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!

My Life in September: Elizabeth Wein, the Kobo Aura, and Keeping Busy

Where did September go? This month has been such a blur for me, it's passed by so fast. In August, I experienced some major homesickness after moving away from home to the other side of the country. In September, I found out that the best cure for homesickness was keeping busy. And busy I was. Which unfortunately meant a lot less time for the blog and reading - I totally broke my goal of posting at least twice a week. Boo!

But there really wasn't anything for it. Between dealing with my particularly shitty landlord (unfortunately, I have yet to find a way to break my one year lease), preparing for my first ever teaching gig (I'm teaching two ecology labs with 50 students in each class! I was SO nervous, but somehow, I found that it actually wasn't so bad... and also, I might actually like this teaching thing), and settling into grad life and researching my master's thesis, I had very little time for much else! I do hope things will quiet down a bit now that I have my routine... we'll see.

Even though I had much reduced spare time this month, I still made time for a fun author event - the Toronto Word on the Street! Thanks to Christa of More Than Just Magic for letting me know about it (who I also got to finally meet!). I might have missed meeting one of my favourite authors - Elizabeth Wein, author of Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire - if not for her!

(photos from my Instagram)

She read from Rose Under Fire - which I STILL haven't read yet, eek! - and talked mainly about the research that went into writing her excellent historical fiction novels. It was super interesting! And she is so lovely.

Elizabeth Wein and me

Because she is now living in Scotland, she was familiar with my Scottish Gaelic name and knew how to spell it immediately when I told it to her! I can count on one hand the number of times someone has been able to spell my name - actually, one of them was Beth Revis. (Side note: for those not in the know, Eilidh is my real name; I decided to spell it phonetically when I started my blog - "Aylee" - so that people wouldn't think my name was pronounced eyelid or something!).

I am always so starstruck and shy and excited when I meet my favourite authors! I was pretty flustered around Elizabeth Wein. I hope I didn't say anything too embarrassing in front of her... I honestly can't remember, I was so excited!


Some more excitement this month arrived in a very exciting package from Kobo!

I mean, WOW! I actually thought it was a scam at first when I received the offer email. It's not everyday that I get offered a free eReader, after all. And because I had been saving up to buy one of my own (up to this point, I've been reading my eGalleys off my laptop and iPhone), I jumped at the chance to receive a Kobo Aura. I think finally owning an eReader is really going to revolutionize the way I read. So HUGE thanks to Kobo!!

As for the Kobo Aura - I wish I could speak as someone who is experienced in eReaders and could compare and contrast the Kobo Aura with other eReaders. But as someone who has never owned an eReader before, all I can say is that it is AWESOME. It's on the smaller size of eReaders, which is perfectly convenient for me as it is very light and fits in my hand nicely. I love that it is easier on my eyes than a backlit screen, but that it also has the option of turning the screen on when reading in the dark! I can also track my reading speed, which is kind of cool. I can already envision myself buying tons of cheap eBooks now that I finally have an eReader - let's face it, it's inevitable.


Among my limited spare time this month, I somehow found time to watch the entire first season of Orange is the New Black - and I was obsessed from the start!

In some instances, the show absolutely terrified me - I would not be able to last even one minute in prison!! For real, I am nowhere near strong enough. But the reason I loved Orange is the New Black so much is that it had an unbelievable capacity to make me feel empathy and compassion for each of the inmates - and that's impressive.

Blog Posts in September (not many... boo!):

My Life in August: Homesickness, Ontario, and a Train Ride Across Canada
Top Ten Books I Would Love To See As A Movie
Muggle Monday: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Movie Adaptation
Review: Magic Marks the Spot by Caroline Carlson - 4 Stars

Oh man - only one review written this month! That's terrible. I'm going to try harder in October, I promise.

Best Book Read in September:

I haven't had time to do a lot of reading this month, but I have had a lot of time for listening to audiobooks in the mornings and evenings while getting ready for school and bed, and while performing various menial tasks. Enter The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, a free audiobook that I picked up from SYNC this summer. What fun! And it made me want to re-watch Sherlock real bad...

Smart Chicks Kick It Tour Edmonton Recap

Last Thursday was the Smart Chicks Kick It Tour stop in Edmonton, at Chapters Westside. It was also my first ever author signing. And - if I may take a moment to boast - it was AWESOME. There were seven authors there: Smart Chicks Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr, Ally Condie, Beth Revis, Veronica Roth, and Margaret Stohl, and Smart Chuck Charles de Lint. And they were welcomed by 750 people! Wow. I had no idea it was going to be as busy as it was and I'm glad I got there as early as I did because only the first 100 people got seats. Hopefully now that publishers and authors know that they can get a big crowd in Edmonton, this will be just the first author event here of many to come!

The event started off with a 30 minute Q&A session followed by the signing. Audience members asked the usual "What was your inspiration?" and "What is your writing process?" type questions and then there was a fun lightning round of questions in which much hilarity ensued.

As a naturally and innately shy person, I was pretty nervous about meeting these people I worship. My game plan was thus: Plan out ahead of time something to say to each author. Rehearse multiple times. Smile. Don't make a fool of myself.

The reality: I was a shaking, stuttering mess! When it was my turn to meet each author, I found that I was pretty much incapable of saying anything, never mind the things I had planned!

Me looking awkward with Ally Condie

Me looking awkward with Margaret Stohl

Kelley Armstrong and me

Luckily, all the authors were super nice and seemed at ease around a nervous, flustered girl like myself. They made the meeting as smooth as possible with their friendliness. Margaret Stohl, especially, was incredibly personable and hilarious.

Prior to the event, I ran into Veronica Roth in the bathroom and I went into an immediate deer-in-headlights mode and just stood there, awkwardly frozen to the spot in shock, mouth agape. Ugh, so much for not making a fool of myself! I should've known right then that I was going to have trouble saying anything to these people!

Fun fact: My real name is Eilidh. It's the traditional Scottish Gaelic spelling. When it came to creating my blog though, I decided to spell my name out phonetically - Aylee - so that people wouldn't think my name was pronounced "eyelid" or something. Almost all the authors made a point to compliment my name, which was nice. Beth Revis was almost even able to pronounce it correctly!

I also had the pleasure of meeting some Edmonton Book Bloggers! I met Kristilyn of Reading in Winter, Jenni of Alluring Reads, Rola of XO Reads, and Brie of Eat Books. I had had no idea there were so many book bloggers in my area, so I was quite shocked to learn that there is an Edmonton Book Blogger Directory. It's so cool to know that there are all these like-minded people in my area!

Huge thanks goes out to Melissa Marr, Kelley Armstrong, and Indigo Green Room who helped organize the Smart Chicks Edmonton Event! Also thank you to the bf/book-carrier/ photographer/moral-supporter for being super helpful! I had such a great time and it was an experience I hope to repeat someday (hopefully with less flustered nervousness)!