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1. | Over two weeks of no Casey. Still seems pretty bizarre. I was making a ham sandwich in the kitchen the other day and I am so used to a cat under my feet wailing. And then I would give her a little piece. We have done that for years and it was so weird to not have a 'helper'. Mackie was there, too, but he is younger and always been part of a group. Casey was alone for a few years, so we have lots of traditions.

2. | I have been looking at kittens. It is probably too soon, and part of me feels guilty about it, but we do not want to replace Casey. We need another cat because Finn all alone just doesn't work. He is not cuddly or all that friendly. I need a cuddly cat. This has derailed my project to convince the other human I needed another dog... The kitten project is going better than the dog project anyway. Just, no one answers emails. Do you want to re-home these animals or not?

3. | I bought a new bookcase! I am ridiculously happy about this fact because it is has probably been 5 years since I have bought a new one. It sits on the landing and helped me finish off my organising from earlier this year. It holds some beloved series/authors and the random books I got for my birthday. I am sure that will change with time, but I think it looks good.

4. | I have been thinking a lot about Canada as a whole lately between the scary political situation in the US and the fact that I am reading The Promise of Canada. It covers 150 years of Canadian history in preparation for Canada's 150th birthday in July. We have treated people terribly over the years. But, I think we are doing better. What has me thinking is I really like this book, but I have yet to see it on any of the best of lists all ready out. And, I am left thinking is it because others do not consider it to be that great or because it is about Canada and most lists are American. There was a whole chapter on Margaret Atwood and how hard it can be to be a Canadian writer. Still early days and I definitely haven't seen all the lists. Just a thought.

5. | I have a cold, so my reading has been kind of slow. I am left choosing between nap and try to feel better or read. Hopefully the cold passes soon!

6. | I think I have bought more e-books in 2016 than I have ever. It is hard to pass up a book you were planning to get when it is like 2 dollars and the hardcover edition is like 30. I still forget about my e-books when I have shiny books on my physical shelves catching my eye. I think I have a project for 2017.

1. | Another post a week later with no Casey. I called all the vets and shelters and nothing. I keep getting told that cats wander all the time, and my cats when I was a kid did, but this is the first time Casey has ever been gone for more than a few hours and I am losing hope.

2. | Still struggling with reading. I know that reading should be an escape from everything else, but I have always had a really hard time reading when I am stressed out. I just cannot turn my mind off and always feel like I should be doing something else.

3. | My Q&A a Day Journal arrived yesterday! I looked at starting it yesterday, but maybe I will wait and start it November 1st. Or, maybe I should have waited and got it in the New Year. Or, maybe I should stop overthinking things and just start it today. I hope I can keep it up. I only got it because I have been keeping up my Bullet Journal and other projects, so I figured I was safe. I still do my day by day journal that I started in 2012 and always enjoy looking back on what I did on this day in previous years.

4. | I had a lot of fun during the Readathon co-hosting the Instagram account. People take such great photos and there were lots of furry companions. I enjoyed visiting everyone and all ready volunteered for next year. Hope to see people then!

5. | My grandmother's house is on the market. A bit of a sad situation because it is closing off an aspect of my childhood, but it will be much better to have her closer to my mother and in an environment that if she falls again there is help close by. Not that we want her to fall again, but I know that she is really paranoid it will happen again.

6. | I am still continuing my 'pick random audios from Scribd' project. I started off really well, but the latest one I just could not find time to listen to it and I felt like I read it forever. I am ready to pick a new one, though! Just have to decide what I want to go with... I am still adjusting to listening at regular speed. When I do Audible audios, I speed them up or I find that I lose interest.

7. | I am going to document right here that I started my project to listen to the Vorksogian series by Lois McMaster Bujold having started Falling Free. I will be curious if a year from now I will be done the series, or if it will by my typical take forever project that never gets completed... We will see!

8. | This post isn't as depressing as last weeks. I still probably should take a blogging break and try to get my head together after everything that has happened this month, but I just got back into a groove with blogging and I would be worried I wouldn't be able to get it back... What I really need is a fun project to take my mind off all the stress. (I am not going to lie, at least two times while writing this post I thought I heard a cat cry. I am losing my mind!)

