Same procedure as last year, Miss Sophie?

The crazy Norwegians watch it on the 23rd instead of the 31st. Pfff...

However, I know there are actually people who have no idea what 'Dinner for One' is (barbarians!), so enjoy...

Work today was as hectic as ever (except slightly more fun because I get paid more on Sundays, yaay). I worked at the fish instead of the meat and I spent the entire day cutting and packing lutefisk. Lutefisk is a traditional Norwegian Christmas dish. It's basically fish (usually cod) that's been kept in lye and it smells like a mixture of soap and slightly rotten fish. I've never eaten it and I have no intention of either (and it's not only because I'm a vegetarian). I don't think I've ever met anyone who likes it. So why does everyone have it for Christmas? Damn good question. Because it's a tradition I guess, though there are other theories as well: 1) It makes you appreciate the rest of the meal and 2) You need to drink a lot to get the taste out of your mouth.
But I wish people weren't so keen on those traditions. When I came home today I was covered in lye. I've showered twice and washed my hair three or four times. In the end I decided that masking the smell was probably easier than getting rid of it. So now I smell like Christmas cookies. Yaay!

And I got the Christmas tree up (but not before I had a tinsel fight with my brother, muahaha)
The bottom is under-decorated because my cat attacks any baubles within her reach. A couple of years ago she managed to knock down the entire tree.

Merry Christmas!

Hello birds! Hello trees! I'm alive! I'm alive!

Somebody hasn't posted for a while!

I have excuses, honestly. The Russ Revue took the entire weekend. But that's two weeks ago. Anyway, it went well - I didn't forget my lines. I can't believe the mess we made though. It took hours to clean up the next day, even though there were about forty of us. According to the drama teacher our revue was the best one for at least 20 years.

The planning could've been better though. I hardly had time to study for my math exam (which was of course just a few days later), but I discovered that it is possible to learn 200 pages in five hours, even without chocolate covered coffee beans.
The fact that I had to present my rune project the same week didn't help either. I'd been "working" on it for two months, with a friend, but you know, we're both procrastinators... It was all a bit last minute. But the project itself was fun to do. I like runes (I use runes when I NaNo in class...). I thought I'd write a post about my project because my blog is slipping more and more from random posts about history & literature to rants about physics.
Did I have time? Nooo... There was a history test, and of course they asked all the cliché questions. Why did WWI start? I really felt like writing 'Archie Duke shot an ostrich because he was hungry' but I doubt my history teacher has a sense of humour.
Then I discovered to my horror that I was a little behind with my Norwegian homework. Procrastinators unite! ... Tomorrow. But I did it. Five essays in two days. And in Nynorsk too. Ivar Aasen will be the next to be stampeded by penguins.

Today was the last day of school. Miraculously, the headmaster's speech lasted for less than ten minutes. That's a record. Unfortunately, during the time he had left he decided to call up the students who had qualified for the next round of Abelkonkurransen, that national math test. In front of the entire school. And I had to go up there and be handed three diplomas - math, chemistry and physics. Why couldn't they have just sent in in the mail?!
To make matters worse, none of the diplomas has my name spelled correctly. Seriously, how difficult can it be?

Anyway. Christmas holidays. For once they're actually long - two whole weeks! I'll see if I can write something about runes, but don't get your hopes up. I seriously need to start studying for the second round of those science tests, and I have to work a good many days.
I worked this evening, and it was insane. Christmas madness is upon us, preciousss! Hundreds of people running through the supermarket, all of them dropping by the meat & deli. Buying all that traditional Christmas food and whatnot. I've never seen it so busy. I think I did a cubic metre of dishes today, and that was only a part.

I don't want to go back tomorrow. It's just too busy (and of course the boss doesn't think it's necessary to have more people at work. Idiot). It's getting on my nerves. Why is everybody so stressed anyway? Whatever happened to peace and calm and all that Christmas stuff?

So far, my cat is the only one who is in a Christmassy mood.

No actually, I'm alright. Swedish tv is showing a Led Zeppelin concert. Yaay!

Wheee!!

Slightly hyper. Large amounts of chocolate consumed in a very short space of time. Very little sleep. Very much practicing for the Russ Revue. I can't believe it's on Friday!

But I know my lines. I hope I don't forget them or burst out laughing - I haven't been on stage for three years.

I'm not too sure about my costumes though. Since we're born in '89, we chose "The 80s" as our theme, so that means tights, leggings and oversized shirts. People back then were mad, lol.

Oh, happy Sinterklaas! I want my chocolate letter... Maybe I'll put a carrot in my shoe and put it by the fireplace :)

NaNo is over...

Damn.

Total wordcount this November: 53 842. Errrm.... Not as good as last year, but I got my 50 k so I guess I should be happy.

However... Titus Flavius Labeo, I am going to murder you! You're allowed to plot as much as you like, just tell me which side you are on! Are you a pro-Roman Batavian, or do you just pretend to be? Are you actually Batavian? Who is that stranger you were talking with? Who are you planning to overthrow? What did Julius Briganticus do to piss you off so badly? Do you actually trust Imerix? If yes, why are you so bloody keen to make Merula distrustful of him? If no, why did you give him a promotion? Who are you anyway? Why don't you think that stranger guy won't accomplish whatever he intends to accomplish? What have you been drinking? Why the f do you want to help that stranger anyway? Or do you actually? Does anyone suspect you? Did Frontinus give you orders to be sneaky to win the Silures' trust?

*bangs head against desk*

I kinda miss Embric and Verax. They were a piece of cake to write compared to dear old Flavius Labeo.

Edit: Help. What do you do when your MC is sent on a mission of certain death? I'm not sure what the mission actually is, but I know it's a mission of certain death. Wait... it could work if this was later in the story.

I'm so glad I did not make a detailed outline, because nothing is going according to plan.