All this stuff

So, as my husband and I round out our last few days in Hong Kong for the year with school work and job work and crazy philosophy barbecues, we got an email from some American friends of ours who have been staying in HK for a semester as lecturers (ahh academics). They told us they were leaving within two days and were hoping to get rid of a few things that we might have use for. When my husband heard the words "toaster oven", the words "of our very own" popped into his mind and he was sold - we were going to sort through stuff. Just a few things, right?

So after a long walk on a bum knee (my knee, not his) and a ride on the metro, we get to their by-the-month hotel apartment to look at "a few things". A few things turned out to be six huge bags worth of stuff - and we didn't even take everything they offered us. Two large bags that we use as luggage when we travel, plus a huge mesh laundry bag full of dry food products, two huge tote bags of items and a large insulated freezer bag. We ended up with all this stuff to put in our apartment: more than 2000hkd worth of food, blankets, pillowcases, the contents of an entire medicine cabinet that they didn't want to haul back, foldable drawer space, plastic bins, water filters, kitchen utensils AND a toaster oven.

Now the question really is... what are WE going to do with all this stuff?

Your stuff in the comments. :) Happy Rabbit-rabbit day.

November: Rabbit-rabbit

It's the first day of November and I still can't quite figure out how October went by so quickly.

Most people are scurrying over to the NaNoWriMo site to start typing the first of the 1 billion words that they've promised to write each day this month. I've made a much small goal of getting in 1000 words a day. I hate to say it, but with the drafting that I do for my job and writing my blog, that won't be too hard. I am going to try to focus them on a story I've been meaning/needing to finish for a while now. We'll see how that works out.

I've got a few Book Challenge updates (since I'm absolute pants at doing it when I actually finish books).

I recently finished The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum. I've never read any of Baum's books before. I had only seen the movie of The Wizard of Oz. I decided to start listening to the audio books of the entire series (which are public domain and therefore free, by the way). I'm now listening to The Marvelous Land of Oz. It's not your typical YA series. Given when it was written, it's interestingly imaginative, but also strangely mundane. They would never be published today, but I love the platform that they've given Gregory Maguire to run with. It's great to see all of the details Maguire picks up from the different Oz stories - they make for great inclusions in his version of the story. (If you can't tell, I'm also reading Wicked again.)

I also kinda cheated and reread one of the books that I've already read this year. I couldn't help it and it won't count toward my overall goal.

Also, I officially got my job today!

So... have you made the crazy decision to become obsessed dedicate your November to NaNoWriMo?

Leave me a comment to let me know you stopped by!

Rabbit, Rabbit

Well, folks, it's rabbit, rabbit day (the first day) of my favorite month of the year. It's my goal to post October-y, Halloween-y, Autumn-y goodness here at least twice a week for the entire month. Mondays and Fridays will be my October days (with other posts on Wednesdays in between).

As the first official day of October I'm going to share this beautifully crafted tree I found on Pinterest. I love the colors of the leaves. While they're not the traditional reds and yellows all the way around, they remind me of seeing the leaves change color at home and the beginning of that time of transition. The great thing about this tree is that it's a DIY project. All you need are some leafless tree branches, bits of scrapbook paper cut into leaf shapes, some floral wire and a vase. If you don't have leaves changing where you are, you can always create your own instead.

Welcome to the new site! If you didn't see about the move from Ren Bi Mo, then check it out here. Despite the change of venue all of your favorite (and even your least favorite) posts have followed me here. Just check out the archive for old Ren Bi Mo writing.

How are you transitioning into Autumn?