I'm sorry this week hasn't been filled with major updates. I've been so so busy with classes. Tests, papers, meetings--does it ever end? Anyway, I do have some exciting news. I just ran a 5k (for a community service point for club cross country), and I must admit, my expectations going into it were low. I tried to pretend it wasn't a race, which helped initially, but then my competitive side shined through (of course). So I covered the course in 27:22! I went on Xanga to look up my first race ever and it was a 27:35. Is it sad that I even knew where to look for that? Probably. Regardless, I can't run another one for a while until I know I can beat that time. Maybe in the spring?

Last night Brooke and I went grocery shopping, and I feel bad because we bought a lot and it was expensive. I mean, everything was cheap but together it added up. But now I feel like we have a lot more variety and hopefully I'll start eating things other than the same boring meals all the time. It's interesting to see who's at Walmart on a Friday night at 10pm!

Good news! I finally have something to talk about related to the book. I checked my email earlier and another woman from another agency is interested in the entire MS. As you can imagine, I freaked out like a giddy school girl and immediately responded to find out if she has formatting preferences, so now I'll have to restrain myself from checking my email compulsively for a response. And in less than a month, I'm hoping to hear back from the other woman with the whole MS. Didn't get a deadline from the woman with 75 pages, oh well.

In other news, my mom found this Philly-based organization called First Glance Films, and they had a short film contest going which would have been perfect for the screenplay I need to have done for class, but entry submission is closed. Still, for all you Philly film kids out there, they do festivals and other cool contests so go to the website. Its firstglancefilms.com for anyone who wants to find out more. I only went on the site briefly, but it seems user-friendly.

I'm almost done Deb Caletti's latest novel and will have an opinion on that ASAP, so if you're looking for a book to read, check back for my thoughts.

I feel like I have this eclectic variety of hobbies all of the sudden. Cooking, baking, movies, books, football, home decor. Am I crazy? I mean, it's that time of year again. And my parents want ideas for Christmas, and half my list was a bunch of random needs, like a fleece jacket and rain boots, and the other half is even more obscure. I went on Target.com and BedBathandBeyond.com today and sent my mom links to kitchenware and store that I want. Really, though? I'm so far from normal sometimes. At least I know what I like, right?

Kind of along the same line, I realized I'm a little dissatisfied with JMU's student organization selections. We have 300+ clubs, and I'm still hard-pressed to find exactly what I'm looking for. What I really want is a creative writing workshop. Not the biweekly student newspaper or the poetry journal, but a club that is a group of kids all trying to write the next Great American Novel. A group of kids who stay up late, like me, and type away just to get it all down fast enough. Some really enlightened individuals. I'm sure that's too much to ask on a college campus driven by partying and football, but a girl can dream. There is the alternative: make my own club with at least 8 members and apply for recognition from the university. I don't know 8 crazy people like myself though. I'm hopefully taking a creative writing workshop course next semester, so maybe I can find people and form a kinship.

Oh and one more thing: has anyone ever had garlic-filled ravioli? I saw it in a recipe in my new book and I'm intrigued, but it's impossible to find anywhere. That and Nature Valley's granola cereal. If you can tell me where to buy either, I will love you for life.

I'm proud to say I finally saw The Ugly Truth and it was well worth the $2.50 I spent. The theater was packed, considering it was a 7:00 movie on a Saturday night and I expected half of campus to already be getting "ready" for the night. There were actually a decent amount of guys there, too, which surprised me because it seems like a total chick flick. Maybe I'm wrong. Regardless, the movie moved along at a good pace, and while there were definite moments where I knew exactly where it was headed, I still enjoyed them. Katherine Heigl's been in a bunch of good movies lately, but Gerard Butler I only know of from P.S. I Love You. He needs to do more movies, because I'm a big fan.

One of my all-time favorite parts about seeing movies in the theaters is the previews. I saw some really compelling previews that I need to add to my list of movies to see. You know, the list that grows faster than you can keep up. That one. So here's the titles: The Box, Precious, and The Men Who Stare At Goats.

I bought Betty Crocker's Quick and Easy Cookbook yesterday, after I debated, for a full half-hour, on which cook book was best. Now I've got a chicken breast defrosting and I'm trying to decide what I'm making myself for dinner, because last night I went and ate on campus and Friday night I had Chili's. It only seems appropriate to cook myself something tonight.

TGIF! I'm so so glad this week is over, but next week's actually looking crazier! Maybe it'll go faster? We'll see. For now, I'm starting to get a cold and at the first sign of this I quickly reached for a Halls Defense drop, which contain my daily supply of Vitamin C while tasting nothing short of amazing. It's like candy, practically. Might be too late though.

Tonight's looking good. Two of my roommates stuck around for the weekend and I think we're all headed to Chili's for dinner :) I haven't gone out to eat in months, so this is the highlight of my October, really. Just the fact that I have a car and can go to Chili's if I want to is exciting. Living off campus sure has its perks. On the down side, gas is going up. Thankfully, I just filled my tank so I'm set for a while.

I'm suuuper excited for the weekend, though. One word: football. Last week I didn't get to watch either game (JMU or Giants), but both are televised this weekend so maybe the Dukes will turn around this painful 3-game losing streak and beat William & Mary, who should be known for their academics, not their football? And then Sunday night at 8pm - Giants vs. Arizona. Next week we play Philly, and I still don't know if I'll get the game on TV, but don't even get me started on that one. First comes first. The Giants have the better record, but the line's close.

Does anyone get Writer's Digest? I fancy myself a casual reader, since I am, after all a fan of writing. Anyway, each issue has a section called Your Story that functions as a constant prompt-oriented contest and I can't remember what October's prompt was, other than I read it on the submission deadline and was crushed. However, November's prompt didn't catch me. I feel like I need to do something, anything, to get out of this mini writing rut I'm in right now. I want to write creatively, but the thought of working on my newest novel just makes me want to skip right to the end and call it a day. I once heard that writing a book is like running a marathon. You have to forget the pain of the first one before you can do another one. I think my wounds haven't yet healed.

By the way, in just over a month I'm hoping, praying really, I hear from one of these agents about the manuscript. She gave me a deadline of Nov. 27th, and it's already the third week in October. I don't want to get my hopes up, but I would love to get someone hooked into it and willing to work with me.

One of the greatest inventions ever? Websites that allow you to watch full-length movies. I'm sure that perspective will ultimately shift when I'm the one griping about nobody buying my movie on DVD or Blue-Ray, or whatever the newest craze is then. Right now, though, it allowed me to watch almost 45 minutes of A Beautiful Mind. Then I realized it was only an hour, so I'm guessing it cut out halfway-ish through? I loved the 45 minutes I did watch, so I'm planning on renting or borrowing it from someone at some point. Let me know if you have it and it's good. It's on my list of movies to see, and the list grows faster than I can keep up with.

We actually have this movie theatre on campus that plays stuff that's in that weird transitory stage between theaters and DVD release. This week's playing The Ugly Truth and I want to see it so bad. Any feedback? It's only $2.50 for students! And I don't take advantage of that nearly enough.

This is actually completely off-topic, but I have to schedule classes in 2 weeks, and I'm trying to come up with some elective classes to take, since I can only take 2 in my major and I need a full schedule. I'm trying to steer away from general education courses because they're usually filled with freshmen and more work than something I might actually enjoy. Right now my thoughts are an upper-level spanish course, college algebra (I'm too nervous to take calculus), and maybe a creative writing class that I need for the minor. I feel like the math will balance out the writing? I don't want some reading/writing intensive schedule and I'm done with my science requirements. Suggestions would be lovely.