1. | As I write this, Thursday night, we still have not found Casey. I hope I edit this post tomorrow (or today as you are reading this) and say she came home. I feel so sick about it all. I have checked outside so many times, I am getting nothing else done. I am just worried because she could still come back, but there is the possibility that she won't. I am trying to stay positive, but it's hard. Over the last 5 years or so, Casey has been my one constant. I love Mackie and Finn, too, but we got Casey first. It is not a good feeling to open the door and her still not be there...

2. | So, the readathon is this weekend. I won't be reading for it officially, but I have been posting at the Instagram account and plan to over the weekend as well! I look forward to seeing what everyone reads and visiting some blogs! It is such a huge event now. I know I have said this before, but the first couple readathons I visited every blog participating and usually more than once. Now I find it overwhelming! Hope everyone has lots of fun!

3. | I got an insane amount of books in the mail on Wednesday. It was crazy. I think the mail gods decided that I needed a pick me up when Casey still wasn't back and the worrying got worse... Only one parcel said it was out for delivery and some of the books were not supposed to be here until November. I am not complaining, but you need to space orders out or other humans start noticing. lol And, I guess my whole mood is making reading even harder right now. (Not going to lie, I teared up when I wrote the first paragraph...)

4. | I think I mentioned on a previous post, or somewhere on my blog, that my grandmother had fallen? Well, things are better there. She honestly could not maintain a house alone anymore and she was 2 and a half hours from my mother. After some thought, she is moving to an apartment closer to my mother. It is another bittersweet thing, really. My dad's parents passed away like 15 years ago and my mom's mom is really the only grandparent I got a good chunk of time with. I think my October has had enough bad things happen in it and it is not over yet...

5. | Finn is missing Casey, too. He camps out by the door most of the day. He hated when she went outside before, but he has never wanted to go out himself. When I look for Casey I have Mackie and Finn standing on the doorstep with me. I feel really bad for him. He adored Casey and I doubt he knows what is happening. I wonder when he will get to a point that he stops waiting for her? We always call Casey the Queen because Mackie and Finn definitely know that she is the boss. I am a bad owner lately. Two days now I have forgot to feed Finn and Mackie supper because Casey wasn't here to tell me it was time. You just get used to something and then get thrown off when it is not there.

6. | I am struggling with reading. I haven't been listening to my audios or reading anything the last couple days. I am too distracted. I am starting to think my lofty post of audios I wanted to read next, that I posted on Tuesday, was crazy because I have been listening to the same two audios for like 2 weeks now. I need to get my head back in the game. I have been stressed in general and this whole cat thing is not helping. But, on Tuesday my house was clean and I got a bunch of reading done. I had high hopes that day for the rest of the week.

7. | I am starting to think I should take a blogging break because my posts are boring and depressing lately...

1. | An example of how little I use my kitchen is that I bought bagels and then could not for the life of me remember where the toaster was. As soon as it was found in a cupboard I was like oh, right. I put it there so it was easy to find and get to if we needed it. Go, me!

2. | I am pretty sure snails are reading for me lately. I have been reading The Nightingale all week and I am only like halfway. My audio listening has slowed way down, too. It's just discouraging because there is so much that I want to read and I am taking forever getting to it! I mean, I have a few unread graphic novels that I have received the last couple months. I don't know who I am reading-wise at the moment.

3. | I know that part of my reading issues are other hobbies. But, this blogging more isn't helping if I am taking away so much from my reading! I could be reading right now. Instead I read blogs and am now writing this post. My day just gets away from me and I know work is really getting me down at the moment which is not helping at all.

4. | I haven't really even been using Litsy. I stick a picture up and like the people I follow, but as fun as I find the app it is all ready something I am not finding time for.  I had big plans and was so excited about its release.

5. | I am pretty sure the theme to 2016 is I have no time. I have tried to be more organised. I got into bullet journals and planners and cleaning schedules. I had high hopes that I could be better with time and get more done, but it is October and I still never accomplish anything. The days when my to do list in my Bullet Journal is all checked off is rare. And, the stuff that I don't get to are usually simple things or just simply enjoyable things.

6. | So, what do I do when life feels insane? Buy books... That I do not have time to actually read! Yesterday, I used Audible credits in their sale and got the beginning to the Vorkosigan series because apparently reading the actual series hasn't worked well. But, who knows when I will get to them? I suppose there are worst things you can do when you are feeling down, but all it does is put more books in view that I want to read and don't have time for.

