My Life in October: Ferrets, Rainbow Rowell, and Stress-Induced Illness

Another month come and gone before I knew it. In some ways October was a really good month for me and in other ways really bad. I'll start with the bad to get it out of the way: I experienced a string of debilitating headaches and stomachaches this past month due to stress and fell behind in my studies and my blog reviewing. I've started seeing a doctor and a counsellor to help deal with it though so hopefully I will get my health back in order this month. Sorry for not being around much in October!

My main stresses this month revolved around my studies (or lack thereof...), my teaching gig (I now have a newfound respect for teachers because I only teach one 3 hour lab a week and I'm finding that the time that goes into preparation and marking is taking up the majority of my time over my thesis), and my crappy landlord situation. That situation came to a head this month when I realized that it had been two months and the landlord had still not fixed any of the outstanding electrical problems in my apartment. My boyfriend and I came to the decision that we would threaten to report them to the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board to bring them in for a hearing and break our lease. Well, that got the ball rolling. The good news is the next day all our outstanding electrical problems were fixed. The bad news is the electrician also found out that someone had tried to use unsafe speaker wire in the living room which is apparently a very serious and scary fire hazard. Oh joy! And so it goes on.

But moving on to the good because some awesome things happened this month. First, I adopted two ferrets! Apparently in Ontario, landlords aren't allowed to have a "no pets" clause in their lease and can only evict you if your pet is being disruptive (and it's laughable to think I care what my landlord thinks at this point). I miss having a dog, but knew I couldn't afford the money or time at the moment so ferrets seemed like the cheaper and easier version of a dog.

(photos from my Instagram)

Their names are Mü and Stela (both girls), based off the scientific genus name for ferrets, Mustela (yup, I'm a bio nerd).

The ferrets are just enormously and intensely cute in every little thing they do. They are hugely playful and silly and are obsessed with tunnels, boxes, and hammocks. The only downside is it seems to be their heart's desire to want to poop in the entryway instead of in their litter box. They are being clicker trained and it seems like they are clueing in because they will actually go into their litter box and PRETEND to poo in order to get a treat and then scamper off to the entryway for their real poo! Sneaky ferrets!


I also had the pleasure of attending a Rainbow Rowell signing this month! Rainbow was fantastically funny and entertaining. She spent a significant amount of time with each person in line, which meant a really long wait, but a more worthwhile meeting. And thankfully I had Zahida to keep me entertained for the long hours in line! I had a blast with her and it was great to finally meet her in person after 3 years of blogging together. I also got to chat with Shelly, Christa, and Andrea!

I couldn't tell you what's going on in these photos because it's always such a blur when I meet the authors I worship. Who knows what I might have been rambling to her about! But at least you can tell that I was really, REALLY excited. My face hurt afterwards from grinning so much. Also, you might not be able to make it out, but I am wearing a skirt with a print of the map of Middle Earth (from this Etsy shop)!

Rainbow accidentally spelled my name wrong in my copy of Eleanor & Park. I assured her that she could just write over the misspelled name, but she insisted that she sign a brand new copy at no cost, which was awfully nice of her. No idea what happened to the one with the misspelled name. Anyways, it was a pleasure to meet her and I can't wait to read Eleanor & Park!


There was one TV show and one movie that stuck with me this month:

I finally started watching Mad Men after years of wanting to and I completed the first two seasons in October. Holy crap - the misogyny in the 60s was insane! It's crazy to think this was the decade my own parents were brought up. I'm so happy to be a child of the 90s. Anyways, I've been liking Mad Men so far and look forward to continuing with season 3.

I left the theatre after watching Gravity in IMAX 3D with sore knees from clenching them so hard! Yes, this movie was INTENSE. But also SO beautiful. I was in awe the entire time due to the gorgeous cinematography. Highly recommended.

Blog Posts in October:

Well, I didn't quite make my goal of posting 2 times a week in October, but at least I managed to post more than I did in September. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said about my reading - I've barely had any time or will to read this past month - boo!

My Life in September: Elizabeth Wein, the Kobo Aura, and Keeping Busy
Canadian Thanksgiving Thank You Giveaway
Top Ten Best and Worst Series Enders
Waiting On Wednesday: HarperCollins Winter 2014 Catalog
Waiting On Wednesday: Random House Winter 2014 Catalog
Review: The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas - 3 Stars
Review: Man Made Boy by Jon Skovron - 3.5 Stars
Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell - 5 Stars

Best Book Read in October:

As I mentioned in my review of Fangirl, Rainbow Rowell made a fangirl out of me. I'm not normally a contemporary fan, but I was a HUGE fan of Rainbow Rowell's characters and dialogue. Fangirl was also obviously a highly relatable story for me, one that I could identify with my entire being. So there's that. But I would also highly recommend this one to even people who can't identify with the story exactly. Fangirl was one of my favourite reads so far this year!