Weekly Wrap-up for November 27, 2011: Whew.

It is a bit of a dismal day today. We woke up to rain, and it has been raining ever since. I usually enjoy these kinds of days, but I have had a lot going on this week, so I haven't spent much of the day lounging as I usually would.

To be honest, since finishing school on Tuesday, I have been constantly on the go. My only downtime was last night when Matt got off work. Beyond those few hours, we've been traveling, eating, shopping, or visiting with family. It is nice to be home, but I am staring at a messy apartment that needs to be whipped back into shape sooner rather than later.

Tomorrow morning it will be weird not to get ready for school and go into "my" classroom. For the first time in nearly a year, I don't have steady employment, and that is going to stare me in the face in the morning. I know I will adjust and the daily sub jobs will slowly roll in. Tomorrow, however, I plan to spend at home catching up on some things, getting some stuff organized around here (you know, the things I have shoved into closets), and some reading/writing. I haven't touched my Nano novel in nearly two weeks, and while I feel really confident in what I am writing, I don't think I want to rush through it to try and win by Wednesday at midnight. We'll see.

I had grand plans for reading this weekend, but since I have been a little busier than normal, nothing was really accomplished. The only "book" I completed was Civil Disobedience, which shouldn't count since it was only 30 pages. Buy hey, that's progress, right?

I still feel like I am in a rut, but I am going to power through the rest of my commitments for 2011. I have some "fun" things I have been meaning to read, so I think they will be my reward after finishing my commitment titles.

Here is what I am going to try and finish by the end of the year:

• The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James: I started this early in the month, right before I had to collect a bunch of essays and get everything in shape for my departure. I really LOVE it, but I need to set it aside while I finish my Group Reads for November and December.
  
• Purgatorio by Dante: I'm halfway through. And I was supposed to have this finished by last week. I am enjoying it, but I keep getting distracted.
• Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad: This is my fourth read and I hate it as much as I did the first 3. But I am going to get through it no matter what (I'm about 50 pages from the end).
• Walden by Henry David Thoreau: This is the second title I wanted to read for Transcendentalist Month, but I haven't started it and need to finish by the 15th. I actually really liked Civil Disobedience, so I am hoping this is similar.
  
• Paradiso by Dante: This is a December Group Read, so I have plenty of time to get to it. I'm looking forward to finishing the trilogy and finally marking The Divine Comedy off my list.
• Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen: The other December Group Read. I am SUPER excited to get to this, since I haven't read it in ages and was just sent a beautiful new copy for review.

The Fun Reads:

• The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini: I pre-ordered the fourth title over the summer, but it has been so long since reading these that I don't remember them all that well. I really want to read the whole series again, so this will be my reward after I finish the list above.
• Brotherband Chronicles Book 1: The Outcasts by John Flanagan: This one also just came out (yes, I broke the book buying ban), and since I loved his other series SO MUCH, I know that this one will continue to eye me from the shelf until I read it. I best get that over with. ;)
  

I would also really like to finish Adam's 2011 TBR Challenge, but I am not making much progress. If I finish the James title above, I will have FIVE more books to read out of this list:

• Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
• Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
• Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
• The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
• Pamela by Samuel Richardson
• The Once and Future King by T.H. White
• Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton

Hahaha. Those titles make me laugh. I think it might be impossible for me to complete the challenge, but I am going to try. I am probably going to set aside Lord Jim and Pamela for next year. Mainly because my current go-around with Conrad makes me want to stab my eyes out, and I think I want to tackle Clarissa by Richardson before Pamela.

I don't think I can do it. I mean, the Dickens title is over 800 pages. But, I am going to try. And at least I won't have to worry about picking out titles for the next month-I already have them set out! ;) We'll see how it goes. At least I know for next year not to procrastinate and to get some of these titles out of the way early on, rather than waiting until the end of the year.

Well, I best get started on finishing my cleaning. Let me know what you're going to be reading to finish out 2011, would you? I'd love to see. :)

Happy Reading.