7. | I really should say something positive in this list, but I am not sure what to say at this point. I love the autumn, but they are predicting a bad winter. I am all ready feeling blah now, so I have no idea how I will make it through a winter with lots of snow. And with other changes happening, I predict my overall mood to get worse instead of better.

Bookish (And Not So Bookish) Thoughts is hosted over here.

1. | I was so excited with myself this year. I started using Canva and actually making buttons for my blog. Now, everything I used to use on there seems to cost money. It has taken the fun out of the button making because I spend forever trying to find something free. I use my own pictures, I just like the formatting is all ready done and I just change it to what I want to say...

2. | My birthday was an event this year. My maternal grandmother is still alive and she fell last week. So, she was in the hospital recuperating. She has a blood disorder, though, and some other things popped up on my birthday. So, it was a memorable birthday for a not so great reason. She seems to be on the mend again now, so we will see how it plays out.

3. | My grandmother always gives me money for books for my birthday. She was the first person to give me a book gift card ever because the rest of my family didn't seem to understand that books for gifts were fun for me. I had spent her gift this year before my birthday even happened and the books arrived on Wednesday. I am excited to read them all.


4. | I bought more books recently than I should have. I am not finding enough time to read, so everything is going very slowly! And then I have all these books calling to me. It is a struggle! I would like to read a lot of books before the year ends, but unless something really changes that is not looking too promising!

5. | I resurrected the cleaning schedule this week because my house was starting to get overwhelming again. I felt way better just after the first day when I tackled the living room and kitchen. It's just that things do not stay clean. I get really frustrated. I have an issue with Finn (the orange cat) where he throws litter everywhere. So, I clean it up and everything is clean and then come back out a bit later and it is everywhere again. I wish he would stop. He will for a long time and then start up again. It has just been really bad the last couple weeks.

6. | I am wondering when posting on Litsy and Instagram is going to get overwhelming. I have been doing a photo challenge list on Litsy, posting my finished reads, and joining in on theme days. Then, on Instagram I sometimes use the same pictures for other reasons, but typically have to take new pictures for the scavenger hunts I do and the fact that since it is getting back to the colder part of the year, I started doing photo a day again. It's fun, but time consuming!

7. | I am excited about the up-coming three day weekend. I have no idea what the plans will be, but it is a three day weekend. I am hoping to get some reading done because this week has been slow for it... I do know there will be Thanksgiving dinner and I agreed to make pie. Normally for these family events I volunteer myself for things that are all ready made, but I decided to branch out this year. And, if it fails the stores sell all ready made pie!

Happy Friday, folks! I saw this on a blog which lead me to Bookishly Boisterous who hosts it. It doesn't say there is a certain day to participate, so I decided to use it for today and join in! I am trying to do better at blogging and set ideas seems to be the method that is working for me right now!

1.| It is my birthday on Monday and compared to last year, I have bought a lot of books so far with various gift cards! The guy bought me these books I blogged about last week. Then with another gift card I bought The Geek Feminist Revolution and Three Dark Crowns. And, then, I went entirely crazy with the last one I received. On the way to me next week is The Girl From Everywhere, The Natural Way of Things, The Kingdom of Gods, The Obelisk Gate, Bellwether Rhapsody, and The Muse. I really need to keep up the reading, folks!

2. | As I mentioned on Sunday, I joined Litsy! I have been really excited about Litsy since it was released for Apple, but my poor little iPod is my only Apple product and it is too old to install new apps. So, I had to wait! I have been having fun with it, though. I was all ready a heavy Instagram user, so now I have two places to take pictures. I am bookishnerd on there. I have been trying to get other friends that don't really blog anymore to join, but not been successful so far...

3. | I have amazingly kept up my Bullet Journal and added in a regular planner! I have lost some of the steam with both projects this week because been busy with other things, but still keeping them up! One thing I have slacked on is my cleaning schedule because I thought I had developed the habits enough I didn't need to have a set thing everyday... But, feel like that has slacked this week. I might go back to it for October to get back on track!

