop for a while, but I ultimately decided to ask for a gaming device instead; it's much cheaper and my current laptop will last me another year or two. I'm not really that eager to get a new computer, as that would require learning Windows 7; I don't think I'd have the brainpower to remember how to operate three different Windows versions right now.

I guess I haven't been very ambitious as far as my stories to lately. Most of my energy has been spent working on "GS Shift" and refining my OCs for the story. I'm still trying to get up the will to work on "Hitori Ja Nai", but my muse for that story seems to have died. >_< Hopefully I can resuscitate her/him/it before I lose the drive completely. Maybe I can get something done with my original story tonight or tomorrow--or maybe make more progress with "GS Shift" or "Seeds of ANBU."

Pretty quiet around here lately. My mom's been feeling a little sick lately, but hopefully she'll find out what's going on during her visit to the doctor in a couple of days.

I've had a few issues with my cell phone lately--specifically (presumably) the battery. It inexplicably started to not keep its charge more than a few days and the window of usability time has quickly deteriorated to a day or so. The people at the store couldn't really help me figure out what's wrong with it, considering I hardly use it and the battery looks fine, but they did suggest that it might be the phone and not the battery. >:\

At least the second store I went to was helpful about it; the girl at the first store's brain seemed to have (from the way she acted) evaporated after an afternoon at classes. She couldn't find a battery for the phone, so she tried to "switch it out" with something else--with what, I have no clue--and was very puzzled that the phone wouldn't turn on after I specifically told her the battery was DEAD. -_-;;; I've since vowed to go to the south store if I have any more trouble; at least they try to help you figure out the problem instead of ignoring half of what you say.

Otherwise, I've been trying to work up the drive to work on some of my stories. Most of my time seems to be spent on "Seeds of ANBU" and "GS Shift" lately, but I'm hoping that I can get inspired to work on "Hitori Ja Nai" or "Betsu no Michi" (of which I'm strongly thinking about changing the title). Just have to wait and see what develops, though, I suppose.

Not much has been happening lately. My sister's visit with us went better than I anticipated, and it was pretty fun--even if our activities were limited by the rain and cloudy weather. The only bad thing about the visit was the fact that her dogs left quite a bit of hair behind on our floors, which required extensive sweeping and vacuuming after they left. Otherwise, though, I really enjoyed seeing them.

My nephew is still a zealous Japanophile--more so than ever, I think--and it was interesting to see/hear some of the Japanese stuff he's got. Personally, I find that I've started to gravitate more toward English things again, but I really did like the anime and music he showed me. He's even got me hooked on a new manga, but I can't remember its title at the moment. ^_^;;

I've been trying to do some work on my stories, but it seems my muse is on a permanent vacaction lately. My current progress seems to be kind of limited to my original story, "Seeds of ANBU," and "Gundam SEED Shift." I did get a few paragraphs typed in my off-the-wall story I was trying last summer, but I wouldn't really call it progress; I'll save that title for when I finally get around to writing a page or two.

Got my new car a week ago, and I'm still not entirely sure I really like it. It's a Ford Escape that reminds me a bit of the Blazer I used to drive, but there's still so many things I don't understand about it. I even had to have the mechanic explain to me how the windshield wipers on it worked because it did absolutely nothing when I tried. Man, did I feel stupid.

Not really working on many of my stories right now; have gotten some work done on my original story that I'm slowly but surely trying to rework, and a little on "Gundam SEED Shift," but it's really minor.

I've spent more time reading books lately than I have at my computer. Recently finished "The Mortal Instruments" trilogy, which I actually scoffed at the first time I saw. However, I got bored with the other books I was reading and decided to pick up the first one just for the heck of it--and was hooked almost instantly. It's got a lot of new twists on old ideas, which makes it interesting.

Hope to get a little work done on "GS Shift" and maybe "Team Impossible" or "Seeds of ANBU" if I can swing it. Just have to see how it goes, I suppose.

Too tired to think of anything else to say now...

Last week should've been relatively calm, with maybe only a few surprises. However, we had an unexpected bit of excitement after visiting my great, great uncle in his retirement home with my aunt. While minding our own business as we passed through an intersection, a nice little pickup suddenly comes out of nowhere and we had a nice little collision.

The driver was a total *insert your favorite insulting adjective here* jerk and started screaming about how we obviously rolled through the stop sign... >:\ Yeah, as if he had any right to come careening around the corner fifteen miles over the speed limit!

We decided to just put it behind us though, because crap happens--but it could never be that easy, could it? Of course not! When the insurance adjuster looked at it, we were informed that, because it would cost about 75% of what it's worth to fix it, the car was totaled out. TT______TT

As a result, we've been looking at new cars--because fixing it and keeping it just doesn't seem that feasible. I wanted a new car anyway, but NOT like this...

Power was out a better part of the night tonight. Had quite a few tornado watches throughout the state and a bad scare when it started hailing; it sounded like the windows would break.

Finally got power about 11:30, after a night of playing cards and toying with some old musical instruments.

I've been rewatching some of my old Digimon recordings to get back into the swing for "Digimon Genesis" after revamping the storyline a bit again after I recently got interested in it again. There's still a few things that need to be adjusted, but it shouldn't impact the story too much.

Also been struggling to work on "Gundam SEED Shift," "Seeds of ANBU," and "Team Impossible"; hope to get more done toward the end of the week--possibly after cleaning for my aunt's impending visit.

Too tired to think of anything else to say (as if I haven't said enough).

I can't believe it actually snowed today. It's not like I live in the mountains or the Arctic Circle--so how the heck can it be snowing in June? It defies all logic. Oh, well. At least it'll melt soon.

Now, though, I'm glad we went to pick up our Memorial Day flowers yesterday. Today would've been terrible for it.

Been trying to keep busy doing various things, including working on my stories. Most of my time's been spent on "Seeds of ANBU" and "Gundam SEED Shift" lately, considering that my inspiration has kind of dried up for everything else -_-;;.

I've also been contemplating either working on "Kamibana" or a Naruto/Ouran HS Host Club fusion (using Haruhi mainly, though some of the others may make cameo appearances) idea that I've been playing around with for a while. Also been editing "The Veritas Project" (one of the few Escaflowne stories I ever managed to finish), but that hardly seems worth mentioning.

Hopefully I'll manage to do something more productive this weekend than sit and play games while watching it snow. ^_^;;

Not much going down.

The snow is finally melting, and we're finally getting some warm weather; it was 65 today whereas last week it was in the upper 30s, tops. We've still got drainage issues in the backyard, but they're nothing compared to what's going on in the roads around here, with a no-travel advisory on roads with water on them because of the flooding.

The furnace passed its inspection, and the guy thinks it should be good for as long as they make parts for it. -_-;; We're still thinking about getting a new one this summer, considering how easily it breaks down--especially at the most ungodly hours.

Been working periodically on several of my stories, including "Gundam SEED Shift," my experimental project, and "Seeds of ANBU". I've been trying to work on "Hitori Ja Nai," but not having much luck. Dang it, why is my inspiration so dried up for that story? Maybe I need a new muse...