I'm feeling much better today. Surprisingly, the one thing I was dreading was the thing that actually lifted my mood considerably: work. I guess I just thrive on being busy.

Today has been such a busy day. Obviously it's Christmas Eve, so not only did we have a huge influx of customers doing their last minute Christmas shopping, we also had to set up for the sales. And boy, was it strenuous. We had to set up sale points of display (those signs you see saying 'SALE! EVERYTHING HALF PRICE!' etc), move every item in the shop into its designated sale area, arranged by product type - like, all men's trousers together, all women's jumpers together etc - and then we had to comb through the whole shop, removing items that weren't meant for the sale, and tagging and correctly labelling those that were.

My shift was down as 'flexi' today, which meant that home time depended on whenever we were finished. Sam (one of the staff there - I dunno if she's a manager or what but she's definitely got some authority) pushed us to try and get everything done by five o'clock... and we were done at six. Kidswear, where I was working, was an absolute nightmare. I'm amazed we didn't end up staying longer to be honest!

So I wrote a bit while waiting for the train, and got home, and then relaxed. I watched an episode of Bones while we had tea, and then started working on a character profile for Lazuli, the main character in 'The Great Couch Happening of '69'. I need to establish what my characters are like on paper, because if I rely on my head there'll be all kinds of weird errors and inconsistencies. I need detailed biographies of all my characters so that when I edit my novel I'll be able to fact check and verify stuff effectively. Plus it helps to know my characters as though they're real people.

I've done the unthinkable... and joined Facebook. Le sigh. I have to, because I'm the Production Artist for Holly's latest project, and all the information regarding pre-production and filming, like deadlines and stuff, will be put on there. I have so much to do this time - she's after about thirty pieces off me this time, and with NaNoWriMo and then my job and my depression rearing its head a couple of times I've only managed a few concept sketches. I plan to make a proper start on some artwork for her soon, though. If I get started now, I'll have plenty of time to get some good quality work done. I think filming is in March so we've a bit of time yet.

Anyway, I'm heading to bed because I'm knackered after work today. I have no work tomorrow because it's Christmas Day, which is pretty much the only present I'm getting this year, and on Boxing Day, I have the worst shift ever... 6am - 10am. No trains are even running on Boxing Day, let alone at 6am, so Dad's going to have to drive me into work and back. On the plus side, I can come straight home and go to bed, and Jason should be coming round later that day, so it's not all bad. And I got a nifty sale t-shirt to wear as well!

Updates from Planet Kelza! Hurrah!

( NaNo '12, Kelza's New Job, Its Unexpected Health Benefits and the Best Use of £51 Ever... )