The problem with updating daily is that my knitting accomplishments sound much less impressive. "Since my last update, I've knit FIVE PAIRS OF SOCKS AND TWO SWEATERS!" is very impressive, even if it is only because it's been two and a half months since the last update. But since it's only been about 28 hours since my last update, the fact that I knit half a sock still seems quite impressive to me. Especially since I went to an eight hour party last night. (Mind you, I am so cool that I knit at the party. But I was running the karaoke machine, which is kind of boring, so knitting passed the time.)

There was also a major yarn tangle emergency that took up a large part of my afternoon. I was reduced to recruiting Jamie to help - he HATES untangling yarn but I pointed out that my knitting meant he had to buy far fewer presents this year so he stopped complaining.

Great party, though! The Thank God It's Over Party is always what makes me think it's actually Christmas. Up until then, my brain is in NaNo mode, so this is the event that switches me over into the holiday spirit. Fortunately, it's a good party, so it's worth waiting for to start feeling festive.

I was feeling plenty festive last night, let me tell you. There was a hearty consuming of celebratory alcohol. (Mostly pink alcohol, which seemed appropriate given that there was a lengthy scene in my novel featuring pink alcohol.) My excerpt was a big hit, which is always satisfying - I like having to pause for laughter.

And now it is done for another year. It's always such a weird feeling - I've known some of these people for five years now, but with very few exceptions, I only have contact with them for about two months of the year. When things are all done and we all go our separate ways, it is exactly and hilariously like the end of summer camp. Everyone is secretly sort of glad to be going back to their regular lives, but there's all this hugging and yelling "see you next year!" and promising to keep in touch and exchanging email addresses and stuff. (Although it was only in my last year of summer camp that we did that, and it was a very newfangled thing. I still shared my mother's email address because she got one through the university!) And then we all go home and bore our families with stories about things that only we find hilarious, and conveniently forget all the very shitty parts of the whole experience (whether it is uncomfortable camp beds or horrible writer's block) and complain about how boring life is now that it's over even though all we wanted when we were there was for it to be over. There's no pleasing us.

Someone on one of the forums summed up the sentiment quite well: Thank god THAT'S over...is it October yet? Although, while I am sad to see another November come and go, I am happy to have my time back. I spent the entire afternoon today knitting and watching TV on DVD, and it was quite glorious.

3.5 socks and one lace scarf to go, 22 days to Christmas. Will I make it? Stay tuned.