4. | I have been trying to blog more and I am not sure what I think about it really. If I post tomorrow, I will have posted everyday this week. I am not sure when the last time I accomplished that was! And, it really doesn't take that much time away from other things because I work on it a bit at a time (other than this post which I am writing on Friday because yesterday was a crazy day...). But, I don't really think I have the readership I once had and people don't really comment. Am I doing this to talk to myself?

5. | Another thing I have slacked on is adding books to Libib. I did all my physical books, but e-books and audiobooks I have to enter manually and I just haven't made it work in my schedule lately because it takes longer. I would like to have that completed by the end of October, so I should brainstorm when to fit it in! Instead, I rearranged books this week because I wasn't happy with the way they were before and now I have to tidy the shelves up.

6. | I have no real plans for the weekend. Maybe a reading weekend? That would be so nice! I hardly ever have free days to just read anymore. What are your plans for the weekend?

1. | I am obsessed with starting new projects to 'better' myself and make life more interesting. Many of them fall to the wayside eventually because only so many hours in the day.

2. | I would consider myself more a dog person than a cat person, but I wouldn't trade Casey and Finn for anything. And, when a friend needed to re-home their cat we volunteered. (They didn't like we had a dog.) I would like to have a second dog one day...

3. | I am very routine oriented. I hate when I can't get into a routine. This is really bad in the summer and is probably why I neglect a lot of my hobbies during the summer. But, I do other things instead, so I need to get better at embracing things. I think it is mostly that my reading suffers and I really like to be reading.

4. | Bullet Journals and cleaning schedules have made a huge difference in my 2016. I think I am really bad at looking at the big picture instead of doing things little by little.

5. | I used to not like graphic novels because they were so short and I read so fast... Unfortunately I enjoy them and have quite a collection now. I still have misgivings about the cost because of the page count, but they are pretty! And good when in a reading slump!

6. | My favourite part of the day is probably bedtime. I enjoy other aspects of the day, but I say 'bedtime' and Mackie dashes upstairs and gets comfy. He has to get down when the other human comes to bed, so I enjoy our time together for a bit.

7. | I would love to get better at photography. Instead I take pictures with my phone and post them on Instagram. Instagram is my favourite app, though, so maybe one day I will get better at using my actual camera and photography books.

8. | I always consider history and fantasy my favourite genres, but I find I mostly read fantasy nowadays.

9. | I am actually blogging this year and I am very proud of this fact.

10. | My dog is laying beside me crying because he wants a treat... The other human tends to give him too many and now he doesn't really understand what 'treat' means. He will act like he needs to go out, but then he goes to the treat area instead. I possibly give him treats sometimes just to get him out of my face. We really need to break that bad habit.

1. | Bullet journalling so far for me has included reminders of what pictures are up for Photo-a-Day and a reminder of what to clean while sort of following this process. (Although, how they think you can wash every window in your house in 20 mins is beyond me... I skipped that prompt until I have the time for it...)

2. | I found a bunch of book related photo-a-days that I have mostly been following along with. I work from home and sometimes it is dark before I get a chance to go out and take pictures outside of the house. This is largely why my photo-a-day obsession fizzled. As a result my Instagram has been very busy and I am meeting lots of bookish Instagram folk while still posting a million pictures of Mackie around everything else.

3. | I should feel guilty that I take so many pictures of Mackie, but when we got Casey it wasn't until I joined Instagram that I really took any pictures of her. At least with Mackie I have a pretty steady record of his growing up period. And, Finn, too. Today is the 2nd anniversary of bringing him home.

4. | My reading has not been going well this week, but I think that is because I am trying to get back on track with taking pictures, going on the treadmill, and listening to audiobooks. And, really, I needed better balance in my life. I all ready have some other things I would like to get back into to add to my life as time goes: Project Life, sending postcards, learning how to use my camera... We will see how that goes!

5. | Speaking of audiobooks, I actually have been listening to them! I finished Armada by Ernest Cline (read by Wil Wheaton) and have moved on to The Girl with all the Gifts. I think I enjoyed Ready Player One better, but I still enjoyed Armada. And, with The Girl with all the Gifts, I quickly discovered that I had no idea what the book was even about before starting it. It was just one that made the rounds and looked good! And, it is good!

6. | I want to be better with blogging, but I often sit down and have no idea what to write about... I tried to review a book, but just couldn't seem to get started... So, this is why this post happened. At least I am sort of blogging, right?